By Mudiaga Affe, Andy Asemota, Ben Ogbemudia and David Lawani
President Muhammadu Buhari’s ‘dot in the circle’ remark has continued to ignite diverse views in the minds of many Nigerians, with some Igbo respondents describing the comment as ‘distasteful.’

The President had in an interview with Arise Television penultimate week, described the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB)’s clamouring for secession as a ‘dot in a circle’ that has nowhere to go.

Buhari said, “IPOB is just like a dot in a circle. Even if they want to exit, they will have no access to anywhere. And the way they are spread all over the country, having businesses and properties, I don’t think IPOB knows what they are talking about.

“In any case, we say we’ll talk to them in the language that they understand. We’ll organise the police and the military to pursue them.”

The remark has rejuvenated old wounds as many activists and stakeholders, especially from the South-East, have expressed displeasure over the comment.
For instance, while a former Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Katsina State branch, Chuwkwueme Kalu, described the comment as ‘un-presidential’, the Catholic See of Abuja, John Onaiyekan, sought a better interpretation of it.

Among others who bared their minds on the remark include a human rights activist, Annkio Briggs; former Labour leader, Peter Esele; former Special Assistant to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, Reno Omokri; and a former member of the House of Representatives, Abdul Oroh.

Kalu, who is the Chairman, Human Rights Committee in the state, specifically lashed out at the President, whom he accused of making a very negative comment with regard to the contributions of the Igbo to the national economy.

He said, “It is not about the geographical map, it is also not about population, it is all about contributions to the economy, and it is all about contributions to nation-building.

“If there is any tribe that has contributed and made more sacrifices to nation-building,the Igbo is number one.

“Agreed that nation-building is a complex process, what should be expected from the President are unifying words; words that unify people and energise nation-building; that make everybody feel he or she belongs enough to the country to contribute to its development. In that context, the comment (of Buhari) is un-presidential.”

Onaiyekan said he did not understand what the president meant by the remark.

According to the Bishop, Nigerians are still expecting to know what Mr. President intends to achieve by that statement.

The cleric said, “People have interpreted the issue in different ways. The only thing I will say is that we are still expecting that the President will find a way to explain what he meant very clearly.

“He has taken some steps to bring back Nigeria from the brink. And he truly shows that he is concerned about everyone in Nigeria. Now, that he is talking, he will continue to talk. He will probably be able to also clarify what he meant by the statement because I don’t understand what he meant”.

Also, the Executive Director, Advocacy for Civic Engagement (ACE) Centre, and the ‘We Vote Initiative’, Obinna Osisiogu, accused the President of failing to rise above the horrors of the Nigerian past when he made the comment.

Osisiogu said, “For the president to regard the clamour for self-actualisation as a ‘dot in the circle’ is ill-advised.
“Self-actualisation goes to the root of a person’s identity. If one person is having an identity issue and saying I need to be independent, I am on my own, which is not something that you can invalidate. When you have a whole region of a country saying, in large part, that they want to govern or rule themselves, it’s a very huge issue.

“It is not something that is a dot. It’s something that goes into the unity of the country, and we are in a period in Nigeria when the Nigerian state is being questioned, when there is a need for us to examine the legitimacy of the Nigerian state. There is need for us to re-examine or re-negotiate the social contract we have in Nigeria”.

Speaking further, the human rights activist lamented that for the President to make the statement in the middle of agitation, showed insensitivity to the plights of his people.

He noted, “Whether the President likes it or not, even the secessionists who are agitating for the nation of Biafra are his people. As the President and someone who is in charge, he should show that empathy, understand their concerns, and not invalidate, because invalidating it is only going to propel it forward.”

Osisiogu also dismissed the President’s statement as a product of a neglected history in educating the citizens.

He added, “It is just like our ugly past didn’t happen; we can’t just wish it away. President Biden said recently in America that great nations don’t just wash away their history. So, even when you look at the holocaust in Germany, you will see how they have risen above the horrors of their past. How they constantly use the horrors of their past as a reminder to the next generation of what not to do.

“That has been the problem with Biafra story: The government has not tried or refused to inculcate it in the minds of young Nigerians that Nigeria-Biafra War is part of their history. The horrors of that civil war are not there to shame us as a country. They are there as a reminder for both sides of the divide.”

Briggs said that it was wrong for the President to refer to a people that have an identity as ‘a dot in the circle’.

“It doesn’t matter if the Igbo, Ijaw, or the Itsekiri are only 10 people or 100,000 people. You don’t refer to them as a dot in the circle.That already shows very clearly the mindset of the person of President Buhari.

“First of all, I don’t even recall any access or non-access to the sea during the onslaught of the Civil War.
“It was the Federal Government that came through the sea and the creeks. There are millions of elders and there are millions of youths in the Niger Delta, and there are ethnic nationalities in the Niger Delta that make up the South-South.”

But Omokri was more caustic in his reaction. In a tweet, he noted that President Muhammadu Buhari might have called the Igbo ‘a dot in a circle’, “but he should note that if ants are organised properly, they can kill an elephant.’’

A group, De facto Customary Government of Biafra, led by Asari Dokubo, in a statement by the Head of Information and Communication, Uche Mefor, said the president’s statement clearly demonstrated his alleged intent for a move against Ndigbo.
Mefor said, “President Buhari’s statement that the Igbo (whom he referred to as Indigenous Peoples of Biafra are ‘a dot in the circle’ is unfortunate manifestation of ethnic cleansing of the Igbo Biafrans.”

He alleged that the ongoing militarisation of the entire Igboland and the launch of operation restore peace in both South-South and South-East was a recipe for a commencement of crimes against humanity which he alleged could not be completed between 1967 and 1970.

“This is also reminiscent of the description by Leon Mugesera of the Tutsis in Rwanda as ‘cockroaches’ that must be exterminated in the build up to the horrific genocide in that country in 1994.

“This existential threat is not only for the Igbo in South East but everybody in the South-South

“That is why it is not going to be taken for granted. Hence, self-preservation which is the greatest unconscious and innate human response to danger remains the safest fallback for the population of both the South-East and South-South.” Mefor, therefore, called for the collaboration of the South-South and South-East against the threat by the president.

“They must think beyond 2023 Let us make that sacrifice and make sure South-East and South-South are protected and insulated from the invaders,” he said.
A former Commissioner for Transport in Edo State, Hon. Orobosa Omo-Ojo, said whichever way the Igbo view it, the expression reflects the important but marginal role they occupy in the polity.

Omo-Ojo said, “The ‘dot’ is a special character used to match anyone’s character in writing. It can also indicate the end of a sentence, while in Mathematics, the decimal point (.) is used to separate the whole part of a number from the fractional part.

“Whichever way, the dot is a connector and without it, the rest parts become incomplete. But the challenge facing the Igbo is their wavering political ideology, their uncertainty of what they want from the Nigerian state. “The disunity among them, their failure to use their technological advantage to create a nerve-centre that will make their homeland the organised economic centre of Nigeria, just as the Hausa-Fulani have done with onions, tomatoes, and others.

“To me, President Buhari’s expression is his observation, and this should be a challenge to the Igbo to forge a common peaceful front”.

However, Esele, a former President of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), and Oroh shared the same view that the President referred to IPOB, and not the entire Igbo.

NADECO sends SOS to UN over Buhari’s government

The former TUC helmsman said, “The Igbo cannot generalise. The President was specific in his choice of words. I think the President made his point to those calling for secession, those making the country uncomfortable for other citizens. Seriously, I go with the President’s comments.”

Also, Oroh said, “Buhari’s statement was not derogatory. He tried to let the Igbo know that they are a dot in the circle because they hold businesses and houses all over the country and cannot afford to experience another civil war.

“He was aggrieved with the IPOB that are killing policemen, destroying government institutions. As the leader of the country, he cannot fold his hands.’’

Meanwhile, a former Managing Director of DAAR Communications Plc, Don Pedro Obaseki, in his contribution, noted that the South-South and the South-East were united in the struggle for survival against the existential threat of the Buhari-led administration.

He explained, “The President has become an existential threat to the Nigerian nation and ethnic nationalities that populate the space.

“There are 65 ethnic nationalities as defined by some of our leaders in the entire South-South, and the man comes on public television and says he speaks to two elders, and some youths. It is laughable”.

When contacted by one of our correspondents to speak on the issue, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina, said, “I have absolutely no comment”.