OIL AND GAS DIPLOMACY: THE REAL REASON WHY THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY IS QUIET OVER BIAFRA

Biafrans are humans living in Nigeria against their wish, a people whose territories are forcefully occupied by the sons and daughters of both Usman Dan Fodio and Oduduwa without their permission. The so-called unity of Nigeria is a sham, a fraud of incomparable magnitude that ought to have been corrected if the international community truly desired the best for nations under them. The Biafra question, one bursting at the seams with cases of inhuman acts of torture, wanton killings, genocide/progrom, and unprovoked rape and cataclysmic invasion by Fulani herdsmen, has continued to receive cold shoulders from the supposed international watchdogs, and one cannot help wondering why. Why is there graveyard silence from the world concerning the very loud and obvious Biafra question?

After a lengthy discussion with one of our brothers that resides in the US against his wish, we concluded that the international silence that has greeted the Biafra agitation is occssioned by what we refer to as "Oil and Gas Diplomacy". Nigeria threatens to shut down her oil and gas facilities each time concern is shown to the travail of Biafrans by any of these countries, most of which are in oil and gas business with Nigeria. Being a country blessed with "black gold" and gas in very large quantities, Nigeria uses these to hoodwink other nations and make them passive observers of the state of the nation. Oil and gas have become the albatross on the neck of the international community. Maybe it is time to inform these docile international communities that they are in an unholy alliance.

Oil and gas do not belong to Nigeria. Yes, this is the truth the world must come to terms with. The real geographical space referred to as Nigeria comprises the West and North. These are regions that have no business with oil and gas. The resources found in the North are unharnessed solid minerals, most of which may not have utility value. In fact, the real reason the oppressive forces in Nigeria have continued to make Biafrans kowtow to the pressure to stay glued to her is the natural resources found in the coastal and hinterland parts of Biafra. Huge deposits of oil and gas are found in every part of South-East and South-South, two sister regions that constitute Biafra, but that have been balkanized by politics of divide-and-rule. If Biafraland were as barren as that of the oppressors, they would have let us go a very long time ago. The Civil War (1967-70) would not have been fought, if oil had not been discovered in Biafraland. The Aburi Accord that sparked off that war was breached by Gowon because it would have set Biafra free from external administration of their natural endowments. That war, along with its attendant genocide, was the result of Hausa/Fulani and Yoruba (North and West) quest to remain in control of the natural resources that dot Biafraland.

Now that the world knows that everything that makes Nigeria what she is, is actually found in the oppressed region, should the immoral diplomacy that stifles international intervention be sustained? Is there any justification for these deliberate blindness and deafness that have been given to the cry for help by Biafrans? Help goes to the living; burial is for dead. Is the world waiting for every Biafran to be killed? Can succour be given to the dead? Assuming interest is the real basis for international intervention, which is itself wrong, doesn't Biafra have all it takes to warrant international aid? How do the handlers of the international bodies manage to sleep at night, knowing that they have condoned the killings, rape, starvation, and destruction of lives and properties of Biafrans since 1945 till date? Are the administrators of the UN, EU, AU, and ECOWAS, robots that are without human sympathy? Are these administrators so heartless that they cannot be compassionate? How do humans become this inhuman and impervious to the plights of their fellow humans? Has material interest overriden the sanctity of human life?

So, for the sake of "Oil and Gas Diplomacy" the real owners of these natural resources, Biafrans, should continue to suffer and die because they do not exert control over these yet? This ugly reality paints the gloomy picture of international culpability in the travail of Biafrans in Nigeria. There is no gainsaying that the international community is an intricate part of the unholy alliance against Biafra. This ungodly activity of the supposed global watchdogs buttresses the submission of Dependency theorists like Walter Rodney viz. that the interaction between the core (developed nations) and the periphery (underdeveloped nations) leaves the latter disheveled and negatively impacted. One thinks the reason these World Power nations still maintain criminal silence on the Biafra question is because they want the black world to remain debased and neo-colonised. Yes, Biafra depicts freedom for the black world, salvation for the victims of extensive racism, and light to the dark continent. But these nations were at one time or another victims of oppression themselves. If they could break the cocoon and become free, what makes them think Biafra, as rich as she is in human and natural resources, will remain fettered? Time runs out on oppressors and their collaborators.

The freedom of Biafra is on the brink. Those who wish to be in alliance with her had better start doing the needful because we will not forget the roles played by each nation while we suffered and died. Biafra is bound to be the richest nation, judging from the preponderance of oil and gas, seaports, and human resources in her lands on earth. Those that have shown sympathy to our travails will be the ones to work with us. We have suffered too much. We have lost a lot of unarmed and good-natured young boys, girls, men, women, and numerous innocent children. These huge loses have come from the godless activities of Nigeria, Britain et al. How can we forget? Now that the international community knows that Biafra sustains the economy of Nigeria will they switch camps? We are watching with keen interest for signs of repentance. Let me wind up with this clincher: everything Nigeria boasts of is owned by Biafra. Biafra is the economic soul, the breath of life of Nigeria. It is time for the victim of this usurp to take her pound of flesh. Biafra has been milked dry by Nigeria without recompense. Our lands are desolate and polluted by oil exploration activities, yet we constitute the least employed in Nigeria. We have had it up to our neck. Nothing can stop us now. We shall conduct referendum and provide further proof that we are truly desirous of leaving this forced marriage. We have shown this resolve in the just concluded Anambra Election, which was boycotted almost 100%. We are Biafrans. We lived more when killed by oppressors. We advance when stopped. We breathe better when choked. Who can stop us? Nobody! All we ask for is freedom from this stuffy contraption from Britain called Nigeria. Is that a crime for which we are being hounded and killed?

God bless Mazi Nnamdi Kanu wherever he is.
God bless the IPOB under Uche Mefor's watch.
God bless the hinterland of Biafra.
God bless the coastal part of Biafra.
God bless every Biafran, living or dead.
All hail Biafra!