No future for Biafra, says French ambassador

• Ambassador confirms France’s support for war against insurgency.

• Says nobody can support agitation for realization of Biafra and that France Is ready to trade ammunition with Nigeria.

The French government has distanced itself from the ongoing agitation for emergence of Biafra republic.

In an interview with The Guardian, the French Ambassador to Nigeria, Denys Gauer, stated that his home land would in no way work with any group agitating for the succession of its nation from Nigeria, saying France is working with and supporting Nigeria as a country.

Speaking against the background of France’s earlier support for Biafra during Nigeria’s civil war, Gauer pointed out that Nigeria has advanced since the civil war and that France has been collaborating with the country to overcome its problems, particularly the war against insurgency.

According to The Guardian, conversely, on the other side, a leader of the Movement for the Actualization of Sovereign State of Biafra MASSOB, Uchenna Madu claimed that the struggle for Biafra “is real and cannot be stopped by any man created by God”

He also said: “We in MASSOB do not believe what he said because that does not represent the position of France. France is a friend of Biafra and even during the Nigeria/Biafra war, they assisted us so much. In this current agitation for Biafra, France has sympathy for us. We advise our people to disregard what he said. We think that the Nigeria media misinterpreted what the French envoy said.”

But the French emissary further stated that there is no future for Biafra and admonished advocates of separation of Biafra from Nigeria to forget the plan and continue to be part of the country.

He said: “We are working with Nigeria and we are supporting it as the only country. This is absolutely clear and I don’t think there is any kind of future for Biafra. They are part of Nigeria and Nigeria has to remain as the only country.”

He disclosed that France is working with the country in its fight against insurgency, saying the fight against Boko Haram has brought the two countries together, more than before.

The Ambassador described how France helped the former Goodluck Jonathan administration to arrange a regional meeting with neighbouring francophone nations, Chad Republic, Cameroon and republic of Benin, in Paris, in 2014, after which the Multinational Joint Task Force, MJTF was recognized to fight Boko Haram.

“Apart from encouraging neighbouring African countries to cooperate with Nigeria we have also developed a strong bilateral relationship with the Nigerian Armed forces. In May 2015, the Defence Ministers of Nigeria and France signed a cooperation agreement between the two armed forces, which we did not have before.

“Since September last year, we have two French military officers who are liaison officers with the Nigerian Armed Forces to work on daily basis with them in furtherance of the cooperation. We are organising training activities for the Nigerian Armed Forces both in France, Senegal and here in Nigeria.

“I can confirm to you that we are now very close allies to the Nigerian Armed Forces in the fight against Boko Haram,” he added.

He revealed that France is set to sell ammunitions to the Nigerian Armed Forces, saying “We have no restrictions on that, we can sell any kind of equipment to the Nigerian government without any restrictions.”

He also said: “We still have more French companies interested to come to Nigeria.”