Posted by By PHILIP NWOSU on
Leader of the Movement for the Actualization of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) Chief Ralph Uwazuruike, has promised to return to prison on expiration of the three months bail granted him two weeks ago.
Leader of the Movement for the Actualization of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) Chief Ralph Uwazuruike, has promised to return to prison on expiration of the three months bail granted him two weeks ago.
According to him, "on January 28, 2008, I will return to prison. That is what the law said and I will not hesitate to comply."
He spoke during a visit to the corporate headquarters of The Sun Publishing Limited on Monday, saying, "I will go back to jail on the 28 January, 2008, unless something else happens."
Uwazuruike lamented the death of his mother while he was being detained, adding: "The death of my mother, when it was announced, was my saddest moment in prison. There is something I hold in common with my mother. I am the only son. Before I was born, my mother had seven kids who died. So my birth was something special to her. She begged me not to die. We reached an agreement and I promised that I would not die.
"I was everything to my mother and I knew she was uncomfortable not to have seen me for some time."
The MASSOB leader said he was not tired of being detained, adding, "I am ready, even tomorrow morning, to return to prison. I like it because it will help me educate people on what I stand for, which is justice."
Uwazuruike said he was arrested alongside three other ethnic nationality leaders, "but while others were released I am still being detained, even though I am applying a non-violent approach."
He said the struggle for the actualization of the Biafran state was gaining acceptance more than when it started, pointing to the fact that the Ohanaeze Ndigbo and the Ikemba Nnewi, Dim Odumegwu Ojukwu, who had distanced themselves from him, have now embraced him.
He said: "The struggle and its non-violent approach are beginning to gain ground and that is why I was received by the Ohanaeze Ndigbo, which hitherto did not support me. They are beginning to appreciate my crusade and philosophy that Igbo are really marginalized and I am not flying a kite.
"The most important thing in this struggle is the issue of security to life and property. In Nigeria today, the Igbo are endangered specie, they are killed in the North on flimsy excuse of one religious riot or the other. That is the most important thing to me. I am not seeking that an Igbo man becomes the president of Nigeria, but if that comes their way, fine. The important agenda is to see that the life of Ndigbo are secured in Nigeria.
"The injustices being meted out on the Igbo people are innumerable. The South East is the only geo-political zone in Nigeria that has not got an international airport. The North has about seven international airports."
He said the South East has the least number of things being distributed among other geo-political zones in Nigeria. The MASSOB leader added:
"We have least of number of local government areas and least in every thing. Two states in the North receive more allocation than all the five states in the East.
"If you want peace in the country, in any place, even in your family, you must ensure that there is adequate justice. If there is no justice in the family, even your wife will revolt against you. If Nigeria is good, nobody will talk about Biafra."
Uwazuruike commended The Sun for standing against injustice in Nigeria, adding that the true hero in the struggle against injustice and oppression was The Sun.
"So many people read your newspaper, because The Sun is a very important newspaper in Nigeria due to the cause you champion. You speak for the voiceless people who cannot speak. If not for The Sun, so many of us would not have been out today.
"When you talk about struggle, your own struggle is the greatest, especially the threat from the government to take this place over. This also is marginalization."