What is Nigeria? A joke? Sometimes I wonder if this country is a secular state or a religious one. We need to start asking ourselves the larger questions here.
Cause that's what this is all about.

The responses to this topic are partly the reason I am vehemently against state creation. At a time, Igbo speaking people saw themselves as one. All of a sudden, with a sudden move of the FGN, an Anambra / Imo dichotomy was established.
It did not end there. Along came Enugu, Abia and most recently, Ebonyi. Talk less of the so called Anioma and Ikwerre folks. Subsequently, people who were once tribesmen and brothers now bicker openly and in public about superiority.
Assuming the claims here are true, should it not sadden an Onitsha man that his sisters in Owerri are turning to prostitution? Or an Umuahia lady that her brother from Nnewi is an armed robber? These are not issues to gloat over. Can't we see the big picture?
And all this came about just because a "far away Federal Government" has told us that we are no longer from the same "state". What the hell is "same state"? And even as I write, some people somewhere are clamoring for an "Adada State"! Another unself-sustainable project. Before you know it, Nsukka people will start seeing Agbani people as strangers. Anybody who is not of Igbo speaking extraction reading this topic can only shake his head and say.... "This people are not serious".

First of all, I don't think anyone who hasn't read this book has the moral justification to comment on it. Read the book and make up ur own mind on where an where not to take serious.
However, let no one berate Achebe based on what others have ascribed to him, especially when he hasn't ascribed same to himself. I'm referring to comments that put him down as a historian. He never claimed to be a historian. I don't think he expects history lessons to be taught based on "There was a country". He clearly stated that they were his memoirs. A purely personal thing based on perceived private experience and opinion of his.
What saddens me is that a lot of us, in a frantic bid to "score points for our respective tribes" have overlooked one serious issue Osuji raised: the inherent victimist disposition a lot of Africans and black people in general have. Until we outgrow it, we will not know progress.

trillville: Do u guys know that his family was killed in a riot in kaduna. if u were him, would u come back to a country that can not even give u justice for the death of ur family members. I do not think we deserve v. Moses, but I am glad he is willing to play for us.

That's one way of looking at it. But then again, England has it's own sins too and Nigeria is one of them. Victors' choice was a good one cause he stands a higher chance of international recognition with Nigeria and I'm glad about it.

Honestly, if I could go back to the olden days, I probably would.

dayokanu:

Now can you enlighten us on what you describe as the real cause of the war and provide any justification for killing other regional leaders and sparing theirs that most Igbo commentators have been doing since 1966

Apologies for not replying earlier. I was without internet access for a while. By your question, I take it you're insinuating that the real cause of the war was the Jan 1966 coup. That is very debatable and I personally doubt it. The simple reason being that if at all the events of Jan 14 & 15 1966 was a source of any grieviance, those grieviances were settled or appeased by the counter coup of July 1966 and could not have gone on to still be the cause of a civil war one year later. As in, that coup could not have been the reason Nigeria decided to annex Biafra.

Simplistic as it may seem, that's my opinion. If you want to trace the origins of the war further back to January '66, you might as well not stop there. Why not go further to the ineptitude that existed before then in the polity? At least that was what gave rise to the coup in the first place. Why not trace it back to the "Wetie" days? That was a milestone achievement in Nigerias political instability? Why not trace it back to the colonial masters? At least they gave us the unworkable arrangement we inherited and called a nation. Why even stop there? We might as well trace even further back to our forefathers that gave in to the "white mans ways" rather that build up a civilization of their own, thus paving the way for colonialism. By the time we keep going back we'll probably get to the serpent that tempted Eve as the "real cause" of the war.

When you speak of justification for killing other regional leaders, it's more difficult for me to reply. And the primary reason for this is the fact that every Nigerian (speaking broadly) interpretes political issues first of all from a tribal standpoint before a logical one if any. There are varying schools of thought on why that coup was plotted. At the end of the day, it boils down to what makes the most sense to you. I read a book some years ago titled "Why We Struck - The story of the first Nigerian coup" by Adewale Ademoyega. That book gave me the most insight into this topic. I say this because apart from the fact that the writer was one of the "Five Majors" who plotted that coup, he was also a Yoruba man. This aroused my curiosity giving that all the writers I had read on the issue prior to that had been Igbo, save for one foreigner. If you can get this book, it would make a fantastic read.

Granted, it is hard to explain the events of Jan' 66 as coincidence giving our tribal inclinations. For example the angle that Ironsi was marked for death, but that after leaving a party, he didn't go home straight and that detour saved his life. Or that the coup was delayed in the East because of the presence of the Cyprian Head of State (Or some other diplomat I can't remember) in Enugu. However, people often overlook the fact that Colonel Chris Unegbe and Festus Okotie-Eboh who was minister of Finance at the time were killed and were both Igbo. Also, that two principal actors who foiled the coup were Ironsi in the south who was the highest ranking military officer and rallied loyal soldiers to thwart the effectiveness of the coup (the coup actually failed in Lagos)and Odumegwu Ojukwu in the North who did not surrender the armoury in Kano to Nzeogwu, thereby putting to rest any hopes Nzeogwu may have had of marching down south to confront Ironsi. Both were Igbo.

One may choose to believe or not. But the truth is that many who have written on this issue, have continually stated that Jan '66 was not driven by tribalism. I am yet to read anyone who has challenged this position either in an official interview or in a published book. On the contrary, Jul '66 has never - to the best of my knowledge - been explained from any ideological standpoint. And it's motive to wipe out Igbos for no 'just cause' has never been denied. It is even alleged and I repeat "alleged" that the Northern soldiers who carried out Jul' 66 were aware that Nzeogwu and co. were not tribally motivated however, there was a need to placate their Kinsmen who saw it as such.

Today we're astonished at events at Allu were students were gruesomelly murdered. But such events as Jul' 66 were the beginning of institutinalized jungle justice in Nigeria. People praised then. Today, the same people wonder. Events surrounding the war should be taught in schools as History. People should bring out facts if they have. Others who disagree should contest and not insult. The purpose of history is to learn and move forward. Part of the reason why Civil war issues in this country generate so much bile is the secrecy it has been shrouded in. All over the world, war is a topic of History. But not in my country.

^ ^ ^
I did not set out to establish the real cause of the war. I tried to correct the impression that Ojukwu declared war on Nigeria. These are two different things entirely.

Callotti: One more. . . .
This Achebe of a cripple must be feeling cool with himself!

What a comment! Whole person.

Giving the amount of resentment for the Igbo, what always surprises me is why they were not allowed to leave the union when they wanted to - 1967 to 1970. I mean if a lousy person is trying to move out of his neighbourhood for instance, I doubt if his neighbours would go to great lenghts to prevent it.

Secondly, I'd like to point out something pertaining to the sequence of events preceding the civil war. I find that people always say Biafra/Ojukwu went to war. This I think to be quite misleading. If my studies on the issue are anything to go by, Nigeria actually declared war on Biafra.

Igbos were being attacked especially in the North which resulted in their fleeing en masse to the east. This mass unplanned influx gave rise to unemployement, inflation, insufficient food and housing, etc. in the east. The unitary system of government introduced by the Ironsi regime to mitigate a recurrence of the events leading to the Jan 1966 coup was still in place. Meaning that the Eastern Government as well as every other regional government still depended heavily on the Central Government - which was in Lagos at the time - for 'handouts'.

With it's new found problems, these 'handouts' which were not augmented in line with the increasing need, became insufficient. Hence, a case for increased resource control was made. The Central Government would have none of this. It became imperative to have serious dialogue on the matter as well as on security and other issues affecting Nigeria such as the rights of non-indigenes and settlers in any region.

Consequently, the Ghanaian Leader Lt. Gen Ankrah invited his Nigerian counterparts to Aburi in Ghana to have this meeting. The meeting was held on the 4th and 5th of January, 1967. There were and still are allegations that the Central Government did not live up to the decisions taken at Aburi. This in addition to the increased pressure from the region he represented caused Ojukwu to take the decision to opt out of the Nigerian State. Thus, declaring the State of Biafra on the 30th of May, 1967.

The Nigerian Government launched what it termed "Police Measures" to annex Biafra on the 6th of July, 1967. Now I don't know wether the expectation of the Nigerian Government at the time and a lot of people today, was for the Biafrans who had begun to administer a nation for over a month to say " ok boys, the Nigerians are here. Let's hand over our Leader and everybody in Government to 'em and we'll all go home and enjoy a nice picnic with our wives n lil' ones." Well, that didn't happen. The bid to defend their newfound nationhood led to what we know today as the Nigerian Civil War.

In summary, Ojukwu did not declare war on Nigeria. He declared an independent state of Biafra. Nigeria attempted to annex Biafra. Biafra repelled these attempts. A war was born!

oyb:

sadly there is no outrage anymore since it has become a regular occurrence

it is an endless cycle of waiting for the next announcement of a bombing

Herein lies the problem.

Biggysmalls919: let‘s be realistic. This region before boko haram came on board had already planted this war for themselves. To cut short, zamfara former governor was the one to impose sharia in their state and all bh is doing is to use genocide to achieve their aim. So therefore we should not be blamed for their insecurity since such laws will never favour ppl from other regions.

It's a very good thing you mentioned Zamfara. Another example of why we should all be concerned about things that seem not to concern us directly. I remember the pressure civil society was putting on the FGN at the time to wade into that issue decisively. This wasn't done and what happened? Other states followed suit. We in the south postured like it was not our business. Little did we know that it was only the watering of the soil. By the time certain State Govts. began to constitute bogus militia to function parallel to the Police Force, the roots had taken hold of the soil. In fact, leaves had begun to sprout. Still the FGN did nothing.
Now this dispensation has inherited a plantation of terror and all of a sudden, everybody expects a wave of the wand from Jona. Jona! For the life of me, I wonder how folks keep bringing up Jona on this forum. Jona that it was reported that soldiers were mobilized in the middle of the night to receive a patient at the airport and did not know about it? And when it eventually became known nobody was hanged? Or at least sacked? That Jona? Guys please!!!

kaykaybaba:




I just hope the two of you realize the inherent faulty logic in your posts. Youth corpers don't have any other choice, don't you get it? No Bank or 'other professionals' will just post workers to those areas, trust me. They're not irresponsible like this Nigerian government.
The fact that that region is in crisis and the government has CHOSEN to be slow to act should tell you that corpers go there at great risk to their lives. And the minister calls this a sacrifice to the nation
In fact I can't believe the two of you are even trying to rationalize this ministers statements.

Oga, no one is trying to rationalize the ministers comments. All we are saying is that the issue at hand should not be compartmentalized. We have a full blown National security problem that affects every facet of our lives as Nigerians and all I hear people talking about is NYSC posting. As if selective posting or scrapping the NYSC altogether would end the current wave of terrorism that has engulfed our country. The ministers comments are inane to say the least but I would expend my energy berating a fool when it can be put to better use putting pressure on Govt to improve security.

[quote author=maclatunji]You people don't get it, Nigeria is on the verge of becoming a failed state. If Corp members cannot be posted to any part of this country, then the government has failed. Now, I agree that people should not be posted to crisis-ridden states. However, instead of corp members and their families selfishly seeking to "escape" those states, we must ask the question, what about people living in these troubled states? Don't they deserve to live a normal life? Away from looking out for "our own." What pressure have we put on the Federal Government to secure these people's lives and property.

People like me say this every week on Nairaland and elsewhere, we get labelled "enemies of GEJ". You should put the same pressure and energy that you have put into protesting posting of corp members to troubled states into pushing the government to actively and efficiently protect the lives of all Nigerians irrespective of where they live.

Anything short of this is selfishness and hypocrisy and you should be ashamed of yourself on that account.[end quote]

God bless U Mr. Tunji. My sentiments exactly! We will get nowhere as a people by looking out for our own only. And that is what all this noise of NYSC posting and scrapping is about. There are bankers and other professionals who get posted to these states as well. Are they the ones suitable for death? While I was serving in the north myself, an indigene of the state I was in, who happened to be a Christian, lost all his property and almost his life in one of the riots.
Is he supposed to relocate himself and his extended family to my village? What of the students in Northern Universities? Is my friend in 5th year medicine in BUK to dropout and write JAMB to Unilag?
Let's fight the fire and not the smoke!

[quote author=nejifresh]


Dude you must be one of them biased haters who dont know shit about hip hop. Kids like you only rate MC's based on how crappy they spit. No disrespect to MODE, but he aint in the same league with MI. its like comparing KRS 1 to PAC.
Hard 2 get ur point bro...

Dagrin was a talented singer/rapper no doubt. However, there are 2 things I'd like to point out about this write up;

First of all, Lagos is not Nigeria. The writer gives the impression that the entire nation was buzzin with 'Dagrinmania' at the time of his death, which definitely was not the case.

Secondly, I get the feeling that we over-romanticize the whole Dagrin issue and in the process, miss out the moral of the story. Now correct me if I'm wrong, but Dagrin was a young rising star who was out late at night, possibly got drunk, was driving too fast and rammed into a stationary vehicle.

The Nigerian youth has a lot more to learn from this other than what the media and entertainment industry project.

May his soul rest in peace.

[quote author=Kayusfity]THANK GOD. WHEN WILL GEJ AND HIS FAMILY BE MURDERED?
May God Forgive you.

rhymz: Will you stop writing nonsense and spreading ignorance. When did Zik make such a Dumb statement? Are they yours or Zik's....rubbish!

Maybe not in those exact words, but Zik did say something to that effect. It was about d time the Abuja University was being completed and the rumor mills had it going that it's proposed name was to b the University of Nigeria. The only snag being that the institution at Nsukka already bore that name. Apparently to solve this, Zik was or was to be approached but he declined. I'm sure the story has been retold a million and one ways and I'm not even sure my version is most authentic. However, there is an element of truth in the claim.

ifihearam: Is this protest really necessary and some of you have the guts to say the president is dull
Why protesting against what can never be undone
Foolish student protesting
Don't go face ur study
Anofias

Everyone has a right to protest. That's a hallmark of democracy. And who says it can't be undone? Difficult & Impossible are two different things. By the way, it's 'Anu ofia'.

glimpse:

wen university of ife was changed 2 obafemi awolowo university,i dnt tink they protested. Mak al dose unilag...oops MAU students go read dia book b4 anoda yr wld b added 2 dia stay in sch.

Actually not only Uni Ife. Zaria to ABU, Sokoto to UDF, Edo to AAU, Ogun to OOU, not sure but I think Kano & Bauchi to BUK & ATBU respectively, just to name a few. So it's not new to us. My only problem is that it is not and never was called for. Nomenclature is not the problem with our tertiary education. There are better ways to immortalize past statesmen. That's if they even deserve it.

Raxxye: It‘s very unreasonable to change the name of that institution. I wonder on who‘s advice GEJ went about this, that is pitching him against the people. The name “University of Lagos“ commanded lots of respect!
GEJ, better don‘t try it with my Uniport!

Lol! Wait till there's a need to immortalize Ken Saro Wiwa.

jmaine: Going away from the emotional tirade which i also indulged in briefly . . .aint we supposed to bug ourselves with the entire GEJ speech by trying to scrutinize his speech for the merits and the demerits . . .

Funny how much tears is shed over "Just name change" that is materialistic than focus on issues that have more substance that will impacts on our lives directly

What's it's really in a name when we should be concerned about the quality of the education we receive . . . .

Your last paragraph is what I expected the 'name changers' to have had in mind in the first place.

ayusman16: THe protesters are simply dumb. They obviously have no respect in the man called MKO Abiola..

Bad English aside, u have no right to call them dumb. It is not by force to have respect for MKO. I personally don't see what the fuss about the man is. But then again, maybe I'm just ignorant.

sadi78: Na ur papa be animal! Do you provide d job to dis ur fake profs? Why do they want to turn our university to church? Can u tell me hw many mosques are in sourthern and eastern univesities? Fools.

The truth is that Muslims (speaking loosely) are generally intolerant of others. I schooled in the South-East and am telling u that in my school and many others in that area, Muslims are treated fairly. For example we dedicated sections of hostels amidst scarce accommodation as Mosques and rooms for them. And they would call for prayers every morning without molestation.

If your grouse is that there are no mosques in eastern universities, ask yourself; has anyone tried to build one and was refused? Your comments are actually very disturbing coming from a seemingly enlightened person. It is a pointer that our failed quest for tolerance is beyond redemption. Well, it is only my hope that one day u and your kind may see the tragedy and more importantly, the futility in your position.

And I say futility because it seems that the wider agenda though u may b unaware, seems to be to exterminate Christianity. A task which will never come to fruition. We Christians are a race founded on matyrdom. And history has shown that persecution of Christians has only deepened our faith because we were warned it would happen. A historical exercise I would like u to perform is to study the similarities and differences in the propagation of Islam and Christianity throughout the world. You are bound to learn a lot.

"Revenge is mine" says The Lord. As such, the best I can do is to continue to pray for u, that you may find peace and love in your heart, irrespective of whether you want my prayers or not. Not because I want to, but because God wants me to.

Take care.

slq: This stil boils down to the fact of respectin gentleman agreement.its obvious that an agreement was receachedin 1999 between the North and the South on power sharin.The south was given to start cos the North has been in power for long (mostly through military coup).OBJ now did his 8yrs ,n instead of handing over to a healthy Northerner..choose a Chronic renal failure patient(the healthy man is thorough shaken by the enormity of task on a president office talkless of a CRF patient!!that's like one of the worst terminal diseases u can have) ....he gave up the ghost after 2 and ½ years(May his soul RIPP).The rightful tin was for the vice to complete his tenure,which he did.Power intoxicates so he went on to be re-elected...The North now feels they ve been shortchanged rightly..but power of incumbency above everyother thing ..So feeling oppressed n Denied Boko Haram n other means is wat they resorted to...Now He was to go for his second tenure in 2015 n if he succeds out of 20yrs of this new democratic dispensation...North wud have 2½yrs n the South 17½ years....so addressing this issue has to put agreements made n broken into view .The poor Nigerian masses suffer this violence the most but power won't let the president see all this.I dont really blame GEJ..its OBJ that put us in this state

You're about the biggest fool I've ever read. And I've read a lot! What form of justification are u resorting to? Bastard!!!

ak47mann: The jihadist are still carrying out their crusade in northers Nigeria,people should stop acting shocked a lot of things were swept under the carpet just because the greedy politicians and their ruling class enjoys a disfigure country like Nigeria.Last week they announced that north is living from the union suddenly suicide bombs in a space of two days 20 people lost their life's the truth is very difficult to believe or digest but the truth will save more lifes

The day Boko Haram bombs a mosque and opens fire on fleeing worshipers on a Friday afternoon, I'll begin to believe that it's not religious. But until then ...

jamil!:
The NL bigots are on it again blaming northern shd be the best comment from up south dude azazi has revealed everything and it was left for you educated illiterate to be continued as usual commenting and spewing rubbish all we could say is thank you azazi for exposing and revealing who is boko haram and their sponsors.

English Please!!!

There is a difference between what you do, what everybody does and what is right. Sometimes these three elements are in agreement, other times they are'nt. That doesnt change the fact that what is right is what is right. I think the answer to this question is known to us all. Some of us are just massaging our consciences.

Who are we to know what God has in store for us. I mean, you test the goods you want to buy right? And then you get married and those goods get damaged (divine plan/test). What then happens? You return them? A little more faith and trust in God will do us a lot of good.

Having a child in itself would not prevent me from marrying a woman if I find that I love her. But then again, such matters are hardly ever in themselves. My marrying or not marrying her would depend on things like; What were the circumstances that led to her being pregnant? Where is the father? What does he do if he's still alive? how many children are we talking of here? Lack of satisfactory answers would most definitely dissuade me.

The thing is that I would not want to be just another component in a web of uncertainties and the answers to these questions along with some other things would lead to my final decision. For example I could marry a widow with two kids if I fell in love with one, but I wouldn't marry a single girl with one child whom she had for her boss that lives just down the street and has a family of his own. The latter will be a pointer to a personality that I'm not comfortable with.

First of all, my heart goes out to Enugwu ukwu. He obviously lacks the courtesy to understand that one doesn't go about on message boards insulting others. Probably something to do with his upbringing. Dude, (assuming you are one all the while) even if you have to be vulgar/obscene/insultive, direct it to at best a topic and not a person. If you have a point to make, make it and leave. It's cowardice to hide behind anonymity and insult my person moreso if you wouldn't dare it face to face.

Secondly, let me declare that what I have said about Buhari and his governors remains my unaltered position. I am anticipating that you (Enugwu Ukwu) may reply this post. So this is to let you before hand that if you do, it'll be as good as talking to your faeces because I won't grace it with a reply.

Finally, I would also like like to express my bewilderment at the use of Obama's quote about Africa not needing great men but great institutions, I don't know what makes Barrack an authority on what Africa needs that everyone is on that bandwagon. According to Buhari; Nigeria needs both! And I agree with him.

What kind of baseless, sensationalist topic is this? What the hell has Buhari got to do with the wealth of any soldier who happened to be a Governor in his regime. Buhari was Head of State for barely 20 months and left the Nigerian Army immediately after Babangida took over. Most of these people went on to serve in other capacities long after this.
Before making such an inane post, was there any effort at finding out what percetage of their wealth was acquired during their spell as governor between January 1984 and August 1985?
Case in point: If for instance David Mark acquires any wealth as Senate President the next thing I'll hear is that he was a governor under Buhari.
Please I implore you; Always remember that Nairaland posts are read all over the world and the kind of reasoning that people read are a pointer to the way Nigerians think. I would not like anyone anywhere in the world not to take me seriously because he has a prejudice based on a post he read on Nairaland.

Be guided!!!