The Confederate States of AlaIgbo (Igbo Province of Nigeria) is a book written by Alex O. Bells, who happens to be the founder and Premier of the Igbo Province of Nigeria, also known as the Confederate States of AlaIgbo. In the book, Alex O. Bells gave a detailed overview of the struggle for a unified Igbo State under a Confederate Nigeria where Igboland itself would be a confederation of Igbo-speaking communities.
The book was written to enlist the motives behind the Igbo Province of Nigeria also the Confederate States of AlaIgbo (CSA); the argument is for Nigeria to practice a unique system of government of a unitary confederation. At the same time, understanding that the unitary system of Nigeria has its pros and bearing in mind that a country as diverse as Nigeria needs a stronger center given conflicting interests, the self-determination of indigenous people shouldn’t also be overlooked.
The current structure of Nigeria doesn’t need to change for a confederate arrangement to materialize; The Unitary system can exist alongside a national/tribal confederation with more alignment towards traditional African values.
Nigeria wouldn’t be the only country to alter the status quo so as to accommodate; China practices one country two system government where Hongkong has some level of autonomy, also in the United Kingdom while the British/UK Central Government is in charge of several crucial aspects, the individual Kingdoms have some level of Autonomy as such Scotland and other constituent Kingdoms of UK enjoys enormous autonomy while sharing a central government which operates the Military and other crucial central structures.
In the book, Alex O. Bells went further to define the map of the Igbo province of Nigeria, also The Confederate States of AlaIgbo and then the people therein; he also stated the readiness of the Igbo nation for any eventuality while stressing a desire for a continued stay in the Federal Republic of Nigeria however with over 300 nations currently in the commonwealth of Nigeria, the Igbo nation can not single-handedly decide for all, and in the events that the others wish for a dissolution of the Nigerian state, the Igbo nation is prepared for such reality.
The Igbo nation is not ready to accept troublemakers and rebellion of any sort as the Federal Republic of Nigeria would be defended against any form of revolt or rebellion; this, however, does not intend to jeopardize the right of the indigenous population to pursue self-determination or even opt to leave the union however this too should be pursued through due process by first sending representatives who represent such people’s ideologies, or through the accredited traditional leadership of such peoples or their elected representatives in the government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
By law, the representatives should be the mouthpiece of the people. By African tradition, the ruler or leader of the people can also have an impact on whether they stay or leave any union. Any other approach, especially through violence, would be treated as rebellion. There would always be passionate Igbos ready to serve the Federal Republic of Nigeria in full capacity without holding anything back until the union is either legitimately dissolved or salvaged.
The book entails a lot about the road map for a unified Igboland under The Confederate States of AlaIgbo within the Federal Republic of Nigeria on the pedestrian of the semblance of a unique Unitary Confederation; this approach was also envisaged by Zik, Kaduna Nzeogwu, Emeka Ojukwu and Aguiyi Ironsi, the Confederate States of AlaIgbo under a Unitary Nigeria is the original Igbo Master Plan and as such, MUST be pursued vigorously.
Emeka Ojukwu’s Argument at the Aburi accord in Ghana is for devolution under a unitary system where the regions shall have autonomy under a joint central military government.
In Kaduna Nzeogwu’s last interview, he said, if Nigeria can’t have the best, we can start with the second-best, and when asked what the second-best was, he said “Confederation”, today we can have both the best and the second Best.
In a 1949 public speech in Aba, Nnamdi Azikiwe suggested a Confederate States of AlaIgbo where he said that an Igbo state could exist within Nigeria and likened the situation to five fingers in one hand, each as separate as anything can be.
Also, we must not forget that Aguiyi Ironsi was assassinated in Ibadan while touring the country to elaborate on the new system of Government which could have run based on unitary devolution; unfortunately, most of these events were ahead of their time.
In line with Zik, Kaduna Nzeogwu, Aguiyi Ironsi and Emeka Ojukwu, these four men who were among the few people who at one time in their life shaped Igbo destiny, I believe that Regional Government is not the proper type of Government for Nigeria as it kills nationalities, you call us the Eastern Region, whereas we are Igbos and such Eastern Region does not include all of Igbo land, the Anioma subgroup of Igbos was carved into the West and later the Midwest, Igboland is bigger than Midwest, so I don’t see why we should be trapped under a regional expression with a generic nomenclature to take away our identity, if we can be Eastern Region why can’t we be Igbo Region and indeed why can’t we be Igbo province of Nigeria? or the Confederate States of AlaIgbo.
I believe in stronger center as did several other Igbo leaders, you might argue that the Igbos wanted to seize power at the center but I personally believe a stronger center is more stable thereby limiting military and other forms of confrontational regional adventurism, despite allegations that Ironsi, Zik, Kaduna Nzeogwu and Ojukwu was in plot to enthrone unitary government and hijack the center, I strongly believe that the military at that time couldn’t have sustained a regional government as the military is unitary in nature, also Zik had always been a pan Nigerian-ist and at some point preached pan Africanism, the whole accusations are in the past now and there had been different regime lead by individuals from different parts of the country which never attempted to change the system that the Igbos enthroned and took the bullets for, so Igboland would appreciate the continuation of the system of government we have today in Nigeria while pursuing for self determination as Igbo province of Nigeria or the Confederate States of AlaIgbo, I do believe other tribal people will figure it out along the line.
The fact that we chose to fight even seceding from the Federal Republic of Nigeria, where we had labored the most, does not mean that Biafra was the original plan; Biafra was the afterthought and a show of how far we are willing to go to get what is better for the majority, we fought vigorously like warriors in Biafra, and we won, however, we lost men and women with some setbacks, but the victory we fought for is worth it.
Today we have the unitary system, which has proved reliable enough as it had brought stability even in the face of overwhelming offensives against the Nigerian state; It is time to introduce our Igbo state confederation within the commonwealth of Nigeria, the book (The Confederate States of AlaIgbo) is elaborate with a detailed explanation of the way forward for the Igbo nation under Nigeria and options that abound should the regrettable happen, and the nationalities and the people therein Nigeria chose to part ways.
You can also order the Dirt We Swept Under the Carpet, which is another book by Alex O. Bells stressing the Biafran Question and The Aburi Accord; the Dirt We Swept Under The Carpet is Available for purchase here.