By Bola BOLAWOLE
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“Even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise” – Victor Hugo (in “Le Hus Miserables”).
Is Biafra an idea whose time has come? Victor Hugo (26 February, 1802 – 22 May, 1885) says “Nothing else in the world… not all the armies… is so powerful as an idea whose time has come”. Another variant of the same quotation says: “There is one thing stronger than all the armies in the world, and that is an idea whose time has come” (Hugo in “The Future of Man”).
How does this work? An idea whose time has come is a “historical moment where the idea or concept (which takes on a spirit of its own) is perfectly received by a cultural movement that surrenders to its utility as dictated by historical necessity” Note that a cultural movement is more powerful, more encompassing and more demanding than a political movement, although it encompasses the latter. An example is Chairman Mao’s Cultural Revolution in China.
When Hugo made his statement, he did not have Biafra in mind. In fact, he was talking of Literature and not even of politics, nationalism or war. He said the time had come to abandon the conventional approach to literature, which he reasoned left it mangled and mutilated. But, today, that statement is more famous with those trying to upturn the existing social order in pursuit of nationalist goals.
Is the resurgence of a sovereign State of Biafra such an idea? I got sufficiently puzzled to ask this question because of recent developments. Everyone who thought the arrest and detention of Simon Ekpa in Finland signalled the end of resurgent Biafra’s deadly activities must have a re-think. The same way it was thought that the rendition of Nnamdi Kanu and his incarceration would silence Biafra – but it did not. Instead, a more vicious Simon Ekpa filled the void.
Now, one lady has come forward to claim to fill the void created by Ekpa. I watched her blab and blurt out gibberish – and they said she was a Dr.! Is it a medical doctorate, an academic Ph. D. or honoris causa? That, however, is a topic for another day but whichever, she did not demonstrate intelligence. She seemed more intent on displaying masculinity or macho than intelligence; and more brawn than brain. But that is not even my worry here today.
My worries include: Who are those behind the push or agitation for the sovereign state of Biafra? Assuming they get Biafra today, will they be willing to leave their investments in Nigeria behind and retreat to what former President Muhammadu Buhari once derogatively described as a tiny dot in the middle of nowhere? Have they counted the cost (Luke 14:28)? Or they think they will still be allowed to roam about and loom large all over Nigeria they would have exited?
They should ask Britain after BREXIT! When they draw the map of their imaginary Biafra Republic, they include people who have been vociferous in denouncing them and their Biafra project. How do they intend to handle that? A clearly defined boundary is one of the indispensable criteria for statehood.
It is necessary to begin to cross the t’s and dot the i’s of the likelihood of an independent Republic of Biafra if they are not to cause monumental havoc to themselves and their immediate neighbours. How will a sovereign State of Biafra respond to neighbours not willing to submit to their authority? Apply diplomacy? Or pacify them by levying war? Which of these two do you think is in Biafra’s DNA?
FEEDBACK
RE: Abike Dabiri versus Kemi Badenoch
“Tan’fe-ani” is the bane of the critics of Kemi Badenoch! Hopefully, Nigeria shall, one day, experience an “accidental leader” who will address her endemic corrupt tendencies – a major factor that propels the “Japa” syndrome in her youths. I pray and hope that Kemi Badenoch succeeds in becoming the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in her bid! -Taiwo Lasisi, President, Ta’awun Political Forum, Lagos.
If corruption is the reason for “japa”, then, some of the people involved are even more corrupt because they were still collecting salaries that they did not work for! Also, money stolen from Nigeria is wharehoused overseas! So, those foreign leaders don’t have the moral right to call Nigerians fantastically corrupt. I would rather describe the Nigerians as corrupt but the Whites as fantastically corrupt! – Kola Oloye.
I knew Prof. Femi Badejo and his friend, the late Dr. Remi Anifowose, at UNILAG. He has every right as a Nigerian and as an intellectual to his opinion. I am afraid, however, that he is in the minority on this matter. The truth is that there are many Nigerians who are doing far better in all spheres of human endeavor than Kemi. They have not disgraced Nigeria as Kemi has done. It is on record that she grew up in Surulere, Lagos; attended Staff School at UNILAG, and her father was an upper middle class person; so, where was Kemi fetching water from the stream and firewood from the bush? Abike did not just go to the press; it was the press that asked if she had reached out to Kemi. As for Nigeria being fantastically corrupt, all the monies stolen in Nigeria are warehoused in London and other Western countries! – Kayode Abegunde.
Abike Dabiri lamenting that Kemi Badenoch did not give her audience lacks diplomatic competence. She should not see Kemi Badenoch as a Nigerian, even though she has Nigerian roots. Otherwise, she would not have been elected as the leader of the Conservative Party. She has so many things to grapple with and top notch in her political agenda now (is not) giving audience to a low-level Nigerian government official. Doesn’t Dabiri realise that Kemi Badenoch is today the opposition leader in the British parliament and, thus, a potential British Prime Minister if her political permutation goes well? Coming to Fani-Kayode, he can not claim, and neither can his roots claim, to love the Yoruba. He was a child during the “Opreation Wet-ẹ̀” in the Western Region to know that his father, wearing a short knicker with a jerry can of petrol in his hand, was the master-mind of “Wet-ẹ̀”, which gave birth to political thuggery in Yoruba land, an evil that has refused to vacate our political space till date. Neither he nor Abike Dabiri can measure up to the political status of Kemi Badenoch. – Pst. Jube Olawole.
This is not complicated at all! Some people evidently underrated Kemi! I am quite certain, and I think it is now obvious, that Kemi has it all worked out in her mind – she has to be a brilliant thinker to be a computer engineer! To boot, and in support of those credentials, she is now Leader of The Opposition and Shadow Prime Minister in Britain, and the first Black African to lead a major party in the United Kingdom. Anyone who thinks she is stupid or irresolute should blame themselves for not being smart! From all the indicators which Kemi is setting off, she is, and she considers herself Yorùbá, like her father, but she is also British and refuses to be ‘Nigerian’, unlike her father! She has said that for the umpteenth time – and we are all aware of it – that she does not want Britain to become like ‘Nigeria’! Is that not clear enough? And what can be bad with that? As a matter of fact, we the indigenous nations who are grossly unfortunate to be roped into the monumental scam known as ‘Nigeria’ can turn that against the British, its infamous inventors, and ask them to cooperate in the dissolution of the misfortune known as ‘Nigeria’. As the official Leader of The British Opposition, even Kemi Badenoch says it! Her mother, who knows her better than anyone else, says she is a chip off the old block in her father, Dr. Femi Adegoke! – Demola Akintoye.
Why do we celebrate excellence in the Diaspora but prefer mediocrity at home? – Emmanuel Chiadi.
Kemi Badenoch was right in her response to Abike Dabiri-Erewa and the others. Could it be the ‘pull her down ’ syndrome or what exactly was the problem with those attacking her? Could they be using her to gain relevance and cheap favour from the government of the day? Why are we making a parody of our existential failure? We are living in sad times! – Ezekiel Odeyemi.
Please take time to help your readers know that whatever name they call the apparatus that Abike Dabiri has carved out for herself is unconstitutional and only possible in a corrupt country called Nigeria. She can use her “good offices” to bag an ambassadorial position to any country of her choice but she should please stop using that aberration organization of hers that has consistently undermined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Anyone with proper self-esteem and (who is) knowledgeable about proper governance will distance themselves from the misnomer arrangement she has put together. – Adewunmi Alabi.
- Former Editor of PUNCH newspapers, Chairman of its Editorial Board and Deputy Editor-in-Chief, BOLAWOLE was also Managing Director/ Editor-in-Chief of The Westerner newsmagazine. He writes the ON THE LORD’S DAY column in the Sunday Tribune and TREASURES column in the New Telegraph newspaper on Wednesdays. He is also a public affairs analyst on radio and television.