Biafra: As the countdown to 90 days ultimatum for Igbos to leave the north begins
Biafra: As the countdown to 90 days ultimatum for Igbos to leave the north begins
- Igbos of the eastern extraction have less than 90 days according to the ultimatum given by northern youth groups to vacate the north for good
- Although the Kaduna declaration has been condemned by all Nigerians from all sectors of society, the northern youths have remained resolute on eviction of Igbos from the north
- However, there are grave implications should the northern youths eventually have their way In the past few days, specifically from Tuesday June 6, the Nigeria nation has been experiencing tension of the highest magnitude. The tension followed the declaration of the Northern youth coalition which called for the eviction of Nigerian Igbos from the north. The statement made by the coalition has been the major cause of this high tension enveloping the nation. Though the agitation for the actualization of Biafra by the eastern groups has been given the nation headache, the northern youths’ declaration fueled the tension and added more fire to the already tensed system. The declaration heated the polity beyond measure, causing massive and wide reaction from vast majority of Nigerians. The reactions cut across all the ethnic groups, calling for the retraction of the declaration and arrest of the youths who made the infamous statement. They insisted that irrespective of the pressure from the Biafra protagonists, Nigeria remains an indissoluble nation. Some others called for the arrest of the youths and get them prosecuted for heating up the fragile political system.
Biafra: As the countdown to 90 days ultimatum for Igbos to leave the north begins.
While many see the declaration as an indirect call for warfare between the groups, Nigerians who witnessed the Nigerian civil war that lasted from 1967 to 1970 barely six years after independence, are not in a hurry to see a repeat of that traumatic experience. This, it is believed, may have led to the massive reactions against the action of the dissident northern youths. READ ALSO: Igbos begin fleeing from north following quit notice The statement which was read by president of Northern Emancipation Network, Abdul-azzez Suleiman stated that sequel to the shutting down of major towns in the South east on May 30, 2017 as part of the campaign by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) for the actualisation of Biafra republic, the Northerners could no longer tolerate being a part of a political marriage which included the Igbos. Following the declaration, they gave the Igbos up till October 1, 2017, the day Nigeria will celebrate independence from British rule, to vacate the entire northern region and return to their ethnic heartland in order to achieve the secessionist agitation for the republic they have been clamouring for. In the same vein, the groups had urged all Northerners living in the Southeast to return to the North by the same deadline. The statement was co-signed by heads of 16 northern youth groups in Kaduna, the capital city of Kaduna state. The signatories include youths from Arewa Citizens Action for Change, Arewa Youth Consultative Forum, Arewa Youth Development Foundation, Arewa Students Forum and Northern Emancipation Network after a joint meeting in Kaduna, leading to the statement becoming tagged the ‘Kaduna declaration.’ The statement helped to canvass for the restructuring of the country as they said that the confrontational conducts of the ‘Biafrans was trampling on the rights of other Nigerians, especially the northerners. They described the Igbos with many unsavory words including ‘unruly,’ ‘ungrateful,’ ‘confrontational’ ‘uncultured’ ‘reckless,’ ‘insatiable’ and even termed their attitude as lacking in remorse for the ‘carnage they wrought on the nation in the 1960s as they are still actively agitating for the very thing that led to the civil war in Nigeria. The declaration read in part: “It is on record that since the inception of the current democratic dispensation, the Igbos have shown and maintained open contempt and resentment for the collective decision expressed by majority of Nigerians at various stages via generally acceptable democratic processes.
“While these provocative acts of aggression persist and grow in dimension with each new move, leaders of the North whose people are at the receiving end of the threats, appear helplessly unperturbed. Without pursuing a resolute action-plan, these northern leaders have adopted and have been dragging their people into a pitifully pacifist position in order to sustain an elusive national cohesion that has long been ridiculed by the Igbos.
