Politics of divisiveness and the resurgence of Biafra agitation in Nigeria

In recent times, separatist movements in South-East geopolitical zone have stepped-up struggles for the actualization of the sovereign state of Biafra through protest and other forms of social mobilization. The protests have triggered tension with security agencies applying excessive force to quell agitations and protests. This paper examines the politics of imbalance played by the Nigerian State towards (Igbo extraction) through non-development of the region and that has triggered the resurgence of Biafra agitation for secession with emphasis on elitist politics. Qualitative research with an instrumental case study approach was adopted for this study. This study is an exploratory study focused on learning about and depicting a theoretical idea in a real life context. It is a study of a particular experience of the phenomenon of separatist Agitations/movements, with a view to further exploration of the indicators of human security and, conversely, state failure. The study advance elitist politics, social insecurity, revenue allocation and bitter memories of Nigerian civil war as reasons for the resurgence of Biafra agitations. This paper recommends that, to engender national unity, Nigerians must shift allegiance from sectional political cultures and parochial politics to nationalism which will in turn foster national unity and ensure deep friendships across political divides. Lastly, the needs of the people should be attended to, and paramount is the issue of unemployment among the mammoth graduates produced every year without jobs. Addressing this issue will involve indigenous developmental and economic project involving the youths; and also thereby help to reduce poverty.

Keywords: Separatist Agitation, State failure, Insecurity, Politics, Development.