Is Nigeria Heading To Another Civil War?

 Is Nigeria Heading To Another Civil War? 

The video of Northern elements ordering trailers bringing foodstuffs from the North to the South back to the North brought back the stories my grandmother told me about Nigeria Genocide against Biafrans. How the hunger was used against the East.

In 1967 Nigeria genocide against Biafra, Gowon together with Obafemi Awolowo declared a no flight zone in the entire Biafra land. Importation of medicines, foodstuffs and other materials were banned and these brought untold hardship on Biafrans. Against rules of engagement, Nigeria Military government of Gowon made hunger a weapon of war. It was an atomic hunger bomb. 

Seeing Northerners sending those vehicles back tells you that the North thinks selling their agricultural products in the South West and East is doing Southerners some favors. This went further to prove how abnormal people think in this country. Normally, the North should be grateful that they got the South buying from them, but here unfortunately, the North is the one proudly going on strike. Not as if the North dash out these foods to Southerners. Rather Southerners buy them. 

But the truth is that no one will be in the position the Nigeria constitution placed the North and not behave the way they are behaving. A Northern Farmer gets enough grants from Nigeria unjust system of governance that should he decide not to harvest, he is still very much at gain. It means that the proceeds from the Oil are given to the North for farming. Grants they hardly repay.

The action of the North is trying to inform the South that Nigeria is already at war, and like hunger was used as a weapon of war in 1967/70, they are ready to repeat it again.

In this article, I will be deliberating on the 1967 war and why I personally think the odd is against the North should another war break out.

The 1967 war saw Biafrans whom were victims branded rebels using the instrumentality of the Mainstream Media. Every mechanism of lies was brought upon Biafra. Britain using BBC told the entire world that Biafra was the aggressor.

That was when in actual sense they were the victim. More than 50,000 Biafrans have been murdered in the streets of Northern Nigeria, including properties worth billions destroyed.

The only avenue to bring peace and unity back to Nigeria was reneged by Yakubu Gowon. Instead of implementing Aburi Accord, Gowon created more states out of the East, in a complete disregard to the Aburi agreement, and this caused the war. 

Hausa, Fulani, Yoruba, Tiv and the entire Middle Belt all descended on Biafra. But not without the help of international communities like Britain, Saudi Arabia, Russia and Egypt helping Nigeria to fight Biafra.

Biafra was so much incapacitated due to the propaganda led by Britain. No country wants to help as not to be in the black book of Britain. Biafra found it difficult to purchase weapons, reason they resorted to producing their own weapons. At the long run, Biafra lost a lot. More than 3.5million Biafrans died and their economic power destroyed during and after the war.

Looking at today's Nigeria, one can agree with me that Nigeria is once again treading the path of inevitable war. That's because the government have completely refused to neither restructure the country, nor give the people the referendum they are seeking for. Not only that, Nigeria government is seen pampering terrorists and negotiating with Bandits, yet the same government kill youths peacefully waving flags and imprison them. 

The #EndSARS protest exposed Nigeria government all the more. Earlier before the Endsars protest, Nigerians thought that the reason Nigeria government are killing IPOB members was because they are waving Biafra Flags, but unfortunately, that wasn't the case, as Nigeria military opened fire on peaceful protesters waving their very own Nigerian flag, killing more than a 100 of them.

The country is tensed up, Fulani herdsmen are killing both in the North and south. Bandits, Boko Haram, ISWAP are kidnapping and terrorising people in the North. Upon these unrests, the military are in the East dropping bombs and killing civilians in the name of fighting ESN.

Like I said earlier, every indication points to the fact that Nigeria is heading towards an inevitable war. And some northerners are already telling the East to remember what happened to them in 1967/70. Invariably, they feel that just like it was in 1967, it will be in 2021. But none of them have tried explaining to us why the North who went mad in 1966 killing every Easterner living in the North are now quiet even after ESN sacked Fulani herdsmen terrorists illegally occupying Eastern forests. Why are they not attacking Easterners in the North? Are they not provoked?

The answer is simple, things are no more like it used to be. Things have practically changed. Should the North go to war, they will be on the losing side. The worse is that there is no more North as we used to know.

The greatest victims of Fulani herdsmen terrorists attacks are those of them in the middle Belt. So tell me how they will after the barbaric killings of their people by Fulani Herdsmen agree to fight alongside Fulani to protect One Nigeria. The truth is that the alliance that saw the middle belt and the Yoruba fight together with the Fulani against Biafra has been destroyed. Also Biafrans have used the social media to their advantage. They have informed the world about the plight of Biafrans under Nigeria occupation. So there will be no more gang up against Biafra both locally and internationally, thanks to IPOB and Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. 

Should Nigeria military go to war, they will witness the greatest decamping of soldiers along regional lines. It will be foolishness for one to kill his brothers and sisters over a failed and unjust country like Nigeria.

Referendum cost nothing. We can't say same about war. That's why we must act like civilized people and embrace referendum. 

Elochukwu Ohagi, Philosopher, Teacher And Activist, 2021. 

For Family Writers Press International.