The British were the ones who built and supplied the weapons that killed Igbos in the war.

The British were the ones responsible for creating the unwieldy contraption named Nigeria, in which the Igbos were locked in, unable to escape from.

Prior to that, the British a hundred years ago, raided hundreds of Igbo towns and villages in their colonial wars, killing and maiming untold thousands of Igbos (possibly millions of Igbos).

Prior to that, the British sponsored a three-hundred year enslavement nightmare in which millions of Igbos were crudely waylaid, kidnapped, iron-branded, and then carted off thousands of miles away to the new world, with nearly a third dying in the voyage, caused by the most inhuman conditions.

Upon arrival in the new world, millions of Igbos were subjected to the most brutalizing mistreatment, torture, and enslavement, from generation to generation with no chance of escape. Over a period lasting 300+ years.

It becomes a mystery why the AWO is the subject of so much negative memory by Achebe and his supporters. Especially given that most of these folks immediately break into smiles, hugs, and backslapping the minute they encounter an Englishman. Even going as far as using the English as a yardstick on how we all ought to conduct ourselves etc etc.

Even Achebe's Things Fall Apart never really gave much stick to the Brits, often portraying them as kindly, and at other times, merely overzealous. But never candidly as wicked, thieving looters.

But in his latest work, he was extremely candid about Awo ''and his Yoruba people''.

What accounts for these apparent double standards on the part of Achebe?

I will not disturb you again hence you behave good by not addressing you worthless azz as igbo. I promise

Why shouldn't he give his side to a story, why should he give a shit for you one-Nigeriast political correctness? Achebe has made a whole career out of African independence literature, you may not understand that Things Fall Apart isn't there to hold your hand and feed you opinions, but it's very clear what his opinion is in the book, but all this gharaghara you're doing I'm not surprised you missed it. The Igbo, just like most groups in Africa, sold the vast majority of the slaves that came from their land. This kidnapping tale where Europeans abducted millions who were strolling on the beach is an old and irrelevant one.

ezeagu: Why shouldn't he give his side to a story, why should he give a shit for you one-Nigeriast political correctness? Achebe has made a whole career out of African independence literature, you may not understand that Things Fall Apart isn't there to hold your hand and feed you opinions, but it's very clear what his opinion is in the book

So why did he need to ''hold our hands and feed our opinions'' about Awo ''and his Yoruba people'' in his new book?

Why has he never written a similar non-fiction book detailing the atrocities of the British? Haven't the British killed and enslaved far more Igbos than Awo could ever have done in a million lifetimes?

but all this gharaghara you're doing I'm not surprised you missed it. The Igbo, just like most groups in Africa, sold the vast majority of the slaves that came from their land. This kidnapping tale where Europeans abducted millions who were strolling on the beach is an old and irrelevant one.

Of course Africans participated in the slave trade. Not really sure they had a choice given the way everything was set up at the time - powerful European armed forces berthing huge ships armed with cannon on some village coast. It's not as though the ship's captain would walk into the village and kindly ask the chief if he didn't mind selling a few of his neighbours, ''and if not, we'll simply sail off to the next village shore''. It was more like ''we need slaves. How many thousands can you provide before dawn?''

The Europeans were far more powerful, and heavily armed, and they needed slaves. Powerful people tend to get what they want, with or without the 'consent' of the powerless, who are invariably left to negotiate their way around their powerlessness, perhaps by colluding with the new entrants. So let's call a spade a spade. Europeans - the British - came in and enslaved Igbos in their millions. Then followed it up with colonial raids that killed countless thousands of Igbos, before finally seizing Igboland completely and turning Igbos serfs on their ancestral land for nearly a 100 years!! So why do YOU still love them? Even bearing their names and worshipping their god? Achebe's English name is Albert!

Rossikk:

So why did he need to ''hold our hands and feed our opinions'' about Awo ''and his Yoruba people'' in his new book?

Why has he never written a similar non-fiction book detailing the atrocities of the British? Haven't the British killed and enslaved far more Igbos than Awo could ever have done in a million lifetimes?

Because it's an account of his experience in the war which he has never done. It's not a list of things people did bad. Why would there need to be another book on the British when all or most of his books dwell on colonialism. Things Fall Apart goes into what British impact meant for Achebe's people. Even the black nationalists in the United States and Caribbean did not create a book of lists of things white people did to them. Who's going to read that?

Rossikk: Of course Africans participated in the slave trade. Not really sure they had a choice given the way everything was set up at the time - powerful European armed forces berthing huge ships armed with cannon on some village coast. It's not as though the ship's captain would walk into the village and kindly ask the chief if he didn't mind selling a few of his neighbours, ''and if not, we'll simply sail off to the next village shore''. It was more like ''we need slaves. How many thousands can you provide before dawn?''

The Europeans were far more powerful, and heavily armed, and they needed slaves. Powerful people tend to get what they want, with or without the 'consent' of the powerless, who are invariably left to negotiate their way around their powerlessness, perhaps by colluding with the new entrants. So let's call a spade a spade. Europeans - the British - came in and enslaved Igbos in their millions. Then followed it up with colonial raids that killed countless thousands of Igbos, before finally seizing Igboland completely and turning Igbos serfs on their ancestral land for nearly a 100 years!! So why do YOU still love them? Even bearing their names and worshipping their god? Achebe's English name is Albert!

The West Africans had a choice, if not, then they would have fought wars like in the case of Nzinga who was okay with selling prisoners until Portuguese demanded more able bodied people. The Benin Empire didn't sell slaves despite their contact and trade with Europe, particularly Portugal, there are probably other examples of people on or off the coast not selling slaves. The attempts at colonisation were met with wars from the native people.

The Europeans didn't even come to the shore with the navy, only Caravels used for exploring and then later trading/slave ships after relations were made with people at the coast (Kongo, Kalabari, Calabar, Kru, Asante, etc). They would wait at the shore and wait for the slave raiders to come to them or hire raiders themselves. When it came to colonisation after Africa had weakened itself by encouraging slave raids and civil wars, the British used African foot soldiers (like the King's African Rifles) from conquered and fallen territories to conquer further territory across Africa. This was the only time navies were used from Europe like in the case of Benin.

Na wao ooo, this Achebe's civil war memoir has really ruffled lotta feathers in Yoruba land.

ezeagu:

Because it's an account of his experience in the war which he has never done. It's not a list of things people did bad. Why would there need to be another book on the British when all or most of his books dwell on colonialism.

I'm not talking about ''dwelling on'' colonialism. I'm talking about him CALLING OUT THE BRITISH for the CRIMES they committed in Igboland WHICH RESULTED IN THE DEATH AND SLAVERY OF millions of Igbos. Like Achebe, you're attempting to sweep those British crimes under the carpet, or treat them with kid gloves, only having the power of invective and insults when it's time to castigate Awolowo ''and his Yoruba people''. That's double standards.

Things Fall Apart goes into what British impact meant for Achebe's people. Even the black nationalists in the United States and Caribbean did not create a book of lists of things white people did to them. Who's going to read that?

The black nationalists in the states did not create a book of lists on what BLACK people did to them either!

The West Africans had a choice, if not, then they would have fought wars like in the case of Nzinga who was okay with selling prisoners until Portuguese demanded more able bodied people.

First off, there was no such thing as ''the West Africans''. They weren't a homogeneous group, but rather scattered groupings of whole states, empires, and smaller communities lacking adequate political and military structures to resist powerful European states hellbent on acquiring slaves. It was mostly those smaller, independent communities - many Igbo - that succumbed to the slave trade. Plus many of then engaged in military resistance before they were overwhelmed, so it's wrong to say that nobody fought the enslavers in West Africa.

The Benin Empire didn't sell slaves despite their contact and trade with Europe, particularly Portugal, there are probably other examples of people on or off the coast not selling slaves. The attempts at colonisation were met with wars from the native people.

We know Benin did not sell slaves, but that was precisely because they were big and powerful enough to resist the trade.

The Europeans didn't even come to the shore with the navy, only Caravels used for exploring and then later trading/slave ships after relations were made with people at the coast (Kongo, Kalabari, Calabar, Kru, Asante, etc). They would wait at the shore and wait for the slave raiders to come to them or hire raiders themselves.

It all started with slave ships armed with cannon berthing at the coasts and DEMANDING slaves from local chiefs. Any chief that refused to supply slaves was noted by the Europeans, and his neighbouring rivals armed with guns to go and sack his village and capture his people. So there was NO chance of resistance for those smaller communtities. You either participated in the trade or you were swept away, destroyed. Queen Nzinga of Angola's situation was similar to Benin - large powerful state able to resist foreign pressure. Can't compare that with coastal villages in West Africa.

Bottomline: STOP MAKING EXCUSES FOR THE EUROPEANS who slaughtered and enslaved your people in their millions. Today you bear English names and worship their gods despite all they did to you. Yourself and Achebe never make any excuses for Awo and Yorubas when it's time to attack and insult them, and I'm sure as hell you and Achebe would never take up a Yoruba name despite the fact Yorubas committed less than 1/1000th of the crimes the British committed against Igbos.

YOU SIMPLY CANNOT EXPLAIN YOUR DOUBLE STANDARDS.

Op,

why are you so bittered about ACHEBE telling the truth? Does the truth hurt this much? I know that the truth hurts but i underestimated that it will hit you and your cohorts so badly.

Pls just learn to get a life.

Rossikk, most writer's try not to bite too many at once when writing their stories.

Things Fall Apart centered on Okonkwo and his kinsmen grapple with the coming of the white men.

I don't know the focus of 'There was a country'. I doubt if you have read the book. Picking out the part on Awo, and dwelling over and over on it is not exactly making you look very bright. In any case, even Awo, and his kinsmen admitted the starvation policy as a fair weapon of war despite the genocidal nature of the policy. Achebe does not agree. That's about it. Perhaps the scope of the story is limited to post independence event. You may consider writing your own book highlighting the other ills you want the world to know. Achebe has chosen his genre, perhaps it time another literary giant in born - Rossikk.

But by crying more than the bereaved, one begin to wonder what your stake in this matter is. In any case, I suggest you let it rest, as you not really helping bury the issue, as you probably intend. Getting plaudits from those who will sooner or later turn against you (and your folks) at the least provocation, isn't exactly the ideal way of brandishing your 'balanced' Igbo credential.

Good luck though in your quest.

PointB: Rossikk, most writer's try not to bite too many at once when writing their stories.

But when Achebe wants to bite, it is Awo and Yorubas he sees to bite? There are many he should be biting first, such as the British, and their Hausa/Fulani lackeys. He hasn't really bitten them. Awo and Yorubas don't even come CLOSE to being the Igbos' main foe. THAT'S MY POINT.

Things Fall Apart centered on Okonkwo and his kinsmen grapple with the coming of the white men.

I don't know the focus of 'There was a country'. I doubt if you have read the book. Picking out the part on Awo, and dwelling over and over on it is not exactly making you look very bright.

On the contrary you're the one showing dodgy brain power. I'm not addressing Achebe's entire book. The title of this thread is ''Does Achebe blame the Briitsh in his new book?''. So obviously I haven't read it. But I've read all his other books and essays and I saw very little, if any direct criticism of British crimes against Igbos. Nor do I recall him singling out any particular British politician or colonial officer, many of whom would have been complicit in ordering easily researchable mass murders or slaving campaigns and expeditions. So of course there will be numerous talking points to be extracted from his new book, but my title was specific.

In any case, even Awo, and his kinsmen admitted the starvation policy as a fair weapon of war despite the genocidal nature of the policy. Achebe does not agree. That's about it.

But that wasn't ''about it'' for Achebe. He included, along with the stated policy, all sorts of charges and insinuations against Awo and Yorubas. He didn't just state that he ''disagreed'' with the policy.

As for the 'starvation policy' itself, everyone knows Gowon was getting his orders from the British. They would have told him in no uncertain terms: ''secure the east by any means necessary''. (Britain had no intention of relinquishing control of the southern oil fields). So whatever Awo said or didn't say is really scratching small fry. The Biafran War was a conflict involving the world's major powers. Awo was small fry in the whole thing - a man barely out of prison - and Achebe's narrowing of Biafra's miseries down to him lets off the real oppressors. The remote perpetrators and their direct local puppets - led by Gowon.

Perhaps the scope of the story is limited to post independence event. You may consider writing your own book highlighting the other ills you want the world to know. Achebe has chosen his genre, perhaps it time another literary giant in born - Rossikk.

No... I'm too busy.

But by crying more than the bereaved, one begin to wonder what your stake in this matter is.

With regard to this thread, here's my stake in the matter. We as Africans are too busy fighting and hating each other, while letting loose the foreigners who orchestrate our divisions. This goes beyond Achebe and his book. Beyond Biafra. Achebe could have used the same sense that he used to write Things Fall Apart in a way that didn't ruffle oyinbo feathers, to write his new book. As a leading African intellectual, he should be looking to build bridges within his national/continental space, not re-open old wounds and rehash old divisions.

Rossikk:

But when Achebe wants to bite, it is Awo and Yorubas he sees to bite? There are many he should be biting first, such as the British, and their Hausa/Fulani lackeys. He hasn't really bitten them. Awo and Yorubas don't even come CLOSE to being the Igbos' main foe. THAT'S MY POINT.



On the contrary you're the one showing dodgy brain power. I'm not addressing Achebe's entire book. The title of this thread is ''Does Achebe blame the Briitsh in his new book?''. So obviously I haven't read it. But I've read all his other books and essays and I saw very little, if any direct criticism of British crimes against Igbos. Nor do I recall him singling out any particular British politician or colonial officer, many of whom would have been complicit in ordering easily researchable mass murders or slaving campaigns and expeditions. So of course there will be numerous talking points to be extracted from his new book, but my title was specific.




But that wasn't ''about it'' for Achebe. He included, along with the stated policy, all sorts of charges and insinuations against Awo and Yorubas. He didn't just state that he ''disagreed'' with the policy.




No... I'm too busy.



With regard to this thread, here's my stake in the matter. We as Africans are too busy fighting and hating each other, while letting loose the foreigners who orchestrate our divisions. This goes beyond Achebe and his book. Beyond Biafra.

Can you imagine? You are too busy?

Anyway, Achebe after barely surviving the war, currently on wheel chair, and quite aged have much better reason not to take on the might British. Maybe you can turn you attention to other prodigies who are cutting their teeth in this pen trade. Achebe has done his bit, and what he wrote are truth, for posterity!

Personally, I didn't know much about the atrocities committed by the European per-colonial era, and I would be interested in finding out about them. But I personally will be ashamed to challenge seniors like Achebe to take up such gauntlet, when at the age of 28 wrote a master piece. An indicator that the probably started gathering his data at an earlier age.

Rossikk, if you are too busy to write, you should perhaps doff your hat for those who didn't give excuse. Prof. Achebe and Prof Wole Soyinka, et al remain man of the people. You may yet still redeem yourself, it's not too late. You should write this big bad British invasion story. It sure will make a good read.

PointB:


Can you imagine? You are too busy?

Anyway, Achebe after barely surviving the war, currently on wheel chair, and quite aged have much better reason not to take on the might British. Maybe you can turn you attention to other prodigies who are cutting their teeth in this pen trade. Achebe has done his bit, and what he wrote are truth, for posterity!

Personally, I didn't know much about the atrocities committed by the European per-colonial era, and I would be interested in finding out about them. But I personally will be ashamed to challenge seniors like Achebe to take up such gauntlet, when at the age of 28 wrote a master piece. An indicator that the probably started gathering his data at an earlier age.

Rossikk, if you are too busy to write, you should perhaps doff your hat for those who didn't give excuse. Prof. Achebe and Prof Wole Soyinka, et al remain man of the people. You may yet still redeem yourself, it's not too late. You should write this big bad British invasion story. It sure will make a good read.

The above named authors are prime examples of African literary and intellectual genius no doubt. As for the British, best leave that to the historians - they're loads of history books detailing their excesses. If I'm to write it'll be about something a bit more.. interesting.

Imo, conrad's heart of darkness is what should be discussed by nigerians and nigerian scholars.

The book was supposedly set in congo, but are we sure it wasnt actually nigeria.

Why did achebe write things fall apart as a rejoinder to heart of darkness?

Were there no congolese authors to do that?

I have a question. How exactly did Awo starve Igbos? Where was the food coming from?

lagcity: I have a question. How exactly did Awo starve Igbos? Where was the food coming from?

They sabotaged farm lands

From 1968 onward, the war fell into a form of stalemate, with Nigerian forces unable to make significant advances into the remaining areas of Biafran control due to stiff resistance and major defeats in Abagana, Arochukwu, Oguta, Umuahia (Operation OAU), Onne, Ikot Ekpene, and etc.[13] But another Nigerian offensive from April to June 1968 began to close the ring around the Biafrans with further advances on the two northern fronts and the capture of Port Harcourt on 19 May 1968. The blockade of the surrounded Biafrans led to a humanitarian disaster when it emerged that there was widespread civilian hunger and starvation in the besieged Igbo areas. The Biafran government claimed that Nigeria was using hunger and genocide to win the war, and sought aid from the outside world. A Nigerian commission, including British doctors from the Liverpool University School of Tropical Medicine, visited Biafra after the war[14] and concluded that the evidence of deliberate starvation was overplayed, caused by confusion between the symptoms of starvation and various tropical illnesses. They did not doubt that starvation had occurred, but were unsurprisingly not clear of the extent to which it was a result of the Nigerian blockade or the restriction of food to the civilians by the Biafran government[11]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigerian_Civil_War

They Diverted Aids from Red cross and other Voluntary organisations

After entering the country, the volunteers, in addition to Biafran health workers and hospitals, were subjected to attacks by the Nigerian army, and witnessed civilians being murdered and starved by the blockading forces. Kouchner also witnessed these events, particularly the huge number of starving children, and when he returned to France, he publicly criticized the Nigerian government and the Red Cross for their seemingly complicit behavior. With the help of other French doctors, Kouchner put Biafra in the media spotlight and called for an international response to the situation. These doctors, led by Kouchner, concluded that a new aid organization was needed that would ignore political/religious boundaries and prioritize the welfare of victims. They created Médecins Sans Frontières in 1971 (Doctors

http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Nigerian_Civil_War

Rossikk:

I'm not talking about ''dwelling on'' colonialism. I'm talking about him CALLING OUT THE BRITISH for the CRIMES they committed in Igboland WHICH RESULTED IN THE DEATH AND SLAVERY OF millions of Igbos. Like Achebe, you're attempting to sweep those British crimes under the carpet, or treat them with kid gloves, only having the power of invective and insults when it's time to castigate Awolowo ''and his Yoruba people''. That's double standards.

The black nationalists in the states did not create a book of lists on what BLACK people did to them either!

You just admitted that there are no such books where people "call out" crimes against them by one group, what you have is fiction or non-fiction that is themed around those crimes, Things Fall Apart. There's no double standard here since his writing had nothing to do with listing crimes other people committed against a certain group. It was his account of the war, and his opinion on some of the leaders. It's not a history book. You're just following the rest of nairaland without even knowing what you're angry at in order to prove something I don't know. Your argument isn't even whether the person did what they did but why Achebe should write it which is bullshit. It's like an Igbo lashing someone from the mid-west who gives an account of their experiences in the war and criticising Col. Ojukwu for invading their land.

Rossikk: First off, there was no such thing as ''the West Africans''. They weren't a homogeneous group, but rather scattered groupings of whole states, empires, and smaller communities lacking adequate political and military structures to resist powerful European states hellbent on acquiring slaves. It was mostly those smaller, independent communities - many Igbo - that succumbed to the slave trade. Plus many of then engaged in military resistance before they were overwhelmed, so it's wrong to say that nobody fought the enslavers in West Africa.

There's the Europeans, there's the native Americans, there's the east Asians, there's the Arabs, there's the southern Africans and so on, so why can't someone talk about a region in general when talking about an event that happened there in general. Did Switzerland have enough power to colonise countries? No, but they benefited from it. The Igbo were nowhere near the coast by the time the Europeans arrived. They didn't really meet Europeans in their land until the 19th century. There is no evidence that the Kalabari and other peoples at the coast of what is now Nigeria carried out a full scale attack on the Portuguese when they landed, instead they became trading partners which later turned into the slave trade. We have accounts of chiefs praying to their deities that the Europeans would be able to reach their land and that they can to their land easily. All this is to say that the slave trade was made possible by African and European cooperation.

Rossikk: We know Benin did not sell slaves, but that was precisely because they were big and powerful enough to resist the trade.

Okay so why did Oyo, Asante, Kongo and the rest of the bigger power join the slave trade supposedly by force since they were as powerful as Benin? It's because they were not forced and many of these empires grew partly because of the trade in West African slaves. Why should we now expect Achebe to be talking about a slave trade that he was not affected by since he isn't a historian and his stories are mainly focused on colonialism which his direct relatives and himself witnessed?

Rossikk: It all started with slave ships armed with cannon berthing at the coasts and DEMANDING slaves from local chiefs. Any chief that refused to supply slaves was noted by the Europeans, and his neighbouring rivals armed with guns to go and sack his village and capture his people. So there was NO chance of resistance for those smaller communtities. You either participated in the trade or you were swept away, destroyed. Queen Nzinga of Angola's situation was similar to Benin - large powerful state able to resist foreign pressure. Can't compare that with coastal villages in West Africa.

Bottomline: STOP MAKING EXCUSES FOR THE EUROPEANS who slaughtered and enslaved your people in their millions. Today you bear English names and worship their gods despite all they did to you. Yourself and Achebe never make any excuses for Awo and Yorubas when it's time to attack and insult them, and I'm sure as hell you and Achebe would never take up a Yoruba name despite the fact Yorubas committed less than 1/1000th of the crimes the British committed against Igbos.

YOU SIMPLY CANNOT EXPLAIN YOUR DOUBLE STANDARDS.

There was no forced demand, maybe in some places and some situations which were rarer, but in most cases Europeans establish trading with a particular area before the slave trade began (like the Portuguese and the Itsekiri). Benin never sold slaves and were never confronted for it like you claim everybody was. The Europeans hardly stepped into African territory apart from Ports or even lesser to major cities like Benin. They never took their armies in that era, apart from when the British navy were sent to the coast of West Africa to stop slave trading. There are no excuses to be made, these are the facts and no amount of victim mentality will change the facts. So that isn't even something that would use against the British as a West African. So all this Achebe should keep quiet because he didn't make a history book about the British and West Africa, that's not how it works.

Anyway this thread, much like the other you made, isn't going to change anything. People are still going to have their allegiances and opinions and they will probably stay until balkanization.

which book?

ezeagu:

There was no forced demand, maybe in some places and some situations which were rarer, but in most cases Europeans establish trading with a particular area before the slave trade began (like the Portuguese and the Itsekiri). Benin never sold slaves and were never confronted for it like you claim everybody was. The Europeans hardly stepped into African territory apart from Ports or even lesser to major cities like Benin. They never took their armies in that era, apart from when the British navy were sent to the coast of West Africa to stop slave trading. There are no excuses to be made, these are the facts and no amount of victim mentality will change the facts. So that isn't even something that would use against the British as a West African. So all this Achebe should keep quiet because he didn't make a history book about the British and West Africa, that's not how it works.

ezeagu, you're a great debater, but this is nonsensical. It is an absolute JOKE to infer that the British did not militarily subdue West Africa. Or that there was little resistance by Igbos to the British, or that British military adventurism was merely limited to the destruction of Benin.



A BRIEF SYNOPSIS: IGBOLAND

The Ekumeku Resistance

The Ekumeku Movement consisted of a series of uprisings against the rising power of the Royal Niger Company of the British Empire in the Aniocha-Igbo communities of the Lower Niger River. The British penetration of Nigeria met with various forms of resistance throughout the country. In the south, the British had to fight many wars, in particular the wars against the Ijebu (a Yoruba group) in 1892, the Aro of Eastern Igboland in 1901-1902, and from 1883–1914, the Anioma of Western Igboland.


Resistance was strong in western Igboland where a series of wars were waged against the British. The Ekumeku, who were well organized and whose leaders were joined in secrecy oaths, effectively utilized guerrilla tactics to attack the British. Their forces, which were drawn from thousands of Igbo youth from all parts of igboland, created many problems for the British, but the British used forceful tactics and heavy armaments (destroying homes, farms, and roads) to prevail. The Ekumeku, however, became a great source of Igbo nationalism.



...The Ekumeku Movement is unique in Igbo history for two reasons. First, the length of time the movement endured, comprising military campaigns [against the British] over a period of thirty one years. Secondly it is the outstanding example in Igbo Civilization of an attempt to unite previously disunited states to resist the invader... one crucial reason for the Igbo defeat was the great discrepancy of scale between the average Igbo community and the colonial invader. The British decided on a pre-emptive strike, and in December, 1902 sent a powerful expedition which systematically destroyed a number of towns and imprisoned their leaders. This, it was assumed, was the end of the Ekumeku.. "the Ekumeku and other secret societies have been completely broken".

In 1904, the Ekumeku rose again. This time they changed their tactics, mistakenly, it would seem in retrospect, abandoning the united guerilla warfare of 1898 for the individual defense of each town. The last act of the drama began in late 1909. The occasion was a succession dispute in Ogwashi-Uku. One of the claimants, Nzekwe, the son of the last Obi, feared that the British would deprive him of his throne, and decided to fight for his inheritance.
On November 2, 1909, the British sent an expedition to Ogwashi-Uku to kill everyone in Ogwashi-Uku but they failed in the expedition. The British perceived, in the whole Asaba hinterland, a sympathy with the Ekumeku, and a disposition to throw off government authority. In 1911, there was a final round-up of Ekumeku leaders in various towns that was followed, once more, by imprisonments.
The acting lieutenant-governor of the southern provinces sent an agitated telegram to Lagos: "Whole country is above area...is in the state of rebellion."

Reinforcements arrived from Lokoja, and the British proceeded to a confrontation at Akegbe. We quote both the contemporary British accounts of the battle at Nkwo market.


The war

With the invasion of Ndoni in 1870 and bombardment of Onicha-Ado (Onitsha) on November 2, 1897, the stage was set for the Ekumeku war that engulfed the whole of western Igbo region. The Royal Niger Company (RNC) commandered by Major Festing engaged Ibusa in 1898, and in 1904 it was the people of Owa/Ukwunzu against the British in a war that W. E. B. Crawford Coupland requested for more arms to crush the western Igbo communities. Owa would once again engage the British in 1906 in battle that S. O. Crewe lost his own life. On November 2, 1909, it was finally the turn of Ogwashi-Ukwu who matched the British. In this war the British sustained many casualties with the death of H. C. Chapman.



Aftermath

Although the Ekumeku rebellion failed in 1914, the western Igbo treasure their memory as an imperishable legacy. Heroes included Dunkwu Isus of Onicha-Olona, Nwabuzo Iyogolo of Ogwashi-Ukwu, Awuno Ugbo, Obi of Akumazi, Agbambu Oshue of Igbuzo, Idabor of Issele-Ukwu, Ochei Nwayazia of Onicha-Olona, Abuzu of Idumuje-Unor, Idegwu Otokpoike of Ubulu-Ukwu are still remembered in Western Igboland. The Ekemeku War is one of the greatest resistances to the British empire and inspired later rebellions such as the Mau Mau of Kenya.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ekumeku_War



THE NRI KINGDOM - A PACIFIST THEOCRACY

The Nri kingdom who arose in the 9th century were the fountain of Igbo cultural development. They were not involved in the slave trade. They were destroyed by the British.

''Nri maintained its vast authority well into the 16th century. The peace mandated by the Nri religion and enforced by the presence of the mbùríchi allowed trade to flourish. Items such as horses, which did not survive in tsetse fly-infested Nri, and seashells, which would have to be transported long ways due to Nri's distance from the coast, have been found depicted in Nri's bronze. A Nri dignitary was unearthed with ivory, also indicating a wealth in trade existed among the Nri. Another source of income would have been the income brought back by traveling mbùríchi.

Unlike in many African economies of the period, Nri did not practice slave ownership or trade. Certain parts of the Nri domain, like Agukwu, did not recognize slavery and served as a sanctuary. After the selection of the tenth eze Nri, any slave who stepped foot on Nri soil was considered free.

...... In 1911, British troops forced the reigning eze Nri to renounce the ritual power of the religious cult known as the ìkénga, ending the kingdom of Nri as a political power.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Nri


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So ezeagu, as you can see, there's no shortage of grievances a writer like Achebe could uphold against the British. In fact the above doesn't even cover 1/10th of what they did. This was why I was asking if he attacked and criticised them in his new book the way he did Awo.

I was talking about before the whole colonial Palm oil trading expeditions. The Portuguese and others were able to visit Benin for trade. Directly after the abolition of the slave trade in British colonies they sent the navy to patrol the shores of West Africa. No one said the British didn't attack the Igbo or any other group, but before the 19th century there were few attacks on West Africans directly from Europeans. Again, Achebe is writing about what he knows and about what he has been through: the Nigeria-Biafra war, colonialism, a failed Nigeria, military dictatorship. Why would he talk about Britain when the article is specifically about starvation and the people who made it possible. Achebe doesn't even attack Yoruba people as you are implying, why should he not talk about someone who supported the starvation of children?

ezeagu: I was talking about before the whole colonial Palm oil trading expeditions. The Portuguese and others were able to visit Benin for trade. Directly after the abolition of the slave trade in British colonies they sent the navy to patrol the shores of West Africa. No one said the British didn't attack the Igbo or any other group, but before the 19th century there were few attacks on West Africans directly from Europeans. Again, Achebe is writing about what he knows and about what he has been through: the Nigeria-Biafra war, colonialism, a failed Nigeria, military dictatorship. Why would he talk about Britain when the article is specifically about starvation and the people who made it possible. Achebe doesn't even attack Yoruba people as you are implying, why should he not talk about someone who supported the starvation of children?

I don't get it with him and this thread. I honestly don't get it.