We were amused at his foolishness and allowed him to stay. Now he has won our brothers, and our clan can no longer act like one. He has put a knife on the things that held us together and we have fallen apart."

-Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart

Onlytruth:

Yuo still did not answer my question:

[size=14pt]If Ohanaeze followed the laid down procedure to embark on an exercise, what stops an unsatisfied INDIVIDUAL member of the executives from granting press statements to the effect that "Ohanaeze constitution was not followed"?[/size]

Answer : NOTHING.

The last time I checked Ohaneze is not some secret service or Military institution. It can also cite sections of its own constitution defending the decision of the organisation in that instance.

mikeansy:

The last time I checked Ohaneze is not some secret service or Military institution. It can also cite sections of its own constitution defending the decision of the organisation in that instance.

My friend you still failed to answer the question. So I don't know what you are talking about.

EzeUche0:

We were amused at his foolishness and allowed him to stay. Now he has won our brothers, and our clan can no longer act like one. He has put a knife on the things that held us together and we have fallen apart."

-Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart

Ezeuche don't worry, nothing mega!
Frankly I'm shocked by how folks reason here.
Mikeansy just want certain people (PDP people) in Igboland to support this endorsement BEFORE Ndigbo. Those same folks owe us NOTHING. They are politicians who are angling for positions, and I bet you that Jonathan can EASILY neutralize them.

Tell Mikeansy now that Ekwueme and his crew is on board and watch him change! 

PDP leaders are NOT Igbo leaders. Ohanaeze is!

PDP leaders in Igboland owe us NOTHING. Ohanaeze owe us representation. That is their ONLY duty. So, I would trust them more than Ekwueme and his crew.

Uwechue’s bomb on Biafra

• The making of sensational civil war revelation
By ONUOHA UKEH
Saturday, October 24, 2009

Elder statesman and President-General of the pan-Igbo socio-cultural organization, Chief Raph Uwechue, has sensationally revealed, in a book, how ego and quest for absolute control by Chief Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu ruined Biafra.

He said, in the book, Reflections on the Nigerian Civil War – Facing the Future, that Ojukwu adopted a maximum ruler posture, shunned advice as well as believed in his won judgment, factor, which he said, caused the failure of the break away of the Eastern Nigeria.

He said: “By keeping Ojukwu constantly enveloped in an atmosphere of superiority, it made him, as a matter of habit, distrustful and disdainful of other people’s judgment, impatient with their opinions and finally simply authoritarian.”

Uwechue had visited the corporate headquarters of The Sun sometime ago and while fielding questions from a team of senior editors, he spoke about pre-independence Nigeria, the politics after independence, civil war and the country after the war. He had promised to send to The Sun copies of his book: Reflections on the Nigerian Civil War – Facing the Future, a revised and expanded edition of his previous book, Reflection on the Nigerian Civil War – A Call for Realism. The book was reprinted in 2004. True to his promise, the elder statesman sent copies of the book, which turned out to be expository.

Indeed, the 199-page book told the story of the first military coup in the country, the second military coup, the crisis after the second coup, the meetings to forestall a war, the secession of the eastern part of the country and the efforts to end the war. The book also has two epilogues, where the author analysed the fall of Biafra, in the topic: The Genesis of Failure and also there is the examination of government structure, in the topic: An Elastic Federal Union.

Reading Chief Uwechue’s book, we found The Genesis of Failure very interesting and, therefore, decided to reproduce it. The chapter talked about the things, in the author’s opinion, caused the failure of the Biafra Republic. He pointedly laid the blamed on Chief Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, who led Biafra. He said that Ojukwu lacked tact, never took advice, suffered what could pass for inferiority complex and was power drunk. In the opening paragraph of that chapter, Uwechue said: “It is a sad but instructive irony that Lt. Col Odumegwu Ojukwu, one of Africa’s one-time most brilliant political promises, was the man that led his own people with such a lack of ingenuity into what was clearly a foreseeable disaster.” He said that the personality of Ojukwu robbed off negatively on Biafra, adding: “It can be said for the Nigerian Civil War that the personality of Odumegwu Ojukwu more than any other single factor determined much of the course and certainly the character of the end of the Biafran adventure.”

The elder statesman said, in the book, that Ojukwu was ambitious and, therefore, paid attention only to the “politics of the war” instead of the security of the people he led. He said that owing to Ojukwu’s interest, two wars were fought with the territory of Biafra then: “The first was for the survival of the Ibos as a race. The second was for the survival of Ojukwu’s leadership.” He said that Ojukwu was more interested in the survival of his leadership at that time, which, he said: “Proved fatal for the Ibos” during the war.

The Ohanaeze chieftain said that if Ojukwu were smart enough to understand the politics of alliances in the country, Biafra could have survived. According to him, there was an opportunity for Ojukwu to align with the Western Region then, but he did not see the necessity for that. He said that this opportunity came when the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo was released from prison by General Yakubu Gowon and he declared: If “the Eastern Region was pushed out of the federation, Western Nigeria would quit the federation as well.” According to him, Ojukwu should have taken that declaration as a cue and wooed the Western Region.

Uwechue said that another opportunity also came the way of Ojukwu to forge an East-West alliance when Awolowo visited Enugu, as Gowon’s emissary. According to him, what Ojukwu needed was to bring Awolowo to his side, but he did not utilize the opportunity and ended up describing the meeting as “ill-conceived child.”
He had revealed: “When on 7th May 1967 the Yoruba leader (Awolowo) came to Enugu at the head of a reconciliation committee, Ojukwu had a handsome opportunity to play his card. He missed. Dr. Michael Okpara, who still enjoyed popular support in Eastern Nigeria and whose friendship with Chief Awolowo had sustained the UPGA alliances, was not even invited to meet Chief Awolowo. After a hurried reception, Chief Awolowo’s delegation left Eastern Nigeria.”

He said that Gowon, understanding the way alliances worked in the country, had wooed Western Nigeria, first by releasing Awolowo from prison and second, by not only offering him an appointment, but also making him the highest civilian in the government as the vice president of the Federal Executive Council. According to him, by this appointment, there was an “unspoken understanding that Nigeria was his (Awolowo’s) as soon as the war was over and the army withdrew.” He said that this cemented the relation between the Northern Region and Western Region and, therefore, left the east in the lurch.

Uwechue said that within Biafra, Ojukwu alienated talented Igbo, using iron hand to establish his authority. Towards this end, he said that Dr. Okpara, former premier of Eastern Nigeria, was jailed as well as others. “These political figures were to remain out of favour and far from the corridor of power, except for their occasional utility as window dressing, such as posing for photographs with General Ojukwu or flanking him on ceremonial occasions,” he wrote.

He said that the same thing happened in the army, as Ojukwu suppressed officers and, therefore, had a “timid army tamed to unquestionable obedience.”

The elder statesman said that Ojukwu had the opportunity of using the diplomatic front to sell Biafra, but that instead of doing this he shunned advice, especially on the need for compromise. He said that when the war dragged, many eminent Igbo advised Ojukwu to asked for a confederal nation, which would keep Biafra within Nigeria and also give it adequate local autonomy, but this was not only rejected but also those who suggested it were witch-hunted.

He said: “The climax came on 7th of September 1968, just before the OAU summit meeting in Algiers. A number of anxious Ibos, including Dr. Azikiwe, former president of Nigeria, Dr. Michael Okpara, former premier of Eastern Nigeria (Biafra), Dr. K. O. Dike, former rector of Ibadan University and myself made a formal recommendation in which we told General Ojukwu that as Africa was sympathetic to the Ibo cause, but at the same time opposed to secession, he should use the opportunity of the Algiers meeting to seek OAU guarantee for a confederal arrangement, such as was agreed at Aburi (Ghana). General Ojukwu not only rejected this advice outright but also asked some of us to recant or resign. Dr. Azikiwe left Paris in disgust and went to London in voluntary exile. I myself chose to resign.”

Uwechue said that Ojukwu saw himself as a supremo during the war and only trusted his own judgment. In trying to explain why this could have been so, he said: “To this special development of his ego and the feeling of self-sufficiency was added the confidence acquired from an Oxford University milieu and from the fact of his father’s great wealth. Back to Nigeria, Ojukwu soon joined the army, where, as an officer, he got more accustomed to giving orders and receiving prompt obedience than meeting opposition and arguments.” He said that Ojukwu found himself always at the “giving end” rather than at the “receiving end,” adding: “By keeping Ojukwu constantly enveloped in an atmosphere of superiority, it made him, as a matter of habit, distrustful and disdainful of other people’s judgment, impatient with their opinions and finally simply authoritarian.”

The elder statesman concluded that owing to Ojukwu’s attitude, Biafra failed. He said that the failure was mainly a “political one,” which, according to him, “was, in turn, the failure of the leadership, which firstly, made a wrong tactical choice – outright secession – instead of maneouvring appropriately for vital political alliances within Nigeria and exploiting in that context the numerous weaknesses of its opponents.” He said that by breaking out of the country, “the Biafran leadership abandoned the Nigerian field to those who had then only recently wrenched federal control from the Ironsi government, thus uniting various shades of political opinions in the country behind the new federal authorities, as had never been the case before in Nigeria’s political history, in defence of Nigerian unity.”

^^^^^

How did we elect a man like Uwechue?

This man is selling out the South East to his South South roots and must be stopped.

How can a man who have no respect for Ojukwu be trusted with the future of Ndigbo?

Chineke! We have enemies in our midst!

I used to have so much optimism in my people.

But I am becoming more disillusioned and disappointed.

Sometimes I wish we Easterners had the same type of unity that the Northerners have. They may be poor, they may be illiterate, but[b] I envy their unity. [/b]

Did Uwechue say anything new? I really don't think so! And I wonder what the whole hullabaloo is about. The new thing is the method Uwechue chose to communicate his feelings. I am disappointed with Uwechue and here's why: Uwechue spoke as if those problems of Ndigbo in Nigeria have been finally resolved, and therefore he is at liberty to peddle his opinions about our past leader. For heavens sake he is the Ohanaeze President and didn't need to educate the whole world about Ojukwu's faults as a leader. He has the ears of all Igbo chieftains and all Igbo. His Job is to work to unite Ndigbo in all parts of Nigeria. He is not doing that.
If he thinks that the tendency to repeat the past mistakes still exist (which I strongly doubt), pray whose job is it to fix it? Is he fixing it by launching attacks on the one individual that strikes fear in the enemy of Ndigbo? So he should communicate those things through the channels of Ime-Obi or Aka Ikenga. He is free to speak as an Igbo person after he resigned his position. It was irresponsible of him to make those statements concerning Ojukwu's personality. Igbo people say that "E Ji egbe mgbo di na nke mgbo adighi we chupu onye iro" (You use both loaded and unloaded guns to drive out the enemy!) Afterall only you know which of your guns are loaded! I'm disappointed in these statements. I am far younger than the Ohanaeze chieftain but I wouldn't make those statements! Uwechue should wait until his term is over before making any similar statements.

The Ohanaeze chieftain may not know it, but Igbo have since learned all the lessons necessary from our war experience, which is why Igbo approach to Nigeria and Biafra today is markedly different than what happened in the past.

Qoute from Onlytruth - October 24, 2009. 06:48pm

marcdunu:

^^^^^

How did we elect a man like Uwechue?

This man is selling out the South East to his South South roots and must be stopped.

How can a man who have no respect for Ojukwu be trusted with the future of Ndigbo?

Uwechue, like many other genuine Igbos have their disagreement with the way we were led during the war. Zik, Nwobodo, Araka, etc have been documented to strongly disagree with Ojukwu as a war leader.
Anyway, Uwechue is an Igboman just like Ojukwu, and I wouldn't impugne his character just for dissing Ojukwu.
You really don't want to know how many Igbos have no respect for Ojukwu, do you?

I am really disappointed in this Marcdunu character for trying his damnedest to score a cheap point(after he failed to win logically), but I would limit this blame to that minuscule FEW Igbo renegades on nairaland. Imagine this guy pulling a genuine comment I made about Uwechue ONE YEAR AGO, and trying to use it to discredit me.

It actually achieved the opposite because it shows that I am an ardent supporter of Igbo unity of purpose. I frowned at Uwechues open attack on Ojukwu as Ohanaeze president and I still stand on that. 
I'm sure that he has since learned because I have not seen him repeat such gaffe. He has conducted himself creditably by embarking on wide consultations before making statements on Igbo affairs. He has become the best Ohanaeze president so far.

But this Marcdunu character is really a very bitter individual and can kill his own brother just to win an argument.

Quite retarded.

As I have said here sometime ago, I am used to dealing with his type who use argumentum ad hominem to hoodwink the gullible.

UNITED WE STAND.

I Support Uwechue and Ohanaeze! QED. 

marcdunu:

Uwechue’s bomb on Biafra

• The making of sensational civil war revelation
By ONUOHA UKEH
Saturday, October 24, 2009

Elder statesman and President-General of the pan-Igbo socio-cultural organization, Chief Raph Uwechue, has sensationally revealed, in a book, how ego and quest for absolute control by Chief Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu ruined Biafra.

He said, in the book, Reflections on the Nigerian Civil War – Facing the Future, that Ojukwu adopted a maximum ruler posture, shunned advice as well as believed in his won judgment, factor, which he said, caused the failure of the break away of the Eastern Nigeria.

He said: “By keeping Ojukwu constantly enveloped in an atmosphere of superiority, it made him, as a matter of habit, distrustful and disdainful of other people’s judgment, impatient with their opinions and finally simply authoritarian.”

Uwechue had visited the corporate headquarters of The Sun sometime ago and while fielding questions from a team of senior editors, he spoke about pre-independence Nigeria, the politics after independence, civil war and the country after the war. He had promised to send to The Sun copies of his book: Reflections on the Nigerian Civil War – Facing the Future, a revised and expanded edition of his previous book, Reflection on the Nigerian Civil War – A Call for Realism. The book was reprinted in 2004. True to his promise, the elder statesman sent copies of the book, which turned out to be expository.

Indeed, the 199-page book told the story of the first military coup in the country, the second military coup, the crisis after the second coup, the meetings to forestall a war, the secession of the eastern part of the country and the efforts to end the war. The book also has two epilogues, where the author analysed the fall of Biafra, in the topic: The Genesis of Failure and also there is the examination of government structure, in the topic: An Elastic Federal Union.

Reading Chief Uwechue’s book, we found The Genesis of Failure very interesting and, therefore, decided to reproduce it. The chapter talked about the things, in the author’s opinion, caused the failure of the Biafra Republic. He pointedly laid the blamed on Chief Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, who led Biafra. He said that Ojukwu lacked tact, never took advice, suffered what could pass for inferiority complex and was power drunk. In the opening paragraph of that chapter, Uwechue said: “It is a sad but instructive irony that Lt. Col Odumegwu Ojukwu, one of Africa’s one-time most brilliant political promises, was the man that led his own people with such a lack of ingenuity into what was clearly a foreseeable disaster.” He said that the personality of Ojukwu robbed off negatively on Biafra, adding: “It can be said for the Nigerian Civil War that the personality of Odumegwu Ojukwu more than any other single factor determined much of the course and certainly the character of the end of the Biafran adventure.”

The elder statesman said, in the book, that Ojukwu was ambitious and, therefore, paid attention only to the “politics of the war” instead of the security of the people he led. He said that owing to Ojukwu’s interest, two wars were fought with the territory of Biafra then: “The first was for the survival of the Ibos as a race. The second was for the survival of Ojukwu’s leadership.” He said that Ojukwu was more interested in the survival of his leadership at that time, which, he said: “Proved fatal for the Ibos” during the war.

The Ohanaeze chieftain said that if Ojukwu were smart enough to understand the politics of alliances in the country, Biafra could have survived. According to him, there was an opportunity for Ojukwu to align with the Western Region then, but he did not see the necessity for that. He said that this opportunity came when the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo was released from prison by General Yakubu Gowon and he declared: If “the Eastern Region was pushed out of the federation, Western Nigeria would quit the federation as well.” According to him, Ojukwu should have taken that declaration as a cue and wooed the Western Region.

Uwechue said that another opportunity also came the way of Ojukwu to forge an East-West alliance when Awolowo visited Enugu, as Gowon’s emissary. According to him, what Ojukwu needed was to bring Awolowo to his side, but he did not utilize the opportunity and ended up describing the meeting as “ill-conceived child.”
He had revealed: “When on 7th May 1967 the Yoruba leader (Awolowo) came to Enugu at the head of a reconciliation committee, Ojukwu had a handsome opportunity to play his card. He missed. Dr. Michael Okpara, who still enjoyed popular support in Eastern Nigeria and whose friendship with Chief Awolowo had sustained the UPGA alliances, was not even invited to meet Chief Awolowo. After a hurried reception, Chief Awolowo’s delegation left Eastern Nigeria.”

He said that Gowon, understanding the way alliances worked in the country, had wooed Western Nigeria, first by releasing Awolowo from prison and second, by not only offering him an appointment, but also making him the highest civilian in the government as the vice president of the Federal Executive Council. According to him, by this appointment, there was an “unspoken understanding that Nigeria was his (Awolowo’s) as soon as the war was over and the army withdrew.” He said that this cemented the relation between the Northern Region and Western Region and, therefore, left the east in the lurch.

Uwechue said that within Biafra, Ojukwu alienated talented Igbo, using iron hand to establish his authority. Towards this end, he said that Dr. Okpara, former premier of Eastern Nigeria, was jailed as well as others. “These political figures were to remain out of favour and far from the corridor of power, except for their occasional utility as window dressing, such as posing for photographs with General Ojukwu or flanking him on ceremonial occasions,” he wrote.

He said that the same thing happened in the army, as Ojukwu suppressed officers and, therefore, had a “timid army tamed to unquestionable obedience.”

The elder statesman said that Ojukwu had the opportunity of using the diplomatic front to sell Biafra, but that instead of doing this he shunned advice, especially on the need for compromise. He said that when the war dragged, many eminent Igbo advised Ojukwu to asked for a confederal nation, which would keep Biafra within Nigeria and also give it adequate local autonomy, but this was not only rejected but also those who suggested it were witch-hunted.

He said: “The climax came on 7th of September 1968, just before the OAU summit meeting in Algiers. A number of anxious Ibos, including Dr. Azikiwe, former president of Nigeria, Dr. Michael Okpara, former premier of Eastern Nigeria (Biafra), Dr. K. O. Dike, former rector of Ibadan University and myself made a formal recommendation in which we told General Ojukwu that as Africa was sympathetic to the Ibo cause, but at the same time opposed to secession, he should use the opportunity of the Algiers meeting to seek OAU guarantee for a confederal arrangement, such as was agreed at Aburi (Ghana). General Ojukwu not only rejected this advice outright but also asked some of us to recant or resign. Dr. Azikiwe left Paris in disgust and went to London in voluntary exile. I myself chose to resign.”

Uwechue said that Ojukwu saw himself as a supremo during the war and only trusted his own judgment. In trying to explain why this could have been so, he said: “To this special development of his ego and the feeling of self-sufficiency was added the confidence acquired from an Oxford University milieu and from the fact of his father’s great wealth. Back to Nigeria, Ojukwu soon joined the army, where, as an officer, he got more accustomed to giving orders and receiving prompt obedience than meeting opposition and arguments.” He said that Ojukwu found himself always at the “giving end” rather than at the “receiving end,” adding: “By keeping Ojukwu constantly enveloped in an atmosphere of superiority, it made him, as a matter of habit, distrustful and disdainful of other people’s judgment, impatient with their opinions and finally simply authoritarian.”

The elder statesman concluded that owing to Ojukwu’s attitude, Biafra failed. He said that the failure was mainly a “political one,” which, according to him, “was, in turn, the failure of the leadership, which firstly, made a wrong tactical choice – outright secession – instead of maneouvring appropriately for vital political alliances within Nigeria and exploiting in that context the numerous weaknesses of its opponents.” He said that by breaking out of the country, “the Biafran leadership abandoned the Nigerian field to those who had then only recently wrenched federal control from the Ironsi government, thus uniting various shades of political opinions in the country behind the new federal authorities, as had never been the case before in Nigeria’s political history, in defence of Nigerian unity.”

[size=15pt]I AM GLAD AN IGBO MAN SAID THE TRUTH!!!! THIS HAS BEEN THE MESSAGE I HAVE BEEN TRYING TO PASS ACROSS TO MY IGBO BROTHERS.[/size] Anyway, back to topic

Quote from: jason12345 on Today at 12:07:47 PM

I AM GLAD AN IGBO MAN SAID THE TRUTH!!!! THIS HAS BEEN THE MESSAGE I HAVE BEEN TRYING TO PASS ACROSS TO MY IGBO BROTHERS.

GBAM!!! HE WHO HAS EARS, LET HIM/HER LISTEN!!!

I hate to think how many innocent igbo lives could have been saved had Ojukwu accepted the recommendations proffered by those concerned Igbo leaders of thought like Zik, Okpara, Dike and the author and settled for a gaurantee confederacy as contained in the Aburi accord? 

Dr. Azikiwe left Paris in disgust and went to London in voluntary exile. I myself chose to resign.”

Yet, Ojukwu continued fighting for another SIXTEEN more months exploiting the plight of his starving people, the same people he is meant to be fighting for, to demand LANDING FEES from relief aids org. The civil war lasted, THIRTY months.

Ojukwu then used these LANDING FEES to perpetuate  a lossing battle whilst innocent women and children-his people, were dropping dead from hunger!How many more igbos died before Ojukwu finally decided to "throw in the towel" and run off to Cote de Voire IN SEARCH OF PEACE 100s? 1000s?? 100,000s Who knows?

OH, WHAT A WASTE OF SO MANY LIVES FOR ONE MAN'S AMBITION.

[quote="Onlytruth"]And you need to understand that there is strength in unity.  

You also need to understand that there is no way Igboland is more diverse than the north. I don't need to travel all parts of Igboland and speak in all dialects to know that Igwe bu ike!

We are not more diverse than the NORTH, yet, they are pushing a common agenda. You are NOT even trying at all.

What I don't understand is why folks like you can't even try to be reasonable. Beats me.[/quote]
Just shut it. Give it a rest. All of this your yarn doesn't change the fact that your organization is overstepping its boundaries. Note: there is a clear [/b]difference between an endorsement [/i]and a [i]recommendation, as well as a [b]clear [/b]understanding as to who or what is in position to make either of the two. All this your 'Igwe bu ike' yarn changes nothing. Speaking of unity, I hope you understand that you cannot impose such. So stop running around like that EzeUche friend of yours and his "Igbo unity at all costs" mentality. That poo'll backfire on you.

marcdunu:

^^^^^

How did [b]we elect a man like Uwechue?

Who is "we". . . ? and what election?

Eze Ozobu , God blesss you and your generations.I am happy with your analysis of Igbo question. Political marriage with the north never brought anything to us. They have failed us and this is our chance for us to consider what we stand to get from an existing political structure than the 2.15 bait used by the north to deceive us .

They cannot use and dump us again. It is better Igbos join GEJ because he appears to have our interest . The letter he wrote speaks eloquently for what he has for our people. That shows he has passion for uniting forces than divisive ones propagated by Adamu Ciroma and co.

why are these low lives finding it difficult to understand this. we are in democracy and anyone can support anybody.
i do not know of anyone that has my mandate to say who i will support of not.
if i have any reason to vote, it will be up to me to vote anyone my mind likes because non of these criminals is going there for my interests.
they have all proved to be selfish so to hell with all of them.

marcdunu:

^^^^^

How did we elect a man like Uwechue?

This man is selling out the South East to his South South roots and must be stopped.

How can a man who have no respect for Ojukwu be trusted with the future of Ndigbo?

Common shut up your smelly mouth. Are you more Igbo than Uwaechue?. How can you question the credibility of a man who has spent over 45 years of his life fighting for Igbo race. Is there no Igbo race in the south south?. Brain-dead monkey.