Chief Ralph Uwazuruike, needs no introduction. He is responsible for the resurgence of agitation for Biafra through his Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra, MASSOB, founded some 18 years ago. He appeared to have taken a back seat recently while Nnamdi Kanu, leader of Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, appears to be the man of the moment, fueling speculations that the MASSOB leader has lost the fighting spirit. In this encounter with Tony Iwuoma, Uwazurike said he was very much in the struggle and denied allegations of being bought over by the government and also took a swipe at Nnamdi Kanu.
You seem to have taken a retreat. Are you intimidated by Nnamdi Kanu and his Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB?
Click box below 👇👇👇for more stories of Biafra agitation....
Which intimidation? If Nigeria could not intimidate me, who is Kanu? I just gave him time to fool himself. It’s just like a father fighting his son. The idea of republic of Biafra was to enlighten the people. When I came out of prison, I felt I needed a radio to enlighten the people and the Federal Government. Before Radio Biafra, I had a radio in America called Voice of Biafra International, in 2001. Then there was no Internet exposure like Facebook and whatsAPP. We were then in South Africa with Emejuru but Nnamdi Kanu convinced me to come to London. But no sooner we started than Nigeria’s security apparatchik persuaded him to bring down the struggle. They had tried it with me without success; they also failed with Ambrose Anyaso, who was with me in detention. When the Department of State Security, DSS, could not get him to pull me down, they turned to Kanu, who wanted money and fame.
Immediately I noticed this, I stopped funding him. So, he started getting his funds from the DSS directly. The idea was to bring me down and make me unpopular. When I noticed that, I kept quiet because I knew him very well; he does not have capacity but they did not know that he did not have the capacity but I knew he would fail at the end of the day.
His arrest was arranged by the DSS. It was meant to divert attention from MASSOB to IPOB. Even his release was stage-managed. No senator deposited one dime anywhere; that is why he is violating all the conditions. How could he violate all the conditions and he is left alone? Even the northern youths coalition is stage-managed. What Kanu does not know is American diplomacy, which props you up, only to bring you down. The northern coalition was created to checkmate him.
Are you worried that IPOB says no gubernatorial election in Anambra on November 18?
Kanu says there will be no election in Anambra without referendum. If he had sense, he would have known that referendum and election mean the same thing. The only difference is that in referendum, you are only expected to vote yes or no while election involves more parties. The idea is just to bring down Governor Willie Obiano. The All Progressives Congress, APC, wants to take over Anambra. When they succeed and put their own man in office, people will blame it on the controversy. There will be a stalemate when APC man wins but people will blame it on the crisis. APC is using Kanu to divert attention and create crisis. …Anambra people should ignore him and go ahead to participate in the election. Kanu is just another strategy for rigging in Anambra.
Talks are rife that you have sold out and that’s why you are less enthusiastic about the Biafra struggle these days. How true is that?
What do you expect my enemies to do if not to sully my name? It is a case of calling a dog bad name. He said his group was for violence and told Igbo congress that he had come to buy arms. Where are the arms? He must say something to discredit me. Sellout, from which angle? The Federal Government has approached me several times but never succeeded. I have achieved so much and it is too late to sell out now. I took Biafra to Organisation of African Unity, OAU and the West African sub-region; I relocated Biafran war veterans to Okwe and resettled them there…and so many things everybody knows about, like the Freedom House and Ojukwu Memorial Library. Let Kanu name only one thing he has done except to discredit the struggle. I discovered him and others. Even Radio Biafra, I founded it. I have opened another Radio Biafra in Germany. I established Biafra House in Washington DC accompanied by Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu and his wife, Bianca. I have achieved countless things…
How about the allegation that you collected N300m from ex-president Goodluck Jonathan to support him?
Three hundred million what – dollars, pounds or naira? They are just beating about the bush. People are just very funny and they make me laugh. I don’t want to be forced to say things that would implicate other people but there are living witnesses, even from the Olusegun Obasanjo government that can testify that I could not be bought. People are just funny. My support for Jonathan was decided in a meeting between me, Jonathan and Ojukwu; it was in the interest of the Igbo. Unfortunately, I can’t say further than that. If I had wanted money, it definitely would not have come from Jonathan; I would have since made it from Obasanjo. If I had wanted money, I should have stopped the struggle even a month after it began. I need Kanu and his group to provide just one single proof of my collecting money from anybody to enrich myself.
If truly you have not collected money from anybody, how have you been able to fund all your huge projects?
The source of our funding is not hidden. We get our funds through dues. Our members run into millions and they pay their dues, which also run into millions of naira, which we even use to fund our foreign agencies. Even Voice of Biafra International is funded from here. I am not a money monger; I believe that money should be used for necessary things. I don’t need much money. Kanu needs money to buy arms; I don’t. For what do I keep billions of naira? A little money takes care of my household and I can afford it by God’s grace. Sell my birthright for N300million? That’s absurd. What can N300million buy? To Kanu, that peanut is big money but not for me. A plot of land here is N100million; can you imagine how many plots of land Freedom House and Ojukwu Library occupy? Multiply that by N100million. If Kanu wants N300million, I will just put it into his account so that he can become a millionaire.
Some former Biafra areas in the South south region say they are not part of the envisaged new Biafra. How do you see that?
If Nigeria divides today, it will not just be Biafra. Six republics are sure to emerge – each of the six geopolitical zones will become an independent republic. To that extent, I say it is wrong to include South south people in Biafra.
IPOB is waxing really strong and gaining ground. What could be responsible for this?
There is really nothing to that. IPOB is a blackmail specialist. Am I the only one they have blackmailed? They are even blackmailing President of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Nnia Nwodo. Kanu is busy gallivanting all over the places, from community to community. He promised to actualise Republic of Biafra in three months yet since eight years now he has not achieved it. He is the one collecting money from government but accusing me. The politicians he accused me of working with are the ones he is hobnobbing with now. He said former Imo State governor, Chief Ikedi Ohakim, gave me money but immediately he came out of detention, Ohakim went to him but he has not told us how much Ohakim gave him. IPOB is not gaining any ground but has some misguided youth that will soon abandon the group once the wool is removed from their eyes.
There are many splinter groups, fighting for Biafra. Don’t these divisions affect the struggle negatively?
Click box below 👇👇👇for more stories of Biafra agitation....
Not at all; the fragmentation is helping the Biafra cause a lot. I conceived the Biafra concept and designed it as a long term project. When MASSOB started in 1999, no Igbo was considered good enough for Chief of Army Staff, Inspector General of Police, Minister of Defence, etc., but I achieved all these within 10 years. I wanted and still want freedom for my people. Freedom per se, not just Biafra but where the Igbo can be governor of say Lagos State or Kano based on their numerical strength; and where no quit notice is given. Biafra is a long term project; people should do the right thing. Acrtualsing Biafra should not be a do or die affair.
Kanu knows nothing about Biafra. I went to India because of Biafra. I came back and understudied Ojukwu one on one. I understudied Ojukwu for 10 years before he died. I was the last person Ojukwu spoke with. I was even his private secretary at a point. I know much about Biafra from Ojukwu more than anybody else. Let Kanu disgrace himself. Let him tell us how he wants to achieve Biafra, I still have my roadmap.
It is good to have different groups. When you try and fail, you then know that the other person should be respected. Uwazurike has failed to actualise Biafra, now that you have been given chance to do so, have you? You studied in India and you know the history of Indian independence; was it gotten just like that? Even in South Africa, it was the same thing. There is no particular group that must achieve the dream. Some of the groups will be working for the establishment, like Buthelezi did in South Africa, working against ANC. That is what Kanu is doing. His father is collecting money from Nigerian government. Even his elder sister is a policewoman, also collecting money from the Nigerian government. Yet he is calling Nigeria a zoo. If he is genuine, he should ask his father and sister to resign before talking against the Federal Government. His father’s salary is used to cook food for him and he eats. So, he can’t say he is not benefiting from Nigeria directly or indirectly.
Two major characters in the Biafra struggle have assumed leadership titles. Onwuka Kanu says he is President and has even made appointments to his government while Nnamdi Kanu is Supreme Leader. What position would you be assuming if Biafra is achieved?
I don’t know whether something is wrong with that name, Kanu. Incidentally, both of them are from the same place. Somebody appointing officers from non-Biafran territories; is that not madness? Somebody you had not met one on one before; somebody you did not even have his telephone numbers? Prof Pat Utomi called, lamenting that he had not seen the man before. What’s wrong with him? They are making mockery of the struggle; making it a child’s play. I made it clear at my declaration in Aba that I would never participate in Biafran politics, not even in the capacity of adviser. Mahatma Gandhi could have been anything in India but he declined. I declined before even announcing Biafra. Nobody stampeded me. Onwuka has announced himself president. All of them are my offshoot; Onwuka was once my coordinator in Lagos. Let’s achieve Biafra first and after that those interested would vie for positions. It is not a defacto president but a democratically elected president.
Why I don’t want to contend with anybody is because I don’t want to be accused of contesting for power with anyone. Just give him time. I had been there for long and now somebody said he needed only three months to actualise Biafra, I had to allow him. It does not have to be Uwazurike; it can be anybody. Maybe the person has not even come up yet. Kanu’s struggle is based on blackmail and deceit and I know that he is working for the Federal Government. He declared himself Supreme Leader. Maybe, he does not have the interest of others in his heart. You are supreme even when you are not the person that started the struggle. It tells you much about his mindset and what is in the offing.
Is Biafra still realisable?
Oh, sure! Why not? If we put our acts together; it is realisable. If not for these distractions and conspiracies from the international community, we would have gone far by now. But America and Britain in particular are busy sabotaging our efforts because of their selfish interest in oil and raw materials. Nigeria is a veritable market for them, which may affect them if Biafra separates. Many of their diplomats come here and we quarrel over this. I ask them why they are doing this and their support for one Nigeria is for whose benefit?
What can be done to foster unity between you and Kanu for the sake of the struggle?
Click box below 👇👇👇for more stories of Biafra agitation....
I am grandfather of the struggle. I am not asking to be president or supreme leader. None of these actors can write their history without me but I can write mine without them. I cannot write my history without Ojukwu but Ojukwu could have written his without me. I choose who to mention. Ojukwu anointed me leader of Biafra, which Eze Nri confirmed by making me Ijele. Kanu went to Nri but was locked out. It is not gragra. It is not gotten by blackmail and lies. He is not pursuing Biafra; he works to stop the struggle. Before he manifested, he pretended to work for Biafra. His plan was to blackmail me so that attention would be focused on him. He has no agenda but the struggle continues. Let him go on his own and see how he gets his Biafra while I go about mine.
But Kanu is not the only one you have issues with; there is Uchenna Madu too?
They both have the same agenda. The Federal Government came to my group to divide it and took Madu. He has never done a rally before for people to know his members. We want to see him gather people at a rally so that we can see his own strength. But come to Onitsha on September 13, 2017 and see who runs MASSOB.
What’s happening on that date?
MASSOB’s 18th anniversary. You will see MASSOB on full display that day.
Madu once said you were banished from your father’s house…
How could that ever happen, banish me from my father’s house? Don’t make me laugh.
The quit notice given the Igbo resident in the North has heated up the polity and created apprehension among many Igbo. You were even attacked for going to the North because of that. What was the result of your peace moves?
Click box below 👇👇👇for more stories of Biafra agitation....
Who were the people that attacked me for going to the North in search of rapprochement if not IPOB members? The Arewa youths were grieved that IPOB was insulting their leaders. Who would keep silence when his parents were being insulted? If you were well brought up, you would certainly defend your parents. That was what led to the unfortunate incident of asking Igbo to leave the North. That is the anger of the Arewa youths but I can assure you, nothing will happen; nobody will be attacked. I advise the Igbo to stay where they are, as I have assurances that there shall be no violence against anybody.
Kanu’s IPOB is a family-run affair. His family members have been calling press conferences all the time? Have you ever heard any member of my family do that? His father, younger brother, mother, sister, wife, all have called press conference at one time or another, insulting me. Is Biafra a family matter? Nobody is asking questions. Is Kanu even the founder of IPOB? The founders invited him but he ended up hijacking it like he did Radio Biafra and expelled them. This person has no initiative of his own except hijacking other people’s creations.
How was it possible for him to hijack Radio Biafra from you?
He was in London while I was in Nigeria. All the gadgets were with him. He was in control of running the outfit. There were four of them I recruited, Mba, Tagbo and Amarachi plus himself. He was the least qualified and yet against wise counsel, I made him the head. Soon after, he sacked all the others and registered Radio Biafra in his name while I was in Nigeria.
What is your view on the call for restructuring of the country?
Click box below 👇👇👇for more stories of Biafra agitation....
I am not interested in the clamour for restructuring Nigeria. I am not interested in Nigeria; what is my business with restructuring Nigeria? If recommendations of the 2014 national conference were implemented, nobody would be talking about restructuring today.
It has been a long held belief that the Igbo are of Jewish descent. However, Israeli scientists conducted a DNA test recently and now say Igbo are not Jews. How does that impact on the Biafra aspiration?
You have to go and ask Kanu, he is the one who claims to be a Jew. It is all so funny really. Kanu will now have to remove his Jewish cap. All I know about this Igbo-Jewish connection was when Ojukwu and I met with one Israeli ambassador, Gadi Golan, who spoke on Igbo Jewish ancestry. I asked him about the lost tribe of Israel believed to be in Nigeria. He said that yes, there was such belief but it was not official. Suddenly, Kanu comes up, claiming he is Jew, dressing like them and even professing Judaism. Now it is official that the Igbo are not Jew, he has to remove his cap and revert to his origin after all. What a pity! It is all about someone who lacks knowledge and being attracted to mere expression. Kanu became a Jew because of mere expression; he has no choice now but to beat a retreat. But seriously, it has no bearing on the struggle.
Considering the state of affairs in Nigeria, what is the way forward for the Igbo?
Click box below 👇👇👇for more stories of Biafra agitation....
I wanted a long term agenda to prepare our people. I advise my people to invest more at home where Igbo people are safe and secure. I also want a situation where Igbo people can contest elections offshore and win by virtue of their numerical strength. Before 1948, there was no state of Israel. Today, Israel is a commanding voice in the whole world community. That’s what I wanted for the Igbo. I see Igbo as endangered species. Therefore, we must love ourselves, secure ourselves and develop ourselves. People misused the idea, assuming President and Supreme Leader for Biafra that is not yet created. I wanted a Biafra that every community, even Benue and Rivers would be proud to belong and not dissociating themselves; that Israel would accept and not reject for any reason. It is not enough to say you belong to these people but be such that people; long to associate with and say you are part of us; not part of Biafra of hate and blackmail.
Some say insecurity in Igbo land is worrisome and scares away investors
Insecurity is not exclusive to Igbo land. It is a general issue across Nigeria. Kidnapping started in the Niger Delta when white oil workers were kidnapped before it spread to other areas. It is not Igbo issue per se and making it so is most uncharitable. However, concerted efforts by both the central and local authorities are imperative to make the entire country safe and conducive for investment.
Click box below 👇👇👇for more stories of Biafra agitation....
Quotes
“The Arewa youths were grieved that IPOB was insulting their leaders. Who would keep silence when his parents were being insulted? If you were well brought up, you would certainly defend your parents. That was what led to the unfortunate incident of asking Igbo to leave the North. That is the anger of the Arewa youths but I can assure you, nothing will happen nobody will be attacked. I advise the Igbo to stay where they are, as I have assurances that there shall be no violence against anybody.”
“Kanu knows nothing about Biafra. I went to India because of Biafra. I came back and understudied Ojukwu one on one. I understudied Ojukwu for ten years before he died. I was the last person Ojukwu spoke with. I was even his private secretary at a point. I know much about Biafra from Ojukwu more than anybody else. Let Kanu disgrace himself. Let him tell us how he wants to achieve Biafra, I still have my roadmap.”
Click box below 👇👇👇for more stories of Biafra agitation....
“I am grandfather of the struggle. I am not asking to be president or supreme leader. None of these actors can write their history without me but I can write mine without them. I cannot write my history without Ojukwu but Ojukwu could have written his without me. I choose who to mention. Ojukwu anointed me leader of Biafra, which Eze Nri confirmed by making me Ijele. Kanu went to Nri but was locked out. It is not gragra. It is not gotten by blackmail and lies.”
