‘Biafra was only an alternative to death and a stand against injustice,’ new Premier of Igbo Province otherwise known as Ala Igbo, Chief Alex Ogechukwu, has said.
Ogechukwu, however, appealed to those agitating for the emancipation of Biafra Republic to shelve their agitation and work for a united Nigeria, instead, adding that Biafra does not exist anymore.
New Premier of the Igbo Province, a traditional Igbo Government akin to that of Edo and the Igala Kingdom, urged the proponents of Biafra to channel their energy in making Nigeria a united and prosperous country.
Ogechukwu said that the founding fathers of Nigeria like Zik, Ojukwu and Ironsi never wanted Nigeria to divide, and he personally loved Nigeria and would not want it to break up.
He however, stated that Biafra can only become a reality again should Nigeria for any reason breaks up.
He “Biafra is defunct. It no longer exists; it does not exist anymore.
“Although I see Biafra tribe as an ally of Ndigbo, personally, I don’t want Nigeria to divide because I love Nigeria and the founding fathers of Nigeria like Zik, Ojukwu, Ironsi all preferred one Nigeria.
“Biafra was only an alternative to death and a stand against injustice.
“I prefer a Nigeria that works, but if Nigeria unfortunately divides, we’ll conduct a referendum for our people on whether they want Biafra or a homogeneous Igbo Republic.
“Biafra remains only an option but definitely not the only option for my people,” the Igbo premier declares.
Since he wouldn’t want Nigeria to break up, he advised those agitating for Biafra to allow their representatives at the National Assembly to speak for them even if Biafra eventually becomes a preferred option.
“My advice to those agitating for the restoration of Biafra of Igbo extraction is for us to channel our energy to making Igboland work.
“The constitution stipulates that we have representatives who are the rightful people to ask for freedom and being that we have included others who don’t have the same ideology in the map of Biafra, I think Biafra freedom will be a herculean task.
“So, while I cannot entirely ask them to forgo Biafra, it is better that we work from Igboland because it is only here that we can impact our representatives,” he advises.
