By
Ehiwe Sam, Lagos
Recently, Nigeria has been going through a myriad of problems which have challenged its corporate existence. In this view, there have been suggestions from different quarters as to the best solution to the problems. In the West, there is the call for an Oduduwa Republic championed by the likes of Femi Fani Kayode. In the North some are fanning the embers of an Arewa Republic while in the South the call is for a Middle Belt Republic. The most pronounced of them all is the agitation for an Independent Republic of Biafra championed by Mazi Nnamdi Kanu from the Eastern part of Nigeria.
The call for a Republic of Biafra is very delicate and sensitive owing to the fact that such a call presents a de javu of what history holds. The loss of lives that followed the first ever attempt by Easterners led by Ojukwu led to avoidable hostilities which resulted in the loss of lives of many Nigerians, most of who died of hunger and disease. It would be recalled that the warlord, Ojukwu, who championed the cause then was latter granted pardon by the Nigerian Government and his pension as a former military officer in the Nigerian army continued to be paid up until his death at a medical centre abroad. This was after millions had died after the brutal war. Ojukwu even later contested for the post of President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria under the platform of the ALL PROGRESSIVE GRAND ALLIANCE (APGA), but he lost to Obasanjo. Obasanjo’s victory was later to be challenged by Muhammadu Buhari who was also a contestant at the elections. Buhari’s suit did not succeed. See Buhari v. INEC.
At the beginning of the fourth republic, around the year 2000, another man Uwazuruike arose again to champion the cause for the attainment of a Biafran Republic. Uwazuruike established the MOVEMENT FOR THE ACTUALIZATION OF THE SOVEREIGN STATE OF BIAFRA(MASSOB). He had diehard followers running into millions both home and abroad. His followers worshipped him. Many died in the cause of the struggle. Some of his boys included the likes of Nnamdi Kanu who would later rebel against Uwazuruike to create a faction known as the INDEGENIOUS PEOPLE OF BIAFRA (IPOB). Uwazuruike was arrested and charged for treason. See Uwazuruike v Federal Republic Of Nigeria. He was behind bars for two solid years. He soon lost the worship and loyalty of his people as there were allegations of his frolicking with the Federal government and collecting largesse from them. After His decline, one of his media officers formed his own group, now known as IPOB (supra). The same people who worshipped Uwazuruike so quickly to his own shock turned against him and started to worship Nnamdi Kanu of IPOB. Uwazuruike in response released several memos calling for the Easterners to undermine Kanu as he has no true intentions for the struggle. The people insisted on queuing behind Kanu. This is the brief history of the agitations.
Now, following the recent call by the secessionist group, IPOB, the federal government deployed military personnel to, among other thing, checkmate and quell the call for the break-up of Nigeria, which is tantamount to treason. The Military, as it is with their custom tagged it, “OPERATION PYTHON DANCE 2”. Ever wondered why it is DANCE 2 and not DANCE1? The reason is that there has been a dance 1 in 2016 which ended in December of that year. This operation was highly commended as it helped in flushing out kidnappers and ritualists from the Eastern region. The Second part of the dance has however generated mixed reactions as many see it as a form of hostility on civilians.
It is trite that one of the responsibilities of the Military of any nation is to protect the territorial integrity and assist other security agencies in quelling any uprising that tend to compromise the corporate existence of the nation. Section 217 (1) (2)(a-d) CFRN 1999 as Amended provides thus:
217. (1) There shall be an armed forces for the Federation which shall
consist of an army, a navy, an Air Force and such other branches of the
armed forces of the Federation as may be established by an Act of the
National Assembly.
(2) The Federation shall, subject to an Act of the National Assembly made in that behalf, equip and maintain the armed forces as may be considered adequate and effective for the purpose of-
(a) defending Nigeria from external aggression;
(b) maintaining its territorial integrity and securing its borders from violation on land, sea, or air;
(c) suppressing insurrection and acting in aid of civil authorities to restore order when called upon to do so by the President, but subject to such conditions as may be prescribed by an Act of the National Assembly; and
(d) performance of such other functions as may be prescribed by an Act of the National Assembly.
A careful look at the above provision clearly shows that the action of the military is in tandem with the law as we have it presently. The Eastern part of Nigeria is part and parcel of Nigeria and as a nation the government has the responsibility of suppressing any uprising which threatens the lives of Nigerians and the corporate existence of the country such as the call for a break up. It is also an offence for any citizen of Nigeria to obstruct an officer of the law from carrying out his constitutional duties. See the Miscellaneous Offences Act. The python dance from its first edition is set out to protect Nigerians and ensure our unity as a nation. The unity of a nation must not be sacrificed on the altar of personal ambitions and aggrandisements.The Military must however ensure that in carrying out their operations, law abiding civilians are not negatively affected.
In conclusion, the growth of any nation is in its unity and never in its division. If Nigeria must grow, the people and the leaders must work together to uphold the unity of the nation for that is our heritage. Any act that tends to encourage war must be jettisoned and done away with because nothing good comes out of wars. The unity of Nigeria should be the concern of every citizen as this is what patriotism entails. The call for a break up is not the solution to the problem rather it is the problem to the solution.
Comments
Section 1(1) of the same Constitution says 'This Constitution is Supreme and its provisions shall have binding force on all authorities and persons throughout the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Subsection 2 of the above Section further stated that the Federal Republic of Nigeria shall not be governed, nor shall any person or group of persons take control of the Government of Nigeria or any part thereof, except in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution. Lastly Section 33(2) of CFRN, 1999(as amended) provides that a person shall not be regarded as having been deprived of his life in contravention of this Section, if he dies as a result of the use, to such extent and in such circumstances as are permitted by law, of such force as is reasonably necessary-
a) for the defence of any person from unlawful violence or for the defence of property.
b) in order to effect a lawful arrest or to prevent the escape of a person lawfully detained, or
c) for purpose of suppression of a riot, insurrection or mutiny. None of these sections quoted above has been amended or the constitution itself changed or annulled.
It is disheartening to know that security forces in Nigeria have illegally employed operation this and operation that to unleash terror on defenceless citizens. You may have heard something like Operation Sweep(lagos), Operation Keep away criminals(kebbi), Operation kwanta-kwanta(Bauchi), Operation Vigilance(Enugu), Operation Wedge(Ogun), Operation Zaki(Borno and Yobe) , Operation Crush( Ondo) , Operation Gbale(Oyo), Operation Kunama(Adamawa), Operation Storm(Imo), Operation Watch(Kwara), Operation Wipe(Edo), Operation Nkpochama(Anambra), Operation Pulo Shield(Niger Delta) , Operation Crocodile Smile(Niger Delta) , Operation Delta Safe (Delta) , Operation Flush( Rivers) and Operation Python dance (South East). In all these operations, Human Rights abuses are recorded including loss of thousands of innocent lives. These,to say the least, are illegal operations and are highly condemnable. It is a shame that security operatives in Nigeria up to 21st century are still brutal, not minding principles of democracy or adhering to rule of engagement.
May I also add at this point, reacting to current situation in Nigeria, that the rules governing struggling for self determination is still controversial both in municipal and international laws. There is no legal backing for the right to use force to attain self determination outside the context of decolonization or illegal occupation. The implication of this is that there is no legal right for ethnic groups to use force or threat to secede from existing state. Self determination on this setting is only peacefully achieved through discussion, dialogue, lobby and well planned diplomacy. Nevertheless, when claims to secession are met with brutal force and violent refusal as in exemplified in the cases of Bangladesh, Kosovo, Catalonia, Chechen, Kashmir, Kurds and now Biafra, the use of force against the people agitating for self determination will then strengthen their case before International Communities and Organisations like UN. See the case of re secession of Quebec, 37 ILM (1998) 1340 at 1372. Let all concerned be properly guided.
This fight won't help Nigeria rather It will bring the needed global sympathy kanu yearns for which will only help his cause. UN submit is in few days and I'm sure Biafra will be discussed. In same UN submit few years ago, it is on record that President Buhari called for self determination of Palestine and western Sahara, so turning around to shoot and kill your citizens for merely exercising their constitutional rights for self determination is quite sad, shameful, hypocritical and heartless from President Buhari.