ABOUT THIS BIAFRA BROUHAHA

My favorite war – based video game is Call of Duty: Modern warfare and when you die in the game (which happens a lot) there is a war quote for you to enjoy.

Talking about war quotes, I have quite a few that really hit home with me; one of them by Boeotian poet Pindar and it reads “war is sweet to those who have no experience of it”.

I am not so surprised by the amount of social media frenzy being generated by the whole series of protests that have been occurring in the name of Biafra and other related organizations. Three months ago, the only threat to my indifference towards the message of Mr. Kalu was the manner in which he was going about it (he seemed to be agitating for a war, on radio). Today the only part of the struggle I disagree with is the war path being towed by the protesters.

Perhaps the most heart rending part of it all is the number of youths who are taking to social media to support the occurrence of a war. Albert Dietrich rightly said, “There are perhaps many causes worth dying for, but to me, none worth killing for”. Why agitate for war over an issue that can be deliberated upon peacefully? Why think that war will bring succour to anybody? How does anyone believe the death of other people is a means to their preferred end and finds a way to differentiate themselves from terrorists? The answer is as Pindar put it, the idea of war only appeals to those who have never experienced it – and adding to that, those who have chosen to ignore the history books.

Sun Tzu, in The Art of War, opined that “The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting”. While there are a number of divergent views as to the necessity of the agitation for the creation of a sovereign state, but there is no sense whatsoever in destroying the purported country before it is achieved (if ever). The damages and loss of lives that have been occurring in the same states said to be integral to the new country being sought.
I maintain again that I stand on no side of the divide right now on whether there should be a secession or not, my own battle is the manner in which they (the agitators) are going about it. War is never the solution to anything and I sincerely pray we understand this fact before it is too late.

Herbert Hoover said, “Old men declare war. But it is the youth that must fight and die”. How wrong he is starting to seem – with the kind of words being uttered by Nigerian youths on social media, they are going to war of their own accord (or they are just loud mouthed ignorant people). One way or the other, everyone needs to understand that (like Ernest Hemingway said) war, no matter how necessary, or how justified is a crime.
War is not the answer – agitate for your Biafra by other means.