Peter Obi And The Dialogue with IPOB
https://sycamoretimes.com.ng/2022/11/03/ill-dialogue-with-ipob-other-agitators-i-will-govern-by-consensus-peter-obi/
Petr Obi has again responded to the question of what he will do with the IPOB agitation if elected.
As usual he has given the same answer. “I will negotiate with them.”
Peter has chosen for reasons he know best to keep quiet over who IPOB is.
There are two operating verbs here “Independent and Biafra”
Biafra is a very old word that gained currency around the same time that Alimi slaughtered Afonja pre 1840’s.Its actually a cove. It developed into a geographical zone..and economic zone and towards the middle of the 19th Century..it was cultural.
If you go back into history..one of the first assignment of the first republic was to resolve the issue of Nigerian slave labour in Equatorial Guinea aka Panya within the enclave of Biafra. Go to SE today you will still see families who have blood relations in southern Cameroon. Still Biafra. The same cultural Biafra extends into current Benue state and whose end fades off between the between Delta and Edo Borders. In brief Biafra is a kind of kaleidoscope . Its certainly older than the name Nigeria. Its a spirit.. a culture.
In the civil war..for reasons i cant explain the same Biafra was chosen as the name for a secessionist drive ,Certainly the intent of Late Odumegwu Ojukwu was not to annex Benue, Equatorial Guniea, Southern Cameroon. Baring the mistake of Benin Invasion which some describe as strategic. His border was limited to a Biafra spanning from Delta state to Current day Anambra,Imo,Abia,Rivers,Bayelsa,Ebonyi,Cross RIver,Akwai Ibom.
That secessionist bid failed. The geographical Biafra restarted life and the SE region started to do very well.Much better than the victors today. Statistics support this fully.
Inside the SE itself underdevelopment of structure and institutions continued to suffer while personal growth went up.
From 1970 every failure was blamed on the civil war.
Let me copy and paste a piece i wrote a few days ago
“This tribe fought a civil war for 30 months and because of its tenacity afterwards ..its more educated ,richer..travelled than most tribes in Nigeria.This is evidenced by very embarrasing facts. 45% of lagos population.Ownership of 65% of imported containerised cargo into Nigeria.Ownership of 73% of properties in Abuja. A tribe that produces 55% of the NYSC members. Gradually becoming the private sector market hub for building materials, A tribe that has grip on middle class trading esp in electronic and pharmaceuticals in West Africa.A tribe with near complete control of automobile manufacturing and spares. The list is long.
Now this tribe has reached the precipice of change.It has pursued education vigorously to the extent that Imo state is now the headquarters of graduate unemployment. Education no longer leads to automatic employment. The few chances have been seized by the elite especially of northern origin. This part of reality floods the igbo youths mind.So normally the story of self rule to check marginalisation comes up. So Nnamdi (MNK ) comes with a message of liberation. He is listened to and gathers millions of followers.
Then President Mohammed Buhari makes the mistake of not #fightingideaswithideas. He goes after MNK and sympathy flows. Today we are at stage where releasing MNK has consequences, keeping him too has consequences.
In between ..no one is asking. What is the solution to career and opportunities frustrations of Ndigbo youths,,Is the word Biafra even NEW, since there was already Biafra in an 1876 map.
The main culprits are outside the pitch..elected SE leaders. IPOB is not even evaluating them..the followers are not doing the same.The Buhari govt is using SE governors to further cage the youths. The resultant effect is that the youth energy that could contribute so much to the entire west African region is now engaged in a windy war with the Buhari
administration.
It will surprise you to note that while the late Sam Mbakwe governor of Imo state had an independent power plant built 40 years ago,Not a single SE government currently has a visible power plan.
Its very amazing that The Enugu road which could have been repaired by the SE government on behalf of FGN today is left in the hands of a communication company to repair.
As a tribe its dangerous to compare ourselves with tribes with less fortune.Our strength lies within ourselves. And the benefits of the theft from the federation is no longer adequate for us.
A political Biafra may come later …but our priority today is an #economicbiafra. A geographical Biafra that focusses on self development using local resources..with a target of improving the lot of Ndigbo.”
Sorry to bore you with this long piece. But it saves us time.
Now PO has first hand knowledge that the agitation is economic.Its the economic progress he established in Anambra that makes it very attractive for all manners of criminals masquerading as IPOBIANS to turn it into a target.
So the question of how he will handle IPOB is so elementary to him..he cannot even answer in details without being misunderstood.The change is already happening. Unknown gunmen attacks have started reducing.. what you see and the police identifies them clearly ,are the activities of hardened criminals.
As long as Obi gives hope for change, the youths will dilute the dream of a miracle in a flag change.
IPOB cannot fight Obi is he continues to give Hope to youths in the whole country. Ipob will not fade away. The “Give me Biafra or i die component will end” .I suspect it will start focusing on elected leaders at all levels in SE. It cannot fight Obi as long as he shows signs of hope.Not all.
So Peter Obi will have no need to negotiate as the issue will have sorted themselves out before he is even sworn in.
Petr Obi just has one sharp weapon he is using quietly to talk to SE youths. “Your destiny is in your hands”…When extended it means hold your leaders responsible.This is exactly the reason SE leaders…all the governors dread a PO presidency. Obi’s presidency is a presidency of sacrifice for SE youths. Each day their eyes open. And when they are fully awake. I Pity the governors.
I stand for an #economicbiafra within a political Nigeria and
I come in peace
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