Barr. Emeka Emekesiri
Emeka Emekesiri is the Chairman of the Movement for Biafrans in Nigeria (MOBIN). Worried by what the Minister of Works, Engr. Dave Umahi, and former Governor of Ebonyi State, said that President Tinubu has integrated Ndigbo with projects that he has built in Igboland, and for this reason, there is no need for further agitation for Biafra’s emancipation from Nigeria.
Feeling quite uncomfortable with Umahi’s claim, a prominent Igbo lawyer, pastor, author, who said he has Igbo blood running in his arteries and veins, Emeka Emekesiri on his Facebook angle, argued that, contrary to Umahi’s claim, Ndigbo, till tomorrow, are still highly marginalised in Nigeria and even hated and for this reason, it is Biafra or nothing.
The angry author and pro-Biafra agitator, Emekesiri wrote: “Engr. Dave Umahi, please shut up your mouth on the Biafra issue, with due respect.
“I listened with astonishment and sadness to Engr. Dave Umahi, the Federal Minister of Works, telling the Igbo Nation to forget Biafra with an explanation that the Tinubu government had reintegrated the Igbo people into Nigeria, which was not done by previous administrations. He gave a litany of the good works he has done in Igboland in terms of roads the Federal Government has constructed in the South East and concluded that there was no need for Biafra anymore. My brother, Dave Umahi, you are terribly wrong and confused, with due respect.
Dave Umahi (left), and President Bola Tinubu
“Engr. Dave Umahi appears to be deluded with the thought that what the Igbo Nation is asking for is the provision of infrastructure and social amenities. The Igbo people can provide roads and infrastructure in the South East for themselves by community efforts, as they have been doing since the war between Biafra and Nigeria.
“Did he forget that we taxed ourselves and built the Imo Airport with the tax we imposed on ourselves called “Survival Levy” at the time when the present Abia State and parts of Ebonyi were in Imo State?
“Does Dave Umahi not know that the Igbo people are not accepted in the West and North? Is he not aware that the Lagos State Government has demolished Igbo people’s businesses worth billions of dollars sending a clear message that we don’t belong there? Does he not know that the Yoruba people want us to leave their Region and go back to the East? Let him watch this video providing evidence of the destruction of Igbo livelihood in Lagos.
“What about the demolitions by Mr. Nyesom Wike in Abuja against the properties of Igbo people? Is it not clear to Dave Umahi that the Igbo people are not accepted as equal citizens in Nigeria?
“Does Engr. Dave Umahi does not know that the owners of Nigeria made it a secret policy that no clean Igbo man will rule as the Nigerian Executive President? Is Dave Umahi planning to become a Vice President, which is the highest position an Igbo man can attain in Nigeria?
“If his master, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is honest about reintegrating the Igbo Nation into Nigeria, let him hand power over to Mr. PETER OBI in 2027 and step down so that power can shift to the North in 2031 as Peter Obi has promised to rule for only one term of four years.
“A term of four years is enough for a good leader to fix the country for the benefit of all Nigerians, just like Nelson Mandela did in four years for all the citizens of South Africa, and abolished discrimination and tribalism.”
“It appears that Dave Umahi does not know that he is working hard for the owners of Nigeria. He is a highly skilled professional Engineer and has done well for his masters. However, no matter how well a slave performs his duties, he cannot be given the power to rule over his master’s house.
“What we want is not infrastructures and amenities. We have been denied these infrastructures and amenities since the war. We have gotten used to living without them. We have learnt to live a hard life.
“What we want is freedom with the power to control our future and our destiny, and protect our territory against insecurities from Islamic Jihadists, not infrastructures and amenities provided by slave masters.”
“The Igbo Nation must be free. We must continue to agitate for freedom either as Biafrans outside Nigeria or as an Autonomous Region within Nigeria. We have submitted our Memorandum to the National Assembly for Devolution of Power to the Regions so that every Region would govern itself and develop at its own pace in Nigeria.”
“If the owners of Nigeria do not want Regional Autonomy, then nobody shall sleep until we become free outside Nigeria by the name of Biafra or any other name we may choose. Holding us in bondage is wickedness. There is no peace for the wicked as the scriptures say.”
“If the name of Biafra is offensive to many people, we can be called the Republic of Igbo Nation or any other name we may decide to adopt.”
“Let Engr Dave Umahi know that he has spoken for himself and his family. He has not spoken on behalf of the Igbo Nation.”
