This is the News Analysis segment of the Voice of Biafra International broadcasts  

For November 8th, 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 have started by repeating God’s promise to you.  You can count on that!  

Today, we shall take up the news regarding the fate of our people, the Bakassi people, with regards to the International Court of Justice  ICJ) ruling of 2002 and its imminent implementation, and what that means for the welfare and wellbeing of our Bakassi brothers and sisters. Before we go there, we shall first analyze a few current news events.

Another lame promise by General Obasanjo to begin road rehabilitation in Biafraland within two months exposes the General for the hypocrite that he is. It is reported that he blames the rapid deterioration of the nation’s road network on lack of regular maintenance. Wait a minute: who was the Minister of Works in his administration from 1999 to 2003? Was it not Anenih? Was Anenih not known as “Mr. Fix It“ which he earned not for public works, but for fixing all General Obasanjo’s personal political and social problems, including the fixing of the 2003 elections before even they were held? (Recall Anenih’s now infamous utterance: "…there is no vacancy in Aso Rock”?)  While he was busy and preoccupied fixing the General’s problems, he and his Ministry failed to fix the people’s and the country’s problems, such as bad roads that were merely inviting deathtraps, and decaying infrastructure. And that was his real job, you know! Did General Obasanjo ever call him to order? No. Instead, last month, the General awarded Nigeria ’s highest National honor to Anenih (along with the IG of Police who had earlier been publicly fingered for corruption, and under whose watch an AIG performed a coup in Anambra State .  Wow!)  Have you ever wondered what happened to the money given to the Ministry of Works during Anenih’s tenure? He did not do any work for the people or for the nation. So, how did he spend the money? On the General’s personal problems? To bribe and buy off the General’s political opponents? Donations to the General’s party, PDP? Personal use? We will never know, because the General is protecting him; yet, the General has the gall to say he is fighting corruption, and has the audacity to lecture us on the reason why the bad roads have claimed and maimed thousands, if not millions, of lives of the peoples living in Nigeria . How bad does hypocrisy get?

Moving on. It would be a deaf person who has not heard General Obasanjo harp on defending democracy in Nigeria . He is quick to label any challengers of his poor plans and his abysmal performance in office “antidemocratic,” and is fond of hurling the accusation, “truncating democracy in Nigeria ” at anybody who dares question his bad policies. Now we ask you, “Who is really the antidemocrat?"

1.      Consider that there is now an official ban on members of the National Assembly against criticizing General Obasanjo’s policies and plans. In “civilized” countries, this is called a “gag order” and that usually sounds an alarm that Dictatorship has in fact taken hold, for how, otherwise, would any so-called leader even conceive of banning free speech and critical debate in the National Assembly whose members are elected by the peoples to perform precisely this duty? So, take note. We are not just talking about anti-democratic behavior; we now talking about Dictatorship, and it is the General himself who is the subject. General Obasanjo is the antidemocrat and he is the dictator, based upon his own actions thus.

We are not surprised about General Obasanjo’s behavior; that is expected. We are confounded that the National Assembly is going along with this, instead of impeaching General Obasanjo right now. On the other hand, how can they, having themselves been rigged into their positions after a massively fraudulent election in which the General and his PDP party shamelessly doctored the results in broad daylight? As for the peoples living in Nigeria, we warned them back in April that if they acquiesce to this fraud and accept and accommodate Obasanjo and PDP, that the peoples will not have any moral standing in the future to challenge further wrong and fraud, or to demand what is right. Today, we see the result!

2.      Consider that the Nigerian Labor Congress (NLC), using its membership, has been the only defender of the people’s rights to NOT be strangulated and further impoverished by General Obasanjo’s bad economic policies as they relate to the price of petrol. Rather than concentrate on building and maintaining refineries, the General, in an open and obvious case of misplaced priorities, relies solely on exporting out all the crude oil and importing in refined petrol. To sustain this stupid policy, the General keeps raising the price of fuel for domestic consumers. The National Assembly sits there and does nothing to protect the people from price gouges. There is no Opposition party to challenge the General. Only the NLC has reacted as a last resort by calling for strikes, which it calls off whenever an agreement is reached. Each time, the General breaks the terms of the agreement, and raises prices anyway, completely insensitive to the snowball effect of any price hike at the fuel pump to the buying and paying public. So, what does the General decide to do? The General has now sent a bill to the National Assembly to destroy the NLC. And, we have never seen this administration nor the National Assembly work this fast an anything that would benefit the people—only things that personally benefit the General or the members of the National Assembly. Guess what: when the NLC is no longer, that means that General Obasanjo can do precisely anything he wants, any time—things that affect you, the peoples—no matter how bad such things are, and no matter how injurious to you the results are. He can do it, because there is no Opposition party to stop him; and the National Assembly is banned from criticizing and critiquing any of his policies and plans; and there is no NLC to use the option of strikes to register opposition. The peoples know General Obasanjo well enough to understand that he is not sensitive to the plight or suffering of the peoples living in Nigeria . Now, can you see that Dictatorship has now been entrenched and legitimized in Nigeria , under the direction of General Obasanjo, the sole beneficiary of this evil?

3.      In case you missed it: today, there is no Opposition Party in Nigeria ; which means, one-party system. And that party is PDP. And in case you missed it, all members of the PDP party have been banned from criticizing any policy of General Obasanjo. On top of that, General Obasanjo and the members of the National Assembly and all the governors have immunity against prosecution from any crimes they commit while in office. That’s the state of affairs in Nigeria today, a state which PDP and General Obasanjo still call “democracy.” Hypocrites!

We thank all those who chanted Biafra during Dim Ojukwu’s speech in Owerri on the occasion of the celebration of his birthday. In the past, you had left it only to MASSOB to publicly declare Biafra . Today, we have come a full circle. Next time, we urge everybody to chant Biafra . We urge everybody to carry and wave the Biafran flag. And, let it not be long before the Biafran flag flies in every household, on every street corner, in every neighborhood, and in every public place and in every office and office building. If you are waiting for permission from Nigeria to be what and who you are, then, long may you wait. When you accept and project yourself as what you truly are, then the rest of the world will fall in or leave you alone. Let’s not forget that.

Finally, we bring up the plight of our fellow Biafrans, the people who live on, and own the Bakassi Peninsula . Exactly one year ago, we predicted what Nigeria was going to do about this, and why. We presented this on our news analysis, just like today. We also published a position paper on it, which you can find on our website, www.biafraland.com follow the “Position Papers” Link to the Bakassi Ruling Link. In that paper, we recommended that our brothers and sisters should seek a UN plebiscite for AUTONOMY as their first choice. We can now see today that this is sound advise.

First, we want to say that we sympathize with you do deeply; and although we all had suffered dislocation ourselves during the Biafran war, no one today can know the terror and terminality of being suddenly cut of from your kit and kin and forced into the sovereignty of a different country where you are a total stranger, against your will. Was this not what was so heart-rending about Slavery which played out on this same coast 200 and 300 years ago?

Second, we want you to understand that we all also know too well the agony of rejection, which we, Biafrans, have been suffering at the hands of Nigeria since the 60’s. No other nations living in Nigeria , collectively or individually, have worked so hard to integrate Nigeria , and none has contributed so much in both human and natural resources to the national coffers of Nigeria than Biafrans ; and as you well all know, we contribute 99% of all the money flowing into the Nigerian Treasury today. In spite of that, there is a deliberate policy by Nigeria to reject all Biafrans, to keep them away from any meaningful participation in the politics and power structure of Nigeria , to treat them as unwanted persons when they visit or reside in other parts of Nigeria . On top of that, there is a determined plan by Nigeria to destroy the land of Biafra and her peoples, after exploiting her wealth and natural resources. The treatment meted out to the Bakassi people by Nigeria in this matter and in this ordeal only confirms what we have already expressed.

Nigeria has given the Bakassi people away into slavery—permanent slavery—to Cameroon in a heartless, cruel and insensitive manner fully true to Nigeria ’s character; being totally unconcerned about the consequences for our people. But only if you—only if we—let this stand. We refuse to have our brothers and sisters be sold away from us into slavery in Cameroon in the year 2003. We are therefore committed to working with you and resisting this evil ruling in order to see it reversed at the UN. You shall have our fullest support, and together, we shall once again tickle the conscience of the entire world, and where they once failed to respond 36 years ago, they shall today hear us and do the right thing. That right thing  is for the people of Bakassi to have their choice and voice and right respected—the choice to NOT be ceded to Cameroon , and the right to their own autonomy.

Fellow Biafrans: the fight for Bakassi rights is the fight for Biafran rights; the support for Bakassi choice is the support for Biafra choice. Let us go to it now and remain at it until at last, we win.

Biafra lives! by God’s pleasure; Biafrans are, because God Wills it.

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)