Biafra: What Nnamdi Kanu Told European Parliament [Full Details]

Details of what the leader of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra, IPOB, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, told the European Parliament in Brussels on Tuesday has emerged.

It would be recalled that Kanu who was at Brussels on the invitation of EU Parliament was accompanied by top ranking IPOB members.

Though there was no available footage showing the IPOB leader addressing the EU Parliament, but below is a full text of his said address which was made available to journalists by IPOB Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful:

BIAFRA BRIEFING FOR THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT…

Nigeria in Crisis

There is a crisis in Nigeria. The Nigerian State has never been at peace with itself and recent events amplify this pending emergency.

And, as has been the case since independence from Britain in 1960, Biafrans are the easy target of the lack of a credible Nigerian state. Nigeria governs without the consent of all within its borders. Nigeria claims to be ruled by law, but in effect there is a de facto lawlessness in Nigeria.

Nigeria’s epidemic of violence flowing from the North is well documented. In 2014 the Global Terrorism Index judged Fulani militants to be the fourth most deadly terror group in the world, behind Boko Haram, Isis and the Taliban.

Lawlessness is always one step ahead of the Government. In response, the Government, when it is convenient for it to do so, attempts to give a veneer of legality to the lawlessness. Recent proposed land reforms across Nigeria do just that. The Fulani herders from the North are increasingly encroaching on the settled farmers of the South/South East. This includes Biafra. As Amnesty International has reported, there were more than 2,000 deaths in 2018 linked to this land crisis. Instead of seeking to address the violence, the Government has sought to condone it and legitimise the land grab.

There is an underlying problem in the North which has to do with climate change and encroaching desertification due to overgrazing and deforestation. This has drawn Fulani herdsmen further south and led to violence against Biafran farmers seeking to defend their land and crops. The fertile farming lands of Biafra are very attractive to the Fulani.

To address this land crisis, the Government, the President of which is Fulani, sought to establish the RUGA scheme (an acronym for Rural Grazing Area – or is it, as some suggest, a Fulani word?) whereby Fulani herders could officially move into areas and absorb land as part of a Government co-ordinated programme across Nigeria.

Is this an attempt to develop settled land practices for the Fulani, or, as is the experience of Biafrans, is the drive behind RUGA an attempt to Fulanise (or Islamise) Biafraland and force out Biafrans? Biafrans who stand up to the Fulani are killed. Because of the uproar across Nigeria, the RUGA settlement programme has been suspended, but the National Livestock Transformation Plan (NLTP) remains in place. This programme advocates ranching. How different is it from RUGA? For Biafrans the effect is the same. They are forced from their land and will be killed if they do not make way for the Fulani.

Nigeria: The Problem, Not the Solution

Nigeria has always been a fiction. The state we now know as Nigeria was created for British administrative and colonial convenience in 1914. An audacious move by the British, but no surprises in Empire. Britain’s Nigeria drew together disparate people into one entity.

To over simplify, to the North are the Muslims. Two ethnic groups dominate the North, the Hausa and Fulani. The Fulani are now in the ascendency. One hundred years ago these were semi-nomadic, pastoral people. Many Fulani continue to live as herders. The South is mainly Christian and in the South East there is also a vibrant Jewish tradition. The rural communities in the South/South East tend to be settled farmers. The principal ethnic group in the South is the Yoruba.

The South East is the region that makes up Biafraland or Biafra. There is a coherence to Biafra. Its western border is the River Niger and it incorporates most of the Niger delta. The eastern border is Cameroon. To the west, across the Niger, are the Yoruba. In the north are the Muslim people. Despite colonisation and being forcibly absorbed into Nigeria, Biafrans are defined by common values and a shared sense of identity. Biafrans don’t all speak the same language. Many Biafrans are Igbo speakers. Other Biafrans speak Urhobo-Isoko, Ijaw-Epie-Ogbia, Ogoni, Efik, Annang, Eket-, Oron-Ibibio, Ogoja, Ejagham, Igala, Idoma, Ibani and Igbanke among others.

To put Biafra in its Nigerian geo-political context, Biafraland is made up of the following Provinces: Rivers Province, Cross River, Akwa Ibom, Ebonyi, Imo, Anambra, Abia, Enugu, Bayelsa and Delta. Fulani herdsman have shown great interest in those provinces that form the central belt of Biafra, such as Enugu.

The Biafran War (1967-1970)

With independence, the persecution of Biafrans started. One colonial master was replaced by another, although, and without endorsing British rule, Biafrans fared better under the British than they have under Nigerian dominance.

First, the Biafrans who had been transplanted to the North by the British were massacred. Those that survived fled back to Biafra. The oppression and intimidation did not cease. In 1967, Biafra was left with no choice but to proclaim independence. Nigeria declared war.

Biafra didn’t stand a chance. The conflict turned the Cold War on its head. The Soviet Union and Britain actively supported Nigeria. “Biafra, Britain’s Shame” was how many described the UK position. French compassion was gratefully received but it could do little to protect the fledgling state. America’s neutrality in effect backed Nigeria. China was silent. The UN was hopeless. Biafra was doomed. Starved into submission, after three years the Biafrans surrendered. At least 2 million Biafrans perished.

The atrocities, war crimes and crimes against humanity committed against Biafra during the Biafran War remain unaccounted for. Was it an attempt at genocide? Biafrans were considered an existential threat to the state. The killings were indiscriminate. All Biafrans were targeted.

Biafra Subjugated

After the war, Biafrans slowly rebuilt their world. But, as far as Nigeria was concerned, they were not and never had been Biafrans. They were Nigerians from the South East or Igbo-speaking Nigerians. The Biafran War was airbrushed out of the Nigerian consciousness. Biafrans could only whisper about their loss. Joining the global Biafran diaspora was one option for those who could get out. Others remained in Biafraland, their Biafran identity amongst themselves, undiminished.

Nigeria continues to prioritise crushing assertions of Biafran identity. Even peacefully commemorating the War risks arrest, detention, prohibited ill-treatment or being shot.

In recent years the Nigerian state authorities have conducted three orchestrated campaigns against Biafrans. The three Operation Python Dance campaigns have been battles against Biafrans. The first campaign was in 2016, the second in 2017 and the third is ongoing. They are designed to undermine calls for Biafran self-determination.

Operation Python Dance campaigns intimidate. Serious and systemic human rights violations are carried out by state forces with impunity.