Achebe as the arrow head of Biafran propaganda machine, showing images of dead and dying children to foreign media must at one point told Ojukwu the progress of the propaganda war. Did they ever stopped and wonder about the fate of those kids? They obviously didn't, because they kept on feeding their rebel soldiers till the very end. Have you ever seen a picture of an emaciated Biafran soldier?

Malawian: you keep quoting these British press about biafra? are you retarded?

They quote the British that regret falling for Ojukwu's propaganda, you call them liars. They quote Australians that witnessed Ojukwu's plane flying off with a Mercedes-Benz (while crushing two innocent girls to death on the runway) on his way to Abidjan, you say we shouldn't trust them. They quote the Washington Post that calls the declaration of war by Ojukwu "an avoidable mistake", you say Americans can't be trusted. You've even been shown videos of Jim Nwobodo calling Ojukwu "a coward" and " fugitive #1"..... None of this is ok for you to say to yourself "Hmmmn, maybe we Igbos aren't as innocent in the course of these whole events as our parents keep telling us", yet you want us to believe the man in charge of Biafran propaganda?

I know you're not that st.upid....

Katsumoto:

Ok, I have heard you.

Nice one. And that is how you should have responded to the nincompoop to start with.

Katsumoto:

Of course he did, according to you.

We should accept the view of the minister of propaganda for Biafra and ignore the views of British journalists simply because Britain supported Nigeria?

But I understand your position, so I am not bothered.

....But you never bothered to ask me why! You also downplayed the position of Frederick Forsyth account on the war, dont you?

I must be the only one bored by this tales.
Biafra will never define how i relate with a fellow African brother (not much of a believer in this Nigeria thing).
Achebe, Ojukwu and their errand boys/girls like Odia Ofeimun and Chimamanda Adichie must go find new hobbies. These tales are past there sale by date.

kingoflag: They quote the British that regret falling for Ojukwu's propaganda, you call them liars. They quote Australians that witnessed Ojukwu's plane flying off with a Mercedes-Benz (while crushing two innocent girls to death on the runway) on his way to Abidjan, you say we shouldn't trust them. They quote the Washington Post that calls the declaration of war by Ojukwu "an avoidable mistake", you say Americans can't be trusted. You've even been shown videos of Jim Nwobodo calling Ojukwu "a coward" and " fugitive #1"..... None of this is ok for you to say to yourself "Hmmmn, maybe we Igbos aren't as innocent in the course of these whole events as our parents keep telling us", yet you want us to believe the man in charge of Biafran propaganda?

I know you're not that st.upid....

You can't be too certain. Thats the chap who stated that Awo baited the Biafrans into fighting that war.

Desola:

Nice one. And that is how you should have responded to the nincompoop to start with.

You dey mind me. Sometimes I forget that not every tool requires a response.

Eko Ile:


Remember I said the girl is trailing the same bitter and disgruntled path ashebe cleared for the next generations of bitter and disgruntled ibo people


You are part of that useless generation and the world can do without you clowns so kindly take your own advice and hop of that bridge or make it easy and jump inside the nearest shalanga.

U sounded highly pissed and frustrated . But , am telling you as a very proud and satisfied Igbo man; that African History can't be written without mentioning the Igbos and Our Biafra.

African History I said, how muchmore ur Naigeria

Desola:

Nice one. And that is how you should have responded to the nincompoop to start with.

She-he , You are here again showing off your stu.pidity, The same way ur grand Father Awo did decades ago is what your ppl are doing today to Igbo employees because of the advantages u ppl have after the war , occupying vital positions, giving them 20 pounds while stealing the remaining chunks. The wickedness that run tru ur grand father Awo's vein still run in today's Yoruba generation.

I am disappointed in Chimamanda - if she wanted to be balanced, there are accounts available in the public domain that she could have used to achieve/demonstrate that balance.

For example, on the 20 pounds controversy, here is Awo's account:

. . . .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.

You expect someone to exchange notes that were printed in unknown numbers? You want money without records of what deposits were held? On what planet does that happen? It is regrettable that people lost funds during the war, but unfortunately that is what sometimes happens in a war where records are destroyed.

too many conflicting stories about what really happened in biafra....
nigerians have that annoying attitude of not telling it straight - till today, if 6 nigerian reporters write a story, they would report different things on the same story......chinua achebe should give it a rest and forget about this biafra ish already. it serves no purpose anymore....he keeps accusing fulanis for the genocide but the first coup in nigeria where majority of the plotters were igbo killed targeted fulani/hausa army officers......

Katsumoto:

You dey mind me. Sometimes I forget that not every tool requires a response.

^^^That's because you're a revisionist, goebbelsian dude who just loves having the last word; i've noticed that much about ya.

How on earth you can support a spawn of lucifer like awo just because he's your tribesman and because he had an intense hatred for Igbos like you do.....how you can justify his actions under any guise is a testament to your satanic inclinations.

You are one evil little man fashioned in the mould of the worst humanity has ever produced, and the only reason you've not done worse than the likes of awo and hitler is because you've not yet found the stage.

PROUD-IGBO:


^^^That's because you're a revisionist, goebbelsian dude who just loves having the last word; i've noticed that much about ya.

How on earth you can support a spawn of lucifer like awo just because he's your tribesman and because he had an intense hatred for Igbos like you do.....how you can justify his actions under any guise is a testament to your satanic inclinations.

You are one evil little man fashioned in the mould of the worst humanity has ever produced, and the only reason you've not done worse than the likes of awo and hitler is because you've not yet found the stage.

yet more ad hominem sniping.......
did awolowo lead the igbos to a senseless war? ojukwu wanted war and yet he never factored he needed to feed his soldiers and provide medics for them? it's all fair in war - you cannot feed and supply arms to the people fighting you - that's common sense!

"Sticks and stones may break my bones (except when wielded by frustrated folks) But names will never hurt me"

You frustrated folks may continue with the ad hominem attacks and I am just going to keep hitting you with facts.

debosky: I am disappointed in Chimamanda - if she wanted to be balanced, there are accounts available in the public domain that she could have used to achieve/demonstrate that balance.

For example, on the 20 pounds controversy, here is Awo's account:



You expect someone to exchange notes that were printed in unknown numbers? You want money without records of what deposits were held? On what planet does that happen? It is regrettable that people lost funds during the war, but unfortunately that is what sometimes happens in a war where records are destroyed.

At the end of the day, some things are very clear

1. Adichie is no more than a story teller, a credible writer would have done some research instead of using terms such as 'told by adults'. Is she a child?

2. There is hatred in the hearts of some Biafrans towards the wrong set of people. Even success can't mask this hatred.

The problem is dt Yorubas have refused to agree dat Awolowo introduced ethnicity in Nigeria. N he succeeded in rubbing off dat mentality to d present yorubas. Achebe was simply right.believe it or not.

ngozievergreen: The problem is dt Yorubas have refused to agree dat Awolowo introduced ethnicity in Nigeria. N he succeeded in rubbing off dat mentality to d present yorubas. Achebe was simply right.believe it or not.

awolowo introduced ethnicity and yet a bunch of igbo soldiers planned a coup and took out mostly fulani soldiers in their lust for power?

ngozievergreen: The problem is dt Yorubas have refused to agree dat [b]Awolowo introduced ethnicity in Nigeria. [/b]N he succeeded in rubbing off dat mentality to d present yorubas. Achebe was simply right.believe it or not.

Evergreen nonsense.

Katsumoto:

At the end of the day, some things are very clear

1. Adichie is no more than a story teller, a credible writer would have done some research instead of using terms such as 'told by adults'. Is she a child?

2. There is hatred in the hearts of some Biafrans towards the wrong set of people. Even success can't mask this hatred.

i suspected the half of a yellow sun movie would depict ibos as downtrodden victims hated on by lesser nigerians. i guess we can be sure of that.

yeah, there were no yorubas amongst the coup plotters abi?

coogar:

awolowo introduced ethnicity and yet a bunch of igbo soldiers planned a coup and took out mostly fulani soldiers in their lust for power?

Malawian: yeah, there were no yorubas amongst the coup plotters abi?

none - it was predominantly igbos.....
and they killed many yoruba soldiers in their quest......every region lost people in the pogroms that later led to the biafra war! igbos should move on and stop whining about the past! chinua achebe should stop shredding his legacy at every turn with his baseless allegations against the yorubas - the only man responsible for the biafran genocide was the late colonel ojukwu himself!

Malawian: yeah, there were no yorubas amongst the coup plotters abi?

There were Yorubas who fought on the side of Biafra, does that make it Yoruba/Ibo rebellion?

Desola:

Nice one. And that is how you should have responded to the nincompoop to start with.

Coming from the the queen of stupidity herself, irony indeed

Who wants to put money down the Desola's nighttime clients are Igbo She hates them with a passion yet her hate will forever remain on the internet, even with the little intellect she has she knows that keeping her mouth shut is good for business.

Katsumoto:

Ok, I have heard you.

Lol. I never asked for your approval dear
I just stated my opinion whether you hear or don't hear I don't give a damn

As I said earlier, Soyinka is also a mere story teller, but I doubt you would discount his opinion...I wonder why

Isn't it a public knowledge that the british supported nigerian military attack on biafra by supplying arms and other military logistics to nigeria army,including hiring egyptians for air strikes.

In view of these facts,why would anyone care about what british propaganda machine have to say about biafra,isn't this like seeking for the dead among the living. What would you expect a british newspaper like the guardian to say about biafra? Some people are just plain stupid. SMH.

Katsumoto: "Sticks and stones may break my bones (except when wielded by frustrated folks) But names will never hurt me"
You frustrated folks may continue with the ad hominem attacks and I am just going to keep hitting you with facts.

You are full of jokes! Sounding like one 'Malaika' just stick to your guns, no one is taking you too seriously, I hope you know that?

coogar: too many conflicting stories about what really happened in biafra....
nigerians have that annoying attitude of not telling it straight - till today, if 6 nigerian reporters write a story, they would report different things on the same story......chinua achebe should give it a rest and forget about this biafra ish already. it serves no purpose anymore....he keeps accusing fulanis for the genocide but the first coup in nigeria where majority of the plotters were igbo killed targeted fulani/hausa army officers......

Oh no, chinua cannot keep quiet,not when we have millions of yorubas like you and desola roaming around the jungle called south west,not when we have millions of efulefu igbos unaware of this. Chinua just opened up our eyes to reality that have been ever present with us,and he deserves to be honoured by ndiigbo for reminding us of things some of us have forgotten.

I just read somewhere that Achebe asserted in his book that: "Awolowo tricked Igbos into going to war with Nigeria." Bwahahahahahahaha

I need to email my doozy, Dr. Ozodi Osuji, to explain the excerpt further....

coogar:

none - it was predominantly igbos.....
and they killed many yoruba soldiers in their quest......every region lost people in the pogroms that later led to the biafra war! igbos should move on and stop whining about the past! chinua achebe should stop shredding his legacy at every turn with his baseless allegations against the yorubas - the only man responsible for the biafran genocide was the late colonel ojukwu himself!

lolz. need i say more?

tomakint:
You are full of jokes! Sounding like one 'Malaika' just stick to your guns, no one is taking you too seriously, I hope you know that?

He is, had this been Soyinka would he have dismissed his opinion like he did Adiche's. Hell no Wise man indeed

We would see real Houdini trick to make it fit his agenda, which is why every comment is an ad hominem attack. If your character is lacking so will your arguments, which is why its relevant to the discussion.

shymexx: I just read somewhere that Achebe asserted in his book that: "Awolowo tricked Igbos into going to war with Nigeria." Bwahahahahahahaha

I need to email my doozy, Dr. Ozodi Osuji, to explain the excerpt further....

LMAO I know what he will say about that; They are all crazy.

I am going to post excerpt from an article (which summarizes all accounts there are on the pre and post civil war Nigeria) I came by on Sahara Reporters so maybe C. Adichie can read it up and get educated on the events leading to the Civil War and how it was the Igbos that authored its own downfall and predicament. You can read the details here:
http://saharareporters.com/article/achebe%E2%80%99s-igbos-others-fairy-tales-s-kadiri


"The seed of the Nigerian civil war was actually sown after 1959 December federal election which decided who was to be the Prime Minister of Nigeria for the next four years. The main political parties that contested the election were: Northern People’s Congress (NPC) led by the Premier of the North, Ahmadu Bello; the National Council of Nigerian Citizen (NCNC) led by the Premier of the East, Benjamin Nnamdi Azikwe, who formed alliance with Northern Element Progressive Union (NEPU) led by Aminu Kano; and Action Group (AG) led by the Premier of the West, Jeremiah Obafemi Awolowo, who formed alliance with the United Middle-Belt Congress (UMBC) in the North and Calabar Ogoja State Party led by Joseph Tarka and Wenike Briggs respectively. The NPC which contested only in the North won 134 seats in the Federal Parliament; the NCNC/NEPU won 58 seats in the East, 8 in the North, 23 in the West & Lagos which equalled to 89 total seats in the Federal Parliament; and the AG and its allies won 14 seats in the East, 25 seats in the North, and 34 seats in the West & Lagos which gave 73 total seats in the Federal Parliament out of 312 total seats. Sixteen independent candidates (one in the East, seven in the North and eight in the West & Lagos) also won seats into the Parliament. However, fourteen independent candidates declared for the NPC while the rest two declared for the AG swelling their respective strength in the Parliament to 148 and 75. Since none of the political parties had majority in the Parliament to form a government, a national coalition of all the political parties or a coalition of two political parties was necessary. Relying on the fact that NCNC and AG had a total seat of 164 spread throughout the whole country as against NPC’s 148, Jeremiah Obafemi Awolowo offered to serve under a national government led by Benjamin Nnamdi Azikwe as the Prime Minister. However, on Sunday, 20 December 1959, the leaders of NCNC and NPC signed a coalition agreement to constitute the Federal Government under a Prime Minister named, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa.
The decision of the leaders of the NCNC was informed by the belief that the educational and academic superiority of its members to NPC would put the control of the government in their hands even though the Prime Minister was an NPC. While Awolowo handed over the Premiership of Western Region to Samuel Ladoke Akintola to become leader of opposition in the Federal Parliament, Azikwe handed over the Premiership of Eastern Region to Michael Ihenokura Okpara to become the President of the Senate. When the colonial Governor- General, James Robertson left office in November 1960 Benjamin Nnamdi Azikwe was inaugurated as the Governor – General on the 16th of November 1960 and Nwafor Orizu succeeded him as President of the Senate. It must be stated that NEPU, the political ally of the NCNC in the North was excluded from ministerial or any official appointments in the Federal coalition government. As the colonial officials were leaving Nigeria, the NCNC supplanted them with their own educated elites who stepped in to fill the colonialists jobs, play their roles, inherit their rates of pay and privileges (including housing, children, servant and car allowances), and assume the colonialists attitudes of having divine right to rule and prosper at the expense of the masses in Nigeria. Towards the end of 1961, the deputy leader of AG and Premier of Western Region, Samuel Ladoke Akintola, blamed Awolowo for the exclusion of the people from his region from the share of appointments in the federal civil service and federal government owned corporations because of Awolowo’s refusal to take part in the national coalition government at the centre. Before discussing what that blame led to later let me establish some historical facts about the Federal Coalition Government agreement of December 20, 1959 between the NPC and NCNC. Contrary to the view held by Achebe and his ilk, it is a historical fact that Benjamin Nnamdi Azikwe of the NCNC never regarded Ahmadu Bello and Abubakar Tafawa Balewa as Jihadists when he entered into coalition government agreement in 1959. And if religion was important in the choice of a coalition partner, Benjamin Nnamdi Azikwe ought to have chosen Jeremiah Obafemi Awolowo, a Christian like him, instead of the Muslims, Abubakar Tafawa Nalewa and Ahmadu Bello.
Awolowo declared that taking part in the Federal Government should not be based on personal and tribal interest but on national interest. He emphasised that appointed Ministers, top civil servants and directors of government corporations were to serve the entire nation and not a specific tribe. Awolowo based his refusal to join the Federal Government on the feudalistic and reactionary characters of the NPC leaders. Awolowo stated categorically that if the Action Group Party decided to partake in the Federal Government he would not accept any post including that of the Deputy Prime Minister that he was being offered. On February 2, 1962, the Action Group had a Congress at Jos in the Northern Region. The Congress resolved among other things to replace Ayotunde Rosiji as the Secretary of the AG with Samuel Ikoku, the Action Group Leader of opposition in the Eastern House of Assembly. Furthermore, the party adopted Democratic Socialism as its ideology. As the crisis between Awolowo and Akintola deepened, Awolowo addressed a joint meeting of the Western and Midwestern executive committees on his Deputy’s anti party activities on Saturday, 19 May 1962 and called for a disciplinary action against him. Consequently a resolution demanding the immediate resignation of Akintola as the Premier of the West and Deputy Leader of the Action Group was carried by 81 votes to 29. By Monday, 21st of May 1962, the Governor of Western Region, Adesoji Aderemi, received a petition signed by sixty-five out of one-hundred and seventeen members of the House of Assembly requesting him to remove Akintola from office on the constitutional ground that he no longer commanded the support of a majority of the assemblymen. The Governor agreed with the party to dismiss Akintola from office and Alhaji Dauda Soroye Adegbenro was sworn in as Premier having been chosen as the new parliamentary leader of the party in the West. On Friday, 25th of May 1962, Adegbenro summoned the House of Assembly to a meeting to pass a vote of confidence in his government. Akintola’s supporters led by one Oke violently disrupted the proceedings of the House and the Federal Police tear gassed members out of the chamber. The Premier designate, Alhaji Adegbenro, telephoned the Prime Minister of the Federation, Alhaji Balewa, and asked him to provide police protection within the chamber so that the House could conduct the affairs of the day peacefully but Balewa declined to accede to his request. When the House tried to meet in the evening of the same day, violence broke out in the chamber once more and Balewa ordered the police to clear the chamber and lock it up. On the 28th of May 1962, a joint meeting of the NCNC’s National Executive Committee and Federal Parliamentarians presided over by the Premier of Eastern Region, Michael Ihenokura Okpara, voted to back up the Federal Government to declare a state of Emergency in the West. Then on Tuesday, 29th of May 1962, the Federal Government composed of NPC and NCNC declared a State of Emergency in the Western Region for six months after a motion to that effect was moved in the Federal Parliament by Balewa and carried by 232 votes to 44. The 13 Emergency Powers Act enacted by the Federal Parliament on Western Region were signed into law by the Governor General of the Federation, Benjamin Nnamdi Azikwe. Thereafter, Balewa appointed an Administrator, Moses A Majekodunmi, who was empowered to impose curfew, to censor, search, detain, and restrict people. While Emergency persisted, Awolowo and many of his supporters in the Action Group had been rounded up and charged to court, for treasonable felony. Thus, when the state of emergency was lifted in the West, Awolowo and many of his supporters were remanded in prison custody for treasonable felony trial. On the other hand, Akintola was reinstated as Premier of Western Region on the 1st of January 1963 after forming a new party called United People’s Party (UPP) with the help of deflectors from the Action Group. He then entered into a coalition government with the NCNC which had 35 seats in the House of Assembly. It must be mentioned here that in spite of the demand of minorities in the North, East and West for new regions, it was only in the West that the Federal Coalition Government of NPC and NCNC carved out Midwest Region. In September 1963 Awolowo was sentenced to ten years imprisonment while some of his co-accused received various jail terms. On October 1, 1963, Benjamin Nnamdi Azikwe, former leader of NCNC, was installed as the President of Nigeria after Nigeria had become a Republic."