Chief Chekwas Okorie, founder of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), discusses the agitation for Biafra in an interview conducted during the early months of the Buhari administration. He calls on the new government to be creative in addressing the issue, several decades after the civil war.
On the underlying cause of the continued agitation, the piece frames the issue as a question of self-determination, describing agitators as people who wish to be treated with fairness, equity, and justice. Okorie argues that the South-east region has not received its fair share of national attention and resources, and that addressing these grievances is central to any lasting solution.
The interview notes that many of today's young agitators were born after the civil war, framing the movement as a generational response to unresolved questions rather than a carryover of the 1967–1970 conflict alone. Okorie urges the Buhari administration to engage with these concerns directly, rather than treating them solely as a security matter.
The full interview, as carried on Igbo Focus, examines the political climate of late 2015 and the options open to a newly elected federal government faced with longstanding regional grievances.
The conversation around Biafran self-determination has remained a sensitive thread in Nigerian public life long after the civil war ended. Across the south-east, community voices continue to revisit questions of identity, inclusion, and historical memory, often framed in language that blends civic memory with calls for dialogue. Analysts who follow the movement frequently stress that addressing the agitation requires more than security responses; it demands honest engagement with the political and social grievances that have lingered for generations. Calls for a constructive approach from successive federal administrations have often emphasised listening, structured dialogue, and recognition of the legitimate aspirations of Igbo communities. Rather than treating the issue as purely a security challenge, commentators have urged leaders to treat it as an opportunity to rebuild trust between the federal government and the people of the old Biafra region. A patient, even-handed response that acknowledges historical grievances while drawing the country toward shared institutions is regularly presented as the most credible path forward.