Wife Of 'Biafra Eternal Leader' Ojukwu Speaks On Agitations By IPOB, MASSOB, Others (ICYMI)

Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, the wife of former 'Biafran President', Chukuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu has said that agitations for the secession and sovereignty of Eastern Nigeria are likely to be relentless because the Nigerian situation "does not accommodate the legitimate aspirations of its component groups", AllNews reports.

Mrs Ojukwu, a former Nigerian ambassador to Spain made the comments on Thursday, November 26 at an event in Owerri, the Imo State capital.

The event was 'Ojukwu Day', an annual memorial of Bianca's late husband, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu.

Asked by Sunday Sun her thoughts on the agitations for secession, most especially the pro-Biafran movement, Bianca said "if Nigeria is unwilling to grant us the freedom to go our own way peacefully, then the country must be restructured".

"Well, as Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu once said, ‘Secession is not like cocaine … it isn’t addictive’. No ethnic group ever thrives in perennial turmoil," Bianca said.

"However, it is now crystal clear to the entire world that the provocative factors that led to the declaration of Biafra have not faded; even the post-war issues are still prevalent…the blatant marginalization of the Southeast and some other geopolitical zones, issues of insecurity of lives and property, unwarranted killing by security forces, inequity in the allocation of national resources and amenities as well as the lopsided pattern in the distribution of federal appointments.

"These and so many more are still very much with us.

"You see, agitations for a separate state are to be expected and are likely to be relentless in a situation where the general polity does not accommodate the legitimate aspirations of its component groups.

"A country, as a concept, is only an artificial construct and is designed for the benefit and harmony of its citizens.

"It then follows that the happiness and security of the citizen is more important than the structure and design of the state.

"For a people whom the state seems not willing to protect, to accommodate and even denies the benefits reasonably accruing to bona fide citizens, what is the point of citizenship of that nation?

"They have every right to question the unity or oneness of that country since their existence within it is suffocating.

READ ALSO: Wife Of 'Biafra Eternal Leader' Ojukwu ‘Reveals Greatest Threat To Igbo Freedom’ (ICYMI)

"For this reason, the clamour for Biafra will not abate.

"So, what we are saying is, if Nigeria is unwilling to grant us the freedom to go our own way peacefully, then the country must be restructured in a way that can enthrone the practice of true federalism so that all its component units can thrive and each ethnic group within it can have a sense of belonging.

"It is when this is done that this nation can stand any chance of survival, and only then can we have the possibility of bequeathing a more accommodating space to our children and generations yet to come."