One of the pro-Biafran groups, the Biafra
Zionist Federation, on Monday, in Enugu,
declared the secession of the ‘Republic of
Biafra’ from Nigeria.
Biafra takes off as an independent country
on Tuesday (today), August 1, 2017,
according to BZM leader, Mr. Benjamin
Onwuka, who declared himself the ‘Interim
President’ of the new nation at a press
briefing at the Enugu secretariat of the
Nigerian Union of Journalists.
He did not name a Vice-President.
Onwuka, who was detained, and charged
with treason after leading some members of
the BZF to invade the studios of the Enugu
State Broadcasting Service in a failed bid to
announce the secession of Biafra on June 5,
2014, also named ministers and other top
government officials of Biafra.
The officials named by Onwuka are
prominent personalities drawn from
different areas, which the BZF leader said
were Biafran territories.
Eminent economist, Prof. Pat Utomi, was
named the foreign minister while a former
Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Prof.
Chukwuma Soludo, has been appointed as
the Governor of the Central Bank of Biafra.
In the same vein, a former boss of the
Securities and Exchange Commission, Ms.
Arunma Oteh, has been named the finance
minister.
The President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo,
Chief Nnia Nwodo, was named as the
Ambassador of the Republic of Biafra to the
United States while a former Minister of
Information, Prof. Jerry Gana, from Niger
State, was appointed the transport minister.
Another former information minister and
former deputy governor of Nasarawa State,
Mr. Labaran Maku, has been named as the
minister of aviation.
Other key appointments, as announced by
Onwuka, include Amarachi Ubani,
information; Mrs. Mary Okafor, trade and
industry; Benny Lar, from Plateau State,
Secretary to the Government of the Republic
of Biafra; Gabriel Oluwole Osagie, education;
and Philip Effiong Jnr, health.
Prof. Barth Nnaji, a former power minister,
was named as energy minister in the
‘cabinet’ assembled by Onwuka.
It was not clear whether Onwuka consulted
the ‘appointees’ before naming them as part
of his ‘government.’
Journalists, who were bewildered as
Onwuka unexpectedly declared the
secession of Biafra, laughed when he reeled
out the names.
But with a stern expression on his face,
Onwuka glared at the journalists and
retorted, “This is not a laughing matter.”
The BZF leader explained that the nascent
Biafran government was an interim one,
claiming that he had the backing of the US.
According to Onwuka, the alleged
recognition of the independence of Biafra
was part of US foreign policy, having been
endorsed by former President Barack
Obama before he left office.
