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From the First Restatement: Of the Politics, Territories, and Sociology of Biafra and Nigeria


Issue: What is BiafraNigeria?

by
Dr. Emeka J. Amanze


When Effiong, Obasanjo, and a few others got together and announced that the Biafra-Nigeria war had come to an end, they effectively put together a Tack-welded entity called BiafraNigeria. --- James Ekechukwu




Prologue

BiafraNigeria is the most explained, as well as the most self-explained, term in the Igbo, Biafran, Nigerian, and African cyberspace. Therefore, it is tempting to condemn as unseemly, or regard as evidence of intellectual laziness, any inquiry by an Igbo, Biafran, or Nigerian if the inquiry is reducible in its essence to the form "What is BiafraNigeria?" This is especially so if the inquiry is made by one active in cyberspace, even at the basic level of neteracy, i.e., the person is able to engage in regular unassisted use of e-mail. The observation above is made more poignant by the advent of BiafraNigeriaWorld (BNW), first as a group of discussion forums in March, 2001, and later as an elaborate Internet resource beginning March, 2002. There has been some criticism not only of the term "BiafraNigeria," but also of the resource, BiafraNigeriaWorld, especially insofar as "BiafraNigeria" is used to refer to the country also known as "Nigeria" and the term "BiafraNigerian" is used to refer to citizens of Nigeria. As I will demonstrate below, the criticisms are overdrawn on grounds of absurdity. The crux of the criticism is summarized in a graffiti thesis, which is as flawed in its premise as it is in its conclusion.


The Graffiti Thesis and the Unexpected Feedback

Fortunately, no serious critic has established that "BiafraNigeria" perverts another name, which is otherwise pure. Nor have the critics established that "BiafraNigeria" renders ahistoric another name, which currently enjoys or previously enjoyed superior historical articulation. To the extent that the name "BiafraNigeria" has provoked legitimate intellectual disagreement, the (un)organized opposition to the name has failed to articulate any pedagogical enlightenment accruing from the extant "Nigeria," the name that "BiafraNigeria" operates to displace. Instead, the opposition to "BiafraNigeria" advances an inconsistent, semi-incoherent, and ultimately superficial graffiti thesis, which posits, on the one hand, that the name "Biafra" is pristine, not to suffer the blight of the rotten "Nigeria" graffiti, and on the other hand, that Nigeria is the extant polity whose pride of place is not to be blemished by conjoining its name with "Biafra." Thus, the graffiti thesis is dubious and grotesque not only in its premise that Nigeria deserves deference simply because it exists, but also in its conclusion that the pristine "Biafra" would constitute a blemish if conjoined with the rotten "Nigeria." Responsibility for this desultory rhetoric must, in large part, be laid at the foot of the remnant of the discredited pro-ONENIGERIA fringe of Igbo Diaspora, sometimes assisted by elements from the untutored rung of the renewed Biafra advocacy and movement.

Some of the individuals who have asked the question "What is BiafraNigeria?" appear to have done so with remarkable sincerity - sincere because they appear prepared to accept an answer that conforms to the dictates of intellectual inquiry, even when the answer differs from that proposed by their own conditioning. Thus far, the enthusiasts of that question seem to have accepted the explanations given by Biafran patriots, including those given by the erudite James Ekechukwu that

[w]hen Effiong, Obasanjo, and a few others got together and announced that the Biafra-Nigeria war had come to an end, they effectively put together a Tack-welded entity called BiafraNigeria.

The feedback from the critics is surprising as the answers seem to have been accepted with a lack of resistance that borders on the suspicious. But, what is there to resist? With the aid of a conservative number of hypertext links, the task of explaining the term "BiafraNigeria" should be a fairly routine undertaking; it should require nothing that is unfamiliar to the audience. Those who prefer the linearity of prose should find some comfort in the brevity of the following non-linear presentation. Moreover, in this instance, the cliché, though old, remains valid, that "a picture (read a hypertext link) is worth a thousand words." Besides, it is reasonable to anticipate that the virile Biafra/Igbo peregrine would further refine the question should they find that the answers herein are rather closely tailored to the limited wonder expressed by the near-articulate original question.


BiafraNigeria: A Case of "Res ipsa loquitur"

BiafraNigeria is a case of "Res ipsa loquitur" (the thing speaks for itself). Accordingly, I introduce the following links without much commentary, at least not at this time, and not in this piece.

BiafraNigeria has a clearly labeled map.
See above, or visit http://home.biafranigeriaworld.com

See also this enlarged map of BiafraNigeria.

BiafraNigeria has an Army whose website (Official?) is located at http://army.biafranigeria.com.

Nd'Igbo, including many members of the various Igbo yahoo forums participate in numerous lively debates at BiafraNigeriaWorld MessageBoard.
See http://messageboard.biafranigeriaworld.com.

BNW Messageboard is the forum of choice for a new generation of Nd'Igbo, Biafrans, Nigerians, BiafraNigerians, Africans, and others to whom the word "Biafra" is not anathema, or who are able to set aside their prejudices to enter uninhibited dialogue on the future of BiafraNigeria.

There is a comprehensive news section devoted to news about BiafraNigeria.
See http://news.biafranigeriaworld.com.

There is a magazine section devoted to commentary and features on BiafraNigeria.
See http://magazine.biafranigeriaworld.com.


The Explanations from Within, and the Compulsory Contradictions

First posed on June 8, 2001 by Levy Akpan of BiafraNigeriaWorld MessageBoard, the very question "What is BiafraNigeria?" has received 83 distinct answers, including answers by persons of Hausa-Fulani stock. The answers are contained in three discussion pages, viz: Page 1, --- Page 2, --- Page 3. Together, those answers constitute the composite of self-explanation and the required (un)resolved internal contradictions, which contradictions also constitute self-explanations inasmuch as the contradictions are articulated from within.


In response to inquiries from certain quarters, those answers have been posted at "restricted" yahoo discussion forums that cater to Igbo issues. From the entries in the cited BNW MessageBoard thread, there could be the temptation to conclude that BiafraNigeria is "different strokes for different folks." While that may be a valid perspective, and there is nothing to debar others from so defining the essence of the BiafraNigerian polity, there are more lucid and compelling descriptions to consider.

Here is what a Hausa-Fulani handle, "Ahmed," wrote on the question "What is BiafraNigeria?"

As an Internet phenomenon, BiafraNigeriaWorld has actualized Biafra in Cyberspace. Among those that participate in discussions on the Internet, there is no longer any question that there is Biafra and there is Nigeria. BiafraNigeria is the only name that is recognized by both Biafrans and Nigerians as the name of the country that they come from. Biafrans reject Nigeria, and Nigerians reject Biafra. BiafraNigeria is the compromise. I am willing to accept that, at least as an Internet citizen. --- Ahmed (writing at BiafraNigeriaWorld MessageBoard on the topic "What is BiafraNigeria").


The question "What is BiafraNigeria?" recently attracted the attention of BiafraNigeriaWorld's James Ekechukwu and he had the following response:

When Effiong, Obasanjo and a few others got together and announced that the Biafra-Nigeria war had come to an end, they effectively put together a Tack-welded entity called BiafraNigeria . I can tell you that all post war documents in the British public records office referred to BiafraNigeria and not Nigeria. For example one document dated 1970 was captioned: "UK immigration policy for citizens of BiafraNigeria".

Every proper time served Engineer will tell you that tack welding is a temporary process which holds two entities together for either a full fused welding or ease of future manipulation ( I read separation). If you read chief Kalu's write-up you'd find which is applicable to your land of birth? Some people argue that Biafra has been absorbed by Nigeria but they stop short of telling us where the homogenity lies.


Some politically correct young Igbo have decided to revert to the immediate post war nomenclature for the two entities. When the football team Super Eagles match out to the pitch, they are doing so for BiafraNigeria. Similarly, Mr Obasanjo is president of BiafraNigeria, a tack-welded country. Biafra is not BiafraNigeria. I shall now reproduce a write-up by a compatriot written in March 2001. Enjoy!


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Biafra and BiafraNigeria: A Lesson in Unjust Peace


The morphed flag of BiafraNigeria, the resurgence of Biafra activities (now worldwide), the embrace of a new Biafra by young people who were not present at the first Biafra, who were unborn thirty-one years ago when a group of Biafrans were said to have surrendered to Nigeria are ominous events; they are ominous events portending the end of Nigeria, at least as the status quo anti-ists have known it for thirty years. The supposed leaders of Nigeria who sought to extract an unjust peace out of a war that was declared NO-VICTOR-NO-VANQUISHED have succeeded in creating a new Biafra, a Biafra that is far beyond the reach of their dwarfed and severely limited resources, a Biafra that operates boldly within and without the boundaries of Nigeria. Out of the Gestapo style raids against MASSOB have emerged a new Biafra that MUST make Nigeria extremely uncomfortable while keeping Nigeria powerless and helpless to undermine this new Biafra.

Those purported leaders of Nigeria who squandered thirty-one long years of armistice, and who more than any others, had the power to bring proper closure to the Biafra campaign, and who failed in that duty must now accept the blame for the re-emergence of Biafra; they must accept the blame for the reality that is BiafraNigeria. Ultimately they must accept the blame not only for the failure that is Nigeria, but also for the bold substitution of Biafra by people who knew not the first Biafra. This is a lesson from history; an unjust peace never survives three generations of the victims. Biafra is here to stay. Get used to it. by T. O., March 2001.

James Ekechukwu (in a response at yahoogroups).


The Quasi-Collateral Truth

If you can type and you have a computer, go to any search engine and look up "BiafraNigeria." The answers are there in the thousands of entries on the term BiafraNigeria. The preponderance of searches of "BiafraNigeria" will return entries sourced at BiafraNigeriaWorld. With millions of hits per month, BiafraNigeriaWorld is the most visited website on the Internet dealing with issues of Biafra, Nigeria, and BiafraNigeria in an unabashed form. BNW is also one of the most visited sites dealing with African issues. BNW is ranked as a "definitive Internet resource" by most major Internet search engines. Like other such resources, BNW is exempt from all listing charges per the current Internet ranking system. For Google entries on BNW click here...


Epilogue

Finally, whether BiafraNigeria be a "tack-welded" construct grounded in the history of the inconclusive Biafra-Nigeria war, or modern Biafra traces its origins to the ancient kingdom of Biafra, which predates Nigeria, it is absurd to suggest that "Biafra" could detract from the name of any relevant polity to which "Biafra" attaches. Additionally, I find it strange that persons who have resigned themselves to the constructive secession of the North under Sharia, without first requiring that the North terminate its dependence on the South for economic sustenance, should now protest that the North and the South are being bound together under the more descriptive name, BiafraNigeria. Perhaps, it should be left to political philosophers to answer the question: whether it is possible that an internally uncolonized mind could fully grasp the concept that the secessionist and Shariarist Gusau, under Sani Yerima, is a part of Nigeria, and yet have the same mind be foggy about the meaning of "BiafraNigeria."


Any questions?


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