– By Firsts Baba Isa (FBI)
The debate on whether veteran actor, Chinwetalu Agu, broke any law for wearing some clothing with the Biafra insignia is not just a yardstick for measuring our ignorance of the law but also one that is adequately measuring how docile we have become as a people when our fundamental human rights are being trampled.
Over 150 years after the American civil war, folks in the South still air their views (even through clothing) about a divided America. Same thing is happening in Spain.
The idea of Biafra can never be illegal. The right to self determination is a thing, a real thing. You cannot shut people up about that. It is a discussion that will remain with us forever. You must not agree with this idea for it to be legal.
Though I believe in the oneness and indivisibility of Nigeria, I wrote my LLM Dissertation on the topic: “A Critical Examination Of The Right To Self Determination Vis-a-vis The Agitation For The State Of Biafra.”
I shared my thoughts on Self Determination and Biafra to earn a masters degree. If you don’t like my thoughts, go and share your own. That’s how it should be.
What is wrong and what will ever be wrong and illegal is when you pursue this idea by killing people, burning police stations and destroying properties because you want Biafra… And when you start harassing citizens, arresting people who express their thoughts or ideas of self determination peacefully like Chinwetalu Agu did.
The very idea of democracy is one that accommodates the concept of self determination. Whether this concept supports secession is debatable, always. Let us not burn down this podium for debate that democracy offers us… Debate is better than fire, bullets and blood.
Discussion about this post