T9ksy:



It's truism that Akintola complained about ibo's domination of federal govt appointments in western region and the south in general and that was the main reason why he broke away from Awo's political path to align with the sardunna.

The moment Akintola aligned with the sardunna, the ibos lost most of their position and was the real reason why Akintola was marked for the coupist's bullets.

Leez:

bro u just lied

T9ksy:



If you have nothing to counter my assertion then kindly naff off.

T9ksy:



You are not my brother or friend. I don't thrust you and your ilk. You did not see us as brothers when you and your leaders colluded with the northerners and relegate us to the background. As a consequence of you guys jumping into bed with the sardunna, you were able to forment trouble in our region, marginalise us in our region and take our jobs etc.

You malign our leaders and call us all sort of names just because we refused to roll over and let you ride rough-shod over our land- what you wouldn't dare with the north. That's why those guys have been killing you lot at the slightest opportunity evrn before we got independence.

T9ksy:



It's truism that Akintola complained about ibo's domination of federal govt appointments in western region and the south in general and that was the main reason why he broke away from Awo's political path to align with the sardunna.

The moment Akintola aligned with the sardunna, the ibos lost most of their position and was the real reason why Akintola was marked for the coupist's bullets.

T9ksy:



It's truism that Akintola complained about ibo's domination of federal govt appointments in western region and the south in general and that was the main reason why he broke away from Awo's political path to align with the sardunna.

The moment Akintola aligned with the sardunna, the ibos lost most of their position and was the real reason why Akintola was marked for the coupist's bullets.

WetinConsignMe:


Either way Awo is to be faulted because (unless he was under duress from northern soldiers) there is no way u stretch his words that they mean: "I will throw my full weight behind one Nigeria and actively participate inn the war"

Here is what Americans wrote durring the war:

This is from "America's secret files on Ojukwu"
Note the bolded.

“AG (Action Group) activists and the man in the street are convinced Awolowo made the statement under duress… They say Awolowo’s true position was indicated in the Leaders of Thought resolution in May, which said if any region seceded or forced out, the West would automatically become independent. The activists feel that Awolowo missed the opportunity to bring the present conflict to close by coming to Ibadan and make a Western Declaration of Independence speech supported by Victor Banjo and his National Liberation Army.”

9jaDoc:


Bros, what is wrong with u really? Can't u for one minute drop the tribalism and see things as they truly are. Ojukwu knew (and he was right) that the only way Biafran secession would succeed was if the West also seceded. HE WAS NOT DOING IT AS A FAVOUR TO THEM. HE WAS DOING IT FOR HIS OWN SURVIVAL.
Why is that so hard for u to get through your thick skull?!

WetinConsignMe:


Let's analyse.

Here is what Ojukwu said Awo told him:

"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 about what Awo said:

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

Here is what Awo said publicly (we will never know what he told Ojukwu in their private conversations):

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.

SHAKABOOM:
The guy that saw tomorrow and shaked rat poison.

WetinConsignMe:


It's not me writing this is. It was written by Americans during the war. It was everybody's perception of what Awo said including the media, the man on the streets, AG activists, and even foreign governments. They all took it that Awo meant "If Biafra was forced to ANNOUNCE secession the West would automatically become independent". Everybody ignored the "allowed" they also ignored he said actual secession not just announcement of it.

ElsonMorali:


@bolded, a little advice here, invest your time in your education or re-education instead of forming internet warrior with bad grammar on Nairaland.

ElsonMorali:


@bolded, a little advice here, invest your time in your education or re-education instead of forming internet warrior with bad grammar on Nairaland.

WetinConsignMe:

At the bolded. Ojukwu's hope was that his friend (as he thought) Awo and Banjo backed by the troops would CONVINCE the West to secede

ElsonMorali:
This man's been dead since 30 years ago, longer than the OP (wetinconsignme) and his myriad of fools (leez, precisionfx, shakaboom and co) have been alive, yet they are still being tormented by the Sage. What else is the definition of greatness If not this.

Unfortunately igbos don't realize this man Awolowo is actually their saviour. If not for him, the Ibo tribe would be totally annihilated after a prolonged war. But you see, Most Igbo youths are just plain dumb, cursed with "herd mentality".

GhanaMustGoo:
My Yoruba friend tells me "atilo" is a kind of native Yoruba dance. So he was saying something like 'Baba dance' ? Doesn't make any sense...

T9ksy, Ovamboland, oladeebo, Ofemannnu
lawani, koladebrainiac, Michael004

WetinConsignMe:


Your friend was playing with u.
I know enough Yoruba to know this is not true.
I am pretty sure "Baba atilo" means "Baba don't go"

So why was Ojukwu telling Awo not to go?

9jaDoc:


Your friend is talking nonsense.
"Baba atilo" means "Atilo's father"
Just as they call Obasanjo "Baba Iyabo"
because his daughter's name is Iyabo.
Get it now?



Ok, so why was Ojukwu suddenly calling Awo Atilo's father?
You guys are not making any sense

Leez:

i have nothing to say
As Adebayo Adeyinka, a staunch Awoist, put it:
“Papa Awolowo was invited for a meeting with President Ibrahim Babangida who was then staying at Dodan Barracks which was the seat of power as at then...
He gave Papa some options and that was for him to be ready to face a court martial, be ready to go to a prison, or better still go on exile
At this stage Papa felt instead of allowing some ambitious khaki boy to mess him up he should just pack it in and call it a day, so Chief Awolowo decided to commit suicide so as to save himself from the ignominy of going to prison for the second time in his lifetime

Vivere:


Awo never used the word 'ANNOUNCE.' Why do you persist in telling lies? Oya, provide the link and URL to your story, so we can all read it and verify.

Konquest:

^^^^^^^^
^^^^^^^^

Please note that the Eastern Region
does not refer to Ibos but to all
the ethnic groups that were in the Old
Eastern Region.

Awo gave a speech on the floor of
the Western Region Parliament in May
1967 in Ibadan when he made that
comment and he clearly stated in
English that if the Federal Government
allows the Old Eastern Region to secede,
then Lagos and the Old Western Region
would leave Nigeria. He was SIMPLY
calling for 1 UNITED Nigeria!

This is what the rebels and their propagandists twisted to misled
their people and said Awo promised
Ibos that he would secede, which he did
never said!

The newspapers reported the following
day Awolowo's speech which can
still be read online in the Daily Times
of that day in the month of May19, 1967.

All the 10 points listed at the start of this
thread are FALSE and MISLEADING!
The problem we have is that a lot of
the younger generation don't read standard Nigerian Civil War books
but only really on pieces of falsehood
from propaganda Websites especially
those created by Ibos which I started
noticing online in the late 1990s on
Yahoo!Groups and other media.


I have read a lot of books since 1981
that were written by senior military officers
like OBJ, Alexander Madiebo and others
so as to gain a better understanding
from both sides. The answers to most
of the questions here can be found
in the standard history books and
autobiographies and biographies.



Chief Obafemi Awolowo NEVER committed
suicide when he died in 1987! He died of
natural causes. I was as a grown
man then and everything about his translation
was in the public domain and he was
highly eulogised by IBB and other
legendary people in Nigeria and around the world. Chief
Obafemi Awolowo who was a SAN and
a GCFR, became a subject of attack
by some Ibos [simply because he
contested Presidential elections in the 2nd Republic]
so as to prevent him from winning the
elections. This has continued till
today with young Ibos telling further
lies/concocting FICTIONAL stories
on the Internet that he drank poison
and committed suicide. This is absolute
stupidity on the part of these young
ones who were NOT born or were babies
in 1987 when Obafemi Awolowo
died and it is a shame that the Ibos
are behind this FAKE STORY. Go to
several Websites and blogs and you
will see threads and topics that were
started by these people!

"Awo on the Nigerian Civil War" was a book
written by Chief Obafemi Awolowo
in the early 1980s to correct all the
negative information about him by
the Ibos but he never foresaw the
devastating effect that the Internet
would have in the future on his image otherwise
he would have taken those who
spread falsehood about him to
court as a SAN and senior lawyer that
he was
for defamation of character.


Did you know that Emeka Ojukwu was a foundation member of the Awolowo
Foundation which was founded in 1991?
If Awo (who was 29 years older than
Ojukwu and old enough to be his father)
had really offended Emeka Ojukwu,
Ojukwu would not have said in his tribute
in 1987 that Awolowo is the BEST President Nigeria never had. He would
also not have been part of the founding
of Awolowo Foundation along with
Gen. Yakubu Gowon. Ojukwu and his
misadvised team
had to use lies as a propaganda tool
to maintain political control in the rebel
enclave
during the Civil War like Goebbels
of Nazi Germany did.


You see, a lot of these IBO leaders
who led Ibos into a devastating Civil
War related and hobnobbed with
the Yoruba elite and those from other
ethnic groups who played active roles
in keeping Nigeria united, and then
these S/E leaders go
behind to divert the attention of their
people by encouraging the spread of
lies. I know that Chief MCK Ajuluchukwu
defended Awolowo over those lies being
told by some of his kinsmen.

Did you know that China Achebe's
daughters married Yoruba and Itsekiri
men, while Achebe's son married a
woman from Oguta? So I wonder
where the tribal propaganda and sickening
defamation of character is coming
from. These people behave like
victims so as to make themselves
feel good by concocting the biggest
chain of lies I have seen in living
memory!

The non-Ibos of the Old Eastern
Region had rejected
secession and even before 1960, there
was a COR (Calabar/Ogoja/Rivers)
movement calling for separation
from the Ibos and this partly led to
the Ijaw nationalist, Jasper Isaac Adaka
Boro to lead a 12-day revolution/secession from the Eastern region
in 1966 because of marginalization
by the Aguiyi Ironsi government.

Some Ibos like Margaret Ekpo, Jesus
of Ogbunike and his followers, and more
were locked up for the entire 2 years and
6 months of the Civil War until they
were liberated by Nigerian Federal troops.


Last but not least, the invasion of the
Mid Western State by the rebels infuriated
the Edo's, Urhobos, Itsekiris, Isokos
and some sections of what is now Delta
North and it made many of them to
join the Nigerian Army in large
numbers to defend themselve as a result of attrocities that were commited against them such as the desecration of the Palace of the Oba of Benin and the
looting of the Palace of some artifacts
among other attrocities. According to Col. Ogbebor,
in a Sunday Punch 2-page interview 3 years ago, Bendelites had a strong
presence during and after the Civil War
in the Nigerian military.

T9ksy:



You are not my brother or friend. I don't thrust you and your ilk. You did not see us as brothers when you and your leaders colluded with the northerners and relegate us to the background. As a consequence of you guys jumping into bed with the sardunna, you were able to forment trouble in our region, marginalise us in our region and take our jobs etc.

You malign our leaders and call us all sort of names just because we refused to roll over and let you ride rough-shod over our land- what you wouldn't dare with the north. That's why those guys have been killing you lot at the slightest opportunity evrn before we got independence.

fergie001:
Nigeria problems weak person,we have been unfortunate to have leaders who think about family,tribe and religion first before the welfare of the country.
I wasn't there but from aggregation of history,
Awolowo went for his tribe and his family,who still benefits from Govt today.
Ahmadu Bello was all about his Fulani tribe and dominance on other tribes.
Azikiwe was for his family and only his family.

Looking at all this 3,none thought about Nigeria,so first and foremost with the generational shift,let us think about Nigeria,that is my humble and honest opinion.

VillageWinch:


Why do u keep obsessing about Igbos when Igbos have nothing to do with initiating any of these. Too many KNEW Awo committed suicide for it to remain a secret forever. Which other prominent historical Nigerian do u see anyone say commited suicide?Even hated one's. Only Awo. Because he did commit suicide - which angers even me because it does reveal a highly selfish mindset.

WaffenSS:


Did you absolutely have to copy the whole thing, and repeat it, and then still have nothing to say?

You, sir, are an idiot.

SHAKABOOM:

Educated Mumu.
Dem dey use the word for correct Grammer?Abi pigin na grammer?Dey dia dey form english teacher..PUNK

T9ksy:



The "too MANY" people that knew were ONLY IBOS, the late sage's sworn enemies and they are the only ONES known to have been repeating the same stories (without any incontrovertible evidence) to support there lies.

And it angers you because someone you people just love to hate allegedly committed suicide? Do you even read the garbage you wrote?
I doubt it very much. If you were that offended by the (spurious) allegations, you should have taken a LONG walk off the shortest pier.

ElsonMorali:


Are you so jobless that you had to quote me twice?

So he drank rat poison. How is that the cause your frustrations?

T9ksy:



The "too MANY" people that knew were ONLY IBOS, the late sage's sworn enemies and they are the only ONES known to have been repeating the same stories (without any incontrovertible evidence) to support there lies.

And it angers you because someone you people just love to hate allegedly committed suicide? Do you even read the garbage you wrote?
I doubt it very much. If you were that offended by the (spurious) allegations, you should have taken a LONG walk off the shortest pier.

VillageWinch:


Igbos have NOTHING to do with the suicide of Awolowo nor it's revelation years after the fact. Igbos had accepted what they were told and moved on BUT the truth has a way of never staying covered. It was only a matter of time.

It angers me because such acts of extreme selfishness always anger me. That's just the type of person I am

SHAKABOOM:

Olodo english teacher..Which wan be How is that the cause your frustrations?Mumu teacher..Hahahaha!

T9ksy:



You are not my brother or friend. I don't thrust you and your ilk. You did not see us as brothers when you and your leaders colluded with the northerners and relegate us to the background. As a consequence of you guys jumping into bed with the sardunna, you were able to forment trouble in our region, marginalise us in our region and take our jobs etc.

You malign our leaders and call us all sort of names just because we refused to roll over and let you ride rough-shod over our land- what you wouldn't dare with the north. That's why those guys have been killing you lot at the slightest opportunity evrn before we got independence.

WetinConsignMe:


My brother you need a DANist re-education. You are a fellow African, a black man, a fellow human being. Your complaints have to do with a few people not "Igbos". They certainly have nothing to do with me.

Read the below. Do u think most Igbos are happy with Zik's fanatic nationalism and his one-Nigeria fanaticism?



Again, in 1957 when the British Colonial Government, under intense pressure from Southern politicians pressing for independence, attempted to uncouple the union between the North and South forged through Lord Lugard’s Amalgamation of 1914, with the offer of independence to the three Regions individually provided any two accepted the offer, a political crisis loomed large on the national horizon. The Northern Region, led by the Northern Peoples Congress (NPC) took the position that the North was not ready for that level of political and economic independence. The Western Region, led by Chief Awolowo’s Action Group (AG) promptly, declared its readiness to accept the offer. It was the Igbo-led NUNC that held the balance. It was an issue that could make or break Nigeria if the three Regions chose to go their separate ways to independence.

The NUNC leader, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe took the stand that although the Eastern Region was ready to assume the responsibilities of Regional independence, its attainment without the North would lead, in his own words, to the ‘’Baalkanization of the Nigeria Nation’’ and conceivably a break-up of the country. The Eastern Region would rather suppress it’s appetite for independence and the obvious gains it would entail until the Northern Region was ready. That was how Nigeria Independence was delayed until 1960. In short, the Igbo-led Eastern Region would rather forgo the advancement of its own political economic interests than risk the break-up of Nigeria.[/b]

Had the Eastern Region opted for Independence at that time, the territory under its control would have comprised in today’s terms the following nine States with their enormous human and natural resources: Abia, Akwa-Ibom, Anambra, Bayelsa, Cross River, Ebonyi, Enugu, Imo, Rivers state. It would also probably include Southern Cameroun with the oil rich Bakassi Peninsula. If not for Zik, by 1960, the three Regions would have become separate sovereign states and there would have been no question of Biafra’s attempted secession in 1967 from a non-existing Nigeria federation and the devastating civil war fought to stop it.