Contesting the space: the "new Biafra" and ethno-territorial separatism in South-Eastern Nigeria

Abstract

This article examines the emergence of a neo-Biafran movement, known as, the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) in Nigeria. Drawing on a prior idea of statehood, the advent of MASSOB marks a shift in the tenor of ethnic nationalism by virtue of the fact that the movement entirely rejects a state-led process and demands the creation of an independent state of Biafra. The analysis dissects the change in the tempo of contemporary Igbo nationalism and identifies the need for a major restructuring of the Nigerian state in order to forestall the possibilities of other ethno-nationalist claims becoming uncompromisingly separatist.