Chief Obafemi Awolowo
during the Biafra-Nigeria
war orchestrated an old
maxim- All Is Fair In War And
Love - adding the hardy
Awolowo blend – Starvation
is a legitimate weapon of
warfare! What Chief
Awolowo meant was that in
war, no weapon is
considered dangerous. The
title of this article and what
follows immediately have
been chosen to put the
whirling controversy in
proper perspective and
advert the minds of Dr. (Mrs.)
Tokunbo Awolowo-
Dosunmu, Femi Fani Kayode,
Ebenezer Babatope, the
renegade/inconsistent
Awoist, Dr. Fasheun and
other Awolowo apologists,
to the background of the
reference Prof. Chinua
Achebe made to Chief
Awolowo in his new
book: There was a Country:
A Personal History of
Biafra which they found
‘disappointing, nonsensical, a
twist of facts and a murder
of history’. From what she
said, it is likely that Dr. Mrs.
Awolowo-Dosunmu has read
Achebe’s book, while
Babatope was belching fire
out of manifest ignorance
since he said, “Nigerians
should expect detailed,
honest, factual and objective
replies to the Achebe
nonsense after we have
copies of the book in our
hands.” I, also, have not read
Achebe’s new book. I will,
therefore, base my
contribution on what the
Sun and Vanguard
newspapers published.
The Sun of Thursday,
October11, 2012 reported
“. . . Achebe in the new
book There Was a
Country, simply wrote thus:
‘It is my impression that
Awolowo was driven by an
overriding ambition for
power, for himself and for
his Yoruba people. There is,
on the surface at least,
nothing wrong with those
aspirations. However,
Awolowo saw the dominant
Igbos at the time as the
obstacles to those goals, and
when the opportunity arose
with the Nigeria-Biafra war,
his ambition drove him into
a frenzy to go to every length
to achieve his dreams. In the
Biafran case it meant
hatching up a diabolical
policy to reduce the numbers
of his enemies significantly
through starvation –
eliminating over two million
people, mainly members of
future generations.’”
What Achebe did was to
state the factual and
incontrovertible result and
effect of Awolowo’s war
policy on Biafra. Achebe is
known for, as late Prof.
Obiechina would say – not
being apologetic for
speaking the truth. Femi
Fani-Kayode confirmed the
correctness of Achebe’s
statement. His anger is that
Achebe should have reserved
his statement because a
revered Yoruba idol was
involved. Though as an
undergraduate at Ibadan
University during the Action
Group/Akintola crisis, I
supported Awolowo, Dauda
Adegbenro and the Action
Group against Akintola, I will
not heap blame at the
doorstep of Akintola for
what he did not do. I say this
because it seems that if
Achebe had indicted another
or lesser Yoruba figure for
the same offence, hell’s fury
might not have been let
loose. Daily Vanguard
reported Babatope again “….
this is not the first time that
Achebe will publish scathing
attacks on Papa Awo. He did
it in his book written about
30 years ago titled ‘The
Trouble with Nigeria’”. It may
not suit Babatope’s story if
he admitted that he knew
that in the said book, Achebe
paralleled Zik and Awolowo
with Awolowo coming out in
flying colours; so what is the
basis of Babatope’s anger?
Below are some snippets of
what Achebe said in that
book:
“The task before the up-and-
coming Yoruba politicians
was by far easier than what
their Igbo counterparts had
to accomplish. Awolowo had
been a steadfast Yoruba
nationalist from the 1940s to
date. He had no record of
betrayal, double-talk or even
indecision in the pursuit of
his goals. But above all he
had in recent years as the
leading civilian member of
the Gowon administration
presided over a monumental
transfer and consolidation of
economic, bureaucratic and
professional power to his
home base.
Chinua Achebe
Chinua Achebe
“This singular achievement
secured for Awolowo for the
first time in his political
career something
approaching 100 per cent
support among the Yoruba …
The Civil War gave Nigeria a
perfect and legitimate excuse
to cast the Igbo in the role of
treasonable felon, a wrecker
of the nation. But thanks to
Gowon’s moderating
influence overt vengeance
was not visited on them
when their Secessionist State
of Biafra was defeated in
January 1970. But there
were hard-liners in Gowon’s
cabinet who wanted their
pound of flesh, the most
powerful amongst them
being Chief Obafemi
Awolowo, Federal
Commissioner for Finance.
Under his guidance, a
banking policy was evolved
which nullified any bank
account, which had been
operated during the Civil
War. This had the immediate
result of pauperizing the
Igbo middle class and
earning a profit of £4 million
for the Federal Government
Treasury. The Indigenization
Decree which followed soon
afterwards completed the
routing of the Igbo from the
commanding heights of the
Nigerian economy, to
everyone’s apparent
satisfaction.”
Of Zik, Achebe said,
“The NPP politicians had a
different kind of problem
because of Azikiwe’s
consistent ambivalence to his
ethnic homeland. The eager
young politician who needed
desperately to latch on to
Azikiwe’s huge but heavily
tarnished prestige had first
to rewrite large chunks of
recent Nigerian history (and
in fact is doing it still) to
explain away Azikiwe’s
abandonment of Igbo people
in their darkest hour … But
the problem with Azikiwe’s
political career in Nigeria or
even his relationship with
the Igbo has never been
how to explain away one
momentary lapse in an
otherwise steady record of
standing fast but rather how
to account for a pretty
consistent history of
abandonments.
“Here was an eloquent
revolutionary who inspired a
whole generation of young
idealistic activists in the Zikist
Movement to the high pitch
of positive action against
colonial rule and then quite
unaccountably, abandoned
them at the prison gate.
“Here was a true nationalist
who championed the noble
cause of ‘One Nigeria’ to the
extent that he contested and
won the first general election
to the Western House of
Assembly. But when Chief
Awolowo ‘stole’ the
Government from him in
broad daylight he
abandoned his principle,
which dictated that he
should stay in the Western
House as Leader of
Opposition and give battle to
Awolowo. Instead he
conceded victory to
reactionary ethnic politics,
fled to the East where he
compounded his betrayal of
principle by precipitating a
major crisis which was
unnecessary, selfish and
severely damaging in its
consequences.
“Professor Eyo Ita an urbane
detribalized humanist
politician who had just
assumed office as Leader of
Government Business in
Enugu saw no reason to
vacate his post for the
fugitive from Ibadan. Neither
did most of his cabinet
which in sheer brilliance
surpassed by far anything
Enugu has seen or is likely to
see in a long time.
“Using his privately-owned
newspapers and political
muscle, Azikiwe maligned
and forced Eyo Ita and his
team out of office and
proceeded to pack his own
cabinet with primary school
teachers, ex-police corporals,
sanitary inspectors and
similar highly motivated
disciples who were unlikely
to dispute anything he said.
So the rule of mediocrity
from which we suffer today
received an
early imprimatur in Eastern
Nigeria of all places!
“And that was not all,
Professor Eyo Ita was an Efik,
and the brutally unfair
treatment offered him in
Enugu did not go
unremarked in Calabar. It
contributed in no small
measure to the suspicion of
the majority Igbo by their
minority neighbors in
Eastern Nigeria, a suspicion
which far less attractive
politicians than Eyo Ita
fanned to red-hot virulence,
and from which the Igbo
have continued to reap
enmity to this day.”
Let me quickly state that I do
not agree with Achebe that
Chief Awolowo ‘stole’ the
government from Azikiwe.
Awolowo simply applied the
practice of carpet-crossing
which was and is still valid
and legal in every
parliamentary democracy.
It was one of Azikiwe’s faults
not to accept advice that did
not support his stand. He
refused to bend so that he
would not break. He had
been earlier advised to allow
Chief Adegoke Adelabu – the
Iron Man of Ibadan, the
thorn in the flesh of the
enemy, to be the leader of
the National Council of
Nigeria and Cameroons
(NCNC) in Western Nigeria
which would have prevented
Awolowo from using ethnic
persuasion to oust him. After
the NCNC had been declared
winner of that election,
Awolowo summoned the
Yoruba Obas and the cream
of Yoruba nation to a
meeting where he told them
that he was not worried that
Action Group (AG) lost the
election. What worried him
was that future Yoruba
generations would condemn
theirs for allowing an
Igboman who did not see
the white man before them
nor received western
education and civilization
before them to rule the
Yorubas in Yorubaland! As
soon as he said this, the
Yoruba Obas ordered the
NCNC Yoruba
parliamentarians to give to
the AG, the required number
of seats through carpet-
crossing that would enable
the AG to form the
government. This was what
happened in Western Nigeria
pure and simple. If Zik had
followed Chairman Mao’s and
Sardauna’s example,
Awolowo could not have
succeeded. Chairman Mao
Tse Tung remained Chairman
of the Chinese Communist
Party while he allowed Cho
en Lai to be the Prime
Minister. Nearer home,
Sardauna similarly allowed
Abubakar Tafawa Balewa to
be the Prime Minister in
Lagos while he stayed in
Kaduna as Premier of
Northern Nigeria and leader
of the Northern Peoples
Congress. So Zik knowingly
and deliberately played into
the hands of Awolowo.
To the best of my
knowledge, Awolowo did
not steal any political good
from anybody.
Achebe said again, “In a
solemn vow made by
Azikiwe in 1937, he pledged,
“that henceforth I shall utilize
my earned income to secure
my enjoyment of a high
standard of living and also
give a helping hand to the
needy.
“Chief Obafemi Awolowo
was more forthright about
his ambitions: ‘I was going
to make myself formidable
intellectually, morally
invulnerable, to make all the
money that is possible for a
man of my brains and brawn
to make in Nigeria.’” And
“Chief Obafemi Awolowo
does have a reputation for
seeking out and using talent,
albeit, to serve a narrow
purpose … ‘The case of
Azikiwe’s men will be
somewhat different because
he has never shown an
excessive desire to surround
himself with talent.’”

“Chief Obafemi Awolowo
was more forthright about
his ambitions: ‘I was going
to make myself formidable
intellectually, morally
invulnerable, to make all the
money that is possible for a
man of my brains and brawn
to make in Nigeria.’” And
“Chief Obafemi Awolowo
does have a reputation for
seeking out and using talent,
albeit, to serve a narrow
purpose … ‘The case of
Azikiwe’s men will be
somewhat different because
he has never shown an
excessive desire to surround
himself with talent.’”
In view of (a) to (c), Achebe
is clearly not an Awolowo
hater. He is only an
uncompromising apostle of
truth. He did not even try to
shield or give Zik, a fellow
Igboman, a soft landing. He
stated the facts as he saw
them. With respect to what
Achebe said about Awolowo
and Zik, how can one justify
Femi Fani Kayode when he
said “The truth is that
Professor Chinua Achebe
owes the Awolowo family
and the Yoruba people a big
apology for his tale of pure
fantasy”. This type of
obvious, incorrect,
extravagant and
exaggerated
characterization, which is
really a failed attempt to
calumnise Achebe, propels
me to visit Femi Fani
Kayode’s antecedents. He is
the son of RFK – Remi Fani
Kayode, who was formerly
known in Nigerian politics as
FANI POWER when he was in
the Nigerian patriotic team,
but became FANI POWDER
when he jumped ship and
joined revisionist Akintola
which explains the negative
and lack-luster inclination of
his son, Femi Fani Kayode.
Happily, the stand of the
above Awolowo apologists
cannot be said to represent
the view of the Yoruba
nation on this issue, thanks
to people like Duro Onabule.
He said in the Daily Sun of
Friday, October 12, 2012, “…
Whatever the bad feelings of
his critics, Achebe’s
reputation, unlike his
contemporaries, is that of a
straightforward man. He has
never been known to be
cowardly, neither does he
cringe before nor collaborate
with local or international
establishment. Achebe’s
character is definite as he
does not charade in the day
only to be settled at night …
Even if Awolowo was not in
the position to effect his
belief in starvation as a
weapon of war, the fact
remains that he (Awolowo)
publicly took that position
and was widely reported in
the media in Nigeria and
abroad … Is Chinua Achebe
fair to Awolowo in his
criticisms? The appropriate
preceding question is: was
Awolowo fair to himself …
when he publicly upheld
starvation as a legitimate
weapon in war, more so
during a civil war in which
the outside world was
disgusted with television
visuals of thousands of
starving and malnourished
innocent children?
… Achebe’s critics on his
latest book, especially
Yoruba, should objectively
read “AWO”, Obafemi
Awolowo’s autobiography, in
which throughout, there is
not a single sentence
complimentary to Nnamdi
Azikiwe, portrayed as an
ethnic jingoist … Yet,
Awolowo’s criticisms of
Azikiwe were never
mischievously interpreted as
hatred for Igbos. Nobody of
Achebe’s status and with
terrible experiences of the
Civil War could be expected
to write his recollections
without justifiable criticism
of starvation as a weapon
throughout the war. His
critics just have to be realistic
rather than being
emotional.”

Furthermore, these Awolowo
tom-boys said that Emeka
Ojukwu was an Awolowo
hater. At Awolowo’s death,
Ojukwu paid him this
outstanding tribute:
AWOLOWO WAS THE BEST
LEADER NIGERIA NEVER HAD.
These Awolowo boys are the
people who have ‘murdered
and twisted history’ not
Chinua Achebe. When a
meeting of southern
politicians was held at Hotel
Presidential, Enugu, during
Obasanjo’s civilian tenure, all
those that have been paying
lip service to the ONE NIGERIA
project, urinated in their
trousers! It is unfortunate
that this meeting ended with
the first outing while the
various umbrellas of
Northern establishment have
continued to meet with the
unwavering regularity of the
periodicity of simple
harmonic motion. The
solution to Nigeria’s many
problems is SOUTHERN
SOLIDARITY with the Igbos
and Yorubas at the
vanguard. Igbo-Yoruba
harmony is an unavoidable
desideratum! This stand will
not hurt the Hausa/Fulani
known as the REAL
NORTHERNERS. Rather it will
enable them stand on their
feet and look fairly and
squarely at their peculiar
problems. Designating them
as educationally
disadvantaged is a misnomer
because that condition has
been the calculated choice of
their rulers – unrepentant
agents of unprogressive
feudalism and Islamism. For
example, Prof Iya Abubakar
made a first class in
mathematics at Ibadan
University. I am not aware
that his record has been
equaled or broken. Also,
Senator Jubril Aminu is the
first medical student at
Ibadan University to make
distinction in Biochemistry,
Anatomy and Physiology in
the second MB examination.
The term ‘real northerner’
was coined by an Hausa/
Fulani red-blooded
undergraduate of Mass
Communications at the
University of Nigeria Nsukka
immediately after the war
during a discussion of
Gowon’s statement that God
has placed power in the
hands of another northerner.
The Mass Communications
student pointed out that
there are REAL NORTHERNERS
and other northerners. As a
proof of this theory, Gowon
was shoved out of power
when the lie test was applied
because he is an OTHER
NORTHERNER. A REAL
NORTHERNER in the person
of General Murtala
Mohammed took over power
SO, SOUL BROTHER, THE
OTHER NORTHERNER BEWARE!
Many Nigerians particularly
Igbos may feel offended
when I proceed to refer to
the Achilles heels of some
titans which have continued
to hurt the Igbos to no end;
but I am spurred on by the
fact that history does not
regard any person or event
as sacrosanct or
untouchable. In the spirit of
Achebe’s reference to
Awolowo, I hereby spotlight
the excruciating cross
imposed on Igbos by ZIK,
IRONSI AND OJUKWU. May be,
by so doing, it will be
brought home to the raging
and rampaging Awoists, that
public discuss on issues of
national interest has no limit
and is no respecter of
persons.
i) Zik, by steadfastly refusing
to ally with Awolowo, since
the carpet-crossing of 1951
in the Western House of
Assembly at Ibadan, to
establish a real federal
government, that would have
brought progress and
prosperity to Nigeria,
conveniently overlooked the
political adage – THERE IS NO
PERMANENT ENEMY IN
POLITICS, ONLY PERMANENT
INTEREST. If he had done so,
the Igbos will not be
permanently condemned to
the receiving end in Nigerian
politics. For example, every
zone has not less than six
states except the SOUTH
EAST.
ii) If Ironsi had embraced the
views expressed by Major
Chukwuma Nzeogwu, he
should have teamed up with
THE GLORIOUS JANUARY BOYS,
in the words of Comrade
Prof. Ikenna Nzimiro, to
implement the important
aspects of Nzeogwu’s
broadcast which would have
produced the desired ONE
NIGERIA. Nzeogwu said in
parts, “My dear countrymen,
no citizen should have
anything to fear, so long as
that citizen is law-abiding
and if that citizen has
religiously obeyed the native
laws of the country and
those set down in every
heart and conscience since
October 1, 1960. Our
enemies are the political
profiteers, the swindlers, the
men in high and low places
that seek bribe and demand
ten per cent; those that seek
to keep the country divided
permanently so that they can
remain in office as ministers
or VIPs at least, the tribalists,
the nepotists, those that
make the country look big
for nothing before
international circles; those
that have corrupted our
society and put the Nigerian
political calendar back by
their words and deeds. Like
good soldiers we are not
promising anything
miraculous or spectacular.
But what we do promise
every law-abiding citizen is
freedom from fear and all
forms of oppression,
freedom from general
inefficiency and freedom to
live and strive in every field
of human endeavour, both
nationally and internationally.
WE PROMISE THAT YOU WILL
NO MORE BE ASHAMED TO SAY
THAT YOU ARE NIGERIANS”.
To be continued.

MAZI CHIKE CHIDOLUE , was
former Officer, 12
Commando Brigade Biafra
Army.