WHAT THEY NEVER TOLD YOU ABOUT OJUKWU AND BIAFRA.


Colonel Ojukwu didn't just wake up one morning and decided to go to war with Nigeria.

After the 1966 northern counter coup where Aguyi ironsi was betrayed by his own head of security guard and murdered in Abeokuta.
The key players in this northern coup were Murtala Mohammed and Theophilus Danjuma ( the head of security of Ironsi).

After this northern coup, things escalated and it became a public brawl. The igbos were now been killed in the north WITHOUT A REASON and they all began to run back to the east.
They were recieved by the military Governor of the east who Ironsi has appointed, his name was LT. COLONEL CHUKWUEMEKA OJUKWU.

Ojukwu made his stance to Lagos that he was unhappy with the events but that there won't be a reprisal attack from the igbos.
As at this time in Nigeria, there had been a previous coup it was bloody. So it was expected that the igbos would make a reprisal one, since this northern coup was already a counter coup in the first place.

Now, in Ikeja , the British (who would later go on to support Nigeria during the war) were having a meeting with the northerners and decided to hand over the reins of affari to the HIGHEST RANKING NORTHERN OFFICER IN THE MILITARY. A man called Lt- Col Gowon.

Murtala Mohammed never forgave GOWON for this and this would lead to the coup which overthrew GOWON many years later.
This isn't our focus for now.

Now this was part of the problem.

This is Nigeria, you want a military leader to lead.
You should get the highest ranking Nigerian military officer not the highest ranking NORTHERN officer.

That move alone, heightened the tension.

That was how Gowon became the head of state then.

Now there were igbos example OJUKWU who had a higher ranking than Gowon.

The highest ranking military man was Brigadier Ogundipe who in the eyes of OJUKWU should have been the head of state.
When Ojukwu rejected the appointment of GOWON. This brought about a personal hatred for Ojukwu by GOWON.

But the northerners with the support of the British took power for themselves.
And then Gowon turned a blind eye to the igbos been massacred in the north.
Sounds familiar to what is happening today with Buhari and the herdsmen?.

This angered Ojukwu. His brothers/sisters were been killed and GOWON the head of state pretended as if nothing was going on.
GOWON then was 31.
GOWON was a Christian by religion.
But in matters of ethnicity, loyalty isn't shared.

Ojukwu asked a famous question at an interview in Enugu, the capital of the eastern government.
The Question was.

"At what stage do this killings become a genocide?".
The killing of the igbos started well before the war.
Northerners were having a Field day killing the igbos.

Ojukwu found a way out or thought he found a way out.

He approached Obafemi Awolowo who was still in prison then and the most influential Yoruba person at that point.
He asked Awolowo to take the yorubas out of Nigeria, so he too can take the igbos out of Nigeria.
Then the northerners can have Nigeria to themselves.

Awolowo thought and considered the idea for a moment.

Problem was, oil had been discovered in the south and east and they knew the wealth it would bring to that region.

The north approached Obafemi and gave him an offer he couldn't refuse.

Obafemi immediately after his release, was to announce the secession of the Oduduwa republic ( yorubas) from Nigeria.
So as OJUKWU can do same with Biafra and leave the north in Nigeria alone.

Instead, he accepted a top position as the highest ranking civilian in Gowon's regime, essentially creating a north and west alliance, leaving the east out in the cold.

It was ironical that Awolowo who was one of those that fought for an independent Nigeria would support a GOWON regime that was bent on wiping out igbos from the earth's surface.

The British kept quiet, Awolowo supported GOWON.
And this emboldened GOWON the more.
And OJUKWU couldn't fold his hands and do nothing.
Britain has a part of blame in the Biafra war.
" He who sits on the fence in the face of abuse, has inadvertently taken the side of the abuser".

Igbos were suffering and most of them already displaced were encouraging Ojukwu to take them out of Nigeria and declare Biafra.

GOWON had threatened that if Ojukwu tries it, it would be seen as an act of treason and police action would be taken- a euphemism for war.

How can your people be killed indiscriminately and you are asked to seat and do nothing?.

Whose father would seat at home and see his sons killed like fowls and fold his hands?
OJUKWU remember was the military Governor of the eastern province.
And this pained him a lot.

Ojukwu still wanted diplomatic reasonings to things.
And he threw the final dice to ensure a diplomatic ending to the fights.
It was ABURI

ABURI, GHANA.

In a bid to avoid hostilities, both sides decided to meet on a neutral ground.
So they met in ABURI, Ghana in January 1967 as guest of General Joseph Ankrah for peace talks.

In that meeting, a declaration was announced that the use of force as the means of settling the present crisis in Nigeria should be stopped.
That the killing of igbos should be stopped.
And also that revenues and allocations be shared equally.
And also that positions in government should be given factoring all three provinces.

The ABURI accord did not see the light of the day.

Factoring the fact that oil has been found in the Niger-delta.

The killings of the Igbos had not stopped and to make matters worse on May 5 1967, GOWON divided the 3 Nigerian regions into 12 states.

The North-western state, North- Eastern state, Kano State, North- central state , Benue-plateau state, Kwara State, western state, Lagos State, mid-western state, Rivers State, southern-east state and east-central state.

What does that tell you?

The north was given six states, the west given 3 states and the east given 3 states.
Now remember there was already an unofficial alliance between the north and the west.

So it was basically a 9 against 3.
You had oil and someone wants to share with you and proceeded to give you the least

So the east had the oil, but from the very onset of time since the GOWON regime, the north had always had a bigger share of the revenue coming from the east.

At this point, it was too much for OJUKWU to take.
Igbos were still been killed.
Now , igbos were subjugated and were now getting little of their own resources.

OJUKWU had no choice than to take the igbos out of Nigeria.

This happened 5th of May and by end of May Ojukwu had declared the independence of the republic of Biafra and war had broken out.

Remember the same Britain who kept quiet when GOWON was running amok.
Same British supported Nigeria in arms and aids.
Same Britain watched and saw millions of children killed because of starvation.
Same Britain who is forming moral standard in the world today were enablers of that Biafra war.

It was only France that came to the aid of Biafra.

It's been 50 years and what our schools has succeeded to let us know was that Ojukwu woke up one morning and decided to go to war.

HE HAD NO CHOICE.

Prominent Nigerians who fought against OJUKWU includes.

Shehu Musa Yar'Adua
Ken saro-wiwa
Muhammadu Buhari
Ibrahim Babangida
Benjamin Adekunle
Olusegun Obasanjo.

All went on to play important roles in Nigeria.
4 of them becoming head of state/president.

You see why they think it is their right to rule Nigeria.
Sledgehammer Ogbunigwe work na to bring una the yarns

I hope we never get to see wars e again.
I hope Biafra comes diplomatically.

Hmmmmm

The ratak eating lucifer descendant has been practicing betrayal, cowardice and treachery since the days of Adam.

I WILL DESTROY NIGERIA WITH THE TRUTH

Nnamdi Kanu.

Interesting

what do you expect when they no longer teach history in schools

U people think everybody is stupid,Awo would leave prison and immediately announce Oduduwa secession when no Yoruba was controlling any combat battalion and low number of Yoruba soldiers?.Continue your tales by moonlight.

mobaking:
U people think everybody is stupid,Awo would leave prison and immediately announce Oduduwa secession when no Yoruba was controlling any combat battalion and low number of Yoruba soldiers?.Continue your tales by moonlight.

And why didn't he say that before he was released by Ojukwu? Every yorob.a man (except a few) I know today have shown signs of Awolowlo in them to me in one way or another.

conductor2:

And why didn't he say that before he was released by Ojukwu? Every yorob.a man (except a few) I know today have shown signs of Awolowlo in them to me in one way or another.

guy leave Yoruba people alone, the north have promised you the VP slot by 2019.

stonemasonn:
guy leave Yoruba people alone, the north have promised you the VP slot by 2019.

Shut up. You slave think that we reason like Awolowlo the coward who can be bought over with a plate of ewedu. Whether they're giving Igbo man the presidency or dashing us the whole useless Nigeria, we've made up our mind: we don't want to be part of this cespit called Nigeria any longer.

PointZerom:
I WILL DESTROY NIGERIA WITH THE TRUTH

Nnamdi Kanu.

arrest me and nigeria will boil nnamdi kanu

conductor2:

Shut up. You slave think that we reason like Awolowlo the coward who can be bought over with a plate of ewedu. Whether they're giving Igbo man the presidency or dashing us the whole useless Nigeria, we've made up our mind: we don't want to be part of this cespit called Nigeria any longer.

Idiat you are the bloody slave, you will take that VP post or reject it, nothing else for you.

Op what caused the COUNTER COUP?

WHO SENT YOU IBOS TO KILL THE Sarduna? so you think you can stir up the Honest nest without getting stung?

Tell this to your children not grown Nigerians that knows their history.

mobaking:
U people think everybody is stupid,Awo would leave prison and immediately announce Oduduwa secession when no Yoruba was controlling any combat battalion and low number of Yoruba soldiers?.Continue your tales by moonlight.

Hmmmmmmm, So ur trying to tell us that u were a commander in the Nigerian army to know already that yorubas wasn't controlling battalions in the army...... Let me leave that lie aside.


In 1967 Awolowo announced that "If the east goes, The west goes"............It's a public info, u can find it.




If Awolowo declared Yoruba republic alongside the east, The north will automatically back down because they can't fight the Yoruba n Igbo at the same time...

The north is landlocked, they would never fare well in a war.

stonemasonn:
Idiat you are the bloody slave, you will take that VP post or reject it, nothing else for you.

We Igbos don't dialogue or negotiate with retarrded slaves. Sorry o

conductor2:

And why didn't he say that before he was released by Ojukwu? Every yorob.a man (except a few) I know today have shown signs of Awolowlo in them to me in one way or another.

When did Gowon turn to ojukwu? Ar you demented to not know Gowon released Awolowo from the prison?or did you think a federal prisoner could be released by a state man like Ojukwu? Ipob and lies, very synonymous.

T8ksy:



I suggest you go and read about the conversation Awo had with Ojukwu in Enugu, prior to the commencement of war.

You dey mind dem? I really don't know why they love lies so much.

In fact, Awolowo only accepted to join the war when he heard about Ojukwu invasion and atrocities in the midwest and Ore after Ojukwu already promised Awolowo that he won't invade neutral land in his fight but lo behold, he attacked the Midwest and Ore.

conductor2:

We Igbos don't dialogue or negotiate with retarrded slaves. Sorry o

Desperate Hyenas

T8ksy:



I suggest you go and read about the conversation Awo had with Ojukwu in Enugu, prior to the commencement of war.

No need for seeing any conversation. Yorubas had thousands of soldiers in the army as at 1967, All they needed was to secure the barracks n military equipment in the SW. All they needed on average was to launch their republic, the north will simply back down immediately, it walould be a quick game over.
No need for excuses, Awolowo simply went back n accepted to join gowons government n took a political post n agreed to fight against biafra.

Plus don't try to paint those events

Biafra will never come.

On Maimalari, 1966, and the Civil War

"American Abroad" wrote this:

The ghosts of 1966 will not lay still, in large part because we compulsively re-exhume them for re-examination. Which is not altogether a bad thing, if only our inquiry was demonstrably honest. It has never been: each opinion is a Rorschach test of the interlocutor, colored by ethnic prejudice, religious bias, regional animus, and in several instances, revisionist politics. Of the several published accounts, the most compelling and closest to factual renditions are Ademoyega's first-person, eye-witness account in Why We Struck, and to lesser but differing degrees, Peter Baxter (Biafra: the Nigerian Civil War), NU Akpan (The Struggle for Secession), John De St. Jorre (The Nigerian Civil War) and Alex Madiebo (The Nigerian Revolution and Biafra Civil War). Frederick Forsyth's account appears too partisan to me, needlessly lionizing the major actors on the Biafran side, whilst Omoigui's internet serialization in gamji.net which contains a lot of "insider" information, betrays his own political persuasions and pro-Northern diffidence. Neither is a route to truthful inquiry.

Maimalari was, like most public officials, a complex character. He was clearly patriotic (or at least, an Arewa version of patriotism), well-informed, and inspirational. He was also craven, acting mostly as an errand boy for the Sarduana and Northern interests. His loyalties were less to the Constitution than to Northern patriarchy, and he was consequently mistrusted by the Establishment and most of his peers. However, he was loved, almost to a fault, by the men serving under him.

Ironsi, affectionately called Ironsides by his side-kicks, was a gruff, apolitical, plain-talking, barely literate, man-at-arms. He found himself embroiled in a plot which he was not equipped to understand or manage, and torn by the contrarian pull of the military "progressives" led by Fajuyi, and the "conservatives" represented by Gowon; thus, he was fated never to return to his favorite life of barracks anonymity, laced with booze, war stories (from Burma, Katanga & Tiv Riots) and loyalty to Queen and Country. He was the truest victim of 1966.

Ifeajuna, the bete noire of 1966, was the instigator and helmsman of the 1966 conflagration. An ambitious, temperamental, but supremely gifted individual, he burnt bright, loud, garish, and also extinguished very fast. His inexplicable blood lust on the night of January 15, led to the gratuitous murders of several leaders who were of no operational import to his putsch. Some were probably killed to settle old scores, a case in point being the execution of Lt Col Arthur Unegbe, his old schoolmate (but not classmate, Unegbe being 1 year his senior in middle school) at DMGS Onitsha, who earned the distinction of being the only senior Igbo military officer to be killed on the night of January 15. Despite the resources available to Ifeajuna at Lagos, his leadership was at best mediocre, and as his putsch unraveled, he was the first to flee into exile in Ghana. More insidiously, he was likely a back-door courier to his kinsman, Azikiwe, whose behavior during the peak of national crisis could only be explained by foreknowledge of an impending military uprising, illustrated by his bizarre sailing vacation across the Carib seas through the Yuletide holidays of 1965. Nzeogwu, who was actually a late conscript but the only successful putschist, became by default the visible "leader" of January 1966.

Lt Col Pam was, by all accounts, a simple, committed, outstanding military officer: he was reportedly killed, based on his close relationship to Ademulegun and Maimalari, but of all the gratuitous murders of 1966, his was probably the least necessary and most egregious.

The greatest tragedy of our common history is the collective entrapment within a bubble of group-think, which has been nurtured by a spectrum of ethnically-colored political thought each tailored specifically to cater to a precise tribal sensibility: My tribe is better (and more innocent) than Yours. Therefore, nobody has to ever consider, much less accept, any contrarian viewpoint. We listen only to those who think like us, bear our same grievances, hate our same well-defined common enemies, repeat the same lies we have been fed since childhood. Hence, 1966 was an Igbo coup (despite the fact the wider Igbo nation knew nothing about it, and if they did would almost certainly have rejected it, given that Igbo had nothing to gain from such strong-arm tactics when they were already on the ascendancy; furthermore, the putschists were about as representative of Igbo as Gideon Orkar represented the Middle Belt, Mamman Vatsa the Nupe, or Abacha the Kanuri); Fajuyi was merely an innocent bystander (though he was clearly a mentor to several within the "progressive" military camp, making him a specific target of the July 1966 revanchists); Ojukwu was a great strategist (no, he wasn't: he played his rather weak hand too often, too openly, and too wrongly, as even Zik testified in his Post interview during the NPP days. However, no one on this side of Paradise could deliver a prepared speech nearly as well as Ojukwu, with the possible exceptions of Winston Churchill after a brace of Scottish best, or Barack Obama in the wake of tragedy); Gowon was an evil genocidalist (again, here we mistake Gowon for Murtala Mohammed, under whose command the infamous Asaba Massacre occurred, ably abetted by Ibrahim Taiwo; but Gowon bears the blame for shutting his eyes to some of the evil perpetrated under the name of his government); July 1966 was otiose (not necessarily, the North needed to vent at the time, as the manhood of Northern officers had been metaphorically challenged, in large part by the snide whispers from "retired" NPC politicians like Inua Wade and Yar'Adua the Elder: but the July 1966 response was clearly excessive, catastrophic, fulminant, precipitate and anarchic); war was inevitable (again, no: if Aburi had been implemented, if Ojukwu had been removed by the simple sleight-of-hand of appointing "cooler" heads to the Eastern governorship such as Hilary Njoku, if the Federal government had quickly stopped the pogrom against ethnic Igbo living in the North, if a state of emergency had been immediately declared and rigorously enforced, if power had been returned to the civilian remnants of NPC-NCNC-AG... the next 3 years of war might have conceivably been avoided); Ojukwu wanted war (finally, no: nobody wanted war, least of all, the outgunned and outmanned Ojukwu; but Ojukwu felt incapable of stopping a rising tide of popular demand amongst the rank and file Igbo who demanded "separation" and protection from the North specifically, following the gut-churning pogrom of July) .

There was more than enough blame to go round. The trick is to ponder on its abiding lessons to avoid an encore.