REDEFINING THE MAP OF BIAFRA

BY UGOCHUKWU AUGUSTINE CHIGBOO

We are the global movement and family of the Indigenous People of Biafra IPOB under the command and leadership of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.

Our attention has been drawn to the blackmail being sponsored by our detractors that IPOB has drawn the Biafra map. We, therefore, want to debunk such fallacious narrative. We did not draw any Biafra map, rather the European navigators, explorers and merchant adventurers used the word Biafra to refer to the present Cross River, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Delta, Rivers States of Nigeria and South East Cameroon, Gabon and Equatorial Guinea, which was the coastline to them as the “Bight of Biafra” in the early 16th century.  The German publisher Johann Heinrich Zedler, in his encyclopedia of 1731, published the exact geographical location of Biafra to be underneath 6 degrees 10 min latitude.

We understand that some people in the coastal region of Biafra have been manipulated to believe that the present map of Biafra was drawn by Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), they have also been psychologically induced to disassociate themselves from Biafra so that they can feed fat from the stench of corruption that emanates from the Abuja, the corruption capital of the world, which also serves as the capital of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

These are calculated ploys designed to bring divisions amongst Ijaws and their brothers.

Ijaw National Council (INC) should understand and remember that their brother Dr. Frank Opigo, a former Administrative Governor of Yenagoa province suggested the name Biafra to Gen. Emeka Odumegwu Ojukwu who officially named the entire area under his control as the military Governor of old eastern region as at of the secession.  Therefore, it is high time they stopped saying that Ijaw wasn’t conquered pre-colonial and Colonial era because Igbo never said they were conquered.

Igbo people never conquered any tribe in the old Eastern region because our fathers saw themselves as one family, and today IPOB and Nnamdi KANU have towed the peaceful steps and accommodating spirits  of our fathers but if any tribe undermined our no problem you  can continue on your own.

Being part of BIAFRA will never be by coercion but a voluntary matter through referendum, same way Equatorial Guinea wanted to join the Federal Republic of Nigeria, but was rejected by the Supreme Military Council led by myopic and Idiotic Gowon.

Any tribe or ethnicity who doesn’t want to be part of Biafra will never be forced to do so. Such tribes are free to go on their own but you must conduct referendum for your people to decide their fate on the agitation for Biafra. We can attest that Igbo people never fought against any tribe in olden days because Igbo believe in the spirit of live and let live (Onyeaghala Nwanne ya and, Ibiri Kamu biri) Again Ijaw tribe and other tribes in the old Eastern region including Mid-Western region are Igbo brothers and sisters today, tomorrow and forever.

Igbo are not going to force anybody or tribe to join the fight for Biafra freedom. Let every tribe try what they can to wake up for their freedom because freedom is good and remains the best for all of us.  No tribe in the old Eastern region and Western region should allow themselves to be deceived because Nnamdi KANU and IPOB did not draw map for Biafra. Instead, we are staking our precious lives for all and it is the sacrifice we ought to pay for the realization of our and independence. We are staking all we have for this freedom project, without Igbo tribe being in forefront of this struggle the struggle would have been a thing of the past and we must continue until freedom is totally achieved.

Again, we appreciate the move by Izon tribe and other tribes in the region to achieve freedom but they should not look by the side because if they do, they will lose their focus then the freedom will move out of their hands, let them focus and stop displaying their hatred against Igbo tribe without Igbo they are gone in this Nigeria designed and approved for Fulani to control. They should know that IPOB and Igbo are not their problems but Fulani and the corrupt politicians in our midst. Let Love lead!

* Ugochukwu Augustine Chigboo is a political activist and a freedom fighter