BIAFRA: THE NEED FOR SELF DEFENSE

Mazi Nnamdi Kanu In one of his appearances in Abuja High Court

Permit me to open up with the ageless Igbo adage "soso osisi k'asi n'aga egbu okwuru ofu ebe".

It is not in my habit translating Igbo adages because when done, it losses depth, colour, and most importantly, glory. But since we are now on that thin line separating the living and the dead; since we are just a step away from extinction, for the benefit of aliens, friends who are interested in our continuous existence, Non-Igbo speaking Biafrans, and Igbo Biafrans who cannot understand their own language due to where they were raised, I hereby offer to translate the above adage....."Only a tree hears it is about to be killed and remains standing where it is".

If you are adept with history, a glance at the happenings in that most inhuman enclave called "Nigeria", will offer you at once, the regrettable and yet conscious-awakening realization that history is towing the path of repetition. A journey down the memory lane of the calamitous, catastrophic, and inhuman events of 1945, 50s, and 60s, which later metamorphosed into what it is, "full scale genocidal enterprise" against the one and only most-hated and must-be-extinct Biafra, even the blind could see, placing side-by-side the events of the old and that of now, that war is here with us. It doesn't matter how one may want to pretend it is not.

The trouble with Biafrans – especially the Igbo-speaking parts, is that they do not understand the saying "make hays while the sun shines". An Igbo Biafran doesn't understand the concept of "planning ahead". He does not run from the rain until it's all over him. Tell him he is getting drowned in the river, once his head is still above the water body, he will say to you “you don't know what you are saying”.....and he will be there arguing with vain words until the water covers his head entirely. Such is the damning attitude of an Igbo Biafran. What a pity!

Watching an interview by late Gen Philip Effiong, I learnt with rude shock they went into the war with only 128 rifles. I28 rifles to defend the entire Biafran territory.......that's ridiculous. But surprisingly, with 128 rifles, they defended the territory for three years..waging war not just against the Nigerian military with all their assorted arsenal, but also against the entire world.....Britain at the forefront. What could have happened if they were better equipped? Your guess is as good as mine.

They lost the war.....because it was a sudden war, they were unprepared, they were unarmed, they didn't know it will come to the levels it did. At this juncture, it becomes incumbent on us to extricate facts from the conscious erroneous Yoruba-media mediated terse but vulnerable quote, "Ojukwu declared war", aimed at nothing but misleading the people.....most notably the younger generation. Ojukwu never declared war. Agreements were reached in Aburri, and Gowon, the then Nigerian military head of states attested his signature to that pact, and returned to Lagos only to distort it. Ojukwu trying to hold on to that pact, declared the independent sovereign state of Biafra. Nigerian Government, led by Gowon, then declared what it first called “police action” on Biafra, but when it saw that Biafra, like the trodden orphan toddler that shrugs off ill winds to reach the sun, was more than determined to live, declared full scale war against Biafra. So Ojukwu only fought to defend the people of Biafra whom God has put in his care.

Our fathers didn't want to fold their hands and wait to be slayed on their bed. They chose to go out into the field to confront the enemy..... and that they did with bare hands. They are worthy heroes, and will always be remembered as such. But the bitter note is “they lost the battle”. They lost because they were ill-prepared, they lost because they were unarmed.......they lost because they fought with bare hands while the people they were fighting against were lousy with armory.

The Islamic marauding troops let loose by the Sultan and the Northern Political elite class who, in most disrespectful manner, hold strongly that "they are born to rule", are already maximally equipped, and doubly ready to descend on us. And they have been. Think of the recent Nsukka massacre, think of Delta mayhem, how about Ogoja? Okigwe? Aba? Ezi-Agu? Ebonyi? They call them Herdsmen? They are all Boko Haram - with the same murderous poise and genocidal drive. It is just a change of strategy but the same goal – extermination! Ever asked yourself, "how are these mongers able to lay hand on such sophisticated arsenal with which they capture territories and dislodge Nigerian military"? I leave you to figure it out yourself.

And then the recent beheading of our dear sister in Kano. And what did your supposed president, Buhari say? “She disrespected the Muslim faith.” Doesn’t that send a strong message to you? And while we are still mourning her, another of our own got stabbed for eating while they (the Muslims) are in Ramadan fasting. But our brother is not a Muslim, why punishing him for not observing Ramadan fasting? Islamization! That’s the answer you wouldn’t want to hear. But it’s here already. Your “One Nigeria” is an Islamic state … check member countries of OIC and you will figure things out yourself. Bro, you are already a Muslim, and I mean, if you are lucky to escape their sword and bullet.

Now that the dissonant air is pregnant with decisive war, what are the Biafrans doing to ensure that when the tragic rain that is imminent touches the ground, they will not be crushed with ease? Will we fold hands until it's too late? Would we rather die in our beds or in the field? Would we rather die as cowards or as heroes? Would we rather run from the rain now that it is just drizzling or wait until we are drenched in it? Would we rather make hays while the sun is still shining, or fool around until sunset, and then cry foul play? Would we just fight to loss again? Never!

We must fight for our right to breathe; we must fight for our children to live; we must fight to preserve our heritage; we must fight in defense of our land. If we refuse to equip ourselves against the hovering tempest, we will all be destroyed, and if there be any remnant, be enslaved forever. This is why that lonely voice in Radio Biafra.....that strident voice.....shrill like the voice of John the Baptist crying in the wilderness.......the voice of that most selfless fellow, the refined gentleman that abandoned the comfort and luxury of United Kingdom to suffer humiliation, torture and degradation in the Zoo called Nigeria, the Prince that moved from palace to prison for the sake of you and I, the true prophet and servant of Most High God Chukwu Okike Abiama, the conduit of heaven here on earth, Nnamdi Kanu, and his most esteemed deputy, the Big Iroko, the tested and trusted Uche Mefor, is calling on all and sundry to wake up from slumber and prepare against the obvious.

In ensuring that we do not lick our wounds as did our fathers in 1967-1970, we are to equip ourselves against the enemy. By so doing, we need ammunition. We don't manufacture one......at least for now, so we can only buy. We can't buy with empty hand, and this is why the editorial board of Radio Biafra in conjunction with the Directorate of States, and indeed the entire body of Indigenous People Of Biafra, are hereby appealing to you to help preserve our own life that is now obvious on the blinks, and that of our unborn children by contributing whatever you can for our defense. Remember, if we were equipped, Fulani would not have entered Nsukka, Delta, Ogoja, Ebonyi and the likes to butcher our parents in our own land. You know what I am driving at, so please we need to defend our land.

Contact the head of Finance Department, Lady Nnennaya Anya, in Germany for donations.

For further clarifications, contact the following people; Engineer Clifford Chukwuemeka Iroanya (USA), Lady Nnennaya Anya (Germany), Innocent Onyekachukwu Nmaram Ugochukwu (USA), Mazi Chukwudi Oforma (Australia), and Chika Edoziem (Switzerland).

Wake up Biafrans, let us build this tower of Babel. With one heart, there is nothing we cannot do. Igwe bu ike !

By Nelson Ofokar Yagazie.
Published by Chinwe Korie