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Saturday 24 October 2015

DON’T UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF BIAFRANS---FANI KAYODE TELLS BUHARI

DON’T UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF BIAFRANS---FANI KAYODE TELLS BUHARI


I am not a Biafran and neither am I igbo. I do however believe that it is the inalienable right of any human being or ethnic nationality to aspire to be free and to be able to determine their own destiny.

The right of self-determination is enshrined in international law and it is guaranteed by every moral stricture known to man. It is a right that has been exercised successfully over and over again in world history and it has led to the creation of new nations which were carved out of older ones.

The denial of that right and the suppression and persecution of those who attempt to exercise it leads to nothing but defiance, dissent and resistance and, if not properly managed, it eventually spills over into war and carnage.
This has been the primary cause of most of history’s most brutal civil wars, including the American, Russian, French, English, Indian, Sri Lankan, Sudanese, Nigerian, Angolan, Congolese, Zimbabwean, Yugoslavian, Ukrainian, Nicaraguan, Cuban, Irish, Syrian, Libyan, Indonesian, Korean, Vietnamese, Spanish, Iraqi, Italian ones and countless others.

I do not believe in violent change and neither do I believe in war, revolution, terror or the use of arms in the pursuance of even the most noble causes.

I do however believe in the power of ideas and the right of any man, woman or people to yearn to be free from bondage and to peacefully and freely express that yearning.

It is in this context that I situate my belief in and support for those that view the Nigerian Federation as an oppressive entity which has effectively enslaved its people in an attempt to create what is essentially an artificial and unworkable state.

Those that believe in Nigeria have every right to continue to do so and to voice their resolve to keep Nigeria one. What they do not have the right to do is to refuse to offer the same degree of freedom of expression to those that do not believe in a united Nigeria and who instead believe in the peaceful dissolution of our nation to speak their minds and voice their views.

What is good for the goose is surely good for the gander. You cannot grant one side of the divide freedom of expression whilst you deny it to the other.
This is all the more so because freedom of expression is the lifeblood of any democracy. It must be accorded in equal measure to those that believe in Nigeria and to those that do not.

It is in this light that we must consider the plight of Mr. Nnamdi Kanu, the director of Radio Biafra and the man that has been described by the Igbo World Assembly as ”Buhari’s first political prisoner”.

We may not like his style, we may not like his radio station, we may not share his views or approve of his methods but one thing that we cannot take from Mr. Kanu is his right to hold such views and to express them in a peaceful and lawful manner no matter how distasteful those views may be to some.

To deny him this most basic human right is not only an act of intellectual terrorism but it is also the most grave and barbaric manifestation of what is essentially an evolving police state where different or contrary views cannot be accommodated by those in power.

When Mr. Alex Salmon and his Scottish Nationalist Party began the agitation for the dissolution of the United Kingdom and for the establishment of Scottish independence many years ago they were not charged to court, locked up indefinitely or murdered by the British authorities but instead they were eventually given the opportunity to participate in a referendum and test their ideas.

The same thing happened in the Catalan region of Spain where the agitation for the establishment of a new nation is compelling and very popular. Sadly President Buhari who, like most in his generation, are still stuck in the mindset of a civil war general, has refused to learn from this.

The biggest mistake and miscalculation of his administration so far is not the ruthless implementation of its patently and monstrously unapologetic northern agenda but rather its absurd resolve to lock up Mr. Kanu indefinitely and to effectively throw the key away simply because he dared to call for the establishment of Biafra.

As far as I am aware Mr. Kanu has not used or advocated the use of violence whilst expressing himself and neither have any of his supporters. One therefore wonders what has panicked the Federal Government to such a point that they not only have to lock him up but that they also have to violate the law of the land by not allowing him to see his lawyer and by not presenting him before a court of law and charging him within the constitutionally-prescribed three days.

State-sponsored violence and intimidation, the violation of human rights, illegal incarceration, the murder of innocents and the vicious suppression of legitimate ideas leads to nothing but hardened hearts, greater defiance and the spread of anger and dissent.

The principle is simple and clear: the more you fan the flame of tyranny and repression the more the passion and fire for liberty spreads.
It follows that the biggest favor that President Buhari’s security agencies could have done for the Biafran cause was to lock up Mr. Kanu and thereby transform him from being a little-known secessionist into the living symbol of the Biafran struggle, a respected freedom fighter, a champion of the Igbo people and an internationally-acclaimed political prisoner.

It is no wonder that leading politicians from all over the world, including the former Home Secretary and former Leader of the Labor Party in the United Kingdom, Mrs. Harriet Harman, have called for his release. President Putin of Russia and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu of Israel have done the same.

Their call was the right and proper thing to do and I add my voice to that call. I have never met or spoken to Mr. Kanu but I am moved by his passion and courage.

I am also persuaded by the logic and force of his public assertions. He has made a compelling case for the establishment of Biafra and millions of young Igbos from all over the world have bought into it.
It is left for those that do not agree with him to make a better case and to stem the Biafran tide. That is the monumental challenge that those that do not agree with Mr. Kanu’s views or his methods have.

I have not always been on the same page with our Igbo brothers yet despite that one thing is clear: only the callous would deny the fact that they have suffered immeasurably in the Nigerian Federation over the last 50 years.

Only the uninformed would deny the fact that they have been butchered, murdered, persecuted, broken, humiliated, insulted, cheated and treated with contempt and disdain more than any other ethnic group in the country since July 1966.

What the Nigerian state is confronted with in the new generation of igbos who refuse to be cowed is a time-bomb. Unlike their fathers they cannot be appeased or intimidated.

They are not fearful of the prospect of a second civil war. They are not prepared to settle for crumbs and neither do they fear death, conflict, defeat, incarceration, butchery or persecution.

They are imbued with a spirit that cannot be suppressed and the more they cry ”Biafra” the more the spirits of the millions that were slaughtered on the Biafran side during the civil war are invoked.

The more they cry ”Biafra” the more the souls of the hundreds of thousands of their people that were butchered during the barbaric pogroms in the north in the mid-60’s are remembered. The worst thing that the Nigerian authorities can do is to treat them with levity or contempt.
They are angry, they are fed up, they refuse to be enslaved, they want a brighter future and they have come to realise that they have nothing to lose.

The most inappropriate thing that President Buhari can do is to continue to underestimate the power of their resolve or the clarity of their intent. The worst thing that they can do is to begin to jail them, to shed their blood and to take their lives.

The more you lock up the Biafrans, the more they will rise up. The more you mock them, the more they will shout. The more you kill them, the more their anger will be kindled.

The more you deny them, the more they will wax stronger. The more you treat them with disdain, the more they will defy you. You cannot resist an idea whose time has come.

This is a fact that we must all accept and it is with this in mind that I urge President Buhari and the Federal Government to not only release Mr. Nnamdi Kanu but also to tread with the utmost restraint and caution when dealing with those that are agitating for Biafra.

24 comments

  1. carry go Kayode my man

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  2. We are not asking you to support us via this your memo because it has nothing to do with us anyway we are formidable and resolute and Chukwuokike will always be with us Isee!!!

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    1. Please when someone said the truth, please give him or she that credit, becouse if every Biafra man will do Just the Mr Kayude did Biafra will be here tomorow,alldo is Clear that Biafra is here aready. Up biafran

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  3. But 4 d fact he recognized d truth and voiced it out unlike Yorubas that always turning away 4rm d truth..may God bless u FFK

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  4. May the blessing of God be with you for this awesome truth. We need a good future???

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  5. The Real Man from Yorubaland together with Fayose. Little wonder OBJ is . . . on them.

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  6. The truth will always prevail ..,

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  7. He has made a point and to show that his hands are not part of Biafran blood-

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  8. WHY IS BUHARI AFRAID? WHY ARE THOSE CALLING FOR ONE NIGERIA AFRAID? WHY IS BRITAIN AFRAID? TEST THE BIAFRAN IDEA ON THE SCALE OF REFERENDUM IF YOU BELIEVE IN ONE NIGERIA! THE TRUTH IS THAT THE NIGERIAN STATE IS A FAILURE! NO AMOUNT OF FORCE CAN KEEP IT! BIAFRA HAS COME TO STAY AND NO MAN CAN STOP IT! THE NIGERIAN INTIMIDATION,TERROR,ARREST,IMPRISONMENT, TRYING TO JAMM RADIO BIAFRA, AND THEIR OTHER UNCIVILIZED METHODS AMOUNT TO NOTHING! ALL HAIL BIAFRA!

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  9. They are imbued with a spirit that cannot be suppressed and the more they cry ”Biafra” the more the spirits of the millions that were slaughtered on the Biafran side during the civil war are invoked. God will answer.

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  10. Oga Kayode, Oga Kayode God will bless you for the boldness to speak the truth.
    From today I repent for any thing I have said against you as one who was a minister under the "area of darkness called Nigeria". I have been following your writings in the recent time. That you have stood with us in time like this we will not forget you tomorrow if we eventually continue to live. But if at the end OUR ENEMIES ARE ABLE TO KILL ALL OF US. please continue at the said of truth, our God will bless you. Once again thank you and all who are standing for the truth.

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  11. This is the truth noting but truth God almighty will bless you

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  12. William Shakesppeare said " It is the eye of childhood that fears a painted Devil" an awesome article; the Biafran war story was the first time when Western consciences were awakened and deeply afronted by the level of suffering and the scale of atrocity meted out to aparticular tribe; And on the other hand also shows the duplicity and self interests of the western government; most notably the British who tacitly accepted and aided that pogrom. Ambition never rests- I have personally noticed that " The concept of Biafra is an immortal desire in the innermost heart of every true Igbo Extraction- in anywhere in the world; you can be an Igbo person without being a Biafra; you can be a non Igbo -and you are a core Biafra- welcome Kayode in our world" what encapsulated the spirit of Biafra more than anything else was patriotism and the idealogy of the will to survive- " People learn to survive themselves where there is no way out- Self preservation is the first law of survival. DONT FORGET HISTORY FAVORS THE WRITERS- Let us re write our story.

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  13. Nnaemeka L Onwuka.24 October 2015 at 06:42

    I once think that Mr Ffk is always an antagonist especially when it comes to things that concerns igbos. But for some times now he is always on point, just keep it on for the truth you said will surely make a way for you.

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  14. Fani kayode, Is the most intelligent respected individual in the South West.

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  15. FFK,may happiness locate you even as your wife is about to put to bed.. Thanks for understanding our pain... My respect for you has increased. Thank you.

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  16. F.F.K you are the man
    GOD almighty will help you to live a good
    life GOD bless you voice of the voicles

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  17. Ffk is a good man despite the Bianca issue

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  18. The greatest and most consistent fighter and a voice of truth in the South West with respect to the Biafran cause has always been and will be Prof Wole Soyinka. FFK under Soyinka's tutelage may become a second-rate herald!

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  19. Femi Kayode said it all. He crowned it all by saying the obvious, never you doubt the power of the Biafrans. Buhari is bringing this war upon the people and his own head is going with it. Nnamdi Kanu is our hero. We believe him, we trust him and we love him, if anyone feels offended by his speeches let the person charge him to court. It is the duty of the judge to decided his guilt. Buhari will get what he is looking for and it will be too late for regrets.

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  20. God bless Biafrans all over the world....

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