M
|
r Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra
is answering to a six count treason charge alongside two other pro-Biafra
agitators, David Nwawusi and Benjamin Madubugwu. Kanu who was hitherto the
Director of Radio Biafra and Television, has been in detention since October 14
2015, when he was arrested by security operatives upon his arrival to Nigeria
from his base in the United Kingdom.
Trial Justice John Tsoho of the Federal High Court in
Abuja had on January 20,ordered that the defendants should be remanded in
prison custody, pending the determination of the case against them. Meanwhile,
briefing journalists in Abuja on Friday, Kanu through his lawyer, Mr. Ifeanyi
Ejiofor, denied having any links with the Movement for the Emancipation of the
Niger Delta, MEND.
“In the past few days, the media was awash with news on
negotiation going on between the Federal Government and the members of MEND,
where our clients name (Nnamdi Kanu) conspicuously featured. We wish to inform
the general public that Nnamdi has no connection with MEND”.
A
journey into the Civil War
The Nigerian Civil War, also known as the Biafran War (6 July
1967-15 January 1970), was a war fought to counter the secession of Biafra from
Nigeria. Biafra represented nationalist aspiration of the Igbo people whose
leadership felt they could no longer coexist with the Northern-dominated
federal government. The conflict resulted from political, economic, ethnic, cultural
and religious tensions which preceded formal decolonisation of Nigeria from
1960-1963. Immediate causes of the war in 1966 included a military coup, a
counter-coup, persecution of Igbos living in the North and control over oil
production in the Niger Deltan area.
Ethnic
division
Nigeria consists of over 350 ethnic groups, three are
more predominant-the Igbo, which formed 60-70% of the population in the
Southeast, the Hausa-Fulani, which formed 65% of the people in the northern
part of Nigeria and the Yoruba, which formed about 75% of the population in the
southwestern part? Although these groups have their own homelands, by the 1960s
they were dispersed across Nigeria, with all three ethnic groups represented substantially
in major cities. When the war broke out in 1967, there was still 5000 Igbos in
lagos.
The semi-feudal and Islamic Hausa-Fulani in the North
were traditionally ruled by a fedual conservative Islamic hierarchy consisting
of Emirs who in turn owed their allegiance to a supreme Sultan. This Sultan was
regarded as the source of all political power and religious authority.
The Yoruba political system consisted of a series of
monarchs, the Oba. But theirs was less autocratic than that of the North, and
it allowed for greater upward mobility based on acquired rather than inherited
wealth and title.
The Igbos lived mostly in autonomous democratically
organised communities; decisions among them were made by a general assembly in
which men could participate.
The differing political system among these three tribes
reflected and produced divergent customs and values.
No comments:
Post a Comment