Asari Dokubo speaks about Biafra name

Asari Dokubo speaks about Biafra name 

– Ijaw man supposed name Biafra not Igbo – Eastern Nigerian consultative Assembly decided the direction and way forward for the Eastern Region after the civil war Alhaji Mujahid Asari Dokubo, former Niger Delta militant leader, has spoken about the man, who suggested the name for Biafra. He stated that contrary to the perception that the name Biafra which was adopted by the then breaking away Eastern region is Igbo, the phrase is Ijaw. Asari added that it was an Ijaw man, who proposed the name at a meeting summoned by the late leader of the defunct Republic of Biafra, Chief Chukwuemeka Ojukwu to decide on the way forward for the Eastern region after the 1966/1967 pogrom. 

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According to him the late Niger Delta activist, Maj. Isaac Adaka Boro confirmed that Ijaw is Biafra in chapter six of his autobiography entitled: Twelve Day Revolution. “Ignorance can be a terrible disease but it is curable if the sufferer is ready to humble himself to learn and accept the cure for his sickness. Biafra is a Kalabari Ijaw phrase Bia fulo meaning not properly cooked. The Kalabari of Kula named the estuary of Santa Barbara Bia fulo because of the turbulence of the sea at the estuary. The Portuguese like they did to many other names, words and phrases which they could not pronounce properly named the area Biafra. Later the coastline from the estuary of River Nun to the coast of Gabon was named the Bight of Biafra,” former militant leader stated. “The doyen of our struggle Isaac Adaka Boro clearly affirmed that Ijaw is BIiafra in chapter six, page 57 of his autobiography ‘Twelve Day Revolution’. Col. Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, before the declaration of secession, convoked an Eastern Nigerian consultative Assembly to decide on the direction and way forward for the Eastern Region after the 1966/1967 pogrom against Easterners in the north. The assembly debated on many names put forward by delegates and chose Biafra which was put forward by Frank Opigo an Ijaw.”

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There were speculations that some pro-Biafrans might be joining forces with militants from the Niger Delta, southern Nigeria. Pro-Biafrans call for the independence of the territories forcibly annexed to Nigeria during the British colonisation, which ended in 1960. There is a spate a protest since the arrest of Nnamdi Kanu, leader of IPOB and director of Radio Biafra, in Lagos in October 2015.