Boycott: IPOB plots to truncate Anambra election

OBINNA EZUGWU

Since his release from prison on bail in April, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has not been out of the headlines. Although one of his bail conditions specified that he shouldn’t grant interviews, he has shown no interest in staying away from the media. He continues to grant interviews and make pronouncements, and having probably tested his popularity with the successful sit at home on May 30, the 50th anniversary of Biafra, the IPOB leader is set to use the November 18 governorship election in Anambra State to prove yet another point…he means business.

A fortnight ago, Kanu declared that if the federal government does not grant referendum for Biafra before November 1, there would no longer be elections in “Biafra land.” To this effect, he has asked the people of Anambra State to boycott the November polls, a decision that has continued to generate intense reactions from leaders of the South East. This may be in response to the quit notice issued to the Igbo by some Northern youth groups to leave the area before October 1.

Some say the IPOB leader is already overreaching himself and it may be a matter of time before his new found glory comes crashing. But it is not in doubt, despite the backlash that has greeted and continues to greet his boycott order as well as his recent criticisms of former president, Goodluck Jonathan whom he described as “weak” and “incompetent,” Kanu still has massive following among the youths in the East.

He is a cult hero of sorts, and commands more following than any politician in the zone today. The situation is scary, some say; the level of fanaticism among his core followers is overwhelming. It is difficult to predict where this is headed, but one thing is perhaps sure, the Anambra poll has suffered a major stumbling block.

Anambra is one of the states where the IPOB leader enjoys huge following, his call for boycott is already reverberating, and there are more than a few people who say they are ready to boycott as he has instructed.

“It is total sit at home on the day of election,” said Ebere Nwafor, a trader at Onitsha Main Market. “We will not come out to vote, no more voting in Biafra land until they give us a date for referendum.”

The All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) has been in charge of the state since 2006, and the incumbent governor, Willie Obiano is favoured to win in the November polls should the election reflect the views of the people. But his chances could be affected if Kanu succeeds in discouraging people from coming out to vote. The party immediately lashed out at him and asked the people of the state to ignore his call.

In a letter signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Ifeatu Obiokoye and made available on Monday, the party described Kanu’s directive as irresponsible and devoid of focus, insisting that he had no authority to speak for the Igbo and warned him against turning himself into an emperor.

“Nnamdi Kanu’s call for a boycott of elections in the South-East, beginning with the governorship polls scheduled for November 18, 2017 in Anambra is irresponsible, irredentist and totally devoid of any focus,” the letter read.

“You must appreciate that for different logical reasons and perception, the Biafra concept has attracted favourable comments among our people, ostensibly borne out of the marginalisation of Ndigbo in the Nigerian state.

“While youths of the East are agitating for Biafra, the Arewa youths are equally restive; the same goes for Níger Delta youths and youths from Oduduwa states.”

The party noted that although the agitation for Biafra was popular, Ndigbo had neither instituted a separatist movement nor a terrorist gang, stating that it supports only the implementation of the 2014 national conference and asked for its revisit and implementation.

Reminding him that the right to vote and be voted for was a universally declared right under the United Nations Charter of People’s and Citizenship Right, and in the 1999 Constitution, APGA asked him not to be carried away by the success of the May 30 sit-at-home call, which according to it, was attributable to many reasons.

“In this popular agitation for Biafra, Ndigbo have not instituted a separatist movement or a terrorist gang as it were. We are more concerned about the continued existence of Nigeria under the present structural arrangement.”

However, it is one thing to issue a letter, but it is a different thing to get the intended recipients to read and see reasons with it. In Onitsha, a number of people spoken to by BusinessHallmark as at Tuesday said they only heard that Kanu asked for a boycott, but have not heard that APGA has said otherwise.

Kanu’s words is news to the average person in the street, it quickly spreads. His popularity has not waned, over the past few weeks, his Umuahia home has become a Mecca as thousands of IPOB members troop to pay him solidarity visits, a development that has drawn the ire of the leaders of his Isiama Afaraukwu ibeku community in the Abia State capital. .

Addressing journalists in a press conference organized by the community on Thursday, an elder statesman, Chief Geoffrey Onyemaobi said the people of Isiama Afaraukwu ibeku were not part of the agitation for sovereign state of Biafra, while raising alarm over the invasion of the community by IPOB members.

He lamented that on Wednesday, the community was invaded by members of IPOB, with over five hundred vehicles, which led to heavy traffic jam in the area.

“They invaded my community, isiama Afaraukwu Ibeku yesterday, (Wednesday). There was no space in entire Isiama Afaraukwu. They invaded the community with over five hundred vehicles carrying young boys who have no idea how war looks like, walking around every place in this community,” he lamented.

“The people of the community, including myself could not come out from our compound. They blocked our gates and roads with vehicles. I had to manage to squeeze myself out.

“Coming back, it took me complete two hours from Federal medical Centre (FMC) junction, through Aba road, because they blocked the Golden Guinea Breweries road, I had to take Holy Trinity road, still they blocked it. No space anywhere in Afaraukwu.

“Two hours to get to my compound. Is it what we are going to see in this community? We are appealing to government to please come to the aid of this community. We are not part of what is going on, I mean, Biafra agitation. We are not part of it,” he declared.

That Wednesday, various agitating groups had gathered in a ceremony that featured the popular Ohafia war dance masquerade, called Mma Agu, where he was pronounced “the new leader of Biafra nation.”

His guests over the past few months have included representatives of youth organisations from the North Central Zone and the Niger Delta. And his support base is accordingly spreading to these areas.

Before his arrest in 2015, he was at best, a rabble-rouser rambling away on Radio Biafra. He commanded little attention and had only a handful of followers. But his arrest by the President Muhammadu Buhari administration and the chain of events that followed transformed him from a noise maker on a pirate radio station to symbol of oppression. If Buhari, by his arrest and subsequent clamp down on his followers, hoped to suppress his agitation, he ended up achieving the opposite.

Indeed, it is a singular act that has proven to be a costly mistake, and arresting him for a second time may ultimately have catastrophic consequences. Kanu, for many of his followers is now a messiah who prays for the sick and they get healed. And whose words are supreme. Aware of the possible impact his boycott may have, politicians across the state and beyond have been vocal in condemning it.

Reverend Austin Ehiemere, the chairman of APGA in Abia State told Business Hallmark that the Anambra election was of importance to Ndigbo and APGA, and that nobody should meddle with it. He advised Kanu to be weary of his statements so he doesn’t lose his followers.

“His statement will not affect Anambra election, Anambra election is a very important project for Ndigbo, so nobody should take that kind of statement seriously,” he said.

“And they should not go into that area so that they would not lose the support of their followers. No Igbo man would take Anambra election for granted. It is a no go area, anything concerning Anambra election, nobody should go there.”

The apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo had been vocal in demanding for Kanu’s release while he was in prison. In fact, upon his swearing in as Ohanaeze president-general early this year, Dr Nnia Nwodo adopted the IPOB and MASSOB as his children, insisting that their agitations were born out of many injustices meted out to Ndigbo.

But Nwodo did not take kindly to Kanu’s call for election boycott. For the first time, the Ohanaeze leader disagreed with him forcefully and even reprimanded him when he led other national leaders of the organisation to the Anambra State House of Assembly on Thursday.

“News that reached us in the past few days that Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of IPOB, has declared that there will be no election in Anambra in November is shocking and disturbing. I hereby countermand that declaration as President General of Ohaneze,” Nwodo said.

“Whereas Ohanaeze understands the marginalization and unfair treatment of Igbo which have given rise to self-determination movements in Igboland, leaders of these movements must not arrogate to themselves the supreme leadership of Igboland.

“Statements of the kind credited to Nnamdi Kanu are provocative, misleading and unproductive. Why should Anambra people be denied the opportunity to choose their own leader? Why should any of us who is not from Anambra, no matter how highly placed, descend to the arena and dictate for Anambra people when to vote, whether to vote or who to vote for?

“Anambra, nay Igbo, are still part and parcel of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Yes, we are not happy with our treatment in Nigeria. Yes, some of us want Biafra. Yes, some of us prefer a restructured Federal Republic of Nigeria. But the fact remains that we are still part and parcel of the present Federal Republic of Nigeria, bound by its laws, no matter how repressive or unjust.

“Our approach to reforms of our laws even if it leads to self-determination or restructuring must be lawful. We must convince other Nigerians of our point of view, we must strive to make others share our convictions.

“Our language must be civil, respectful and lead to consensus building. We must resist any attempt to turn division amongst us, as to which way we must go, become a source of altercations between us.

“As we speak very many of our people living in Northern Nigeria are in complete awe and consternation regarding how safe they will be after October 1st. Other Northerners living amongst us are also worried.”

“The Inspector General of Police has taken public notice of Nnamdi’s comments, which may amount to inviting a possible invasion of Anambra by the Nigerian Police, increasing the already existing siege on our people, which may lead to daily extortion on our highways. All these developments have arisen out of unguarded utterances.

“I find no venue more suited for the statements I make here. Every constituent part of Anambra is represented here. I believe that the honourable members here are competent enough to carry the Ohaneze message to every nook and cranny of Anambra State,” he concluded.

There are already campaigns on social media aimed at countering the boycott order, and these campaigns are led by those who had always agreed with him, or at least, have commended him for being able to bring to the fore, the injustices meted out to his people.

“To the extent that he has brought to the fore the injustices that triggered his agitation, he has succeeded. But I think at this stage, he should be able to consult widely before taking steps so as not to overreach himself,” said Barr. Okey Ilofulunwa, former secretary, Aka Ikenga.

“He needs to consult widely to get the buy-in of other major stakeholders so as not to so that at the end of the day, whatever decision he takes will be a resolution of all, or at least most.”

But it does appear that Kanu and his IPOB are not keen on listening to advice. On Wednesday, the group released a statement through its Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, describing APGA’s rejection of Kanu’s order as childish antics, while alleging that the party as a government killed no fewer than 2000 of its members in Anambra State by supporting military crack down on them.