9jaDoc:


Sir did u finish primary school?

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.

Maduawuchukwu:


Lastly, he might have felt that the west could not afford a war so they should side with the north. But then, neutrality was an option just like the mid-west and his region would have been unaffected by his neutrality. So.

T9ksy:



But the Mid-west neutrality as you tagged it, didn't stop ojukwu invading the region and imposing his own rule on the people.

The bottom-line was that Ojukwu intended bringing the whole of southern nigeria under his rule but Awo- a mere civilian showed him that brain power is mightier than sheer brawn and braggadio.

If in doubt, google " Ojukwu's letter to Banjo" and you will clearly discern ojukwu's intention- he was already salivating at the prospect of dominating yorubaland, something his father's friend tried but was unable to accomplish 16 years, earlier.

Michael004:
Yeah I know it was a mistake. But don't bother yourself. I know the correct word to use. I understand Concord very well. Thank you.

koladebrainiac:
I dont understand. there are other accounts to this story u guys are bragging about , playing victim upandan. Victor Bajo's account and what LET TO AWOLOWO'S REFUSER TO JOIN SECESSION. ANYTHING OF SECESSION ON YORUBA PART IS A SUICIDE FOR US. WE WILL BE THE BATTLE GROUND. COMMON DORDAN BARRACK WAS IN LAGOS. AND NIEGRIA CAPITAL. ITS WELL FORTIFIED . SO IF YORUBA MAKE SECEDE WHO WILL FIGHT FOR AWOLOWO? CAN HE MUSTER ARMY IN THE BARACK? THAT ASIDE THE ACCOUNT WE HEARD WAS THAT AWOLOWO WENT TO SEE OJUKWU TO STAND DOWN NOT TO DISCUSS SECESSION. AND WHAT AWOLOWO SAID WAS THAT IF OJUKWU FINALLY SUCEDE, HE WILL JOIN THE FRAY. BUT YOU GUYS WILL KEEP LYING N THROWING PROPAGANDA UPANDAN.

koladebrainiac:
I dont understand. there are other accounts to this story u guys are bragging about , playing victim upandan. Victor Bajo's account and what LET TO AWOLOWO'S REFUSER TO JOIN SECESSION. ANYTHING OF SECESSION ON YORUBA PART IS A SUICIDE FOR US. WE WILL BE THE BATTLE GROUND. COMMON DORDAN BARRACK WAS IN LAGOS. AND NIEGRIA CAPITAL. ITS WELL FORTIFIED . SO IF YORUBA MAKE SECEDE WHO WILL FIGHT FOR AWOLOWO? CAN HE MUSTER ARMY IN THE BARACK? THAT ASIDE THE ACCOUNT WE HEARD WAS THAT AWOLOWO WENT TO SEE OJUKWU TO STAND DOWN NOT TO DISCUSS SECESSION. AND WHAT AWOLOWO SAID WAS THAT IF OJUKWU FINALLY SUCEDE, HE WILL JOIN THE FRAY. BUT YOU GUYS WILL KEEP LYING N THROWING PROPAGANDA UPANDAN.

GhanaMustGoo:


Seems like once a coup plotter, always a coup plotter. Same.thing with Danjuma, Babangida, Murutala, etc

GhanaMustGoo:


Seems like once a coup plotter, always a coup plotter. Same.thing with Danjuma, Babangida, Murutala, etc

9jaDoc:


You forgot the big ones - Gowon and Obasanjo

Ngozi123:
He was an evil tribal overlord who should have be charged with war crimes by the ICC. I don't even know if I can call him a human being .

koladebrainiac:
I dont understand. there are other accounts to this story u guys are bragging about , playing victim upandan. Victor Bajo's account and what LET TO AWOLOWO'S REFUSER TO JOIN SECESSION. ANYTHING OF SECESSION ON YORUBA PART IS A SUICIDE FOR US. WE WILL BE THE BATTLE GROUND. COMMON DORDAN BARRACK WAS IN LAGOS. AND NIEGRIA CAPITAL. ITS WELL FORTIFIED . SO IF YORUBA MAKE SECEDE WHO WILL FIGHT FOR AWOLOWO? CAN HE MUSTER ARMY IN THE BARACK? THAT ASIDE THE ACCOUNT WE HEARD WAS THAT AWOLOWO WENT TO SEE OJUKWU TO STAND DOWN NOT TO DISCUSS SECESSION. AND WHAT AWOLOWO SAID WAS THAT IF OJUKWU FINALLY SUCEDE, HE WILL JOIN THE FRAY. BUT YOU GUYS WILL KEEP LYING N THROWING PROPAGANDA UPANDAN.

9jaDoc:


I know that but I don't think that's what Gowon meant.

WetinConsignMe:


I think Awo was a great man. It's just that fate cast him such that it seemed he meant Igbos harm when in actuality he didn't. Ojukwu had nothing against him and actually called him a hero. If he was Igbo enemy would Ojukwu had done that?

9jaDoc:


Why would he choose Banjo a heartland core Yoruba man. Think, mehn, think.

9jaDoc:



Ojukwu was the only major Nigerian historical soldier statesman who never participated in coup. He even refused to join the Nzeogwu coup and also the Gowon coup

T9ksy:



Simple..........as another "afonja" and that was probably why Banjo didn't rush to lead biafran troops to wreck havoc on his homeland.

GhanaMustGoo:


Ok, how do u explain:
"Starvation is a legitimate weapon of war."

GhanaMustGoo:


You can also say it's because he never.had an opportunity.

T9ksy:



Simple..........as another "afonja" and that was probably why Banjo didn't rush to lead biafran troops to wreck havoc on his homeland.

T9ksy:



Simple..........as another "afonja" and that was probably why Banjo didn't rush to lead biafran troops to wreck havoc on his homeland.

GhanaMustGoo:


Ok, how do u explain:
"Starvation is a legitimate weapon of war."

WetinConsignMe:


Here is how a specialist of that era put it

If Ojukwu did not release Awo, I'd have no business disputing some people's attempts at crass revisionism. I'll simply accept it. But as their increasing vacillation shows, the truth haunts because it is stubborn. They have moved from one angle to the other in a shifting sand that only amuses people like me. Note: the story has since gone from Ironsi did not release Awo to "Ironsi's release was CONDITIONAL."

I have never before in my life found greater irony. Now he is squirming under the weight of interpretation - the wheres and wherefores that belong to legal doublespeak - which is when you really need to close an argument.

Awolowo's letter is rather self-explanatory. Emissaries sent to him to Calabar arrived Calabar with a plane on July 27, 1966. The SMC wanted him in Lagos on July 29. In the early mornings of July 29, Ironsi and Fajuyi were murdered in Ibadan by a coup in which Gowon was very active. On the day that Ironsi was supposed to make the announcement publicly in the gala planned for his final day in Ibadan as a gesture of goodwill to the West, he was killed. The crucial point to note here from Awo's diary is that

(a) his release was already final. A plane had been sent to him to leave Calabar to Lagos. He did not leave because it was a one-engine plane and he just did not like the idea of traveling in that plane.

(b) Having being released, a second declaration of release was no longer necessary by Gowon because the papers releasing him had been signed and sealed and effected. The only person who could stop further action on that release document in the circumstance was the Eastern Regional governor whose authority was required to effect the wishes of the Federal government,

(c) there is no place in the annals of Nigeria's administrative records where you will find an order or paper of release for Awolowo in which Yakubu Gowon's signature appears.

But I'd like to bet Ayo and co $1000 that if we go into the archives of the Nigerian Cabinet Secretariat, the signature that will be on the release order for Chief Awolowo will be Ironsi's signature by the power conferred on him by the SMC, and that there is no second release order unless it was backdated. Ironsi's order was fully carried out by the administrative requirements that compelled the Governor of the East to issue administrative writ to the Director of Prisons in Eastern Nigeria to comply.

It is as simple as that. If Gowon issued an order in that regard, Emeka Ojukwu would have very clearly and deliberately ignored it to fully press the point that he was under no obligation to heed Gowon's authority and Chief Awolowo would not have been released. He would most likely have ended up in the East, like Banjo and co during the war all of whom were released by Ojukwu's orders.

Awo's diary confesses quite clearly that Ironsi's regime had kept his release "secret." Why did Ironsi feel the need to thread carefully about such a matter? Would it be to placate the East, the West, or the North? From whom was Ironsi keeping this secret and why? Who would be more grieved by the news of Awo's release? Awo's release was apparently affected by the confusion in Lagos.

If Ayo were Ojukwu, would he have let him go on July 29th 1966, the day he was expected to be taken to Lagos from the East and the day Ironsi was murder or wait for things to clear up a bit? Why did Ojukwu feel the need to release Awo on the 3rd before a reconstituted SMC? Clearly, Ojukwu thought that Awo's presence in the West would help rally the rump of his supporters in the West to act against the coup in evolution. Awo told Ojukwu plainly when they met in Enugu later in May that he could not act because of the presence of Northern troops in the West. As soon as he arrived Ibadan, Awo was placed under clear surveillance. Military sentries were kept daily at his gate in Ibadan and Ikenne.

That is a version of House arrest. Anyone who talks about "conditional release" does not know how governments function. Awo was to be put through a safe, transitional house, no more than a week after the public announcement of his release, debriefed, and released to his home. The same thing happened to Mandela. It is the normal administrative process in these matters. What really makes me happy is that "Nebu and Obi" can no longer be said to write about things that are not in the public domain. We were both clear about who released Awo and why. Awo's diary basically confirmed the following:

(a) A plane had been sent to Calabar to bring him to Lagos on 27th July, two days before Ironsi was killed; (b) the SMC expected him in Lagos on July 29th the day Ironsi and Fajuyi were killed in Ibadan. In fact, they were desperate that he must arrive Lagos by the 29th! It prompts the question: Why the hurry to bring him to Lagos on the 29th? Were these facts communicated to the coup plotters? If so, who but those in the inner circle of the SMC could have communicated this highly classified policy to the coup plotters who had to act quickly to eliminate Fajuyi and Ironsi before the effectuation of the orders on July 29?

(c) Awo refused to travel in the one-engine plane for fear of his safety and

(d) But above all, no other order is required once the order of release has been gazetted for the release of a prisoner. Therefore, Gowon could no longer have re-issued an order already being carried out. It is elementary.

TO RECAP: By the very decree establishing the National Military Government under Ironsi, the Governor of the Eastern Group of provinces was a member of the Supreme Military Council, and the Chief agent of the federal government in the East. All federal institutions, including the Federal Prison Services, were under his jurisdiction and authority. That is one. As at August 3 1966, with a coup in evolution which had not succeeded in the East, the laws of the federation ceased to exist in the East. The only laws that existed in areas under Ojukwu's command were the emergency laws that he assumed. No tributes, declarations or orders by any other authority outside of the East under any guise of law could be enforced in the East. Basically, Nigeria temporarily ceased to exist.

WetinConsignMe:


I don't understand your post but I can assure Ojukwu was not the power hungry type. That's why you never saw him in any coup. It would be out of character for him to want to rule the West. According to Aluko he didn't even want to rule the East. He was 32, he said he wanted to walk away from the whole affair, but he was trapped.

9jaDoc:


U have no answer, that's why u chose to type gibberish.

Maduawuchukwu:


Awolowo in my estimation chose to support one-Nigeria for various reasons.
Firstly, the oil reserves in the East and the wealth therein.Oil was becoming the energy hotcake of the world just as renewable energy is going to be that of the future and the riches he could profit from was stupendous.
Also, Awo must have felt that with the death of Balewa and Ahmadu Bello and the political redundancy of Azikiwe because of the war, the coast was clear for him to become Nigerias strongest man and Leader;maybe even for life. The north outsmarted him sha.
Lastly, he might have felt that the west could not afford a war so they should side with the north. But then, neutrality was an option just like the mid-west and his region would have been unaffected by his neutrality. So.

koladebrainiac:
what part of promise people make in politics. in politics countries don't practice friendship, they practice allies

T9ksy:



Yeah, of course, he was trapped! Just google his letter to Banjo and then come back and tell me Ojukwu had no intention of ruling yorubaland.

Btw, after Ojukwu had invaded the mid-west, who was in control of the region?

T9ksy:



Yeah, of course, he was trapped! Just google his letter to Banjo and then come back and tell me Ojukwu had no intention of ruling yorubaland.

Btw, after Ojukwu had invaded the mid-west, who was in control of the region?

T9ksy:



Yeah, of course, he was trapped! Just google his letter to Banjo and then come back and tell me Ojukwu had no intention of ruling yorubaland.

Btw, after Ojukwu had invaded the mid-west, who was in control of the region?