Address made by the leader of IPOB Mazi Kanu at World Igbo Congress 2015
Wednesday, 9 September 2015
Address by Radio Biafra Director & IPOB Leader at WIC 2015 Convention
With great humility and submission to the will of the Most
High Chukwu Okike Abhiama puru ime ihe nile, I stand before you today here in
Los Angeles California, in the presence of the children of light, the custodians
of our traditions in faraway lands, the bringers of hope and savior of the
Black race the World Igbo Congress. I acknowledge the presence of each and
every one of you, especially the members of the high table, distinguished
ladies and gentlemen here gathered and those listening around the world. I say
“ndewo nu umu Chineke” to all of you.
It is my guess that the question on the lips of every
delegate here today is perhaps ‘what is Nnamdi Kanu doing here at the congress
of all Igbos worldwide talking about the global effort to restore Biafra’?. My
answer as always is a very simple one, ‘izu ka nma na nne ji’. There will be no
Biafra without the support of World Igbo Congress in particular and the Igbos
in the USA in general.
Every right-thinking human being knows that the slogan “One
Nigeria” is a ruse. Nigeria was not a united country and will NEVER be a united
country even in the foreseeable future. To refresh our memories, Nigeria is a
country made up of three distinct nations with mutually exclusive and
diametrically opposed and irreconcilable value systems. Among these nations,
BIAFRA is the only one with a distinct and internationally accepted Republican
value system predicated upon the twin philosophy of (1) “Egbe bere ugo bere”
the principle of natural justice, fairness, equity and equality before the
spiritual and temporal laws and (2) “Eziokwu bu ndu” which is the weaving of
Biafrans are known for their industrious and enterprising
lifestyle propelled by sheer hard work and the “can do” spirit. Biafrans don’t
run away from history, rather they make history. Biafrans are adventurous and
are not afraid to venture into the unknown. But the same cannot be said of
other merged nations in the country called Nigeria. Biafrans have been held
down and their development arrested by virtue of merging them with other
nations to form Nigeria.
One of the questions going through the minds of many could
be; but who are actually the Biafrans or put in another way; what is the
footprint of Biafraland? Biafraland consists of the states in the present South
East and South-South with the exception of Edo state but including Igbanke in
Edo state. Biafraland also include Igala in Kogi state and Idoma land in Benue
state. In all these areas we have the traditional four-market days and their
women tie two-piece wrappers and have names and words that are interchangeable
irrespective of the state.
For over 100 years Biafrans have endured the unholy marriage
called amalgamation and creation of Nigeria by the British colonial masters.
Biafrans at home and in the diaspora can no longer endure the subjugation of
Biafra under Nigeria. As in most revolutions and emancipation struggles,
patriotic citizens in diaspora are always in the lead for collective objective
of achieving nationhood.
A very good example is the case of the State of Israel in which the Jews in America funded and supported the independence of the nation of Israel. We share a common ancestry with our Jewish brothers and should follow similar strategy in achieving the nation of Biafra. In this regard, WIC is expected to play a critical role in the quest for the restoration of the nation of BIAFRA.
As some of you may have known, there is an ongoing effort to
galvanize Biafrans globally to work together to achieve the collective
objective of restoration of the nation of Biafra. This effort is spearheaded by
the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) with Radio Biafra London (RBL) as the
media arm. The operational headquarters of IPOB is in Vitoria-Spain, outside of
Nigeria for obvious reasons. IPOB is registered and recognized by various
countries all over the world. Coincidentally, the USA headquarters of IPOB is
here in Los Angeles—California. But what has IPOB/RBL achieved, you may ask? Through
the works of IPOB/RBL within the past three years, we have achieved the
following:
Radio Biafra is today the only African institution in the
history of the world to be ranked No.1 in an independent survey against other
(media) organizations from around the world. That Radio Biafra is today more popular
than BBC Radio is clear testimony to what we can accomplish as a race when we
put our minds to it.
Designation of Boko Haram as F.T.O. (Foreign Terrorist
Organization) by the Department of States of the USA. We have the proof to make
this claim.
IPOB gained recognition as national liberation movement in
over 88 countries where we are registered and carry out our meetings and
rallies unhindered.
Initiated and continued annual 30th of May Biafra Heroes
Remembrance Day. The 2015 edition at Aba recorded over 3 million attendees
without a single adverse incident recorded. Forced the Nigerian Government to
halt the continuous aerial bombardment of Cross Rivers and Akwa Ibom under the
guise of fighting kidnappers’ havens. We alerted the world that Nigeria used
the banned NAPALM bombs on Biafrans for three consecutive days of June
17th—19th.
We have raised the consciousness of our people on the Rights
and the legality of their quest for their nation of Biafra based on the UNDRIP which
Nigeria is a signatory to.
Debunked and dismantled all the lies and innuendoes dished
out by Yoruba and Northern media concerning Biafrans, which in some cases are geared
towards dividing the various sections/areas of Biafraland.
We have formed an effective opposition to the tyrannical
rule of the current president of Nigeria and checkmated him in trying to take
Biafrans for a ride.
Nigerian Police now know that you can no longer kill a
Biafran and get away with it. Through the activities of IPOB in Igweocha (Port
Harcourt) the officer responsible for the shooting of an unarmed bus driver has
been dismissed from the Nigerian Police pending trial. You will agree with me that
this has never happened before.
Through our work/efforts, we got Microsoft to recognize the
word Biafra.
We have brought Biafra restoration into global discourse
such that media juggernauts such as CNN, BBC, VOA, RFI, etc., who hitherto
stayed away from discussing Biafra are now forced to talk about Biafra.
We are also registered with the ECOSOC department of United
Nations as INDIGENOUS PEOPLE OF BIAFRA, where we made it clear that no organization
is representing us but we are Biafrans and representing ourselves.
In my humble submission, I do strongly believe that WIC can
get involved and help achieve more. The Igbo speaking Biafrans are known for
their resourcefulness and resoluteness when they make up their minds to embark
on amission. The Igbos from all I know about them, do collectively abhor evil,
they love hard work, helped one another, and tenaciously believed that “nwanne
di na mba.”
I am using this opportunity to call upon each member of WIC
to join hands with other Biafrans and members of IPOB to work towards the
restoration of our dear nation of Biafra. You can help in diverse ways such as
funding, diplomatic connections, lobbying your congressmen and people of significant
clout and influence, and sundry activities geared toward the singular goal of
achieving sovereignty for the nation of Biafra. Your loved ones in Biafraland
look up to you because we have it in our saying that “Onuru ube nwanne agbala
oso.”
BIAFRA restoration is here, all you have to do is put in
your efforts and BIAFRA will come. Like many other well-meaning Biafrans of
Igbo extraction around the world, I look forward to the day when World Igbo
Congress will be held in any of our towns and villages in Biafraland.
May Chukwu Okike Abhiama bless all of you and bless the
nation of BIAFRA
Mazi Nnamdi Kanu
Leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
*Address by Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, Leader of Indigenous People of
Biafra (IPOB), at the
Plenary Session of World Igbo Congress (WIC) in Los
Angeles--California, on September
5th, 2015.
No comments