Fresh facts have emerged on what actually transpired between the leader of Indigenous People of Biafra, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, and the South-East governors, when the two sides met recently in Enugu.
Though no communique was issued at the end of the meeting, it was learnt that the dialogue session centered around compelling Kanu to soft-pedal on his aggressive demand for the restoration of Biafra Republic.
The late Emeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, as military governor of Eastern Nigeria in 1967, had led the South-East and some parts of current-day South-South, to secede and form the state of Biafra. The effort collapsed in 1970, after a brutal civil war that claimed about two million lives.
An insider source who was at the Enugu meeting disclosed that the governors felt that Kanu’s activities were creating so much tension in Nigeria and exposing the Igbo ethnic group to the danger of becoming victims of possible genocide in the hands of some northern elements.
The source, who craved anonymity, recalled, saying, “The governors reasoned that the attempt by the President Mohammadu Buhari-led government to re-arrest Kanu would spur another round of turmoil in the country, particularly in Igboland.
“The governors pleaded with Kanu to allow them to negotiate a middleground between his agitation for Biafra and making the Federal Government accept the option of a restructured Nigeria.”
Kanu was, however, said to be defiant, telling the governors that Nigeria had had no love for the Igbo since Independence, which made the new Biafra agitators to come to the conclusion that the best way was to opt out of the country, no matter how long it took.
Eminent statesman, Prof. Ben Nwabueze, who is said to be a confidant of Kanu and who convinced the IPOB leader to attend the meeting, reportedly made contributions on the need to quickly restructure the country, pleading with Kanu to accept a restructured Nigeria.
Kanu, it was further gathered, stood his ground on his demand for Biafra as he told the governors to go home and ruminate on “his gospel of liberating the Ndigbo from decades of enslavement.”
The governors then promised Kanu that they would continue consultations in a wider circle, to reach a common ground.
Addressing the media after the meeting, Governor of Ebonyi State and Chairman of South-East Governors Forum, Chief David Umahi, pleaded with all parties involved to give the governors the opportunity to reach an amicable ground.
After Kanu departed the meeting venue, the governors went into another meeting with some other Igbo leaders, such as the President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Nnia Nwodo; former Central Bank Governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo;, Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa, among others.
The governors pleaded with Kanu to allow them to negotiate a middleground between his agitation for Biafra and making the Federal Government accept the option of a restructured Nigeria
Nwodo had last Tuesday commenced a parley with Pro-Biafra groups, aimed at still pleading with the agitators to reach a middleground on their demand for an outright Biafra Republic, throwing on the table, the card a restructured Nigeria.
After Nwodo met with the Movement for Actualisation of Sovereign State of Biafra, MASSOB, he was accused by the former MASSOB leader, Chief Ralph Uwazuruike, who lambasted Nwodo of underrating him by not extending invitation to his new group, the Biafra Independent Movement, BIM.
MASSOB, now under the leadership of Comrade Uchenna Madu, however, told Nwodo to ignore Uwazuruike, informing him that Uwazuruike was long suspended from the group “for his notoriety.”
MASSOB emphatically told Uwazuruike that he was “an expired product, searching for where to dump itself.”
Reacting angrily to Uwazuruike’s attack on Nwodo, the Enugu State Coordinator of the MASSOB, Mr. Onyebuchi Daniel, said that Uwazuruike had no powers to decide for Nwodo on decisions to take.
Onyebuchi, in an interview with our correspondent in Enugu, said, “I am here to tell Uwazuruike that that he has no powers to query Nwodo’s decisions.
“Uwazurike was expelled from MASSOB but he is now twisting the fact by saying that Uchenna Madu was the one expelled, but, of course, he has no evidence to back up his claim because Madu was never expelled.
“Uwazurike was the one who was expelled from MASSOB in 2015, which made him form BIM. I am here to tell the world that Uwazuruike is not a freedom fighter. You can see what is happening today; where the pro-Biafra groups and leaders such as Nnamdi Kanu and Uchenna Madu are in the streets. But where is Uwazuruike?
“I served Uwazuruike for 13 years with nothing to show for it; even when he became a billionaire out of Biafra agitation, as he now lives large with choice mansions and exotic cars. Yet his followers are tattered and hungry.
“But since Uchenna Madu came in charge, we have been speaking with one voice in MASSOB. Madu is a dedicated freedom fighter who spent many years in Nigerian prisons, fighting for Biafra restoration and he has mobilised Ndigbo all over the world.”
When contacted, leader of the BIM, Uwazuruike, told our correspondent on telephone that he had closed the chapter for such issues and would not discuss them again.
