07/04/2017

PRESS RELEASE

The attention of the Customary Government of Indigenous People of Biafra (CG-IPOB) has been drawn to an online news report that the British authority would never allow Nigeria to break up. According to the report,the British High Commissioner – Mr Paul Arkwright at a public lecture titled Brexit: lesson,challenges and opportunities for Nigeria, announced that the unity of Nigeria remained non-negotiable, stressing that the country would be better under one umbrella.

The Customary Government and the entire populace of the Biafran people are not surprised with Mr Arkwright position on the unity of Nigeria. We do not expect the British Government to support the quest for Biafra restoration.Our expectation lies with the ordinary Britons on the street who overwhelmingly voted yes for Brexit even when the former Prime Minister-David Cameron  campaigned in favour of Britain being part of EU.For emphasis and record purpose,the Customary Government of IPOB has never negotiated or requested for the division of Nigeria but to restore her indigenous identity before the invasion of foreigners into her land.It is our submission that Nigeria will always remain a great Country even after Biafrans might have restored their land.

The British High Commissioner should note that Biafrans have since gone to court in suit no : FHC/OW/CS/192/2013 to establish their indigenous identity as well as their inalienable rights for self determination. We need not remind the British Envoy that from the ancient map of Africa 1492 – 1843, particularly the Map of Africa 1662 and 1707, there were three kingdoms in West Africa from where the new country called “Nigeria” was created in 1914, namely, the Kingdom of Zamfara in the North; the Kingdom of Biafra in the East; and the Kingdom of Benin/Oduduwa in the West. In the ancient times, the Kingdom of Benin extended to most parts of West Africa including Dahomey and Togo. The Kingdom of Biafra at that time extended to the present day Equatorial Guinea and some parts of Cameroun and Gabon while the Kingdom of Zamfara extended to the present day Niger Republic and Chad. Dahomey is now called Benin Republic. The truth is that every indigenous person presently dwelling in the geographical space called “Nigeria” has his or her ancestral roots from any one of these three or four kingdoms.

It is important to inform the general public that by the arbitrary sharing of African lands at the Berlin Conference in Germany in 1884-1885 to create new countries, the colonial masters placed some indigenous people of Biafra into the new country called “Nigeria” and left others in Cameroon, Gabon and Equatorial Guinea. That action has caused millions of innocent and young lives. By going to court, Customary Government of IPOB intends to correct the mistakes of our fathers without sacrificing innocent blood(s).

The Public should note that British Government through Lord Luggard created Nigeria in 1914; hence the position of Mr Arkwright is in order and expected.

Ndubuisi Anaenugwu

Director –Directorate of Information,CG- IPOB

The Federal High Court, Abuja, on Thursday reserved ruling on whether or not it will reverse its order on witness protection in the ongoing trial of the Director of Radiozz, Nnamdi Kanu – Counsel to Kanu, Mr Ifeanyi Ejiofor told the court that he had filed an application asking the court to review its stand on protecting the identity of witnesses in the case – Justice Nyako adjourned the matter until April 25 to rule on both the application to review the witness protection order and bail .

Justice Binta Nyako, on March 27, insisted that she would not review her judgment on the issue of protecting the identity of the witnesses as long they were security operatives. “I will not vary my order on protection of security operatives; It is either they wear a mask or are behind a screen. “Security operatives need to be protected not because of this case but because of the future, and so as long as the witnesses are security personnel, they will be taken behind a screen,” Nyako said.But counsel to the defendants maintained that since some of the charges against the defendants had been struck out, there was need for the order to be reviewed to reflect the current charges. At the resumed hearing on Thursday, the prosecuting counsel, Mr Shuaibu Labaran, told the court that the matter was slated for argument on the application to review the court’s decision on witness protection. Counsel to Kanu, Mr Ifeanyi Ejiofor told the court that he had filed an application asking the court to review its stand on protecting the identity of witnesses in the case. Ejiofor said that part of the reason he filed the application was on the grounds that six out of the initial 11-count charge against the defendant were struck out. He prayed the court to vacate the order it made allowing the prosecution witnesses to give evidence behind a shield and to instead order the witnesses to testify in an open court. Mr E.I Eseme, counsel to the third defendant, Benjamin Madubugwu, in his argument, also prayed the court for the same relief, adding that his application was brought pursuant to Section 6(6) of the 1999 Constitution. He urged the court to review the order it made on Dec. 13, 2016, to shield witnesses, set aside the order and direct that all witnesses should testify in public.Eseme added that his client was not standing trial for any of the offences that required witness protection. According to him, Section 36(4) of the 1999 Constitution provides that it is mandatory for proceedings in all criminal trials to be public. He noted that there was no counter- affidavit from the prosecution, adding that it could only mean that the facts were not contradicted and so they were not opposing the application. Mr Chukwuma Ozougwu, counsel to the fourth defendant, David Nwawuisi, also towed the same line of argument and urged the court to grant the application in favour of his client. Labaran, in his reply, prayed the court to dismiss the three applications on the grounds that they were frivolous and a deliberate attempt to delay the prosecution of the case. He told the court that the claim by the defence counsel that since he did not file a counter affidavit, the court should assume that he was in support of the application should be discountenanced. According to him, if the defendants have a problem with the ruling of the court that witnesses should be protected, they should appeal the decision.

He added that moreover, it was only journalists and the general public that would not see the witnesses but only hear them as all the defendants, the lawyers and the judge would see the witnesses. He said the order was granted based on the discretionary powers given to the judge by Section 232 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA). Justice Nyako adjourned the matter until April 25 to rule on both the application to review the witness protection order and bail. Meanwhile, NAIJ.com highlights lessons Nigeria can benefit from Biafra war of 1967.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), says it has not changed its proposed April date for the commencement of its Continuous Voter Registration. Mahmood Yakubu Chairman of INEC, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, said this on Wednesday in Abuja that arrangements were on to ensure the exercise took off smoothly as scheduled.Yakubu said that the exercise would be held throughout the 774 Local Government Areas of the country. BVI Channel 1 gathered from reliable source that Voters Registration is scheduled to commence effective from Monday 10^th April,2017. The Registration once started will be continuous ; it would not end at our local governments. “It will continue beyond the general elections.’’ Yakubu advised Nigerians who are 18 years and above to take advantage of the opportunity and not disenfranchise themselves. He also advised registered voters, who were yet to collect their Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs), to visit the commission’s offices where they registered to obtain them.

Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II declared in Kaduna, yesterday, that if Nigeria were to be divided, two states, Borno and Yobe would be the poorest countries in the world.
The monarch said this in his key note address at the opening ceremony of the second edition of Kaduna State’s investment Summit, with the theme “Making Kaduna Investment Destination of Choice.”
The emir also lambasted northern leaders for their complicity in further impoverishing the region through neglect of activities and policies that can improve the productivity and prosperity of the region.
He further explained that the North West and the North East regions, despite making up a significant population of the country, are the poorest in every aspect.
“We are in denial. The North West and the North East, demographically, constitute the bulk of Nigeria’s population.
“But, look at human development indices, look at the number of children out of school, look at adult literacy, look at maternal mortality, look at infant mortality, look at girl-child completion rate, look at income per capita, the North East and the North West Nigeria, are among the poorest parts of the world.
“As far back as 2000, I looked at the numbers, Borno and Yobe states, UNDP figures… Borno and Yobe states, if they were a country on their own, were poorer than Niger, Cameroon and Chad.
“Nobody saw this because we were looking at Nigeria as a country that averages the oil-rich Niger Delta, the industrial and commercial-rich Lagos, the commercially viable southeast, and you have an average.
“Break Nigeria into its component parts, and these parts of the country are among the poorest, if it were a country. And, we do not realise we are in trouble.”
Sanusi maintained that citizens in the Northern region of the country must begin to develop a change of mindset with regards to certain issues that are currently viewed as taboo.”
The Kano monarch asked some thought-provoking questions which he said leaders of the region must find answers to in order to ensure a better society.
They include: “What is our attitude towards educating our girls? What is our attitude towards child spacing, so that we can financially maintain and educate and bring up children? What is the purpose of a large population that is not educated, that is jobless, that is unemployed?”
Going further, he urged Muslims to imbibe education and stop using religion and culture to set the region backward.
“Other Muslim nations have put forward girl education. Other Muslim countries have pushed on. We are fighting culture, we are fighting civilisation. You tell me that you should not write love book in northern Nigerian.”
He also said it was wrong to burn books of science based on religion.
“What is the crime of those books?”
Going further, he questioned the right of people in having more children in the region without having the resources to take care of them.  “Of what benefit is it to the North, having three million children roaming about?”  The former Central Bank governor also seized the occasion to speak about Nigeria’s increasing debt profile. He said among other oil-producing countries in Africa, Nigeria has been “borrowing domestically to fund current expenditure” and added that the growth of Nigeria was driven largely by rising commodity prices and debt, and the module has reached the logical limit such as the collapse in oil price.
The monarch also noted that, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Federal Government is spending 66 percent of its interest revenue on debt, which means only 34 percent of its revenue is available for capital expenditure, recurrent expenditure and development.
Sanusi said the 2017 budget presented by the Federal Government is a budget that goes for more debt.
“As a country, we must understand that the module of government borrowing and spending has reached its limit. Therefore, growth must only come from investment.”
The emir criticised leaders who “go to China to sign Memorandum of Uunderstanding (MoU) and come back with debt,  forgetting their areas of development.
“A nation and a state is only transformed by vision. Once that vision is lost, every other thing around the vision collapses,” the monarch noted.

This is to remind you of CG-IPOB weekly  training scheduled to hold this wednesday April 5th at Barnhill Hotel,Agu Awka.Time is 3pm.

Signed

Directorate of Information,CG-IPOB