Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, has
described the Biafrans as "people who'd
been abused, who'd undergone genocide,
and who felt completely rejected by the
rest of the community, and therefore
decided to break away and form a nation
of its own."
Soyinka who disclosed this in
an interview published in
TheTelegraph of London on
Wednesday, said, the Igbos were victims of
genocide during the three-year civil war.
He also used the opportunity to condemn
militant sect Boko Haram, the insurgent
group that has visited terror on the North,
killing over 1,500 since 2009, describing
their actions not as religion, but criminality.
He said: "All religions accept that there is
something called criminality. And criminality
cannot be excused by religious fervour…
you cannot hold the world to ransom
simply because some idiots chose to insult a
religion in some far-off place which most of
the world has never even heard of. This for
me is a kind of fundamentalist tyranny that
should be totally unacceptable.
"So a group calls itself the Boko Haram,
literally: 'Book is taboo', the book is
anathema, the book is a product of Western
civilisation, therefore it must be rejected.
"You go from the rejection of books to the
rejection of institutions which utilise the
book, and that means virtually all
institutions. You attack universities, you kill
professors, then you butcher students, you
close down primary schools, you try and
create a religious maginot line through
which nothing should penetrate.
"That's not religion; that's lunacy. My
Christian family lived just next door to
Muslims. We celebrated Ramadan with
Muslims; they celebrated Christmas with
Christians. This is how I grew up.
"And now this virus is spreading all around
the world, leading to the massacre of 50
students. This is not taking arms against the
state, this is taking up arms against
humanity."
He criticised the handling of the war against
terrorism by President Jonathan.
"The president of Nigeria is making a
mistake in not telling the nation that it
should place itself on a war footing. There's
too much pussyfooting, there's too much
false intellectualisation of what is going on,
such as this is the result of corruption, this
is the result of poverty, this is the result of
marginalisation.
"Yes, of course, all these negativities have to
do with what is happening right now. But
when the people themselves come out and
say we will not even talk to the president
unless he converts to Islam, they are
already stating their terms of conflict," he
added.
Soyinka further said if religion were to be
taken away from the world, he would be
one of the happiest people in the world.

ba7man: I just read it up. Flights entered Biafra from Portugal via Guinea Bissau and Cameroon carrying weapons.I also read it up that planes were shot at in the Nigerian. Airspace not Biafra since Nigerian forces could not penetrate effectively. Thank God for Google.

Please provide me the link where it was stated that( those relief) planes where carrying weapons. If am correct, it was INSINUATED that weapons was also brought into Biafra by the relief agencies/planes.
Please try to read with an open mind. The Gowon led government used FALSE PROPAGANDA heavily and mind you, the British never wanted Biafra to secede.
At least BAKASSI peninsula is a proof and one of the casualties of the civil war.
Like I said before, read with an open mind as a Scholar should.

abouzaid: it's funny u failed to read up that food supplies were being flied into biafra till d end of d war.inshort biafra was flying in both food till end of d war, it's laughable that u said that nigeria could not penetrate d biafra airspace. Pls read up on d russian m16 and their egyptian pilots. I'm busy now, talk later

I only read about the ones Ojukwu rejected, Correction, I said Nigerian forces couldn't penetrate the Biafran territory for a good duration of the war not the Biafran airspace.

logica: When was Biafra invaded - before or after Biafra invaded the Mid-Western region? Just asking...

Go and ask you Grandfather to tell you the true story about the war. What happened before Biafra invaded mid west? Tell me or did they just invade mid west?

gboss4sure:

Man they only allowed for food to be brought in via Land which is not safe as it was poisoned by nigeria then thats why Ojukwu refused as foods that was flown from Portugual to Biafra was safe via Air and were flown by Foreign Pilots. Had ojukwu accepted the Land offer more people would have died

See comedy... I CANT SHOUT JARE...

After all said and done, Soyinka is one Yoruoba man who gat my respect.

ajoguegbe: Let's bury the hatchet. Learn from our past and plan for the future. Nigeria is blessed

if u dont know where u r comin from, u will hardly know where u r going to. D germans admitted dt d holocaust tk place. Why z d nigeria state findin it difficult to admit d genocide aganist d igbos b4 n durin d war. As 4 gowon, d fulanis aint done wit plateau state yet.

kingingkinging:

PLS TRY TO DISPLAY OBJECTIVITYIN ALL YOUR ARGUMENTS, IT IS A SYMBOL OF HIGH LEVEL OF INTELLECTUALISM. WHO COMMITTED GENOCIDE, OJUKWU, BIAFRA OR NIGERIA. IF U DECIDE TO FIGHT WITH ME, HOW CAN U, AT THE SAME TIME EXPECT ME TO FEED U. FROM MY OWN LITTLE KNOWLEDGE OF LOGIC, IT IS NOT RATIONAL. SO, LOGICALLY SPEAKING, OJUKWU KILLED HIS IGBO KINSMEN.

IF THERE WAS NO WAR, THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN NO STARVATION, PAIN, HUNGER, DEATH, ETC. WOULD U EXPECT YOUR ENEMY TO BE FEEDING U? IF U WOULD THEN LET US STOP OUR FIGHT, BUT OJUKWU WOULD RATHER RUN AWAY IN A WOMAN ATTIRE TO IVORY COAST LEAVING THE SO CALLED DYING CHILDREN AND HIS BRETHREN ON THE BATTLE FIELD. AND THIS ACHEBE, A MINISTER I=UNDER OJUKWU RAN TO AMERICA AND NOW WRITING BALDADASH FROM THERE CAUSING PROBLEM FOR HIS BRETHREN IN SW. IF WE DECIDE TO REPEAT.... HE WOULD NOW SAY YORUBA PEOPLE DO THIS OR THAT, HE WOUILD HAVE FORGOTTEN THAT @IT IS ONLY A BASTARD THAT USES LEFT HAND TO POINT TO HIS FATHER'S HOUSE'

You are a fool. What is withholding you to start? Attack the igbos in lagos if not you are a bastardi. What is the difference between you and boko haram?

Eko Ile:


See comedy... I CANT SHOUT JARE...

its clear you dont know a dime about the Biafran-Nigerian war so no need to join issues with a rotten mind like yours who see things from a tribal perspective. ...... Rat on

Abali1:

Please provide me the link where it was stated that( those relief) planes where carrying weapons. If am correct, it was INSINUATED that weapons was also brought into Biafra by the relief agencies/planes.
Please try to read with an open mind. The Gowon led government used FALSE PROPAGANDA heavily and mind you, the British never wanted Biafra to secede.
At least BAKASSI peninsula is a proof and one of the casualties of the civil war.
Like I said before, read with an open mind as a Scholar should.

You're right about propaganda being a weapon of war. Nigeria played their own sleazy tricks during the war no doubt but Ojukwu should have done his homework before embarking on that route. He knew that Nigeria still controlled important supply lines and he should have thot of a solution to that.

ba7man: You're right about propaganda being a weapon of war. Nigeria played their own sleazy tricks during the war no doubt but Ojukwu should have done his homework before embarking on that route. He knew that Nigeria still controlled important supply lines and he should have thot of a solution to that.

ba7man,
I want to believe that you are interested in learning more about the war. I commend your interest(assuming that you are a Yoruba man) please take time off your busy schedule and do a little more reading, maybe you will get some of the answers you seek.
But don't expect to get ALL the answers.

abouzaid: in that case, u were never here to learn. Good night and sweet dreams.

I'v read a lot of books on warfare and I'm trying to arrive at where Biafra got it wrong, what allowed them play into Nigeria's hands regarding the blockade. These two points....(1) Inadequate protected supply routes and (2) inadequate Allies....,Ojukwu should have sorted this two out before making the move.

gboss4sure:

its clear you dont know a dime about the Biafran-Nigerian war so no need to join issues with a rotten mind like yours who see things from a tribal perspective. ...... Rat on

It's clear that you are very clueless and all you know is what your misguided and olodo elders spewed to you and your clan at the village square in umuahia.....lmao

gboss4sure:

Go and ask you Grandfather to tell you the true story about the war. What happened before Biafra invaded mid west? Tell me or did they just invade mid west?

LOL. Luckily I am able to read. I don't need a dead man to tell me any stories. I'll keep it very short since you bit the bait: the fastest way to losing a war is to lose your friends/allies. That should be clear enough.

I don't understand the uneccessary hitting of d polity.....
These men are bloody old and will die soon, so wats d essence of allowing them raise uneccessry dust in our faces.
Awolowo is dead, Gowon is in his village, Ojukwu is dead, the war has been ova for 3 decades, abeg make all dis old men go and sleep jor.

This present generation should be more focused on unity, development and not allow nonsense distractions from dis expired old men........I said it..

Abali1:

ba7man,
I want to believe that you are interested in learning more about the war. I commend your interest(assuming that you are a Yoruba man) please take time off your busy schedule and do a little more reading, maybe you will get some of the answers you seek.
But don't expect to get ALL the answers.

I'll definitely do that, putting in the possibility of propaganda in mind. Seems the stories i hear are kind of one sided, I would like to hear Ojukwu's side of the story. Every man has a reason for his actions and inactions.

Abali1: Please this should be taken to the front page. NL Mod, take note.

I was actually praying and wishing that people like this man(Soyinka) should come out and speak up.
I'm one of those that believe that using hunger as a strategy for winning wars is a crime against Humanity. No matter how much we argue this "Policy", the fact remains that Nigeria committed Genocide against the Biafrans (Igbos in particular).

How about using guns and missiles is not a crime against humanity?
May be you prefer any of these two

confusion247:

You are a fool. What is withholding you to start? Attack the igbos in lagos if not you are a bastardi. What is the difference between you and boko haram?

NWANNE, SHOW AM PEPPER. NO MIND THE BARRSTARD. IF YERIBA F**KERS WANT SOME,THE IGBOS WILL GLADLY OBLIGE.

kingingkinging:

PLS TRY TO DISPLAY OBJECTIVITYIN ALL YOUR ARGUMENTS, IT IS A SYMBOL OF HIGH LEVEL OF INTELLECTUALISM. WHO COMMITTED GENOCIDE, OJUKWU, BIAFRA OR NIGERIA. IF U DECIDE TO FIGHT WITH ME, HOW CAN U, AT THE SAME TIME EXPECT ME TO FEED U. FROM MY OWN LITTLE KNOWLEDGE OF LOGIC, IT IS NOT RATIONAL. SO, LOGICALLY SPEAKING, OJUKWU KILLED HIS IGBO KINSMEN.

IF THERE WAS NO WAR, THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN NO STARVATION, PAIN, HUNGER, DEATH, ETC. WOULD U EXPECT YOUR ENEMY TO BE FEEDING U? IF U WOULD THEN LET US STOP OUR FIGHT, BUT OJUKWU WOULD RATHER RUN AWAY IN A WOMAN ATTIRE TO IVORY COAST LEAVING THE SO CALLED DYING CHILDREN AND HIS BRETHREN ON THE BATTLE FIELD. AND THIS ACHEBE, A MINISTER I=UNDER OJUKWU RAN TO AMERICA AND NOW WRITING BALDADASH FROM THERE CAUSING PROBLEM FOR HIS BRETHREN IN SW. IF WE DECIDE TO REPEAT.... HE WOULD NOW SAY YORUBA PEOPLE DO THIS OR THAT, HE WOUILD HAVE FORGOTTEN THAT @IT IS ONLY A BASTARD THAT USES LEFT HAND TO POINT TO HIS FATHER'S HOUSE'

And who said Ojukwu needed Gowon or Awolowo to feed them? We are talking about a blockade by Gowon of food aids coming from red cross and caritas. Some of those planes were even shot down by Gowon.

klax: Please for goodness I beg every Benin, Yoruba and Hausa in the House to just ignore whatever any of my kinsmen is saying as per Biafra let my fellow men go back to my statement few days ago and answer all the question I asked their. Since some of my own people refused to wake up and leave the past and moved on let whoever want to die because of Biafra die is as simple as that.

I'm getting provoked day by day if not the warning my dad warned me in relation to discussion as per Biafra I would have done the unthinkable because the anger and vexation is boiling inside me for so long against the ojukwu's this man called Ojukwu made me not to have a single uncle till today by forcefully came to my grandparent HOME IN THE THEN village and took my supposed uncleS(FIVE YOUNG MEN) away to fight war and never return and Ojukwu kids are there with plenty uncles, Aunties, large family with lot of money and wealth isnit? And someone is here wanting FOR me to Hate Yoruba or Hausa who were the not the one that took my suppose to be uncleS away, who did not send us to war in the first place?

The truth this anger is burning inside me day and night its like a nightmare in my blood. I got no deal with Awolowo or Gowon I dont bloody care who a heel they are all I care about is Ojukwu because his boys were the ones that came to my grandparent home and took my uncles away and none ever return till today so its Ojukwu I have a deal with and I need explanation from him orelse one good day someone will pay for this anger inside me for sure.

Anybody can call me any names I dont give a f u c k and damn it, what pains me is waht am saying is not Yoruba, Hausa, Gowon, Soyinka etc all these are just bloody irrelevant. So if any one want to die because of Biafra I repeat go ahead and die for a man who went to war selfishly without due consultation. Die because of a man that left Billion worth of wealth for his kids and you are here sleeping in poverty and still ranting hell, Die for 1966 long dead issue in 2012 good for you but for me I will not and never HATE Yoruba or Hausa because of Biafra never and never because they did not send us to war or asked to go to war ok.

If you are not a bloody fool, you are certainly a delusional ninny. If you think losing uncles during the war is enough for you to forget your past, it is not enough for some of us who lost father, brothers, sisters, uncles, nephews, aunts and grandparents during the pogrom in northern region and the civil war. Let me call your deduction that Ojukwu forcefully took your uncles away from your village as foolery.

The northern and western regional leaders conspired to kill innocent citizens of eastern region for no apparent reason. My aunts was killed in northern region in 1966 and none of the soldiers who allegedly precipitated the January 15, 1966 coup was even known to her talk less of being related to her.

If you think your bloody village worth anything, it is because you have an Igbo son such Ojukwu who stood before the aggressors and told them enough was enough. In addition, Ndigbo are not people without a mind. I do not need to remind you that Ojukwu flunked senatorial election in his home senatorial zone. Ndigbo have never had a human being molded into demigod because of earthly largesse.

Again, let me inform you that what you considered heavy losses were infinitesimal and pale when compared to losses accrued by certain Igbo sons and daughters. As Nigeria stands, you can choose to join Yoruba, Hausa, Fulani, Edo or ethnic group but Igbo and I am sure there is no right thinking Igbo son or daughter who will notice you have left.

gboss4sure:

its clear you dont know a dime about the Biafran-Nigerian war so no need to join issues with a rotten mind like yours who see things from a tribal perspective. ...... Rat on

IT IS SCANDALOUS TO FEED A PIG WIT DELICACIES,FORGIVE THE YERIBA TOUT AS THEY ARE ALWAYS KNOW AS A CRASS AND UNRULY RACE.

ichidodo: IT IS SCANDALOUS TO FEED A PIG WIT DELICACIES,FORGIVE THE YERIBA TOUT AS THEY ARE ALWAYS KNOW AS A CRASS AND UNRULY RACE.

food?


You want? Here, chop and quench....lmao..

Don't eat all the food like ojuku o, abeg share with your hungry village...




.

Dede1:


If you are not a bloody fool, you are certainly a delusional ninny. If you think losing uncles during the war is enough for you to forget your past, it is not enough for some of us who lost father, brothers, sisters, uncles, nephews, aunts and grandparents during the pogrom in northern region and the civil war. Let me call your deduction that Ojukwu forcefully took your uncles away from your village as foolery.

The northern and western regional leaders conspired to kill innocent citizens of eastern region for no apparent reason. My aunts was killed in northern region in 1966 and none of the soldiers who allegedly precipitated the January 15, 1966 coup was even known to her talk less of being related to her.

If you think your bloody village worth anything, it is because you have an Igbo son such Ojukwu who stood before the aggressors and told them enough was enough. In addition, Ndigbo are not people without a mind. I do not need to remind you that Ojukwu flunked senatorial election in his home senatorial zone. Ndigbo have never had human being molded into demigod because of earthly largesse.

Again, let me inform you that what you considered heavy losses was infinitesimal and pale when compared to losses accrued by certain Igbo sons and daughters. As Nigeria stands, you can choose join Yoruba, Hausa, Fulani, Edo or ethnic group but Igbo and I am sure there no right thinking Igbo son or daughter who will notice you have left.

OGA GOD GO BLESS URE PAPA AND MAMA. SOMETIMES, I WONDER WHAT WOULD HAVE BEEN THE LOT OF THE IGBO RACE WITOUT OJUKWU. WHEN I THINK ABOUT IT,SHIVERS RUN DOWN MY SPINE.

Dede1:


If you are not a bloody fool, you are certainly a delusional ninny. If you think losing uncles during the war is enough for you to forget your past, it is not enough for some of us who lost father, brothers, sisters, uncles, nephews, aunts and grandparents during the pogrom in northern region and the civil war. Let me call your deduction that Ojukwu forcefully took your uncles away from your village as foolery.

The northern and western regional leaders conspired to kill innocent citizens of eastern region for no apparent reason. My aunts was killed in northern region in 1966 and none of the soldiers who allegedly precipitated the January 15, 1966 coup was even known to her talk less of being related to her.

If you think your bloody village worth anything, it is because you have an Igbo son such Ojukwu who stood before the aggressors and told them enough was enough. In addition, Ndigbo are not people without a mind. I do not need to remind you that Ojukwu flunked senatorial election in his home senatorial zone. Ndigbo have never had human being molded into demigod because of earthly largesse.

Again, let me inform you that what you considered heavy losses was infinitesimal and pale when compared to losses accrued by certain Igbo sons and daughters. As Nigeria stands, you can choose join Yoruba, Hausa, Fulani, Edo or ethnic group but Igbo and I am sure there no right thinking Igbo son or daughter who will notice you have left.

Another rubbish from gran pa dundie 1 ...lmao

Eko Ile: food?


You want? Here, chop and quench....lmao..

Don't eat all the food like ojuku o, abeg share with your hungry village...




.

MY RACE (IGBO) IS CURRENTLY FEEDIN URE RACE(YERIBA) RITE NOW. THE QUESTION IS NOT ABOUT FOOD BUT LIVELIHOOD. I CANT B SEEN DISCUSSIN WIT A JOBLESS YERIBA AGBERO, WE NO DEY SAME LEVELS.

All dis men are bloody old about to die, why allow them heat up d polity den die for us to bear d consequences of their irrelevant noise.
Gowon is old in his village
Awolowo is dead
Ojukwu is dead
D war has been ova 3 decades ago and we are here abusing ourselves....
Where has Soyinka's plenty gramma led Naija.....?
Wat has Achebe's books done to better our lives.......?
Abeg, no last minute attention seeking at the price of our peace.
North is boiling daily.
Now some Eastern old man comes to dig out dead bombs then some Western egoist man says I support: both actions capable of causing serious ethnic brouhaha.

Comeon people.....leave dis outgoing generation to pass away jor.

We gat work to do.....our unity, and development is paramount.....

Eko Ile:


Another rubbish from gran pa dundie 1 ...lmao

who dash monkey banana.

D'Soj:
All dis men are bloody old about to die, why allow them heat up d polity den die for us to bear d consequences of their irrelevant noise.
Gowon is old in his village
Awolowo is dead
Ojukwu is dead
D war has been ova 3 decades ago and we are here abusing ourselves....
Where has Soyinka's plenty gramma led Naija.....?
Wat has Achebe's books done to better our lives.......?
Abeg, no last minute attention seeking at the price of our peace.
North is boiling daily.
Now some Eastern old man comes to dig out dead bombs then some Western egoist man says I support: both actions capable of causing serious ethnic brouhaha.

Comeon people.....leave dis outgoing generation to pass away jor.

We gat work to do.....our unity, and development is paramount.....

WE CANNOT JUST WISH AWAY THE NIGERIAN CIVIL WAR.
THESE WAR STORIES MUST BE TOLD. You call it heating up the polity, and I say NO. It's part of our history as a nation and should be included in our Secondary School Curriculum.

ichidodo: MY RACE (IGBO) IS CURRENTLY FEEDIN URE RACE(YERIBA) RITE NOW. THE QUESTION IS NOT ABOUT FOOD BUT LIVELIHOOD. I CANT B SEEN DISCUSSIN WIT A JOBLESS YERIBA AGBERO, WE NO DEY SAME LEVELS.

What are you feeding my people? Akpu or what ojuku denied and didn't feed you? Dirty son of failed and disgruntled ashebe..

ba7man: I'll definitely do that, putting in the possibility of propaganda in mind. Seems the stories i hear are kind of one sided, I would like to hear Ojukwu's side of the story. Every man has a reason for his actions and inactions.

You can never get the near-accurate account of what transpired during the war by reading online journals. Grab books from Northern, Western, Midwestern, Eastern and Southern authors to read. Marry their accounts together. Only then will you get a clearer picture. There are cacophony of informations online that first-timers tends to be confused. This predispose them to making ignorant assertions. Many partisan posters masquerade themselves as objective posters. Their main aim is to miseducate youngsters, so as to make sure that their bigoted history is passed to the next generation.

Ebube_Gid: Tribalism has been the enemy of nigeria. we always support our tribesmen on issues whether they are right or wrong. it's very hard to find nigerians who live their lives without prejudice and tribal sentiments. Soyinka is one of the rare nigerians who is not controlled by this. LONG LIVE TO YOU SOYINKA.

Soyinka is not a tribalist? You can say that again!

Dede1:


If you are not a bloody fool, you are certainly a delusional ninny. If you think losing uncles during the war is enough for you to forget your past, it is not enough for some of us who lost father, brothers, sisters, uncles, nephews, aunts and grandparents during the pogrom in northern region and the civil war. Let me call your deduction that Ojukwu forcefully took your uncles away from your village as foolery.

The northern and western regional leaders conspired to kill innocent citizens of eastern region for no apparent reason. My aunts was killed in northern region in 1966 and none of the soldiers who allegedly precipitated the January 15, 1966 coup was even known to her talk less of being related to her.

If you think your bloody village worth anything, it is because you have an Igbo son such Ojukwu who stood before the aggressors and told them enough was enough. In addition, Ndigbo are not people without a mind. I do not need to remind you that Ojukwu flunked senatorial election in his home senatorial zone. Ndigbo have never had human being molded into demigod because of earthly largesse.

Again, let me inform you that what you considered heavy losses was infinitesimal and pale when compared to losses accrued by certain Igbo sons and daughters. As Nigeria stands, you can choose join Yoruba, Hausa, Fulani, Edo or ethnic group but Igbo and I am sure there no right thinking Igbo son or daughter who will notice you have left.

+1000000 likes sir