Why do Igbo people want Biafra?

Posted by Felix Okoli on Friday October 7, 2016 at 16:34:40:

Why do Igbos want Biafra? It's probably because they feel that their rights are not adequately protected within their current environment and want a different nation of their own.

The cry for Biafra is a genuine one as it's one that comes from the hearts of many Igbo people because of who they are by nature. By nature, Igbo people are not slaves and don't believe in a government that has been made the exclusive right of a few.

When many people hear Igbo people clamouring for Biafra by doing public protests, wearing Pro Biafran T-shirts, carrying Biafran flags and so on, they may not really understand what is going on and some would even to quick to condemn it as a foolish thing to do since they are risking their life against the government. It may be a sensible remark since many successive governments in Nigeria have not really promoted the practice of democracy as it ought to be but rather used force to oppress innocent people. Considering the peaceful way in which Igbo people have conducted themselves all this while in the 21st century, it should be an incentive to the government and the public not to treat them unjustly just because they presently have the upper hand. There is truly nothing wrong with people identifying with a movement for the restoration of Biafra as long as they don't carry arms and ammunition. If they do start carrying arms and ammunition, then it would ideally be considered a threat to the society but I'm sure they don't do that unless they are pushed to the wall by those meant to protect their rights as citizens.

During the 1960s, there was a call for Biafra, an independent country carved out of Nigeria with a goal to have a government that truly caters for the rights of the former Eastern region. That call came as a result of the senseless and unjust killing of Easterners in Northern Nigeria while the government just watched. They needed a government that could send an army to places where Easterners were being killed and prevent that from happening. However, that was seen as treason and it led to a civil war during which millions of lives were senselessly lost.

The Igbos and Easterners surely don't want another civil war but they want a peaceful separation and hope that they are given a chance to do so.

Igbo people want Biafra because they believe Biafra is their future ideal country where their rights would adequately be protected. They want a country where they will not be persecuted for being Igbo or because of their religion. They want a country where Igbos can aspire and achieve the highest positions in government. They want to live in a country where they would be free to do business, a capitalist economy. They want a country that would be run by people that are intelligent as they are and not people that would only move their country backwards. They want a country where they can proudly carry their passports with pride and not with shame. Many Igbo people are disappointed in Nigeria because of the little they've achieved in the pas 50 years as a nation and feel that they would have achieved much more if they were in Biafra.

There are probably a million other reasons why Igbos want Biafra and I've just mentioned some of them. I believe that many Igbo people would vote yes in a referendum for Biafra but not all of them would want to achieve that through a bloody civil was as it happened in the 1960s.