NATIONAL President of Oodua People’s Congress, Chief Gani Adams, said at the weekend that the Federal Government must hold talks with the Movement for the Actualisation of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and others agitating for a Biafra republic.
Adams said it was only through dialogue that the agitators could be persuaded to drop the idea of a Biafra state, saying the use of force cannot guarantee Nigeria’s unity.
The OPC leader spoke about the agitation and the clash between the Nigerian Army and the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) in Osogbo after he was honoured as a culture ambassador by the Nigeria Union of Journalists Correspondents Chapel, Osun State at the weekend.
“I will just say that they (Biafra agitators) are entitled to self-determination. Look, there is a law in Africa, which recognises right to self-determination. Also, there is a law in the United Nations, which recognises right to self-determination. There is a country in the United Nations that has a population of not up to 50,000 and their flag is at the United Nations.
“You cannot use force to co-opt people for the unity of Nigeria; you have to listen to their agitation. If we cannot give you secession, should we give you statism or regionalism? That is a negotiation process. The British did not use force against Scotland when it seceded from Britain, and there is Catalona in Spain that wants to pull out, they didn’t use force against them.”
He warned that killing of Biafra supporters, who celebrated the Federal High Court ruling ordering the unconditional release of Radio Biafra director, Nnamdi Kanu, last week, was a very serious problem.
Adams also condemned the killing of members of IMN by soldiers in Zaria.
Sun
