Prof. Ben Onyeukwu- IPOB THE CRISES, NOT A PROBLEM

IPOB CRISES,
NOT A PROBLEM:
By Prof. Ben Onyeukwu
With strong conviction, the writer affirms that, the crises  currently rocking the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), is not a problem to the full restoration of the sovereign nation of Biafra. Kudos to Dr. Ngozi Orabueze, the Chief of Staff and the Deputy Prime Minister of the Biafra Government in Exile (BRIGIE) and the Autopilot movement, who on November 29, 2024, in Lahti Finland, despite the arrest and detention of Mazi Simon Ekpa, by the Finnish police, redeclared the sovereign nation of Biafra, in continuation of the first declaration in Enugu, on May 30, 1967, by the then, Lt. Col. Chuhwumeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, who later became the General and the Commander-in-Chief of the first Republic of Biafra, which now makes the United States of Biafra (USB), as was redeclared, a national movement, and not just a self-determination group.
   It is common knowledge that, a vast majority of the IPOB and the Autopilot leaderships and members, have constantly and unanimously affirmed Mazi Nnamdi Kanu as the recognized supreme leader of the two groups, which unofficially suggests that in the foreseeable chain of power, in the real and future Government of Biafra, the groups may endorse Nnamdi Kanu as President, Simon Ekpa as Prime Minister and Dr. Ngozi Orabueze as the Deputy Prime Minister of the new country.
   Having stated the above, please, recall that the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) group, is a worldwide aclaimed self-determination movement founded by Mazi Nnamdi Kanu in 2012, which some reports also mention 2014, when it was registered as a company in the United Kingdom (UK), for the purpose of the restoration of an independent State of Biafra, in the Nigeria's South-East. However, this peaceful and non-violent agitation organization, was proscribed by the Nigeria's Federal High Court in Abuja, under Justice Abdul Abdu- Kafarati, who granted an ex parte order prescribing the group and declaring all its activities illegal, in keeping with an application by the then, Attorney-General, Abubakar Malami. This was formalized by the Federal Government of Nigeria, on September 20, 2017. The court order was signed and gazetted on the same date. Also, the Federal Government published the “Terrorism (Prevention) (Proscription Order) Notice, 2017” in the Federal Republic of Nigeria Official Gazette, Volume 104 on September 20, 2017. In the same vein, in September 2017, President Muhammadu Buhari signed a presidential proclamation proscribing IPOB.
   Yes, after the cited period, the claims and counter-claims of betrayals, prominently became noticeable in the IPOB family, yet unable to crack the solid foundation and superstructure of the organization, built by Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, even with the alleged double standards of the Nigerian section of the group. Instead of declining in strength, the association became more powerful, in every segment of its worldwide outlets, notwithstanding, the arest, trial
and life imprisonment sentence of its supreme leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, as recent crisis resulting from the alleged sack of DOS leadership of the association, from the view point of the writer is nothing to worry about. From a feeler, IPOB said Kanu, using powers in the IPOB Code of Conduct, had already dissolved the 3rd DOS led by Edoziem and inaugurated a new 4th DOS under Chris Nwaọgụ, stating that, IPOB Code says “the power to appoint, suspend or dismiss erring Principal officers vests exclusively on the leader of IPOB, Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi Kanu”, as the group upholds that, no Coordinator, Principal Officer, Directorate, Committee... possesses any constitutional authority to suspend, remove, or overrule the Supreme Leader”.
  Nevertheless, from rumour mills, on 18-19 June 2026, Chikadibia Edoziem, Head of DOS, announced that the “Directorate of State of IPOB has indefinitely suspended the Office of the Leader of IPOB and the position of Director of Radio Biafra, both previously held by Nnamdi Kanu”, pointing to “unguarded utterances”, security concerns, and monitored prison communications from Sokoto prison. But, IPOB’s spokesperson Emma Powerful immediately rejected it, noting that, Edoziem and his group were members of the “dissolved third administration of DOS” whose tenure had already been terminated, with the affirmation that, “no person can derive authority from an office that has already ceased to exist”. The bottom line here, is that the whole drama is an internal IPOB power struggle, wherein, one DOS faction “suspended” Kanu, but the Kanu-backed DOS faction says that faction was already dissolved and the suspension is illegal.
   Despite the foregoing, anyone thinking that the reviewed IPOB crises, or even the alleged Nigerian Government sponsored conflicts, that have been fueling inter-group crises between the IPOB and Autopilot organizations, can hinder the restoration of the Sovereign State of Biafra, is definitely daydreaming.