No Nigerian Should Pay Attention To Pro-biafra Agitators – Obasanjo
BEVERLY HILLS, January 15, (THEWILL) – Former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo has again stated that the agitation for the carving out of a Biafra republic from the present-day Nigeria is a dead struggle that is not worth the attention of any Nigerian.
The Nigerian Civil War veteran, who disclosed this while delivering a keynote address at a public discussion on Biafra organised by Nextier Advisory in Abuja on Friday, said: “The agitation was born in error and ignorance.”
He spoke at the same time that the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, Babachir David Lawal condemned the action of various groups protesting for the actualisation of the Sovereign state of Biafra, noting that such protests put the peace of the nation on the edge.
In the wake of renewed clamour for the creation of Biafra, Obasanjo had last October described the agitators as miscreants who should be ignored, stressing that “This is a fake agitation. You people make a mountain out of a molehill. These are boys who want to take people unaware and get money out of them in the name of Biafra. These are the people you should ignore, I don't talk about Biafra. (Philip) Effiong came and said Biafra ceased to exist and since that day, Biafra has ceased to exist.”
He at that time told Sahara Reporters that “I won't blame the Igbo leaders. I will ignore them (the agitators). Igbo leaders that I've talked about, I mean the ones I've mentioned; Joe Irukwu won't go out and do that type of thing, and many of them. The people who are doing this are the same people you will find in 419 business, they are the same people you will find in drugs all over the world. To them, this is another source of money for them as far as they are concerned.”
Much criticism came the way of the former President after the interview was published, including the founder of the Igbo Youth Movement, IYM, and Deputy Secretary of the Igbo Leaders of Thought, ILT, Evangelist Elliot Uko, who responded that “for Obasanjo to say that is tragic. I don't know whether he's deliberately being mischievous because he should know that the agitation for Biafra is a potential threat, a big time-bomb, not just for the territorial integrity of Nigeria but also for peace in the entire West Africa.”
But while pointing out on Friday that he was cautious of getting into a debate on Biafra, Obasanjo however said: “Biafra as a secession issue is dead, and nobody should follow that way. I see it as a platform rather than a cause.”
He described the agitation as an industry through which some business-minded individuals made money from gullible people, citing an example with the issuance of the Biafran passport, “which takes one nowhere”.
According to him, “There is the commercialisation of the Biafran agitation, which is criminal – for example, the issuance of sold-called Biafran passport which takes on nowhere.
“Biafra agitation is as an industry; a means of making money. Biafra agitation is a hopeless and futile exercise of which nobody should embark on.”
Meanwhile, Lawal who spoke in Abakaliki, the Ebonyi State capital, during a one-day working visit, tasked Southeast leaders to call the various pro-Biafra groups to order.
Noting that the groups were misguided and had been causing crisis in the country, the SGF said they should not be allowed to continue, adding that the action of the agitators create an impression that Nigeria is not united.
He urged leaders in the Southeast to create employment opportunities for the youths so as to keep them busy as they would stop engaging in acts that are inimical to the peace of the country.
“Some misguided youths in the South East zone are causing crisis in the country and I charge all Igbo leaders to rise to the occasion and call these misguided youths to order.
“These misguided youths create the impression that Nigeria is not one, and insecure,” he stated.