Fifty-nine years after the declaration of the sovereign state of Biafra, Igbo women, youth groups, traditional rulers and other stakeholders have reignited conversations around the Biafra struggle, insisting that the grievances and injustices that sparked the civil war remain unresolved.
Following the widespread killings of Igbos across parts of Nigeria, particularly in the North, in 1966, the then Military Governor of the defunct Eastern Region, Col. Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, declared the independence of Biafra on May 30, 1967.
The declaration triggered the Nigerian Civil War, popularly known as the Biafra War, which ended in 1970. Decades later, many Igbos still believe the South-East remains politically and economically marginalised within Nigeria’s federation.
Calls for justice and reconciliation
Reflecting on the Biafra question nearly six decades later, National President of the Igbo Women Assembly (IWA), Lolo Nneka Chimezie, argued that suppressing efforts to remember the atrocities that led to the war would not resolve the underlying issues.
According to her, the conflict could have been avoided if Nigeria’s leadership at the time had embraced restructuring proposals advanced by Ojukwu.
“We engaged in a war that ought not to have been,” she said. “Ojukwu offered restructuring to save lives and preserve peace, but it was rejected. Today, the same restructuring they dismissed has become one of the loudest conversations in Nigeria.”
Chimezie maintained that Nigeria’s failure to genuinely reconcile with the Igbo people has continued to fuel agitation across the South-East and parts of the South-South.
She argued that policies allegedly aimed at suppressing the Igbo had deepened alienation and weakened national unity.
“Fifty-nine years after the war, Nigeria is in a worse condition. In trying to crush the Igbo, the country ended up hurting itself,” she stated.
The IWA president traced the evolution of pro-Biafra agitation from the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) under Ralph Uwazuruike to the rise of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) led by Nnamdi Kanu.
“The agitation has refused to die because the issues driving it have not been addressed,” she added.
Chimezie accused the Federal Government of applying double standards in handling separatist movements and security challenges, claiming that while repentant militants and insurgents were rehabilitated, pro-Biafra agitators were met with repression.
“There is nothing they have not done to crush IPOB, yet the movement remains alive because the people feel unheard,” she said.
She also revisited allegations of atrocities committed during the civil war, including starvation policies and civilian massacres in places such as Asaba.
“Nigeria must confront its past. Millions died. Innocent people were slaughtered simply because they were Igbo,” she lamented. “There must be restitution, recognition and national atonement.”
Drawing comparisons with post-Holocaust Germany, Chimezie argued that healing could only come through acknowledgement, justice and remembrance.
She called on the Federal Government to officially recognise Biafra Remembrance Day observed every May 30, similar to the recognition accorded June 12 in honour of the late MKO Abiola.
“If June 12 can be recognised nationally, why should the remembrance of millions who died during the civil war be treated like a crime?” she queried.
The IWA president also demanded the release of IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu, insisting that dialogue rather than force remains the pathway to lasting peace.
“Instead of crushing Biafra agitators, government should engage them constructively and find out what they truly want,” she said.
Beyond remembrance, Chimezie stressed the need for economic inclusion, youth empowerment and deliberate investment in the South-East, which she described as one of the country’s most peaceful yet economically neglected regions.
“All the Igbo youth are asking for is inclusion, equal opportunity and justice,” she said. “Nigeria must stop treating the South-East as a conquered territory and begin to treat the Igbo as equal stakeholders in the federation.”
South-East youths raise concerns
Corroborating the position of the Igbo Women Assembly, the Coalition of South East Youth Leaders (COSEYL) said the grievances that triggered the civil war remained unresolved nearly six decades later.
President-General of the group, Goodluck Ibem, said agitation in the South-East was rooted in perceived injustice, political exclusion, economic neglect and the refusal of successive governments to address demands for equity and true federalism.
“History cannot be erased or suppressed,” he said, arguing that many Igbos still feel alienated despite their contributions to national development.
Ibem questioned why the South-East remains the only geopolitical zone with five states while others have six or more, and why calls for restructuring and constitutional balance continue to be ignored.
According to him, national unity cannot thrive where any region feels unfairly treated.
“Genuine unity is built on justice, fairness and mutual respect, not suppression or intimidation,” the group stated.
COSEYL also lamented poor infrastructure, insecurity, unemployment and what it described as weak federal presence in the South-East.
The group urged Igbo leaders to unite around a common agenda centred on restructuring, economic revitalisation, youth empowerment and political inclusion, while calling on the Federal Government to embrace dialogue and reconciliation.
Monarch urges strategic shift
Meanwhile, the paramount traditional ruler of Abiriba Ancient Kingdom, HRM Eze Kalu Kalu IV (Enachioken Abriba), called for a strategic shift in the Biafra struggle, urging Ndigbo to focus less on the symbolism of Biafra and more on building a strong and economically viable Igbo nation.
Speaking on the 59th anniversary of the Biafra declaration, the monarch paid tribute to fallen heroes and past and present pro-Biafra leaders, including Ralph Uwazuruike, Nnamdi Kanu and Simon Ekpa, for sustaining what he described as the “hope” of the Igbo nation.
“I salute the courage of our young men and women all over the world keeping the Biafra spirit alive,” he said. “The Igbo nation cannot be wished away.”
However, he argued that after nearly six decades of agitation, it had become necessary to redefine the conversation.
“For too long, we have focused more on the name Biafra while relegating the main issue to the background. The main issue is the Igbo nation,” he stated.
According to the monarch, the survival and advancement of the Igbo people would require strategic leadership, economic integration and political consciousness rather than violence.
“We need a new generation of visionary leaders, not just politicians. We have capable Igbo sons and daughters all over the world who can drive the rebirth of the Igbo nation,” he said.
Eze Kalu also urged Igbos to embrace political participation by obtaining Permanent Voter Cards and influencing leadership recruitment in Nigeria.
“Biafrans should go and get their voter cards to make a political statement,” he charged.
Unresolved questions
Some political analysts argue that the Igbo political elite remain a major obstacle to the struggle, accusing them of prioritising personal political interests over collective aspirations.
Speaking on whether the “Biafra question” had truly been addressed, former President of Aka Ikenga, Goddy Uwazurike, and founder of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Chekwas Okorie, said successive governments had failed to tackle the root causes of the conflict.
Uwazurike blamed the crisis on inequality, structural imbalance and the failure to implement the Aburi Accord reached before the war.
“Well, the Biafra issues have not been solved because we have leaders who would rather pretend without facing reality,” he said.
“It was the inequality and imbalance in the system that led to Biafra, and the failure of Gowon to implement what was agreed in Aburi.”
He described May 30 as a deeply emotional date for many Igbos, insisting that memories of the war and the suffering associated with it remain vivid.
“We don’t forget easily and we can never forget,” he said.
Uwazurike also criticised what he described as continued imbalance in Nigeria’s governance structure.
“The way forward is the election of credible leaders who will provide a level playing ground for everybody,” he added.
Similarly, Chekwas Okorie argued that the reconciliation promised after the war under the “No Victor, No Vanquished” policy had largely remained unfulfilled.
He cited post-war economic measures, including the £20 banking policy imposed on many Igbo account holders, as evidence that reconciliation was never sincerely pursued.
“One would have thought that with the policy of no victor, no vanquished, such an obnoxious policy would never have been implemented,” he said.
Okorie also accused the Federal Government of neglecting infrastructure and economic development in the South-East, particularly through the abandonment of regional seaports.
According to him, feelings of alienation among younger Igbos contributed to renewed separatist agitation in recent years.
Despite his criticism, Okorie urged younger agitators to embrace political participation rather than violence, describing the Igbo problem as “essentially political.”
“Their relevance will return to them without having to fire any shot,” he said.
He called on Igbos across the country to become more active in politics and the electoral process, arguing that their demographic spread across Nigeria gives them significant influence if properly mobilised.
