Soludo makes bold statement on Biafra agitation, chides Igbo elites for keeping mum, calls for them to speak up and act

It is not news that secessionist agitation have been rife in South Eastern Nigeria, reaching a crescendo since 2015, after current president, Muhammadu Buhari took office. 

Various groups have been agitating against what they perceive as continued deliberate and calculated economic marginalization and political exclusion of South Eastern Nigeria and her natives from Nigeria's theater of action. 

At the forefront of the agitations has been a group called Indigenous People of Biafra, led by Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. The group ultimately seeks the re-creation of the defunct Republic of Biafra through a referendum.  

Even though secessionist activities have been rife, they started peacefully and have remained so for the most part, until year 2020 when a spate of killings started occurring in the region as both notable people and other natives were being assassinated. 

Secessionist groups have been blamed for these killings, particularly the Eastern Security Network (ESN) that was earlier setup by IPOB as a response to inaction by state Governors to secure the region amidst reports of rampant bloody killings and attacks on farms and villages credited to herders popularly known as Fulani herdsmen who pasture their cattle in the South East. 

The secessionist agitations, farmers/herders crises, as well as the rampant killings and sit-at-home orders (which became rampant after the IPOB leader was arrested by the Nigerian government last year 2021) in the south east have become so polarizing for the region both politically and economically. 

Businesses have been often shut, for fear of demolition by unknown non-state actors, schools have been often closed, O-level exams have been sometimes postponed for fear of attacks, and a sense of apprehension and insecurity has beclouded the region, causing various businesses to relocate outside the region. 

I must also note, however, that IPOB has constantly denied sanctioning or being a part of the killings. In fact, the group's publicity director, Mr Emma Powerful, has issued multiple statements at different times denouncing the issuance of further sit-at-home orders within the region, yet, the problems remain unabated. 

In the midst of all these, there has been a glaringly loud absence of leadership from state actors within the region, as Governors and elected representatives from the region have failed to take control over the narrative on the streets. Many critics have blamed this failure and inaction for the continued degeneration of law and order within the region. 

Enter the new governor of Anambra state, Prof. Charles Chukwuma Soludo. In his inaugural address today after his swearing-in, the governor made the following statement regarding the crises of insecurity currently beclouding Anambra and the entire South East region of Nigeria:

To the secessionist groups, it is time to interrogate both the purpose and means of your campaign. To the politicians playing politics with the insecurity, you are riding a tiger. The current trajectory is a road to desolation. Let us get around the table and talk. Let the elite in the closet come out, and let’s debate our future and forge a consensus. The conspiracy of silence by the elite and some community leaders must end. If you see something, say or do something! Securing Igboland and Nigeria must be our collective responsibility. Let those in the forests come out, surrender their guns and let’s work together to rehabilitate and empower you to contribute positively to the peace and prosperity of our homeland.

I hereby challenge any of the disparate groups that claims that it is not part of the senseless killings and kidnappings to step out and show leadership by joining hands with us to DO something about it. If you love our homeland, there is no place for bloodshed.

For me, this issue is personal and emotional. My mother died during the civil war; our last born, Chukwuemeka died during the war; my father bore a bullet inside him for years; my elder brother – at 16, was in the ‘Boys Company’. At 8, I became the “man of the house”, with all the men at the war front. My uncles, cousins, etc, died during the war. This is 2022, and there are certainly far better ways to protest than shedding the blood of the innocent or resorting to criminality.

That is why I call on all of us today to join hands with me to execute the real agenda—a livable and prosperous homeland of opportunities and jobs for our youth while maximizing the benefits of a united Nigeria/Africa. With Ohanaeze’s estimate that some 11.6 million Igbos live in the North and over 7 million in Lagos state and over 70% of our non-land assets scattered all over Nigeria and the world, we need Nigeria and Nigeria needs us. We need Africa and the world and they need us.

Yes, we have heard every genuine agitation for fairness, justice, equity and equality in the Nigerian Federation. No, we refuse to turn our homeland into a crime scene and all manners of criminality. No group has ever succeeded in any struggle in history by turning the sword against themselves.  I promise to work hard with other governors and leaders in the South East and others to take your agitations to the table of all Nigeria, and we hope to bargain for a win-win solution for all Nigeria. I will engage all parties to the breakdown of peace and order in Anambra from a point of determination to solve problems and resolve disagreements with openness, integrity, equity and justice. I will absolutely invest my political capital within our State, our South East and with the Presidency, Federal Government and its establishments as a matter of topmost priority. With good faith and hard work by all parties, I am convinced that justice, peace and order will return to Anambra and the South East within the shortest possible horizon.

Umunne m Ndi Anambra, this agenda is premised upon your irrepressible and communal spirit. It is you—the people—that will make it happen. We all love our homeland to death, and we can turn it into whatever we will that it should be. A new servant leadership and a new homeland consciousness by the people will get us there despite the huge challenges. For example, to effectively implement our ambitious agenda, we need annual investment levels of 25- 30% of state gross domestic product (GDP), that is about $2.58 – $3.09 billion. At current levels, public sector investment is less than $100 million per annum. The gap seems daunting, but we are undaunted. The internally generated revenue is barely 0.5% of state GDP.

This presents immense opportunity as well as threat in the context of a rentier culture where the social contract/trust between the citizen and the government is broken, and the people do not believe that they can get value for their taxes. We are determined to change this.