In this interview, the head of Directorate of State of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Uchenna Asiegbu answered some questions ranging from IPOB's stand in the Nigerian politics and agitation in some quarters for an Igbo presidency. Read after the cut...
Will you say the Igbo has benefited under the President Muhammadu Buhari-led APC government?
The straightforward answer is capital NO and this position is never likely to change even if Buhari were to remain in power forever. We are not just talking about the Igbo here, we are referring to his attitude towards the generality of Biafrans which is beyond the Igbo speaking parts of the South East and South South. When we make reference to the Igbo as a people, it's important we bare in mind that Igboland started from Igbanke (Igbo-Akiri) in Edo State and not from head-bridge Onitsha.
What most people still don't know is that during the earliest part of our (IPOB) rallies to release our leader in October 2015, Biafrans in their millions marched from Agbor Delta State to Enugu by foot. Till date this event remains a feat unprecedented in the history of Nigeria.
The media and most commentators seem to have also forgotten that Bayelsa State; yes Bayelsa State, were the first people to protest for the release of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu the IPOB leader. The very first massacre of protesters happened at Mbiama River, which is the river crossing between Bayelsa and Rivers State.
Buhari hates every Biafran with an indescribable level of passion because even if we consider the case of Justice Onnoghen who has been denied substantive confirmation as the Chief Justice of the Federation, despite the fact he is from "Niger Delta", you will understand where we are coming from. Justice Onnoghen is not Igbo but the same hatred for the Igbos has been passed on to him by this Buhari administration.
A while back the Minister of Labour and Productivity, Dr. Chris Ngige, dismissed as false, claims by the former Ohanaeze Ndigbo administration led by Chief Enwo-Igariwey that President Muhammadu Buhari is unfair to the Igbo. Do you share Ngige’s views?
We do not share his views though we understand why he would make them. He is one of those feeding off the crumbs falling from the master's (Buhari) table in Abuja which have characterised the unfortunate role these supposed Igbo 'elites' have been playing in Nigerian politics since after the Biafra Nigeria War.
Ngige is doing exactly what any subdued slave would do in order to protect the interest of his master. Those saddled with the attitude of Dr. Chris Ngige are no longer considered serious players or relevant in the scheme of unfolding events that actually matter in the lives of our people. We have had so many of these shameless, slavish, washed out politicians of his ilk since 1970 and they will continue to crop up until Biafra is restored. Time after time they have been used and dumped by their Hausa Fulani political masters.
The saddest part of this sorry tale is that they always return from Abuja with the same old story of marginalisation, whenever their Arewa godfather dispense with their services. Look at the serial betrayers like Jim Nwobodo, Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu and Co, where are they today? Same old traitors, same old story. If Lucifer himself were to be in Aso Rock today, you will find a discredited sell out answering to an Igbo 'elite' vigorously campaigning for we Biafrans to vote for him as the solution to all our problems.
These Igbo political contractors parading themselves as some sort of an elite, are endlessly strategising on new supposedly beneficial political permutations to no avail. Every one of these politicians like Ngige, always have one spectacular move or strategic maneuver that will turn the Igbo fortune around but in the end nothing ever materialises. Same old Abuja slaves, same old story, so there is nothing new here.
Between an Igbo becoming president and achieving Biafra, which do you prefer?
As the British would say, this question is a "no brainer". It's like asking somebody to choose between purgatory and heaven, darkness and light, hope and despair. We are IPOB, we exist solely for Biafra restoration, nothing more nothing less. Igbo presidency would not solve anything, instead it would make matters worse.
Are the contestants not going to be the same Lagos-Abuja based individuals that arrogate the title 'elite' to themselves with nothing demonstrably elitist to show for it? These are the same crop of people that have consistently sold Biafra interest down the river over the years.
Even the Goodluck Jonathan administration was considered more beneficial to the North than any part of Biafraland. Jonathan did not complete one major landmark infrastructural project anywhere in Biafraland but he built a modern railway line between Kaduna and Abuja in the hope that the North will love him, which never happened. That is how Biafran politicians behave.
They are always craving Hausa Fulani acceptance and love which never materialises. The great Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe went as far as sacrificing Biafra to please Nigeria yet he was never accepted by the same Hausa Fulani he was trying so hard to please. The neglect of Biafraland tells you all you need to know about these politicians and their mindset. To them, charity always begin in the North and that is why they are in the fine mess they find themselves in today.
Do you think an Igbo man will ever become president in the country?
No, because Biafra is on the verge of being restored and we won't trade it for anything in the world, not even an Igbo presidency of the United States of America. Very soon the world will understand how serious we are about Biafra. Any Igbo man or woman that presents him or herself as a presidential candidate of any party will become the object of public ridicule. Just relax and watch events unfold.
The former Secretary General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Dr. Joe Nworgu, recently said the organisation backed former President Goodluck Jonathan against Buhari in the 2015 presidential election because Buhari had always been unfair to Igbo
Dr. Nworgu is even kind in expressing his candidly held view about Buhari, however the fact remains that Buhari has not only been unfair, he enjoys killing Biafrans in general and Igbo people in particular.
The first military action Buhari ordered upon assuming office was not against Boko Haram but against innocent civilians in Cross River and Akwa Ibom creeks, in the name of fighting sea piracy.
IPOB have a copy of the letter Buhari's APC Government wrote to the government of Australia when IPOB petitioned them to prevail upon Buhari to stop the killing of innocent civilian populations.
Buhari used banned chemical weapons on defenceless civilian populations or is it the endless massacre of unarmed IPOB protesters and rally goers. The record is there for all to see.
Despite all these atrocities, some self serving greedy politicians, that claim they are leaders in Igboland and wider Biafra, proudly claim they support Buhari the killer of their own people. Such men and women do not deserve to live amongst us because they are ever ready to sacrifice our lives for meagre political gains.
Do you see the Igbo supporting the president in 2019?
That is absolutely impossible for two reasons. One, no person in their right mind will support Buhari who has come to personify death and destruction of lives and property in Biafraland. The Hausa Fulani dominated army, police, navy and judiciary have it as their primary goal to kill, maim, torture and subjugate Biafrans on a daily basis.
Secondly, there will be no election in Biafraland not just in Igbo speaking territories but all across Biafraland come 2019 because frankly speaking, people have had enough of the same old, discredited, washed out and corrupt individuals recycling themselves in political office year after year with nothing to show for it.
Our priority at IPOB is to hold a valid binding referendum, not the endless cycle of electing mediocrity after mediocrity into political positions that only result in misery, pain and premature death.
How do you think Buhari can pacify the Igbo ahead of 2019?
In as much IPOB is concerned, Buhari's sins and that of the Nigerian state is beyond pardon. Buhari with his Islamic Caliphate security apparatus masquerading and Nigerian Army, Police and Navy have killed so many Biafrans that forgiveness is almost impossible from this brutalised generation.
What Buhari has done through his wholesale massacre of IPOB family members has stored up hatred in our hearts that will last a thousand years. What successive Nigerian Governments and Nigerians at large have done to IPOB agitators and Biafrans in general will never be forgiven or forgotten and we mean never.
There have been reports of another mega party owing to the crisis in the APC. Where do you see the Igbo in this new alignment?
We are not against anybody joining whatever party of their choice but you will understand how massive IPOB is and the yearning of ordinary people for freedom before 2019.
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