How Igbos Were Deceived Into The Biafra War By Their Leaders

Poet, literary and social critic, Mr Odia Ofeimun, has said Biafran war leaders should be sent to the Nuremberg Trial for crime against humanity.

He said all the leaders involved are supposed to be tried for deceiving the Igbos to fight a war they were not prepared for, rather than be allowed to continue in their deceit.

Mr Ofeimun said this at the Freedom Park in Lagos on Sunday while reacting to the controversy stirred by Chinua’s Achebe’s latest war memoir, 'There Was A Country'.

He was a guest at the Book Party organised by the Committee For Relevant Art, CORA.

In his words: “The Igbo leaders who deceived their people to fight the civil war without arms and ammunition should be tried for crimes against humanity. They were not prepared for the war, yet they made use of their propaganda machine to deceive the Igbos to fight the war.

“They didn’t tell their people the true situation of things. Chief Obafemi Awolowo met Odumegwu Ojukwu and told him, ‘My friend you are not prepared for the war.’”

Mr Ofeimun is of the view that Achebe is too serious a writer to be involved in such pety controversy, adding that the author of the popular novel, Things Fall Apart, left so many things unsaid in the book.

In his latest book, Achebe claims that former Head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon, and the then Federal Commissioner for Finance, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, used starvation as a weapon of war which caused the death of over two million Igbo people. He accused Chief Awolowo as hungry for power.

Achebe's criticism of the respected Yoruba leader has attracted reactions from former Aviation Minister, Mr Femi Fani-Kayode, who said though the issue of starvation which led to the death of millions of children was true, there is more to it.

“It is wrong for him (Achebe) to blame only Gowon and Awolowo for the starvation of innocent civilians. Achebe should have recorded that Ojukwu contributed to that because the Federal Government then made a proposal to open a food window so as to save civilians, but Ojukwu rejected it,” Fani- Kayode said.

In his reaction, an avowed Awoist and Commissioner for Information in Ekiti State, Mr. Funminiyi Afuye, said Achebe hasn’t been able to come out of the deep frustration of the fact that a Yoruba man (Prof Wole Soyinka) emerged as the first Nigerian winner of the Nobel Prize In Literature.

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Group To Declare State Of Biafra Come Nov 5 2012

A pro-Biafra group, Biafra Zionist Movement, BZM, announced, yesterday, that it had commenced the process to launch the struggle for a State of Biafra with the international community, saying that the formal declaration of the new Biafra Republic had been slated for November 5. 

 This came as Conference of Igbo Youth Organizations, CIYO, warned that Ndigbo “would no longer watch in silence while our brothers and sisters are slaughtered like animals” in the Northern States. National President of BZM, Benjamin Onwuka, at a briefing said what prevented the realization of Biafra republic over the years was the inability to get the support of world powers, like the United States of America to back the project. 

 “As we approach the end of 13 years since the mobilization and struggle for Biafran Independence began under the aegis of MASSOB and other groups, the people of Biafra have not made much effort in realizing our dreams because the struggle has been internalized since 1999,” Onwuka said.

 He expressed regrets that the international community did not know the aspirations of the Biafra people, saying “Biafra must therefore be internationalized because the forces preventing the dreams for our independence are vested in the United Kingdom.

 Biafra can only be achieved when we secure the support of the United States of America; the day USA comes to our side, that day we shall be free from Nigeria; the story of South Sudan where a bloody civil war was fought for over 24 years is a typical example.”

 Meanwhile, the Igbo youths in a statement endorsed by 10 youth leaders, including the National Coordinator, Igbo Youth Grand Alliance, Dr. Uchenna Uchehara, who read it after their emergency meeting in Owerri yesterday said: “Events of the past few months in Nigeria have become very disturbing to stakeholders, especially the Igbo nation that played a major role in the founding of Nigeria and inspite of the tragedies of the Biafran war, resolved to give total support to one united Nigeria”. They lamented that the ugly experience of Ndigbo in Nigeria had been the persistent and unprovoked killings of Igbo citizens 

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BRITISH GOVERNMENT SHOULD APOLOGIZE TO BIAFRA OVER GENOCIDE

The recurrent killings, bombings and destruction of human lives by the Boko Haram religious sect in the name of Allah and their demands for the Islamization of Nigeria was the greatest justification for the foresyth of the late Odumegwu Ojukwu, President, Commander-in Chief of the armed forces of the Defunct Republic of Biafra.

Odumegwu Ojukwu, a visionary leader, became the Military Administrator of Eastern Region after the military coup of 1966. It was Ojukwu as Battalion Commander in Kano who foiled the northern axis of the Kaduna Nzeogwu coup of 1966 while Ironsi foiled the Lagos end.

The events that occurred later and the one sided success of the coup created the wrong impression that it was an Eastern agenda. This helped to exhume the age old northern resentment of the industriousness of Nigerians of Eastern extraction. This resentment led to the pogrom, a genocide where Easterners were rounded up and brutally murdered in hundreds of thousands all over Northern Nigeria. This pogrom included even the military barracks. Part of the reasons for the pogrom was the view of the northerner that these easterners should be slaughtered until they leave us alone to secede from Nigeria.

The counter-coup of 1966 which led to the death of Aguiyi Ironsi then military Head of State was to give way for northern secession from Nigeria. The inheritor of the situation, Yakubu Gowon was eager for there to be a separation from these troublesome southerners and he was willing to finish what Sir Ahmadu Bello was agitating for before the independence of Nigeria in 1960.

The north due to no fault of theirs has viewed the southerners with suspicion. The feudal north wanted to preserve their monarchial, theocratic and simplistic culture. They detested all dilution associated with western education, western lifestyles and western radicalism. They wanted a controlled cultural, religious and political environment devoid of radicalism and independence mindedness associated with their southern countrymen.

The north was apprehensive of being forced into a marriage with the south of Nigeria. The British colonial government had a sway time convincing the northern oligarchy that being joined to Nigeria was to their best interest. The north was not convinced citing population, commerce, religious and cultural differences as part of their fears.

The British colonialists had to organize to divide Nigeria into three regional blocks, East, West, North knowing that a balkanized south will be easier to manipulate by divide and rule. They then gave the Ahmadu Bello government tips on how to use the balkanized south to their political advantage by fueling divisions and infightings in the south while maintaining cohesion in the north. This advantage brought about the emergence of Tafawa Balewa as the Prime minister. The north, against the dictates of their intuition, decided to follow the advice of the British Colonial masters to go on with one Nigeria.

With the tensions in 1966, Ojukwu and Gowon met in Aburi, Ghana , where the roadmap for the loose confederacy of Nigeria was drawn. The British advisers convinced sGowon that confederation is as good as secession and as such the Aburi accord should be jettisoned. Gowon, based on British advice, reneged on the agreement and plunged the nation into a civil war.

The rejection of the Aburi accord and the subsequent declaration of war on the Biafrans led to the death of three million people on the seceding side. The federal forces wouldn’t have won that war if not for the high level military and diplomatic support from Britain. The British Government was a major supplier of military tactics, arms and support personnel throughout the duration of the war. The then British Labour Foreign Secretary, Michael Stewart, while regretting the actions of British Government against Biafra agonized that "It would have been quite easy for me to say: This is going to be difficult - let's cut off all connexion with the Nigerian Government,…. "If I'd done that I should have known that I was encouraging in Africa the principle of tribal secession - with all the misery that could bring to Africa in the future” That was one of Britain’s official reason for supporting the genocide.

The fall of Biafra was not a victory by the Federal forces; it was a victory by the British Forces, British Foreign policy and British Government. It is laughable to suggest that the NTC rebels in Libya are responsible for the ouster of Gaddafi. It was foreign powers that aided the NTC rebels to oust Gaddafi. The same foreign powers led by Britain handed victory to the Federal forces.

The curse that came upon Nigeria as a result of the 3 million lives wasted for trying to secede is haunting Nigeria now. Britain would have to grapple with an underdeveloped country whose citizens will be illegally migrating to its shores in search of greener pastures. Britain would have to grapple with the fact that the core north they fought so much to defend will be constantly exporting suicide bombers to British and European territories in the near future. This marriage forced upon Nigeria by the British Government, reinforced during Tafawa Balewa and Yakubu Gowon regimes have created problems of corruption, underdevelopment, murders, diseases, injustice, poverty and the newest addition suicide bombings.

The British Government should admit to mistakes of ill advising Sir Ahmadu Bello to go on with one Nigeria. They should equally admit that it is a mistake to advice Gowon to renege on the Aburi accord. The British Government should also apologize to the Republic of Biafra for aiding and abetting a civil war leading to loss of lives of over 3 million people.

It is gladdening that the British government stood by the Nigerian people during the military dictatorship of Babangida and Abacha. They supported National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) during the dark days of Nigeria. They still support Nigeria in areas of human rights, civil society agitations, capacity building for democracy. The British Government has been cooperating with Nigeria’s Government of Goodluck Jonathan in the fight against terrorism. All these are commendable and appreciable. The worst form of terrorism committed in Nigeria is not Boko Haram whose atrocities is yet to claim up to two thousand lives but the extermination of millions of Biafran lives under the supervision and cooperation of Britain.

The British Government should do their image a lot of good by offering unreserved apology to Biafrans for that foreign policy gaffe and take urgent steps to undo their mistakes. They should champion the cause of allowing every geopolitical zone to develop at their own pace holding on to the values they cherish most and create an exit strategy if the marriage becomes cantankerous.

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Between Boko Haram and the Biafran war

NO matter how much we paint the situation, when a government becomes so weak and so incompetent that it can no longer protect its citizens; and when a nation becomes so corrupt and overtaken by criminality, then, the major indicators or symptoms of a failed state are registered.

That is the sorry state to which the Boko Haram has pushed Nigeria. The visionlessness of our leaders has now moved the once vibrant, once most powerful black nation, to the cliff that, we think it is only a question of time before the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) predicted apocalypse on Nigeria becomes true.

Nigerians hold their Kings – the Obas, Obis, Emirs and Peres – in high esteem. If one day we came to the rude awakening that the Oba was at the battlefield, personally pulling the triggers and cutting down the enemies, it would simply mean that there was something seriously wrong.

Many would not wait to be reminded to leave whatever they were doing and head for the battlefield. To us, the King does no wrong. After all, he is God’s representative on earth.

We wonder how much truth is healthy for the citizenry in a democracy. If the Governor-General of the nation suddenly became blind and unable to perform the functions of his office, how prudent would it be for us to rush to the press and make a public broadcast of his predicament? Or, would we rather keep sealed lips for some time while carefully managing the affairs of state and looking around for the best possible optician?

In the life of a leader, there comes a point at which one hundred percent disclosure on him is unhealthy to the citizenry. There must be aspects of his life that should not be known to all the people.

As a natural corollary, it is not everything the leader knows that should be known to the people. But for the careful management of information around this writer, he would not have gone to university when he did. By 1972, the rumour was rife that Armageddon was to come in the winter of that year.

My sponsor kept the secret to himself and went ahead to pay all my fees. Without telling me about the doomsday prediction, he encouraged me to go to school while he quietly intensified prayers that the Armageddon should not come. Perhaps because of my uncle’s intercessory prayers, the Armageddon has not still come, 40 years after.

A good leader does not fret. Neither does he disclose to his subjects, all perceived dangers. He acts without giving full explanation for his action. At the village level, the village head would suddenly decree that for the next seven nights, all the women in that village would dance round the village n*de, cursing evildoers. In the Christendom, the Reverend would suddenly declare a 21-day dry fast for all members. He does not disclose why.

In a telling paragraph of his book, The 33 Strategies of War, Robert Greene makes it abundantly clear that the world has become increasingly competitive and nasty. We face opponents who would do anything to gain an edge. Hear him: “More troubling and complex are the battles we face with those who are supposedly on our side. There are those who outwardly play the team game, who act very friendly and agreeable, but who sabotage us behind the scenes, using the group to promote their own agenda….”

Does President Goodluck Jonathan require any soothsayer to tell him that Boko Haram is a satanic organisation that wishes Nigeria no good? Does he not know that if the group had the wherewithal to sink Nigeria or set it ablaze, it would not hesitate for a moment to do so?

Again, it is unclear what President Jonathan seeks to achieve with his recent “Sermon on the Mount” in whch he poured out his full assessment of the Boko Haram: “The situation we have in our hands is even worse than the civil war that we fought. During the civil war, we knew and we could predict where the enemy was coming from. You can even know the route they are coming from, you can even know what calibre of weapon they will use and so on. But the challenge we have today is more complicated.”

This revelation is as useful to the President and Commander-In-Chief as it is useless to the rest of us. If anything, it succeeds in knocking some of us off balance. It can only be a soothing balm if it comes in the past tense, as a passing mention after the group has been crushed.

Our President merely stated the obvious, “Boko Haram is everywhere, in the executive arm of government, in the legislative arm and even in the judiciary. Some are also in the armed forces, the police and other security agencies….” Shall we add, they are predominant among the unemployed, the very population that Jonathan is looking up to, to fortify the security services? All the same, the buck stops with the President.

In his capacity as the Commander-In-Chief, he commands the good, the bad and the ugly; and good enough, they all obey him. There is no evidence that if the Vice-President were of the Boko Haram persuasion, for instance, he would refuse to take instructions from the President.

Evidently, President Goodluck Jonathan is saying more than we should hear and doing less that we should see. The reverse is what Nigerians want – more action, less rhetoric. He must also stop frightening himself. And in all this, time is of the essence.

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BIAFRA vows to retaliate killing of Igbos

The Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) has vowed to fight back on any Igbo killed again anywhere in the country, particularly in the North.

MASSOB leader, Chief Ralph Uwazuruike said the decision was taken after the group’s emergency meeting in its office on January 15, which had in attendance several Igbo sons and daughters.

“The Igbo nation shall no longer sit by and allow the killing of Igbo sons and daughters who trade or transit in/through northern Nigeria or indeed anywhere, nor shall we permit our sons and daughters to be in any way disturbed by threats and ultimatums to leave their place of business,” he said.

Consequently, Uwazuruike disclosed that his group had decided to take steps in that regard and would remain proactive in safeguarding and protecting Igbo lives and property.

“We insist that the murderers of our innocent men and women be unmasked and be made to face the full wrath of the law or if this cannot be guaranteed, that they be handed over to us. In the event that the security agencies are not able to fulfill this responsibility within a reasonable time, we shall have no other option but to find them ourselves and appropriate punishment meted out to them. Enough is indeed enough,” he said.

He regretted that the attack on the Igbo was coming at a time both Ndigbo at home and in diaspora were still mourning and preparing for the burial of the Igbo leader, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu. “Even as we mourn and grieve, Nigeria is brewing in crisis, whilst the insensitivity and callousness visited on the Igbos have continued unabated even with the lopsided socio-political structure of the country,” the MASSOB leader said.

Uwazurike pointed out that while other parts of the country witnessed widespread protests and civil disturbances in the wake of the removal of fuel subsidy, the South-east was calm and still remained calm due largely to his group’s intervention. “Conversely, there has been sustained but unprovoked, unwarranted and senseless killing of innocent Igbos across the length and breadth of northern Nigeria.

“Sadly and regrettably, the Boko Haram sect has acknowledged responsibility for these cold blooded murders of our people and the same Boko Haram is indirectly being encouraged by the Borno State government with payments of huge sums of money to relatives of Boko Haram members without bothering about the Igbos who have been killed in large numbers,” he pointed out, adding that the state by the act had encouraged and rewarded violence.

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Army kills 3 MASSOB members in Onitsha, arrrests 46 others

Three members of the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) were allegedly killed yesterday in a clash with personnel of Nigerian Army. Addressing journalists yesterday, MASSOB Director for Information, Uchenna Madu, said the victims were shot dead by soldiers along Port Harcourt Road.

Madu disclosed that the soldiers swooped on his members whom, he said, were on their way to perfect plans for the burial of the late Chukwuemeka Ojukwu. He said about 46 members of the movement were also arrested by soldiers at Bishop Crowther Primary School, Onitsha while they were holding a meeting.

“MASSOB condemned this coward and stupid act, this systematic clampdown and unwarranted arrests of our members is provocative and pushing us to the wall which we will not tolerate.

“Boko Haram has taught us that nobody has monopoly of violence in Nigeria and we are telling the Nigerian Army that Ndigbo in general are still in mourning mood because of the death of Ojukwu.” He also expressed sadness that the army, instead of tackling the security challenges in the northern part of the country, deviated and deployed their might to strangulate Ndigbo through intimidations.

On the resolve of MASSOB, Madu said: “Nigerian Army should not mistake our non violence to cowardice. This will be the last the army will disturb MASSOB as such may not be overlooked because the atmosphere is very peaceful in the South-east but the army is creating artificial tension,” he said.

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Killing of Igbos: S’east Govs, leaders to meet

As the killings by the dreaded Boko Haram sect continues in the Northern part of the country, governors of the five South East States have decided to convene a meeting of Igbo leaders in the next seven days and take a stand on the security issue especially as it affects the Igbos.

Many Igbos have been killed as the sect continued to make good its threat after an earlier warning that Southerners and Christians in the North should leave. The South-East governors who have remained silent on the recent killings in the North rose from its meeting in Enugu on Sunday and said it was time for them to take a stand on the matter.

Some Igbo leaders such as Senator Ben Nwabueze, Professor Joe Irukwu, Professor A.B.C Nwosu, Dubem Onyia among others who were in Enugu for the meeting of the National Committee on Ojukwu’s burial took part in the meeting which held for about four hours at the Enugu government House.

Addressing newsmen at the end of the meeting, chairman of the South-East Governors’ Forum, Mr. Peter Obi of Anambra State said that they have decided to call an enlarged meeting of Igbo political leaders to feel their pulse before taking a stand on the security situation in the country, as it affects the people of the zone.

Said he; “today we held a meeting of the South-East governors and deliberated only on one item, the security situation in the country; and how it affects us from this zone and we have decided to call a meeting of the Igbo political leaders to discuss the issue and take a position which will be made known to the public.”

Governor Obi disclosed that the meeting which will hold in Enugu would be convened within the next seven days.

All the governors from the zone namely Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State, Peter Obi of Anambra, Martin Elechi, Ebonyi, Dr. T.A Orji, Abia and Sullivan Chime of Enugu were all in attendance in the meeting which the governors said they attach much importance to.

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Biafra liberation council give northerners seven day to leave the south

A group known as the Biafra Liberation Council has given northerners and Muslims in the southern part of country a seven-day ultimatum to leave the area or be ready to be victims of reprisals.

The group, in a statement on Sunday, also called on Igbo in the northern part of the country to vacate the area and relocate to any place outside the North.

The statement by the spokesman for the group, Amaechi Nwaofia, expressed the group’s sadness over the killing of Igbo in some parts of the North by Muslim fundamentalists despite the assurance by the Federal Government to protect non-Moslems and southerners in the region.

It noted that rather than encouraging the southerners to leave the northern part of the country, the government, which had been protecting the Muslims from reprisals, deceived the southerners to continue to stay in the North.

The group recalled that the National Security Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan, General Owoye Azazi, had urged southerners residing in the North to disregard the warning by members of the Boko Haram sect to leave the North.

It noted that between January 4 to January 7, 2012, over 50 southerners had been killed in different parts of the North by Moslem fundamentalists

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