Onlytruth: CyberG, I don't respond to childish rants.

LOL...you just did! Hahaha More like "I am a spent force and can not engaged in your brand of logical, feisty and straight-up TRUTH"..lol

Aigbofa:

For once in my life, I will be burning some books- Achebe's

It isn't that serious. Freedom of speech is important. The correct response is to debunk his assertions, not to shout him down or silence him in another way.

Besides...such acts would only draw further attention to his book, thus increasing his sales and profit.

We should instead debunk, then ignore. Like a troll, part of his objective is to seek attention. And if we deny him this, then his book won't do well on the NYTimes Bestsellers list

Katsumoto:

Have you accepted Ojukwu's evil deeds in not surrendering when he couldn't feed his people or for charging charities landing fees for food and medicine being taken into Biafra?

Hold your leaders responsible.

Try and read other books or do other things. Your life revolves around Omoigui.

Onlytruth:

I have studied a lot of civil wars in different parts of the world, and I can tell you that Biafra could have continued that war. Not in the same RIGID FIXED PLACES tactics of course, but in guerilla tactic, and could have done that for at least 20 more years. The only thing is that the East and other parts of Nigeria were the rebels move to will turn to Southern Sudan. Madiebo was one of the people who advocated that, but Ojukwu rejected it, because Ojukwu could not operate such a war strategy; too many risks to command and structure of government (in Biafra of course). That is why Achuzia said that they could have continued the war.
Believe me, " no victor, no vanquished" may go down in Nigeria's history as the most ingenious political trick ever played on a people.
You can see that in Igbo laments till this day.

If Biafra had any chance of fighting on, they would have done just that. It was over. Any romantic idea of guerrilla warfare is just pure fantasy.

ekt_bear:

It isn't that serious. Freedom of speech is important. The correct response is to debunk his assertions, not to shout him down or silence him in another way.

Besides...such acts would only draw further attention to his book, thus increasing his sales and profit.

We should instead debunk, then ignore. Like a troll, part of his objective is to seek attention. And if we deny him this, then his book won't do well on the NYTimes Bestsellers list

Lol Am just kidding really. Just pulling Obiagu's leg.

Obiagu1:

Try and read other books or do other things. Your life revolves around Omoigui.

What a coupout. What has my question got to do with Omoigui?

Why are you Biafrans not holding Ojukwu responsible for the Biafran deaths?

Did the Biafrand secretary Ntieyong Akpan not write in his book, "the struggle for secession" that Biafra (Ojukwu) charged those fees?

Why did Biafra not surrender when it couldn't lift the blockade?

The deaths are on Biafrans.

Was Awo your leader?

Katsumoto:

Have you accepted Ojukwu's evil deeds in not surrendering when he couldn't feed his people or for charging charities landing fees for food and medicine being taken into Biafra?

Hold your leaders responsible.

Katsumoto, Katsumoto, Katsumoto

How many times did I call you? lmao.

You still don't understand one of the most fundamental truths of the Biafran resistance to the Nigerian rule. The secession was a POPULAR CHOICE.
Ojukwu was even a reluctant leader of the secession. There were people who resisted his leadership from day one. Some of them were executed, some stayed alive till the bitter end. Ojukwu was not called "the people's general" for nothing. He was doing the bidding of his people.

Can you say that Awolowo was also doing the bidding of the Yoruba people?
Awolowo was in it for himself. He may have formulated a policy (20 pound policy) that benefitted his Yoruba tribe (as Achebe masterfully put it), he was not sent by the Yoruba to do that. He was just an evil man who hated Ndigbo, but loved his people. I can understand the urge to defend him, but there is a limit to which a decent person can defend evil.

Aigbofa:

If Biafra had any chance of fighting on, they would have done just that. It was over. Any romantic idea of guerrilla warfare is just pure fantasy.

The chap doesn't even understand the conditions that must first exist before you can resort to guerrilla warfare.

I came to this conclusion because I learned that Awolowo made MILLIONS using the indigenization policy. He became a billionaire after stealing Igbo assets in the banks.
For me, Awo was just an evil man who hated Ndigbo with a rare passion, and did all he could to set Igbo back, enriching himself in the process.

Onlytruth:

Katsumoto, Katsumoto, Katsumoto

How many times did I call you? lmao.

You still don't understand one of the most fundamental truths of the Biafran resistance to the Nigerian rule. The secession was a POPULAR CHOICE.
Ojukwu was even a reluctant leader of the secession. There were people who resisted his leadership from day one. Some of them were executed, some stayed alive till the bitter end. Ojukwu was not called "the people's general" for nothing. He was doing the bidding of his people.

Can you say that Awolowo was also doing the bidding of the Yoruba people?
Awolowo was in it for himself. He may have formulated a policy (20 pound policy) that benefitted his Yoruba tribe (as Achebe masterfully put it), he was not sent by the Yoruba to do that. He was just an evil man who hated Ndigbo, but loved his people. I can understand the urge to defend him, but there is a limit to which a decent person can defend evil.

Since Ojukwu was doing the bidding of the Biafrans, then why the whinefest?

If Biafrans didn't want a surrender eben when food wasn't coming, why focus on Awo?

Just accept responsibility for your actions and let Awo be.

Onlytruth: I came to this conclusion because I learned that Awolowo made MILLIONS using the indigenization policy. He became a billionaire after stealing Igbo assets in the banks.
For me, Awo was just an evil man who hated Ndigbo with a rare passion, and did all he could to set Igbo back, enriching himself in the process.

You are lying or just plain ignorant.

Those with proof of funds in their account collected them.

The problem is that most Biafrans withdrew their savings and contributed to the war effort.

If you want, I can give you a breakdown of how the war was financed.

Katsumoto:

Since Ojukwu was doing the bidding of the Biafrans, then why the whinefest?

If Biafrans didn't want a surrender eben when food wasn't coming, why focus on Awo?

Just accept responsibility for your actions and let Awo be.

Anyway, I really don't want to engage in same broken record back and forth chat.

My contribution to this thread is that I'm baffled that Achebe's singular "attack" on an EVIL MAN Awolowo is being seen as an attack on the entire Yoruba tribe.
Unless I don't understand English language anymore, Achebe specifically talked about Awolowo, and all lovers of truth know he speaks the truth on this subject.

I still believe that as long as there are the Wole Soyinkas in Yoruba land, I would continue to assume that an entire tribe cannot be evil.

Sei an juma.

[quote author=Onlytruth]

Okay, let me ask Mr Fani Kayode one question: WHAT ABOUT THE 20 POUND POLICY? How did he forget that one?

What even baffles me is that Achebe never attacked Yoruba people; HE "ATTACKED" AWOLOWO, and unless Awolowo has become Oduduwa himself, it should be an insult to the Yoruba tribe for anyone to pretend that Awo even rises to touch the shoes of such noble Yoruba sons, as Prof Wole Soyinka, Fela Anikulapo Kutui (and his entire Ransome Kuti family), and even my spiritual mentor Dr D. K Olukoya.
So, I get personally indignant on behalf of Yoruba folks, when people raise Awo above the entire tribe. [\quote]


It is clearly self evident that you are delusional and obviously impervious to the Truth. Pray tell, it will be foolhardy for anybody to ever think that Wole Soyinka or any the Ransome Kuti can ever play in the league with Chief Obafemi Oyeniyi Awolowo forever in Yoruba history

20 pounds Policy

When your brothers looted the CBN offices in Benin and Port Harcourt as well as Commercial banks in a bid to buy arms and ammunitions to prosecute the War, they forgot that the centre of financial intelligence resides in the South West or do you presuppose that they should have been left alone without encumbering them with this policy so as to dictate the pace of the War with Nigerian money?. Unfortunately for those thieving bandits, they forgot to keep records of the Bank depositors, which later became the yardstick of returning money back to depositors. Those that couldn't provide any documentary evidence of deposits were the ones given the 20 pounds.

Please tell me, do you imply that the Biafran Pounds become Legal Tender in Nigerian Territory or that the FG should have recognize an illegal Country or should have done a 1-1 exchange of the Biafran money to the Nigerian money?. It is perfidious and totally insane to even pursue this line of thinking.

Onlytruth:

Anyway, I really don't want to engage in same broken record back and forth chat.

My contribution to this thread is that I'm baffled that Achebe's singular "attack" on an EVIL MAN Awolowo is being seen as an attack on the entire Yoruba tribe.
Unless I don't understand English language anymore, Achebe specifically talked about Awolowo, and all lovers of truth know he speaks the truth on this subject.

I still believe that as long as there are the Wole Soyinkas in Yoruba land, I would continue to assume that an entire tribe cannot be evil.

Sei an juma.

Achebe is now the Salman Rushdie of Nigeria, he has just written his own "satanic verses"

Onlytruth:

Anyway, I really don't want to engage in same broken record back and forth chat.

My contribution to this thread is that I'm baffled that Achebe's singular "attack" on an EVIL MAN Awolowo is being seen as an attack on the entire Yoruba tribe.
Unless I don't understand English language anymore, Achebe specifically talked about Awolowo, and all lovers of truth know he speaks the truth on this subject.

I still believe that as long as there are the Wole Soyinkas in Yoruba land, I would continue to assume that an entire tribe cannot be evil.

Sei an juma.

Lets do a small exercise.

Write down the names of Igbo leaders/sons who have put themselves in arms way for other Nigerians. You are not allowed to write Ojukwu because we all know he ran when OBJ was bearing down on him.

After Awo was imprisoned in 1963 and Balewa/Zik sent soldiers into the west to deal with the various uprisings, what were the names of the Igbo men who stood up to speak for their brothers in the West? I am trying to learn here.

Aigbofa:

Achebe is now the Salman Rushdie of Nigeria, he has just written his own "satanic verses"

Achebe just gave rest to souls of 2-3 million Eastern Nigerian kids who starved to death on the orders of Awolowo.
He is now a HERO TO AT LEAST 40 million Nigerians.

In a twisted way I agree with you that he wrote "Satanic verses" because he chronicled the actions of SATAN INCARNATE named Awolowo.

Aigbofa:

If I promise to take Yorubas out of Nigeria with only machetes as weapons, I cannot turn around and blame some civilian somewhere for my defeat. It is absolutely ridiculous.

You hit the nail right on the head there.

Onlytruth:

Achebe just gave rest to souls of 2-3 million Eastern Nigerian kids who starved to death on the orders of Awolowo.
He is now a HERO TO AT LEAST 40 million Nigerians.

In a twisted way I agree with you that he wrote "Satanic verses" because he chronicled the actions of SATAN INCARNATE named Awolowo.

You don't get it. Instead of literary awards, he will be getting fatwas.

Katsumoto:

Lets do a small exercise.

Write down the names of Igbo leaders/sons who have put themselves in arms way for other Nigerians. You are not allowed to write Ojukwu because we all know he ran when OBJ was bearing down on him.

After Awo was imprisoned in 1963 and Balewa/Zik sent soldiers into the west to deal with the various uprisings, what were the names of the Igbo men who stood up to speak for their brothers in the West? I am trying to learn here.

Because you and I don't share the same views on mores and ethics, it would be an exercise in futility.
I personally condemned Nzeogwu's coup, even though his motives were clearly nationalistic.
There is something very special about my people Ndigbo: WE NEVER CONDONE EVIL. Period!
Once someone is proven to be evil, even if in the process of defending us, we disavow the person immediately. It is why most Nigerians love us even though they may hate us for other reasons.

My people Ndigbo have died for other Nigerians in MILLIONS.
Other tribes would not accept Nigeria after such deaths, even if the fault was theirs.
Give us a little credit dude, it won't kill you!

So, after Awo supposedly made the remark, followed by subsequent FG action, why didn't Ojukwu and co simply surrender, in order to prevent the mass starvation of their people? Wasn't it because, like Awo, they didn't care for the lives of their people? I mean, Ojukwu and friends did have the option to surrender didn't they? And they didn't. So they're just as responsible for Igbo deaths as Awo could ever have been.

Aigbofa:

You don't get it. Instead of literary awards, he will be getting fatwas.

Oh I got it alright. That is why I said he is now a hero to 40 million Nigerians. They will go to war for him. Chew on that.

Onlytruth:

Because you and I don't share the same views on mores and ethics, it would be an exercise in futility.
I personally condemned Nzeogwu's coup, even though his motives were clearly nationalistic.
There is something very special about my people Ndigbo: WE NEVER CONDONE EVIL. Period!
Once someone is proven to be evil, even if in the process of defending us, we disavow the person immediately. It is why most Nigerians love us even though they may hate us for other reasons.

My people Ndigbo has died for other Nigerians in MILLIONS.
Other tribes would not accept Nigeria after such deaths, even if the fault was theirs.
Give us a little credit dude, it won't kill you!

.

Onlytruth:

Because you and I don't share the same views on mores and ethics, it would be an exercise in futility.
I personally condemned Nzeogwu's coup, even though his motives were clearly nationalistic.
There is something very special about my people Ndigbo: WE NEVER CONDONE EVIL. Period!
Once someone is proven to be evil, even if in the process of defending us, we disavow the person immediately. It is why most Nigerians love us even though they may hate us for other reasons.

My people Ndigbo has died for other Nigerians in MILLIONS.
Other tribes would not accept Nigeria after such deaths, even if the fault was theirs.
Give us a little credit dude, it won't kill you!

In other words, you can't name those who stood up to fight against injustice? Just name those who put themselves in arms way.

How did Ndigbo, in its millions, die for other Nigerians?

You should be very careful about the generalising statements you make. On one hand, your Igbo people are the best in everything and others are devils.

Katsumoto:

In other words, you can't name those who stood up to fight against injustice? Just name those who put themselves in arms way.

How did Ndigbo, in its millions, die for other Nigerians?

You should be very careful about the generalising statements you make. On one hand, your Igbo people are the best in everything and others are devils.

I never said that.

Okay, let me give you ONE Igbo man who I consider the best of the best in your own understanding of giving your life to Nigeria.

His name is Chima Ubani.

Mind you, he did not have to fight to save a country that had committed genocide against his people. To many Igbo (myself included), he was a fool.

Now, you see why I say that you and I don't share values?

Katsumoto:

In other words, you can't name those who stood up to fight against injustice? Just name those who put themselves in arms way.

How did Ndigbo, in its millions, die for other Nigerians?

You should be very careful about the generalising statements you make. On one hand, your Igbo people are the best in everything and others are devils.

He must be talking about people like Daniel Kanu, Chukwumerije, Nzeribe and others.

Onlytruth:

I never said that.

Okay, let me give you ONE Igbo man who I consider the best of the best in your own understanding of giving your life to Nigeria.

His name is Chima Ubani.

Mind you, he did not have to fight to save a country that had committed genocide against his people. To many Igbo (myself included), he was a fool.

Now, you see why I say that you and I don't share values?

Wow, afterall that, you could only come up with one name.

So based on your own 'values', can you name those that have put themselves in harm's way to fight against injustice?

Katsumoto:

Wow, afterall that, you could only come up with one name.

So based on your own 'values', can you name those that have put themselves in harm's way to fight against injustice?

General Alexander Madiebo
General Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu
General Phillip Effiong

and all the soldiers who fought and died to ensure that I (and millions of other Nigerians) am alive today as a Nigerian.
If we were wiped out, I would not be in a position to have a hero.

Again, you see why I say you and I don't share values?

Onlytruth:

General Alexander Madiebo
General Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu
General Phillip Effiong

and all the soldiers who fought and died to ensure that I (and millions of other Nigerians) am alive today as a Nigerian.
If we were wiped out, I would not be in a position to have a hero.

Again, you see why I say you and I don't share values?

You quoted two Igbo men that were on the plane to Abidjan, taking the places of little girls being rescued, and promoting a melee that resulted in the deaths of two other girls. The leader of Biafra and his Chief Commander of Biafran forces ran from Biafra as federal forces closed on them.

The third guy is an Efik/Ibibio man. And it was he who had the courage to surrender.

And after Effiong surrendered, did the federal soldiers kill everyone that was alive?

You are right, we have different values.

Katsumoto:

You quoted two Igbo men that were on the plane to Abidjan, taking the places of little girls being rescued, and promoting a melee that resulted in the deaths of two other girls. The leader of Biafra and his Chief Commander of Biafran forces ran from Biafra as federal forces closed on them.

The third guy is an Efik/Ibibio man. And it was he who had the courage to surrender.

And after Effiong surrendered, did the federal soldiers kill everyone that was alive?

You are right, we have different values.

Exactly my point. A jew and a "Mussolinic" Italian can never really agree on the merits of Nazism/Fascism orchestrated by the Germans.

My heroes fought. Yours turned. You and I know that you are despised by both your "ally" and your "enemy". A bat situation that no sane human should love.

You and I are like night and day.

Signing off,

Yours truly,

Onlytruth.

Onlytruth:

Exactly my point. A jew and a "Mussolinic" Italian can never really agree on the merits of Nazism/Fascism orchestrated by the Germans.

My heroes fought. Yours turned. You and I know that you are despised by both your "ally" and your "enemy". A bat situation that no sane human should love.

You and I are like night and day.

Signing off,

Yours truly,

Onlytruth.

You are funny; trying to be clever with words just because you can't back a ridiculous claim that you made when called out.

Your heroes are soldiers who caused the deaths of millions of innocent people, mostly women and children, but couldn't face their music, even if it was death. Ok

Onlytruth: The response coming from some of Yoruba elite on this issue is quite frankly ludicrous.
Achebe's memoir and the exact words he chose to describe Awo are very specific and succinct. Achebe never speaks half truths, or encase words in riddles. He always speaks plainly and to the point. He did that on two occassions when he turned down national honors. He has an antecedent of being a FIERCE LOVER OF TRUTH. No amount of fake indignation from any quarters would change Achebe or tarnish his reputation. The international community know him already.

The situation some of these defenders of Awo find themselves is analogous to an animal caught in a snare made of amazing ropes and twines. Once entangled, the more the "victim" tries to disentangle, the tighter the noose on the victim.

Okay, let me ask Mr Fani Kayode one question: WHAT ABOUT THE 20 POUND POLICY? How did he forget that one?

What even baffles me is that Achebe never attacked Yoruba people; HE "ATTACKED" AWOLOWO, and unless Awolowo has become Oduduwa himself, it should be an insult to the Yoruba tribe for anyone to pretend that Awo even rises to touch the shoes of such noble Yoruba sons, as Prof Wole Soyinka, Fela Anikulapo Kutui (and his entire Ransome Kuti family), and even my spiritual mentor Dr D. K Olukoya.

So, I get personally indignant on behalf of Yoruba folks, when people raise Awo above the entire tribe.

Methinks that the more those Awo defenders try to scrub Awo's tarnished legacy, the tighter the noose on their throats!

I have one advice for them : SURRENDER TO THE SNARE OF TRUTH ELSE IT WILL LYNCH YOU!

Signed,

Onlytruth, Ndu di n'eziokwu 1 of Igboland, Eze Ndigbo Nairaland.

Is Achebe the first Nigerian to turn down a national honour? This man is so prone to fictious writing to the extent that this memoir akin a fiction. So far the excerpt from the book shows a man that misplaced his oratory, an old man whose brain is gradually on an intellectual decline, an old soldier tormented by the loss of a war, a bigot with a pen and a paper, a man with a lofty libido for jargons. Achebe narrow-mindedness has reduced his memoir to a crafted piece of fiction with tainted paragraphs of skewed history. Awo remain the symbol of Yorubas just like d political "Oduduwa" any attempt by a bigot to smear the good name of Awo is a direct affront on the Yoruba and we will not take it slightly...remember the spirit of the "Black scorpion" - it only fight when the need arise. You can't re-write history Ojukwu is a selfish man - the war was all about him, him, and him; so sorry your fore fathers was caught in web of his self-gratification and so sorry you are still clad in the same web many years after.

Onlytruth:

Believe me I don't indulge. I share similar attitude with Achebe whenever truth is involved.
The fact remains that there were MANY Yoruba men/women who stood firm and refused to join the bangwagon of falsehood in the lead up to the war and after the war.
Notice that there were Yoruba folks who retained and returned Igbo assets and even paid rent on them.
Whenever I see people talk as if Awolowo is now the same as the entire Yoruba tribe, I scratch and shake my head!
Just watch, there are some Yoruba folks that won't mutter a sound throughout this latest controversy, and it won't be because they have no voice. It is rather because they cannot defend evil.

Awolowo was not a friend of Ndigbo, and some of his intentions were genocidal or downright evil.
I cannot recall any Igbo politician (at any time in the history of Nigeria) that ever habored similar high grade HATE for the Yoruba.
That is my point.

AWOLOWO IS NOT = YORUBA TRIBE.

Nwannem there are times I read your piece and I am almost drawn to tears. You are so very very knowledgeable. God will continue to bless you.