By SAM ANOKAM
In the last two weeks, Radio Biafra, London, started broadcasting in Nigeria as a mobile station, on FM frequency 89.2. It’s being received in Enugu, Onitsha, Port Harcourt, Nnewi and Owerri.
According to the director, Radio Biafra, Mr. Nnamdi Kanu, who visited Nigeria from his London, United Kingdom base, the broadcast in Nigeria, on FM frequency, other than the initial short wave frequency from London, is aimed at giving Igbo and other Nigerians the opportunity to receive the message from the station without much difficulties.
In the interview, Kanu revealed the role of Radio Biafra and why its broadcast was brought home. He talked about the struggle for Biafra, the activities of the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra and other pro-Biafran groups, the funding for Radio Biafra and the crisis in the All Progressives Grand alliance (APGA).
Excerpts:
We discovered that Radio Biafra is now broadcasting in the East other than London. What informed this?
At this point in the country’s history, we believe that it’s appropriate to bring home Radio Biafra. The last time the radio broadcast in the East was about 43 years ago, during the war. We have been broadcasting from London, on short wave frequency. By coming home now, we want more people to tune to the station. Now we are on the FM frequency and covering a segment of the Eastern Nigeria. It is not enough to propagate round the country, but we are working on that. Sometime in September or October, we will bring in sufficient power, in terms of transmission, to allow us access to all areas within Nigeria.
What were the challenges you encountered in bring Radio Biafra home, so to say?
The people that gave us some problems are obviously agents of the Nigerian government. However, we were sufficiently protected because we are not doing anything illegal. It is free speech situation. We are basically speaking our minds. That is what is happening, which incidentally, a lot of people, in and around the country, bought into. It’s not a question of us saying something that is new. We are discussing something that every other part of the country would like to be a part of.
How long have you been running the radio station in Nigeria?
We started running Radio Biafra in Nigeria for the past two weeks, to be precise.
How has the reception been?
It’s been very good, but initially, the estimate we had was for a 25-mile radius range going by the power of the transmitter and antenna that we have, but what we are recording is 18 miles. What we then need to do is to take it back to our people and then make some improvements to it. We have a bigger transmitter coming in around September or October. We should provide coverage nationally with that. Wherever you are in Nigeria, you should get Radio Biafra on FM and AM from October this year.
For now, what is the duration of the broadcast?
It is normally two and three hours. The broadcast from Aba, because of the location and incessant rain, kept falling. It was curtailed to an hour and 49 minutes, but we are hoping, as time goes on, to bring Radio Biafra to people on a daily basis.
Could you tell us how you started Radio Biafra in London?
We started Radio Biafra in 2009 with the help of the then MASSOB members. They contributed to set up Radio Biafra. When we discovered that the leadership of MASSOB was doing something entirely different from what the people actually wanted, we went on air to tell the people what we discovered and the funding from MASSOB for Radio Biafra was stopped at that point in time. It was moribund for about two years. We then revived Radio Biafra ourselves a year ago. It came back online again on April 13 last year, following the killing of our people, Igbo, in the North. We decided to revive the radio station to bring hope, enlightenment and knowledge to our people.
How many of you are involved?
Eight people revived Radio Biafra ostensibly. Within the two years that Radio Biafra was off air, we were working Monday to Friday, 9-5 everyday, and saving money to start the station again. We neglected our families. We abandoned our commitments to our families, both in London and here in Nigeria. The eight of us include myself, Uche Mefor, Dr. Chukwuma Egemba, Barrister Adolf Emeka Esiri, Barr. Emman Mezu, Amarachi Okpara and Chukwunebuneze Ikpa. These were the people that got together and decided to form Radio Biafra again and we succeeded.
How have you been funding and sustaining it?
We work in London and earn a living. After our official duties, we face Radio Biafra. We know that the media job is a full-time one, but we can’t afford to run Radio Biafra full time because of funding. We are the ones funding and we have to work to get money. Nobody has helped us in funding. Anywhere we go for funding, they always remind us where the previous support they rendered other groups agitating for Biafra went. They always use MASSOB and what Uwazuruike is doing as example and as reasons they won’t fund us. For us, instead of relying on people, who are not even ready to fund the project, we are doing it alone. And God has been helping us. We have spent a lot to sustain the broadcast.
We are not deterred. We hope that in future, people will see the impact of what we are doing as well as our sincerity of purpose and help financially. One individual, Chukwudi Oforma, who is based in Australia, is funding the FM experiment. That tells you that people are now beginning to come out to put some financial muscle behind what we are doing.
How is the reception in London?
When Radio Biafra came back on air, there were jubilations, not only in Nigeria but also in all over the world. People recognise what Radio Biafra represents. At Radio Biafra, we cannot afford to lie. It is not a propaganda machine. We tell you things the way they are. If we are failing, we will tell the people we are failing and why we are failing. At Radio Biafra, we took an oath and we swore never to misrepresent the truth. Any day we lie or represent what is not factual, that day, we will shut down and we will not proceed. That is why we have been able to accomplish more than when we received sponsorship from members of MASSOB, who wanted to use it for their selfish end. Having severed relationship with them, events have shown that it was the best thing we have done. You can see what the group has become.
What is wrong with MASSOB?
The movement has been flawed because people have started to follow the path of money. They have forgotten what Biafra realisation is all about. Mind you, we are not actualising but realising Biafra, because Biafra already existed.
You cannot actualise what is already in existence. The movement derailed because of the cult hero worship. When you are in a freedom fighting movement, the leadership of that movement is not very important.
What is important is the ideology that underpins the entire movement. When you then embody and encapsulate the entire thinking of a movement in one person, that person becomes a target, either for compromise or for assassination. That is what happens and that is what happened in this case. As you can see, they have now abandoned the struggle for Biafra.
They are talking about chieftaincy titles. They are talking about working with PDP. They are talking about sowing uniform and becoming peace ambassadors and the rest of it. That was not the original concept of the struggle. Biafra is puritanical, in the sense that it doesn’t like contamination with any other thing and that is why we are suffering today. And because we took our eyes away from what was important, which was the freedom for our people, we started to look at material things, like cars, buildings, accolades and wealth. That was how we derailed.
What then is the ideology of Biafra?
The ideology of Biafra is the freedom, the emancipation of all the Biafran people, which means that all the people bound genetically, culturally and by the same value system. In other words, I am talking about those who understand the history of the Biafran people. I am talking about the Idoma people, the Igbo people, the Efik, Ibibio, Anang, Ijaw, Itsekiri, the Urhobo and the Anioma people. All these are Biafran families. If you go to a village or town, for instance, Oturpko, they have four market days – Eke, Orie, Afor and Nkwo. And when people say that these people are not Igbo people or that they are not related to Igbo people, it becomes a thing of wonder. How is it possible that people that have Eke, Orie, Afor and Nkwo as their market days are not related to Igbo people?
When you go to Akwa Ibom or Cross River State, what they call God is Obasi. That is what we call God, where we come from. The highest fraternity in Igboland, where I come from in Abia State is Okonko. Okonko was directly derived from the Ibibio and the Efik cultures. The same thing with Ekpe. When we want to dance Ekpe in my place, we go to Ibibio land to buy the kits for the Ekpe, which is a masquerade dance. So, we are all related. We are the same people genetically, in terms of our complexion, in terms of our attitude. I give all your readers a challenge. I want you to go to any market in Warri, for instance. Stand back and take a picture of that market, then, go to any Igbo town or village, take a picture of the market and tell me if you can tell the difference. There is no difference.
The dressing is the same. Everything we do is the same. The people we call Bonny today are people from Nkwerre. We are all the same people. But due to the difficulties, the hardship, the pain that we have been subjected to, they think it is now fashionable to jettison where you come from and try to be something that you are not, which is why we are suffering till today.
Does Radio Biafra have any link with the campaign for Biafra republic?
Yes, we do. Radio Biafra is the most listened to indigenous broadcast out of sub-Saharan Africa. We have every evening nothing less than two million people tuned in all around the world. We have on average of nothing less than 100,000 people visit Radio Biafra website; so the message we propagate is getting through or else people will not be coming.
Our message is resonating with the people and we are working with a lot of groups, ostensibly Bilie Human Rights Initiatives, Biafra Liberation Council. We are also working with other groups across the Niger Delta areas to make sure we bring about Biafra, of justice and equality, not Biafra of domination because a lot of people are afraid that if we have Biafra, there is going to be domination by the Igbo people and our question to them is very simple: before Nigeria, before the white man came, did the Igbo conquer anybody? The answer is no. We are larger than the Ibibio, Efik, Ijaw. Did we go to the Ijaw and say you must speak Igbo language or else we kill you? Or you must adopt our culture or else we kill you?
The ironic thing is that we ended up absorbing these other cultures to the Igbo way of life. That goes to show how versatile we are. We are not a domineering people. The fact that if you open up your shop to trade and you are blessed and become wealthy means that you are domineering? That is a slightly false perception of what dominance is. It is not dominance. It is people actually doing well. And you will know even in Igboland today, there is a traditional ruler that has converted to Islam – Eze Dumuna of Mbaitoli. He is now Musa Dimuna, a traditional titled ruler in Igboland! He has not been killed. He will not be killed. He’s not being chased out or bombed because we believe in tolerance.
What’s your take about groups agitating for Biafra?
We welcome every group agitating for Biafra as long as you are doing it in truth and honesty. If you look at the programme of some elements of movement within Biafra land, you would know that they have derailed from that cardinal principal. They are not pursuing Biafra in truth and honesty anymore. What they are doing does not represent freedom fighting anymore. That is why we say to people, there are groups you can join. You can join Bilie Human Rights Initiative, which took Nigeria to court, which a lot of people don’t know about.
A court in Nigeria recognised the word ‘Biafra’ for the very first time without throwing everybody in jail. The case is coming up on April 30 and we are asking everybody to be in court in Owerri to witness this landmark occasion. It’s been going on since last year. A lot of people don’t know this.
Again, we are saying join Bilie Human Rights Initiatives, listen to Radio Biafra broadcasting, both from London and Biafra land; you can also join Biafra Liberation Council. It is a legitimate group. You can join Lower Niger Congress. These are groups that are legitimate. Any other group you join is involved in criminality and in violence, detrimental to what we are pursuing. There are people with MASSOB, for instance, who are going about arresting people and handing over to Nigerian police. People agitating for Biafra are being arrested and being handed over to the Nigerian police and these are people claiming to be fighting for the struggle. You have to be consistent. There is no relationship between fighting for the freedom of your people and accumulation of wealth. That is what we are against.
Is it right to assume that your relationship with MASSSOB is sour?
Our relationship with genuine people within MASSOB pursuing Biafra in truth and honesty is sound. What we abhor is the leadership of MASSOB because the leadership of MASSOB is corrupt. Intrinsically corrupt. They were campaigning for PDP during the last elections; everybody knows that. They are running all over the place looking for chieftaincy titles. We asked them: have you seen anywhere in the history of modern freedom fighters where you jettison freedom fighting and start looking for chieftaincy titles? You abandon freedom fighting to start pricing the cost of cement and sand to go and build a house.
The right thing to do is to wait until you get what you are looking for. At that point, the people will honour you.
Nelson Mandela doesn’t live in a mansion. Mahatma Ghandi never lived in a mansion. Martin Luther King Junior never lived in a mansion. Che Guevara never lived in a mansion. What are you doing with landed property? What are you doing with wealth if you are a freedom fighter? We work ourselves to put our money in Biafra. We don’t expect anything from Biafra. We don’t have anything to with money. That is the cardinal rule in Radio Biafra. You can never be rich. You don’t need money for anything at all as long as you can feed and clothe and transport yourself; that is enough. The glory of your people being free is your gain. Nothing more, nothing less. If you are lucky the people might give you a three-bedroom bungalow to live when you retire, but we have role models in the like of Mandela, among others, who never amassed any personal wealth. These are genuine freedom fighters and this is what Radio Biafra is modelled on.
You may have been following the political imbroglio between Victor Umeh and Gov. Peter Obi. What is your take?
It is nemesis. It was Chekwas Okorie that single-handed formed APGA and handed it to the Igbo people through the leadership of His Excellency, the late Dim Chukwuemeke Odumegwu-Ojukwu. I have been at the centre of many things happening. As I would say to Chekwas and the rest of them, there is, so to speak, no prominent Igbo person I have not served in one capacity or the other. We were in a room at Millennium Hotel, in Kensington, London, which, incidentally, I paid for. The deposit of that I still have the receipt. I paid for the suit where Ojukwu stayed at the hotel. Ojukwu was there, so also were Chekwas Okorie, Victor Umeh, Ukwa Akwu, Tim Menakaya, Gov. Peter Obi. And I told Peter Obi to his face that the problem we have today in Igboland is the Anambra people and I said it jokingly. Of course, he said if that is the problem, that is also the solution. There and then, Ojukwu said, in front of everybody, that if he were to die today that he had a successor beside him. He said it was Chekwas Okorie.
Umeh was there. Andy Emenife was there. I was there. Ifeanyi Iregbu was there. Dr. Chukwuma Egemba was there. Chinedu Nwosu was there. They witnessed what I am telling you right now. Who has ever organised Ojukwu to appear before BBC’s Hard Talk? We did it. Nobody has done that for him before. We in London did it. The fact that we don’t shout and come to newspaper all the time doesn’t mean we don’t know what we are doing.
Chekwas Okorie should be given the honour that is due to him. Victor Umeh, as much as I like and respect him, the way he emerged as the APGA chairman wasn’t proper. When this whole thing started happening, we wrote to them to reconcile. We suggested that Chekwas be brought back and made chairman of the board of trustees of APGA, while Victor Umeh can remain as the chairman, but they said no. Look at where Victor Umeh is today? Everybody has lost and we are seeing the collapse of APGA. We now have UPP, floated by Chekwas Okorie. We are now starting afresh again. Every time we run a race as a people, we start all over again. And do you know why it so? It is because we hold our meetings outside. If we hold these meetings in Igboland and you do something bad, you will die. That was how our land was structured before they brought in these new age churches to ruin everything. In the olden days, if you agree and share kolanut, if you go against it, you will die. We have all wronged Chekwas Okorie, one way or the other. We need to seriously apologise to him. What happened to APGA shouldn’t have happened.
2015 is around the corner. Should Jonathan run?
Nigeria can do anything it likes, I am interested in Biafra alone; but one thing is for sure; some us live abroad. I live in London, but the truth is the truth everywhere. Jonathan should not run for the third time because one thing I find difficult in a country that claimed they have learned people is that most Nigerians are not educated enough to understand that a presidential system of government is a joint ticket concept. If I am running as your vice president, I am running on the same ticket as you because if something happens to you, I take over. You cannot be sworn in three times into an office; it is impossible. If you claim you are somebody’s vice presidential candidate, you have accepted that should anything happen to that person, you will assume power to finish serving for that person on your joint ticket because it is two of you that people voted for.
They said Jonathan and Sambo. It was Yar’Adua and Jonathan. Two people running together on a ticket. What the judges did, in pronouncing the idea that Jonathan could run again is called following the letter of the law, but not the spirit of the law because the spirit and the letter of the law must merge for a law to be sound, for a ruling or a judgment to be seen to be just. Jonathan cannot run again.
http://sunnewsonline.com/new/national/what-we-want-to-achieve-with-radio-biafra-nnamdi-kanu/
