Sure you can find every argument to counter those who desire Biafra, but something is clear, and that is your lack of basic understanding of what drives the desire for Biafra.

But first, you note as follows - Biafra, not "illusory" republic, but a sovereign nation, in which people like yours truly habited as a citizen. Biafra, not "illusory" republic, but " a great experience" to quote Richard Akinjide, a major Yoruba figure.

Now, what drives Biafra even now, is beyond good or bad road What drives Biafra and every other Nigerian nation tribe that live and thrive on chicanery against each other goes back to the erroneous, rather miscast quote you had in your article thus: "So the Nigerian President and some Briton said that our marriage was a MISTAKE".

No, Francis Obeya, it was not a Nigerian president and some Briton - though one has just so stated - that deemed Nigeria a MISTAKE. It was Sir Ahmadu Bello, then undisputed leader of the north. The truth of Sir. Bello's assertion is evident to this day, even as an authoritave voice has just been added to this evident truth - that of the British Secretary who actually sat in on the arrangement of the fundamentally flawed Marriage of the totally disparate peoples that make this Nigeria.

Further more, shortly after the death of Sir Bello, another northern leader, Yakubu Gowon declared that the basis of (Nigerian) unity does not exist. In the same vein, a young northern fellow, Ibraheem Waziri, continue to remind those like you Obeya, that it is written nowhere in the Koran that Nigeria was made by God.

Even the man who moved the motion for Nigeria's independence, Anthony Enahoro, who himself saw to it the sovereign state of Biafra was terminated, is today talking about self-determination as right that must be inscribed in a Nigerian constitution.

Obeya, Biafra is about self-determination...for Igbo!

Obeya, you come across so much as one that is ignorant of the reasons why Biafra came about in the first place. I dare say that your people, you must come from present day Benue, contributed in no small measure to the evolution of Biafra that now troubles you. If you want to know how that was, you must ask some of your relatives how many Igbo they hunted down and killed in your part of Nigeria when Nigerians all embarked on operation Igbo Kill.

Were you too young then, or are you now stricken with selective amnesia? Or the Igbo experience then that repeats itself yearly matters not to you, since you think every tribe in Nigeria has lost one of its own in the incessant bloodletting for which Nigeria is now known, and as such Nigeria will be broken into tribes, if on this basis only every tribe demands a country.

By this you are arguing the prepondenrance of victims of Nigerian bloodletting dating back to the 50s to present, being Igbo? Are you? Or do you not know? Can one not be fed up being slaughtered even in your home, Obeya, each time there is a some little fracas? Must constant bloodletting be the price the Igbo has to pay to keep your Nigeria one?

Since your response to this must be in the affirmative, judging by your mindset, the Igbo say NO. They have had enough and want out. Now how does this trouble you, except if you cannot kill enough Igbo!

Now, for your information, Biafra must not include any who feels not up to being part of it, and that includes those that you Obeya have interviewed and they said to you, the hell with Biafra. You, Obeya and those that think like you, must have to deal with a phenomenon, Biafra, that is part and parcel of a people, the Igbo. You cannot ban thinking of Biafra; you cannot outlaw thinking and talking of Biafra; you cannot wish it away..Biafra.

Biafra is both a reality and a symbol of freedom for a people that are caged in an entity that has not only contaminated their uniqueness, but is also bent on stifling the ghost out of them. You Obeya can go on and on about how many senate presidents, Obis, who chops money for Igbo roads etc., but those are the contamination that I talk about - if you understand, and they have nothing to do with Biafra.

In any case, to help you cast your sight off Igbo and their desires, there are other groups in Nigeria demanding self-determination. Would you keep your eyes on them and leave the Igbo alone? Have you heard of Oduduwa Republic? They have flags made, anthem recorded. They are also somewhere in the Internet.

Peter Opara, author - Understanding the Nigerian Nation Tribes - Why they Boil.