aurenflani:

Yea d jews of africa (whatever happened to d ethiopians?)!.

Jews indeed that is why you keep slapping Nigerians and yet keep complaining.

The problem with ibo is self-centredness.

and your problem is ignorance.

Ngodigha:
Did Ojukwu at any time declare war?.

Babies asks questions and Men provide solutions which are you

gabbytabby:

Babies asks questions and Men provide solutions which are you

answer the question and stop jumping around like a monkey.

bashr8: answer the question and stop jumping around like a monkey.

Forward thinking and making dough. Keep going back into your history books that is why some lecturers are still teaching FORTRAN slowpoke.

Awolowo replied this nonsense of a thing called Achebe 's war memoir before his glorious and graceful exit to great beyond.

On a lighter note, why didn't Zik advise Ojukwu or devise a winning strategy for Biafra? See how one man single handedly formulated policies that brought Biafra to her knees. War is not about brute force, it's about wisdom and brain.

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, y[b]ou 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.
[/b]
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.

I will start by asking all these questions 1:don't u think that crossing d carpet spearheaded by awo was the remote cause of all nigeria?Problem started from when Awo make isthekiri lords over other tribes in n/delta,was the indigenous policy sincere.

..

ak47mann: I will start by asking all these questions 1:don't u think that crossing d carpet spearheaded by awo was the remote cause of all nigeria?Problem started from when Awo make isthekiri lords over other tribes in n/delta,was the indigenous policy sincere.

For the first time, i see Nigerians on NL asking constructive questions to dissect the root of our problems.
Those playing to the gallery and refusing to acknowledge the mistakes of past leaders just because they are their tribesmen, are just deluding themselves that other Nigerians don't know how we got to the present mess.

Awolowo was the foremost economist Nigeria has produced. Just one or two poliicies changed everything about the war. Indeed he was "the best president Nigeria never had" according to Ojukwu.

Igbos please forgive and forget if truely the man hurt you. Let God judge and fight for you if indeed you are the African jews.

Why the hatred of the whole tribe when the likes of Wole Soyinka fought the FG because of the war.

PStylish:

Go and take your evening dose.

I agree with you brother.

[font=Lucida Sans Unicode][/font]majority of the igbo pple did not realised that ojukwu and pple like Achebe led them to war cause of their own selfish interest i.e they wanted to rule over a country if ojikwu met well for is pple he wont leave them and run away like he did. I think pickin on Awo achebe is just trying to show is hatred for him Awo was not a military man and the Yorubas' are pple who use their sense no leader can just push us to war like ojukwu did and dey followed him majority of the igbo pple did not realised that ojukwu and pple like Achebe led them to war cause of their own selfish interest i.e they wanted to rule over a country if ojikwu met well for is pple he wont leave them and run away like he did. I think pickin on Awo achebe is just trying to show is hatred for him Awo was not a military man and the Yorubas' are pple who use their sense no leader can just push us to war like ojukwu did and dey followed him majority of the igbo pple did not realised that ojukwu and pple like Achebe led them to war cause of their own selfish interest i.e they wanted to rule over a country if ojikwu met well for is pple he wont leave them and run away like he did. I think pickin on Awo achebe is just trying to show is hatred for him Awo was not a military man and the Yorubas' are pple who use their sense no leader can just push us to war like ojukwu did and dey followed him

[quote author=Wily+Wily]
I believed they did provide intellectual support but not drive by hate but honest, that is why Gowon came back from Aburi a confused man after signing agreement he could not implement.
while Awolowo action was driven by hate that made him today the first indicted War Criminal that escaped justice. [/quote] say it again....

....

I might not argue convincinly that the Indigenization/nationalization policy was a "deliberate conspiracy", but I can say that it is a "subtle opportunistic conspiracy". You might use "bad timing" to refer to the policy, but I choose "opportunism". Awolowo decided to kill two birds with one stone by enforcing the policy when his rival tribe was economically incapacitated. I can't say for sure that Awolowo had indigenisation policy in mind when he enacted the £20 policy. I will defend my use of "subtle opportunistic conspiracy" by starting with £20 policy.



1. The 20 pound policy was crafted in the context of the power struggles that wrecked our nation. These power struggles had, above all, an ETHNIC coloration, especially between the Hausa-Fulani, the Yoruba and the Igbo. That struggles were the reason, above all, why the Biafran war of brother against brother was fought in such an utterly barbaric and wicked way. When the war ended, the players did not change. They did not convert into saints overnight. Ethnic warlords merely pursued their Power agenda in different ways, using, for example, the 20 pound policy and the indigenization decree.



2. Biafra was NOT a Banana Republic. It may have lost the war, but it was not a lawless entity. It had a functional Government. It had functional institutions. It had an Economic and Monetary Framework. Above all, it had a Central Bank that issued and controlled legal tender. Before they announced the 20 pound policy, they DID ask people to deposit ALL the money -including Biafran Pounds, in banks, abi? This were now Nigerian Banks, not Biafran banks, remember? So they know how much money that was in circulation. Remember that they insisted on only exchanging the money in the banks deposited before the deadline.



3. Biafran currency was NOT printed inside Biafra. They were printed in Portugal and Switzerland. The same way that Nigeria prints Naira in France. Therefore there was no rogue money in circulation.

Biafran money was a SCARCE commodity in Biafra! Sometimes, Biafran Banks were closed for days on end , because, they had no Biafran cash to dispense. When they did open, they often had to ration withdrawals. Everybody knew this. The Economists on the Federal side knew this



4. Awolowo's argument that Biafran money will overwhelm the Nigerian economy does not hold water. When the war ended, the Nigerian nation acquired another 16 million citizens -who were already using some form of money. Its like the EU absorbing Greece or Turkey. You do a straightforward currency exchange, however determined. Is it rocket science ?? This fake difficulty was invented by Awolowo and his gangs to justify £20 policy.



5. At the end of the war, people DID expect Nigeria to exchange the Biafran Pound with the Nigerian Pound. Now, most people thought that the Feds would use some ridiculous exchange -something like 20 Biafran Pounds to one Nigerian Pound. Greedy and opportunistic speculators expected the Government to be wicked, but even they, they prepared to make a kill, and in anticipation of an exchange, they purchased Biafran Pounds at the rate of £50 Biafran Pounds to £1 Nigerian Pound. Guess what? Awolowo and his Economists broke the ALL the record and expectations - even the one set by uber-greedy speculators!!! They delivered a fiat 20 pound policy to the priviledged few who had bank accounts!!! Even the speculators went broke!



(to be continued)

Just like I remarked in my previous post, I'm unsure if Awolowo had indigenization policy in mind when £20 policy was enforced. Awo woke up after £20 policy to discover that the economic backbone of his rival tribe has been broken. He decided to make a kill by promulgating indigenization policy knowing fully well that it will mostly benefit his kinsmen cos he's well aware that his kinsmen has displaced their rival tribe from the apex of the economic pyramid in the country. He made the time so short so that the easterners will not recover to fully participate in the indigenisation policy. Remember that it's been 12yrs since independence, so why the mad rush to nationalize foreign companies? Why wont a provision be made for the people who are still recovering from the war to participate in the process? Can you see that the policy was "opportunistic"? Though Awolowo may/may not have the policy in mind when he set out to reduce Igbo millionaires to £20 owners, but at the end of the day, he achieved his aim of fatally weakening his rival tribe, then displacing them for good from the upper echelon of the economic pyramid. So he killed two birds with one stone. So his policy can be labelled "subtle opportunistic conspiracy".

For Prof Achebe, things have not only fallen apart but they are no longer at ease after the civil war. The years before the civil was his best as it was the period the classic novel was written. Hatred might have robbed him of honors of Nobel prize, more classic novels. This has culminated in his recent Memoir of the civil war which is brewing more hatred among the people who are supposed to unite and fight the common enemy.

This particular work is unclassic and should be condemned by all Igbos who are interested in the advancement of the most industrious tribe in Nigeria.

Onlytruth:

Tell your animal brothers to stop provoking us. That's all.

An adage says "It's only an empty barrel that make much noise"! This one will pass genocide!!! Lousy tribe...your tribe tribe talks before they think! Try it dis time and n'digbos will bury themselves tribe jagbajagba!

Follow the debate on post-civil war indigenization policy masterminded by Awo on the thread below.
www.nairaland.com/1027995/post-civil-war-indigenization-policy-far-reaching

ak47mann: I will start by asking all these questions 1:don't u think that crossing d carpet spearheaded by awo was the remote cause of all nigeria?Problem started from when Awo make isthekiri lords over other tribes in n/delta,was the indigenous policy sincere.

Did Zik's NCNC win the outright majority? Did Yorubas from Zik's NCNC cross carpet to AG? Who were the guys that joined AG? Is alliance now strange in politics? Didn't Zik form alliance with Northern party? Why didn't Zik stay in the West and be the opposition leader? Why did he go to the East and bulldoze his way to power there? Una neva jam!

This is comment taken verbatim from a thread that has trashed this cross carpet lies being propagated by Igbo. Igbo would never admit they destroyed Nigeria. They went about fomenting trouble everywhere and when given the real father of trouble, they played victim.

https://www.nairaland.com/975707/obafemi-awolowo-letter-prison-dated/6

The Western house had 80 seats in total and any party with a 41 majority would have formed the government.

There were three elections for the 80 seats:
Western region elections on 24th September 1951 – 72 seats
Lagos elections on the 20th November 1951 – 5 seats (all won by NCNC)
Benin elections on the 6th of December 1951 – 3 seats (all won by Etu Edo)

Breakdown of 72 seats
AG won 38 seats including 3 won by its secretaries (Adegbenro, Hassan, and Osuntokun) who contested as independents.
Mabolaje Grand Alliance MBA (aka Ibadan Peoples Party) won 6 seats – Akinloye, Lanlehin, Akinbiyi, Akinyemi, Adelabu, and Aboderin
NCNC won 18 seats plus 7 Independent seats making 25
Ondo Improvement League won 2 seats
Adeola Odutola – Independent candidate representing Ijebu-Ode

At the end of the night on the 24th of September, 5 of the 6 MGA had declared for the AG while Adelabu declared for NCNC. Awosika of the Ondo improvement league and Adeola Odutola had both declared for the AG giving the AG 45 seats.

Of the three seats in Benin won by Etu Edo, Ighodaro declared for AG while Omo-Osagie and Ekuyasi declared for NCNC.

At the end of December 1951, seats were as follows
AG – 46
NCNC/Independents 34

The Western house was inaugurated on the 7th of January 1952 and elections to the Federal House were held on the 10th of January 1952. Three members of the NCNC crossed over to the AG and these were Kessington-Momoh, Ako, and Awodi Orisaremi (all representing Urhobo/Kukuruku division in the Mid-west). None of them was Yoruba and that clearly defeats the lame and ridiculous lies that the AG, and by extension Awolowo, introduced tribal politics in Nigeria. These three crossed over because they needed AG votes to get into the Federal House. Ako and Kessington-Momoh were elected but Orisaremi lost and returned to the NCNC. These three crossed when the AG had a clear majority and had to pay fees to join the AG.

The real reason Zik resigned was because he lost that election to the Federal House. NCNC had five seats from the West and Zik couldn’t gain any of these seats losing to other NCNC members such as Fadahunsi, Olorunnimbe, Oputa-Otutu, Denis Osadebey, and Adeleke Adedoyin.

http://books.google.ca/books?id=Oi0aVR4YkmUC&pg=PA35&lpg=PA35&dq=1956+election+NCNC&source=bl&ots=xlo8I8O_iF&sig=jmQDabaMysM0SG7MMZI3yFZ49dg&hl=en&ei=004zTvWKL4OnsALHmdTtCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CB0Q6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=1956%20election%20NCNC&f=false

ayox2003: Ojukwu who wanted to create his own country should be rich enough to feed them.

My igbo brothers would agree with me that Ojukwu was a coward. He later fled and u are all here talking as if he was truly an hero.

He did not lose a pin during the war. Don't pass the buck to Awo. Its Ojukwu that should be blamed.

If he lived truly, he would have truly lived.



Frawzey

Am very sure you are a Yoruba man pretend to be Igbo. But if otherwise, I will call you a fool. You can not be a true Ibo man for opening your dirty mouth to insult a hero like Ojukwu openly in this forum. Am very sure you don't know your root.

Useleess fool. Have you ever seen any tribe coming on this forum to insault their people. Its people like you that's giving other tribes power to insult an Ibo man openly.

A big fool like you. Its pple like you that will keep voting for other tribes in their community. That is why we don't have a formidable party in the SE and SS. The vote in this region is always distrubuted to other regions.

Shame on you. Ojukwu fought with his family wealth to liberate you from this nation called Nigeria that a whiteman established and put you in slavery.

Well, am very sure you are not Ibo. Awolowo was in prison and an Ibo man released him from prison in Calabar shortly before the war and he we came out from jail and started fighting the same people that released him from jail.

For your information no yoruba will come here to insult his leader no matter what, fool.

Please don't let me talk

Chop five my brov!!!!!! This time around it will be more than genocide for the Ojuiku tribe... Na total wipe out! Mcheww
Useless tribe dat is full of so-so mouth.
Dog that will go missing will never ear d hunter's wistle!

Prof Corruption: Awolowo replied this nonsense of a thing called Achebe 's war memoir before his glorious and graceful exit to great beyond.

On a lighter note, why didn't Zik advise Ojukwu or devise a winning strategy for Biafra? See how one man single handedly formulated policies that brought Biafra to her knees. War is not about brute force, it's about wisdom and brain.

datola: For Prof Achebe, things have not only fallen apart but they are no longer at ease after the civil war. The years before the civil was his best as it was the period the classic novel was written. Hatred might have robbed him of honors of Nobel prize, more classic novels. This has culminated in his recent Memoir of the civil war which is brewing more hatred among the people who are supposed to unite and fight the common enemy.

This particular work is unclassic and should be condemned by all Igbos who are interested in the advancement of the most industrious tribe in Nigeria.

May leprosy amputate your already leprous fingers for daring to suggest that we should condemn one of our greats. Have you condemned Awo for for saying that "all is fair" in a war?

Prof Corruption: Awolowo replied this nonsense of a thing called Achebe 's war memoir before his glorious and graceful exit to great beyond.

On a lighter note, why didn't Zik advise Ojukwu or devise a winning strategy for Biafra? See how one man single handedly formulated policies that brought Biafra to her knees. War is not about brute force, it's about wisdom and brain.

With the rubbish you regarded as Awolow’s reply to nonsense, there is no doubt Awolowo was the shameless liar in the ongoing discussion. For example, according to the excerpts from an interview with Awolowo where he allegedly made the following remarks,

“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.”,

There has never been a time Ojukwu cast aspersions on the personality of Awolowa. I have read countless interviews conducted by Ojukwu and he, Ikemba, expressed unalloyed respect for Awolowo. In one such interview, Ikemba called Awolowo the president Nigeria never had.

Good one from prof Achebe,
the truth hurts.

God Bless Awolowo in his Grave!!!
An adage says "Wisdom is profitable to rule"
Chief Obafemi Awolowo uses his wisdom to finish his opponent!
Baba Awo RIP!

ACM10: Just like I remarked in my previous post, I'm unsure if Awolowo had indigenization policy in mind when £20 policy was enforced. Awo woke up after £20 policy to discover that the economic backbone of his rival tribe has been broken. He decided to make a kill by promulgating indigenization policy knowing fully well that it will mostly benefit his kinsmen cos he's well aware that his kinsmen has displaced their rival tribe from the apex of the economic pyramid in the country. He made the time so short so that the easterners will not recover to fully participate in the indigenisation policy. Remember that it's been 12yrs since independence, so why the mad rush to nationalize foreign companies? Why wont a provision be made for the people who are still recovering from the war to participate in the process? Can you see that the policy was "opportunistic"? Though Awolowo may/may not have the policy in mind when he set out to reduce Igbo millionaires to £20 owners, but at the end of the day, he achieved his aim of fatally weakening his rival tribe, then displacing them for good from the upper echelon of the economic pyramid. So he killed two birds with one stone. So his policy can be labelled "subtle opportunistic conspiracy".

If Ndigbo are friendly to Awo, why do we continue to taunt his name? That man was a shameless liar.

Dede1:

With the rubbish you regarded as Awolow’s reply to nonsense, there is no doubt Awolowo was the shameless liar in the ongoing discussion. For example, according to the excerpts from an interview with Awolowo where he allegedly made the following remarks,

“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.”,

There has never been a time Ojukwu cast aspersions on the personality of Awolowa. I have read countless interviews conducted by Ojukwu and he, Ikemba, expressed unalloyed respect for Awolowo. In one such interview, Ikemba called Awolowo the president Nigeria never had.

You should be pitied! Who were the guys spreading the starvation nonsense of a thing that Awolowo hated Igbo with an unbelievable passion if not Ojukwu and his now senile Achebe? Did your eyes skip this

Ojukwu had only recently told the same lie against me.

Una neva jam!

"Ojukwu is irredeemable" The great sage have spoken.

"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 unfortunately Achebe is also now irredeemable.


Awolowo was right. The whole spurious allegation began around late 70s just as the second republic was nearing. While the war was still going Ojukwu never for once mentioned Awolowo. It was always "Gowon Hates you" "Gowon wants to destroy you" and other fear mongering like those. I am beginning to think that NPN is the culprit. NPN pardoned Ojukwu remember and he promptly joined them. Irredeemable lots.

ACM10: Follow the debate on post-civil war indigenization policy masterminded by Awo on the thread below.
www.nairaland.com/1027995/post-civil-war-indigenization-policy-far-reaching

Whether Awolowo did it deliberately or not-what's the fuss all about? When Ibo knew they dominated everything Pre-War, why did they embark on such a war? Did Awolowo push them to war or declare the war for them or under obligation to fight the war for them?

When Awolowo called for nationalization (indigenisation policy) of foreign businesses as a leader of federal Oppostion, why didn't they implement his policy when Zik was a prominent leader at the centre and right there to protect his interests and that of his people? Did Awolowo also prevent them from executing the policy then? Now did Awolowo single handedly roll out indigenisation policy or was part of government that executed the policy? Why single Awolowo out for your misery and short sightedness of your leaders?

You expected to come back to work that was abandoned for three years! The companies should have reserved slots for Igbos knowing fully well they would lose the war and come for their posts? Or wait a minute, the new recruits should have vacated their position for the returning employees after the war? Do you guys at times check the logical soundness of some of these stuffs you generously posted on internet? Or you expect the government to wait for five years, 10 years, or 20years etc because the war has just ended before implementing the policy? It's even laughable that some of you guys expected the government to recognize Biafran pound and thus exchanged it when the country itself was not recognized. How logical!

You guys fought an unnecessary war, a kind of war that a good leader would not have declared. You were not doing badly before the war in politics, economics and even representation in the military. You destroyed everything with that nonsensical war and put the blame on Awolowo. You won't blame your leaders, Awolowo is the evil one you know.

Awolowo was not called a sage and political wizard for nothing. The North though have the money post civil war but lacked the wisdom that education brings in investment. The West had the knowledge, the wisdom and promptly seized the moment to buy into stocks. There is nexus between politics and economics for as long as you are relevant economically there is a chance a political breakthrough might occur. Go and lick your wounds. Now tell NOI to bring a policy that would favor Igbos abi she no get Harvard degree?

That was the comment I made to your indigenisation nonsense you rant about. You won't blame your short sighted leaders but of course put the blame on someone who has no connection with your misery.

ACM10:

May leprosy amputate your already leprous fingers for daring to suggest that we should condemn one of our greats. Have you condemned Awo for for saying that "all is fair" in a war?

That is a fallacy- argumentum ab dominem. Do not turn yourself to Achepe(the one who curses). Pray instead, that God will be merciful to your only great and heal him.

peace should be promoted in the country by all means. Please people.

Prof Corruption:

You should be pitied! Who were the guys spreading the starvation nonsense of a thing that Awolowo hated Igbo with an unbelievable passion if not Ojukwu and his now senile Achebe? Did your eyes skip this Una neva jam!

If anybody deserves silly pity, you and Awolowo are the frontrunners. Awolowo, dead or alive, never denied owning up to the starvation policy during Britain-Nigeria\Biafra war. In one moronic interview Awolowo conducted, he said starvation policy was meant to end war sooner than it would have taken. He elaborated further by saying it does not make sense feeding your enemy to have strength to continuing fighting.

Since the war ended, Yoruba peeps are either busy rewriting the story of the events or outright denying the actions they instigated during the process. The only Yoruba entities that stood up against the war on Biafra were Soyinka who was incarcerated for the duration of war, Ijebu Ode cocoa famers assoc\Agbakoya who were brutally subdued by Gowon and Lt Col Ayo Ariyo who resigned his commission in Nigerian armed forces instead of fighting against Biafrans.