bashr8: ojukwu did no lead anybody to anywhere , nigeria agreed on aburi accord in ghana and when they came back gowon rejected it, gowon attacked bisfra and gowons govt was illegal to start with .learn some history at least

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aFc4VrV-94&feature=player_embedded

towing attacked ibos at ore abi? why don't you talk like a human for once.

demmy:
Meanwhile Yigbos couldn't and still can't feed themselves. I say we enact another blockade.

Sorry tribe. Biafra ko, biAfro ni.

Are u so confused, tell me the reason why you want to live with whom u hate and who hate u

Wily+Wily:
I hear sey Mama H.I.D Awolowo dey cry, people around her said since yesterday the old woman refused to eat

You mean H.I.V Awolowo?

1.Obafemi Awolowo has no equal when intellectual sagacity is the yardstick amidst his political equals..the strenght nd the relevance of his ideas are testimony to that fact.
2. That all is fair in War and in war u dont dily daly with foes...
3..That the actions of awo during the civil war were carried out as is role as Minister of finance and vice chairman of federal executive council of Nigeria not BIAFARA.
4. That when ojukwu either rightly or wrongly declare a new country,Gowon is bound by law and d constitution to fight against that,
5. That the fact we as a people...yorubas did not support the war is not a crime.
6. Any attempt to denigrate history or Awolowo by anybody is uncalled for at this time of our life.
7. Though to me achebe aired and showed his inherent hatred for Awolowo as a person and yorubas as a people those not merit we rubbishing his works nd his personality as a person...
8. That as long as i blv chinua achebe is entitled to his opinion and how he choose to interprete historical thats hence we av d rite to reply am.
9. Am not suprised at this debate cos Awo remains the most talked about man in nigeria long after his death..He is not and never claimd to be a saint..He is an unusual man,He was was an idealist,philosopher,journalist,lawyer,innovator...that no public adminstrator living or dead as equalef him in d briillancy of his ideas tii date

Ile-Ife:
[size=15pt]Go to hell. You deserve what you got. if you like, wake Ojukwu up to write his own book. "Memoir of a run away coward". oshi ati iranu[/size]

Stop barking, what happened in 60s must surely repeat itself between IGBOS and YORUBAS.

This cripple call ACHEBE is fill with so much BIGOTRY.
No wonder Western scholars hate him.
Let us ask him,
Was.AWO the head of states during the war.
Was Awo the defense minister.
Awo is not even a military officer, yet they blame him for the war.
The Head of state was Gowan and Awo was an adviser.
Yet that cripple keep attacking AWO.
We all saw ZIK standing by GOWON when the war sttarted.
But the Igbos kept mute about ZIK. HYPOCRISY.

kingsceemark: Stop barking, what happened in 60s must surely repeat itself between IGBOS and YORUBAS.

Yes, you can start now.

Obafemi Awolowo opinioned and masterminded the starvation of IGBO children and women including pregnant mothers, he also opionined the blockage of food supplies including that of the REDCROSS, am quoting from a book at the British war musuem in London, a lot of things happened during the Biafra war times, oh, all my fathers three brothers died including my grandfather, leaving my father and his two sisters, the two of those my fathers brothers were undergraduate students then in Ibadan but because of this I will never regret Ojukwu's leading of the IGBO's to war since an agreement that was reached at ABUREE in Ghana favouored BIAFRA to secede because a saying goes that 'everything is fair in war and in love' and I want to state clearly here that Achebe is a very honourable IGBO man and so, him stating in his 'memoir' he have to tell the truth of what he remembers during the BIAFRAN war ofcourse its his memoir, or is it the frenched-english word that You ofe mmanus cant understand and then trying to coin it as not truth, where you there? or maybe una wan write una memoir of the Biafran war? It is better for you ofe mmanus to run to Benin republic and stay there because all those who in whatsoever way supported the 'GENOCIDE' tagged 'NIGERIAN CIVIL WAR' should know that God almighty will deal with them seriously just like the egyptians and the Isrealites, cos we IGBOS are the later while all other nigerians are the egyptians and just like the ISREALIS in the middle east today who are surrounded by a bunch of dozen enemies we IGBOS will never relent not even for a second to fightback to anybody, group or tribe that doesnt want our existence. IGBO KWENU!



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Biafra : Awolowo replies Achebe from the grave


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Nigeria’s literary legend, Chinua Achebe in his latest memoir on the defunct Biafra, accused a Nigerian political legend, Obafemi Awolowo of demonstrating hatred against Igbo via the policies Awolowo initiated when he was Vice-Chairman and Finance Minister in General Yakubu Gowon’s cabinet during the Nigerian civil war.

Achebe did not make any new accusations; such dogged the Nigerian politician when he was alive and he had debunked all of them . Awo died in 1987 without fulfilling his life-long dream of presiding over Nigeria. The surprise however is that Achebe had decided to unearth the same old unfounded story 35 years after Awo’s demise.

What Achebe wrote about Awo:

"The wartime cabinet of General Gowon, the military ruler, it should also be remembered, was full of intellectuals, like Chief Obafemi Awolowo, among others, who came up with a boatload of infamous and regrettable policies. A statement credited to Awolowo and echoed by his cohorts is the most callous and unfortunate: all is fair in war, and starvation is one of the weapons of war. I don't see why we should feed our enemies fat in order for them to fight harder'.

"It is my impression that Awolowo was driven by an overriding ambition for power, for himself and for his Yoruba people. There is, on the surface at least, nothing wrong with those aspirations. However, Awolowo saw the dominant Igbo at the time as the obstacles to that goal, and when the opportunity arose with the Nigeria-Biafra war, his ambition drove him into a frenzy to go to every length to achieve his dreams. In the Biafran case, it meant hatching up a diabolical policy to reduce the numbers of his enemies significantly through starvation eliminating over two million people, mainly members of future generations."

Thanks to www.nigeriavillagesquare.com, we bring Awo back from the grave to confront Achebe’s lies, in his own words.

When you finish reading, make your own conclusion as to whom had lied: Achebe or Obafemi Awolowo.

During the 1983 elections, Chief Awolowo was hosted to a town hall interview in Abeokuta, where in addition to other pertinent topics of the day, he spoke on his role in the civil war, the 20-pound policy, starvation as a weapon, change of currency, abandoned property etc.
CIVIL WAR

MODERATOR: Yes Mr.......Mr. Oparadike.

QUESTION: Chief Awolowo, your stand on the civil war...Your stand on the civil war, however unpopular it may have been to the Biafrans or Ibo people, helped to shorten the war. Today, you're being cast as the sole enemy of the Ibo people because of that stand, by among others, some of the people who as members of the federal military government at that time, were party to that decision and are today, in some cases, inheritors of power in one Nigeria which that decision of yours helped to save. How do you feel being cast in this role, and what steps are you taking to endear yourself once again to that large chunk of Nigerians who feels embittered.

AWOLOWO: As far as I know, the Ibo masses are friendly to me, towards me. In fact, whenever I visit Iboland, either Anambra or Imo, and there's no campaigning for elections on, the Ibo people receive me warmly and affectionately. But there are some elements in Iboland who believe that they can maintain their popularity only by denigrating me, and so they keep on telling lies against me. Ojukwu is one of them. I don't want to mention the names of the others because they are still redeemable, but ....Ojukwu is irredeemable so I mention his name, and my attitude to these lies is one of indifference, I must confess to you.

I've learnt to rely completely on the providence and vindication of Almighty God in some of these things. I've tried to explain myself in the past, but these liars persist. Ojukwu had only recently told the same lie against me. What's the point in correcting lies when people are determined to persist in telling lies against you, what's the point. I know that someday the Ibos, the masses of the Ibo people will realize who their friends are, and who their real enemies are. And the day that happens woe betide those enemies. The Ibos will deal with them very roughly, very roughly.

That has happened in my life. I have a nickname now, if you see my letterhead you'll find something on top, you'll find a fish done on the letterhead. Some people put Lion on theirs, some people put Tiger, but mine is Fish. And Fish represents my zodiac sign, those of you who read the stars and so on in the newspapers; you'll find out that there's a zodiac sign known as pisces, in Latin pisces mean Fish.

So I put pisces on top, that's my zodiac sign being born on the 6th of March,....er well, the year doesn't matter, it's the day that matters. And then on top of it I write Eebudola. All of you know the meaning of that. You know I don't want to tell a long story but..................Awolowo school, omo Awolowo, the started in Urhobo land, in Mid-west in those days. They were ridiculing my schools, I was building schools -brick and cement, to dpc level, block to dpc level and mud thereafter. And so the big shots in the place.."ah what kind of school is this? is this Awolowo school? Useless school" and when they saw the children.."ah these Awolowo children, they can't read and write, Awolowo children" that's how it started, with ridicule, and it became blessing, and now they say "Awolowo children, they are good people" no more ridicule about it, that's how it started, so the Eebu becomes honor, the abuse became honor.

And so when I look back to all my life, treasonable felony, jail, all the abuses that were heaped on me, to Coker Inquiry, all sorts, and I see what has happened to the people who led, who led all these denigration campaign, where are they today? Those that are alive are what I call Homo Mortuus- dead living, oku eniyan, that's what they are, those that their lives have gone.

So when I look back, I come to the conclusion that all these abuses which have been heaped on me all my life for doing nothing, for doing good, they have become honor, and so Eebudola is one of my nicknames. So I've cultivated an attitude of indifference, I've done no evil to the Ibos.

During the war I saw to it that the revenue which was due to the Iboland- South Eastern states they call it, at that time..east central state, I kept it, I saved the money for them. And when they ....was librated I handed over the money to them- millions. If I'd decided to do so, I could have kept the money away from them and then when they took over I saw to it that subvention was given to them at the rate of 990,000 pounds every month. I didn't go to the executive council to ask for support, or for approval because I knew if I went to the executive council at that time the subvention would not be approved because there were more enemies in the executive council for the Ibos than friends. And since I wasn't going to take a percentage from what I was going to give them, and I knew I was doing what was right, I wanted the state to survive, I kept on giving the subvention – 990,000 almost a million, every month, and I did that for other states of course- South eastern state, North central state, Kwara and so on.

But I did that for the Ibos, and when the war was over, I saw to it that the ACB got three and a half million pounds to start with. This was distributed immediately and I gave another sum of money. The attitude of the experts, officials at the time of the ACB was that ACB should be closed down, and I held the view you couldn't close the ACB down because that is the bank that gives finance to the Ibo traders, and if you close it down they'll find it difficult to revive or to survive. So it was given. I did the same thing for the Cooperative Bank of Eastern Nigeria, to rehabilitate all these places, and I saw to it as commissioner for finance that no obstacle was placed in the way of the ministry of economic planning in planning for rehabilitation of the war affected areas.

TWENTY POUNDS POLICY

That's what I did, and the case of the money they said was not given back to them, you know during the war all the pounds were looted, they printed Biafran currency notes, which they circulated, at the close of the war some people wanted their Biafran notes to be exchanged for them. Of course I couldn't do that, if I did that the whole country would be bankrupt. We didn't know about Biafran notes and we didn't know on what basis they have printed them, so we refused the Biafran note, but I laid down the principle that all those who had savings in the banks on the eve of the declaration of the Biafran war or Biafra, will get their money back if they could satisfy us that they had the savings there, or the money there. Unfortunately, all the banks's books had been burnt, and many of the people who had savings there didn't have their saving books or their last statement of account, so a panel had to be set up.

I didn't take part in setting up the panel, it was done by the Central bank and the pertinent officials of the ministry of finance, to look into the matter, and they went carefully into the matter, they took some months to do so, and then make some recommendation which I approved. Go to the archives, all I did was approve, I didn't write anything more than that, I don't even remember the name of any of them who took part. So I did everything in this world to assist our Ibo brothers and sisters during and after the war.

And anyone who goes back to look at my broadcast in August 1967, which dealt with post-war reconstruction would see what I said there.

STARVATION POLICY

Then, but above all, the ending of the war itself that I'm accused of, accused of starving the Ibos, I did nothing of the sort. You know, shortly after the liberation of these places, Calabar, Enugu and Port Harcort, I decided to pay a visit. There are certain things which I knew which you don't know, which I don't want to say here now, when I write my reminisces in the future I will do so. Some of the soldiers were not truthful with us, they didn't tell us correct stories and so on.

I wanted to be there and see things for myself, bear in mind that Gowon himself did not go there at that time, it was after the war was over that he dorn himself up in various military dresses- Air force dress, Army dress and so on, and went to the war torn areas. But I went and some people tried to frighten me out of my goal by saying that Adekunle was my enemy and he was going to see to it that I never return from the place, so I went.

But when I went what did I see? I saw the kwashiorkor victims. If you see a kwashiorkor victim you'll never like war to be waged. Terrible sight, in Enugu, in Port Harcourt, not many in Calabar, but mainly in Enugu and Port Harcourt. Then I enquired what happened to the food we are sending to the civilians. We were sending food through the Red cross, and CARITAS to them, but what happen was that the vehicles carrying the food were always ambushed by the soldiers. That's what I discovered, and the food would then be taken to the soldiers to feed them, and so they were able to continue to fight. And I said that was a very dangerous policy, we didn't intend the food for soldiers. But who will go behind the line to stop the soldiers from ambushing the vehicles that were carrying the food? And as long as soldiers were fed, the war will continue, and who'll continue to suffer? and those who didn't go to the place to see things as I did, you remember that all the big guns, all the soldiers in the Biafran army looked all well fed after the war, its only the mass of the people that suffered kwashiorkor.

You won’t hear of a single lawyer, a single doctor, a single architect, who suffered from kwashiorkor? None of their children either, so they waylaid the foods, they ambushed the vehicles and took the foods to their friends and to their collaborators and to their children and the masses were suffering. So I decided to stop sending the food there. In the process the civilians would suffer, but the soldiers will suffer most.

CHANGE OF CURRENCY

And it is on record that Ojukwu admitted that two things defeated him in this war, that's as at the day he left Biafra. He said one, the change of currency, he said that was the first thing that defeated him, and we did that to prevent Ojukwu taking the money which his soldiers has stolen from our Central bank for sale abroad to buy arms. We discovered he looted our Central bank in Benin, he looted the one in Port Harcourt, looted the one in Calabar and he was taking the currency notes abroad to sell to earn foreign exchange to buy arms.

So I decided to change the currency, and for your benefit, it can now be told the whole world, only Gowon knew the day before, the day before the change took place. I decided, only three of us knew before then- Isong now governor of Cross River, Attah and myself. It was a closely guarded secret, if any commissioner at the time say that he knew about it, he's only boosting his own ego. Because once you tell someone, he'll tell another person. So we refused to tell them and we changed the currency notes. So Ojukwu said the change in currency defeated him, and starvation of his soldiers also defeated him.

These were the two things that defeated Ojukwu. And, he reminds me, when you saw Ojukwu's picture after the war, did he look like someone who's not well fed? But he has been taking the food which we send to civilians, and so we stopped the food.

ABANDONED PROPERTY

And then finally, I saw to it that the houses owned by the Ibos in Lagos and on this side, were kept for them. I had an estate agent friend who told me that one of them collected half a million pounds rent which has been kept for him. All his rent were collected, but since we didn't seize their houses, he came back and collected half a million pounds.

So that is the position. I'm a friend of the Ibos and the mass of the Ibos are my friends, but there are certain elements who want to continue to deceive the Ibos by telling lies against me, and one day, they'll discover and then that day will be terrible for those who have been telling the lies.

http://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/newsflash/exclusive-chief-obafemi-awolowo-on-biafra-in-his-own

dayokanu:

You know what I say to that? Bring it the fuccck on !!! Hopefully this time we wont be hearing cries of Genocide even after 50yrs.

There was an Adekunle in 1967, there would be several Adekunles this time around, People who would shoot what moves and what doesnt move

LUUK AT THIS FURCKER. SO U R WAITIN 4 AN ADEKUNLE TO SAVE URE AS5. THE IGBOS HAVE BEEN TRU IT ALL.IF THE PUSH COMES TO THE SHOVE, URE A55ES R OURS.

gbadexy: Apparently, irrespective of their educational qualification, the easterners all have this only us attitude.
Even a well respected achebe couldn't rise above ethnic sentiment like some yoruba scholars.
So achebe and the ibos hatred of awo really started because he didn't allow them to rule yoruba land, I wonder at the mentality of people that would see it as a right and unforgivable sin to refuse being ruled.
Prof achebe also said the easterners were prevented from being politically relevant in the country, I would have expected this great prof to explain how. Ibos were the information minister of IBB and abacha and the easterners carried out their dirty work, besides the north is relevant because they have unity and present strong front and the south west are also relevant because they are united and combine the voices to support their leaders. The ibos are most likely the second highest tribe in the country and if united, could have been relevant in the scheme of things in the country.
Lastly, I pity all these butty internet warriors that doesn't know what's up, wars are nt fought with mouth, if it were solid men that typed it I would know from their words and may even acknowledge them of their freedom of expression.
I don't ever pray to witness war, but these kids should discontenance biafra time propaganda that yorubas were cowards, ojukwu used propaganda effectively and he wanted to taunt yorubas into joining the war and he also said the military were embarking on a jihad to wipe out all ibos. He told them they were fighting for their survival and that the hausas are coming to finish their massacre so the people needed no incentive to fight to the last man as they thought they were fighting total annihilation.
I am surprised this prof is still mouthing the northern jihad stuff, did the nigerian soldier now wiped out the ibos after defeating them and entering their territory?
I respect genuine ibo business people and I know that the economy of the country would take some serious bashing if they were to be out of the system because they power medium scale industry.
If any war were to be fought, does any right thinking ibo truly believe the yorubas would just fold their arm? Have any of them slapped or molested a yoruba person without provocation and the yoruba kept quiet to feel we are cowards? Mehn, boys are not generally smiling, if any such thing happens, we would equally wipe each other out, you people in the west know that we sef get crase people, but I don't ever pray to witness war, not even in other countries that would affect normal life in nigeria. All these talk of war and preparation is the trade mark of kids, adult don't pray for war, they know the negative effect is too costly and would rather concern themselves on how to better themselves and their family.

firstly bros,its nt ibo bt igbos. There is a different,study it. 2ndly,u dnt want war just like me so lets nt mind d boys shouting here. It is on record dt an igbo man was d richest in nigeria b4 d war. And there were rich igbos b4 d war. Why did Awo decide to give them only 20 pounds after d war whether u have millions or billions in ur account?

I've never seen Yorubas and Igbos go at it, the way they have been doing in the last three days online.... Blogs, Newsmedia(even The GuardianUK), forums etc... It's funny but also sad... However, why has the civil war turned into a Yoruba vs. Igbo affair?? The last time I checked, it was a war between Northerners and Igbos... And the Northerners have been quiet so far, leaving you Southern morons to slug it out. Yet some of you would say, "Northerners are uneducated." But I've got news for you, they're the Kings of Nigeria - and their 'divide and conquer' doctrine is their weapon of choice...

Achebe is a well respected intellectual, and he should know better... Critiquing Awolowo in a biased way isn't the best way to go about writing a memoir about the bitter experience of the civil war... Suffice to say, Achebe still has some scores to settle with the deceased sage, and bitter hatred for the brain who brought the civil war to an end... However, I'll like to read what he has to say about Nnamdi Azikwe, Ifeajuna, and his first cousin, Ojukwu....

To be honest, you guys need to nip this mutual rancour in the bud before it consumes you - and your generations unborn... It's not worth the hassle because all your founding fathers/intellectuals were/are TRIBALISTS(including Achebe) - and even the pseudo-PanAfricanist amongst them, was a political pros.titute...

Onlytruth:

My friend go and pick up a book on the war and read. Go to school!
The January 15 1966 coup had NOTHING to do with the war. 30,000 people paid for the mistake of January 15 1966.
There was a counter coup still in July 1966 during which about 30 -50% of top Igbo military officers were murdered.
Still your fathers launched a war against the East in July 1967 - almost ONE FULL YEAR AFTER THE COUNTER COUP of 1966.

HOW MUCH IGBO BLOOD WOULD QUENCH YOUR THIRST FOR THE MISTAKE OF 1966?

Let me tell you. What all these tells us young Igbo is that if any war starts again in Nigeria, WE WILL NOT STOP until either you or we are wiped out.
Just remember this. wink

[size=30pt]There Is no length that you bloody ediots called ibos will not go to produce this lame conclusion that Awolowo, the Greatest Man ibos will never breed till their extinction caused the death of blindfolded ibos.[/size]

We have a lot of problem in this country. Those issues that led to the civil war are still unresolved despite the so called one Nigeria. The question I keep asking, why didn't the govt tell the truth for posterity reasons and so that our children can learn from it.? Now you want a fault a scholar who is trying to reconstruct the history of a nation. In South Africa today the apartheid regime is part of the secondary school history classes. So it is in the US and even Ghana here. Nigeria is a complex society. May God help us all.

Chuksgeo: Obafemi Awolowo opinioned and masterminded the starvation of IGBO children and women including pregnant mothers, he also opionined the blockage of food supplies including that of the REDCROSS, am quoting from a book at the British war musuem in London, a lot of things happened during the Biafra war times, oh, all my fathers three brothers died including my grandfather, leaving my father,grandma and his two sisters the two of those my fathers brothers were undergraduate students then in Ibadan but because of this I will never regret Ojukwu's taking of the IGBO's to war because a saying goes that 'everything is fair in war and in love' but I want to state clearly here that Achebe is a very honourable IGBO man and so, him stating in his 'memoir' he have to tell the truth of what he remembers during the BIAFRAN war ofcourse its his memoir, or is it the frenched-english word that You ofe mmanus cant understand and then trying to coin it as not truth, where you there? or maybe una wan write una memoir of the Biafran war? It is better for you ofe mmanus to run to Benin republic and stay there because all those who in whatsoever way supported the 'GENOCIDE' tagged 'NIGERIAN CIVIL WAR' should know that God almighty will deal with them seriously just like the egyptians and the Isrealites, cos we IGBOS are the later while all other nigerians are the egyptians and just like the ISREALIS in the middle east today who are surrounded by a bunch of dozen enemies we IGBOS will never relent not even for a second to fightback to anybody, group or tribe that doesnt want our existence. IGBO KWENU!

I ask you
Was Awo the Head of states or defense minister.
Awo was not a military man.
Yet you Ibos gave so much power concerning the war.
So Awo single handedly commandeer the Nigerian Army.

Madawaki01: Do u know what his(ojukwu)kinsmen are doing to his wife now?IGBOS AND THEIR BAD CULTURE

They must have shaven her hair and ask her to drink the water used in bathing Ojukwu's body.

u hate igbos, they hate u. they want to leave u and stand on their own you said no, they must b with u. y are you so afraid to be ur own boss.

nigeria should leave biafrans, let them have a country of there own.

aryzgreat: AWOLOWO IS IN HELL FIRE!

How dare you talk about Baba Awo like that! O ya were ni?...Baba is one of the reasons I'm proud to be YORUBA...He's the only reason My late Grandfather spoke very good English even at 90 years of Age (Free and compulsory Education)...The Only reason My Dad and Uncles passed through IFE without paying a Dime in School Fees...The only reason a Nigerian won a Nobel Prize...The only reason We Yorubas are always ahead of other tribes in every facet of human endeavour...By advising the Federal Government on the best strategy to conquer Biafra, then He's also the only reason Nigeria is still One...

In case you don't know, He built the first television Station in Africa and the one-time tallest building in Nigeria, the Cocoa House...

So, I think He's in Heaven, you disrespectful Vegetable!

Ojukwu and the Biafra elites ate well

The biafran soldiers intercepted the food meant for d biafran masses hence the blockade and I strongly believe there was evidence of malnutrition/kwashiorkor before the blockade.

Ojukwus forces invaded the midwest which was a neutral zone I.e. Overambition.

Ojukwu ran away when the heat was too much just like Idi Amin. I believe had ojukwu fought till the end,he could have become a martyr and just maybe the biafran nation would have survived. Ojukwu ran away like a cockroach.

The overall consequence of this is that Nigeria will never have an ibo president at least for the next 50 years thanks to Ojukwu .

aryzgreat: AWOLOWO IS IN HELL FIRE!

What is hell fire? Is that the name of a missile?

Copying this for future use

nusirat: 

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Biafra : Awolowo replies Achebe from the grave


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Nigeria’s literary legend, Chinua Achebe in his latest memoir on the defunct Biafra, accused a Nigerian political legend, Obafemi Awolowo of demonstrating hatred against Igbo via the policies Awolowo initiated when he was Vice-Chairman and Finance Minister in General Yakubu Gowon’s cabinet during the Nigerian civil war.

Achebe did not make any new accusations; such dogged the Nigerian politician when he was alive and he had debunked all of them . Awo died in 1987 without fulfilling his life-long dream of presiding over Nigeria. The surprise however is that Achebe had decided to unearth the same old unfounded story 35 years after Awo’s demise.

What Achebe wrote about Awo:

"The wartime cabinet of General Gowon, the military ruler, it should also be remembered, was full of intellectuals, like Chief Obafemi Awolowo, among others, who came up with a boatload of infamous and regrettable policies. A statement credited to Awolowo and echoed by his cohorts is the most callous and unfortunate: all is fair in war, and starvation is one of the weapons of war. I don't see why we should feed our enemies fat in order for them to fight harder'.

"It is my impression that Awolowo was driven by an overriding ambition for power, for himself and for his Yoruba people. There is, on the surface at least, nothing wrong with those aspirations. However, Awolowo saw the dominant Igbo at the time as the obstacles to that goal, and when the opportunity arose with the Nigeria-Biafra war, his ambition drove him into a frenzy to go to every length to achieve his dreams. In the Biafran case, it meant hatching up a diabolical policy to reduce the numbers of his enemies significantly through starvation eliminating over two million people, mainly members of future generations."

Thanks to www.nigeriavillagesquare.com, we bring Awo back from the grave to confront Achebe’s lies, in his own words.

When you finish reading, make your own conclusion as to whom had lied: Achebe or Obafemi Awolowo.

During the 1983 elections, Chief Awolowo was hosted to a town hall interview in Abeokuta, where in addition to other pertinent topics of the day, he spoke on his role in the civil war, the 20-pound policy, starvation as a weapon, change of currency, abandoned property etc.
CIVIL WAR

MODERATOR: Yes Mr.......Mr. Oparadike.

QUESTION: Chief Awolowo, your stand on the civil war...Your stand on the civil war, however unpopular it may have been to the Biafrans or Ibo people, helped to shorten the war. Today, you're being cast as the sole enemy of the Ibo people because of that stand, by among others, some of the people who as members of the federal military government at that time, were party to that decision and are today, in some cases, inheritors of power in one Nigeria which that decision of yours helped to save. How do you feel being cast in this role, and what steps are you taking to endear yourself once again to that large chunk of Nigerians who feels embittered.

AWOLOWO: As far as I know, the Ibo masses are friendly to me, towards me. In fact, whenever I visit Iboland, either Anambra or Imo, and there's no campaigning for elections on, the Ibo people receive me warmly and affectionately. But there are some elements in Iboland who believe that they can maintain their popularity only by denigrating me, and so they keep on telling lies against me. Ojukwu is one of them. I don't want to mention the names of the others because they are still redeemable, but ....Ojukwu is irredeemable so I mention his name, and my attitude to these lies is one of indifference, I must confess to you.

I've learnt to rely completely on the providence and vindication of Almighty God in some of these things. I've tried to explain myself in the past, but these liars persist. Ojukwu had only recently told the same lie against me. What's the point in correcting lies when people are determined to persist in telling lies against you, what's the point. I know that someday the Ibos, the masses of the Ibo people will realize who their friends are, and who their real enemies are. And the day that happens woe betide those enemies. The Ibos will deal with them very roughly, very roughly.

That has happened in my life. I have a nickname now, if you see my letterhead you'll find something on top, you'll find a fish done on the letterhead. Some people put Lion on theirs, some people put Tiger, but mine is Fish. And Fish represents my zodiac sign, those of you who read the stars and so on in the newspapers; you'll find out that there's a zodiac sign known as pisces, in Latin pisces mean Fish.

So I put pisces on top, that's my zodiac sign being born on the 6th of March,....er well, the year doesn't matter, it's the day that matters. And then on top of it I write Eebudola. All of you know the meaning of that. You know I don't want to tell a long story but..................Awolowo school, omo Awolowo, the started in Urhobo land, in Mid-west in those days. They were ridiculing my schools, I was building schools -brick and cement, to dpc level, block to dpc level and mud thereafter. And so the big shots in the place.."ah what kind of school is this? is this Awolowo school? Useless school" and when they saw the children.."ah these Awolowo children, they can't read and write, Awolowo children" that's how it started, with ridicule, and it became blessing, and now they say "Awolowo children, they are good people" no more ridicule about it, that's how it started, so the Eebu becomes honor, the abuse became honor.

And so when I look back to all my life, treasonable felony, jail, all the abuses that were heaped on me, to Coker Inquiry, all sorts, and I see what has happened to the people who led, who led all these denigration campaign, where are they today? Those that are alive are what I call Homo Mortuus- dead living, oku eniyan, that's what they are, those that their lives have gone.

So when I look back, I come to the conclusion that all these abuses which have been heaped on me all my life for doing nothing, for doing good, they have become honor, and so Eebudola is one of my nicknames. So I've cultivated an attitude of indifference, I've done no evil to the Ibos.

During the war I saw to it that the revenue which was due to the Iboland- South Eastern states they call it, at that time..east central state, I kept it, I saved the money for them. And when they ....was librated I handed over the money to them- millions. If I'd decided to do so, I could have kept the money away from them and then when they took over I saw to it that subvention was given to them at the rate of 990,000 pounds every month. I didn't go to the executive council to ask for support, or for approval because I knew if I went to the executive council at that time the subvention would not be approved because there were more enemies in the executive council for the Ibos than friends. And since I wasn't going to take a percentage from what I was going to give them, and I knew I was doing what was right, I wanted the state to survive, I kept on giving the subvention – 990,000 almost a million, every month, and I did that for other states of course- South eastern state, North central state, Kwara and so on.

But I did that for the Ibos, and when the war was over, I saw to it that the ACB got three and a half million pounds to start with. This was distributed immediately and I gave another sum of money. The attitude of the experts, officials at the time of the ACB was that ACB should be closed down, and I held the view you couldn't close the ACB down because that is the bank that gives finance to the Ibo traders, and if you close it down they'll find it difficult to revive or to survive. So it was given. I did the same thing for the Cooperative Bank of Eastern Nigeria, to rehabilitate all these places, and I saw to it as commissioner for finance that no obstacle was placed in the way of the ministry of economic planning in planning for rehabilitation of the war affected areas.

TWENTY POUNDS POLICY

That's what I did, and the case of the money they said was not given back to them, you know during the war all the pounds were looted, they printed Biafran currency notes, which they circulated, at the close of the war some people wanted their Biafran notes to be exchanged for them. Of course I couldn't do that, if I did that the whole country would be bankrupt. We didn't know about Biafran notes and we didn't know on what basis they have printed them, so we refused the Biafran note, but I laid down the principle that all those who had savings in the banks on the eve of the declaration of the Biafran war or Biafra, will get their money back if they could satisfy us that they had the savings there, or the money there. Unfortunately, all the banks's books had been burnt, and many of the people who had savings there didn't have their saving books or their last statement of account, so a panel had to be set up.

I didn't take part in setting up the panel, it was done by the Central bank and the pertinent officials of the ministry of finance, to look into the matter, and they went carefully into the matter, they took some months to do so, and then make some recommendation which I approved. Go to the archives, all I did was approve, I didn't write anything more than that, I don't even remember the name of any of them who took part. So I did everything in this world to assist our Ibo brothers and sisters during and after the war.

And anyone who goes back to look at my broadcast in August 1967, which dealt with post-war reconstruction would see what I said there.

STARVATION POLICY

Then, but above all, the ending of the war itself that I'm accused of, accused of starving the Ibos, I did nothing of the sort. You know, shortly after the liberation of these places, Calabar, Enugu and Port Harcort, I decided to pay a visit. There are certain things which I knew which you don't know, which I don't want to say here now, when I write my reminisces in the future I will do so. Some of the soldiers were not truthful with us, they didn't tell us correct stories and so on.

I wanted to be there and see things for myself, bear in mind that Gowon himself did not go there at that time, it was after the war was over that he dorn himself up in various military dresses- Air force dress, Army dress and so on, and went to the war torn areas. But I went and some people tried to frighten me out of my goal by saying that Adekunle was my enemy and he was going to see to it that I never return from the place, so I went.

But when I went what did I see? I saw the kwashiorkor victims. If you see a kwashiorkor victim you'll never like war to be waged. Terrible sight, in Enugu, in Port Harcourt, not many in Calabar, but mainly in Enugu and Port Harcourt. Then I enquired what happened to the food we are sending to the civilians. We were sending food through the Red cross, and CARITAS to them, but what happen was that the vehicles carrying the food were always ambushed by the soldiers. That's what I discovered, and the food would then be taken to the soldiers to feed them, and so they were able to continue to fight. And I said that was a very dangerous policy, we didn't intend the food for soldiers. But who will go behind the line to stop the soldiers from ambushing the vehicles that were carrying the food? And as long as soldiers were fed, the war will continue, and who'll continue to suffer? and those who didn't go to the place to see things as I did, you remember that all the big guns, all the soldiers in the Biafran army looked all well fed after the war, its only the mass of the people that suffered kwashiorkor.

You won’t hear of a single lawyer, a single doctor, a single architect, who suffered from kwashiorkor? None of their children either, so they waylaid the foods, they ambushed the vehicles and took the foods to their friends and to their collaborators and to their children and the masses were suffering. So I decided to stop sending the food there. In the process the civilians would suffer, but the soldiers will suffer most.

CHANGE OF CURRENCY

And it is on record that Ojukwu admitted that two things defeated him in this war, that's as at the day he left Biafra. He said one, the change of currency, he said that was the first thing that defeated him, and we did that to prevent Ojukwu taking the money which his soldiers has stolen from our Central bank for sale abroad to buy arms. We discovered he looted our Central bank in Benin, he looted the one in Port Harcourt, looted the one in Calabar and he was taking the currency notes abroad to sell to earn foreign exchange to buy arms.

So I decided to change the currency, and for your benefit, it can now be told the whole world, only Gowon knew the day before, the day before the change took place. I decided, only three of us knew before then- Isong now governor of Cross River, Attah and myself. It was a closely guarded secret, if any commissioner at the time say that he knew about it, he's only boosting his own ego. Because once you tell someone, he'll tell another person. So we refused to tell them and we changed the currency notes. So Ojukwu said the change in currency defeated him, and starvation of his soldiers also defeated him.

These were the two things that defeated Ojukwu. And, he reminds me, when you saw Ojukwu's picture after the war, did he look like someone who's not well fed? But he has been taking the food which we send to civilians, and so we stopped the food.

ABANDONED PROPERTY

And then finally, I saw to it that the houses owned by the Ibos in Lagos and on this side, were kept for them. I had an estate agent friend who told me that one of them collected half a million pounds rent which has been kept for him. All his rent were collected, but since we didn't seize their houses, he came back and collected half a million pounds.

So that is the position. I'm a friend of the Ibos and the mass of the Ibos are my friends, but there are certain elements who want to continue to deceive the Ibos by telling lies against me, and one day, they'll discover and then that day will be terrible for those who have been telling the lies.

http://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/newsflash/exclusive-chief-obafemi-awolowo-on-biafra-in-his-own

ajanaku2:

How dare you talk about Baba Awo like that! O ya were ni?...Baba is one of the reasons I'm proud to be YORUBA...He's the only reason My late Grandfather spoke very good English even at 90 years of Age (Free and compulsory Education)...The Only reason My Dad and Uncles passed through IFE without paying a Dime in School Fees...The only reason a Nigerian won a Nobel Prize...The only reason We Yorubas are always ahead of other tribes in every facet of human endeavour.

So, I think He's in Heaven, you disrespectful Vegetable!

WHICH ENDEAVOUR?! MENTION THEM.

dayokanu: Copying this for future use

GO ON. COPY AWO-OLE'S LIES.

webcalculator: u hate igbos, they hate u. they want to leave u and stand on their own you said no, they must b with u. y are you so afraid to be ur own boss.

nigeria should leave biafrans, let them have a country of there own.

Then why do they participate in the Nigerian elections?

Why are they collecting the federal allocation?

Why do they accept federal appointments?

Why don't they stay in their region?

Why do they spend Naira and are on a forum called Nairaland?

hbrednic: karma is a bittch,
thank God the man committed suicide after mass murdering of innocent children

Is that what your baba agbaya told you?

The Jews are still hunting down the Nazi today. The Jews have said never again and have vowed to therefore declare war on their enemies if they are touched again, that is why they don't take nonsense from their neighbors today. Just you try them, and see their response. You are free renounce Awo/Hitler and Awoism/Nazism if you don't want to be ranked as an Awoist/Nazi and consequently be treated like one

Biafra will spread the gospel truth to the world and next generation to read and digest they should no who they are dealing with in the future

hbrednic: karma is a bittch,
thank God the man committed suicide after mass murdering of innocent children

Since you wanna go there,you might wanna do some research on how ojukwu died, how peter obi and bianca were busy playing politics with the Ikemba, how bianca was accepting political appointments when her husband was in his condition. You might also want to google how Uju Okonkwo has been mesmerizing biancas' bed even when Ojukwu was alive and also google the family relationship between uju okonkwo and ikemba.


As 2face said, "You don't wanna go down there"

hbrednic: karma is a bittch,
thank God the man committed suicide after mass murdering of innocent children

Ki lomo de Mo? L'eyin ko jeun, ko y'agbe, ko sun!...Small boy, what do you know about Baba Awo? The Name "Obafemi Awolowo" alone is worth more than your entire extended household!

Thot the oresident is organising a SNC,issues like this should be trashed out there instead of tearing ourself apart here.

The holocaust happened and the Jews never ceased talking abt it even to their children born today! So why shld Biafrans stop talking about this until justice is done! This book shld be purchased by every true Biafran with Biafran blood flowing in their veins and they shld tell their children what happened - just like my father did and I will also to my children!

History - whether good or bitter - shld never be trashed!

I commend Chinua Achebe for speaking out! This is what I call IP - Intellectual Property - that is unique and courageous, the characterisitic of a true Biafran. Indeed, that's how healing process commences and lessons are learnt, too!

I strongly believe that sooner than later, the Sun shall rise, to set no more! Nothing like true freedom and justice!

This is from a yoruba page on FB i will advice this young yoruba people on NL to think like humans not animals for your generation to live freely from curse descended on ur people you need to ask GOD to pls stop it affecting your own family because curse goes from generation to next..



[b]Aboluwarin Oluwasola Oyekunle Isola (...wrote on PROUDLY YORUBA page):

Buh i must be honest(due to conscience), wat Awos & Gowon did to Igbo is purely a war-crime, as far as i know as an International Relations expert and if am to be really objective. The Igbos durin d civil war re still citizens of dis country so i dnt expect such a genocidal/divisive ploy 4rm Gowon (tru Awo mayb) @least US fought civil wars(e.g.US Civil war on slavery durin Abraham Lincoln & Abraham Lincoln wz clearly against slavery buh he neva misused his office) buh i neva heard nor read anywia wia such tinz re done to dia fellow Americans. Meanwhile, do u really tink Achebe dnt hav his facts too b4 sayin such tinz! Or re you sayin we Yorubaz re stil disillusioned by d Northern dubious policy of 'One Nigeria' ? Wat i want to make clear is dat wat Awo did wz not and neva on behalf of we Yoruba pls, pls do analyse his actions at individual level and not at Yoruba-race level moreso, he's not d nation's leader, pls! I personally hate him( Awo)cos he's a satanist, power drunk and for ur info, he actually committed suicide due to treason he committed. I don't hav anytin personally/individually against d Indi-Igboz. Long live BIAFRA & BIAFRANZ![/b]