The fierce, acute violence and bloodshed the Nigerian politics is bathed with today is quite a mild reminiscence of the past years, especially the epoch of the most horrifying experience; The Nigeria-Biafra War.

Fourty years after, Nigeria is incapacitated at, or much so, the leaders are negligent of, curbing the lead causes of the civil war which are now more resurgent in country's political life.

The issue of self-determination which for ill-informed reasons was termed secession, is now, more than before, the giant ant that has perched on the scrotun.

To re-assure us with the true stance of this issue, I shall henceforth brief us with facts.

Here is an excerpt of the interview Mohammed Haruna, New Nigerian's Political Correspondent had with Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, the Owelle of Onitsha, in 1979.

"But if I can take you on again, perhaps one can say here too that there was disparity between principles and practice because quite a lot of people say you played a prominent role in Biafra.

ZIK: Yes. I played a prominent role in Biafra for the unity of the country in order to restore peace and bring about unity of the country. That’s the role I played. I advised Ojukwu. I said well look, you have declared secession. What we should do is to get the elder statesmen and women of the nation to reconcile you and Gowon. I said by declaring secession, you get so many people who do not believe you to remain there. You see all of us were interned. As we were interned then, we couldn’t express our own views as we see it because, he made Decree Number 5 which vested absolute powers in himself and if you were against his views, it then constituted an act of subversion and the penalty was death by shooting. Well, it was a war-time measure and that is understandable. So, I advised him. I said go to the conference table and iron out your differences. Allow elder statesmen and elder stateswomen to bring the two of you to the conference table and settle this matter so that there will no more be civil war and the country may be united. He agreed. But Gowon was advised by the Ministry of External Affairs to insist on pre-conditions. That is that before he could negotiate with the secessionists, that they must accept certain terms; accept the 12-state structure and all. So, it was quite obvious that the Federal Government wanted Biafra to come to the conference table with their hands tied and their feet tied. But they won’t be free agents. That was the diplomatic mistake on the part of the Federal Government. So, when they did that, then Lt- Col. Ojukwu told me, “How can I go to the conference table based on these ultimatums?”

Still I advised Ojukwu to go to the OAU and ask them to use their good offices to settle the dispute and that we should avoid loss of lives. He accepted my advice in good faith. Then he said, ‘Now, you have some heads of state in Africa who are your friends, would you mind going to appeal to them to use their good offices so that the Nigerian civil war could be an item on the agenda for OAU summit in Kinshasa?’ I said I would gladly go. So he sent me to Monrovia as a peace envoy. I went there and met my friend, President Tubman. Tubman expressed his willingness to use his good offices. He told me he would see another mutual friend, the late Haile Sellassie, Emperor of Ethiopia, and both of them would see that the civil war was placed as first item on the agenda of the OAU Summit in Kinshasa.

I returned and broke the news to Ojukwu. He was very pleased. Then, when the OAU summit opened, Chief Awolowo, as Vice-Chairman of the Federal Executive Council and Commissioner for Finance, led a strong Nigerian delegation to Kinshasa and raised a very strong objective on the Nigerian civil war being placed as an item on the agenda on the grounds that according to the OAU Charter, this was a domestic affairs and member states were precluded from interfering in the domestic affairs of each other, which was really sound according to international law. But we wanted to solve it in the African way, to use mediation and conciliation to bring two warring brothers together.

The OAU accepted the submission of Chief Awolowo and so it was not put into the agenda. Well, history will show now between Chief Awolowo and myself, who actually accentuated the war. I was trying to get the OAU to settle the dispute so they could go to the conference table and he was thinking of legalism, that it would amount to interference in the domestic affairs of a member-state. But meanwhile here you have two brothers killing each other.

Well, Ojukwu told me, I have done my best. You see, Nigeria was relying on law and we are relying on humanity. What’s next? I said why not try other heads of states and see what could be done to bring about peace? He then said he left the initiative with me. I suggested going to some heads of state and see what can be done. But his advisers led by Dr. Nwakama Okoro suggested recognition. That if we can get other states to recognize Biafra, maybe the hands of Nigeria may be forced to go to the conference table.

Well, I thought that was a sound idea and I placed my services at their disposal so as to meet my friends. We had in mind President Senghor of Senegal, President Houphouet Boigny of Ivory Coast, President Julius Nyerere of Tanzania, President Milton Obote of Uganda, President Kenneth Kaunda of Zambia and of course Francois Bongo, he is now Omar. He now has become a Muslim. He was then a Christian. The long and short of it all was that I and these great African statesmen agreed that if Gowon persisted with pre-conditions, then they would accord recognition to force the hands of Gowon to go to the conference table and bring about peace. That was one.

Two, Gowon had already predicted that the war would end on March 31 and as far as these African statesmen were concerned, these killings and atrocities did not do any credit to the image of Africa and as such what should be done was to stop it as soon as possible. Therefore if the war didn’t end by March 31, then the propaganda of ‘Biafra’ that it was an act of genocide would be justified. And they didn’t want to accept that.

I went on this mission and succeeded in persuading these heads of state to agree to give recognition just to force the hands of Nigeria, diplomatically speaking, to the conference table.

President Senghor said he couldn’t because the majority of his supporters were Muslims and rightly or wrongly they felt it was a religious war. And he said well, if he granted recognition, then his government would fall. But he supported the idea of forcing the hands of Nigeria to the conference table. Houphouet Boigny was prepared, provided his people backed him. Ditto for the others except Milton Obote who told us that Prince Mutesa and the Bagandans wanted to secede and he couldn’t support secession when his own state was confronted with similar problems. It left four of them. That is, President Nyerere, Houphouet Boigny, Kaunda and Bongo. They agreed on the understanding that the war did not end by March 31, 1968 and pre-conditions would be removed to make it easy for both Ojukwu and Gowon to go to conference table.

So they granted recognition and it worked like magic because immediately after this, Dr. Okoi Arikpo, who must be presumed to be responsible for this diplomatic blunder (he was the Commissioner for External Affairs]---a good man no doubt, but he is a very poor diplomat in my own humble opinion - announced to the outside world that Nigeria would no longer insist on pre-conditions and that he was prepared for conference table but the war did not end on March 31 and so, they left the impression, you see, that Nigeria wanted to annihilate the Ibos. You noticed the Soviets gave Nigeria more arms and Nigeria used those arms to destroy the secessionists. Here, I came in again and I advised Ojukwu. I said look since Gowon has withdrawn the pre-conditions, go to the conference table and argue the points so as to pave way for a peace conference. It was agreed that they should meet in Niamey. I advised Ojukwu to go. Again Gowon was ill-advised so he couldn’t come.

At Niamey here was Ojukwu. I was on his side. Gowon wasn’t there but Haile Sellassie, Hamani Diori, Tubman and General Akran were there representing OAU. So, I told Ojukwu, I said now you have an upper hand. These respected leaders of the OAU were there. I had briefed Ojukwu. I said ‘look your line of approach is to express appreciation for what the OAU was doing in order to maintain peace in Africa but you were prepared to co-operate and you are leaving the whole matter in the hands of the OAU to see what could be done to bring an earlier cessation of hostilities. I said just say that and thank them and sit down.

Now Gowon didn’t attend. He sent a junior man, I think Alhaji Femi Okunnu or so, to represent him. And they didn’t even attend this conference at which the four heads of state presided. It was only the Biafran side. So Ojukwu won a diplomatic victory and you know Ojukwu is a very good speaker if you give him all the facts. He was a good public relations expert and he won. He said, ‘well if Gowon was sincere why did he spite such great men and didn’t attend?’ That worked.

They agreed that Nigeria could be contacted so that we have a peace conference in Addis Ababa. It was a diplomatic victory for Biafra and so we returned to Biafra highly elated. And Ojukwu insisted that I should accompany him to Addis Ababa. Then something happened. Some of his advisers felt that I was becoming a victim of compromise and that I was a bad influence. That all I was trying to do was to make Biafra impotent. They told Ojukwu that Biafra was holding its own militarily. And why should we want a peace conference? That he should be very, very careful with me, especially as an Onitsha man because they thought that I was using him as a means to give publicity for myself internationally and that time will come when people will look more to me than to himself.

Well, as a young man, human, he fell for such flattery. I don’t want to mention all the names, but particularly influential in swinging his opinion at that material time was Mr. C. C. Mojekwu, who was based in Lisbon. Then Mr. Matthew Mbu was our Commissioner for External Affairs and he himself did as much as possible, but then he realized that he was having someone who has power of life and death over everybody. So, we went to Addis Ababa and on the night before the conference, Matthew came to my bedroom at about 10 in the night. He said, “Do you know that all we have done, this man is going to undo them tomorrow?’ I said ‘No’. Then he brought out a printed version of a long speech. The world press said it lasted for 90 minutes.
Continue reading: http://igbobia.com/?q=igbo-fact-fileread-the-1979-interview-dr-nnamdi-azikiwe-had-with-mohammed-haruna-on-biafra.html-0

I dey come

This needs to be spread far and wide. Azikiwe is the real deal anytime any place.

If anything this historical fact means that Ojukwu had a listening ear, see the way he was seeking peace from one office to another on the advice of Zik.

Where are mumugerians who called him a tyrant and warmonger.

God bless Ojukwu!

n

Afonja Awolowo...just like his progeny today! Thank you Chukwumerije for selling to his gate man that aba made rat poison. I wish you would have mixed it up more to delay his death...let him die slowly and painfully! This wicked man hindered a process that would have resolved the conflict without a shot! What is very painful his how the yorubaa media for yrs distorted history; painted Ojukwu as a stubborn leader who was all out to declare war yet what you read here and factual documents in print and on tape is a man who was genuinely committed to exhaust every avenue for peaceful resolution.

I returned and broke the news to Ojukwu. He was very pleased. Then, when the OAU summit opened, Chief Awolowo, as Vice-Chairman of the Federal Executive Council and Commissioner for Finance, led a strong Nigerian delegation to Kinshasa and raised a very strong objective on the Nigerian civil war being placed as an item on the agenda on the grounds that according to the OAU Charter, this was a domestic affairs and member states were precluded from interfering in the domestic affairs of each other, which was really sound according to international law. But we wanted to solve it in the African way, to use mediation and conciliation to bring two warring brothers together.

Innovator90:
Afonja Awolowo...just like his progeny today!

Very evil man Awolowo was I must say, He probably thought his evil won't catch up with his him dead or alive. God bless the man who produced the rat poison he swallowed.

ShootToKill:


Very evil man Awolowo was I must say, He probably thought his evil won't catch up with his him dead or alive. God bless the man who produced the rat poison he swallowed.

This people I must tell you have an incurable congenital hatred and envy for us Biafraans. The same script played by Awolowo is the very same script you see his progeny play right here on Nairaland everyday.

Very unfortunate people deliberately decided not to teach history in schools, but I understand why; the main actors in the most important historical moments of Nigeria (civil wars and coups) were/are still alive and in power.There is nothing shameful about talking about the wars, it helps us understand where we went wrong and how not to be wrong again. It makes us appreciate our heroes, understand the cost of heroism and aspire to he heroes ourselves. That is why we have no national hero you people can admire, we only have ethnic political champions.

It is time to tell our stories, hold our hands together and say "no more to treachery, to genocide, to ethnocentrism". I know people will be tempted to express ethnic sentiments over this issue, but truth be told, the Biafran leadership made good effort for peace and at the same time made great mistakes, and the Nigerian leadership made horrible mistake driven by ego and misinformation. What ever it was, that part of our history should not be silenced. It is a big water mark on our map of life.

Biafrud link

biafrud post
biafrud foolishness

GOD BLESS BIAFRA AND THE BIAFRANS

Pop

The day Nigerians get to know their history there will be no Nigeria

Nigeria's unity is a fraud. It was a fraud yesteryears, It's still a fraud today and it will continue to be a fraud until we disintegrate.

Awolowo was a very wicked man, what an animal! How could a human with blood running through his vain jeopardize a conflict resolution panel on the alter of politics not minding the loss of human lives.

I'm so angry right now.... Truly Awolowo was an evil genius just like our fathers described him. Everything our fathers told us about Awolowo was indeed true.

God forbid I share a nation with two-faced, two-timing Yorubas. Dissolve this atrocious God forsaken country let everyone go his/her separate ways.

The question is WHY ARE THEY AVOIDING THIS THREAD?
Any time I read and think about the efforts made by the Eastern side to avoid the Biafran conflict, I feel agitated and angry knowing that some people are either too blinded by hate or failed to see the real picture of what happened and why it happened.
Oh God I can only wish what a country we would have become

ShootToKill:
If anything this historical fact means that Ojukwu had a listening ear, see the way he was seeking peace from one office to another on the advice of Zik.

Where are mumugerians who called him a tyrant and warmonger.

God bless Ojukwu!

Ojukwu was a man of peace. I laugh at all the ignoramus who say he started a war. If Nigerians know the pains Ojukwu took to prevent war, they would kiss his feet.

But the choice was clear, accept Northern dominated 'one Nigeria' or secede and fight for your freedom.

Ojukwu as the true Igbo man he is chose to fight for freedom.

The rest chose the cowardly way of accepting Northern control.

Ojukwu was a great man

sarrki,eledan,ashiwajufoward,kropotkin2, modath,coolitempa,aufbuh report to duty

I returned and broke the news to Ojukwu. He was
very pleased. Then, when the OAU summit opened,
Chief Awolowo, as Vice-Chairman of the Federal
Executive Council and Commissioner for Finance,
led a strong Nigerian delegation to Kinshasa and
raised a very strong objective on the Nigerian civil
war being placed as an item on the agenda on the
grounds that according to the OAU Charter, this
was a domestic affairs and member states were
precluded from interfering in the domestic affairs
of each other, which was really sound according to
international law. But we wanted to solve it in the
African way, to use mediation and conciliation to
bring two warring brothers together.


Lol!

So this Afonja was already with Gowon, controlling things, preaching one Nigeria sovereignty even before the war began?

Thought we were told that it was Ore March by Biafrans that turned Awolowo and Oduanistan pro Northern ruled Nigeria?
That they were all neutral before then?

Lol...kikikikikiki....it is so unfortunate that this lies will continue to spread till eternity.....look at he children of hate blaming Awolowo for self inflicted pain and death.
I read the article carefully and I could see through the wall scripted self exhonorating lies of Mr. Azikiwe. Who in many instances absolved himself of any blame whatsoever. He was so smart that he apportion blame to both sides (Awolowo , FG and Ojukwu) but none to himself. That is typical of an Ibo man, they are never wrong. Ofcourse how can they be wrong?

Imagine a stupid argument and statement from Ojukwu and his errand peace maker, you want to make peace with Nigeria. You didn't seek solution in Nigeria but rather declared a sovereignty within a sovereignty a d you're expecting the other party to come sit with you in a round table. Discussing what exactly?

Imagine some one takes a portion of your land and his seeking for peace afterward. Why not return the land and address the issue that made you do that in the first place....

Many people have not asked the right question, beyond the exaggerated pogrom of 1966 which was causedby the killing of Northern leaders by Ibo soldiers,could there be other reasons for Ojukwus hurryfor seccession?

What was really Ojukwus problem about accepting Gowon as the Head of state?

Why declare a war when you know you dont have want it takes to fight it?

If the pogrom of 1966 by Northern soldiers was bad, then Ojukwus declaration of seccession was worse. Cos that singular action resulted in more death than the pogrom.

Lastly, why will a Soldier who declared war for the love of his people ( assume), in the thick of it abandon the same people and run with his own family to anoda country?

Imagine some one takes a portion of your land and
his seeking for peace afterward. Why not return the
land and address the issue that made you do that
in the first place....


What land are you talking about?

At what point in history did Biafrans vote and surrendered their lands and sovereignty willingly to the colonial estate called Nigeria?

Are you suffering from malaria? Better go take your ACT.

ok o

pazienza:
I returned and broke the news to Ojukwu. He was
very pleased. Then, when the OAU summit opened,
Chief Awolowo, as Vice-Chairman of the Federal
Executive Council and Commissioner for Finance,
led a strong Nigerian delegation to Kinshasa and
raised a very strong objective on the Nigerian civil
war being placed as an item on the agenda on the
grounds that according to the OAU Charter, this
was a domestic affairs and member states were
precluded from interfering in the domestic affairs
of each other, which was really sound according to
international law. But we wanted to solve it in the
African way, to use mediation and conciliation to
bring two warring brothers together.


Lol!

So this Afonja was already with Gowon, controlling things, preaching one Nigeria sovereignty even before the war began?

Thought we were told that it was Ore March by Biafrans that turned Awolowo and Oduanistan pro Northern ruled Nigeria?
That they were all neutral before then?

That is an obvious lie to cover their treachery and cowardice.

Coming from the same Zik that preached one Nigeria till he died....come again. The same Zik that inserted the clause that precluded any region from breaking away before independence...the same Zik that abandoned Bia.fraud for Nigeria at the height of the conflict....these ipods are surely swimming in delusion when they blame an innocent man like the great Awo who was following the constitution.

Adiola:
sarrki,eledan,ashiwajufoward,kropotkin2, modath,coolitempa,aufbuh report to duty

Liegerian people sef!

An orchestrated "interview" by liars for their gullible audience from bearfraudland.

1979 fell in the 2nd republic period of GNPP, NPP, NPN and UPN. No one, and i mean, no ONE, not even Azikiwe of the NPP had the guts to speak about the civil war or anything biafra because the northern political machine was being courted to pardon Ojukwu so that he could return to Nigeria from his self-imposed exile.

Alhaji Mahmud Waziri originally belonged to the NPP together with Azikiwe, Adeniran Ogunsanya, etc. It was the display of political chicanery, double-standard and ethnic jingoism by Azikiwe and Ibo elements in the NPP that forced the man and his group to break away from the NPP to form GNPP. It was the launching of the latter that gave birth to the famous "Politics Without Bitterness" by Alhaji Waziri.
According to him, Azikiwe and his fellow Ibo cohorts in the NPP were masters of politics of bitterness which should find no place in that dispensation.
In the political history of Nigeria, Azikiwe had always been a pawn of divisiveness especially between the north and the SW but always to the utter regret of him and his people. Treachery does not pay.
So the question of him granting such an interview, talkless of airing it did not arise.
So the mischievious fabricator of this "interview" should look elsewhere. People who are privy to events of the 2nd republic are still very much around.

U mean I should read all thz

This is serious.

Awolowo was really an evil man, more evil than I had thought initially.

coolitempa:
Coming from the same Zik that preached one Nigeria till he died....come again. The same Zik that inserted the clause that precluded any region from breaking away before independence...the same Zik that abandoned Bia.fraud for Nigeria at the height of the conflict....these ipods are surely swimming in delusion when they blame an innocent man like the great Awo who was following the constitution.

Did you not read how awolowo frustrated the move that could have resolved the problem without fighting?

Intrepid01:
Lol...kikikikikiki....it is so unfortunate that this lies will continue to spread till eternity.....look at he children of hate blaming Awolowo for self inflicted pain and death.
I read the article carefully and I could see through the wall scripted self exhonorating lies of Mr. Azikiwe. Who in many instances absolved himself of any blame whatsoever. He was so smart that he apportion blame to both sides (Awolowo , FG and Ojukwu) but none to himself. That is typical of an Ibo man, they are never wrong. Ofcourse how can they be wrong?

Imagine a stupid argument and statement from Ojukwu and his errand peace maker, you want to make peace with Nigeria. You didn't seek solution in Nigeria but rather declared a sovereignty within a sovereignty a d you're expecting the other party to come sit with you in a round table. Discussing what exactly?

Imagine some one takes a portion of your land and his seeking for peace afterward. Why not return the land and address the issue that made you do that in the first place....

Many people have not asked the right question, beyond the exaggerated pogrom of 1966 which was causedby the killing of Northern leaders by Ibo soldiers,could there be other reasons for Ojukwus hurryfor seccession?

What was really Ojukwus problem about accepting Gowon as the Head of state?

Why declare a war when you know you dont have want it takes to fight it?

If the pogrom of 1966 by Northern soldiers was bad, then Ojukwus declaration of seccession was worse. Cos that singular action resulted in more death than the pogrom.

Lastly, why will a Soldier who declared war for the love of his people ( assume), in the thick of it abandon the same people and run with his own family to anoda country?

You agreed there was a pogrom/a senseless blood-letting and massacre (which I will soon dig out) and then you agreed Ojukwu was a soldier, even more, a leader of the Eastern Nigeria. What was a soldier supposed to do when the people he had sworn to protect were continually Massacred, so much so, without justifiable Basis?