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Report on Fieldwork in Nigeria

01.11.2008 - 31.01.2009

by Godwin Onuoha

Interviews

My entire stay in Nigeria lasted for three months. While in Nigeria I visited the East on two occasions as part of my research process. The experience in the East was crucial due to the fact that it is the home of the Igbo ethnic group in Nigeria and the home of the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), a group that emerged in the late 1990s to agitate for the secession of the Igbo ethnic group from the main federation, into a different political and administrative arrangement. As such, I had to embark on interviews across the region to get a feedback on the nature and extent of the struggle for ‘Igbo emancipation' from Nigeria. This involved the interviewing the local people, both in the urban and rural areas across the region, and an interview with a traditional ruler in the region. My observations were mostly in Owerri, Umuahia and Onitsha. While the first two cities are administrative capitals, the third serves as the commercial nerve centre of the entire Eastern region.

My next sets of interviews were carried out in Lagos. The reason is that Lagos remains the commercial nerve centre of the country and serves as a base for most Igbo people who control the commercial activities in the country. Secondly, Lagos is also an area where most MASSOB activists who engage in trading, transportation and other menial jobs reside. Hence, it is an area with one of the strongest MASSOB following outside the Eastern region of Nigeria. During my work in Lagos, I visited the MASSOB Headquarters in Lagos, and attended the meeting of the movement on two occasions. The aim was to monitor and observe the proceedings, deliberations and organisation of the movement. As an external observer I noticed a heightened state of security within and around the premises. This is not unconnected to the incessant clashes between the movement and the State Security Service (SSS) in Nigeria, and the position of the Nigerian government that sees the movement as illegal. My admission into the premises on both occasions was only approved after a proper search had been conducted on me and it was duly believed that I was not linked to the security services. These visits provided the opportunity to interview the leadership of the movement. Since the leader of the movement Chief Ralph Uwazuruike was at the time outside the country, I had the opportunity to interview the MASSOB Representative, Western Nigeria (Benjamin Onuegbu), three Area Administrators of the movement (Mr. Morris Ogwu, Mr. Pius Maduagwu and Mr. Emmanuel Onyeme). The aim was to establish the purpose of the struggle, the demands of the movement, modalities adopted, how it has been executed and its impact so far.

Other interviews conducted in Lagos involved the leadership of ‘Aka Ikenga'. This is a group comprising young thriving Igbo professionals who think there are other ways to address the Igbo marginalisation in Nigeria. For them, although, they share the perception of Igbo marginalisation they are opposed to MASSOB as to the strategies, ideas and modalities to redress the situation. In Lagos, I also got a cross-section of Igbo views and gauged the extent of support among ordinary Igbo for the self-determination efforts of MASSOB. In most cases these were mixed.

Collection of Archival Materials

Due to the necessity of establishing the origin and incorporation of the Igbo ethnic group into Nigeria, I had to rely on archival sources and rare books to establish the pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial history of the Igbo. I did could not visit the three archives across the country, but relied on an intermediary and assistant for this purpose. The intermediary served as my contact in the archives and helped in the provision of photocopies of archival materials on the Nigerian Civil War, photocopies of rare books and photocopies of documents on the declaration of independence in 1967.

Collection of Secondary Sources (Books)

I also sourced books relevant to my research. Some of these were purchased at the Head Office of the movement in Lagos. I had access to books, pamphlets, magazines and other materials published by the leader of the movement and other members of the movement espousing the ideals and ideas of the movement. These in most cases were materials regarded as subversive, illegal and capable of inciting the public, and were not easily available because it is prohibited by the Nigerian government. The Vice-President of ‘Aka Ikenga' also availed me of the opportunity to have access to books on Igbo history, and most importantly, books and publications on the activities of the movement and how the ‘Igbo question' could be addressed.

The collection of newspaper and magazine articles were important because most activities of the movement have not been documented academically. As such, newspapers remain the only outlet that documents the day-to-day activities of the movement and their struggle with the Nigerian authorities. In doing this I engaged the services of an employee of one of the newspaper houses (Mr. Chuks) who provided various newspaper cuttings: articles, editorials and newspaper reports on MASSOB activities since its inception, and particularly, in the last three years.

Summary of Results in the Field

(a) During my fieldwork I realised that the central question of my project is inextricably tied to the ‘Igbo Question' in Nigeria. The ‘Igbo Question' is a term that embraces the marginalisation of the Igbo since the end of the civil war in Nigeria in 1970. This captures the current trends of Igbo nationalism as MASSOB depicts. This may need further elaboration, but informs the reason why it has been included in the research questions.

(b) I have given a thought to restructuring the title of my project to read thus: Challenging the State in Africa: MASSOB and the Crisis of Self-Determination in Nigeria. This is not a radical departure or alteration of the first topic but is intended to leave out the phrase ‘Ethnic Identity Politics'. This is because the entire study of MASSOB in the first instance will inevitably cover issues of ethnicity, nationalism and identity politics.

Outstanding Assignments/Engagements

(a) In view of the nature of my research and the need to have access to key personalities, I have been considering the thought of visiting Nigeria again either in July or August, just for one month or a few weeks. This is because it is very crucial that I interview the leader of MASSOB who is the key figure in the entire movement. Attempts to have access to him failed the last time because of his travels, engagements and commitments, and partly because of security reasons. I have been in contact with his wife through a Nigerian journalist and she has promised to track him down during my next visit to Nigeria.

(b) Closely related to the above, there is also the need to get official views on the activities of the movement. This involves interviews with State Security Personnel, the Nigerian Police and other government agencies. This cannot be collected by newspaper articles alone, but must involve interviews with the respective persons.

(c) Lastly, during my fieldwork I had access to information that the movement has established a Biafran Government in Exile (BGIE) in the United States. This makes the influence of the Diaspora very important and makes it imperative to visit the US and interview the key figures of this government in exile and other Igbo groups linked to MASSOB. This was already stated in my initial proposal to the Graduate School.

The Latest Focus, Research Questions and Hypotheses

The main question this research seeks to address is:

What is the ‘Igbo question' within the context of Nigeria's nation-state project?

The above question captures issues of citizenship, ethnic identity politics and the Igbo quest for self-determination in Nigeria. All these are captured in the ‘Igbo Question' in Nigeria. This is further examined in the five questions below with two hypotheses for each question.

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