At the end of the day, everyone is entitled to their own opinion. However, what I cant get over is the nasty and crude language that is used to give a contrary opinion! As a non Ibo who has read widely on the Biafran war, I do believe that it is a cruel and terrible part of our history that must be addressed and put to rest thereafter.
Most Wars in recent history have had some form of reconciliation fact finding Commission/Tribunal that has investigated atrocities committed that are contrary to civilized rules of war. Horrific things were inflicted on Easterners in the name of The Federal Republic of Nigeria, which means in the name of any Nigerian who was not from the East. Apart from the spiritual repercussions of this, being abusive and nasty, 40 years later certainly is not going to help. There is a deep pain that will not just go away or be forgotten and must be addressed. That Ibos today are prospering and are on a rising and blest projectile that has not even started is only by the Grace of God and should not be an excuse to ignore or deny the need to come together as brothers and sisters, comfort and wipe away the years of hiden pain and resentments. If this is not done, then the future is not bright as the festering sore will eventually consume all, one way or another.

i really do not think that article should form the subject of a thread.
this is only part 1 of the article and we need to read its conclusion to know what point its writer is trying to make.

so far i am not sure we have learnt anything new from the article.

the war ended more than 40 years ago before many here were born .

it was a dark period in our documented history but

we MUST move on

Thank you and God keep you and people like you.

Madamot:

At the end of the day, everyone is entitled to their own opinion. However, what I cant get over is the nasty and crude language that is used to give a contrary opinion! As a non Ibo who has read widely on the Biafran war, I do believe that it is a cruel and terrible part of our history that must be addressed and put to rest thereafter.
Most Wars in recent history have had some form of reconciliation fact finding Commission/Tribunal that has investigated atrocities committed that are contrary to civilized rules of war. Horrific things were inflicted on Easterners in the name of The Federal Republic of Nigeria, which means in the name of any Nigerian who was not from the East. Apart from the spiritual repercussions of this, being abusive and nasty, 40 years later certainly is not going to help. There is a deep pain that will not just go away or be forgotten and must be addressed. That Ibos today are prospering and are on a rising and blest projectile that has not even started is only by the Grace of God and should not be an excuse to ignore or deny the need to come together as brothers and sisters, comfort and wipe away the years of hiden pain and resentments. If this is not done, then the future is not bright as the festering sore will eventually consume all, one way or another.

well, in order to "address history" as one writer puts it one must do a lot more that express hurt,opinion,anger or resentment.

one must confront "facts" which in this particular instance are often at odds  or extremely contradictory even.

we are in danger of repeating the previous exercises in circularity of rhetoric with no headway.

i think we all know what the various opinions and counter-opininions are though there is an infinite novelty to how they are expressed.


my view is that we can either start another war or move on.

there really is no middle ground

Aigbofa:

Jobs was obviously too young to realize that God was not complicit in any war. If he was, how come the victims of the said war are still fervently serving him today?

For people like Okey Ndibe though, the war never ended. Anything, even the decision of a 13 year old steve Jobs from an era gone by, can now "resurrect" Biafra in his mind and in the minds of some phantom international community.

Get over it already! You are not the first to lose a war and definitely will not be the last.

if you are talking about Jehovah i beg to differ. a more blood thirsty deity is not known to all humanity. the same god that decreed that all of Amalek,man,woman,boy ,girl,goat and cow should be put to the sword.

Aigbofa:

Jobs was obviously too young to realize that God was not complicit in any war. If he was, how come the victims of the said war are still fervently serving him today?

For people like Okey Ndibe though, the war never ended. Anything, even the decision of a 13 year old steve Jobs from an era gone by, can now "resurrect" Biafra in his mind and in the minds of some phantom international community.

Get over it already! You are not the first to lose a war and definitely will not be the last.

we are not the first to lose a war. But you are the first to want to wish it away as if nothing happened. Without any form of genuine reconciliation, you still boast till today how you won the war. We must give it to you, you won we lost. But let me tell you, this country shall never see the light unless the igbo man truly feels a part of it. For now nigeria is just an investment ground, a rip off zone we exist to take money out of your pockets. That should not be. Once dostoyevsky asked the czar. 'can you build your utopia no the unavenged tears of one single individual? ' here i ask nigerians 'can you build your vision 202020 good people great nation, giant of africa bla bla bla on the unavenged tears of the entire igbo who are a part of you? Nigeria should come out and take the high road, have the guts to admit those war crimes. The igbo should also should forgive and forget. That is the only way out of this re-occuring decimal this nightmare. Let's fix the past and protect the future from discussions like this. Okey Ndibe spot on.

oduasolja:

look at his dummy . how can igbos have more landed property , have u seen nigerias map before



niger state alone is more than twice the size of the whole entire igbo land. so how can your dumbass have more land ?

unless u want to say the igbos own all theland in the rest of nigeria.

dummy,jus cus u own a few houses dont mean u have more land. slowpoke. of the highest order.

Without soundin abusive,oduasoja,I think u re the slowpoke, common sense(not common anyway)should hav told u that d gentleman was talkin about landed property in terms of monetary value and not the mere existence of dry desert land with mud houses scantily scatterd all over it.Even in the Niger state you cite as example,you wil be shockd at the numba of igbo landlords existin there.!

Madamot:

At the end of the day, everyone is entitled to their own opinion. However, what I cant get over is the nasty and crude language that is used to give a contrary opinion! As a non Ibo who has read widely on the Biafran war, I do believe that it is a cruel and terrible part of our history that must be addressed and put to rest thereafter.
Most Wars in recent history have had some form of reconciliation fact finding Commission/Tribunal that has investigated atrocities committed that are contrary to civilized rules of war. Horrific things were inflicted on Easterners in the name of The Federal Republic of Nigeria, which means in the name of any Nigerian who was not from the East. Apart from the spiritual repercussions of this, being abusive and nasty, 40 years later certainly is not going to help. There is a deep pain that will not just go away or be forgotten and must be addressed. That Ibos today are prospering and are on a rising  and blest projectile that has not even started is only by the Grace of God and should not be an excuse to ignore or deny the need to come together as brothers and sisters, comfort and wipe away the years of hiden pain and resentments. If this is not done, then the future is not bright as the festering sore will eventually consume all, one way or another.

Put succinctly, Nigeria remained accursed until the ills of the war are addressed, nothing will ever work! Blood is not in the same category as water!


To move forward, we MUST look back!

PointB:

Put succinctly, Nigeria remained accursed until the ills of the war are addressed, nothing will ever work! Blood is not in the category as water!


To move forward, we MUST look back!

pointB you're really point blank.

Chinedu Nlem:

pointB you're really point blank.

Is there is another way? I haven't seen.

Quote 4m Oduasolja
abi is not when u tried to steal nigerias oil wealth that the war started . ok.

If you don't know what 2 say or how 2 express urslf better shut up next tm, right?

The Oil you call Nigerian oil, FOOL, where's it being generated /drilled outside Niger-Delta?

Chinedu Nlem:

we are not the first to lose a war. But you are the first to want to wish it away as if nothing happened. Without any form of genuine reconciliation, you still boast till today how you won the war. We must give it to you, you won we lost. But let me tell you, this country shall never see the light unless the igbo man  truly feels  a part of it. For now nigeria is just an investment ground, a rip off zone we exist to take money out of your pockets. That should not be. Once dostoyevsky asked the czar. 'can you build your utopia no the unavenged tears of one single individual? ' here i ask nigerians 'can you build your vision 202020 good people great nation, giant of africa bla bla bla on the unavenged tears of the entire igbo who are a part of you? Nigeria should come out and take the high road, have the guts to admit those war crimes. The igbo should also should forgive and forget. That is the only way out of this re-occuring decimal  this nightmare. Let's fix the past and protect the future from discussions like this. Okey Ndibe spot on.     

the country did not see the light before the war and did not see it afterwards
nothing to do with the igboman and reconciliation.
that is sentiment

the country has many bad leaders like much of black africa and the igbos have their fair share.
nigeria does not have any problem(s) that is unique in africa
there have been many brutal wars in history with many  victims that is the violent nature of man . very rarely if at all has anything like genuine reconcililiation taken place.
there has been no beast more destructive of itself than the European in warfare.
why don't they have as many problems as africans??

whatever the reasons for our failure as our nation it has little to do with  curses, gods,devils, igbos and all that and a lot to do with  how black people ,in general think.

aribisala0:

the country did not see the light before the war and did not see it afterwards
nothing to do with the igboman and reconciliation.
that is sentiment

the country has many bad leaders like much of black africa and the igbos have their fair share.
nigeria does not have any problem(s) that is unique in africa
there have been many brutal wars in history with many  victims that is the violent nature of man . very rarely if at all has anything like genuine reconcililiation taken place.
there has been no beast more destructive of itself than the European in warfare.
why don't they have as many problems as africans??

whatever the reasons for our failure as our nation it has little to do with  curses, gods,devils, igbos and all that and a lot to do with  how black people ,in general think.

You can write whatever makes you happy. The truth is that Nigeria has never know peace, progress or any tranquility since Biafra war. How can you even dream of peace without justice and reconciliation. Bigotry, hatred, suspicion, envy, tribalism, etc rule the day. Looting, murder, arson, and other evil run things at night. And you think these are coincidental?

Nigeria is indeed cursed by spill blood, and haunted by restless spirits - of children starved to death, of defenseless and innocent civilian mowed down in Asaba as so many places. Nigeria is a cursed land!

Deliverance is needed!

But then you are an avowed atheist, how would spiritual stuff make sense to you?

The progress of the Igbos in the Nigerian state can simply be likened to that of the Germans and Britain. German leader wronged the World, They fought the War but lost woefully both economically and politically. Britain celebrated their victory over the Germans but decades after the war, the British economy is on a downward trend while the Germans did not only overtake Britain economically but has become a major force in the world economy.

If the Nigerian nation refuses to right their wrong, then there is no problem. I will only pray to remain alive to withness more economic prosperity for my people.

1Sa 30:8 And David enquired at the LORD, saying, Shall I pursue after this troop? shall I overtake them? And he answered him, Pursue: for thou shalt surely overtake them, and without fail recover all.

PointB:

You can write whatever makes you happy. The truth is that Nigeria has never know peace, progress or any tranquility since Biafra war. How can you even dream of peace without justice and reconciliation. Bigotry, hatred, suspicion, envy, tribalism, etc rule the day. Looting, murder, arson, and other evil run things at night. And you think these are coincidental?

Nigeria is indeed cursed by spill blood, and haunted by restless spirits  - of children starved to death, of defenseless and innocent civilian mowed down in Asaba as so many places. Nigeria is a cursed land!

Deliverance is needed!

But then you are an avowed atheist, how would spiritual stuff make sense to you?

did nigeria know any of those things
before biafra war
did nigeria know any of those things

before martin luther king was killed

before muhammad ali refused military service

before the vietnam war

the link between any of those events is spurious

if only ali had gone to vietnam nigeria would be a better place today

i agree that the biafra war like all wars was a tragic event but any link between that and our present circumstances is negligible.

there really is no BLACK country doing much better please tell me of any??

spirituality has little to do with god or religion

@ phipex
funny you focus only on the igbos were they the only victims of biafra what about the efik and others did they not pay a high price too??
i guess they don't really count do they?

can you explain the current ascendancy of China in the context of blessings/spirituality

who are the major victims of all the ethnic uprising in the north? How many times have the hausas fought the igbos in kano? Why would it sound as a history for igbomen to be made IGP and CAS in a country where everybody is equal? How many supreme court justices are the igboland? Do you know how much the igbos are losing every year as a result of having five states?

Clown, go get a life  buncha whinners, you and your Okey Ndibe!
Disjointed Igbo for 3 -term presidency after Jona , are you satisfied now? Now go somewhere else to scratch your balls.

there is really no need to insult anyone . let us deal with issues

aribisala0:

the country did not see the light before the war and did not see it afterwards
nothing to do with the igboman and reconciliation.
that is sentiment

the country has many bad leaders like much of black africa and the igbos have their fair share.
nigeria does not have any problem(s) that is unique in africa
there have been many brutal wars in history with many  victims that is the violent nature of man . very rarely if at all has anything like genuine reconcililiation taken place.
there has been no beast more destructive of itself than the European in warfare.
why don't they have as many problems as africans??

whatever the reasons for our failure as our nation it has little to do with  curses, gods,devils, igbos and all that and a lot to do with  how black people ,in general think.

while i don't want to engage you on 'how black people think' let that be the duel of another day. Try and read walter rodney's classic. How europe underdeveloped africa. Your answers are there. As per african problems nigeria is not unique in having them, but we definitey stand out in our problem solving tactics. We simply wish them away and yes they remain-no, they compound, that's the nigerian way. That's why most african states are ahead in those social indices. The giant of africa is lagging behind that is definitely unique. Nigeria to nigerians is one huge cake, we certainly and uniquely divide the national cake. National pride is dead in nigeria is this not unique? . Well my brother the ship of state is sinking, we need every hand on deck including igbo hands. You talk about the europeans yes but even after 1945 jews still lived there because the germans were quick to admit their wrongs. The germans have moved on. To apologise is to the igbo is sentiment you say but nationalism is sentiment, nation building is sentiment, patriotism is sentiment. Our country nigeria needs sentimental nigerians.

This Biafra issue again?

chinedu  thanks for your recommended reading list.

there were many ethnic groups in biafra. philip effiong was NOT igbo

when you talk about apology to igbos you only generate resentmentment from these groups.

i did not comment on whether or NOT there should be an apology so do not misquote me.
i know of many yorubas who fought on the nigerian side and they were NOT at war with Igbos.
are you aware of igbos being targetted and killed in yorubaland?? like what has happened severally in the north.
not everyone sees the war as a war againgst igbos it was a secession like in the USA Chechnya and elsewhere. it failed

my point is that there is no link between such an apology and developmental progress/

in the history of mankind how many times have apologies been issued after civil wars please educate us. you say nigeria is "lagging behind" this is a claim can you substantiate this or should i take your word for it??

nigeria was the only country capable of making a decisive change in Liberia . is that a country lagging behind

angola,somalia,namibia,ivory coast,zaire,rwanda libya have all fought/or are fighting wars there is armed conflict all over africa and i daresay more people have been killed than in nigeria.
these are unfortunate occurences but that for me is no reason to suspend logic and engage in  what psychologists call  "magical thinking" all in the name of spirituality

ugosly:

Without soundin abusive,oduasoja,I think u re the slowpoke, common sense(not common anyway)should hav told u that d gentleman was talkin about landed property in terms of monetary value and not the mere existence of dry desert land with mud houses scantily scatterd all over it.Even in the Niger state you cite as example,you wil be shockd at the numba of igbo landlords existin there.!

LMAO

I no fit laugh finish.

Abeg, free the guy. It's not a crime to be mentally impoverished.

ugosly:

Without soundin abusive,oduasoja,I think u re the slowpoke, common sense(not common anyway)should hav told u that d gentleman was talkin about landed property in terms of monetary value and not the mere existence of dry desert land with mud houses scantily scatterd all over it.Even in the Niger state you cite as example,you wil be shockd at the numba of igbo landlords existin there.!

really I have said it on this forum that people like oduasoja NEEDS TO BE IGNORED

Please people need to stop taking his comment serious.

aribisala0:

did nigeria know any of those things
before biafra war
did nigeria know any of those things
[s]
before martin luther king was killed

before muhammad ali refused military service

before the vietnam war
[/s]
the link between any of those events is spurious

[s]if only ali had gone to vietnam nigeria would be a better place today[/s]

i agree that the biafra war like all wars was a tragic event but any link between that and our present circumstances is negligible.

there really is no BLACK country doing much better please tell me of any??

The same self delusion.
Without gainsaying, you are either saying this out of ignorance or self denial. Which ever it is, I hope it helps you sleep better.
A past tragic war, has negligible consequence to the present circumstance of a country? Which book have you been reading? It sure has nothing to do with psychology, philosophy. I don't really get you. But that statement is warped. Very warped if I may emphasize. It exposes a major fault line in your thinking. Is that what you are going to tell those children (the oldest will be 55 now lets assume they were 15 years at that time), if you were to meet them? That losing everything they cared for 40 years ago, has negligible consequence for them today? Sir, there is a major fault-line in your reasoning, no pun intended.

Interesting article.

PointB:

The same self delusion.
Without gainsaying, you are either saying this out of ignorance or self denial. Which ever it is, I hope it helps you sleep better.
A past tragic war, has negligible consequence to the present circumstance of a country? Which book have you been reading? It sure has nothing to do with psychology, philosophy. I don't really get you. But that statement is warped. Very warped if I may emphasize. Is exposes a major fault line in your thinking. Is that what you are going to tell those children (the oldest will be 55 now lets assume they were 15 years at that time), if you were to meet them?

That losing everything they cared for 40 years ago, has negligible consequence for them today? Sir, there is a major fault-line in your reasoning, no pun intended.

i do not know much about your thinking and won't comment on that or you . do you know of any form of debate that does not involve name calling?
you already called me an "atheist"
try and argue without the reflex use of ad hominem barbs

i prefer to talk about ideas

if you disagree with my IDEAS  present yours and argue your position


using words like warped  to describe my thinking changes nothing

PS but you are gainsaying

aribisala0:

i do not know much about your thinking and won't comment on that or you . do you know of any form of debate that does not involve name calling?
you already called me an "atheist"
try and argue without the reflex use of ad hominem barbs

i prefer to talk about ideas

if you disagree with my IDEAS  present yours and argue your position


using words like warped  to describe my thinking changes nothing

PS but you are gainsaying

My thinking and ideas are well laid out, and they represent a parallel from yours. And I have not resorted to name calling, describing what I think about your thinking is not in the same category as name calling. If I call you names, trust me, it will be obvious.

When you say Awo paid £20 for whatever amount of wealth (Biafra currency holding) a person had, should he have paid at parity? Under what precepts? Did the Nigerian and Biafran pounds at the time have the same purchasing power? Was there anything to purchase with the Biafran pound to start with? Thank God, nobody accuses Awo of dispossessing N'digbo of their property in the West (Awo's home base) where our Igbo brothers have always had substancial real estate interests. Emeka Ojukwu's father's property in Lagos were duly returned to him. And because of these false and malicious accusations, the minds of the mass of N'digbo have been poisoned against Awo, even in death. Question is: will N'digbo ever stop lying against Nigeria and Awolowo in particular about the 20 pounds policy ? Time would tell.

@ point B
well you called me an atheist which was a label that is supposed to reinforce your position??
i guess it was parallel thinking that led to war in the first place. we do not share the same worldview that does not give you the right to be rude. if i was rude you will know so can you cut out that last remark no one has a monopoly on unruliness. if you want to discuss issues do so . i take exception to you calling my thinking warped

aribisala0:

@ point B
well you called me an atheist which was a label that is supposed to reinforce your position??
i guess it was parallel thinking that led to war in the first place. we do not share the same worldview that does not give you the right to be rude. if i was rude you will know so can you cut out that last remark no one has a monopoly on unruliness. if you want to discuss issues do so . i take exception to you calling my thinking warped

Your exception is noted even though calling your thinking warped is a description that I consider apt. Because I don't know how else to describe a statement that insinuate that - a civil war that innocent children, women, and defenseless men are murdered in their millions have negligible consequence on the the present fate the country. That idea and way of thinking is considered warped in my books.

I am yet to see superior reason/logic why I should think/state otherwise.

alj_harem:

When you say Awo paid £20 for whatever amount of wealth (Biafra currency holding) a person had, should he have paid at parity? Under what precepts? Did the Nigerian and Biafran pounds at the time have the same purchasing power? Thank God, nobody accuses Awo of dispossessing N'digbo of their property in the West (Awo's home base) where our Igbo brothers have always had substancial real estate interests. Emeka Ojukwu's father's property in Lagos were duly returned to him. And because of these false and malicious accusations, the minds of the mass of N'digbo have been poisoned against Awo, even in death. Question is: will N'digbo ever stop lying against Nigeria and Awolowo in particular about the 20 pounds policy ? Time would tell.

I dont know why this id.iot keep popping up when people are having serious discussion. What exactly is your problem?

Was there anything to purchase with the Biafran pound to start with?

What do mean by this stupid comment? Was Biafra trading internally with Pounds? Did you know the value of the Biafra Pound during the time is was in use? The 20 pounds policy was one of the greatest injustice inflicted on Biafrans post war; but how can you understand it? If only you have been bestowed with a little more useful gray matter, perhaps that would have helped.

But honestly you need to crawl back to the hole you came from. Your ignorance is infectious like polio. It is very contagious!

@ point B
personally i think your thinking is simian  and there is really no redemption since it is genetically bound but hey that's just my opinion
innocent people always die in war .
clearly you want to talk about me and not issues