In a serialized article entitled “The Forgotten Documents of The Nigerian Civil War” by one Odia Ofeimun whose publication was concluded in the 4th November, 2012, Issue of the Sunday Guardian Newspaper, Odia reacted to Professor Achebe’s Book – “There was a Country”.  He came out strong, in his efforts to exonerate Awolowo from the charges levelled against him and General Gowon in Achebe’s Book.

You see, candidates who fail their examinations belong to two categories of students.  The first group fail because they are intrinsically unintelligent.  The second group fail because they did not understand the question asked, in the first instance.  So they wrote and submitted answers that were off-tangent from the issues raised in the examination questions.  One doesn’t really know which of the above categories of candidates that Odia belongs to.  In his efforts to react to the issues raised by Achebe in his new book, Odia left the substance and spent all his energy running after the shadow.  He ended up “defending” the Indefensible.  His write-up was, at best, diversionary.  

The issues Odia was supposed to react to were the devilish policies of Awolowo and Gowon against Biafra, such as:
a) The blockade/closing of Biafras International Land-borders, and territorial waters;
b) Starvation and Genocide against Biafrans;
c) The payment of ONLY £20, (N40) to each Easterner, at the end of the war, in exchange for WHATEVER AMOUNT of money the person may have saved in his Bank Account, before the war.  Thus, Easterners were Not allowed to make use of their OWN hard-earned money (both Capital and Interest); to start life afresh;

d) The Indigenisation Policy, which made it possible for individuals, mostly Yorubas, to buy over government companies and other Business enterprises; at a time when Easterners had only N40 (forty naira) in their pockets.  Thus, Easterners could not buy any of those  companies.

e) The banning of the importation and sell of second-hand clothes, which Easterners considered cheap enough to buy and cover their “guitar-ribbed”, and half naked bodies at that time.  Ibos, mainly, who were denied the opportunity of buying any government company, were AGAIN denied the opportunity of going back to the second-hand clothes business for which they are well known.

f) The banning of the importation and sell of stockfish, the cheapest animal protein which the starving Easterners needed to help in rebuilding their highly boney frames; and reduce the ravaging marasmus and kwashiorkor health problems.

g) The payment of only a very small fraction of their salaries to the multitude of Nigerian soldiers that flooded the East after the war, and forcefully saving the rest of their salaries in their home states; just to PREVENT the Inflow of cash/money into the East, through the soldiers.E.T.C

N.B. All these were happening at a time Gowon was telling the world that his government was carrying out a programme of “Reconciliation, Reintegration and Reconstruction in the East.”  Not having any answer to provide for the above sordid and devilish issues, Odia chose to react to the issue he thought was simple for him; but failed woefully, with his two legs high up in the air.

  One thing is crystal clear about Prof. Achebe.  He is a Globally recognised and respected literary Giant.  A world renowned intellectual that is fanatical with FACTS and DETAILS about any issue he decides to go into.  Therefore, anybody whatsoever that doubts the credibility of what Achebe wrote is indeed the actual person that has a big question mark over his/her own level of intellect. Inspite of such diversionary antics by Odia, however, this writer has decided to react to Odia’s article Point by Point to put things in their proper perspective.  

1. TRIBALISM: Odia alleged that “due to pure brazen, unguarded tribalism, those who would have supported Awolowo to move Nigeria forward did not do so”.  Let us go down memory lane to show that it was Awolowo ‘who planted the SEED of Tribal-Politics in Nigeria’s history.

When Zik returned to Nigeria, after his overseas studies, he did not go to the East to form a Tribal Party.  He joined the N.C.N.C. (National Convention for Nigeria, and Cameroon), in the West; a party led by Herbert Macaulay, a Yoruba man.  That was an exhibition of the Ibo man’s nationalistic orientation.  Ironically, Awolowo did not join his brother, Macaulay in the National NCNC Party.  He formed a TRIBAL Political Organisation.  There was nothing wrong in forming his own political outfit. But there was everything wrong in giving it a TRIBAL Garb – “Egbe Omo Oduduwa” (not Egbe Omo “Nigeria”).  This later became the Action Group.  Quickly, Northern Nigeria followed Awolowo’s Tribal footsteps and came up with their own “Northern Peoples Congress (NPC), (not ‘Nigerian’ Peoples Congress)”.  Aminu Kano did not want to be left out in the Tribal Race that Awolowo had started.  He assembled the ‘Northern Elements Progress Union – NEPU’ (not “Nigerian” elements P.U.).  The Middle Belt came out ‘smoking’ with their “United Middle Belt Convention”, (not United ‘Nigeria’ Convention) etc.  So, of all the political parties in the first republic, only the N.C.N.C. under Zik (an Ibo man) had a NATIONAL status.  The rest were Tribal outfits.  Even the strong ‘Ibo Union’, and “Zikist Movement” at that time were never, political parties, but organisations that campaigned for the NCNC.

Inspite of Awolowo’s tribal posturing, Zik’s NCNC still won the 1959 General Elections in the Western Region!  Unfortunately, before the Swearing-In Ceremony, for Zik’s NCNC to form the Government in the West, Awolowo and his group went virtually from household to household building-up ethnic feelings; and charging the Yorubas never to allow a “Non-Yoruba man” to form an NCNC government in West.  In a quick response, the Yoruba politicians who won their general elections as NCNC members “CROSSED CARPETS”, and said they were now members of Awolowo’s ‘Action Group’.  Awolowo’s seed of tribalism thus germinated into a seedling that has come of age today.

Interestingly, the Ibos, in their characteristic Republican disposition, used their vast numerical strength, as the majority tribe in the East to vote for EYO-ITA, a non-Ibo man from a minority tribe to win the election, and rule the Eastern Region.  Most unfortunately, Zik ran across to the East to remove Eyo-Ita, claiming that since he was denied leadership in the West because of Awolowo’s gospel of Ethnic politics, that he, too, had an ethnic background.  

This caused a heated argument in the Eastern House of Assembly as most members opposed Zik’s line of thought.  But Zik used his position as leader of the party to unseat Eyo-Ita.  That action of Zik was, and remains, condemnable!  In his book – “The Trouble with Nigeria”, Professor Achebe spoke the minds of Easterners, and roundly admonished Zik for what he did, telling him unequivocally that he should have remained in the West to become the Opposition Leader; instead of coming to the East to destabilise the political and social peace under Eyo-Ita. NB: It was this highly regrettable removal of Eyo-Ita by Zik, because of Awolowo’s Tribal politics, that became the ORIGIN of the suspicion and animosity which many people in the Eastern minority tribes had against Biafra, during the war.  They used that opportunity to get their ‘POUND OF FLESH’ by not supporting Biafra; all because of the tribal face-off between Zik and Awolowo.  It was to demonstrate that the Ibos truly condemn what Zik did to Eyo-Ita, that the entire Ibo nation gave their ‘block vote’ to President Jonathan in the 2011 General Elections; at least to tell the Eastern Minority tribes that “NOTHING SPOIL”.

2. ODIA SAID SOMETHING ABOUT “IBO COUP”
To recall some of the events that led to the January 1966 Military Coup, it will be necessary to go back into history.  Now, after the sacking of Zik from the West by Awolowo on tribal reasons, Samuel Akintola and his NNDP Party again beat Awolowo’s Action Group in the 1965 elections to win the Premiership Office in the West.  Despite the fact that Akintola was his fellow Yoruba man, Awolowo, because of his undying political greed, could not accept Akintola as Premier of the Western Region.  He put in everything at his disposal to flush out Akintola, as he did to Zik.  But Akintola gave Awolowo the fight of his life.  Awolowo and his group went violent against members of Akintola’s NDDP, killing, maiming and burning both humans and houses.  Pandemonium reigned; and the West became known as the “WILD, WILD, WEST!”

Out of his self-consuming political ambition to rule Nigeria at all costs, Awolowo was involved in acts for which he (Awolowo) was arrested for plotting to overthrow the Government of the Federation.  He was accordingly tried for Treasonable Felony, and sentenced to 15 years imprisonment.  He was to serve that sentence in a Northern Nigerian Prison.  The Eastern Nigeria government, under Dr. Michael Okpara, fought against that, and requested that Awolowo should be sent to Calabar Prison in the East.  The reason was that Awolowo had openly declared sometime earlier that he would “never play ‘second-fiddle’ to any northerner”.  That was another way of saying that all northerners, without exception, were inferior to him.  So, the East feared that under such circumstances, Awolowo’s safety may not be guaranteed, if he served his prison sentence in the North.

There in Calabar prison, Awolowo confessed to his family members and well-wishers who visited him, that he was receiving excellent love and care from the people of the East; that the only problem he had was the restriction of his movement by the Federal Government. One may now ask; what show of brotherliness and Southern solidarity, as demonstrated by the East, could be greater than that?

Sadly enough, it was the same Easterners that showed him so much love and care, that Awolowo tried to exterminate with his war-time policy of “starvation as a legitimate weapon of war”.  To say the least, that was, and still remains the height of ingratitude.

EXECUTION AND TERMINATION OF THE JANUARY 1966 COUP
While Awolowo was in prison, the increasingly reckless level of violence in the wild-wild-west became intolerable.  Such unwanton  level of violence and general insecurity in the west was happening at a time a meeting of the Commonwealth Heads of State was to take place in Lagos.  To restore normalcy, in the country; and save Prime Minister Tafawa Balewa’s  Government from an impending national-embarrassment/disgrace, Major Ademoyega explained in his Book: “WHY WE STRUCK” that it became necessary for the “Five Majors” led by Major Ifeajuna to stage that coup.  Unfortunately, it was poorly carried out.  The troops under Ifeajuna were overcome in the West by troops loyal to Major General Ironsi, who was the highest ranking Nigerian Army Officer before Independence.  In the East, the coupists failed, because they claimed that the Eastern Premier was hosting the Ethiopian Head of State, Emperor Haille Sellasie in His Government Quarters.  They claimed they were waiting for the Emperor to leave for Ethiopia the next morning before carrying out their task.  Unfortunately, by that next morning the Federal Government had announced the crushing of the coup in Lagos, in the national radio network. The coupists disbanded.  

Meanwhile, Major Chukwuma, Kaduna Njeogwu, the leader of the coup in the North, had sent a detachment of his troops to then Lt. Colonel Odumegwu Ojukwu, Commander of the 5th Battallion, Nigerian Army in Kano, to surrender to the coupists, or be shot if he resisted.  Characteristic of him, Ojukwu not only refused to be part of the coup, but ordered the arrest and detention of the troops Nzeogwu sent to Kano.

N.B: From the above events, a very clear point must be noted.  That is, while Majors Ifeajuna and Nzeogwu were Ibo names among the 5 (five) Majors that CARRIED OUT the January, 1966 coup; Major General Ironsi and then Colonel Ojukwu were also Ibo military officers that CRUSHED the coup.  Today, while many writers have repeatedly told Nigerians that Ibos led the Jan. ’66 coup, they have consistently failed to tell the same Nigerians that the coup was also crushed by Ibos.  A clear case of double standard, for mischievous reasons.  Again, although Nzeogwu is an Ibo name, writers have not been telling Nigerians that Major Nzeogwu came from Okpanam in the then Mid-West Region, and not from the East of the Niger.  Some will argue that “Ibo man, na Ibo man, whether from the North or South.  Very correct.  It becomes unfortunate, however, when everybody, even the Ibo-speaking communities in other States try to distance themselves; and give the impression that ALL the Jan. ’66 coup members came from the present S.E. Zone of the country.  Some even go the extra mile of saying they are “not Ibos”.  Yet the people they try to associate with often elbow them out when it comes to appointments, or elections into plum political positions.  What an irony of faith!

It must be noted also that after Northern Nigeria’s Counter-coup of May 29th, 1966, Ojukwu did not fight for an Ibo officer to become Head of State.  He fought for Brigader Ogundipe, (a Yoruba man) to take over the Government, as General Ironsi’s next in command; and rule Nigeria.  But, Ogundipe, like a typical Yoruba man, was not man enough to take up the challenge, and rule the country.  Instead, like the proverbial dog that hides its tail between its legs in shame, when caught in an awkward condition, Ogundipe spirited himself away from the country, out of fear for his life.  What a shame!

THE DILEMMA OF “CONDEMNATION, AND PROPAGATION” OF MILITARY COUPS IN NIGERIA

No matter the reasons for the Jan ’66 coup many Nigerians, particularly those in the north, condemned it; and declared that any form of coup in the country was an anathema. Fine. What is difficult to understand is why the very same northern Nigerians that carried out such an inconceivable level of pogrom against the Ibos, on account of the Jan. ’66 coup, turned out to carry out and sustain a long CHAIN of coups and military dictatorships under Generals Gowon; Murtala Mohammed; Buhari; Babangida; Abacha and Abdulsam Abubakar – all NORTHERNERS?  The list did not include the attempted coups of Col. Dimka, General Bissala, Major Daban and Major Gedion Okar.  Again, all Northerners. If the North loved Military coups so much, why then did they kill, and have continued to kill the Ibos because  of a coup?  

CONDEMNATION OF GENERAL IRONSI’S DECREE 34
Ironsi, in his own idea of building up a United Nigeria, came up with Decree 34, so that every citizen could be free to live and work in any part of Nigeria.  That Unitary system of Government so embittered the notherners that, according to Odia, Mallam Aminu Kano and his “political sensitization Group” galvanised the entire north into unleashing that abominable level of pogrom against the Ibos.

One may now ask why was it that the same northerners that opposed a unitary Government and virtually exploded Nigeria’s political landscape with the most devilish brand of pogrom against the Ibos, turned round to rule Nigeria for so many years under the same UNITARY GOVERNMENT?  Why have the same northerners even entrenched that same Unitary Government into the constitution?  Since both the military coup, and the Unitary Government for which Ibos were massacred have later become the corner-stones of government-administration in Nigeria, the Ibos have left the Nigerian populace to their Conscience, and their God.

OJUKWU’S ALLEGED INABILITY TO PREVENT THE SECESSION
 Odia, and the likes of him, accused Ojukwu of not doing enough to avert the secession.  It is on record that when the Pogrom started on May 29th, 1966, following the North’s counter coup, Ojukwu mounted tremendous pressure on Easterners to avoid reprisal killings against northerners residing in the East.  Good enough, Odia confessed that Ojukwu even encouraged Easterners who fled the north to go back there, assuring them of their safety.  They obeyed, and returned to the north.  On July 29th, 1966, the second wave of Pogrom against the Ibos took a wider dimension, and they fled back to the East.  Again, Ojukwu prevented reprisal killings in the East; and protested against the massacre of Ibos to the Gowon government.  After receiving assurances of security, Ojukwu again persuaded the Ibo refugees to return to the North, “IN THE INTEREST OF NIGERIAN UNITY.”  Then, on September 29th, 1966, the “Mother of all Pogroms” commenced non-stop throughout the length and breadth of the north.  Lorry loads of dead bodies and refugees of Ibo origin flooded the East from the North, on daily basis.  Ojukwu himself was sent a parcel of a Headless Body, as a “special Gift”. Tempers in the East rose to the peak.  As a final effort to prevent reprisal killings of northerners, Ojukwu provided free transportation for northerners in the East, to take them out of the East, to border towns in the North, for their safety.

It was at this point that Ojukwu made a broadcast in which he clarified that the East would NOT break away from Nigeria “Unless we are pushed.  Fellow Easterners, the push has started”.  Yet Ojukwu made spirited efforts to halt that PUSHED.  He requested the Gowon Government to send money to help resettle the army of refugees in the East, to enable the refugees start life afresh.  That was turned down.  Ojukwu requested for money from Gowon’s Cabinet to pay Refugee-Federal-Workers who were reabsorbed into Federal establishments in the East.  That was rejected.  Ojukwu asked that royalties from oil operations in the East be remitted to the Eastern Nigerian government to enable her attend to the excruciating financial and social challenges the East was facing.  That was rebuffed.  One may now ask: Did all the atrocities against Easterners, particularly the Ibos, as exemplified above, amount to ‘CARESSING’, or ‘PUSHING’ of the East out the federation?  Odia and his likes should give the world their answer.

In the midst of all those brazen acts of hatred and animosity against the East, Awolowo and Gowon were inviting Ojukwu to Lagos, for “Peace Talks”.  Peace talks, indeed.  If the duo really wanted peace, why didn’t they put that peace-move in ACTION, by granting the reconciliatory requests Ojukwu had made? Of course Easterners told Ojukwu NOT to attend that Lagos Conference, which could be a Booby-Trap.  His safety was important to the Easteners.  Any harm done to him at that time would have spelt disaster for the Easterners.

Yet, in the spirit and zeal to PREVENT secession, Ojukwu and his Team went to Ghana, to meet Gowon, Awolowo and the rest of the Nigerian Delegation, for the “ABURI Peace Conference”; which was personally chaired by General Joseph Ankrah – the then Ghanaian Head of State.  The discussions held were exhaustive; and proposals were made to keep Nigeria one.  Agreements reached (“The ABURI ACCORD”) were duly signed by both parties to the conflict that is; Ojukwu and Gowon, and the rest of their members.The hope of preventing the break-up of Nigeria was thus established.

On their return to Nigeria, Ojukwu started implementing the agreements; for ONE Nigeria; but Gowon and his cabinet decided to cast that ABURI ACCORD into the dust-bin.  The East cried ‘foul’, and called for immediate secession.  Ojukwu called a Press Conference to caution against this demand.  He outlined the consequences of secession and ended with a final warning to Nigeria that “ON ABURI WE STAND”.  So, with all of this what other efforts did Odia and his likes want Ojukwu to make, to prevent secession?

DOCUMENTATION OF AWOLWO’S STATEMENT ON THE SECESSION  OF THE WEST
Odia went further to write that there was no document where Awolowo said that the West would secede if the East seceded.  The same Odia countered himself, without realising it, when he wrote that Awolowo stated that “if the East was pushed out of Nigeria, the West would follow”.  So, what other document was Odia looking for?  Was that Awolowo’s statement not documented?  Or was the East not PUSHED out of Nigeria, at that time?  

BIAFRA’S LEVEL OF PREPAREDNESS FOR THE WAR
Odia declared that Eastern Nigeria was not prepared for the war she was about to embark upon.  Yes, sufficient ready-made ammunition may not have been available before the start of the war.  But the Will-power of the Easterners; the ingenuity of the Biafran scientists and Engineers; plus the technological exploits of the Biafran “Research and Production Directorate” gave the Biafran Army and Navy all the necessary hardware required to prosecute the war.  If Odia’s tribal fear will permit him, one will advise Odia to take a trip to the National War Museum in Umuahia, Abia State, and get a glimpse of the advancements Biafra made in Scientific Warfare, in those days.

It must be made very clear that the Nigeria-Biafra war Started and Ended in 1967, in Favour of Biafra!  From January 1968 to 1970, Biafra was now engaged in a gruelling war against Britain, Russia and Muslim countries, like Niger and others in North Africa; because the Nigerian Government had invited them to come to her rescue; using Nigerian troops as smoke screen.

This is where the saying in professor Achebe’s “Things Fall Apart” comes in handy that the Agama Lizard, on landing from a very tall Iroko tree, nodded its head a couple of times and declared that if no one was prepared to give it kudos for the feat it had performed, then it would hold its head high and say “I did it”.  Yes, the East did it.  Biafra did it.  Frederick Forsyth in his Book, “The Making of an African Legend: The Biafra Story” captured it clearly when he wrote: “I was thinking that Biafrans fight like Heroes.  Now I know that Heroes fight like Biafrans”.  Think about that.  The Biafran Project may have been halted, but it must be stated with every amount of emphasis, that what halted the project was Awolowo’s STARVATION policy, NOT military hardware.  

ARMING OF BIAFRANS WITH “WOODEN STICKS”
Odia also said something about Ojukwu giving “wooden sticks” to his people, as civil-defenders in a shooting war.  In the lighter mood, one does not know if Odia was saying that some ‘sticks’ are made of iron.  On a more  serious note, however, Odia was actually insulting the Federal troops by insinuating that Biafran Civil Defenders were able to fight heavily equipped Federal troops with just “wooden sticks” for 30 (thirty) long months.  If that was so, then Biafra has actually performed a feat which no other power on the Earth-Planet could perform, since the days of Adam.  If Biafra really did that, then she has demonstrated that, unlike the Chicken-hearted Yorubas, who believe in Mass Demonstrations and burning of innocent tyres, the people of Biafra constitute a rare breed that don’t believe in making noise, but fighting, even with STICKS, if the need arose. OJUKWU’S REMARK ON BIAFRA’S MILITARY STRENGHT

Regarding the statement that “No Power in Black Africa can vanquish Biafra”, which Odia said Ojukwu was claiming; the truth is that, that was not a ‘claim’, but “a Statement of Fact”.  How? Nigeria has repeatedly told the world that she is the largest and most populated Black Country in the entire world; and is indeed the GIANT OF AFRICA!, Therefore, if Nigeria, with all her Military Might, could NOT, on her own, prosecute that war against Biafra, without relying on Britain, Russia, Niger and other countries for ASSISTANCE; then one would wish to know which other Black country that would have done better than Nigeria, militarily?

ODIA’S OTHER CHAIN OF ALLEGATIONS
Other strings of allegations which Odia put together were as follows:-

a) that military officers like Col. Njoku and General Madiebo did not support Ojukwu’s action.
b) that Ojukwu did not give Awolowo the two weeks he (Awolowo) requested for, to think about the secession Ojukwu mentioned to him;
c) that Biafra did not ‘invade’ the Mid-West, but was merely “invited”;
d) that the allegation about Genocide was untrue; and that
e) Ojukwu starved Biafrans by refusing to create a land corridor for his people to be fed.  

REACTIONS
a) Odia wrote that Awolowo’s opposition to Ojukwu’s actions was shared by military officers like Njoku and Madiebo.  Luckily, Odia himself also wrote that Awolowo’s influence alone could not have been enough to persuade the West to do anything; because “Yoruba Military officers rooted for unity, and nothing more”.  In the same vein, Colonel Hilary Njoku and his group were against Ojukwu because those old Nigerian military officers who were already fully INDOCTRINATED in the discipline of “obeying the last order about one Nigeria (without having any independent thought of their own) were against Ojukwu for the same reason.  
In addition, Hilary Njoku was a Colonel.  He was a senior officer to Ojukwu at that time.  So, he was not happy that Ojukwu was appointed the Military Governor for the East, instead of himself.  Therefore, for purely personal reasons, Hilary Njoku was not prepared to serve under Ojukwu whom he considered a junior officer, and opposed him on all fronts.  That was what happened.  Regarding General Madiebo, Odia and his group should just go and read General Madiebo’s reactions to Professor Achiebe’s Book where he CONCORED with everything Achebe wrote; and added further that if he (Madiebo) were to write his own book, that he would write even more than what Achebe has written.  
Odia should also read the comments on Achebe’s Book by Colonel Achuzia (Air-Raid) where he declared that, his own Book, when completed, would even say more than what Achebe wrote.  Finally, Odia and his people should read the edifying Tributes all shades of people used to glorify Ojukwu at his death.
These included some Top Nigerian politicians and officers in the Armed Forces that fought against Biafra.  

b)  Next, Ojukwu did not grant Awolowo’s two weeks request to think about the secession, because the East was not inviting the West for a joint-secession.  Circumstances for any secession were not the same for the East and the West.  Ojukwu was only giving Awolowo, whom he saw as a big brother, a privileged information.  It was up to the West to take their own decision, at their own time.  Secondly, Ojukwu refused Awolowo’s two-weeks request out of wisdom and fore-sight because, as events showed later, Awolowo and his Commissioner of Police only wanted to use that space of time to get the Nigerian Government put finishing touches to their State-creation plot; and further destabilise the East

c) BIAFRA’S ENTRY INTO THE MID-WEST 
Odia was very correct when he stated that Biafra did not invade the Mid-West.  Biafra did not really INVADE the Mid-West.  Biafran troops moved into the Mid-West, and part of the West on a “RESCUE-OPERATION”; not an “expansionist campaign”.  Biafra LIBERATED the Mid-West and declared that Region the REPUBLIC OF BENIN, and not a part of Biafra!  Thus the people of the Mid-West Region were given the opportunity, on a Platter of Gold, to take their Destiny into their own hands, and CONTROL their Natural Resources.  

That Republic died 4 (four) days after her birth.  That opportunity was lost by the Mid-Westerners.  It must be noted that, that was not the first time the East came to the rescue of the people of the Mid-West; because it was the Eastern region government, under Dr. Michael Okpara, that fought for the creation of the Mid-West, out of the Old Western Region.  Again, in 1999, the South-East Governors suggested CONFEDERATION so that states could manage their own resources, in a true Federal System of Government, for one Nigeria.  

But, out of IBOPHOBIA, people said the Ibos had come again with their WAHALA, and rejected it. Today, the people that killed those opportunities are the same people fighting tooth and nail for ‘Resource Control’.  We wish them Luck!  Some are even talking of implementing the ABURI ACCORD!  A case “of medicine, after death”!

Awolowo had also confided in Ojukwu in 1967, that even if the West were to think of pulling out, that the presence of federal troops in the region would make it impossible for them to organise themselves, the way the East had done.  Odia, himself corroborated this statement when he confessed that “Awolowo’s influence on the Yorubas could not have counted much when the Occupation Army from the North was SITTING PRETTY in the West”.

That was exactly why Ojukwu sent the Biafran Liberation Army up to Ore to scare the Occupation Army out of the West; and give the Westerners enough space to sort themselves out.  The Biafran Liberation Army had orders from Ojukwu to send part of their troops to Lagos when they got to Ore.  The rest of the Biafran Liberation Troops were to move to Ibadan; and push on to Jebba bridge, and cut it, to prevent speedy reinforcement of Nigerian Troops from the North.  At the beginning, the Eastern Plan worked.  As soon as the Biafran Liberation Army got to Ore, the first response of Gowon and his government was to relocate to Kaduna.  His troops in the West were enveloped in confusion and panic.  Awolowo and the West refused to capitalise on the situation to take care of themselves.  Rather, the Yorubas opted to stay put in Nigeria to “fish in troubled waters”; by using the opportunity of the civil war to occupy the positions left in the Civil service, the Armed Forces and the Private sector by the Easterners who fled home for their dear lives.

It remains instructive that Ojukwu gave command of the Biafran Liberation Army to Lt. Col. Victor Banjo, a Yoruba military officer; and NOT an Ibo military commander.  This was to prevent a situation where Ibos may be accused of trying to dominate the West.  The choice of Col. Banjo as the Liberation Army Commander was also to reassure the West that it was their own son-of-the-soil who was coming to organise and give direction to his fellow Yorubas. But, on arrival at Ore, Col. Banjo got counter directives from Awolowo and the Yoruba-elite to abort his mission to the West, for reasons stated above.

Moreover, Awolowo had become appointed the Vice-Chairman of Nigeria’s Federal Executive Council; and received the promise of becoming the Civilian Head of State after the war.  Those carrots were too juicy for Awolowo and the West to ignore.  Thus Col. Banjo was not only dissuaded from carrying out his mission in the West, but was encouraged to plot a coup with Major Ifeafuna and Allele to overthrow the Biafran Government, capture Ojukwu; and put an end to the Biafran dream, at its embryonic stage.  Certainly, no case of betrayal of trust could be worse than that.  Military laws are clear on issues like this.  The coup plotters were court-marshalled and eliminated.  

d. THE ISSUE OF GENOCIDE AGAINST IBOS
In saying that in war-time, the opposing forces are both engaged in a genocidal mission, Odia shamefully displayed his stack naked ignorance of the difference between ‘genocide’ and ‘conventional war-fare’.  In the later, armed troops and military installations are the targets. In genocide, defenceless civilians, particularly women and children are the targets.  That was the crime Awolowo and Gowon committed against Biafran civilians through starvation, bombing and straffing of people in Residential areas, Refugee Camps and Market Places.  Odia and the likes of him should read the Book entitled “The Untold Story of the Nigeria-Biafra War” by Dr. Luke Nnaemeke Aneke (forwarded by Ojukwu’s Second in Command, General Philip Effiong), to get the specific names of places where the above atrocities were committed in Biafra, by Nigeria.  Odia should also read the article in the Scoop Magazine, vol. 7, No. 16, entitled “Exposed At Last, Genocide Against Igbos: How more than 2 million people were killed …”, and then tell the world whether that was Genocide, or Conventional Warfare!  

E. OJUKWU’S REJECTION OF LAND CORRIDOR FOR FOOD
It is a common saying that experience is the best teacher.  It will be recalled that Ojukwu created an oil-corridor on Biafra’s territorial waters (before the Economic Blockade) to enable British oil companies come into Biafra freely, to lift oil from the Bonny Oil-Terminal, Port-Harcourt.  Before then, the Biafran Navy always attacked, and knocked out Nigerian Naval Vessels that attempted entering her territorial waters, using Biafran made “Shore-Batteries”. Sadly enough, the oil companies abused that privilege given to them.  They betrayed Biafra by making use of their ships to bring in, and land Nigerian troops on Bonny Island by night.  Port-Harcourt residents were woken up the next morning by artillery gun-fire and explosions from the Nigerian troops on Bonny Island.  Out of fear and uncertainty, Port-Harcourt residents left the city.  The Nigerian troops in Bonny which could not withstand the Biafran Navy used that opportunity to sneak into Port-Harcourt and send for more troop reinforcements.

The question then is this: with the experience such as the one narrated above, did Odia and people of his class expect Ojukwu to repeat the same ‘mistake’ he made by creating a water corridor for the British Oil Company to come into Biafra to lift crude oil?  Was Ojukwu expected to be so naïve as to create a land corridor, this time, to give Nigeria a SECOND opportunity to bring in more troops into Biafra through the back door?

More questions: Why did the Awolowo and Gowon government insist on the movement of foreign food items through Lagos?  Why did they insist on participating in the movement of the food items into Biafra, through a land corridor?  Did the International Relief Agencies not know their way into Biafra, without Nigeria’s direct involvement in that exercise?  Was Ojukwu expected to repeat the Bonny error, and open up a land corridor for Nigeria to bring in POISONED FOOD; and speed up the genocide against Biafrans, by easier means?

Luckily, Odia and his foreign relief worker who said he was quitting the job because OJUKWU did not create a land corridor, also confessed that Ojukwu offered the Biafran Air-space as an open route to Air-Lift food into Biafra.  If there was no ULTERIOR motive in Nigeria’s insistence on creating a land-corridor, why did Awolowo and Gowon reject the air-lifting of food into Biafra to feed the starving population?  If Awolowo and Gowon really wanted to bring food into Biafra, why did their government use Russian Bomber and Fighter Planes, flown by Egyptian and other North African Pilots to constantly Bomb the Biafran Airport at ULI, and attack the planes of Foreign Relief Agencies like the International RED CROSS and the CARITAS that were air-lifting food into Biafra?  Why did Nigeria take over schools after the war, to PUNISH the Missionaries that supplied food to starving Biafrans during the war?

Odia also made reference to ‘Guitar-Ribbed’ Biafran children. He claimed that well-to-do Biafrans sent their children abroad, while Ojukwu used the children of the poor as cannon-fodder.  Now, those guitar-ribbed children, and Kwashiorkor patients were PERSONALLY selected from Refugee Camps and Feeding-Centers by the Foreign Relief Workers themselves.  They filled their planes with those children, and took them to friendly countries like Gabon and France; instead of flying back empty planes, after food delivery.  So, was Odia saying that the well-to-do Biafrans had to “starve their OWN children” to become guitar-ribbed/kwashiorkor patients in order to qualify them for selection by those International Relief Workers?  Again, the Names and Addresses of those children were printed on TAGS, and hung around their necks for easy identification, before flying them out.  Why did the well-to-do Biafrans also allow their own children to wear TAGS, like dogs?  Would their relations or friends to whom they sent their children abroad ,as alleged by Odia, no longer remember the names and addresses of those well-to-do Biafrans that sent their children to them?

Questions, and more question for Odia and his bed-fellows. Next time, they should not write any more nonsense, because there are also people that are much more analytical and reactive, when it comes to putting pen on paper.

CONCLUSION
Inspite of Awolowo’s animosity and genocidal war policies against Ojukwu, and Biafra as a whole, a number of points stand out very clearly:

i) Ojukwu Attended and Addressed the United Nations General Assembly during the crisis.  He received a standing ovation from the International Heads of State and Delegates after addressing that World Body on the Biafran Issue.  His enlarged photograph adorned the Cover Page of the “Times Magazine” that carried the full text of the U.N. story during that crisis.

ii) Ojukwu was a HEAD OF STATE, and Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces of a Country-Biafra, for three full years.  Some other Heads of State don’t hold office for up to a single year.

iii) When Ojukwu died, he died a National Hero and was given a National Burial, with Full Military Honours, as a General of the Peoples’ Army.  His burial was given an International Colouration, with the personal presence of General John Jerry Rawlings, a former Ghanaian Head of State; and other foreign Dignitaries.

iv)      Awolowo Blockaded and Starved Biafrans, with the hope of getting SIMILAR Positions, Titles and Honours after the war, but never did.  When he failed his last Presidential election, in 1979, he declared, out of frustration, that he had fought to become Nigeria’s Head of State for too long.  That he was not going to contest for the Presidential seat any more.  And that if Nigerians wanted him to be their president, they knew where to look for him.  Unfortunately, Nigerians never went to look for Awolowo, till he died.  So much for Tribal leadership, and unbridled political ambition.  

THE GOD OF BIAFRA NEVER ABANDONEDHER
Like Awolowo, many of those who fought against Biafra have suffered one form of NEMESIS, or the other:  Brigadier-General Benjamin Adekunle (the Black Scorpion) who commanded the 3rd Marine Commando that blockaded and killed Biafrans from the coastal region, has long been forgotten by the people he fought for, in terms of political positions/rewards.  Isaac Adaka Boro and Ken-Saro Wiwa were killed by the same people that used them to fight Biafra.  Today, Bakassi has been lost to the Cameroon as “compensation” to that country, for blocking Biafra from the outside world from that land axis.  The wartime commanders from Middle-Belt region who fought Biafra, know how they have been faring in Nigeria’s political scene for the job they did.  

Gowon, a Christian, was used by the core Muslim north to fight Biafra.  After doing that job, he was humiliated and disgraced out of office by General Murtala Mohammed, a Muslim from the core North.  Gowon had to beg for pardon from the same people he worked for, to please let him return to Nigeria from England to which he had also run to like Ogundipe.  Today, Gowon is going all over the place praying.  May be, praying for more pardon from God for the sins he committed with Awolowo against Biafra.

In The Advocate Newspaper of Sunday 4th Nov., to Saturday, Nov. 10, 2012, Gowon was reported as saying that he and Awolowo had no regrets over their roles in the Civil War.  He alleged that Prof. Achebe did not know what happened during the war, and should not have written on what he was not sure of.  He arrogantly added that he was ready to face the International Criminal court (ICC) at the Haque, for war crimes against Biafra.  My old mother in the village will say “Easier said than done”.  Gowon must be reminded that if a stubborn goat manoeuvres its head into a narrow-necked pot to consume anything, and can no longer free its head from the pot because of its long horns, then the goat must blame itself for what it has caused itself.  This is food for thought, for all concerned.

Awolowo himself was used by the North to fight Biafra on the promise that they would make him the Civilian Head of State after the war.  That never happened.  The North he served dumped him in 1979 and chose Alhaji Shehu Shagari as Head of State.

The Southern minority ethnic groups were told to join in fighting Biafra, to be free from Ibo domination.  Today, one doesn’t know the real people dominating the South South: Is it the North? The West? Both? Or none of the above?
N.B.   Things Ojukwu and Easterners saw almost half a century ago, are the things others are only just beginning to see today.  No wonder the Bible made it clear that the Three Wise Men came from the EAST.   

Above all, most of the problems Nigeria thought she would solve by fighting Biafra, are even multiplying.  That is why, today, Benjamin Adekunle says he regrets the degree of killings he did during the war, and General Alani Akinrinade is now asking “If Nigeria splits, so what?”

To cap it up, one very remarkable thing happened in the East, in the first few years after the war.  The rate at which male children were born, especially in 1970/71 was not only outstanding, but astonishing!  This really got people saying it loud, that “Our Children who fought and died in the Biafran war are COMING BACK”.  Was that God’s own way of repopulating the East, after the Genocide against her?  God alone has the answer, but birth records are there to prove the point.  In God, the Ibos rest their case.

Chairman,

this your story u ve really tried ..... Only if u removed your sentiment,it would have been one HELL of HISTORY

^^ If you say I'm sentimental, blame it on Odia. His write-up was purely based on sentiments.

hmm...

sagytarius™:
^^ If you say I'm sentimental, blame it on Odia. His write-up was purely based on sentiments.

Two wrongs do no make a right bro.....It's all wrong!!


Defending igbo attrocities while condemning Nigeria/yoruba attrocities vice versa is what Nigerian Civil war stories all abt.........

It's just one hell of an episode in Nigeria's history!!!

Interesting

Indeed, interesting!

naijaseeker:
Interesting

You killed it! Kudos for your insightful and intelligent commentary.

sagytariusTM1:
CONCLUSION
Inspite of Awolowo’s animosity and genocidal war policies against Ojukwu, and Biafra as a whole, a number of points stand out very clearly:

i) Ojukwu Attended and Addressed the United Nations General Assembly during the crisis.  He received a standing ovation from the International Heads of State and Delegates after addressing that World Body on the Biafran Issue.  His enlarged photograph adorned the Cover Page of the “Times Magazine” that carried the full text of the U.N. story during that crisis.

ii) Ojukwu was a HEAD OF STATE, and Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces of a Country-Biafra, for three full years.  Some other Heads of State don’t hold office for up to a single year.

iii) When Ojukwu died, he died a National Hero and was given a National Burial, with Full Military Honours, as a General of the Peoples’ Army.  His burial was given an International Colouration, with the personal presence of General John Jerry Rawlings, a former Ghanaian Head of State; and other foreign Dignitaries.

iv)      Awolowo Blockaded and Starved Biafrans, with the hope of getting SIMILAR Positions, Titles and Honours after the war, but never did.  When he failed his last Presidential election, in 1979, he declared, out of frustration, that he had fought to become Nigeria’s Head of State for too long.  That he was not going to contest for the Presidential seat any more.  And that if Nigerians wanted him to be their president, they knew where to look for him.  Unfortunately, Nigerians never went to look for Awolowo, till he died.  So much for Tribal leadership, and unbridled political ambition.  

THE GOD OF BIAFRA NEVER ABANDONEDHER
Like Awolowo, many of those who fought against Biafra have suffered one form of NEMESIS, or the other:  Brigadier-General Benjamin Adekunle (the Black Scorpion) who commanded the 3rd Marine Commando that blockaded and killed Biafrans from the coastal region, has long been forgotten by the people he fought for, in terms of political positions/rewards.  Isaac Adaka Boro and Ken-Saro Wiwa were killed by the same people that used them to fight Biafra.  Today, Bakassi has been lost to the Cameroon as “compensation” to that country, for blocking Biafra from the outside world from that land axis.  The wartime commanders from Middle-Belt region who fought Biafra, know how they have been faring in Nigeria’s political scene for the job they did.  

Gowon, a Christian, was used by the core Muslim north to fight Biafra.  After doing that job, he was humiliated and disgraced out of office by General Murtala Mohammed, a Muslim from the core North.  Gowon had to beg for pardon from the same people he worked for, to please let him return to Nigeria from England to which he had also run to like Ogundipe.  Today, Gowon is going all over the place praying.  May be, praying for more pardon from God for the sins he committed with Awolowo against Biafra.

In The Advocate Newspaper of Sunday 4th Nov., to Saturday, Nov. 10, 2012, Gowon was reported as saying that he and Awolowo had no regrets over their roles in the Civil War.  He alleged that Prof. Achebe did not know what happened during the war, and should not have written on what he was not sure of.  He arrogantly added that he was ready to face the International Criminal court (ICC) at the Haque, for war crimes against Biafra.  My old mother in the village will say “Easier said than done”.  Gowon must be reminded that if a stubborn goat manoeuvres its head into a narrow-necked pot to consume anything, and can no longer free its head from the pot because of its long horns, then the goat must blame itself for what it has caused itself.  This is food for thought, for all concerned.

Awolowo himself was used by the North to fight Biafra on the promise that they would make him the Civilian Head of State after the war.  That never happened.  The North he served dumped him in 1979 and chose Alhaji Shehu Shagari as Head of State.

The Southern minority ethnic groups were told to join in fighting Biafra, to be free from Ibo domination.  Today, one doesn’t know the real people dominating the South South: Is it the North? The West? Both? Or none of the above?
N.B.   Things Ojukwu and Easterners saw almost half a century ago, are the things others are only just beginning to see today.  No wonder the Bible made it clear that the Three Wise Men came from the EAST.   

Above all, most of the problems Nigeria thought she would solve by fighting Biafra, are even multiplying.  That is why, today, Benjamin Adekunle says he regrets the degree of killings he did during the war, and General Alani Akinrinade is now asking “If Nigeria splits, so what?”

To cap it up, one very remarkable thing happened in the East, in the first few years after the war.  The rate at which male children were born, especially in 1970/71 was not only outstanding, but astonishing!  This really got people saying it loud, that “Our Children who fought and died in the Biafran war are COMING BACK”.  Was that God’s own way of repopulating the East, after the Genocide against her?  God alone has the answer, but birth records are there to prove the point.  In God, the Ibos rest their case.