This is the News Analysis segment of the Voice of Biafra International (VOBI) broadcasts  

For July 26^th, 2003  

You have heard the news, now, the analysis…

Fellow Biafrans:

General Obasanjo wasted no time in responding to the coup in Sao Tome , always posing as some kind of self-appointed and self-acclaimed Savior. But, he has not said anything useful or responded with propriety to the pregnant crisis in Anambra, in his own so-called country, in this place called Nigeria where he and his cabal, the PDP party, have foisted themselves on the hapless peoples living in Nigeria , after thoroughly rigging the elections.  Obasanjo has appointed himself the Messiah of Africa, but he is totally effete in Nigeria where all he can do is abuse and misuse the power of an unmerited office for his own ego and personal satisfaction. Oh yes, he says that he will give his life for Nigeria —big deal!  We really do not care about his life and what he wants to do with it—that’s strictly his own business. We only care that because of his actions, more people in Nigeria have died, more have been impoverished, more have lost hope, and more have been denied opportunities. than in any other period in the history of the region. His giving his life for Nigeria will not make up for all the lives ruined and lost as a direct result of his incompetence, his malfeasance, his arrogance, his abuse of power, his insensitivity and his hypocrisy. Who needs Obasanjo to give his life for Nigeria or for that matter, whatever? All we need is our own lives, to live and fulfill our potential, in our own time and in our own place, of which Obasanjo and his policies are directly in the way.  

As for the Anambra crisis, while knee-jerk reflex has resulted in predictable initial responses from persons of influence and of opinion, let us make it be known that it is important to think about this deeply first before getting shrill with recommendations that fail to address the underlying problems and only add to obvious cover-up.

First, we believe that Mr. Balogun, the IG of Police should resign, because even if he had no idea of what was going on in the first place, he should have known. If he knew, he should resign and await legal action. If he didn’t know that his own deputy was undertaking such an action, then he should resign anyway because he does not deserve to lead the Police department in which he is totally ignorant of significant events of national import. Thereafter, he can await the outcome of an independent and thorough investigation to clear him of any complicity. 

We read in the papers that Mr. Balogun is now deploying a special Police Security detail around the Anambra governor and around Anambra. What a farce! What a stupid response! Anambra people and officials need to be protected from Mr. Balogun’s Police, and from PDP. Eastern Nigeria needs protection from Balogun and his police force. As a matter of fact, in general, the peoples living in Nigeria need to be protected from Balogun’s police and from the PDP party; it's protection from him and his force, not protection BY him.

Mr. Ige should be sacked, not retired, while he awaits legal action. He should be fired from office, with forfeiture of any pension or other benefits, for his role in all this. We read that Mr. Ige is now claiming that he was protecting Dr. Ngige. For this lie, no leniency should be shown to him if he is tried and found guilty. Mr. Ige should rather be focusing on telling the truth and revealing whom he was taking orders from.

Dr. Ngige, as we have already mentioned earlier, should, with immediate effect, formalize his resignation which he already signed on three different occasions. He is a disgrace to his race and to the Igbo Nation. He is a poor example to our impressionable youth. He should quit right now and stop claiming that he is still the governor. He should be investigated for financial crimes against the people of Anambra.

But, we take nobody nor institution more to task in this whole crisis than the PDP party, and its leadership, as well as General Obasanjo. For initially calling this a PDP party “family affair”—a cue taken directly from General Obasanjo himself—the leaders of PDP along with Obasanjo should be held answerable to the peoples living in Nigeria . The Attorney General of so-called government of Nigeria needs to indict all of them, starting with General Obasanjo, and Audi Ogbeh.

Mr. Ogbeh of PDP, speaking with authority and arrogance typical of PDP, declared publicly that Balogun is innocent—even before any credible or legal investigation has been initiated. This type of thing does not happen in a civilized country, in any country where there are civil laws. It is only in PDP’s Nigeria , in Obasanjo’s Nigeria that this can happen. Ogbeh should be at least sanctioned and removed from any office that provides him with an opportunity to intimidate the people and manipulate public opinion. He should be investigated for possible legal action.

The PDP party itself should be punished and fined and banned in Nigeria because of its conduct during these elections. It was this conduct that encouraged and nurtured and entrenched the likes of Uba, who financed the rigging of the elections by PDP and for PDP, placed stooges in offices and in power, and allowed these stooges to be blackmailed into loyalty, and submission to, and by, the financiers and the PDP party for whom they work. Little wonder, then, that PDP leadership, starting with Obasanjo, considered the Anambra situation an intra-party affair.

As a matter of fact, the entire election should be nullified. That there was massive and well-orchestrated rigging by PDP in its favor is no longer in question—it was really never in question in the first place. What Anambra has now revealed is how PDP was able to accomplish this. And it was not just in Anambra: this rigging scheme was applied all over Nigeria , including even the West where on the surface, it appeared that AD had completely folded and yielded every ground to PDP. Even in areas in Biafraland where no elections took place at all, PDP winners were declared. As if that was not enough, once PDP fraudulently declared themselves the winner of a position, in many instances, the same PDP changed the name of the original PDP contestant-candidate and substituted another PDP member’s name. Can you imagine that? And, all that was happening in broad daylight! The brazenness of PDP as they went about changing the results of the elections at will and at their whim is unheard of in the history of adult suffrage! It is for these and other reasons that the peoples living in Nigeria must support the voiding of the elections and the convening of a Sovereign National Conference (SNC).

And, what about General Obasanjo? Does anyone not know about his penchant for wanting to be—and being—in control and in charge of anything, no matter how trivial, that goes on in Nigeria ? Does anyone really doubt that he is completely in control and in charge of PDP? Why then should anybody have any doubts that Obasanjo was fully aware of what happened in Anambra before and while it was happening? Does anyone want to dispute the understanding that Obasanjo ordered the current PDP response (and attitude) to the Anambra crisis? So, if we are to condemn anybody with regards to Anambra, should Obasanjo not be the number one person to condemn? We believe he is the one most culpable; he should be the first to be held accountable for Anambra.

Fellow Biafrans: recall that Obasanjo was not re-elected by the peoples of Nigeria in the first place. He and PDP, with the collusion and facilitation of INEC, rigged the elections in his and their own favor. In the midst of the ensuing chaos, he and PDP installed and forced themselves as duly elected officials over the peoples living in Nigeria who had voted otherwise. Anambra has proved their fraud. Besides Anambra, Obasanjo and PDP should be tried in the court of justice for their fraudulent electoral activities. Are we not justified in asking to void and annul the elections and ask for SNC instead?  We certainly are.

Once again, we are compelled to ask the peoples living in Nigeria : what will it take to arouse you from your deep slumber, from coma? You are subjugated to one crisis after another, one disaster after another, with you as the victim at every turn of events, events resulting directly from the machinations and actions of the likes of Obasanjo and PDP, which, some days, are worse than what Abacha did to you, what Babangida and Gowon  brought upon you. What have you done to respond to your situation? When are you going to respond to your situation? How much more can you take, and when does it end? Isn’t it time to say, “No more!” to Obasanjo and PDP and their friends? It is indeed time to say: “we can’t take it any more!” to ourselves, to Obasanjo, to PDP, to the world. We can do that right now; and we can call for SNC right now; that's  the only way forward given the present situation.

Fellow Biafrans, as all this unfolds, we urge you to remain united and in solidarity, and steadfast in your support of APGA and Ojukwu. This is our way to SNC. This is our key to Biafra actualization. We must remain committed to Biafra actualization; hence, we must remain committed to unity and solidarity, and to the support of APGA and Ojukwu. Along with APGA and Ojukwu, we demand that the East / Biafraland be returned to APGA and Ojukwu now, while we continue to push for SNC as a mechanism to permanently put an end to the perpetual misery called one Nigeria, which has brought us to the precipice many times and left us there; and which keeps us on the anxiety-ridden edge all the time.

Biafra lives!  because God plans it so. Biafrans are because God makes it so.

That’s the news analysis for this week. Thank you.

 God bless and keep Biafra, and you, until our next broadcast. Voice of Biafra Interntional (VOBI) broadcasts continues (http://www.biafraland.com/vobi.htm) . Thank you.