James Foley Murder, The British

And Biafran Story

| by Osita Ebiem writes from NY
! Au"ust #$, #%&', New Yor( ity, Sri )an(a *uardian+ The re,ent inhuman murder of
the Ameri,an -ournalist James Foley by the .slami, terrorists in the .slami, State of
.ra/ and the )e0ant, .S.) !they are also ,alled .S.S, .slami, State of .ra/ and Syria+ is
-ust too re0ulsi0e to all human sensibilities1 .t is alto"ether bestial and ,ondemnable1
Su,h a,ts should ne0er ha0e been ,ontem2lated by real human bein"s anywhere in the
world in the name of whate0er reli"ion or other ,on0i,tions1
Foley3s murder rea,hes a fri"htenin" hei"ht in this mountin" wa0e of horrifi, a,ts of
unbelie0able 0iolen,e by the .slami, fundamentalists1 Of ,ourse that is the ori"inal
intention of those en"a"ed in these beastly a,ts 4 to terrify, terrori5e and fri"hten other
2eo2le into doin" their biddin" and abidin" by the di,tates of their delusions1 But the
world ,ommunity must not be ,owed1 .n this #&st ,entury world the 2eo2le must find a
way to balan,e faith and reason1
This sin"le murder meets all the a,,e2ted definition of the odious and internationally
2rohibited ,rime of "eno,ide and ,rime a"ainst humanity1 .t is one murder that is too
many and should not be allowed to "o un2unished1 All de,ent human bein"s
e0erywhere should see Foley as their ,olle,ti0e res2onsibility and ma(e sure that all
those in0ol0ed in the murder are 2unished to the fullest e6tent of the law1
One reason why the world ,ommunity should ,olle,ti0ely see( to "et -usti,e in Foley3s
death is for the sa(e of restorin" faith in our ,ommon humanity, in the uni0ersal moral
standards and our belief in the san,tity of human life, no matter whose1 This world
belon"s to all thin"s in it e/ually and we should for "ood reasons a,,e2t to
a,,ommodate ea,h other3s uni/ue differen,es, o2inions and mental7s2iritual
in,linations1 No one has the ri"ht to for,e on others, a"ainst the others3 will, the
2ur2orted will and mandates of their ,on,e2t of the di0ine1
From the s2ee,h a,,ent of Foley3s (iller in the "ory 0ideo it was ,lear that he is British
whi,h ma(es it 2arti,ularly more 2ainful and embarrassin" for the British 2eo2le and
their "o0ernment1
.t is for this reason that the British Forei"n Se,retary 8hili2 9ammond ,alled this
brutal murder: ;an utter betrayal of our ,ountry, our 0alues and e0erythin" the British
2eo2le stand for1<
9ammond "oes further to write that ;.t is horrifyin" to thin( that the 2er2etrator of
this heinous a,t ,ould ha0e been brou"ht u2 in Britain1<
9ammond3s statement ,a2tures the "eneral mood and feelin"s of most 2eo2le around
the world about this a,t of wi,(edness1 .t does not -ust betray and embarrass the
,ountry of Britain: it betrays and embarrasses our ,ommon humanity1 .t is this
betrayal that should ,om2el all 2eo2le e0erywhere to wor( hard in ,on,ert with others
to sto2 this .slami, madness1 And as the world stru""les to deal with this murder it
should not be treated in isolation1 The same embarrassin" .slami, -ihadist murders
ta(in" 2la,e in the Middle East are also "oin" on in many other 2la,es around the
world: on British soil and in Ni"eria1
.n,reasin"ly the world is witnessin" an un,omfortable sur"e in the in0ol0ement of
some British and Ameri,an ,iti5ens in this monstrous "lobal s,our"e of .slami, terror
around the world1 The -ihadists are on a deluded /uest to establish a "lobal .slami,
,ali2hate and belie0e they ,an a,hie0e this by beheadin" the inno,ent, in,ludin"
,hildren and women, and terrori5in" and fri"htenin" e0eryone into submission1
The world ,annot afford to be too /ui,( to for"et the fa,t that the two Ni"erian men
who are also British ,iti5ens: Mi,hael Adebola-o and Mi,hael Adebowale only re,ently
in May, #%&= (illed a ser0in" British soldier )ee >i"by on a street of )ondon in the
broad dayli"ht1
Adebola-o and Adebowale the Ni"erian .slami, terrorists also (illed >i"by in a similar
"ory manner with meat ,lea0er and (nife as Foley3s (iller, but this time the heinous
,rime too( 2la,e on British soil1 And also as Foley3s (iller ,laimed, in the name of the
.slami, -ihad1
Thou"h the in,idents ha22ened in different 2la,es and at different times, yet they are
fundamentally lin(ed with ea,h other1 And for this reason it may be wise to loo( at
them in a sort of holisti, li"ht with the 0iew of de0isin" ,om2rehensi0e solutions that
are radi,ally different from what are obtainable ri"ht now1
urrently, it seems that the two solutions?that?fi6?all for most of the 2oli,y ma(ers in
,ountries li(e Britain and the @nited States are "oin" for re"ime ,han"e and
stubbornly fi"htin" to 2reser0e the old unwor(able so,ial and national boundary ma2s
in these troubled s2ots li(e in the Biafra and Bo(o 9aram of Ni"eria and the .S.),
Aurds and Ya5idis of .ra/1
For se0eral de,ades now these two ;solutions< seem to be the a,es or trum2 ,ards
bein" tossed around by the 2oliti,al "ladiators in these 2owerful ,ountries but they
seem to ha0e sto22ed bein" effe,ti0e in sol0in" the ,rises in these hot s2ots around the
world1 And it is this seemin"ly insensiti0ity on the side of the de,ision ma(ers in these
,ountries that 2robably worry and embarrass more some of the ,lose wat,hers of these
outdated 2oliti,al maneu0erin"s1 .t is this worry that is ,on0in,in" the obser0ers the
more in their o2inion that there is now need for some radi,ally different a22roa,h to
this 2roblem1
This radi,ally different a22roa,h as re,ommended by the ,lose analysts of the e0ents is
the redrawin" of the ma2s of these troubled 2la,es1
.f we are see(in" for real solution to this 2roblem then we must be willin" to try
different a22roa,hes1 >edrawin" of the ma2 of Ni"eria alon" the old Biafran lines and
more, and the Aurdish and Ya5idish lines in .ra/ will be the real and lastin" solution to
the -ihadist s,our"e of Bo(o 9aram and .S.)1
Bo(o 9aram and all its attendant 2roblems of today would ha0e been a0oided if
Britain of 9arold Bilson had been forward loo(in" in its 2oli,ies and allowed Biafra to
se2arate from Ni"eria when it was for,ed out by the same .slami, -ihad in the nineteen
si6ties1 The same ar"ument ,an be used about the Aurds, the Ya5idis and .S.) in .ra/1
Biafra of &CDE to &CE% stands for Self Fetermination, .nde2enden,e and Multi?state
Solution1 Biafra offered the solution that ,an still be a22lied to sol0e Bo(o 9aram of
Ni"eria, to the Aurds and Ya5idis in .ra/, .0ory oast ,risis, and South of ameroun
a"itation and in a few other 2la,es1
The rema22in" of these 2la,es will redu,e the unne,essary so,ial, ,ultural, reli"ious
and 2oliti,al fri,tions in these insensiti0e?border?indu,ed ,onfli,t flash2oints1
The nineteen si6ties Biafran solution of self?determination, inde2enden,e and multi?
state solution for 2eo2les with similarities of as2irations and world 0iews to stay
se2arate from those who are radi,ally o22osed to their 0iews and 0alues ,ontinues to
e,ho down the years and "enerations1 And we ,an only ,ontinue to i"nore it to our
,olle,ti0e human 2ain su,h as witnessed in Foley and >i"by1
Biafrans were murdered in the same sordid way that James Foley and )ee >i"by were
murdered and for the same reason1 Only that in the ,ase of Biafrans they were (illed in
multi2le thousands and later in millions by the same .slami, fundamentalists1 The
other ma-or differen,e in the Biafran ,ase is that some British 2oliti,ians and the
British "o0ernment of 8rime Minister 9arold Bilson su22orted and fou"ht alon"side
the .slami, terrorists of the Ni"erian state to further humiliate and ,om2letely destroy
the already traumati5ed and 0i,timi5ed Biafrans1 But this time Britain must not re2eat
the same mista(e of Biafra1
Biafrans fou"ht a war of Self Fetermination and inde2enden,e: to free themsel0es and
land on,e and for all from the o22ressi0e .slami, state of a united Ni"eria1 But the
Britain of 9arold Bilson would rather side with the .slami, state of Ni"eria to defeat
the demo,rati, state of Biafra1 Today, after nearly fifty years, that British de,ision of
the si6ties is dire,tly res2onsible in birthin" the deadly and monstrous .slami, "rou2,
Bo(o 9aram of Ni"eria and ,ontributed substantially in sowin" the seed that ,aused
the murders of Foley and >i"by1
The "eno,ide in Biafra would not ha0e ha22ened if Britain had de,ided differently in
Biafra and in the same 0ein the world must be s2ared anymore horrors of Foley and
>i"by1 )et the British and the @S "o0ernments ,ons,iously ,hoose to re,o"ni5e the
dan"ers of .slami, e6tremism and de,ide to ta(e a,tions that are radi,ally different
from the ,urrent ones bein" a22lied1
Bhat it all ,omes down to is that to defeat this s,our"e the ,olle,ti0e will of the world
,ommunity must be stren"thened throu"h the a0oidan,e of doubles2ea( and 2oliti,al
,orre,tness1 The leaders in the world ,ommunity must ,hoose to ta,(le these troubled
s2ots one at a time and with the resol0e to a22lyin" real and lastin" solutions to ea,h
and e0ery one of them1
.n Ni"eria 2arti,ularly, to defeat the Bo(o 9aram -ihadists the 2ermanent solution is
to di0ide the ,ountry alon" the e6istin" ethni,7reli"ious lines and this will wea(en the
.slamists there and initiate the 2ro,ess of establishin" a lastin" 2ea,e, so,ial se,urity
and eliminatin" the seemin"ly endemi, 2oliti,al ,orru2tion, instability and 2o0erty1
Osita Ebiem is an ad0o,ate for the di0ision of Ni"eria and the author of the boo(
;Ni"eria, Biafra and Bo(o 9aramG Endin" the *eno,ides throu"h Multistate Solution1<
8osted by Tha0am