Resurrection is never in the old form. As it is with life, so let it be with Biafra. From the grave of Biafra should arise a new Igbo spirit that is determined to build Nigeria for all Nigerians.
Since the end of the civil war, those who thought that they could do it without Ndígbo have failed woefully. The impact has been worse on the Igbo man who is the figure of the average Nigerian struggling to survive against the harsh national environment of incompetent and corrupt leadership. Buhari inspired ethnocentric governance that had Ndígbo at the very end of the pecking order and led to security agencies organizing death dances in Igbo land as the dividend of federalism that was fitting for them.
Indiscipline in the armed forces is a wild fire that is difficult to keep within a targeted location. Buhari soon lost control of security as death squads with different labels over ran much of the North, particularly his own home State, Katsina State. The situation is getting worse under Tinubu, so much so that Buhari has fled Daura in Katsina State (where nearly all the agencies and departments of the country fell over each other to cite one project or the other) to Kaduna.
Buhari’s anti-wealth creation policies also grew mass poverty to the extent that we have become the poorest nation on earth. The situation has again worsened under Tinubu where devaluation and taxation have reduced disposable income to such a level that businesses that depend on household spending are dying off.
From the bowels of the buried Biafra must therefore emerge a New Biafra consisting of all Nigerians, irrespective of ethnicity, religion or class who have had enough of a perpetually failing Nigeria and have sworn to change the narrative to build a modern, peaceful and functioning country satisfying the aspirations of its people for a place that they can be proud to call home.
By Chuks Nwachuku, legal practitioner and leadership and good governance advocate. [email protected]
