A former Chief of Army Staff,
Gen. Alani Akinrinade (rtd) has compared agitation being led by Nnamdi Kanu,
leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, and Ken Saro-Wiwa, late leader
of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP).
Akinrinade told Punch that the
latter went about his agitation in an intellectual context which attracted
sympathy from many Nigerians and the international community.
Ken, writer and environmental
activist, was killed alongside his colleagues in 1995 by the Abacha government.
The chieftain of the defunct
National Democratic Coalition, NADECO, was reacting to federal government’s
handling of the agitation.
He, however, warned that Biafra
and other agitators should not be treated as hoodlums.
His words: “It is usually treasonable to take up arms against one’s country – even to have violent demonstrations. But, one must keep asking oneself: why?
“Why would a normal person, especially from the educated class, participate in anything that would be either illegal or dangerous?
“It is not good for us to look at these people (pro-Biafra agitators) as just hoodlums. We know how Isaac Adaka Boro was treated.
“He didn’t have military knowledge. If he did, Nigeria would have been a different place today. So, eventually he died.
“The next charge was led by an intellectual (Ken Saro-Wiwa) and it’s not different from what these boys (pro-Biafra agitators) are doing now and asking for – except that he put his own in a very intellectual context and tried to make us reason with him.
“What did we do? The government hanged him, hoping his ideas would die with him in the noose. That’s where we still are today.
“Therefore, whether Nnamdi Kanu embarked on his agitation the right or the wrong way, the question is: what prompted such agitation?
“Why would anybody keep talking about Biafra after the carnage, the wanton destruction of lives and properties and the psychological trauma brought upon Nigerians, not just people from the East?
“I don’t have the mind to condemn the Indigenous People of Biafra, the (Niger Delta) Avengers, and other groups. Who created the situation for these people to think differently from us?” Akinrinade said.
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This a reasonable truth from a fair-minded individual. "What's the cause of the agitation," he asks if I may paraphrase him. This question should be the focus of it all. The Federal Government should restructure Nigeria or ask for referendum to split the country, now.
ReplyDeleteGod will bless you my living legend. You have said the gospel truth without fear or favor. Americans fought the civil war to unite with the south that wanted a separate nation and since then the south never regretted been part USA because every citizen in America is treated equally irrespective of race, colour or religion.
ReplyDeleteWisdom
ReplyDeleteSooooo nice to read
ReplyDeleteTalk to the other retired officers so that you can join hands together and agitate for referendum to have your Biafra state. The above comments are hailing you for backing IPOB, but if northern elder back their own youths it becomes a crime. Let's divide the country final
ReplyDeleteNigeria needs more moderate voices like this to stir the country from the impending crisis. This is not a good time for sectarianism and name calling. If we can drown out the rhetoric and thuggery and focus on the underlying concerns of every Nigerian; If we listen more and are not quick to dismiss regional agitations; if we get rid of the stereotypes and hatred; if parents stop passing hatred and negative experiences to their children's children; if we can learn to love and respect people even when we fundamentally disagree with them; if we do not neglect the need for an open and frank conversation about the destiny of Nigeria. Then i see hope for a one Nigeria
ReplyDelete