BIAFRA : We Don’t Need Asari Dokubo’s Biafra– PANDEF, Ohanaeze

 

Relatedly, the president-general, Coalition of South East Youth Leaders (COSEYL), Chief Goodluck Ibem, described the declaration as a joke and the entertainment of the year, saying Asari Dokubo is seeking for attention which nobody is ready to give to him.

A few days after Mujahid Asari Dokubo of the Niger Delta Peoples Salvation Force proclaimed a Biafra Customary Government and declared himself as its head, the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) and Ohanaeze Ndigbo have said their aspirations cannot be realised through the purported republic.

In its reactions to Asari Dokubo’s proclamation, PANDEF said the so-called Biafra Customary Government was not in tandem with the desires and aspirations of the Niger Delta people at this particular time.

Asari Dokubo, who announced the republic last Sunday, named Uche Mefor as head of information and communication of the customary government.

He also appointed George Onyibe as secretary and Emeka Esiri as head of legal matters of the new government.
On his plans for the new Biafra Republic, the ex-militant said, “We proceed to set up provincial structures of government starting with provincial assemblies and provincial governance and administrators.”

But in an interaction with LEADERSHIP Friday in Port Harcourt, PANDEF spokesman, Ken Robinson, said evident bias under the current administration is a contributory factor to the increasing calls for secession by certain ethnic-based groups.

Robinson said, “We do not think Asari Dokubo’s declaration of a supposed Biafra Customary Government is in tandem with the desires and aspirations of the Niger Delta people at this time.

“Though the evident bias under the current administration is a contributory factor to the increasing calls for secession by certain ethnic-based groups; that is not our focus. We are not aware of any ethnic nationality in the Niger Delta region that has communicated support for any of these groups. We have seen some maps of the so-called republics, where some parts of the Niger Delta are crafted into the Oduduwa Republic,” he said.

Also, Ohanaeze Ndigbo president in Cross River State branch, Barr. Ugorji Nwabueze, said Asari Dokubo’s declaring himself as Biafran leader was “ridiculous and a mere imposition of himself on the people.”

The spokesman of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Alex Ogbonnia, said the body was not opposed to agitations or freedom of associations.
According to him, people have the right to form any association they like, adding that the constitution pledged freedom of association for all citizens.

He said Asari Dokubo’s declaration of Biafara Customary Government was not the first time the apex Igbo social-cultural organisation was hearing that kind of group.

Similarly, the leader of the Movement for the Survival of Ijaw Ethnic Nationality in the Niger Delta (MOSIEND), Kennedy Tonjo West, described Asari Dokubo’s action as “disrespectful and an affront to the ancestral integrity of those ancient towns he made mentioned off.”

West said: “We respect Asari Dokubo’s views on so many issues; he has contributed immensely to the advancement of the Izon cum Niger Delta agitations. His Biafra Customary Government adventure has a narrow perspective. It lacks acceptance, it is disrespectful and an affront to the ancestral integrity of those ancient towns he made mentioned off. It is disturbing, misleading and undermining.

“There was no proper consultation with leaders and actors in the struggle. As a people if we keep quiet and ignore Asari because he is perceived to be a controversial fellow, it might boomerang someday. So for the records, MOSIEND is stating that the communities claimed to be Biafra province is untrue.”

To Nwabueze, Asari Dokubo declaring himself as Biafran leader is “somehow ridiculous and a mere imposition of himself on the people. Declaring himself as head of Customary Government is like you were there, when they started cooking the food, as at the time of dropping the food, somebody claimed to have cook the food,” he said.

Nwabueze said the important thing is that the federal government has declared “IPOB as an illegal group. I wouldn’t want to disown him like Egbesu and other Ijaw leaders disowned him and declared him as a lone ranger and somebody who has been speaking for himself. The important thing is that the federal government has declared IPOB as an illegal group.

On how the federal government should handle the issue, Nwabueze said that as a father who is in the house, where there is an uprising, the government must be very determined and diligently handle it.

The national president of Ohanaeze Youth Council (OYC), Comrade Igboayaka, said Asari Dokubo was alone in the declaration of Biafra Customary Government.

He said, “Nobody was consulted by the ex-militant, the traditional rulers, prominent citizens of the zone, politicians were not consulted. The exercise looks like a child play.”

According to him, “This has exposed Asari Dokubo as a joker of the century. Nigerians have a lot of important things to do and not to discuss or watch a man who wants to distract them from focusing on pertinent matters confronting them.”