Biafra II?

About 4 months ago, while I was participating in an internship program at my uncle’s law firm in Port Harcourt, I saw a woman in khaki pants and a green shirt stamp up the staircase that led to the office complex the firm was located in. She was in a furious frustration, apparently, the road that led to her destination has been blocked for more than 3 hours by broken-down trucks, destroyed by the deplorable state of the roads.

Each step she took, she punctuated with lamentation and individual flurry of hissing. Then she arrived at my uncle’s firm breathing hard and mouth poised like a loaded gun, just waiting for an unsuspecting victim to enter her radar. Unfortunately, the firm secretary did with the question ‘What happened?’

And she began.

“You people better start supporting for Biafra, because I can’t take this thing anymore. What is this nonsense? I’ve been sitting on this road for more than an hour, Buhari will not fix it, Nigeria will not fix it, Biafra will fix it. You people support Biafra – o!”

I was baffled, then amused then consequently worried. I, of course, had been hearing and feeling the direct effect of the IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu and his minions with their propaganda machine; using illicit radio transmitters and illegal newspaper publishing. But I thought that it was probably some ‘jobless people’ looking for how to bring notice and money from the government. However, that lady’s lamentation on that hot Thursday afternoon made me wonder how many more common folks held this pro-treason mentality. So being me, I set to work to do some investigation.

After doing some interviews (of course, I cannot disclose names), I came to realize that a substantial number of persons were in support of this southeastern secession once again. Although all of them confessed that they did not want another civil war, but a peaceful secession that was denied to them in 1967.

I will have to agree that the civil war of 1967-1970 was an avoidable one, and one that many have claimed to be the battle of a bloated ego between Chukwuemeka Ojukwu and his northern counterpart Yakubu Gowon. Should we now put the events that led to the pogrom under the lens of a critic microscope we will discover that the Igbo people, very much unlike the southerners now, had no choice. It was either leave or be killed.

The real cause of the Biafran war was not as many people believe, from the moment that Major Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu plotted a coup against the government of Abubakar Tafawa Balewa and the assassination of Sir Ahmadu, but it’s root is from the very moment the Igbo people became the most elite race in Nigeria. The nature of an Igbo man (or woman) is a competitive, open-minded and self-sufficient as is simply demonstrated in their ruthless business sense. Unlike the northerners, who were the least educated at that time and the westerners who were tied down by religion and loyalties, the Igbo people were the most accepting of the colonial master’s education and they competed to oust themselves in the spotlight. By the time Nnamdi Azikiwe had launched his monumental newspaper The West African Pilot propagating and fighting the rule of the British in Nigeria, many of the other Igbo intellectuals had established themselves in key positions in the government and economy of the country.

After Ghana saw their independence in 1957, the pressure on Great Britain to release Nigeria multiplied by twofold and Nigeria saw their independence in 1960, sailing into a parliamentary system of government with Tafawa Balewa at the helm winning the majority seat of the government. Chinua Achebe in his book There Was a Country, stated with reference that the election was rigged by the British to favor the North. This conclusion makes a lot of sense, because it was the only way Great Britain could put a check on Nigeria despite their absence.

Now, with Tafawa in power, a lot of crisis broke out just before the coup of January 15^th 1966. These catastrophic events led to Nzeogwu’s semi-successful coup. Semi-successful, because Aguiyi Ironsi who was the highest-ranking Igbo military man at that time caught wind of the operations and thwarted Nzeogwu’s offensive from the capital in Lagos. Many of you might wonder why Nzeogwu and Ironsi didn’t work together since they were both essentially cultural brethren, but in truth, Nzeogwu was only an Igbo man by name since he was born in Kaduna and spoke Hausa even better than he did Igbo.

With Tafawa dead, Ironsi in power and Igbo people dominating leading sectors in the country, there was upheaval in the north. Fear now drove the northerners and a countercoup was masterminded by Murtala Muhammed and Theophilus Danjuma, causing the death of Ironsi and the regime of Yakubu Gowon.

Then the killings began. No one stopped the bloodshed that began in the north, leading to the death of about thirty thousand Igbo people. The Igbo people were being driven in hordes back home and the country stood by and watched.

Ojukwu, who was the military governor of Eastern Nigeria at that time was forced to take action and after a meeting with some chosen notables, they agreed that after all their efforts to nationalism and one Nigeria, Nigeria had now turned their backs on them and they had to defend themselves with a secession.

Most of what transpired after that is common knowledge. The death, pillaging, looting, bloodshed, rape, raids, starving and political bias on an international level is etched in black and white all over history books.

The reason Biafra failed then was because of one thing and that was support, for their cause was a legitimate one. A Holocaust that threatened the very survival of an ethnic group cannot be countered in any other way in my personal opinion.

Now, a bunch of hooligans are agitating for something that they have not the will or the power to see through. Much after the rehabilitation of the Igbo people, they feel that now is the perfect opportunity to secede.

It’s quite ironic because even the Igbo are fighting amongst themselves, and their ethnic rivalry is now so intense that they are even nepotistic. A man from Abia cannot work in Owerri, it’s become that bad.

The federal government is trying to resolve the issue before it blows to epic and irredeemable proportions. What I hear now is that Kanu is on the run and the government is hot on his tail.

I will admonish all you would-be Biafrans to stop following in the footsteps of a thrill seeker.

This is what war in Nigeria looks like

FASHION IN NIGERIA -FikisArchive

Nigeria is Africa's most populous country, there are numerous tribes and ethnic groups which wear their own style of garb.Fashion in Nigeria has always been diverse. It depicts the cultures and traditions of many ethnic groups and even religion. Nigeria has over 300tribes which have their own fashion culture. Ways of dressing in Nigeria changes from tribe to tribe, which allows a variety of style to put on for different events and places. 

During the pre colonial era, Nigerians wore their traditional attire to every event and at all times. In colonialism Nigerians began to wear Western clothes, especially to schools and those with government jobs. With time Nigerian fashion began to reflect it's independent status through their dressing. We were back to wearing our traditionally made outfits in urban areas, to work and even church. The Legendary musician, Fela Kuti, in his song "Gentleman" made fun of Nigerians, who rejected the cultural way of dressing and had inferiority complexes about their non-western cultures and lost thier roots, acting as though they were better than everyone else. Late in the 90's Nigerians dressed in a traditional outfit to work or foreign countries would fall out of place, but today it is fairly uncommon for Nigerians to wear Western suits/clothes to work or any occasion. 

The top three ethnic groups in Nigeria are the Hausa/Fulani(the largest ethnic group), Yoruba and Igbo. For the Hausa/Fulani men, they wear a wide sleeved robe called "babban riga" which is a floor-length robe with very long sleeves which have to be folded up to expose the hands, it's the the equivalent of the Yoruba's "agbada". The women wear colorful wrappers-"abaya" with matching blouses and bread accessories around the neck, the wrists and on their heads.

The Igbo traditional wears are designed to display their modest culture. The women wear wrappers some of which are designed for casual events and for formal events wear expensive clothes often imported. The men usually wear cotton wrappers, shirts, sandals as casual wear and better material wrappers for formal events. They. wear caps and heavy beads and sometimes carry a walking stick. 

The Yoruba's are known for their exquisite clothing and are a very stylish people and very conscious of their looks . Their traditional attire indicates status and wealth. They can sometimes be too dressed for an event. Examples of their traditional attire are; 

• Gele - This is a traditional Nigerian cloth which women wrap around their heads. There are many variations of how they wrap it.
• Agbada - For formal events Nigerian men often wear a robe called an agbada over their clothes.
• Buba - A Buba is a loose fitting blouse with long sleeves and a neckline that is either V-shaped or round. It usually falls a little below a women’s waist. Men can also wear a buba.
• Iro - Iros are long wrap-around skirts. The rectangular skirt is worn by wrapping it around the waste and tucking it in at the end.
• S(h)okotos - Sokotos are trousers that are loose-fitting with a drawstring used to hold them up.

Today theses traditional attire have been transformed into modern looks and have become trends and styles that everyone irrespective of which ethnic groups' attire wants to wear them. Local made fabrics like ankara,lace,aso-ebi,aso-oke,gele,adire and so on have been embraced by all within Nigeria, Africa and Western countries. These fabrics come in different styles that can be worn for formal and casual events.   

Thanks to Nigerian fashion designers, Nigerian fashion publications like—StyleHouseFiles.com, Genevieve, Thisday Style, Bellanaija.com etc and style enthusiasts, fashion in Nigeria has received wide acceptance and recognition from the international world. These designers understand that Nigeria fashion is an integral part of the people of Nigeria, most of them opt only to use Nigerian made fabrics for their designs. They make use of African inspired fabrics to promote the beauty of our cultural way of dressing. Which is very attractive to the Western world. Apart from Indian people and a few other nations, Nigerians are the only people that have styles that depict their tribe. 

These designers make clothes in modern styles acceptable in the Western world as the general trend of fashion for people of all shapes and sizes and compel you to dress in the local fabric. 

For some they pay homage to heritage and design philosophy of fusing cultures from a contemporary perspective, thereby creating a collection of Afropolitan pieces. From their choice of fabrics ton designs they tell cultural related stories. These designers are here to stay and blaze a trail in the fashion industry in Nigeria and globally. 

The fashion industry in Nigeria is a fast rising one, it is very competitive just like any other business and this makes working in the industry healthy and interesting for those with passion for fashion. The fashion industry faces alot of challenges ;mediocrity, lack of adequate electricity supply, quality clothes, and so on. Nigerian fashion designers are still at the follower stage in terms of creativity. Where just because the English design is nice and trending they repeat it in ankara or copy a part of some top designers idea. Most people aren't doing it out of passion but because everyone is creating a fashion line they feel they should too. Also some Nigerian fashion designers aren't ready for global competition because they are engaged in made-to-measure while foreign designers concentrate on ready-to-wear. They also have problems with finishing and lack of originality. 

The fashion industry needs support from the government, to make a fashion sector in the economy just like they do with energy, power and agriculture. This will encourage people to buy Nigerian! 

Fashion in Nigeria today hasn't just provided various stylish looks but has unified Nigerians and  has been used to preserve and promote culture.