Biafra, Oduduwa and agitators for con republics

BY ABE KOLAWOLE

Nigerians are presently being bombarded by the greatest con in the history of the country, one that would outstrip the historical significance of the coronavirus pandemic if they are complacent enough to allow the scam to succeed.

The scam in question is the marketing of a supposed collaboration between agitators for the defunct Biafra Republic and the newly amped agitation for Oduduwa Republic. This enterprise qualifies as a scam because its promoters have more than ulterior motives for agitating for a cause that they are aware is unrealistic, has all the potentials for brining misery to all those concerned and capable consuming its promoters and supporters alike.

To appreciate the magnitude of the con being propositioned by these champions of balkanization, it is pertinent to situate these individuals and situate their places in Nigeria’s recent history. Nnamdi Kanu, fugitive leader of the proscribed terrorist group, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), the broken record playing on repeated loop, is the most strident voice of this misplaced agitation.

The extent to which Kanu believes in the agitation for the defunct Biafra republic, is such that he rather jumped bail land flee abroad like the common criminal that he is rather than stay back and lead his crusade from the front. He is sorely aware that having been firmly put down by a civil war that was costly to all sides, Biafra is at best left as a state of mind, a mental awareness that all Nigerians are capable of tapping into for self-improvement and not just a concept that is limited to the Igbos. Biafra is something that should remind all Nigerians of how we are better together instead of the divisive abuse to which Kanu and his urchins are subjecting this name to.

Note must be made of the fact that Kanu fled Nigeria instead of staying back to “fight” for Biafra using legitimate means, which he could have used his trial to prove if he sincerely believed that he had a case and that the treason charges against him were baseless. What Kanu did was to run away, first to Ghana where he was reportedly sighted eating suya, the beef barbecue grilled over charcoal fire. He later surfaced in Jerusalem where he was kissing the Wailing Wall, a reminder that he is socially conditioned to be the subject of foreign powers and that the Biafra he proposes is fraudulent to a point where Judaism would be imposed on his people who were originally polytheists.

He is so cowardly that he shunned paying his last respect to his late father, whose demise he accelerated by the retribution he brought upon himself. The man who is asking Igbos to take to the streets and risk jail terms for treason would rather commit alu -abomination- by disgracing his own father’s burial rather than doing what he is asking others to do on daily basis, which is to confront security agencies with his fraudulent demand for the defunct Biafra republic. A fair disclosure must be made here Kanu, who holds a British passport, now lives in opulence in the United Kingdom.

This duo, like Kanu, erred in reducing the construct of Oduduwa into a political merchandize, something they think they can easily trade in to gain the relevance that had eluded them for the entire span of their individual lives. Whereas Oduduwa (Republic), even as a geographical reckoning and the dozens of the unaware persons that held protests in a few cities across the world will ever comprehend. It is a spiritual concept and a code of honour, the type that Adeyemo will never possess even if they dedicate the entirety of their existence to a quest to fully appreciate what Oduduwa is all about. They are too vested in feathering their nests at the expense of others to attain the pure state of mind that will enable them lead the great people that Oduduwa encompasses.

The desperation to destroy Nigeria is something that requires explanation, no one should be this desperate to attain a goal unless of course he is under pressure to refund the money he was originally paid to carry put the assignment.  People who have cause to seek the disintegration of Nigeria – the cases they have in court will naturally disappear – are ramping up the rhetoric of why Nigeria should no longer be in existence.

Nigerians must beware of these rabble rousers. And the warning must be heeded those in position of authority. The comments recently attributed to highly placed government officials about the fragility of Nigeria is something that must not repeat itself. It is okay for disgruntled and failed activists to make such claims out of frustration, ineffectual opposition figures are welcome to make such comments since no one takes them serious anyway. But when officials allowed themselves to be misquoted in such fashion then they are feeding the likes of Kanu and Adeyemo, who will grasp at anything to appear relevant. These men with questionable histories have no roles whatsoever in articulating whatever it is we want to happen to us as a country.

In all this there is something that should make us pity these hapless ones that are eager to sound the death knell for Nigeria. We must ameliorate their ignorance by commending them to the history of Yugoslavia. Perhaps they will understand that Biafra would within weeks be fractured along sub-ethnic lines that will pitch component states against each other; Oduduwa republic, if it ever emerges will not fare any better. This is the con that the promoters of the “let’s break up Nigeria enterprise” are trying to pull on the rest of us, it is our collective responsibility to prevent them from succeeding.

Kolawole, national publicity secretary, Congress for Oduduwa Descendants, wrote from Lagos.