Igbo Corner
Biafra: What governments failed to do to stem the agitation — Ugochukwu-Uko
The founder of Igbo Youth Movement (IYM), Evangelist Elliot Ugochukwu-Uko, who also doubles as the Secretary of Eastern Consultative Assembly (ECA), has rebuked various governments over their failure to nip Biafra agitation at the bud when they had the opportunity.
Evangelist Ugochukwu-Uko, who is also the Deputy Secretary of Igbo Leaders of Thought (ILT), in this interview with Diaspora Digital Media (DDM), blamed various over their inefficiency in handling the Biafra agitation, which gave rise to several other movements.
Read more excerpts from the interview below:
The South East has gradually metamorphosed into a totally different land within the past decade or so. Is the transformation in the region for good or for ill?
It depends on the perception of the individual. Granted, so much water has passed under the bridge. The South East has a beautiful admirable history. A great but silent revolution spearheaded by visionary leadership stood the region out 80 years ago.
The region stood out between 1940 to 1965. Within those years the people were transformed from bottle washers, messengers and cooks, to clerks, store keepers and retailers. They embraced education with both hands caught up and overtook others by building schools through community efforts and granting scholarship to bright students. That 25 year leap, hasn’t been replicated anywhere in the world.
The first coup put them in trouble, the second coup decapitated them and the very brutal war crushed them completely. Their resurgence from 1970 moving forward, shocked everyone.
The failure of their political class to appropriately handle Ralph Uwazurike’s Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) from 1999 moving forward sowed the seeds of what is happening in the region today.
The region’s leaders failed to understand that the solution lay only in identifying why hundreds of thousands of mostly youngsters were following Ralph and paying monthly dues in the belief that they’ll soon have a new country where they’d be treated with dignity.
I was privileged to have intense relationship with the man who led Ndigbo through the war and I believe his postulation that the solution to the agitation was to draw the agitators close to monitor their decisions. He met with Ralph every Sunday at his Enugu residence.
Keeping them away could turn them to a loose cannon. The agitation was anchored on desire for justice and equity.
The political class of the region, sadly agreed rather with the central authorities that military clampdown was the solution.
When Ralph raised the Biafran flag at Aba and jumped on a Bike 25 years ago, clampdown on the agitators began.
That strategy of containment has not resolved the situation.
So when Nnamdi Kanu emerged and grew the membership into millions, it became difficult for the leaders to reverse their preferred strategy of containment, especially when they had congratulated themselves that they had solved the agitation by discreetly inspiring Ralph’s bodyguards and close aides to revolt and seize his country home at Okwe in Okigwe for several years.
They believe they had degraded him.
They no idea that fearsome hurricane was brewing through Nnamdi’s broadcasting from London. Nnamdi literally grew the agitators into millions with strong diaspora structures in many countries.
The stage was set for a showdown. The authorities didn’t understand that it was high noon. They applied the same old strategy and the region became convoluted.
The current situation metatasized and snowballed into the present ugly situation, simply because no attempt has been made since 1999, to identify the root cause of the anger, frustration and bitterness that led to loss of faith by millions of citizens in the region, which inspires and drives the agitation. And to address them.
Had that been done before now, the agitation would have been easily resolved. The format of deploying military operations over the years, simply gave the agitators the impression that there are no plans whatsoever to ever address their grievances.
A lot of people deliberately refuse to ask, how come the agitators have sustained their agitation for 25 years. The answer is simple. They watched as they were treated differently. They know that they are suffering humiliation and ill treatment because their parents fought and lost a war. They groan and reel under grave injustices they won’t want to transfer to their own children.
Disparate cut off marks for unity schools and JAMB UMTE with other regions. Impossible elections and imposed leadership. Strange unjust census figures, creation of states and local governments deliberately skewed against them, no Federal presence in their region. Seaport, Railways, etc. denied their region.
They became convinced that if they do nothing about these unkind and unjust situation, then their own children will be sentenced to the same, if not worse humiliation.
They watched Minister Ibe Kachikwu despatched to negotiate with the Niger Delta Avengers; they watched as Minister Godswill Akpabio rushed personally to the creeks to meet Tompolo; Operation Cobra jump, Viper sing and Anaconda cry seem reserved for them, while they are described as five percenters and dot in a circle.
They concluded rightly or wrongly that nobody cares about their plight, as they are proscribed and tagged miscreants, criminals and terrorists. They concluded that they are being told “You can go to hell”, “Do your worst”, “Nobody will ever ask for your grievances”, “We will crush you guys”.
For decades, the agitation boiled, until 3 years ago, regrettably, when violence was sadly introduced to the mileu.
Had the authorities sought to identify the problem and address the root cause of the anger that drove the agitation, long before now, it would not have drifted to this very ugly situation. The agitators made many mistakes, but the political class underrated the frustration driving the agitation.
Is there hope for an end to the agitation in the horizon?
Dr Alex Ekwueme pleaded with me to bring the agitators to him so he’ll plead with them to embrace restructuring and to avoid violence by all means. I did that. He begged Nnamdi in my presence to avoid violence of any kind.
I also took Nnamdi to traditional rulers, senior clerics and revered elders, 17 meeting in all between May and August 2017.
The agenda was the same: to get them to remain non-violent and to trade restructuring as against secession. Archbishop Maxwell Anikwenwa almost wept in my presence pleading with Nnamdi to adopt restructuring as opposed to secession.
When Nnamdi finally yielded and agreed to adopt restructuring Nigeria and infrastructural development of the region, ie, seaport, railways, international airport, dry port (container terminal ), at the historic meeting with the South East Governors on August 30th 2017, I called Dr Ekwueme on his sickbed in London and relayed the exhilarating news to him.
I don’t know what actually transpired a fortnight later at Afara Ukwu, Abia State on 14th September 2017, on the eve of the concluding part of the peace effort. That changed everything.
It seemed some people had other plans.
You see, I dutifully shared with leaders of my region, my personal experiences in the 1980s and 1990s, as I organised my IYM Seminars for Igbo youths all over the place.
I noticed the frustration and bitterness in the hearts of the younger generation Ndigbo. They simply don’t want to bequeath to their own children the humiliating second class situation they painfully found themselves in within the post civil war Nigeria.
They were hungry for fairness and equality.
I discovered that delegates to my IYM programmes said the same thing in Lagos, Aba, Enugu etc. And these youths never met each other and didn’t know each other. My resource persons, folks like Dim Chukwuemeka Odimegwu Ojukwu, Admiral Godwin Ndubuisi Kanu, Comrade Uche Chukwumerije, Prof Ben Obumselu, Chief Sam Mbakwe, Chief C C Onoh, Dr Chukwuemeka Ezeife, Chief M C K Ajuluchukwu, Senator Onyeaborr Obi, etc all were asked similar questions during the question and answer sessions at my IYM seminars during the 1990s.
The loss of faith amongst the young people especially those on the lowest rung of the ladder was real.
They saw themselves as onlookers, and spectators within the Nigerian project. They believe that they are hated, resented, despised and ill-treated. Many believe they’ll never get justice in Nigeria. That’s the foundation of the agitation.
If your teenage son runs away from hope and planning never to come back because he thinks you, your wife and his siblings do not like him or want him. When you are told he is at the park with his napsack heading to a neighbouring country, you will not solve that problem by sending Operation Python Dance to go deal with him.
You’ll better solve the problem by going to embrace your son at the bus garage and speak softly to him. You tell him how much you love him. You apologise on behalf of other family members who offended him. You drive him to a restaurant and have lunch with him, you buy him new clothes and sneakers and you drive him home, where you wisely hold a family meeting and you ensure moving forward that everyone is given a sense of belonging.
That none is isolated, mistreated or made to feel hated!
It doesn’t matter that his decision to run away from home was petit, childish, injurious to himself and actually wrong.
As a father, you ensure resolution and closure. And everybody’s happy again.
Is resolution and closure feasible in the present circumstances?
The good Friday agreement that brought resolution to the IRA agitation for a separate Northern Ireland, succeeded because the desires of the Irish agitators were addressed. My fear over a prolonged agitation is the response and reaction from children of slain agitators in the near future and very young people who march with their parents waiving Biafran flags in all the major cities of the world.
I fear that future leadership of the agitators may emerge from the ranks of the little ones in the future. Which is why I fervently pray for early resolution and closure. By identifying the source of the fire and fixing it.
The only attempt to address the root causes of the agitation, was made 9 years ago, when the then Gov. Dave Umahi (six months into his first term), invited me and pleaded with me to bring the entire leadership of the agitators for a meeting with the authorities to identify their anger. I did that. The effort could not fly and did not bear fruit.
Genuine effort at sincerely addressing the root cause of the anger that powers the agitation, will restore normalcy.
Those angry youngsters are scared of the future.
The unitary structure creates apprehension about the future, some people believe the future of the country is bleak under the present constitution.
The delay in restructuring Nigeria contributes to the loss of faith that creates fear of the future in the hearts of compatriots.
Their belief that the denial of Federal Government driven critical infrastructure in the region is deliberate, also increases loss of faith in the system.
Thirdly, delay in identifying the root cause and fixing them, seems to suggest, disregard for the people of the region, who think they are treated with contempt and disdain for loosing a war almost 55 years ago. They yearn for justice and equity. Level playing field for all. True federalism, regional autonomy and devolution of powers.
They desire to see a new working Nigeria. It is not true that this current unitary structure will make Nigeria great.
Crises in the North West, North East, Middle Belt etc, clearly illustrates a need for change of the template, structure and ground norm holding the country together. Delay to reinvent and rejuvenate and reinvigorate Nigeria is unhelpful. It is sad the South East is going through these temporal challenges at this time.
Do you think the 2027 elections usher in a new glorious era?
I am known for my disinterest in elections and power struggle. Whoever is President must restructure Nigeria for this beautiful country to move forward. No President can succeed under this choking unitary constitution. We have already lost many years. We must face reality and courageously move to restructure Nigeria without delay.
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There’s something about persecution that does two things to a people: it either breaks them, or it makes them beasts of survival.
For centuries the Jews… they were hunted, hated, and humiliated by empires. But they didn’t vanish.
They evolved. They adapted. And today, the Jews are arguably the most powerful tribe in the world economically, intellectually, and politically. Ruthless when necessary.
They are unapologetic about their survival. Now, look at the Igbo. A tribe known for industry, resilience, and brilliance.
A people who just want to live, do business, and thrive. But Nigeria doesn’t want that. Nigeria wants control.
Nigeria wants submission. And the one thing the Igbo have never known how to do is bow. And that’s the real issue.
So what does Nigeria do? It sidelines them. Isolates them. Provokes them. Bombs their villages under the guise of security.
Locks up their agitators. Shuts down their businesses. Mocks their pain. Ignores their history. Prevent them from voting. Play politics with their education. Sponsored bigotry on them.
And then Nigeria pretends to be surprised that there’s growing radicalization in the East?
Let me be clear: The Igbo didn’t start this fire. Nigeria did.
And history, the very same history we keep refusing to learn from, has shown us that when you keep pushing a tribe that knows how to survive, they evolve into something stronger, something unstoppable.
It’s happened before. With the Jews. Europe tried to exterminate them. Instead, they became the backbone of global finance, media, tech, and diplomacy.
You don’t touch a Jew today without consequences. You don’t push them to the wall and expect them to stay quiet.
Now Nigeria is doing the same to the Igbo, pushing, prodding, provoking.
But here’s the warning: when you push an animal to the wall, it doesn’t stay calm. It fights back. It bites. And this time, when it bites, don’t act shocked.
But this isn’t just about the Igbo solely. Nigeria has perfected the art of creating monsters, then acting surprised when they bite.
The Niger Delta? Radicalized. The region was exploited for oil, polluted beyond repair, and ignored until their youths picked up arms.
The Fulani terrorists? Radicalized. Left behind by the same government that claimed to represent them, now manipulated by religion and resentment.
The Almajiri? Radicalized. Abandoned by an elite that used their poverty as a vote bank and then left them to rot.
The Agbero? Radicalized. Uneducated, weaponized, and unleashed as tools of political chaos.
Even the middle class is slowly being radicalized, not with guns, but with hopelessness. That, too, is a ticking time bomb.
A nation cannot continue to marginalize its most brilliant tribe and expect peace.
The Igbo are not docile. They are not quiet. They are not forgetful. They are survivors, and survivors don’t beg for space forever. At some point, they take it.
The Igbo didn’t set out to be radicals. They were made into one by a country that won’t stop seeing their confidence as a threat.
You can’t keep pretending unity means silence. You can’t keep preaching peace while planting injustice.
The Igbo are not asking for too much, they just want to live, build, and grow.
But if you insist on turning their dignity into defiance, their enterprise into enmity, and their survival into sedition, then you are creating a monster.
And if history has taught us anything, it’s this: when a persecuted people decide that survival is no longer enough, when they decide to stop running and start resisting, they don’t just fight back. They win.
Nigeria must understand this: you cannot keep pushing people into a corner and expect submission.
When you back a lion into a wall, don’t expect it to purr. It will roar. It will claw. It will tear through anything standing between it and freedom.
So here’s the final warning, for those who still care to listen: Nigeria is radicalizing the Igbo.
But worse, Nigeria is radicalizing everyone. And it won’t end well.
When the fire spreads, when the rebellion multiplies, when the beast we created begins to fight back, don’t act shocked; no tribe will be left untouched.
Don’t pretend it wasn’t preventable. We all made it happen. You don’t corner a lion and expect peace.
Abolaji Rasaq is a public affairs analyst.
Palpable crisis is brewing in Nnewi over the election of the President General of Uruagu Community in the industrial town of Anambra State, with a business mogul and owner of Organiser Plc., Chief Innocent Okoli, accused of upsetting the apple cart.
The crisis has led to protests and resignation of members of the Board of Trustees (BoT).
One of the resignation letters sighted by News Band was from a legal practitioner, J. N. Obi, Esq.
Barrister Obi, until his resignation served as the Secretary of the Executive Committee and member, Uruagu Board of Trustees.
Tendering his resignation letter, Obi cited brazen violation of the Constitution of Uruagu Nnewi Community Development Union.
The letter was referenced OB/03 /296/2025, dated May 8, 2025, and addressed to His Highness. Obi A. C. Obi (Ogidi IV).
In the letter entitled “Letter of resignation as member, Board of Trustees (B.O. T) Uruagu Nnewi. Obi announced his resignation based on the following reasons:
- Article 8. 9 (a) of the Constitution of Uruagu Nnewi Community Development Union. 2022 (As Amended) states and I quote:
“The Board shall “Ensure the observance of this Constitution”. - Article 14.4 of the Constitution of Uruagu Nnewi Community Development Union 2022 (As Amended) states and I quote:
“Each ward shall submit a list of the Electors In writing to the Secretary General of the Union, one month before any election.
“The submission of the list of the Electors shall be done by the Ward Chairman In consultation with the Ward’s Obi.” - “The election sought to be conducted on Saturday, 10th day of May 2025, did not comply with the above provisious as it was on the Union’s general meeting of the I3th day of April 2025 that the expiration of the tenure of the Executives was announced.”
The legal pratictioner, however, noted that the election to be held on May 10 will not be up to one month.
He, therefore, resigned his membership of B. 0. T for failure to abide by the above provisions of the Constitution as stated above.
On his part, the former President General of Uruagu Nnewi, Chief Ambassador Charles Nwonye, decried series of illegalities in the proposed election championed by Chief Okoli.
He recalled the efforts of past and present stakeholders to ensure that Uruagu Nnewi Community Development Union is recognised as a legal and responsible entity in the state.
He, however, speaking in a voice note obtained by Diaspora Digital Media (DDM), regretted:
“It’s very, very unfortunate that those counsels that instituted Uruagu Development Union are no longer alive.
“They were the ones who were known for speaking out the truth. But at the same time, we will not all keep quiet.
“I, hereby, wish to bring the following to the attention of all Uruagu indigenes, scattered all over Nigeria and in the diaspora that four years ago, a similar thing happened.
“Uruagu Nnewi Constitution was also flagrantly violated four years ago.
“At the end, a lot of stakeholders asked the former Executive Committee to resign and leave en masse.
“The Constitution, however, allowed them to recontest.
“The Executive Committee then honourably resigned and no one of us recontested, ushering in a new Executive Committee.
“They argued that following the election, the Constitution will be amended to correct all the flaws and ensure no such flagrant abused repeats itself.
“They went for the election and what happened there was the same illegality we’re talking about.
“Some of our youths went and connived with mischief makers, disrupted the election and declared the present Executive Committee members winners.
“The youths stood by them in their misguided thoughts that the Executive Committee members enjoy special gains in the office.
“They disrupted the election and ensured that the present crop of Executive Committee members was ushered in.
“The election was heavily flawed and rigged in favour of Eloka Ike and Innocent Okoli, but we let go and left peacefully.
“The new Executive Committee promised to preside for only four years and leave, but we are currently seeing the same illegalities.
“I dare ask: Should Uruagu be known only for illegalities? I thought Ndi Uruagu are smart people?
“I have observed that there are certain individuals who are hell-bent on ensuring that the Uruagu leadership fails.
“They seem bent on destroying all our efforts, acting as agents of chaos and destruction.
“How can one man gather a bunch of Umuezeagu indigenes and take them to the court, claiming that they sued the union to court?
“They deceived the High Court and got a frivolous injunction against Uruagu people, all in the name of election!
“When I got this information, I knew that something was wrong.
“How can someone, after serving a tenure fraught with irregularities, fight his way to a second tenure against the people’s wish?
“I want to make it clear to all the delegates in the so-called election that it will not be possible to make an illegality legal.
“Anyone who casts a vote in that sham election is an agent provocateur, as well as a villain.
“Let it be on record that I denounced the so-called election founded on illegality and fraud and all participants, be it a delegate or participant in any manner is an enemy of the people.”
Chief Okoli and other responsible people of Nnewi leadership could not be reached for comment at the moment of this publication.
More details will follow…
The remains of HRH Eze Stephen Nwabueze Ugorji, Orji Ukwu 1 of Lorji Nwekeukwu Autonomous Community in Aboh Mbaise Local Government Area, will be laid to rest on Thursday, May 22, 2025.
The late Eze Ugorji will be buried in his palace at Orji Ukwu Estate, Lorji, following a Catholic funeral Mass at St. Andrews Catholic Church, Lorji.
News Band was informed that His Excellency the Catholic Bishop of Ahiara Diocese, Bishop Okezuo Nwobi, has been invited to officiate at the ceremony.
Bishop Nwobi, it was learnt, has also accepted the family’s invitation to officiate at the funeral rites of the late grand traditional ruler.
This information was provided to members of the press in Owerri by the Opara Eze (First Son of the Eze), former Commissioner for Homeland Security and Vigilante Affairs, Dr. Ugorji Okechukwu Ugorji.
His Lordship Bishop Okezuo Nwobi, the Catholic Bishop of Ahiara Diocese (Mbaise) and Eze Nwabueze Ugorji’s First Son, Dr. Ugorji Okechukwu Ugorji
“The family is grateful to His Lordship for granting us a rare request to officiate at a funeral on a Thursday,” Dr. Ugorji said.
“Our father will feel honored and appreciated because he was not just a devoted Catholic, he shouldered the building of the St. Andrews Catholic Church at Lorji until his death,” the former commissioner added.
Igbo Corner
EXCLUSIVE: Ngozi Orabueze dissolves Biafra Govt In Exile as Simon Ekpa may spend longer time in prison
Dr. Ngozi Orabueze has abruptly dissolved the Biafra Government In Exile following secret information that his former boss, Simon Ekpa may not be coming out from Finnish detention in a hurry.
News Band reported that Mrs. Orabueze, a former Chief of Staff to Mr Simon Ekpa, the self-acclaimed Prime Minister of Biafra Government In Exile, toppled his principal after he was thrown into prison for promoting violent agitation and terrorism in the Southeast of Nigeria.
Ekpa’s trial is scheduled to start in May 2025.
Ngozi, a former chairperson of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Atlanta, United States in a statement on Wednesday, announced the dissolution of Biafra Government In Exile.
She said all assets of the Biafra Republic Government In Exile and it’s affiliates shall be transferred to the secretary of the State of the United States of Biafra.
Orabueze also directed all officers of the former exile government to report to their counterpart with the United States of Biafra for reassignment.
The statement reads, “It is resolved that the Biafra Republic Government In Exile (BRGIE) is hereby dissolved as it’s reason for the existence has been superceded by the November 29, 2024 Declaration of the restoration of the Independent United States of Biafra
“All assets of the Biafra Republic Government In Exile and it’s affiliates(BRGIE corporation ID: D237527271) shall be transferred to the secretary of the State of the United States of Biafra.
“All officers of the former exile government shall report to their counterpart with the United States of Biafra for reassignment. All activities of the Biafra Republic Government In Exile shall cease as of February 15, 2025”.
Meanwhile, an insider source in the movement reliably told News Band that Ngozi decided to dissolve BRGIE after receiving intel that Simon Ekpa might spend longer time in prison.
The source also revealed that the Nigerian government is doing everything within it’s power to nail Simon Ekpa for all his atrocious acts in the SouthEast region.
So, the only way to keep the agitation going in the absence of Ekpa is to dissolve BRGIE.
“Yes, Ngozi Orabueze dissolved the Biafra Republic Government In Exile so as to be fully in charge of the assets belonging to the movement. With the way the Nigerian government is going about the case of Simon Ekpa, he may spend longer time in prison”, the source said.
Moreover, before now, Orabueze has been at war with some arrowheads of the separatist movement who refused to acknowledge her authority.
This however, has led to series of fights, accusation and counter accusations among the agitators.
We celebrate the life of Mrs. Roseline Udu Eze, a devoted wife, mother, grandmother, and pillar of strength.
Her unwavering love, kindness, and selflessness left an indelible mark on all who knew her.
Though we mourn her passing, we take solace in the legacy she leaves behind and the cherished memories we hold. Rest peacefully in the arms of the Lord, dear Roseline.
You will forever be missed.
May her soul rest in perfect peace.
Amen.
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