Leez:
lol ok yolobat moslem

lol..ojuku slave..wannabe Jew.. you are a documented slave.

GhanaMustGoo:


Beg.to disagree. Zik was different. Very different. His main.focus was.trully freeing Africa from imperialism. Remember he also fought for.Ghana But I also think it was because his life was in the West and he spoke all three languages. He didn't want to be suddenly living in a foreign country. That's why he was for one forever-united Nigeria, with no chance of secession of any.part.

Can you tell me about AIB under ZIK?
Can you talk about the allegations of pilfering of monies under AIB under ZIK?
I am Igbo,forget that generation,Zik remains Zik,nothing can be taken away from that,but to tell me that with his clout as a fmr Ceremonial President,his offices were needless in that war,I will dispute that.
Zik and Awo,at least were alive then,but to stay and do nothing for 3years is unacceptable.
They both had the political clout and did nothing.
I am not saying they supported it,but doing nothing was compromise.They were quiet only to return 9years later to contest an election of a war-torn nation.I mean,please.

Not to say they were the best of friends,when Vatsa was to be murdered,the 3 musketeers jettisoned tribe.I mean soyinka,achebe and jp Clarke and went to IBB.
Though,he went ahead to do what he wanted,but they did their best,suffice this to say that Vatsa was not even from their geopolitical zone or tribe.

Will a Mandela fold his hands on a S/African civil war if he were alive?

There are documented evidences that these 3 could have done something better than they did.
The ball is in our court,perhaps let us better history by having the Nigeria we need.
Just my humble opinion.

Ofemannnu:

lol..ojuku slave..wannabe Jew.. you are a documented slave.

first of d name is ojukwu second we don't do gambari worship u dig oh and even israelites have confirmed similarities btw our culture and theirs unlike d tribe of d fallen angel who i'm sure was kicked out for skull mining

Leez:


first of d name is ojukwu
second we don't do gambari worship u dig
oh and even israelites have confirmed similarities btw our culture and theirs
unlike d tribe of d fallen angel who i'm sure was kicked out for skull mining

Ojuku means coward and ojukwu also means coward,so what is the difference,ojuku?
lol..you are a cannibal and a slave unlike Jews.Go and ask Patrick Cole OFR..

Ofemannnu:


lol..you are a cannibal and a slave unlike Jews.Go and ask Patrick Cole OFR..

Zik:natural death
saraduna:Nzeogwu
Awo d Afonja:Rat poison
chai
see d difference
but why must afonjas be cowards

Leez, ofemannnu,

As moderator I am obligated to condemn the hateful, bigoted language u two are using back and fort.

I want to remind you that anything you say about some Yorubas can also be said about some Igbos. And vice versa. The mainstream of the two tribes are just about the same.
They are even all the same physically - all black people.

fergie001:


Honestly,that's the truth,they set the foundations of the hate,my generation has promoted.
Why should I fill religion on my civil service form?
Why should I say I will never marry igbo or Yoruba,etc?
We have not learnt,it hurts me that our institutions are fancy,because we see supposed literates promoting this nonsense.
When politicians frolick with one another,they do not remember tribe or religion.
Once they fall out,they now remind us and the painful part is that "fellow cheap articles" will join them in this rendezvous of craze.

How much shall I pay for my freedom?
Institutions of cohesion like the NOA,NYSC,etc have been bastardised.

As a country,we must return to basics.
The North is not our problem.
We are OUR problem.

Well put. I believe oil was why Nigeria didn't break up in the 60s. Leaders of the July 66 mutiny actually wanted secession of the North. But the British and some Nig leaders were aware of the stupendous wealth underground in the East so that was unthinkable.

fergie001:

Can you tell me about AIB under ZIK?
Can you talk about the allegations of pilfering of monies under AIB under ZIK?
I am Igbo,forget that generation,Zik remains Zik,nothing can be taken away from that,but to tell me that with his clout as a fmr Ceremonial President,his offices were needless in that war,I will dispute that.
Zik and Awo,at least were alive then,but to stay and do nothing for 3years is unacceptable.
They both had the political clout and did nothing.
I am not saying they supported it,but doing nothing was compromise.They were quiet only to return 9years later to contest an election of a war-torn nation.I mean,please.

Not to say they were the best of friends,when Vatsa was to be murdered,the 3 musketeers jettisoned tribe.I mean soyinka,achebe and jp Clarke and went to IBB.
Though,he went ahead to do what he wanted,but they did their best,suffice this to say that Vatsa was not even from their geopolitical zone or tribe.

Will a Mandela fold his hands on a S/African civil war if he were alive?

There are documented evidences that these 3 could have done something better than they did.
The ball is in our court,perhaps let us better history by having the Nigeria we need.
Just my humble opinion.

I don't know what is AIB. All I know is that Zik's pan-Africsnist credentiald were.impeccable. His prioroty was never Igbo. After Nig.won.independence.he said his life's work was done, he said nothing about Igbos.

fergie001:

Can you tell me about AIB under ZIK?
Can you talk about the allegations of pilfering of monies under AIB under ZIK?
I am Igbo,forget that generation,Zik remains Zik,nothing can be taken away from that,but to tell me that with his clout as a fmr Ceremonial President,his offices were needless in that war,I will dispute that.
Zik and Awo,at least were alive then,but to stay and do nothing for 3years is unacceptable.
They both had the political clout and did nothing.
I am not saying they supported it,but doing nothing was compromise.They were quiet only to return 9years later to contest an election of a war-torn nation.I mean,please.

Not to say they were the best of friends,when Vatsa was to be murdered,the 3 musketeers jettisoned tribe.I mean soyinka,achebe and jp Clarke and went to IBB.
Though,he went ahead to do what he wanted,but they did their best,suffice this to say that Vatsa was not even from their geopolitical zone or tribe.

Will a Mandela fold his hands on a S/African civil war if he were alive?

There are documented evidences that these 3 could have done something better than they did.
The ball is in our court,perhaps let us better history by having the Nigeria we need.
Just my humble opinion.

All.they cpuld have done was advice and try to persuade. The army.boys.had the final say.

WetinConsignMe:


So we are now at #5.
Here it is:



Well, it depends on how u interprete what Awo said publicly and whether u believe what he was said to have said to Ojukwu and to others privately.

My own take is that Awo was in no shape to be leading a secession. He just got out of jail, he needed some rest and probably money, plus he was surrounded by northern soldiers who were closely monitoring him. Plus he was not military with an army at his command like Ojukwu. Plus the few senior Yoruba military officers were one-Nigeria.

As to whether he made the promise at all, here are what were said by various people and by Awo himself:
TO BE CONT'D

Following

MightySparrow:



Leave his controversies alone. We all have, each, one our own. Any insults on that man is not acceptable from deluded lies monger tribe.

But we are not public historical figures. Also how many of us have been in jail and plotted two coups

WetinConsignMe:


So we are now at #5.
Here it is:



Well, it depends on how u interprete what Awo said publicly and whether u believe what he was said to have said to Ojukwu and to others privately.

My own take is that Awo was in no shape to be leading a secession. He just got out of jail, he needed some rest and probably money, plus he was surrounded by northern soldiers who were closely monitoring him. Plus he was not military with an army at his command like Ojukwu. Plus the few senior Yoruba military officers were one-Nigeria.

As to whether he made the promise at all, here are what were said by various people and by Awo himself:
TO BE CONT'D

Well, that's your opinion. My opinion is Awo could have led the West out of 9ja but Gowon showed him that all the oil money is in the East and also promised him 9ja presidency after the war

Michael004:
I will die like a solder like Adolf Hitler than to run like a coward ojukwu . To be sincere, it was a great shame. It is a bad record. The first ever solder to do a marathon race. What a great record

Lie! The first soldier to do a marathon was

Brigadier Ogundipe .. The first of his name, Father of Cowards, breaker of records, The un-livered.

WetinConsignMe:


So did someone hijack your acct to post this:

"we all know d dirty cowardly spineless tribe
cant survive without d gambaris n afonjas yet dy are asking for a referendum
if i were u d silence of igbo leaders on secession will jolt ur brain but then once a slave always a slave"

I think what really happened is: my man, Leez, has two personalities on NL. On this thread he is an ipob Igbo woman. On another thread he is an Igbo-bashing Yoruba man. He mixed up which one he was at the moment.

9jaDoc:




I think what really happened is: my man, Leez, has two personalities on NL. On this thread he is an ipob Igbo woman. On another thread he is an Igbo-bashing Yoruba man. He mixed up which one he was at the moment.

at all bro im nwa afo 100 percent
was a rhetorical question posed to d bigot i quoted

Malawian:

Lie! The first soldier to do a marathon was

Brigadier Ogundipe .. The first of his name, Father of Cowards, breaker of records, The un-livered.

That Ogundipe was one funny guy. While Ojukwu was busy still insisting Ogundipe must be head of state he had already ran to UK and no one heard a peep from him after that.

Leez:


at all bro im nwa afo 100 percent
was a rhetorical question posed to d bigot i quoted

It didn't look like you were quoting anybody, see how ofemannnu enthusiastically agreed with you on his next post

9jaDoc:


It didn't look like you were quoting anybody, see how ofemannnu enthusiastically agreed with you on his next post

lol i swear d tin fear me
but he has been put back in his place
#igbo amaka

9jaDoc:


That Ogundipe was one funny guy. While Ojukwu was busy still insisting Ogundipe must be head of state he had already ran to UK and no one heard a peep from him after that.

What I don't understand is why Awo didn't just go on exile. I don't think Babangida offered him that option.

Leez:

lol i swear d tin fear me
but he has been put back in his place
#igbo amaka

The mugu thought he just found a kindred spirit. You should have played along with him for a while

Leez:

lol i swear d tin fear me
but he has been put back in his place
#igbo amaka

You should have played along then slowly, slowly come out on the opposite side. He would have been so confused lol

9jaDoc:


You should have played along then slowly, slowly come out on the opposite side. He would have been so confused lol

abi?na so

9jaDoc:


The mugu thought he just found a kindred spirit. You should have played along with him for a while

i tells u

Leez:

i tells u

I don't think anyone on NL has spewed more trash than that guy.

VillageWinch:


What I don't understand is why Awo didn't just go on exile. I don't think Babangida offered him that option.

Awo would have quickly packed his bags and gone on exile. I don't think that was one of the options

Leez:

lol i swear d tin fear me
but he has been put back in his place
#igbo amaka

Speaking of Igbo amaka, this is from UK, posted by GoldenChiddy



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Ae1OHJMJQo&t=10s

9jaDoc:


Well, that's your opinion. My opinion is Awo could have led the West out of 9ja but Gowon showed him that all the oil money is in the East and also promised him 9ja presidency after the war

U may well be right but I still don't see how he would have been ABLE to lead a secession even if he badly wanted to

GhanaMustGoo:


But we are not public historical figures. Also how many of us have been in jail and plotted two coups

It is still Part Of life.. You are not where you can Plot coup now or jailed. In your own circle now you are also controversial.

So we are now at #5.
Here it is:

5) That Awo promised Ojukwu personally, and later said publicly, that the West would secede if Biafra seceded.


Well, it depends on how u interprete what Awo said publicly and whether u believe what he was said to have said to Ojukwu and to others privately.

My own take is that Awo was in no shape to be leading a secession. He just got out of jail, he needed some rest and probably money, plus he was surrounded by northern soldiers who were closely monitoring him. Plus he was not military with an army at his command like Ojukwu. Plus the few senior Yoruba military officers were one-Nigeria.

As to whether he made the promise at all, here are what were said by various people and by Awo himself:
TO BE CONT'D
------------------------------------------------------

CONTINUING:

On July 2001 Rudolf Okonkwo pointedly asked Ojukwu if there was such agreement. Here is what he said (note the bolded):

RUDOLF OKONKWO: Did the meeting take place, and was there such an agreement?

OJUKWU: We’ve said this over and over again, so many times, and people don’t understand; they don’t want to actually...

Don’t forget that the political purpose of the coup, the Ifeajuna coup that began all this, was to hand power over to Awo. We young men respected him a great deal. He was a hero. I thought he was a hero and certainly I received him when I was governor. We talked and he was very vehement when he saw our complaints and he said that if the Igbos were forced out by Nigeria that he would take the Yorubas out also. I don’t know what anybody makes of that statement but it is simple. Whether he did or didn’t, it is too late. There is nothing you can do about it.

Here is what Sam Aluko, who was at the meeting, said:

"What Ojukwu Told Me, Before, Durring, And After The War" - SAM ALUKO

"Awolowo said, if the East left the federation, the Yoruba would have to leave the federation."

"Really, I was being integrated in the East because, at that time, Obafemi Awolowo was in the Calabar prison and I was the only one allowed to see him. Ojukwu used to give me protection to go and see him."

This interview is the most intimate account of the thoughts and actions of Col. Odumegwu Ojukwu before, during and after the Nigerian civil war. The account is coming from Professor Sam Aluko, the respected Nigerian economist, who has revealed that he was the most trusted friend Ojukwu had. That friendship started immediately the Ikemba Nnewi assumed the governorship position of the Eastern Region. Since then and through the period of the war, Ojukwu’s exile in Cote d’Ivoire and his return to Nigeria, that friendship had sustained.

Excerpts:

How close were you to the late Chief Emeka Odumegwu Ojukwu?

I will say that I was very close to him till his death. Immediately, he became governor of the former Eastern Region, when I was a senior lecturer in Economics in the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, he called me the third day he became governor. He said he wanted to come and see me in my university. I never met him before. How can the military governor come and see me? I said no. I told him I would come and see him, instead. I told the person he sent that he should tell the governor that I was the one who should come and see him and not him coming to see me. That was on January 20, 1966. So, when I said I was going to see him, my wife said she would go with me. She said we didn’t know the man and therefore she wanted to be present at the meeting. She reasoned that we couldn’t predict a soldier who just came. When we got to the military governor’s house, Ojukwu said: ‘Madam, I know you would come because you thought that I will do something to your husband.’ He said he had never met me before, but those in the military had been reading so much about me and they venerated me. According to him, that was why he wanted to see me. He said he wanted me to help him to run the government of the Eastern Region.

We discussed and he asked what role I would like to play and I said I would remain in the university because I didn’t want to leave. I promised to do whatever I could do to help him. The first cabinet that he formed, we both sat down and looked at the names of those from the Eastern Region to be cabinet members. He did not know them because he was not living in the Eastern Region. He was outside, in Kaduna and in Lagos. He spoke Yoruba better than I. So, we were speaking in Yoruba most of the time. That’s how the relationship began and we became very close. It was through him that I knew Adekunle Fajuyi, the governor of the Western Region. We continued until after the counter-coup in July. I was very sad. They killed many Igbo. Many who were not killed had cuts in the head and other parts of the body. He called me and said what could he do? What was going on in his mind was to go to a place in Benue and sack a village there. He wanted to kill as many people as possible. I said no. I said as a Christian, Christianity doesn’t allow for vengeance. As a Christian, I said he should not do that.

Was that when the killings in the North started?
Yes. That was the period the pogrom started. I said he should get in touch with the Head of State, but he said no because it was wrong for Yakubu Gowon to be Head of State because there was Ogundipe, who was a Brigadier and the most senior military officer at the time. He said when the coup happened in January, the most senior officer became the Head of State. So, he argued that when the counter-coup happened, the most senior should also become the Head of State. But the northerners will not take that at that time. Ogundipe himself did not want it because he said there were few Yoruba in the army. He said he will just be there without support and they would kill him. So, they made him High Commissioner in London. When the pogrom continued and the people were coming to the East from the North, Ojukwu said he was afraid that the easterners coming back might attack those who are non-easterners in the East. He then made a statement on the radio that all those who were non-easterners should leave the East.

At the time, there was rumour that Professor Babatunde Fafunwa was killed because he was from the West. But Fafunwa was in Benin Republic attending a conference. Ojukwu said the rumour was a sign of what was to happen. He said they would be attacking the northerners and the westerners and claim easterners did. So, he will ask everybody to go. I went to see him in Enugu and I said: “well, Your Excellency, I will have to go back to the West.” He said no, emphasising that when he talked of westerners, it did not apply to me because I was one of them. Non-easterners in the East were scared. Fafunwa and I were the most senior in the place. Fafunwa was not around and I said: “I will have to take them to the West to make sure that they were safe.” He said it was OK and that he will give me soldiers to make sure that all the students and staff were safe. He said when I got to Benin, I should hand them over to the governor in Benin to take them to the West and I should return to my job in Nsukka.

What of your protection?
He said I needed not worry because I was one of them. [b]Really, I was being integrated in the East because, at that time, Obafemi Awolowo was in the Calabar prison and I was the only one allowed to see him. Ojukwu used to give me protection to go and see him. [/b]So, I was enjoying myself. When I got to Benin, I did not return to the East. I got the people to Ibadan and then called him to say: “Your Excellency, I am here and I am no longer coming back to the East.” He said: “Doctor, don’t call me Your Excellency, call me Emeka. You are older than I and I adore you. Just call me Emeka and I will call you Sam.” I was talking to him every night from Ibadan...

What date was this?
That was January 1967. I said: “Emeka, I don’t think you should think of secession. I said it was the Igbo that were killed in the North and not all easterners.” I said “from my living in the East and going round the East, I know that the Igbo were not very popular in the Rivers area and the Calabar area. I told him that if he declared secession, he would be fighting two wars. I told him he would be fighting internal war against people with him, who didn’t want to be ruled by the Igbo and he would be fighting Nigeria who didn’t want him to succeed. I told him not I didn’t think he could win the war. I think that made a great impression on him. He said: “Doctor, your analysis is perfect.” He said, “after all, why should I secede? “He said: “All my father’s Lagos. I was brought up in Lagos. I came to the East on posting as a military governor. I have discovered that ruling the Igbo is like ruling a pack of wild horses. They are very difficult to rule. I will rather want to be away from here to another place. It is very difficult to persuade the Igbo against their will.”

I told him he didn’t have to persuade them against their will, just be loyal to them. I went back to Adebayo. We had a reconciliation meeting. Awolowo, Onyia and myself were sent to meet Ojukwu in Enugu. Ojukwu insisted that if I did not come, he would not receive them. So, we went together. We discussed.

When was this?
That was March 1967. Awolowo was very frank with him. He told him: “Look, governor, you cannot secede. You cannot go alone. Just as you fear the North, the West also fears the North. The soldiers in the North are occupying the West. So, we have the same common interest. But don’t let us secede. Let us do whatever we can do together to unite and confront the North so that we can have a settlement on how we want to run this country.” Awolowo said, if the East left the federation, the Yoruba would have to leave the federation...


Here is a newspaper report of what Awo himself said publicly (note the bolded):

Why Awo did not make West to Secede
VANGUARD
26 SEP 2017
By Eric Teniola
ON May 1, 1967 at a meeting of Leaders of thought of Western Region, Chief Obafemi Awolowo made the following declarations:
“I consider my duty to Yoruba people in particular and to Nigerians in general to place four imperatives, two of them categorical, and two conditional:

(1) Only a peaceful solution must be found to arrest the present worsening stalemate and restore normalcy.

(2) The Eastern Region must be encouraged to remain part of the Federation

(3). If the Eastern Region is allowed by acts of omission or commission to secede from or opt out of Nigeria, then Western Region and Lagos must also stay out of the Federation.

(4) The people of Western Nigeria or Lagos would participate in the Ad hoc Constitutional Committee or any similar body only on the basis of absolute equality with other Region of the Federations”.

It was the gravest statement made by any leader in Nigeria at a crucial time.
...
The question is why did the Western Region not follow the Eastern Region when it seceded on May 30, 1967?

The Daily Sketch which published in full Chief Awolowo’s speech on May 2, 1967 sold in Enugu at two shillings per copy which is more equivalent of today’s six hundred naira. The speech was a hot cake.

Then there was the argument that the fate of the Yorubas in Ilorin and Kabba provinces at that time was not properly addressed in that speech considering the political influence of Chief Josiah Sunday Olawoyin (1935-2000) and later leaders like Chief Cornelius Olatunji Adebayo (76), my friend Chief Ayo Opadokun and Dr. Abubakar Olusola Saraki (1933-2012).

It is a pity that Chief Awolowo did not publish his memoirs before he died in a domestic accident in his hometown of Ikenne in Ogun state in the early hours of May 9, 1987. Maybe he would have shed more light on why he made those declarations.

I personally believe till today that it was that speech that took the Federal Capital from Lagos, although events have proved later that taking the Federal Capital out of Lagos does not equate with taking commerce out of Lagos- thanks to Chief Bola Tinubu and his successors.

Chief Awolowo’s speech stunned the nation. It was a wakeup call on General Yakubu Dan-Yuuma Gowon (83), the Head of State at that time to prepare for war and save Nigeria. If Chief Awolowo had taken Western Region and Lagos out of Nigeria, it would have been suicidal...

If Chief Awolowo had taken Western Region and Lagos out of the Federation at that time definitely Western Region and Lagos would have been the battle ground. And where were the troops and how prepared was he for a major war. At the time he made those declarations, officers of the Western Region in the Nigerian Army were less than 7%. At that time Lagos, Ibadan and Abeokuta garrisons were occupied by ‘northern troops’. Even the then Governor of Western Region, Major General Adeyinka Adebayo was not prepared for war. Chief Awolowo admitted on May 1, 1967 speech, that ‘We have neither the military might, nor the overwhelming advantage of numbers here in Western Nigeria and Lagos...'



masseratti, 9jaDoc, T9ksy, giftq, Ovamboland, oladeebo, Dedetwo raumdeuter, VillageWinch, Leez, fergie001, PenSniper, GhanaMustGoo, PrecisionFx, Ofemannnu
IJOBA2, CaptainJeffry, DanseMacabre, tawa89,
GoldNiagara, AlPeter, Blue3k, Justiceleague1, Nalikedis
diadem10, logica, vivere, CeterisXVII, Uglyojuku, orisa37
lawani, omonnakoda, zenmaster, koladebrainiac, Michael004, SHAKABOOM

WetinConsignMe:
So we are now at #5.
Here it is:

5) That Awo promised Ojukwu personally, and later said publicly, that the West would secede if Biafra seceded.


Well, it depends on how u interprete what Awo said publicly and whether u believe what he was said to have said to Ojukwu and to others privately.

My own take is that Awo was in no shape to be leading a secession. He just got out of jail, he needed some rest and probably money, plus he was surrounded by northern soldiers who were closely monitoring him. Plus he was not military with an army at his command like Ojukwu. Plus the few senior Yoruba military officers were one-Nigeria.

As to whether he made the promise at all, here are what were said by various people and by Awo himself:
TO BE CONT'D
------------------------------------------------------

CONTINUING:

On July 2001 Rudolf Okonkwo pointedly asked Ojukwu if there was such agreement. Here is what he said (note the bolded):

RUDOLF OKONKWO: Did the meeting take place, and was there such an agreement?

OJUKWU: We’ve said this over and over again, so many times, and people don’t understand; they don’t want to actually...

Don’t forget that the political purpose of the coup, the Ifeajuna coup that began all this, was to hand power over to Awo. We young men respected him a great deal. He was a hero. I thought he was a hero and certainly I received him when I was governor. We talked and he was very vehement when he saw our complaints and he said that if the Igbos were forced out by Nigeria that he would take the Yorubas out also. I don’t know what anybody makes of that statement but it is simple. Whether he did or didn’t, it is too late. There is nothing you can do about it.

Here is what Sam Aluko, who was at the meeting, said:

"What Ojukwu Told Me, Before, Durring, And After The War" - SAM ALUKO

"Awolowo said, if the East left the federation, the Yoruba would have to leave the federation."

"Really, I was being integrated in the East because, at that time, Obafemi Awolowo was in the Calabar prison and I was the only one allowed to see him. Ojukwu used to give me protection to go and see him."

This interview is the most intimate account of the thoughts and actions of Col. Odumegwu Ojukwu before, during and after the Nigerian civil war. The account is coming from Professor Sam Aluko, the respected Nigerian economist, who has revealed that he was the most trusted friend Ojukwu had. That friendship started immediately the Ikemba Nnewi assumed the governorship position of the Eastern Region. Since then and through the period of the war, Ojukwu’s exile in Cote d’Ivoire and his return to Nigeria, that friendship had sustained.

Excerpts:

How close were you to the late Chief Emeka Odumegwu Ojukwu?

I will say that I was very close to him till his death. Immediately, he became governor of the former Eastern Region, when I was a senior lecturer in Economics in the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, he called me the third day he became governor. He said he wanted to come and see me in my university. I never met him before. How can the military governor come and see me? I said no. I told him I would come and see him, instead. I told the person he sent that he should tell the governor that I was the one who should come and see him and not him coming to see me. That was on January 20, 1966. So, when I said I was going to see him, my wife said she would go with me. She said we didn’t know the man and therefore she wanted to be present at the meeting. She reasoned that we couldn’t predict a soldier who just came. When we got to the military governor’s house, Ojukwu said: ‘Madam, I know you would come because you thought that I will do something to your husband.’ He said he had never met me before, but those in the military had been reading so much about me and they venerated me. According to him, that was why he wanted to see me. He said he wanted me to help him to run the government of the Eastern Region.

We discussed and he asked what role I would like to play and I said I would remain in the university because I didn’t want to leave. I promised to do whatever I could do to help him. The first cabinet that he formed, we both sat down and looked at the names of those from the Eastern Region to be cabinet members. He did not know them because he was not living in the Eastern Region. He was outside, in Kaduna and in Lagos. He spoke Yoruba better than I. So, we were speaking in Yoruba most of the time. That’s how the relationship began and we became very close. It was through him that I knew Adekunle Fajuyi, the governor of the Western Region. We continued until after the counter-coup in July. I was very sad. They killed many Igbo. Many who were not killed had cuts in the head and other parts of the body. He called me and said what could he do? What was going on in his mind was to go to a place in Benue and sack a village there. He wanted to kill as many people as possible. I said no. I said as a Christian, Christianity doesn’t allow for vengeance. As a Christian, I said he should not do that.

Was that when the killings in the North started?
Yes. That was the period the pogrom started. I said he should get in touch with the Head of State, but he said no because it was wrong for Yakubu Gowon to be Head of State because there was Ogundipe, who was a Brigadier and the most senior military officer at the time. He said when the coup happened in January, the most senior officer became the Head of State. So, he argued that when the counter-coup happened, the most senior should also become the Head of State. But the northerners will not take that at that time. Ogundipe himself did not want it because he said there were few Yoruba in the army. He said he will just be there without support and they would kill him. So, they made him High Commissioner in London. When the pogrom continued and the people were coming to the East from the North, Ojukwu said he was afraid that the easterners coming back might attack those who are non-easterners in the East. He then made a statement on the radio that all those who were non-easterners should leave the East.

At the time, there was rumour that Professor Babatunde Fafunwa was killed because he was from the West. But Fafunwa was in Benin Republic attending a conference. Ojukwu said the rumour was a sign of what was to happen. He said they would be attacking the northerners and the westerners and claim easterners did. So, he will ask everybody to go. I went to see him in Enugu and I said: “well, Your Excellency, I will have to go back to the West.” He said no, emphasising that when he talked of westerners, it did not apply to me because I was one of them. Non-easterners in the East were scared. Fafunwa and I were the most senior in the place. Fafunwa was not around and I said: “I will have to take them to the West to make sure that they were safe.” He said it was OK and that he will give me soldiers to make sure that all the students and staff were safe. He said when I got to Benin, I should hand them over to the governor in Benin to take them to the West and I should return to my job in Nsukka.

What of your protection?
He said I needed not worry because I was one of them. [b]Really, I was being integrated in the East because, at that time, Obafemi Awolowo was in the Calabar prison and I was the only one allowed to see him. Ojukwu used to give me protection to go and see him. [/b]So, I was enjoying myself. When I got to Benin, I did not return to the East. I got the people to Ibadan and then called him to say: “Your Excellency, I am here and I am no longer coming back to the East.” He said: “Doctor, don’t call me Your Excellency, call me Emeka. You are older than I and I adore you. Just call me Emeka and I will call you Sam.” I was talking to him every night from Ibadan...

What date was this?
That was January 1967. I said: “Emeka, I don’t think you should think of secession. I said it was the Igbo that were killed in the North and not all easterners.” I said “from my living in the East and going round the East, I know that the Igbo were not very popular in the Rivers area and the Calabar area. I told him that if he declared secession, he would be fighting two wars. I told him he would be fighting internal war against people with him, who didn’t want to be ruled by the Igbo and he would be fighting Nigeria who didn’t want him to succeed. I told him not I didn’t think he could win the war. I think that made a great impression on him. He said: “Doctor, your analysis is perfect.” He said, “after all, why should I secede? “He said: “All my father’s Lagos. I was brought up in Lagos. I came to the East on posting as a military governor. I have discovered that ruling the Igbo is like ruling a pack of wild horses. They are very difficult to rule. I will rather want to be away from here to another place. It is very difficult to persuade the Igbo against their will.”

I told him he didn’t have to persuade them against their will, just be loyal to them. I went back to Adebayo. We had a reconciliation meeting. Awolowo, Onyia and myself were sent to meet Ojukwu in Enugu. Ojukwu insisted that if I did not come, he would not receive them. So, we went together. We discussed.

When was this?
That was March 1967. Awolowo was very frank with him. He told him: “Look, governor, you cannot secede. You cannot go alone. Just as you fear the North, the West also fears the North. The soldiers in the North are occupying the West. So, we have the same common interest. But don’t let us secede. Let us do whatever we can do together to unite and confront the North so that we can have a settlement on how we want to run this country.” Awolowo said, if the East left the federation, the Yoruba would have to leave the federation...


Here is a newspaper report of what Awo himself said publicly (note the bolded):

Why Awo did not make West to Secede
VANGUARD
26 SEP 2017
By Eric Teniola
ON May 1, 1967 at a meeting of Leaders of thought of Western Region, Chief Obafemi Awolowo made the following declarations:
“I consider my duty to Yoruba people in particular and to Nigerians in general to place four imperatives, two of them categorical, and two conditional:

(1) Only a peaceful solution must be found to arrest the present worsening stalemate and restore normalcy.

(2) The Eastern Region must be encouraged to remain part of the Federation

(3). If the Eastern Region is allowed by acts of omission or commission to secede from or opt out of Nigeria, then Western Region and Lagos must also stay out of the Federation.

(4) The people of Western Nigeria or Lagos would participate in the Ad hoc Constitutional Committee or any similar body only on the basis of absolute equality with other Region of the Federations”.

It was the gravest statement made by any leader in Nigeria at a crucial time.
...
The question is why did the Western Region not follow the Eastern Region when it seceded on May 30, 1967?

The Daily Sketch which published in full Chief Awolowo’s speech on May 2, 1967 sold in Enugu at two shillings per copy which is more equivalent of today’s six hundred naira. The speech was a hot cake.

Then there was the argument that the fate of the Yorubas in Ilorin and Kabba provinces at that time was not properly addressed in that speech considering the political influence of Chief Josiah Sunday Olawoyin (1935-2000) and later leaders like Chief Cornelius Olatunji Adebayo (76), my friend Chief Ayo Opadokun and Dr. Abubakar Olusola Saraki (1933-2012).

It is a pity that Chief Awolowo did not publish his memoirs before he died in a domestic accident in his hometown of Ikenne in Ogun state in the early hours of May 9, 1987. Maybe he would have shed more light on why he made those declarations.

I personally believe till today that it was that speech that took the Federal Capital from Lagos, although events have proved later that taking the Federal Capital out of Lagos does not equate with taking commerce out of Lagos- thanks to Chief Bola Tinubu and his successors.

Chief Awolowo’s speech stunned the nation. It was a wakeup call on General Yakubu Dan-Yuuma Gowon (83), the Head of State at that time to prepare for war and save Nigeria. If Chief Awolowo had taken Western Region and Lagos out of Nigeria, it would have been suicidal...

If Chief Awolowo had taken Western Region and Lagos out of the Federation at that time definitely Western Region and Lagos would have been the battle ground. And where were the troops and how prepared was he for a major war. At the time he made those declarations, officers of the Western Region in the Nigerian Army were less than 7%. At that time Lagos, Ibadan and Abeokuta garrisons were occupied by ‘northern troops’. Even the then Governor of Western Region, Major General Adeyinka Adebayo was not prepared for war. Chief Awolowo admitted on May 1, 1967 speech, that ‘We have neither the military might, nor the overwhelming advantage of numbers here in Western Nigeria and Lagos...'



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I patiently and diligently read everything and I must say, it is a fascinating read.

Personally I think Awo was planning to do something if Biafra seceded but something or someone persuaded him or pressured him to do the opposite.
Either way he still reneged on his promise.

WetinConsignMe:


Well put. I believe oil was why Nigeria didn't break up in the 60s. Leaders of the July 66 mutiny actually wanted secession of the North. But the British and some Nig leaders were aware of the stupendous wealth underground in the East so that was unthinkable.

I agree with you 200% and I also think oil is part of the reason why Awo suddenly became vehemently one Nigeria

VillageWinch:


I patiently and diligently read everything and I must say, it is a fascinating read.

Personally I think Awo was planning to do something if Biafra seceded but something or someone persuaded him or pressured him to do the opposite.
Either way he still reneged on his promise.

Even in death and over 20 years in between Biafra still wail. Only Legends leave this kind of reactions in their wake.

Why is Awo inexorably linked to all time defeat and shame of Biafra, and the old man was just a civilian answering to military head of state.