By Eze Emmanuel Nwauzo
FIRST DAY I HEARD NNAMDI KANU
It was on march 9th march, I was in a bus in Aba, returning from my cousin Omenihu's house where I went for few days meditation. As I boarded the bus home, I felt different then alll of a sudden I heard a Very Mighty voice over the set roaring "It was 'Tinimbu' that set the AIT studio on fire to cover his tracks...Biafra must be restored..." Lo it was the Voice of NwaChineke.
Immediately I heard his voice my spirit confirmed immediately to me "u have found the great leader u have been looking for" as months before I got a prophecy that "One of the greatest leaders in the history of the world is emerging from Nigeria".
I thought to myself is this Uwazuruike (till today i cant recognize Uwazuruike's voice). Could it be his tape records? I was later shocked to know it was a live radio broadcast as calls later started pouring in one after the other including a pastor that called in and said he was ready to fight and die for Biafra. Biafra? I said to myself isn't Biafra dead? Biafra was my childhood dream, it could only be too good to be true, but if it would then let it be.
On getting home I saw that my Father had already started listening to the city-awakening broadcasts, and I started to also, before one week every bus, tri-cycle, car, house, shop, firm, man and woman in Aba was hysteric about #RadioBiafra.
It was like wildfires, revival, a great awakening that grew till the whole city had only one topic and only one leader: Biafra/RadioBiafra and Great Kanu respectively, and that would continue until his arrest and increased hundred folds afterwards.
MY IDEAS BEFORE RADIO BIAFRA
I must confess that I was pro-Nigerian, and was almost against the Biafra Restoration project initially, reasons: I had gone deep into believing that Somehow, someway we would "change" Nigeria, and I had already started getting some ideas on what to do to transform the economy of Nigeria as a Youth Corper then, and the ideas were many and were critically assessed and found fantastic but I had no media access and being poor my counsel couldn't be heard.
In the process of my critical study and contact with Nigeria, I discovered Nigeria to be a country that detest ideas but thrives on 'quota system' so even if the idea got through it would have been in their dust bin as Nigeria's problems is not of lack of ideas, but lack of will.
QUESTIONING THE NIGERIAN THING
However, even before the rise of KANU, a lot of persons who were very close to me didn't know I had given up on the Nigerian dream. I saw the Nigerian thing as illogical and backwardly. Wouldn't it be better for Nigeria to break and the regions develop rapidly than to have One Nigeria were everyone will complain even decades to come? I asked myself intuitively during my youth service days.
It was then I started to ask The Ibira people (Kogi) whether they would be on the side of South or North in the possible event of the breaking of Nigeria: I got diverse responses. Then I didnt remember we have Biafra so the question I asked God was, if we divided then what country would we have as there was not option I knew. My Yoruba friend Lekan said we must form a country together and Forget the backward northerners.
Also I started to see how very bad the Ibos were being treated in Nigeria though they are the ones holding Nigeria.
When I went to my cousin Omenihu's house coincided with a season where on Nairaland forum, the trending topic was about Ibos - the other tribes were voicing their utmost hatred and jealousy for Ibos. I was hurt most when most of the Yorubas there confessed they could never vote for an IBO President, that they would rather voted for an uneducated person than an Igbo man. I was dizzy for days after that until I read a book in Omenihu's house about Zik.
ZIK: LESSONS FROM A HERO
I read how Zik fought tirelessly for Nig and was ready to die for Nig only for Nig to come and Zik was sidelined.
I read also how Awolowo said "Western Nig for the Westerners, Eastern Nig for the Easterners, Northern Nig for Northerners and Nig for everyone''.
While Zik was working towards a Great Africa and Nigeria, Awolowo and Ahmadu Bello were busy giving free education to their people and implementing the "Northernisation Policy" respectively. Almost every IBO man hates Zik's action though we recognize his intellectual prowess.
Zik was rejected, despised by Nigerians after insisting on "One Nigeria" while his people Biafrans were losing about 5,000 children a day to war, plus men and property. But after all the betrayal to have Nig Zik was rejected by Nig couldn't win Presidential election 1979 but lost to a far less Shehu Shagari. After reading this that day, coupled with earlier reasons and prejudices, I decided that I had had enough, I would never have anything to do with Nigeria, would never try to serve or better Nigeria a contraption that cannot hide its hatred for my people IBO. I decided my efforts must be from thence channelled to my people who r the Ibos and then Africa. - I believe in Zik's vision for a great Africa, and I will start where Zik stopped, but I don't believe in his one Nigeria as the part to it, but ...
THE MESSAGE GOTTEN
It was the day after this resolution that I heard the voice of the great Nnamdi KANU, couldn't be a coincidence. But then I hadn't fully left the one Nigeria thing. I then wrote an article NO MORE DIVISION citing that Nigeria shouldn't be divided. I wrote against the spirit of prejudice which is dominant in Africa as u can see in Buhari in his relation with fulanis. I wanted to write that Kanu was wrong, but I heard in my spirit that self-determination can not be wrong, and I heard to be careful not presumptuously be in opposition with God's plans. It therefore occurred to me that Kanu could be right; I wrote the article after all - The NO MORE DIVISION is now being fulfilled in that Biafra is no longer divided as before.
On seeing I had no tangible argument against KANU or Biafra I intensified my devotion to #RadioBiafra day, morning, afternoon and night as endless revelations and answers to questions I never knew were endless. It fulfilled a message I got 2weeks before I heard KANU first that there were things that were to be revealed to me soon that I did not know, and without which I would Make mistakes in my political leadership coming.
In a dream, i was also stopped from doing anything one Nig but that I was to get those information first. Kanu is the messenger God used to successfully deliver the message to me, and I took the message and messenger and Father to heart.
BECOMING A BIAFRAN
After the messages of Kanu had entered much it was time to make the decision to become a "Biafran". That was a meditation time again as it is a very strategic decision that can lead to a lifetime of regret or that of respect.
I had to go to the hilltops to meet the shepherds for guidance. I returned to Aba after about a month, having missed the 30th May. Also, That rose, that rope to the shepherds not afterward with me ~ but lo I was home and dry.
I missed #RadioBiafra much when I was away, and coupled with that, we got the news that the Nigerian tyrant had sent book haram terrorists to Ekwulobia. As a man who had read books on military strategy I knew what it was though common sense is enough to tell us. It was the The next day after that I became a #Biafran officially. Then the news about how thousands of boko Fighters had been released all over Aba and Eastern villages and Cities got to us.
Buhari wanted to give them go ahead order to bomb and destroy the East but was stopped ONLY by God through #RadioBiafra, if not, we would have been slaughtered in millions just few weeks into buhari's regime, as we were discovering bombs all over Aba, large influx of Fulani, massive arrivals of sophisticated weapons loaded inside trucks etc that every nite we were waiting to hear explosions all over the city which would have marked the Second Civil war.
But Kanu exposed buhari's plans on #RadioBiafra hence Kanu averted another war as buhari is beaten the drums so hard up till now.
THE ARREST OF MAZI NNAMDI KANU
The nite I heard Kanu was arrrested I refused to eat, I lost my voice for about 4days, Aba wore a sad face, black gown and was as though mourning.
We later believed his arrest was strategically good for Biafra and we showed him love By going on protests which many of us died.
In Aba, hundreds of Biafrans died, as the DSS, Army, Police were going around by the dead of the nite picking IPOB brothers in Aba and executing them and burying them in forests. So many till today are still missing, yet we keep proclaiming this good news of Biafra that Kanu is innocent and must be released and that Biafra must be released with him, hence as KANU is returning Biafra is returning with Him.
So is the story of my conversion to Biafran nationalism as we remain resolute to get Biafra or ...
