OJUKWU'S PROPHECY- OJUKWU WAS RIGHT ON
CONFEDERATION IN 1966.
The speech of the former Vice president of Nigeria Atiku Abubakar during the launching of a book by Chido Onumah titled: WE ARE ALL BIAFRANS caught my attention. The former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has said what Nigeria requires most at present is the kick-starting of the process of restructuring the country. He said; “When I was invited to chair this occasion, I immediately understood that the title of the book is a metaphor for the legitimate feelings of marginalisation by diverse segments of Nigerians that cut across the country. Agitations by many right-thinking Nigerians call for a restructuring and renewal of our federation to make it less centralised, less suffocating and less dictatorial in the affairs of our country’s constituent units and localities and that calls for confederation.
Deriving from Atiku abubakar's speech, Dim
Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu was right when he called and fought for confederacy in 1966[1967] but people misunderstood him and branded him a rebel.” That’s forthrightness at its best!
atiku's speech took me into a research and it
landed me to the banner of Daily Times of Saturday, January 7, 1967, which loudly proclaimed that, THE BEST THING FOR NIGERIA IS A CONFIDERATION – says Ojukwu at a press conference; this was a banner that captured the kernel of the Aburi Accord.
It is a fact of Nigeria’s chequered history that 49 years ago, between 4th and 5th January, 1967, a very important meeting was held at Aburi, Ghana.
It is a fact of history that the meeting, which held under the auspices of the then Ghanaian Head of State Lt. Gen. Joseph Arthur Ankrah, had in attendance delegates representing all regions of a country already awash with the blood of Easterners, especially the Igbo, and needing urgent and decisive steps to avert a descent into war and a predictable genocide. It is a fact of history that after two days of talks on various issues, which began with the adoption of a resolution denouncing the
use of force in settling the crisis as suggested by the Military Governor of Eastern Nigeria Lt. Col. Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, who represented Eastern Nigeria at the conference. All the attendees signed the Accord. It is a fact of history that Lt. Col. Yakubu Gowon, after signing the document, changed his mind afterwards and repudiated an Accord, seen by many keen watchers of the Nigerian situation at the time as the last opportunity to peacefully restore normalcy in the country. And, it is a fact of history that Gowon’s repudiation of the Accord and his
unilateral creation of states, etc., led to the
declaration of Biafra and the Nigeria-Biafra War, a genocidal war that cost more than 3.1 million Igbo lives.
Understandably, the Oxford-trained late Biafran leader Dim Ojukwu before the Aburi meeting, being at the receiving end, considering the atrocities committed the previous year against his people across Nigeria, especially in Northern Nigeria, must have spent a lot time reflecting deeply on the way out of the Nigerian crisis. The Eastern Nigeria government under Ojukwu’s leadership knew that it was only confederacy that would give them the leverage they needed to secure their people and embark on rapid developmental projects so as to absorb millions of Easterners who had been
displaced from other parts of Nigeria. Although Ojukwu’s military colleagues wholeheartedly accepted the Aburi Accord as a panacea for arresting the prevailing situation, Gowon as stated earlier, on returning from Aburi, repudiated the Accord and resorted to the use of force. And he
was supposed to be an officer and a gentleman.
Today, Nigeria is still paying a high cost in loss of human lives, which unfortunately, include a preponderance of Igbo lives, for that foreign- guided decision of Yakubu Gowon’s. Nigeria is still paying a high cost in the form of underdevelopment that condemns Nigerians to bathing with the
spittle of poverty even when their land is
surrounded by an ocean of resources.
If truth be told, societies progress when among competing ideas, they choose the most progressive of the lot. This is even more so when such societies have the benefit of hindsight. If there is one individual whose ideas would have saved Nigeria from the cycles of bloodbath, that individual remains the late Biafran leader Dim Chukwuemeka
Odumegwu-Ojukwu. Those who went about or still go about with the impression that what happened in those bloody days was a duel “between one ambitious man and the rest of the country” or a duel “between one charismatic, visionary individual and a most uninspiring, short-sighted character” should take a critical look at Nigeria today and reflect on what has been Nigeria’s journey since the
Aburi Accord was signed and repudiated. If such people are truthful, then, they will come to the same conclusion of confederation.
Sure, Ojukwu was a charismatic and visionary
leader and all these found expression in the leadership he provided for the young republic, Biafra, delivered into war; yet, under him, that republic achieved technological breakthroughs that a clay-footed giant, Nigeria, is unable to equal with enormous resources and in peace time.
Ojukwu was right on confederacy in 1967. Forty nine years ago, one man, Ojukwu, together with his people, saw a future for Nigeria. But a combination of Gowon’s short- sightedness and the selfish economic interests of Britain stifled the future. That future is still available for Nigeria. All that is needed is a gathering of Nigerian nationalities and the revisiting of the Aburi Accord. There is not much work required to be done on the document other than updating it by explicitly including a secession clause, the right of every confederating part to withdraw from the confederation when it feels that its interests can no longer be served by her remaining in the union.
Truly, Nigeria’s unity, if the divisive statements being made by various political interest groups in the country are anything to go by, remains “a British intention” as pointed out by the Alhaji Abubakar Tafawa Balewa. The earlier Nigerians stopped deceiving themselves, the better for every
nationality in this British contraption
researched & written by Engr Chiozoadighi C.
Gordon

Well said Bro.

confirmed by Atiku Abubakar

Too late bros. Nigeria in a mission of no return everybody shuld go dia separate ways.

Aguiyi ironsi replaced regional system of govt. With centralised system in order to make the northerners and westerners not to feel cheated and jealous at eastern region which is the most developed and also has the fastest growing economy in africa and also the largest economy in africa due to the oil booms in the 60's,isaac adaka boro,few igbos and some minorities didn't welcome the development.after the death of aguiyi ironsi,ojukwu tried his possible best to return the country to confederation system because the eastern assembly have petitioned of that severally,in the process of making up to the demand of the eastern assembly he was tagged a "greedy man"and"over ambitious man"by northerners and westerners,even some of the easterners he was trying to make up to their demands betrayed him.over 3 million easterners were lost in the quest for confederation,oh my goodness! since after the war non of the heads of state deemed it fit to return to confederation,oh no,that's too bad.

I somehow blamed ironsi for all these,because he did all these to appease the northerners in order for to remain the head of state but he was booted out,GEJ tried the same and was also booted out.
Ojukwu remained a goodman and a hero of the former eastern region of all time.

EastLebanon:
Aguiyi ironsi replaced regional system of govt. With centralised system in order to make the northerners and westerners not to feel cheated and jealous at eastern region which is the most developed and also has the fastest growing economy in africa and also the largest economy in africa due to the oil booms in the 60's,isaac adaka boro,few igbos and some minorities didn't welcome the development.after the death of aguiyi ironsi,ojukwu tried his possible best to return the country to confederation system because the eastern assembly have petitioned of that severally,in the process of making up to the demand of the eastern assembly he was tagged a "greedy man"and"over ambitious man"by northerners and westerners,even some of the easterners he was trying to make up to their demands betrayed him.over 3 million easterners were lost in the quest for confederation,oh my goodness! since after the war non of the heads of state deemed it fit to return to confederation,oh no,that's too bad.

I somehow blamed ironsi for all these,because he did all these to appease the northerners in order for to remain the head of state but he was booted out,GEJ tried the same and was also booted out.
Ojukwu remained a goodman and a hero of the former eastern region of all time.

All our leaders are selfish, and do not care for the masses, if God can raise up a leader like Dim Chukwuemeka Odumekwu Ojukwu, a leader who think about the welfare of his people, things will turn out to be well for every one. He remain a hero. may his soul rest in peace.

OJUKWU WILL EVER BE THE BEST LEADER, NIGERIA NEVER HAD....HE KNOWS WHAT IS GOOD FOR THIS COUNTRY BUT SOME BORN TO RULE PSYCHOS IN THIS COUNTRY WILL SAY THAT HIS CONTRIBUTION DOESN'T MATTER. I WONDER WHY HE ALWAYS SAY THAT HE HIS SO PROUD OF GOING TO WAR WITH NIGERIA. TODAY WE SEE NIGER-DELTA LED BY ADAKA BORO FIGHTING FOR INDEPENDENCE AGAINST SAME NIGERIA . OJUKWU IS NOT SOME CHICKEN SARO WIWA THAT DIED BY HANGING BY AN HAUSA MAN OR AWOLOWO THAT DRANK POISON.. I MUST TELL U ALL THOSE PEOPLE THAT SUPPORTED GOWON TO FIGHT WITH BIAFRA ARE TODAY IN THE LOOSE END...

I laugh when the north and west calls ojukwu a greedy man,his father was the first millionaire in nigeria and also the founder of nigeria stock exchange.non of the men from the west and north that witnessed the aburi accord have condemned gowon instead they are all condeming ojukwu.

Karma! karma!! karma!!!

I still say it now that Yorubas often follow the northerners like sheep being led to the slaughter house. Ojukwu went and negotiated a confederation in Aburi which he signed with Gowon in front of the president of Ghana. But when Gowon and his fellow broke this agreement by announcing the abolishment of the regions, the creation of 12 states and the removal of resource control. Instead of Awolowo and Yorubas to call Gowon to order, they helped Gowon to fight Ojukwu in the civil war to remove confederation. Even a blind man could see that Gowon broke the Aburi agreement in other to aid northern dominstion of Nigeria. Today, the Yoruba man is shouting "restructuring". But if the Country is restructured and the North don't like it, you can bet that the Yoruba man will again follow them like sheep being led to the slaughter house and they will fight again to return the country to unitary rule just like they did against Ojukwu in 1967.