bittyend: Don't you guys get tired of this civil war crap?

We need to move on!!

Bitty, this is NOT about the Civil War at ALL. Read the topic again and that is why I put in a clarification.

mai gaskiya: atimes wen i se pepl lyk u coment on ds thread i wondr d level of edu u had.ask ur history teacher 2 tel u wic tribe dorminatd d army b4 d war.wic tribe hs d most wel triand combat oficers b4 d war nd ws evidncd in d batle field.4 those dat care 2 knw abot d faith of banjo.maybe lok 4 pepl dat fougt d war nt ur fada dat ws takng shai at d confort of hs home clingng 2hs radio nd also nt soldges dat re cooks bt d combat soges u wil kmw wat transperd btwn banjo ifeguna nd gen ojukwu

So, what do you say of the topic, as clarified? I don't think personal attacks or technicalities are of any help in unraveling WHY of this topic? It would be nice if you took on the topic as a man and address it squarely!

...and this tribalistic thread made the front page?Seun and Mukina2 should simply come out and tell Igbos that they are not welcomed on nairaland

Madawaki01: Don't know why either,but in d peak of d battle,he was killed by ojukwu for selfish reasons,they said he called his army the liberation instead of the biafran army,does this concern ojukwu?what he wanted was the sovereign state of biafra and banjo was fighting d nigerian army,but he wanted people to say the biafran army conquered the mid west,i think he wanted d whole of nigeria(to b the president)and not only biafra,when he knows dat he didn't hav experienced officers in his army,why didn't he wait for a little time before plunging into a war,maybe he thinks a war is a childs play,he only led his pple into misfortune and igbos are licking that wound till today

atimes wen i se pepl lyk u coment on ds thread i wondr d level of edu u had.ask ur history teacher 2 tel u wic tribe dorminatd d army b4 d war.wic tribe hs d most wel triand combat oficers b4 d war nd ws evidncd in d batle field.4 those dat care 2 knw abot d faith of banjo.maybe lok 4 pepl dat fougt d war nt ur fada dat ws takng shai at d confort of hs home clingng 2hs radio nd also nt soldges dat re cooks bt d combat soges u wil kmw wat transperd btwn banjo ifeguna nd gen ojukwu yes dy are.re u jelousd

Madawaki01: Don't know why either,but in d peak of d battle,he was killed by ojukwu for selfish reasons,they said he called his army the liberation instead of the biafran army,does this concern ojukwu?what he wanted was the sovereign state of biafra and banjo was fighting d nigerian army,but he wanted people to say the biafran army conquered the mid west,i think he wanted d whole of nigeria(to b the president)and not only biafra,when he knows dat he didn't hav experienced officers in his army,why didn't he wait for a little time before plunging into a war,maybe he thinks a war is a childs play,he only led his pple into misfortune and igbos are licking that wound till today

atimes wen i se pepl lyk u coment on ds thread i wondr d level of edu u had.ask ur history teacher 2 tel u wic tribe dorminatd d army b4 d war.wic tribe hs d most wel triand combat oficers b4 d war nd ws evidncd in d batle field.4 those dat care 2 knw abot d faith of banjo.maybe lok 4 pepl dat fougt d war nt ur fada dat ws takng shai at d confort of hs home clingng 2hs radio nd also nt soldges dat re cooks bt d combat soges u wil kmw wat transperd btwn banjo ifeguna nd gen ojukwu yes dy are.re u jelousd

boyendowed: ...and this tribalistic thread made the front page?Seun and Mukina2 should simply come out and tell Igbos that they are not welcomed on nairaland

For goodness sake, stop seeing tribalism in everything, even if it does not favor you or have nothing to say. Now, go back and address the topic with thought and seriousness!

**yawns!!

2mch: Banjo was a fool. Considering the circumstances and how it all played out, he should have known his time was up when they put him as the leader to a suicidal mission and to betray his own people. I would have led them to the SW and abandoned ship at ore. Anyway, he got his reward from Ojukwu for not attacking his own people. Ojukwu the ambitious, juvenile, coward. There was never any evidence he actually fought or led troops. . If the idea was truly to liberate SW why kill Banjo?

monkey don't say what u don't know, late ojukwu was a motivation for d troops in battle field, he was at d war front with d heros that fought that war. so pls shout up.

my dad was among the troop that col banjo led during the war to midwest, so am saying what a living witness told me, col banjo betrayed the biafran soilders, he ordered them not to shoot, the would have captured midwest, but ............. he sabotaged the mission.

So wats the significance of this wheter he led or not.

van bonattel:

Betrayal is in the yoruba blood, ask awo

And what race has ever asked for ibo's support . you expect the yoruba race to put their lifes on the line for a cause they neither agreed to nor believe in abi because why ? . before there can be betrayer there must have been a sort of agreement .. when was the agreement?

Hey Guys,

Lt col Banjo was killed, Ojukwu died and Biafra buried! Y waste ur precious time on this. Pls discuss something like security issues or Negotiating with Cabals or impeachment of GEJ!

Have a wonderful Holiday ahead.

I wonder why yorubas taunts igbos for loosing the war when the evidence is there for all to see that the yorubas are not in any way better than the igbos..yes you fought the war and won,how many heads of state have you produced?how many of your cities are world class,you better wake up and know that Aparo kan o ga ju ikeji afi eyi to ba gun ori ebe!

nextdoor84: I wonder why yorubas taunts igbos for loosing the war when the evidence is there for all to see that the yorubas are not in any way better than the igbos..yes you fought the war and won,how many heads of state have you produced?how many of your cities are world class,you better wake up and know that Aparo kan o ga ju ikeji afi eyi to ba gun ori ebe!

I wonder why the Igbos too called Yorubas cowards next time when you want to contribute to a thread contribute sensibly without taking a side. A kii role apakan ki a fikan sile, a gbo ejo enikan da nko? Agba osika ni won n pe iru won!

We refuse till date to accept that this were young men at their prime as the 60s Nigeria. In America and other western nations it was the pschedelic,Martin Luther was holding sway, Stokely Carmichael, Huey P Newton and Uncle George (Solidad Brothers) were all involved in giving freedom and equality to the black race in America; but in Nigeria young men were defining the status quo. They believed in something and they fought vigorously for it. Today we find liverless young men, able to write beautiful poetry but still unable to change the world around them, they are the twitter and social network heroes just like El Rufai and the rest of the gang.

Banjo believed in something and that which he stood for he died for.

Have we ever bothered to ask ourselves as Nigerians why we keep bringing up the ethnic card? This person is Igbo, this other is Yoruba, Ijaw or Hausa.
As educated and as well travelled as we are; we have been unable to live by that simple rule that is being applied all over the world, that we have been able to get our second passports from whether it being a yankee kpali or a jand one or any other kpali which states that after a certain period of one residing and working in a place; that person can apply to be a citizen.

My question is why cant a Nigerian aspire to be a Lagos, Warri, Benin, Abeokuta, Okene, Kano or Sokoto or Ibadan person as long as that Nigerian has lived or resided in that place for a period of time?

My take in this ethnic issue is that the indigenisation clause or place of origin must be removed from our constitution if we really want to be called Nigerians.

It is laughable to see Yorobbers talk about war they never witnessed, even their so called black scorpions which I heard of for the first time on nairaland were not combat soldiers.I was not alive during the Biafran war but I could easily tell what happened back then from what I witnessed during june 12 and the Diya Coup. Free loaders are now teaming up with their Fulani masters to bring down GEJ administration, continue playing the second fiddle why your masters are preparing to install an Emir in Osun State.I rather listen to the likes of Farouk that the OP and his kinsmen. If they could betray themselves why won't they betray other tribes? The crisis between Ijaw,Urhobos vs Itsekiri was spearheaded by Awolowo.Ooni of Ife and some other Yoruba chiefs went as far as receiving bribe from Abacha, just to rope their sons as coup plotters,this is not hear say, we all witnessed this not too long ago and there is no way anyone can twist the story......Why spend your energy on hear say when you can easily spear head a debate on Sovereign National Conference?How can you convince a Niger Delta man to trust you?

Oh! Ojukwu, the Ikemba 1 of the world, what U saw about 46 yrs ago is what we're seeing now. DIM! GAA NKE OMA.

A great nation with intellectuals, leader of black race and blah blah..

Madawaki01: Don't know why either,but in d peak of d battle,he was killed by ojukwu for selfish reasons,they said he called his army the liberation instead of the biafran army,does this concern ojukwu?what he wanted was the sovereign state of biafra and banjo was fighting d nigerian army,but he wanted people to say the biafran army conquered the mid west,i think he wanted d whole of nigeria(to b the president)and not only biafra,when he knows dat he didn't hav experienced officers in his army,why didn't he wait for a little time before plunging into a war,maybe he thinks a war is a childs play,he only led his pple into misfortune and igbos are licking that wound till today

u don't really know why ojukwu killed him

hollabee01: According to alexander madiabu,who was d Commander in chief of the biafra armed forces major banjo was killed because he was involved in a mutiny attempt and had ties to lagos(like when the biafran forces got to Ore instead of advancing banjo told them to pin down,that gave d nigerian forces time to re-organise and push them back)

Thank u for helping me educate him

British Interests, Nigerian Tragedy

Michael Leapman on cabinet papers that recall the starving children of the Biafran war

BIAFRA was one of the great emotive causes of the late Sixties. The name still conjures up images of emaciated children, close to death, starved as a result of the blockade imposed by the Nigerian Federal Government to defeat the secession of the country's Eastern Region. I was there, and the images do not fade.

Britain, the former coloniser of Nigeria and its main supplier of arms, could not escape involvement. As the outcry over the famine grew, Harold Wilson's government came under attack at home and abroad for providing the weapons that tightened the noose on Biafra.
The war began in 1967. Cabinet papers for that year, just released, show how the decision to continue arming Nigeria was not based on arguments for or against secession, or on the interests of its people, but on backing the likely winner. It is a case study in realpolitik. As one Commonwealth Office briefing document to the prime minister put it: "The sole immediate British interest is to bring the [Nigerian] economy back to a condition in which our substantial trade and investment can be further developed."
The Biafran secession was the culmination of a long period of tribal and regional unrest in Nigeria that had come to the boil with the assassination in January 1966 of Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, the Prime Minister, in a coup led by General Johnson Ironsi. The new military ruler was an Ibo, the dominant tribal group of the Eastern Region. In May that year, thousands of Ibos were massacred in the Northern Region in riots against Ironsi's regime. A further coup in July was led by Maj-Gen Yakubu Gowon. Fearful of renewed massacres, the Ibos of the East sought autonomy under their military governor, Col Odumegwu Ojukwu. He declared the region's independence, as the state of Biafra, in May 1967.

As more recent conflicts in Eastern Europe show, it is hard to judge the rights and wrongs of other people's ethnic fears and hatreds. In any case, the cabinet papers make clear that right and wrong were the last considerations on anyone's mind. Oil, trade and the protection of British citizens dominated the decision-making process. If today's Foreign Secretary, Robin Cook, really wants to introduce an ethical basis for policy-making, he should read the file to see how radically he needs to change the diplomatic mindset.
The bulk of Nigeria's foreign earnings derived from oil and most of it was in the Eastern Region. Shell-BP, then partly owned by the British government, was the largest producer. After secession, Col Ojukwu demanded that royalties for oil production should be paid to Biafra and not to the Federal Government. Shell agreed to make a "token payment" of £250,000. The Commonwealth Office at first proposed to support this decision on the grounds that Col Ojukwu was in de facto control of the oilfields. Harold Wilson bridled at that: "Dangerous argument - cf Rhodesia" he scrawled in the margin of the policy paper. Rhodesia unilaterally declared independence in 1965 but Britain was urging that nobody should recognise it, despite the regime's de facto control.

Gen Gowon imposed a blockade on Biafra, which meant that no oil could be exported anyway. This was a blow for the British economy, already floundering in the crisis that led to devaluation later in the year. Now the prime object of Whitehall was to get the blockade lifted. An important lever fell into British hands when Gen Gowon asked for more arms: 12 jet fighter-bombers, six fast patrol boats, 24 anti-aircraft guns.

George Thomas, Minister of State at the Commonwealth Office, was sent to Lagos. The Commonwealth Office note to Wilson about the mission was explicit: "If Gowon is helpful on oil, Mr Thomas will offer a sale of anti-aircraft guns.'' The plan went awry. Gen Gowon would not lift the blockade but he got his guns anyway; planes and boats were refused, but the Nigerians were permitted to take delivery of two previously ordered patrol boats - which ironically helped enforce the ban on Shell-BP's oil shipments. In August the Biafrans scored a military success (their only one, as it turned out) when they marched into the Mid-West Region and occupied Benin. This provoked a rethink in Whitehall. The Commonwealth Office set out five choices. A and B involved maintaining or increasing arms to Nigeria, C was to stop all supplies, D to promote a peace initiative and E a combination of the last two. Thomas wrote to Wilson, holidaying in the Scillies, recommending Option E. That view might have prevailed had not Sir David Hunt, British ambassador in Lagos and a keen advocate of the Federal cause, flown to Britain and persuaded the government to continue providing arms.

Soon the war turned in Gowon's favour and in November the flexible Thomas wrote to Wilson again, proposing this time that arms supplies be stepped up: "It seems to me that British interests would now be served by a quick Federal victory."
That victory came, but not quickly.During 1967 the words "famine" or "hunger" appeared nowhere in the hundreds of official documents devoted to the conflict. They would not emerge until 1968, when I and other reporters went to Biafra and witnessed the scenes for ourselves. By then the policy was too set to be altered. Too many reputations depended on the war's outcome. The conflict went on for another two years. Millions of children starved. How many would still be alive if that one slim chance had been grabbed back in August 1967 and Option E, E for ethical, had prevailed?

Source: http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/~nwosu/biaf2.html

2mch: Banjo was a fool. Considering the circumstances and how it all played out, he should have known his time was up when they put him as the leader to a suicidal mission and to betray his own people. I would have led them to the SW and abandoned ship at ore. Anyway, he got his reward from Ojukwu for not attacking his own people. Ojukwu the ambitious, juvenile, coward. There was never any evidence he actually fought or led troops. . If the idea was truly to liberate SW why kill Banjo?

A coward doesn't have the morale to declare a war and fight it for over 2yrs or you think that war is that petty robbery you do on Lagos highways

Ricky_Ross:

I think this is the closest answer you can get. And just for the records, it is Igbo and no ibo. I am aware that you know what you are doing, but dont start a fight you cannot finish. You can get the correct answer from yorobah brothers like OBJ

. YORUBA and not Yorobah, Ibo boy

Madawaki01: Don't know why either,but in d peak of d battle,he was killed by ojukwu for selfish reasons,they said he called his army the liberation instead of the biafran army,does this concern ojukwu?what he wanted was the sovereign state of biafra and banjo was fighting d nigerian army,but he wanted people to say the biafran army conquered the mid west,i think he wanted d whole of nigeria(to b the president)and not only biafra,when he knows dat he didn't hav experienced officers in his army,why didn't he wait for a little time before plunging into a war,maybe he thinks a war is a childs play,he only led his pple into misfortune and igbos are licking that wound till today

The man wickedly killed a lot of them including some of the Igbo officers who carried out the first coup Ifejuana and co for selfish reasons

Mr OP.

Since you wanted to know if the Yoruba's betrayed us then take a look at the screen shot below. You must be aware that we have always say that the south south and south west betrayed us now read up.



I have encircled the area for you. When the Nigeria army recruited yoruba's. itesikiri, edos and a lot of others. Thank God all of una don the reap the fruit of One Nigeria

ojukwu throughout his life time suffered form inferiority complex n greed.he not oly executed banjo but ifeanjuna his igbo brother all for selfish reasons.kaduna ezeogwu was never comfortable with thw war cos he saw through ojukwu's treachery.

People, how do you pass an exam if you have not read the question, provided with an hint? Where is your philosophical analysis of history? The goal here is not to regurgitate history which a lot of people have read and can google, put some goddamned analysis on it! Now, go back and re-read the question! Thanks guys, you're awesome!

WHAT IF MAJOR KADUNA NZEOGWU NEVER KILLED SARDAUNA OF SOKOTO,SIR AHMEDU BELLO,TAFAWA BALWA AND TOP MILLITARY OFFICERS FROM THE NORTH AND WEST?WHAT IF OJUKWU RESULTED TO DIALOGUE AND NEGOCITIONS AND NEVER DECLARED A SOVERIGN STATE OF BIAFRA?WHAT IF THE IGBO'S WERE NOT BEEN MARGINALISED AS THEY CLAIMED THEY WERE?WHAT IF AWOLOWO NEVER BETRAYED THE IGBOS AS THEY CLAIMED HE DID?WHAT WILL BECOME OUR STAND IN AFRICA AND THE WORLD AT LARGE?WOT IF WE GO THROUGH A DEVISION WHAT WILL BECOME OF US?HAUSA IGBO AND YORUBA UNITED WE STAND AND DEVIDED WE FALL AND BECOME A SUBJECT OF MORCKERY IN THE EYEZ OF THE WORLD AND OUR ENEMIES.LONG LIVE NAIJA.THE HARD WORK AND LEGACY BY OUR FOUNDING FATHERS SHALL NEVER AND WILL NEVER GO IN VAIN.

elNegro: We refuse till date to accept that this were young men at their prime as the 60s Nigeria. In America and other western nations it was the pschedelic,Martin Luther was holding sway, Stokely Carmichael, Huey P Newton and Uncle George (Solidad Brothers) were all involved in giving freedom and equality to the black race in America; but in Nigeria young men were defining the status quo. They believed in something and they fought vigorously for it. Today we find liverless young men, able to write beautiful poetry but still unable to change the world around them, they are the twitter and social network heroes just like El Rufai and the rest of the gang.

Banjo believed in something and that which he stood for he died for.

Have we ever bothered to ask ourselves as Nigerians why we keep bringing up the ethnic card? This person is Igbo, this other is Yoruba, Ijaw or Hausa.
As educated and as well travelled as we are; we have been unable to live by that simple rule that is being applied all over the world, that we have been able to get our second passports from whether it being a yankee kpali or a jand one or any other kpali which states that after a certain period of one residing and working in a place; that person can apply to be a citizen.

My question is why cant a Nigerian aspire to be a Lagos, Warri, Benin, Abeokuta, Okene, Kano or Sokoto or Ibadan person as long as that Nigerian has lived or resided in that place for a period of time?

My take in this ethnic issue is that the indigenisation clause or place of origin must be removed from our constitution if we really want to be called Nigerians.

True talk. I've prayed for aeons that young people will come to this realisation that everything anyone might call an accomplishment today is useless but all we seem to be concerned with re-living an atrocious past and building a condemnable future.

My take on these e-bashing is that ibos generally are fond of irritating and insulting people first and they act as if you are attacking them unfairly if you respond.
I know for certain that the reason most yorubas here are quick to jump on a thread that portrays ibos in bad light is to get back at them for their initial insults.
Its the way you people are. Some said an hausa man called yorubas cowards in many words and instead of the yorubas to address him , they were facing the ibos, I really wonder at this kind of logic. The ibos jumped on the thread and started calling yorubas cowards and insulting them that hausas have conquered them, when the yorubas responded to those ibos insulting them, they would say why didn't you face the hausa man that called you a coward, why face ibo and bring them into it, selectively forgetting that they started the insults.
Just yesterday when two teenagers were killed in enugu, the yorubas had to retaliate because when those fulanis also killed some people in lagos, instead of the ibos to say evil is evil, they quickly turned it into yorubas are cowards and it can't happen in their land. Small wonder yorubas too retaliated yesterday.
If you know you can't take insults, stop dishing it out to others first.
Just as you people called hausas cowards and were taunting them in their land during 1967 , so you are still continuing in yorubaland. Just as your taunts provoked and push the northerners to slaughter your people back then, similar would still happen in southwest one sure day and that would silence you forever like the hausas. Only you will start crying pogrom forgetting you pushed the people to their endurance limit.

how i wish u people would live and let live. everybody dat involved in d war knew it was a mistake n i believe still regretting it today. let me tell you dis, you will never be free until u see everyone as citizen of d world and dose under d same sun as u as ur hood. tribalism n religion bigotism kill souls. im much more suprised by so called yoruba on dis thread because i know yoruba is beyond tribalism. its game was played decades ago for selfish game by the opportuned. pls, let build our nation together.