Dealing with ethnic agitators

The perennial clampdown by agents of the Federal Government on ethnic associations clamouring for a better deal for their people went beyond the expected recently when government decided to charge 78 members of the Movement for the Actualisation of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) with treason.

They were arraigned before the Federal High Court in Enugu on charges that border on treasonable felony. The MASSOB members were said to have been arrested from various locations in Anambra State during the commemoration of the 41st anniversary of the defunct Republic of Biafra. MASSOB had planned to stage a peaceful walk across some states of the South East to mark the event. However, the arrests and subsequent arraignment scuttled the plan.

The recent action directed at MASSOB represents one of those wrong steps which government has been taking in its bid to deal with ethnic agitators. In this case, government appears to be operating with a mindset which sees everything Biafra as an act of rebellion. We can appreciate this misgiving in the light of what Biafra represented when it came into being in 1967.

But 38 years after the death of Biafra, what is left of it are the symbolisms which organizations like MASSOB call up once in a while. In the case under review, what MASSOB set out to do was to organize a peaceful assembly.

There was nothing that suggested that there would be a breakdown of law and order since the organization professes and practises non-violence. What security agencies of government ought to have done would have been to keep a close watch on the agitators to ensure that the situation did not degenerate into violence. But rather than do that, security agents arrested and charged them to court.

We consider the charge of treason levelled against the 78 people misplaced. A people do not commit treason on the basis of lawful assembly or for merely showcasing the symbolism of an idea that once was. We appreciate the restlessness which government faces on account of the activities of ethnic agitators. But in dealing with them, a distinction must be made between violent and non-violent ones. In fact, it is the modus operandi of an organization that is normally taken into consideration when classifying it.

Be that as it may, there is the need for government to adopt a sober approach in dealing with ethnic agitators. This is because those who are protesting against one thing or the other have their reasons for doing so. Some of the reasons may be legitimate. Some may not be so legitimate. But government can only sift the chaff from the grain if it does not antagonize the agitators unduly.

In taking whatever measure it deems fit, government must also take into consideration the right of peoples to self determination as recognized by the United Nations.
In a highly fractured multi-ethnic country such as ours, government can achieve maximum peace if it does not discriminate against any person or group of persons. Experience across the globe shows that nations get balkanized when equal opportunities do not exist.

Agitations and protests usually take over where there is no justice and equity. We believe that the key to peace and progress in Nigeria lies in government treating all constituents as important in their own right. Easy resort to arm-twisting and intimidation cannot solve the problem of ethnic agitation in Nigeria.