•FG insists radio is jammed •Online radio still on
Written by:
Jude Ossai -Enugu
Nobody is willing to give the exact date that Radio Biafra began its transmission as the operators of the broadcast station have remained masked even by security operatives. But historically, the first Radio Biafra owned by the defunct Biafra Republic held sway in Igboland all through the 30 months it existed, championing the cause of the Igbo secessionists.
Findings by Nigerian Tribune revealed that the present day Radio Biafra is more or less an offshoot of the Radio Biafra of old that had famous presenters like Okoko Idem and Paddy Eke to mention but a few.
In Enugu, and indeed other parts of Igboland, many people have remained glued to Radio Biafra whose content the country’s broadcasting regulatory body, National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) has described as seditious and divisive, contrary to the provisions of the Nigeria Broadcasting Code and the law.
Some Enugu residents interviewed, who preferred to remain anonymous, said that they felt unfulfilled each day until they have listened to Radio Biafra, stressing that notwithstanding the style of its presentation, they loved the radio because it was saying the truth.
“I mean 90 per cent of the information is the truth about Nigeria and our so-called leaders. Look at the relocation of Boko Haram inmates for instance. It was Radio Biafra that first broke the news that the prisoners had been transferred to Ekwulobia Prison,” one resident said.
Mazi Okechukwu, an Igbo trader who lives in Port Harcourt, said that the operators of Radio Biafra were not transmitting any seditious or divisive content, adding that “if the country provides for every Nigerian, do you think all these will crop up?
“I think it is a wakeup call for Nigerian leaders to make amends. For instance, the exact month my father’s retirement benefit was paid to him into Societe General Bank was the month they folded up. All efforts to get the money out were a waste.
My father died of heart attack because of this. So, if I come out on air one day to mention this, I know they will look for my head to crush,” he added.
“We Biafrans opted for self-determination after a long period of heart-searching and after making desperate efforts to save the Federation of Nigeria from disintegration. More than any other people in Nigeria, we contributed human and material resources to the cause of national unity.
“From 1914, when the British amalgamated Northern and Southern Nigeria, we began to leave our homeland in large numbers to settle in several places among the Fulani-Hausa in the North and the Yoruba in the West.
“In those areas, we opened up new avenues of commerce and industry and, at the same time, built new homes and erected places of worship and institutions of learning. By so doing, we came to acquire a real stake in the progress and well-being of all parts of the country.
“We regarded ourselves as citizens of Nigeria to an extent that no other group in the country ever did. What is perhaps unique in the information disseminated by the pirate radio is that it has continued to remind Ndigbo of the alleged oppression they are going through viz a-vis the pogrom planned against them by the Fulani-Hausa of the North in 1966 which forced the survivors to seek refuge in their original homeland called Biafra.”Jubilation as Radio Biafra returned
Consciously, there is everywhere a feeling of common purpose and destiny in Igboland comparable to the anti-colonial movement of the past. As a matter of fact, there was jubilation in Enugu when the outlawed radio station came back on the airwaves last Wednesday. The development is contrary to government’s claim that it had successfully jammed the station’s transmission.
Radio Biafra’s audience cuts across all segments of people in the Coal City; however, the Keke NAPEP operators are the most fanatical listeners to the inflammatory radio programmes.
Investigations revealed that some Keke NAPEP operators in Enugu metropolis woo passengers with the Radio Biafra broadcast as they tell passengers that they would be privileged to listen to the station while in their tricycles.
The Federal Ministry of Information had, on Tuesday, revealed that signals coming from the controversial Radio Biafra have been successfully jammed by the NBC. Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Dr Shade Yemi-Esan, who disclosed this to State House correspondents in Abuja after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari, said: “We have a report that right now, the signals from Radio Biafra have been jammed successfully by the NBC.
“The commission is also working with security agencies to get those that are behind that radio because it is an illegal radio. It is not licensed by anybody to be on the airwaves in Nigeria,” she stated.
But the man believed to be behind the Radio, Nnamdi Kanu, in a swift reaction, faulted NBC’s claim, insisting that the radio station was still transmitting. Some of the respondents in Enugu described the action of NBC as a futile exercise, querying why the regulatory body (NBC) was against the legality of the radio station.
“Didn’t the government give BBC Hausa service license before their transmission got to the people in Nigeria? Do you not know its airwave transmission can reach anywhere on earth provided air is blowing,” he said.
“Why is the Federal Government waging war against the Radio Biafra operators?” Ikenna Eyimmo asked.
“What have they done to stop Boko Haram? Radio Biafra is projecting Biafran interest. In their broadcast, they put Nigerian government officials on their toes. The station makes the government at all levels to wake up. Each time I listen to Radio Biafra, I will be sad as it reminds me of the injustices done to Ndigbo; the massacre, the killings among others during the war.
“Today things have not changed. Ndigbo are still being persecuted. Look at the recent changes in the nation’s top security network. No Igbo man was found fit to be appointed as a service chief. If Nigeria is one as claimed by the authorities, why is it that in appointment of service chiefs, no Igbo man was worthy to be appointed to any of the positions. So, Radio Biafra is right in what it is broadcasting by calling for an independent state of Biafra.
“Listening to the Radio Biafra broadcast, the Federal Government and Ndigbo leaders should know that the issues that led to the bloody civil war and the wounds created in Igbo land are still fresh. It is high time the authorities resolved the vex issues creating divisions in the country,” he added.
For the Radio Biafra presenter, Kalu, “Radio Biafra is on satellite and online and Nigeria government cannot stop its transmission because it cannot shoot down the satellite in outer space.
“Do you see reason we call you monkeys and baboons? Instead of Buhari to find how he will address issues raised by Radio Biafra, he is busy running around looking how he can subdue the truth which he will never succeed. Biafra must understand that this is not the old world. We are in 21st century things have changed,” Kalu added.
Kalu has been very vocal on issues affecting Easterners of late, calling the country’s political leaders unprintable names. The Biafra Radio has no respect for both foreign and Nigerian leaders using derogatory words to describe them. It had in the past lambasted leaders such as President Buhari, Governors Rochas Okorocha and Dave Umahi of Imo and Ebonyi states, respectively.
For now only time can determine how long the operators of Radio Biafra will keep the station afloat. As it is, the electronic medium is gaining currency throughout Igboland. Little wonder, the NBC and other relevant agencies are working round the clock to jam the radio station permanently.
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