This is the News Analysis segment of the Voice of Biafra International broadcasts
For November 1st, 2003
You have heard the news; now, the analysis…
“My peoples and my nations shall not be sacrificed for the sake of preserving a worthless idea called Nigeria .” So speaketh the Lord. And so it is.
“The peoples and their nations must live and thrive, though the name and concept of Nigeria die. The peoples and their nations must not and will not be allowed to perish just to save a dying Nigeria .” So says the Lord.
Fellow Biafrans: we shall make it a habit to start this segment of the broadcast with the above quotes. This is intended to remind you that God has passed judgment on Nigeria in favor of His peoples who must be redeemed from the evil one; and the evil one shall be made to perish. That evil one is Nigeria —one Nigeria .
Today, we learn from the newspapers that there is a ban in the National Assembly prohibiting PDP members of the National Assembly from criticizing General Obasanjo’s policies. Wow! We don’t want to say it, but we are compelled to: we told you so, didn’t we? How can Obasanjo and PDP ban the “elected” officials—the representatives of the people—from performing their duty? Nigeria is fast becoming the dictatorship that we predicted. But, leave it to the hypocrites, General Obasanjo and his PDP party, to harp about Nigeria being a democracy; and to threaten anybody challenging their hypocrisy with treason for “truncating democracy in Nigeria .” Yes, General Obasanjo and PDP will go against the so-called Nigerian Constitution whenever it suits them, with the same arrogance that the Military and Abacha did. They will do what they want to do with or without the constitution, and against the constitution; and always, what they do causes hurt and death for you the people. And they get away with it. But, when you raise your voice and say, enough! General Obasanjo sends his soldiers and security men after you, and they want to shoot you, detain you and imprison you for treason. Imagine the travesty! Imagine the injustice
Sure, General Obasanjo will try to deny that he gave this order; and PDP may use their now infamous excuse: “this is a family affair” to try to avoid responsibility and accountability, but, in the end, this ban on the members on the National Assembly criticizing General Obasanjo’s policies will be enforced. We know that General Obasanjo knows and controls everything that goes on in PDP, and he does not hide that, as was just recently demonstrated when he asked that Barnabas Gemade be thrown out of a PDP meeting—imagine a whole so-called President behaving like that! Of course it is not too difficult to imagine that, when it comes to General Obasanjo: his track record speaks for itself. The point is that if he starts denying giving this dictatorial order, nobody should believe him.
In any case, what does this mean for you, Biafrans, and for the rest of the peoples living in Nigeria ? We have been trying to warn you that Nigeria has no future. This act by Obasanjo and PDP proves the intent and direction of Nigeria : one-party-one-person dictatorship. Just like previous military dictatorships starting with Gowon ruined Nigeria , Obasanjo-PDP dictatorship will put the final nail in the coffin of Nigeria . Nigeria is continuing on its downward death-spiral. We do not have to go there with Nigeria . We must all say, No! now; and we must all get off now. We must insist on our own nations now. The Sovereign National Conference is the way forward.
Earlier, we had also warned you that even though the Nigerian Labor Congress had scored a victory for the peoples living in Nigeria by insisting on and winning the reversal of General Obasanjo’s fuel hike plan, that General Obasanjo will not give up his harsh plan whose effect is continued hardship for the peoples living in Nigeria . There again, we were right. The General has made the fuel hike stick, and he will not roll it back. Yes, even if it causes severe hardship for the peoples. Yes, even if the peoples breathe their last suffering gasping breath, he, General Obasanjo will insist on this unnecessary fuel price hike. His reason is that he is deregulating the fuel sector. Well, as we will point out later, General Obasanjo has done an awfully poor job of managing the economy. We all remember his initial master economic plan which was to go globetrotting, spending almost half of his first and cursed four years in office traveling to different countries begging for foreign investment in Nigeria and begging for debt forgiveness, only to return empty-handed after spending millions, if not billions of dollars on these trips. The General had seen no need to invest in the peoples living in Nigeria as the first and only real potential, capital and asset for any country that wants to do well economically and socially. In any case, now, he is making another major mistake, except that this time around, the already impoverished peoples living in Nigeria will have whatever economic life left in them sucked out by his harsh and ill thought-out plans. He wants to deregulate. Okay. But he refuses to see and listen to the facts and reality that the economy in Nigeria is not a free market system and does not function as such. It is only a free market system that can support deregulation. Instead of working from the foundation up, he is putting on roof and ceiling and walls on a three-storey building whose foundation he knows is rotten. And guess what? You are the one forced to live in this house which you know is going to collapse and fall and most likely kill you. Yes, you are going to be caught at the mercy of fuel sellers who cannot be stopped when they hike the price of fuel so much more beyond Obasanjo’s deregulated price. Obasanjo will not protect you from these opportunists then, because many of the fuel people are his friends or contributed massive amounts to his campaign and to this party, and are most likely the so-called godfathers of Nigerian politics who controlled the outcome of the rigged 2003 elections. In the meantime, when he travels on land, he goes in convoys who do not have to stand in line to get fuel, and who do not have to pay for fuel. In fact, he and his entourage will use more fuel than a segment of the working population of an entire city. And, guess who is paying for it? No wonder he has no idea what the average man and woman suffer in Nigeria . Can you see that General Obasanjo’s plans and policies are going to hurt you and kill you peoples living in Nigeria ? And, there’s nobody to protect you from him. Even if the National Assembly members were going to help, now that they have been banned from criticizing General Obasanjo’s plans, how can they help you? Knowing them, they are a malleable lot who will either be bribed, bought, intimidated and or threatened into submission to General Obasanjo’s will. You are on your own—you and your God only. But, one with God is majority and has more strength than principalities and dictators. God will not allow General Obasanjo and his administration and his dictatorial plans to overcome and kill you. God is leading you out of that death trap now, and you must say, “Yes” to God, and “No” to General Obasanjo and “No” to Nigeria , in order that you may claim God’s promise of life and liberty.
As for the ability to manage the economic affairs of Nigeria , we know how woefully inadequate other military dictators starting with Gowon were at this, and how they completely ruined the economy and thereby and therefore, mortgaged the present and future of the peoples living in Nigeria . Further more, they went and borrowed money from IMF which has resulted in a large debt that you and I are suffering and slaving away to pay today, but which we are unable to make a dent in. Meanwhile, these same military dictators are being paid today by Nigeria ; have received lucrative contracts from Obasanjo’s government, and are, like General Obasanjo, contesting Presidential elections and trying to get back into power to continue to misrule Nigeria . In fact, the General awarded some of them the highest Nigerian National honors recently; one is forced to ask, “For ruining the lives of peoples living in Nigeria ?” What a shame! What a sham! Now, the Federal Nigerian Government’s own agency called the Debt Management Office (DMO) has just this week determined, and released a statement which says, that Nigeria ’s persistent deficits and accumulated debts are "a result of misplacements of economic priorities." This is a fancy way to say that General Obasanjo and his administration have been doing the wrong things economically and implementing the wrong economic plans. The DMO went on to describe how the poor handling of the debt affects the overall economy adversely. But the indirect lesson from all this revelation is that General Obasanjo has no clue about economic management (neither did his predecessors), and yet he (like they in the past), insist on controlling the economy of Nigeria by himself. How much more suffering is he going to bring to the peoples? How much more darkness is he going to plunge the peoples living in the cursed place, Nigeria , to? Do you see why there is no future for Nigeria ? We should not wait to find out. We should all make up our minds now that it is really all over for Nigeria —and it is indeed; nevertheless, we do have to accept that it is truly over for Nigeria . It is time for us all to move into our own respective sovereign nations. Once we accept this, we can see the divine plan for our salvation. The Sovereign National Conference remains a peaceful mechanism to accomplish this.
Fellow Biafrans: wherever you are, it is time to wake up. We are called upon to join in the Divine plan of salvation and liberation for our people. As we have pointed out today, and shall continue to point out each broadcast week, the sick Nigeria continues to get sicker; the evil Nigeria continues to get more wicked and more vicious everyday. Your part is to act now. Join and or support MASSOB today. Get ready for action—we can’t predict what and when it will happen, but when it does, we need to be able to speak with one voice and act as one body and with one mind. Our goal is to achieve Biafra actualization without violence, and we can do it because we are on God’s side. We can do it when we say, “Yes” to Biafra , together.
As stated in the communiqué formulated at the October 18th 2003 International Conference on Biafra held in Maryland, USA, we shall explore the formation of a provisional Biafran Government in exile if Nigeria has not convened a proper Sovereign National Conference in 6 months. In the meantime, remain vigilant and be ready for collective responses to changing atmospherics in the evil place known by Nigeria .
Know that you are Biafran—never forget! Know that God created Biafra and made you Biafran; you can’t change that. And, it is God’s work and God’s good pleasure that Biafra and Biafrans shall be.
That’s the news analysis for the week. Thank you.
God bless and keep Biafra , and you, until our next broadcast. Voice of Biafra International (VOBI) broadcast continues (http://www.biafraland.com/vobi.htm)