The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has condemned the recent declaration of June 12 as Democracy Day by President Muhammadu Buhari in honor of late MKO Abiola, the acclaimed winner of 1993 presidential election.
It described the pronouncement as a Greek gift targeted at pacifying the Yorubas.
In a statement issued through its Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, IPOB maintained that the posthumous award was a clever but desperate attempt by “Arewa agents of neo-colonialism to drive a wedge between the burgeoning understanding between the East and West.”
It wondered why the same people that detained and killed Abiola would turn around to reward him with a posthumous award, if not for next year’s general elections.
The statement read in part: “It appears there is no length the present Buhari administration will not go in its futile quest to counter IPOB agitation for a sovereign independent nation of Biafra.
“After another resoundingly successful 30th of May sit-at-home order from IPOB, it came to us as no surprise when Arewa north moved to pacify the Yorubas by declaring June 12 as the new Democracy Day.
“Since it has clearly dawned on them that IPOB is the authentic voice of the people of the East, thereby rendering their slaves in Ohanaeze Ndigbo and governors’ lodges in the South East impotent, their next best move is to gain the confidence of the West in order to checkmate the rising influence of those that have come to forge an alliance strong enough to rattle the status quo.
“The Yoruba enlightened political class must maintain a principled commitment to a change that will be of benefit to all, even where that change may include total disintegration of Nigeria as advocated by IPOB.”
