Anybody who says that Ojukwu caused or started the civil war is either ignorant or trying to be deceitful

Ojukwu never started nor declared any war

What really happend was that there was a coup in Nigeria in January of 1966 led mostly by officers of Igbo extraction. The coup was branded an "Igbo coup" and the Northern officers planned a counter-coup which they executed 6 months later. The aim of this Northern coup was two folds:

1)To avenge the January coup
2)To declare the Northern Nigerian Region a separate country

After the Northerners had carried out their counter coup, in which they killed over 300 Igbo officers, just as the Northerners were preparing to declare "Arewa Republic", British agents held a meeting with them to tell them that Northern Nigeria was not viable without the south. They were also told that the Eastern Region was about to make huge profit from the Oil domiciled in that Region. Over night, the idea of Arewa Republic was scrapped and Gowon was made head of state. The Northerners also started killing Igbos as well. Over 50,000 Igbos were murdered in wave after wave of genocide. Millions of Igbos returned home and joined the huge crows that besieged Government House Enugu, asking Ojukwu to pull the Eastern Region out of Nigeria since Gowon could not protect their lives and property

The situation got so bad that the then president of Ghana, General Joe Ankrah intervened. In January 1967, he invited Ojukwu and Gowon to Aburi, Ghana, for peace talks. For two days, Gowon and Ojukwu sat and reached an agreement. Both men signed this agreement in front of General Ankrah and shook on it. In return for Gowon implementing the agreement, Ojukwu would recognise Gowon as head of state and the Eastern Region would remain loyal citizens of Nigeria

Gowon returned to Nigeria and broke the agreement. Not only did Gowon break the agreement, he broke the most important part of it that stated that he would not change the Regional composition of Nigeria without the consent of Ojukwu and the other Regional Governors.

With the Aburi agreement destroyed by Gowon, Ojukwu was left with no choice than to pull the Eastern Region out of Nigeria as the Republic of Biafra

Gowon responded by declaring war. Gowon directly caused the civil war by not keeping the agreement he signed. He also started the war by declaring it

Let us all stop this falsehood of blaming Ojukwu for the war, Ojukwu was a man of peace. That's why he went to Aburi

Gowon caused the war and he started it by declaring war

Igbo amaka

Inside Story

Whether he caused the war or not is not important

He should have avoided the war by all means.. Some misunderstanding requires knowledge not muscles

helinues:
Whether he caused the war or not is not important

He should have avoided the war by all means.. Some misunderstanding requires knowledge not muscles

what!

like sit and watch his siblings massacred like fowls?

that's cowardice and Igbos are not known for that

Yamree lamentations.

Just close the thread.
You attach so much time to frivolities.

helinues:
Whether he caused the war or not is not important

He should have avoided the war by all means.. Some misunderstanding requires knowledge not muscles

He tried but couldn’t..... Do you know many of the Easterners had fled after the May 1966 massacres in the North to seek safety in the East? It was he, Colonel Ojukwu, the then Millitary Governor of the Eastern Region that publicly called the people to return to their homes and jobs in the North.

Btw, before independence, the North never wanted amalgamation with the South. Till you know the meaning of the ‘Operation Araba’, led by Murtala, then I’d continue.

Arda1000:
what!

like sit and watch his siblings massacred like fowls?

that's cowardice and Igbos are not known for that

They are not known for it, and at the end of the day who suffered the most? And didn't he later abandon his people to death thereby contradicting your assertion up here that they are not known for cowardice?

Yeye dey Smell.

I am glad you didn't mention Yorubas or Awolowo in your narrative.

Rilwayne001:


They are not known for it, and at the end of the day who suffered the most? And didn't he later abandon his people to death thereby contradicting your assertion up here that they are not known for cowardice?

Yeye dey Smell.

The fact is that u lack reasoning.
put urself in the man shoes imagine the scenes as it it's happening then seeing the piles of dead bodies of Ur own people but u can't do that because as Yoruba man, cowardice runs deep in Ur blood.
yes he did ran but the act of stepping for his people not be killed like rats surpassed all other of his shortcomings.

helinues:
Whether he caused the war or not is not important

He should have avoided the war by all means.. Some misunderstanding requires knowledge not muscles

It takes two sides to avoid war, not just one side. Gowon should have avoided war at all cost by keeping to the agreement he signed