Saturday, 8 September 2018, has gone down in history as the day that Indigenous
People of Biafra, IPOB, under the Supreme Council of Elders of Indigenous People of
Biafra, formally joined Ohanaeze Ndigbo and Ohanaeze Ndigbo formally joined IPOB.
The venue of the event was Rushey Green at Catford in London, United Kingdom,
where the leaders of Ohanaeze Ndigbo and IPOB Elders agreed to work together for
the emancipation of the Biafrans. This means that Ohanaeze Ndigbo has joined the
Biafra Struggle as an Institution. In the Meeting to cement their working relationship,
Ohanaeze Ndigbo was represented by Dr Nnanna Igwe, President of Ohanaeze
Ndigbo United Kingdom, with his executive officers while Indigenous People of Biafra
were represented by Barrister Emeka Emekesiri, the vision bearer and founder of
IPOB, the Chairman of the IPOB Biafra Project Phase 2 with his executive officers
including Mrs Phoebe Ejimbe and Mr Nnabuike Nnadede of the Media Department,
Voice of Biafra (VOB).
Dr Nnanna Igwe welcomed the IPOB leaders and expressed much joy for their
attendance to the meeting. He informed them about the project that Ohanaeze
Ndigbo has at hand with some international human rights activists regarding the
mass killings by the Fulani herdsmen and Islamic Jihadists in all parts of Nigeria which
they would like IPOB to participate in. He explained that the project would be
implemented holistically as the killings involved not only the Biafrans but also the
people of other ethnic nationalities especially in the Middle Belt and North East. The
project shall be handled by Ohanaeze Ndigbo and IPOB in collaboration with the
human rights activists from the international community. The details of the project
shall be disclosed in due course.
In his remarks, the Chairman of IPOB Biafra Project, Barrister Emeka Emekesiri,
thanked Dr Igwe and his executive officers for the invitation and accepted the call for
IPOB to work with Ohanaeze Ndigbo. He reminded the audience that the current
President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Barr John Nnia Nwodo, had made it
clear to the Federal Government of Nigeria and to the Governments of all countries
of the world that the Biafran agitators are his children and their fight is his fight. He
emphasised that the foundation of IPOB was laid by Chief Nwodo’s predecessors in
office, namely: HRM The Honourable Justice Eze Ozobu OFR (rtd) and Dr Dozie Ikedife
OON, JP; who were Past President Generals of Ohanaeze Ndigbo. These are the IPOB
Elders who, with other members of the Council of Elders, constituted the Customary
Government of Indigenous People of Biafra in 2012 and dragged Nigeria to Court for
the self-determination of the Biafrans in which he stood as their leading Counsel. He
said it had therefore become necessary for the father and his children to work
together in the mission to liberate their people from political and economic bondage
in Nigeria as both believed in the use of legal methodology and political diplomacy to
achieve self-determination.
The President of Ohanaeze Ndigbo United Kingdom, Dr Nnanna Igwe, with his
executive officers expressed much delight in the union of Ohanaeze Ndigbo and IPOB.
He confirmed that the President General, Chief Nnia Nwodo, had known aboutMeeting and given his approval for the union. He further confirmed that the
President General had pledged his full support to the project of national liberation for
the Biafrans which the IPOB Elders are championing by law, politics and diplomacy.
The IPOB Biafra Project Phase 2 is the quest for self-determination through
devolution of power to create the Regional Government of Biafra within Nigeria just
like Scotland within Britain before outright independence.
The IPOB Project is powered by the political movement of the Biafrans called Movement of Biafrans in
Nigeria (MOBIN) composed of the Biafran politicians who are in politics at both
national and international levels with a mission to create Biafra within Nigeria as the
next phase of the Struggle before outright independence. They run a Customary
Government under the Nigerian Legal System known as the Customary Government
of Indigenous People of Biafra. Their gospel of Regional Government is the same
gospel of Restructuring into Regional Autonomy which the President General of
Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Nnia Nwodo, preaches in Nigeria and in different countries
of the world where he goes to deliver lectures. The union of Ohanaeze Ndigbo and
IPOB is seen as a union of the father and his children for a common purpose.
The IPOB Biafra Project under the Elders enjoys legitimacy as it is recognised and
respected by the Nigerian Government and the British Government. The
Memorandum they submitted to the British Government early this year for the
resolution of the seemingly intractable Biafra-Nigeria conundrum was accepted in
principle by the British Government as a working document to create a regional
government for the Biafrans. In its letter dated 4th May 2018, the British Government
accepted the proposals for regional government contained in the Memorandum
document submitted by the IPOB Biafra Project Team and emphasised the
importance of acting in accordance with the rule of law. The President of Ohanaeze
Ndigbo and all the Elders of Biafraland who are involved in the Struggle for self-
determination have the document. The IPOB Biafra Project has an established
structure on the ground consisting of the Customary Government, Supreme Council
of Elders of Indigenous People of Biafra, MOBIN, BVI Channel 1, Bilie Human Rights
Initiative, Voice of Biafra (VOB), and IPOB Radio. The Customary Government uses
Town Hall Meetings to gather and administer the affairs of the Biafrans while MOBIN
consists of Biafran politicians in both national and international politics who train,
educate and sponsor the Biafrans in politics with a mission to restore Biafra.
This is the first step that Barrister Emekesiri has taken to bring unity between the
Biafran agitators and Ohanaeze Ndigbo since he accepted the call to provide
leadership to the Biafran agitators worldwide who believe in the legal methodology
of self-determination consisting of judicial, diplomatic and political processes. He has
promised to reach out to other groups and institutions. It is hoped that the
relationship created by this union of the father and his children for a common
purpose shall lead to the freedom of the Biafrans, whether freedom within Nigeria as
an autonomous regional government or freedom outside Nigeria as a fully
independent sovereign country. One thing is clear: Biafra must be free whether
within Nigeria or outside Nigeria.
