Nnamdi Kanu, Biafra and the agitations for secession from Nigeria

In the immediate years after Africans gained ‘freedom’ from colonialism, disagreements, often culminated with conflicts, were commonplace on the continent. Access News Magazine columnist, Derrick E. Bangura, takes a look at some of the foundational causes of agitations in Nigeria. 

The conflict due to the quest for self-determination were often driven by perceived political, economic, and cultural oppression. At the end of 1960s, there was a regrettable civil war in Nigeria that disturbed the most stable and promising of the new African states.

The question of self-determination has remained a source of serious concern in Nigeria’s politics throughout its history of post-independence.  In those years the question of self-determination had passed several stages. Conflicts often go through similar development process, but are usually defeated by military force. Both African governments and the international community were generally not sympathetic to this form of activities. As a result, very few of these movements successfully achieved their goal and won the right to self-determination (secession).

The issue of secession has arisen in Nigeria first out of ethnic deprivation, exclusion, discrimination and disadvantage particularly in relation to resource contribution and redistribution.

The Nigerian pro-Biafra political activist, who is also a British citizen, Nnamdi Okwu Kanu (born on 25 September 1967) is the leader of the indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Kanu founded IPOB in 2014. The main aim was to restore the separatist state of Biafra which existed in Nigeria’s Eastern Region during the Nigerian Civil War of 1967-1970.

As the director of a United Kingdom-registered radio station named Radio Biafra, He propagated Biafran separatism. Kanu was arrested on treason charges in Lagos, Nigeria on 14 October 2015 and was detained for more than a year, despite various court orders that ruled for his release.  He said in court, that he “believes in Judaism” And considers himself a Jew and oftentimes has led his Biafran people to various Jewish prayers and religious observations. On 28 April 2017, Kanu was released from prison on bail. After jumping bail and fleeing abroad, Kanu is suspected to have played a major part in the insurgency in South-eastern Nigeria, as the Nigerian security forces attempted to quash IPOB’s armed wing, the Eastern Security Network, resulting in a low-level conflict in early 2021. Despite the fighting, Kanu maintained that IPOB was interested in a peaceful solution and achieving Biafran independence without violence. In June 2021, he was arrested by Interpol and handed over to Nigeria. The name Nnamdi Kanu is as controversial as his mission, which deeply divides opinions in Nigeria. His re-arrest has sparked a heated debate among different segments of Nigeria’s population.

The Niger Delta (Isaac Adaka Boro)

The struggle for justice and equality as a far as resource distribution is concerned has been an endless one for many in the Niger Delta.

One man who has attained legendary status in the hearts of most Niger Deltans is Isaac Adaka Boro, a nationalist who fought on the side of federal forces for a united Nigeria but who at the same time is more revered for his struggle for economic freedom, justice and fairness for his region.

He was also one of the pioneers of minority right activism in Nigeria.

The late Major Isaac Adaka Boro declared Ijaw Republic on February 1966, a month after the coup. He was so radical and courageous that as a student, he dragged the Federal Government to court seeking the nullification of the 1963 general election. When he proclaimed Niger Delta Republic in 1966, Boro argued that the region where the nation’s wealth comes from had suffered years of neglect and underdevelopment. But scholars believed this was not the main reason declaring the Niger Delta Republic. In between 1966 and 1970 is called the Nigerian Civil War or The Nigerian-Biafran war. a coup by army officers mostly from the Igbo tribe toppled the Nigerian government. 

Six months later there was another coup, riots in the mostly Hausa north left thousands of Igbos dead. About a million Igbo, mostly Christian, fled to the country’s southeast district, which unilaterally seceded from Nigeria in 1967 and declared itself Biafra. 

The government declared war and more than one million people are estimated to have died in the fighting or of starvation as result of the blockade.

The war ended in 1970 after Biafran soldiers surrendered and were reintegrated back into Nigeria under its “no victor, no vanquished” policy.

The Secession of South Sudan and other international secessions

The people of South Sudan voted overwhelmingly for separation from the Republic of Sudan. The Republic of South Sudan obtained its independence six months later, on 9 July, 2011. As part of the process of separation of the two states, fighting between government troops and rebel factions erupted into a conflict that had killed thousands and prompted more than 2.2 million people to flee their homes by the time a tentative internationally-mediated peace agreement was signed in August 2015. The new nation stands to benefit from inheriting the bulk of Sudan’s oil wealth, but continuing disputes with Khartoum, rivalries within the governing party, and a lack of economic development cloud its immediate future.

The same applies to the Catalan in Spain, In June 2018, Catalan nationalists regained control of the region from Madrid’s direct rule after a new government was sworn in. The ruling separatists in the Catalan parliament then declared independence on 27 October. Angered by that, Madrid imposed direct rule by invoking an article of the constitution (a first for Spain).

The Spanish government sacked the Catalan leaders, dissolved parliament and called a snap regional election on 21 December 2017, which nationalist parties won.

Secessions are not new

Although most of the examples of secession are recent, secessions are anything but new. In fact, it can be argued that the USA was established on secession. But even in the new America, clamour for secession have never been absent. Even now, there are active secessionist movements in the USA under such categories as de facto state, proposed state and proposed autonomous area. Nnamdi Kanu and his IPOB group are not even the only secessionist group in Nigeria. While one of the oldest was the Niger Delta under Isaac Boro, Sunday Igboho also had a recent claim to separation that made considerable buzz for the emancipation of the Yoruba Nation (Oduduwa). In the case of Nigeria, nationhood has never been a challenge for us. Our main challenge is the absence of equity, transparency, nationality and social justice. These are the reasons for groups desiring to jump ship. Maintaining Nigeria’s unity should be an effort around ensuring equitable distribution of our commonwealth and ensuring justice in all ramifications.