Jeff Amechi Agbodo, Onitsha 

The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) yesterday said that Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe’s quest for power, dream and greed to lead the world’s biggest black nation and to rub shoulders with the western leaders put Ndigbo in the mess they found themselves today.

The group noted that the Hausa/Fulani caliphate of the North were happy to be ruled by the British and were not ready for independence, saying it was Dr. Azikiwe and his cohorts that persuaded the North to embrace independence struggle even when it was obvious they never wanted to form a country with the South.

The Media and Publicity Secretary of IPOB, Emma Powerful, in a statement, said  it was that unrealisable aspiration and unproductive ambition that ensured the South ended up being led by people whose value system is irreconcilable with theirs.

He said that while Hausa were going on stabilizing their region , Zik was busy dreaming of leading an empire the British built, saying that every current Igbo leader, are also driven by inordinate ambition to rule Nigeria and self preservation.

According to the group “That is why today, we are discussing cows instead of industries, science and technology. We are begging Fulanis  to stop killing their fellow Nigerians. We are begging them  to allow the existence of Nigeria to be renegotiated into acceptable standard of governance to usher in political stability, economic growth and modern development just to say the least.’’ 

They added: “Zik, despite his undoubted brilliance, was not a very good politician. He remains till date the only person that led an independence struggle and never got the chance  to lead the country after independence. Unfortunately, present day Igbo leaders have continued in that failed politics of Zik. The only way out is to dissolve Nigeria, anything short is cosmetic and will be resisted by IPOB.

“Hausa Fulani caliphates of the North were happy being ruled by the British people and were not ready for independence. It was Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe and co that persuaded the North  to embrace independence struggle even when it was obvious they never wanted to form a country with the south. This led to the atrocious demand from them which Zik acquiesced to, that the North should be given political power”.

“Zik was naive in thinking Britain were going to hand over power to him. Zik’s dream and greed to lead the world’s biggest black nation just to rub shoulders with the western leaders put us in this mess. It was that unrealizable aspiration and unproductive ambition that ensured we ended up being led by people whose value system is irreconcilable with ours.

“The issue is not about Igbo leaders not doing enough to promote Igbo interest, the problem is that Igbo leaders are actively engaged in the undermining of collective Igbo interest. With the notable exception of Gov. Nyesom Wike of Rivers State, the rest are mere errand boys for Abuja and the caliphate. They are visibly terrified of their Fulani masters and would not want to do anything to jeopardize their cherished lucrative relationship with their masters in the North. 

“The supposedly apex socio-cultural organization, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, is considerably worse. We thought Ohanaeze Ndigbo couldn’t sink any lower after the shambolic Chief Gary Enwo-Igariwe administration but what is confronting us today in Nnia Nwodo is a man who was made by the North and prepared to supervise the genocidal massacre of his own people in order to ensure the interest of the North is always protected or better put, to ensure that Igbos remain subservient to the North in perpetuity.

“The problem of bad leadership in Igboland started immediately after the war. From the alleged imposition of the traitor Ukpabi Asika as the governor of the then East Central State, mind you he openly campaigned alongside Yakubu Gowon against Ojukwu, Igbos have never had good honest leaders. They have honest social critics and commentators but rarely good leaders. Every leader you see in Igboland today was placed in office by the caliphate. 

“The Fulani caliphate decides who becomes governor, senator, Ohanaeze Ndigbo president general and so on. What you have in Igboland are hungry informants masquerading as leaders. These supposedly Igbo leaders are on record as being the first set of people to condemn IPOB and invite Hausa Fulani soldiers to come and kill Biafrans. Willie Obiano, Okezie Ikpeazu, Dave Umahi, Rochas Okorocha,  Nnia Nwodo and a few senators allegedly, directly instigated Operation Python Dance II. 

“Many people don’t know that IPOB has even more significant presence in Igweocha (Rivers State) than anywhere else in Biafraland but you don’t hear Ijaw,  Ikwerre Igbo, Ndoni or even Ogoni politicians castigate IPOB the way Igbo politicians do on a regular basis. That tells you all you need to know about where their loyalty lies.

“Yoruba elders never publicly condemned OPC, Arewa Consultative Forum till date have not offered any categorical condemnation of Boko Haram and Fulani herdsmen but Igbo leaders themselves canvassed for this Fulani government to deploy soldiers to the South-east to kill innocent agitators. These same leaders never ran to Buhari to send soldiers to stop Fulani herdsmen from slaughtering our people all over Enugu State.

But when it came to IPOB agitating to free everybody from the Nigerian bondage we all are in, they found the courage to invite the army to invade Igboland.”