When the activities of the Independent People of Biafra (IPOB) gained momentum in 2013, I advised the agitators, at the time, to use that energy to elect representatives to our national assembly. Their goal should have been to amend the 1999 Constitution to include clauses for referendum and self-determination.

Let’s be clear: our constitution does not currently allow for secession. Nigeria is considered “indivisible and indissoluble,” and attempting to break away is legally seen as treason. While international law has its provisions, our domestic law supersedes it. Every agitation must operate within the norms of our constitution.

That is precisely why my advice was so crucial. Had they channeled their popularity into a political movement to legally amend the constitution, they could have advanced their cause without the devastating socioeconomic degradation that has since enveloped the South East. This alternative path of confrontation has cost the region dearly.

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But we must ask the real question: Why is the demand for Biafra so persistent? It stems directly from the Nigerian government’s failure to meet the aspirations of its people. And we are all complicit in that failure. We are so divided that we vote based on ethno-religious sentiment, not on credible plans for development.

Just look at the warm exchanges between Nnamdi Kanu and Omoyele Sowore in court recently. It shows that the only way to salvage this nation is through a committed partnership of purpose between the major ethnic nationalities, like the Igbos and Yorubas, to dismantle the crass leadership that has undermined our collective growth.

We must no longer allow the ruling class to divide us with the cheap tools of ethnicity and religion. Their oligarchical agenda depends on our disunity. Our duty is to see through this ploy, to unite in knowledge and purpose, and to claim the power that is rightfully ours through the legitimate means of the ballot box. The decision to build a Nigeria that works for everyone is in our hands, and the time to act is now.

-Francis Onyema, 2027 Presidential Aspirant.