Former militant leader, Asari Dokubo, has dared President Muhammadu Buhari as he has constituted a Biafran government after declaring same.
Buhari had in 2017 said his government would not allow dismemberment of Nigeria.
โWe cannot and we will not allow such advocacy. As a young army officer, I took part from the beginning to the end in our tragic civil war costing about 2 million lives, resulting in fearful destruction and untold suffering.
โThose who are agitating for a re-run were not born by 1967 and have no idea of the horrendous consequences of the civil conflict which we went through.
โI am very disappointed that responsible leaders of these communities do not warn their hot-headed youths what the country went through. Those who were there should tell those who were not there, the consequences of such folly.
โAt all events, proper dialogue and any desired constitutional changes should take place in a rational manner, at the National and State Assemblies,โ he had said.
However, Dokubo on Sunday declared himself the leader of the new Biafra defacto Customary Government (BCG).
In a statement signed by Uche Mefor, BCGโs Head of Information and Communications, the former militant leader named those who would serve as leaders in the government alongside himself.
He said, โWe as people have resolved that as Biafra, itโs time for us to take our destiny in our hands and bring freedom to ourselves and our children and the generation of Biafrans yet unborn. I hesitate a little but I thank God that itโs time for us to do our duty and our service to motherland, I have accepted this role. I have dedicated my life hundred percent to play this role.
โMy first act today in taking this position is to name those who would be on the driverโs seat to navigate through this period of tempest, this period of uncertainty with me. I want to call on our brother, George Onyibe to come on board to join as the secretary of the defacto customary government of the State of Biafra. He will take care of the administrative, day-to-day administration of the Biafra State.
โI also call on our brother Emeka Emeka Esiri to take care of the legal needs of this nascent government. My brothers and sisters, the four of us will kick start the process, others will come on board. We want volunteers who are committed. We want volunteers because there is nothing anymore. We are the people who have volunteered to salvage ourselves and the rest of us.
โI also call on Biafrans in the various provinces of the Biafra nations in Aba, Abakiliki, Anang, Awka, Calabar, Degema, Eket, Enugu, Nsuka, Ogoja, Oji River, Okigwe, Onitsha, Opobo, Orlu, Owerri, Port Harcourt, Umuahia, Uyo and Yenegoa province. We are going to proceed to set up provincial structures of government starting with provincial assemblies and provincial governance and administrators.โ
Dokubo also mentioned education and agriculture as key areas of focus. He condemned the stoppage of food transportation to the South.
โYou are all aware of the recent plot where they decided to stop food from the North. They failed woefully, they will continue to fail. The Government of Biafra State will look to make sure that we only eat what we can produce.
โNobody can stop us. Nobody can blockade us as they did in the first war. Weโre not going to fight any war with anybody, weโre walking to freedom. We will not shoot any gun with them, they will prepare their weapon but they will have nobody to kill with their weapon,โ he added.
