Mikel denies link to Biafra agitation

 

Former Super Eagles’ skipper, John Obi Mikel has denied reports in some sections of the media linking him to the Biafra agitation in Nigeria, AOIFootball.com reports.

According to news published last month, it was reported that the former Chelsea midfielder stated that Biafra is what Nigeria needs and not an Igbo president, but Mikel called the reports dumb and malicious.

A shocked Mikel, who is currently enjoying time away from football with his family, stated that he has never been involved in the politics of Nigeria and that he would never do anything to jeopardise the peace of Nigeria.

“I was as shocked as you are to see the video that I supported a Biafra government. I never spoke to anybody about such and would never get myself involved with such things, especially matters that have to do with the politics of the country.

“I’m fully focused on what has made me who I’m today (football); it’s been a very tough season and I’m just enjoying time with family and focusing on the next step for my career,” Mikel said.

The 91 times capped Eagle further urged his fans to always maintain the peace of the country and desist from fake news.

The midfielder, who is currently without a club, has been linked with a move to several offers across Europe and South America, but said he is carefully accessing his options before deciding on where next to play his football.

Igbo Want Biafra Not Presidency, MASSOB Replies Ohanaeze

 

Ohanaeze has no agenda, but only pursuing their interest. They (Ohanaeze) are now shouting Igbo presidency. One of them is saying if they fail to get Igbo presidency in 2023, they will join Nnamdi Kanu to get Biafra.

The Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra has faulted the claim by Ohanaeze Ndigbo that it (Ohanaeze) has the mandate to realise a Nigerian president of Igbo extraction and not an independent state of Biafra.

MASSOB, which reacted to a statement credited to the leader of the Igbo apex socio-cultural organisation in Anambra State, Chief Damian Okeke-Ogene, said MASSOB remained the voice of Ndigbo and not Ohanaeze.

Okeke-Ogene had on Tuesday Ohanaeze Ndigbo was pursuing Igbo presidency because the executive of Ohanaeze led by Chief Nnia Nwodo, had the mandate of Ndigbo to negotiate the Igbo position in Nigeria.

But the National Director of information for MASSOB, Mr Sunday Okereafor, stated on Wednesday that contrary to Okeke-Ogene’s position, the people of the South-East were no longer interested in having a president of Igbo extraction, ThePunch reports.

Okereafor said, “Ohanaeze has no agenda, but only pursuing their interest. They (Ohanaeze) are now shouting Igbo presidency. One of them is saying if they fail to get Igbo presidency in 2023, they will join Nnamdi Kanu to get Biafra.

“The fact is that when they get to that point, one Ibrahim will emerge, and Onu will be the Vice President.

“Ohanaeze is not the voice of the Igbo; MASSOB is the voice of the Igbo. The leaders of the Igbo are in MASSOB. If you present Igbo presidency and Biafra to the Igbo, you will see that the Igbo will pick Biafra and dump Igbo presidency,” Okereafor added.

A Love Letter From Biafra To Okwesilieze Nwodo By Churchill Okonkwo

 

Okwy, no matter how beautiful and well-crafted a coffin might look; it will not make anyone wish for death. So, stop threatening to fight for me you mortal, Okwy. Rather, elevate my “never say die” Biafran spirit into a pragmatic politics.

Dear Okwesilieze (Okwy) Nwodo, when you threatened that the Igbo political elites like yourself, will team up with the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and fight for me, Biafra, Satan’s hammers and the war drums of hell started reverberating over and over in my abode. Okwy, I was wondering how could have easily forgotten what happened the last time you fought for me, Biafra?

Okwy, remember that a doctor who invoked a storm on his people cannot prevent his house from destruction. Why are you thinking of invoking the storm on your people again? Okwy, don’t your stomach feel queasy when you remember the starvation, deaths, agony, and misery faced by millions of Igbos in my enclave, Biafra, during the last civil war?

Okwy, note that any attempt to fight for me, Biafra, or the amorphous quest to “realize”, me, Biafra, is like taking a walk before your godly guardian. Just in case you do not know or may have forgotten, I am like the concept of infinity — one of the enigmas in mathematics. I am, thus, elusive, yet, enigmatic, and eternal.

Okwy, you disappointed me in that interview you granted to Vanguard Newspaper when you said that “In the spirit of fairness and equity, Nigeria should give the presidency to the south-east in 2023, otherwise, we will join him [Nnamdi Kanu] and fight for Biafra. If by this unfortunate statement, you, Okwy, was threatening Nigerians to “dash” Igbos the Nigerian Presidency or else you will join Nnamdi Kanu to fight for, me Biafra, then, you are stunningly incompetent.

You are incompetent Okwy, because you have forgotten about the Kenyan proverb that warned us not to follow a person who is running away. Nnamdi Kanu is like that headless ram that initiated a head-fight only to run away when the bulls entered the fighting arena.

If on the other hand, you, Okwy was begging Nigerians to “dash” Igbos the Nigerian Presidency, then, you are also stunningly incompetent because water that is begged for does not quench thirst. That is a story for another day, Okwy. Today, I am writing this love letter to beg you in the name of Amadioha and Ogwugwu not to fight for me. Be assured that if there is a need for a fight, I can take care of myself.

By the way, Okwy, who were you refereeing to as the “elites from the south-east” that are being “treated as second class citizens in Nigeria”? You? The governors from the southeast? Ike Ekweremadu? Theodore Orji? Pius Anyim? Chris Ngige? Arthur Eze? Rochas? Who? Are you talking of the greedy and selfish political class from the southeast that is only interested in their friends, families, and bottomless pockets?

Give me a break, Okwy!

Okwy, how could you be talking of a “fight”, in my name, for the same Igbo political elites that have done nothing about the state of infrastructure in southeastern Nigeria? It is very unfortunate whenever I hear some respected Igbo political elites and even clergymen who want to be seen to be in tandem with the street voice use my name as a Ping-Pong ball. It was thus, laughable to hear someone like you, Okwy, mention Nnamdi Kanu and my name, in the same sentence. What a cheap way to use my name in vain.

Okwy, it is disheartening that after qualifying yourself as one of the Igbo political elites, you descended to the lowest level of the abyss by characterizing IPOB and their leader as a serious Igbo group let alone one worth joining in “fighting” for me, Biafra. What an insult.

Here are some facts, Okwy: I am, Biafra, a Chi in Igbo Cosmology and I will remain unique, enigmatic, and mysteriously eternal, with or without your “fight”.

So, do not fight for me, Okwy. Rather, I will urge you to use your political clout, if you have any, to demand concrete deliverables of democracy from Igbo political elites like yourself. Please, stop using “marginalization” as a means for elites like yourself to whip up sentiments and gain the support of the umu Igbo, only to go and live big in Abuja. In Abuja, you and the so-called Igbo elites in APC and the PDP will metamorphose to mini gods, then, come back and “terrorize” your brothers and sisters with your ill-gotten wealth.

Here is a question, Okwy: if we put a hammer in every person’s hand, could they all become blacksmiths? No. But, unfortunately, Igbo leaders like you and the acclaimed Supreme Leader of Biafra are like those bricklayers, holding the hammers in different political, socio-cultural, and religious groups and parading yourselves as accomplished blacksmiths. Meanwhile, the hammers in your hands only serve as instruments of anguish.

Okwy, if an old woman ate two pieces of yam, and then said [by way of excuse] that she had no teeth, is it not proper to ask her how many did those who have teeth eat? If every ethnic nationality that lost out in an election takes up an arm, what will be left of Nigeria? If the towns and local governments that lost an election to the Nwodo’s, Ekweremadu, and co in Enugu state had opted to take up arms, what would have been the situation in your state?

Okwy, who do you and the mere mortals called elites think you are? Please, do not hold my Spirit, the Biafran Spirit hostage, by claiming that you will fight for me if you lose the 2023 Presidential election.

Finally, Okwy, dust yourselves up, you and your fellow political elites, and stop shedding tears with Nnamdi Kanu and IPOB. Stop hallucinating over me, Biafra. There is no thrill in almost doing anything in the game of life. The thrill comes from accomplishment, and many times the difference between accomplishment and failure is having the right mental attitude. Threatening to join Nnamdi Kanu and IPOB is the opposite of the right mental attitude.

Okwy, no matter how beautiful and well-crafted a coffin might look; it will not make anyone wish for death.  So, stop threatening to fight for me you mortal, Okwy. Rather, elevate my “never say die” Biafran spirit into a pragmatic politics.

From Biafra, with Love

Churchill Okonkwo, Ph.D.

COVID-19: Buhari, governors are comedians – Biafra group

 Biafra Nations Youth League, BNYL, has described as laughable President Muhammadu Buhari’s declaration on compulsory use of face mask.

The reaction was contained in a statement on Friday by BNYL leader, Chimezie Richard.

He noted that the Nigerian leader has never been seen wearing a face mask apart from when he travelled abroad.

He called Buhari and Governors who tested positive to COVID-19 as “comedians”.

“They have played with people’s intelligence enough”, the statement read.

“A leader should lead by example. We have never seen Buhari wearing a face mask in public. Is it that he is immune to the virus?

“The game has been played for long. We are not seeing positive results apart from Governors making cash from the sponsored propaganda in their states.

“They should stop this game, the lockdown didn’t work. The eased face of the lockdown is not working, no one is complying with the rules.”

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• Buhari govt using COVID-19 to stop us from gathering - Biafra group

Biafra we stand, not Igbo presidency –BIG

 

David Onwuchekwa,  Nnewi 

The Biafran Internal Government (BIG) Elders-in-Council, yesterday, faulted the decision of Ohanaeze Ndigbo and some  politicians  in the region advocating for Nigeria’s president of Igbo extraction.

The council stated this in a communiqué made available to Daily Sun after its plenary session in Owerri.

BIG said it was an Igbo man, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe that fought for the  independence of Nigeria in 1960, but was not  trusted to rule the country.

“As the Governor- General before Nigeria’s  independence, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe was  to  head the government, but he was betrayed by the same people he liberated through the efforts of Britain, and he was made a  ceremonial president, thus ceding all powers to Alhaji Tafawa Balewa, a  Fulaniman whom they (Britain)  trusted to work with,” the group said.

BIG expressed the fear that  two things were likely to happen in the country, either the Fulani with the support of Britain and multinational companies involved in lucrative contracts in Nigeria  would eventually succeed in their alleged planned conquest of the whole country or Niger Area, or the country would break into  six independent countries in no distant time, “which may result in waste of lives  and properties, if not properly handled.”

Igbos want presidency, not Biafra – Ohaneze

 

By Nwanosike Onu, Awka

The Apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation Ohanaeze Ndigbo has stated it is only interested in the 2023 presidency and pursuit of sovereign State by any group in the zone.

The group maintained that it is a right to the Southeast zone, not a privilege to get the presidency in 2023.

Ohaneze spoke Tuesday in Awka, Anambra State through its President in Anambra State, Chief Damian Okeke -Ogene, while briefing reporters after the group’s meeting

He said the leadership of Ohaneze has not mandated anyone or group to pursue actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra but Presidency of Igbo extraction.

He said that some youths within the territory that make up the defunct Biafra Republic were restive and had made case for Biafra’s restoration because of the gross marginalisation of the zone.

According to Okeke –Ogene: “We are pursuing Igbo president because the executive of Ohanaeze led by Nnia Nwodo has the mandate of Ndigbo to negotiate the Igbo position in Nigeria.

“He wasn’t given a mandate for the Sovereign State of Biafra. That’s why we are saying, give us what is due for us and Nigeria’s president of Igbo extraction is what we are looking for.

“The other aspect of IPOB is because our children seem to find out that Nigerians are not ready to give us what we want; we the elders.

“They are now saying that if you’re not going to answer my father, I am going to tell my father that I am going to be myself.

“They are two different things. Let me tell you, it is coming to a point that Igbo presidency is becoming a right; no more privilege because it is only the South East that has never tasted the presidency and we have been voting for everybody.

“So, the younger ones are agitating that Nigerians are not ready to answer us.

“If they are sure that Nigerians are going to answer us, I believe that they will calm down. Nigeria is for all of us.”

He vowed Ndigbo would not relent until 2023 presidency is achieved.

Our Mandate Is Igbo Presidency, Not Biafra – Ohanaeze

 

It maintained that its contract with the Igbo nation was to realise a Nigerian president of Igbo extraction. The Igbo apex socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, on Tuesday said the Igbo did not mandate it to pursue the actualisation of a Sovereign State of Biafra.

It maintained that its contract with the Igbo nation was to realise a Nigerian president of Igbo extraction.

The President of Ohanaeze Ndigbo in Anambra State, Chief Damian Okeke-Ogene, stated this at the end of the groups’ meeting in Awka, the state capital.

“We are pursuing Igbo presidency because the executive of Ohanaeze, led by Chief Nnia Nwodo, has the mandate of Ndigbo to negotiate the Igbo position in Nigeria.

“He wasn’t given a mandate for the Sovereign State of Biafra. That’s why we are saying, give us what is due for us, and Nigeria’s president of Igbo extraction is what we are looking for,” a report by Punch quoted him to have said.

On deregistration of a splinter Ohanaeze group by the Corporate Affairs Commission, Okeke-Ogene commended the CAC for “throwing into the dustbin” the splinter group.