AlPeter: bro... If you had read about happenings before, during and after the way you would know there was no tribal sentiments. Many igbo folks withdrew their money from Nigerian banks and invested it in the Biafran Bank, the CBN iin Benin was looted to the bones with none knowing what happened to the millions stolen yet at the end of the war those who could present documents to show they have savings in any Nigerian bank where given back what was theirs. what happened to the millions in the Biafran Bank. What of the ones stolen from Benin?
Wrong. Nigeria quickly changed their currency soon as the war started. All that money immediately became worthless paper. That's a big part of the reason why Biafra lost - they couldn't buy ammunition.
GoldNiagara: Thank God Awolowo took that step, he left for the Yoruba timeless legacies, nothing to write home about zik premiership in his so called region. Thanks to awo again, the zik guy would have left gross incompetence behind like he did in his own home.
So u don't agree with those who are criticizing Unongo.
I actually think these were very great men, except maybe Ahmadu Bello, for his extremely divisive utterances. Awo didn't hate Igbos or anybody. I don't think he was even a tribalist as such, rather a pragmatist.
So why do you think he didn't secede as he promised Ojukwu. Because he loved Igbos so much?
PenSniper: Unongo is a certified fulani slave who has grown in years but yet to grow up.
I AGREE WITH YOU ONE HUNDRED PERCENT. BUT WHAT DO WE CALL YORUBA MUSLIMS WHO WOULD RATHER IDENTIFY THEMSELVES WITH THE FULANIS INSTEAD OF THEIR SOUTHERN BRETHREN
Igbo is specialized in falsification and history twisted! The first test of the party came in the 1951 election. The party won majority votes in the Eastern Region of Nigeria's House of Assembly but became the opposition in the western region with Azikiwe as the opposition leader representing Lagos. Although the Action Group (AG) won a plurality of the votes in the election, its prospects were uncertain as the NCNC could have secured a majority if it had been able to persuade the third party, which was an Ibadan community party and which had been viewed by the NCNC as its ally, to support it. This it was not able to achieve and the AG therefore formed the government amid accusations of carpet-crossing by Azikiwe and his NCNC. This event is still viewed by some historiographers as the beginning of ethnic politics in Nigeria.Azikiwe later on became the Premier of Eastern Region, Nigeria in 1954.
But my man be honest with yourself na. Unongo is far from being an Igbo man so why are you calling Igbo. You are relying on hearsay, doctored documents, and manufactured history. Here is a man who lived through the whole thing and knew the protagonists personally. A wealthy old man who has nothing to gain. It would be different if he was praising a fellow northerner or sticking out for the North. Na wa o.
IJOBA2: I AGREE WITH YOU ONE HUNDRED PERCENT. BUT WHAT DO WE CALL YORUBA MUSLIMS WHO WOULD RATHER IDENTIFY THEMSELVES WITH THE FULANIS INSTEAD OF THEIR SOUTHERN BRETHREN
But why are you people attacking Unongo. He is just saying it as he experienced it. HE WAS THERE. You were not. It will be different if he was praising the North. He is a Northerner praising an Igbo man and condemning a Yoruba man to the face of another Yoruba man. You are relying on hearsay, doctored documents, and manufactured history. Here is a man who lived through the whole thing and knew the protagonists personally. A wealthy old man who has nothing to gain and is definitely not working for anybody. Sheesh.
But why are you people attacking Unongo. He is just saying it as he experienced it. HE WAS THERE. You were not. It will be different if he was praising the North. He is a Northerner praising an Igbo man and condemning a Yoruba man to the face of another Yoruba man. You are relying on hearsay, doctored documents, and manufactured history. Here is a man who lived through the whole thing and knew the protagonists personally. A wealthy old man who has nothing to gain and is definitely not working for anybody. Sheesh.
So why do you think he didn't secede as he promised Ojukwu. Because he loved Igbos so much?
This is why he couldn't keep his promise. Note the bolded.
Why Awo did not make West to Secede
VANGUARD 26 SEP 2017 By Eric Teniola
ON May 1, 1967 at a meeting of Leaders of thought of Western Region, Chief Obafemi Awolowo made the following declarations: “I consider my duty to Yoruba people in particular and to Nigerians in general to place four imperatives, two of them categorical, and two conditional:
(1) Only a peaceful solution must be found to arrest the present worsening stalemate and restore normalcy.
(2) The Eastern Region must be encouraged to remain part of the Federation
(3). If the Eastern Region is allowed by acts of omission or commission to secede from or opt of Nigeria, then Western Region and Lagos must also stay out of the Federation.
(4) The people of Western Nigeria or Lagos would participate in the Ad hoc Constitutional Committee or any similar body only on the basis of absolute equality with other Region of the Federations”.
It was the gravest statement made by any leader in Nigeria at a crucial time. ... The question is why did the Western Region not follow the Eastern Region when it seceded on May 30, 1967?
The Daily Sketch which published in full Chief Awolowo’s speech on May 2, 1967 sold in Enugu at two shillings per copy which is more equivalent of today’s six hundred naira. The speech was a hot cake.
Then there was the argument that the fate of the Yorubas in Ilorin and Kabba provinces at that time was not properly addressed in that speech considering the political influence of Chief Josiah Sunday Olawoyin (1935-2000) and later leaders like Chief Cornelius Olatunji Adebayo (76), my friend Chief Ayo Opadokun and Dr. Abubakar Olusola Saraki (1933-2012).
It is a pity that Chief Awolowo did not publish his memoirs before he died in a domestic accident in his hometown of Ikenne in Ogun state in the early hours of May 9, 1987. Maybe he would have shed more light on why he made those declarations.
I personally believe till today that it was that speech that took the Federal Capital from Lagos, although events have proved later that taking the Federal Capital out of Lagos does not equate with taking commerce out of Lagos- thanks to Chief Bola Tinubu and his successors.
Chief Awolowo’s speech stunned the nation. It was a wakeup call on General Yakubu Dan-Yuuma Gowon (83), the Head of State at that time to prepare for war and save Nigeria. If Chief Awolowo had taken Western Region and Lagos out of Nigeria, it would have been suicidal...
If Chief Awolowo had taken Western Region and Lagos out of the Federation at that time definitely Western Region and Lagos would have been the battle ground. And where were the troops and how prepared was he for a major war. At the time he made those declarations, officers of the Western Region in the Nigerian Army were less than 7%. At that time Lagos, Ibadan and Abeokuta garrisons were occupied by ‘northern troops’. Even the then Governor of Western Region, Major General Adeyinka Adebayo was not prepared for war. Chief Awolowo admitted on May 1, 1967 speech, that ‘We have neither the military might, nor the overwhelming advantage of numbers here in Western Nigeria and Lagos...'
This is why he couldn't keep his promise. Note the bolded.
Why Awo did not make West to Secede
VANGUARD 26 SEP 2017 By Eric Teniola
ON May 1, 1967 at a meeting of Leaders of thought of Western Region, Chief Obafemi Awolowo made the following declarations: “I consider my duty to Yoruba people in particular and to Nigerians in general to place four imperatives, two of them categorical, and two conditional:
(1) Only a peaceful solution must be found to arrest the present worsening stalemate and restore normalcy.
(2) The Eastern Region must be encouraged to remain part of the Federation
(3). If the Eastern Region is allowed by acts of omission or commission to secede from or opt of Nigeria, then Western Region and Lagos must also stay out of the Federation.
(4) The people of Western Nigeria or Lagos would participate in the Ad hoc Constitutional Committee or any similar body only on the basis of absolute equality with other Region of the Federations”.
It was the gravest statement made by any leader in Nigeria at a crucial time. ... The question is why did the Western Region not follow the Eastern Region when it seceded on May 30, 1967?
The Daily Sketch which published in full Chief Awolowo’s speech on May 2, 1967 sold in Enugu at two shillings per copy which is more equivalent of today’s six hundred naira. The speech was a hot cake.
Then there was the argument that the fate of the Yorubas in Ilorin and Kabba provinces at that time was not properly addressed in that speech considering the political influence of Chief Josiah Sunday Olawoyin (1935-2000) and later leaders like Chief Cornelius Olatunji Adebayo (76), my friend Chief Ayo Opadokun and Dr. Abubakar Olusola Saraki (1933-2012).
It is a pity that Chief Awolowo did not publish his memoirs before he died in a domestic accident in his hometown of Ikenne in Ogun state in the early hours of May 9, 1987. Maybe he would have shed more light on why he made those declarations.
I personally believe till today that it was that speech that took the Federal Capital from Lagos, although events have proved later that taking the Federal Capital out of Lagos does not equate with taking commerce out of Lagos- thanks to Chief Bola Tinubu and his successors.
Chief Awolowo’s speech stunned the nation. It was a wakeup call on General Yakubu Dan-Yuuma Gowon (83), the Head of State at that time to prepare for war and save Nigeria. If Chief Awolowo had taken Western Region and Lagos out of Nigeria, it would have been suicidal...
If Chief Awolowo had taken Western Region and Lagos out of the Federation at that time definitely Western Region and Lagos would have been the battle ground. And where were the troops and how prepared was he for a major war. At the time he made those declarations, officers of the Western Region in the Nigerian Army were less than 7%. At that time Lagos, Ibadan and Abeokuta garrisons were occupied by ‘northern troops’. Even the then Governor of Western Region, Major General Adeyinka Adebayo was not prepared for war. Chief Awolowo admitted on May 1, 1967 speech, that ‘We have neither the military might, nor the overwhelming advantage of numbers here in Western Nigeria and Lagos...'
So why was he running his mouth over a promise he knew he couldn't keep? Ok, I didn't know this. Maybe he can be excused, but only on this point. Lalasticlala, Myd44
So why was he running his mouth over a promise he knew he couldn't keep? Ok, I didn't know this. Maybe he can be excused, but only on this point. Lalasticlala, Myd44
That's basically human nature: bragging about something you couldn't do. Awo was never in any position to be able to make the West secede. You couldn't secede without the military and the few senior Yoruba officers were one-Nigeria.
Wow he'd rather higher a non citizen than Igbo. Lol shows he wasn't about merit first among citizens.
1. Best northerner 2. Best expatriate 3. Best non northern nigerian.
While someone like Zik was all about one Nigeria, even one Africa. I wonder what Ahmadu Bello must have been thinking when he heard Zik saying all that.
That's basically human nature: bragging about something you couldn't do. Awo was never in any position to be able to make the West secede. You couldn't secede without the military and the few senior Yoruba officers were one-Nigeria.
Even Banjo Nzeogwu Ironsi Ifeajuna were all against break up, even Ojukwu himself till the war. In short all senior military were one Nigeria.
GoldNiagara: Thank God Awolowo took that step, he left for the Yoruba timeless legacies, nothing to write home about zik premiership in his so called region. Thanks to awo again, the zik guy would have left gross incompetence behind like he did in his own home.
the thread is about Paul Unongo and the model Otapiapia legend,why bring in Zik to ur woes?
WetinConsignMe: WHAT DO YOU FOLKS THINK OF THE FOLLOWING? (Note the boldeds)
(Please remember I am not the one that did the interview nor wrote the article. So know who to attack.)
Nigeria’s problems started with Awo’s introduction of tribal politics — Unongo (MIDDLE BELT MAN)
26 JUN 2017
Elder statesman and nationalist, Dr. Paul Unongo, is one of the few surviving politicians who played key roles in all democratic dispensations and in the struggle for Nigeria’s independence. In this interview, he speaks on the state of the nation, pin-pointing where we started losing our way and the path forward. Excerpts:
By Omeiza Ajayi (YORUBA MAN)
Paul Unongo What is your take on the state of the nation?
I think Nigeria as an evolving society has done pretty well. We came as an amalgamation of different kinds of people into one state as many other countries have done including the US. In our case, our relatively revered father, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, who was the father of this nation and who believed very strongly in a form of government that is called Union Government because he believes that Africans could evolve, like Germany evolved under (Otto Von) Bismarck with all her numerous problems, and about 300 states, was able to bring them under the umbrella of one German nation. Dr. Azikiwe thought that he could replicate that.
His younger brother, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, came on the scene with a correct diagnosis, but people did not believe him. They called him a tribalist. They were wrong. Chief Awolowo said having watched the African systems and the European systems, later on, the form of togetherness which would give the component tribes legal, constitutional ability to express their uniqueness within a larger nation-state would be preferable, and he said that form of government, federalism, was good for Nigeria.
But some of us ‘small small’ people formed our own organization to tell Britain that ‘you have divided Nigeria into three.’ Awolowo has spoken; Zik has spoken, and of course, Sir Ahmadu Bello has spoken. He said his people were not very ready for independence and that the process had to be gradual, pledging, however, to remain in Nigeria but that he would not hold the rest of the country back since they wanted independence as at 1956 while the North would be ready by 1959. There was a lot of wisdom in what they said. So, we the firebrand, the young people, we made our choices. People like me would pick the path of Nnamdi Azikiwe because we felt he was the Bismark of our time who was ready to unite everybody. So the three principal participants rejected co-federalism, rejected unionism and adopted Awolowo’s federalism, and we became the Federal Republic of Nigeria later on. Within that context, you can choose to evaluate Nigeria and ignore whatever is happening in this country now. I think Nigeria is in the process of evolving as a nation-state stressing residual powers in the regions.
On where the problem started
The problem is that after Azikiwe scored a fantastic victory in the Western House as a member of the House and his party was to form the government, the man who brought federalism as a form of governance reverted to the game we are playing in Nigeria today, which is tribalism,quite different from federalism. I just want people not to be too angry with themselves.
Awolowo felt, as the strongman of the Yoruba, Azikiwe should not have won the election in his place, and he could not countenance an Igbo man coming to be the premier or the first minister or prime minister of a predominantly Yoruba place. Night came, and when day broke, Zik discovered his majority had collapsed. The Yoruba abandoned him and went to a strange person they did not know ideologically, that is Awolowo, on the basis of tribe.
So, Zik was forced to rethink as an intelligent person, to relocate. He went back to his own part of the country to become the first Premier of Eastern Region.
Some of us sprang up too, in going with Awolowo’s federalism, that the notion that there are only three tribes or sections in the country was so fundamentally defective that we called on the metropolitan power, Britain, to correct this before they would leave. So, we in the Middle Belt of Nigeria came together and decided that we would call ourselves ‘people in the middle’ and that we were not Hausa, we were not Fulani.
At that time, we told Britain, Nigeria had over 250 tribes but that we could not dissect Nigeria into 250 nations. We told them that what has happened in Western Nigeria where an Igbo man was rejected…nobody questioned the fact as at then that Zik was the leader of Nigeria and then suddenly, having won victory, which would have been a great thing for Nigeria, in a predominantly Yoruba region, because the Yoruba were extremely sophisticated and they were the most developed part of Nigeria, and they voted on the basis of ideological orientation. Zik’s party produced a Zik premiership in Western Nigeria and in the night, Awolowo went round to convince the Yoruba that, ‘you are a tribe. Your tribe is called Yoruba. Zik’s tribe is called Igbo. Do not allow this to happen. Whether you like me or not, it is better to have a Yoruba man to rule over Yorubaland’. Unfortunately, I feel, this was the starting point of our problems.
So, he succeeded, and Zik was forced to go to his own place to become a little tribal leader, which was never what he wanted. That man called Zik was responsible for the revolution in Ghana, and he started his revolutionary activities in America. Zik was very keen on having a United States of Africa. He wanted nations within each state, that could create supra-powerful goals around which political actions could be taken.
So, we begged Britain to create a fourth region just to balance, because, within this fourth region that we perceived, we were not talking about religion because this region would have cut across the whole of the central part of Nigeria. It would have included the Nupe that were predominantly even Moslems; it would have included the Ebira, the Igala; it would have included some of the Yoruba, Benue-Plateau, etc., but we gave ourselves a title, Middle Belt, and we made very convincing arguments. I was the secretary to the leader of the UMBC, late Joseph Tarka, who people did not know, was only two and a half years older than me and I was very educated because I just came out from what you now call secondary school. So, I wrote our presentation for the London Constitutional Conference, and I knew we were committed to a fantastic nationalism.
Nigeria hasn’t gone beyond its past leaders
How far have we moved beyond our leaders in terms of development? Zero! We have not moved anywhere, and I am so sad. Today, the pursuit of other things rather than nationalism and patriotism have taken over. Whatever you say about our old leaders, they were patriotic. They saw a bigger picture of the nation that together we could do more in the economy, and that together we could command more respect in the international community.
When people say the problem of Nigeria is that old men have not given an opportunity to the youth to rule, well, at the time of Awolowo, all the people that ruled were young people, and they did well. Gowon was only 29. Murtala was young. All the generals that ruled Nigeria were young. Why didn’t they become our Bismarck? Why didn’t they even become this young man in Ghana, Rawlings? That is why I have no sympathy for people who do not bend down and analyse the problem correctly. People believe if my tribesman is the president of Nigeria, then I am president. The Yoruba man who thought like that, where has Obasanjo taken him? In this regard, I still haven’t found out why education hasn’t helped us, but I think that regarding what Nigeria ought to have been, 60 years after independence, it is an insult on some of us that we are still talking about Nigeria’s potentials.
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A very interesting read but you can't persuade a grown person overnight to do what he was not already inclined to do. Zik won the election but people were inclined towards tribalism. Awo didn't have to do much persuading
Are you not tired of recycling this "Nigeria-has-great-potential" talking point since 1800AD.
Nigeria does have great potential. Nigeria is a miracle of sorts because by themselves there is no way those people would have come together. Yet here we have it - a giant, extremely diverse African country made up entirely of black people. Something seemingly impossible. The cultural and synergistic advantages accruing from such a combination truly has the potential Of producing a super-power black nation.
Nigeria does have great potential. Nigeria is a miracle of sorts because by themselves there is no way those people would have come together. Yet here we have it - a giant, extremely diverse African country made up entirely of black people. Something seemingly impossible. The cultural and synergistic advantages accruing from such a combination truly has the potential Of producing a super-power black nation.
Stop deluding yourself.
You have not even been able to manage economic recession, and you are here claiming potential.
A very interesting read but you can't persuade a grown person overnight to do what he was not already inclined to do. Zik won the election but people were inclined towards tribalism. Awo didn't have to do much persuading
A very good point. But they still needed a small push to actually abandon Zik's party and Awo was the person that gave that push.
