Abagworo 

Most Igbos fought that war as war of survival and not war of secession as being claimed by many reports I have come across

@^^ So your family story is enough for you to conclude that war of survival is not war of secession as in the Biafran case? . The above is the worst pseudo-intellectual sophistry induced by denial of reality and of course by psychic dislocation caused by loss of a noble war fought by gallant men and women of the East. There is no shame in defeat or loss of war that was fought between so called brothers as the "Nigerian side claimed that it was a "fratricidal war" hence the desire to "keep Nigeria ONE is a task that must be done". I guess a lot of Igbo are in your state of mind set and psychic confusion. It's no big deal to loose a war and certainly nothing to apologise, deny or feel ashamed of either . Bro, raise your head high and not down like a defeated man which certainly you are not .

Dede1:


You fall into the strata of Nigerians who are inherently idiotic and consistently display their mental feebleness in debates. By the way, I do not give a ratarse if you and family lived in a backwater GRA as in the case of Nigeria because the country is a glorified jungle already. As one poster had referred your nonsensical post as “Straight from the gutter”, I must add you are equally straight from gutter.

It is a complete waste of time for any human being to attempt a debate with a marooned dunce such as you who is piloted by a psychotic skull and can not outdebate an Alzheimer patient. A bloody dimwit, tribal irredentist and loudmouthed son of bit,ch  who had idiotically claimed to have developed special set of eyes able to discern a class of pistol at night. What a ninny.

I suggest you donate your drug ridden body to the authorities so that your wonderful set of eyes could be subjected to further experiments with hope to discarding night vision goggle currently used by soldiers from advanced countries, olodo.

LMAO . . .can the moderators please remove every irrelevant post as this one? Some people must just stifle factual questioning of their blindly-held position and this fella is one. Mods, can you help remove ALL "e-fighting" posts 'cos it's not gonna help elicit and factual information from the people who actually saw the war?

Mister, open your own thread and I will meet you there for a different conversation. Well, I have also lived in other places not just GRA (in Naija) and if your illegal status makes your head explode, well it's your unfortunate destiny and laziness and cowardice - not my fault. Now, you have also confessed your job is drug pushing - no surprises. . .LOL. Since you are making a lot of mouth and noise here - I will give you a chance to actualize your fantasies and meet me in REAL life only if your illegal status lets you move around freely. But NOTE from today, NO ONE on this whole NL fought in the war and anything you say is colorated tribal BS that belongs in the shitdump!

CyberG, I think you should grow up!

@OP

Why do you expect any reasonable serious person who witnessed the horrors of war to be very voluble enough to tell their tales of woe, valour and loss on an impersonal internet forum? Isn't it a bit optimistic to expect that much from serious witnesses/victims, actors and survivors of the war?
War is a very traumatic experience as history all over the world has demonstrated/shown. It's not an interesting event for volubility like fairy tales.

CyberG:

LMAO . . .can the moderators please remove every irrelevant post as this one? Some people must just stifle factual questioning of their blindly-held position and this fella is one. Mods, can you help remove ALL "e-fighting" posts 'cos it's not gonna help elicit and factual information from the people who actually saw the war?

Mister, open your own thread and I will meet you there for a different conversation. Well, I have also lived in other places not just GRA (in Naija) and if your illegal status makes your head explode, well it's your unfortunate destiny and laziness and cowardice - not my fault. Now, you have also confessed your job is drug pushing - no surprises. . .LOL. Since you are making a lot of mouth and noise here - I will give you a chance to actualize your fantasies and meet me in REAL life only if your illegal status lets you move around freely. But NOTE from today, NO ONE on this whole NL fought in the war and anything you say is colorated tribal BS that belongs in the shitdump!

CyberG i would have loved comment on the original Thread itself but i cant lay my hands on it for now.

in the  original thread u said questioned pple who have not witnessed aluta, robbery,or survived one etc commenting on topics that concerns biafra. everybody does not have to witness biafra to comment on it, there are books that documented the happening during the war. if u find some making a false claim about the war, i believe u can challenge him/her here on NL and set the facts straight since u sound like someone who witnessed it urself, u don't have to come out and start asking irrelevant questions like u just did by starting this thread.

Op I think you didn't think this through before opening this thread. What proportion of people that witnessed the war you think has basic knowledge of computer, let alone being in an online forum like NL? We are talking of Nigerians born before the civil war, whom are probably old and are not of this generation. Nigeria is still struggling to ensure that people of this generation embrace the use of computer. Personally I won't be surprised if no body on this forum witnessed the war.  Meanwhile, you really don't have to blame most people when they talk about the war with so much pain and bitterness, I don't know which part of the country you are from and if any of your parents happened to be at the Biafra end of the war, when you listen to parents and grand-parents tell young ones about the war, it is with so much hate and bitterness, and in every young ones mind that listened they don't care about the cause of the war but the pains and lose which their folks were meant to endure. Unintentionally this pain and hate are planted in the minds of the young ones.

sheyguy:

CyberG i would have loved comment on the original Thread itself but i cant lay my hands on it for now.

in the  original thread u said questioned pple who have not witnessed aluta, robbery,or survived one etc commenting on topics that concerns biafra. everybody does not have to witness biafra to comment on it, there are books that documented the happening during the war. if u find some making a false claim about the war, i believe u can challenge him/her here on NL and set the facts straight since u sound like someone who witnessed it urself, u don't have to come out and start asking irrelevant questions like u just did by starting this thread.

Strangely, the OP claims not to even have been born at the time of the civil war.
I made the mistake of joining the thread, thinking there was some genuine purpose to it; but I have come to realise it is just another of those brainless baiting threads that dot NL.

I stated explicitly that I was not born during the war, talk less of experiencing it. For observant followers of NL, it is easy to see how *some* people talk about the war like they had a personal experience of it. So much so, the result of it is tribalism, ethnocentrism, hatred and racism they complain about and this is while they ignore published works from people who saw the real thing. This post is well thought and the objective has been met: NO ONE on NL actually saw the Civil War and they should stop revising history like they saw something others didn't see. Sheyguy - talking about facts with these people is like banging your head on Everest - they CANNOT admit a different opinion of history but their OWN.

Dede1:


I have nothing against research works but frown at inaccuracies and blatant falsehood imbedded in such works especially when it is done to satisfy a certain interest. For example, Madiebo’s book you have profoundly quoted had instances of inaccuracies. The case in point was the reference he made in certain chapters referring 68 brigade of “S” Division as a battalion. Henceforth, every other write-up has referred to 68 as battalion.

Also, there was an issue that happened between Achuzie and Onwuatuegwu in Akabo, the headquarters of the 68 brigade and also served as the “S” Div’s HQ. In fact, it was OP briefing and many other field commanders were in attendance. Madiebo, in his book, painted 14th Div under Ogbugo Kalu which was headquartered in Atta good five miles behind “S” Div as the main expeditionary force delegated to recapture Owerri.

At time of the OP briefing, Nigerian vandals were in Oji and threatening to cross Umuiyi Bridge into Akabo and capturing entire Mbaise/Mbaitolu/Ikeduru axis. It was unfortunate that Major TI Atumaka commander of 68 brigade who hailed from Ubomiri, Mbaitolu LGA died during the operation to recapture Owerri.

He shall ever be remembered for the gallantry and bravery efforts he displayed while making sure 3MCDO and 16th brigade under Adekunle and Utuk respectively beat a hasty retreat from Owerri.   

I knew you would fall for the bait.
Firstly, you are being pedantic with regards to army formations. He referred to a brigade as a battalion and he got the location of a brigade wrong!!! So therefore, his book should be discounted?? In any case, who are we to believe? The great Dede1 from NL or Major General Alexander Madiebo, General Officer Commanding Biafran Army? Well I choose to believe Madiebo and other writers; Or is Nowa Omiogui Madiebo's son or relative? Ogbogu Kalu was in charge of forces at the battle of Owerri. See below

'After the Port Harcourt debacle, [b]Kalu [/b]led the 63 Brigade of the 11 Division under Colonel Amadi and staged a successful assault crossing of the River Niger. He slipped behind 2 Division lines and temporarily harassed Asaba, Ogwashi-Uku and even Ibusa, all in the Midwest.  The significance of this move was that it was the first return of Biafran units to the Midwest since they were evicted in October 1967.  Unsurprisingly, the incursion was not significantly publicized on the federal side.

In September 1968, as elements of the 3MCDO were linking Aba to Owerri during the opening phases of Operation OAU, Ojukwu relieved then 14 Division Commander, Colonel Nwajei and placed Colonel Kalu in charge – with the initial task of defending Mbaise against the federal 14th Brigade.   Although unfairly needled by Ojukwu about his problems at Port Harcourt, he subsequently led the Biafran double envelopment of the federal 16th Brigade at Owerri, which – under Madiebo’s supervision - he recaptured in April 1969.  As a result, he was promoted to the rank of Brigadier.

Brigadier Kalu was still in command of the 14 Division when Owerri was taken back, this time, finally, in January 1970, during ‘Operation Tail-Wind’, the final federal offensive of the war. He was among the officers who accompanied Biafran Major General Phillip Effiong to Amichi, and later Owerri for the military surrender to Colonel Olusegun Obasanjo in the field after the broadcast of January 12, 1970.'

http://www.dawodu.com/omoigui33.htm

Secondly, whose account do you really like? Is it Achuzia's Requiem Biafra or Njoku's 'A Tragedy Without Heroes'? You discount and attempt to discredit every book or literature out there just because they don't fit with 'your view. I suspect that you are trying to discredit Madiebo because he didn't paint Ojukwu in good light in his book. 

'As Isu and Nkwerre began to evacuate, I moved down to Nnewi to see the Head of State once more and brief him on the situation. At last and for the first time during the war, he appeared terrified,  He wondered if we had not left our departure rather too late and if we would still make it. He advised me to come to the airport with my full escorts because he had been reliably informed that certain people were planning to stop us leaving Biafra. For that reason I went to the airport with more escorts than I ever used throughout the war. At that stage, I was no longer sure of our “peace mission”; my doubts had been confirmed and I realised that we were escaping Biafra for good.

By 2000 hours, the threat to Uli Airport was such that no one was sure it could be used again. While alternative arrangements were being made for a possible use of Uga Airport, the Biafra Air Force confirmed that Uli could still be used.

As a precautionary measure, General Ojukwu travelled incognito (like a sexy maiden with his full beard,  . . .lol) in a Peugeot 403 car to the Airport while someone else who could pass for him in darkness, travelled in his official car. Ojukwu’s Peugeot was parked in a nearby jungle for over five hours until the plane was ready to take off at 0300 hours on the 11th of January.'

Source: The Nigerian Revolution and the Biafran war. By General Alexander A. Madiebo. pp. 372-373.

You attempt to obfuscate readers by presenting information that is not relevant in an attempt to seem more knowledgeable than others. What has Atumaka or where he hailed from or the incident between Onwuategwu and Achuzia got to do with the point you were trying to make?

History Lessons. . .OMG!

Katsumoto:



I knew you would fall for the bait.
Firstly, you are being pedantic with regards to army formations. He referred to a brigade as a battalion and he got the location of a brigade wrong!!! So therefore, his book should be discounted?? In any case, who are we to believe? The great Dede1 from NL or Major General Alexander Madiebo, General Officer Commanding Biafran Army? Well I choose to believe Madiebo and other writers; Or is Nowa Omiogui Madiebo's son or relative? Ogbogu Kalu was in charge of forces at the battle of Owerri. See below

'After the Port Harcourt debacle, [b]Kalu [/b]led the 63 Brigade of the 11 Division under Colonel Amadi and staged a successful assault crossing of the River Niger. He slipped behind 2 Division lines and temporarily harassed Asaba, Ogwashi-Uku and even Ibusa, all in the Midwest.  The significance of this move was that it was the first return of Biafran units to the Midwest since they were evicted in October 1967.  Unsurprisingly, the incursion was not significantly publicized on the federal side.

In September 1968, as elements of the 3MCDO were linking Aba to Owerri during the opening phases of Operation OAU, Ojukwu relieved then 14 Division Commander, Colonel Nwajei and placed Colonel Kalu in charge – with the initial task of defending Mbaise against the federal 14th Brigade.   Although unfairly needled by Ojukwu about his problems at Port Harcourt, he subsequently led the Biafran double envelopment of the federal 16th Brigade at Owerri, which – under Madiebo’s supervision - he recaptured in April 1969.  As a result, he was promoted to the rank of Brigadier.

Brigadier Kalu was still in command of the 14 Division when Owerri was taken back, this time, finally, in January 1970, during ‘Operation Tail-Wind’, the final federal offensive of the war. He was among the officers who accompanied Biafran Major General Phillip Effiong to Amichi, and later Owerri for the military surrender to Colonel Olusegun Obasanjo in the field after the broadcast of January 12, 1970.'

http://www.dawodu.com/omoigui33.htm

Secondly, whose account do you really like? Is it Achuzia's Requiem Biafra or Njoku's 'A Tragedy Without Heroes'? You discount and attempt to discredit every book or literature out there just because they don't fit with 'your view. I suspect that you are trying to discredit Madiebo because he didn't paint Ojukwu in good light in his book. 

'As Isu and Nkwerre began to evacuate, I moved down to Nnewi to see the Head of State once more and brief him on the situation. At last and for the first time during the war, he appeared terrified,  He wondered if we had not left our departure rather too late and if we would still make it. He advised me to come to the airport with my full escorts because he had been reliably informed that certain people were planning to stop us leaving Biafra. For that reason I went to the airport with more escorts than I ever used throughout the war. At that stage, I was no longer sure of our “peace mission”; my doubts had been confirmed and I realised that we were escaping Biafra for good.

By 2000 hours, the threat to Uli Airport was such that no one was sure it could be used again. While alternative arrangements were being made for a possible use of Uga Airport, the Biafra Air Force confirmed that Uli could still be used.

As a precautionary measure, General Ojukwu travelled incognito (like a sexy maiden with his full beard,  . . .lol) in a Peugeot 403 car to the Airport while someone else who could pass for him in darkness, travelled in his official car. Ojukwu’s Peugeot was parked in a nearby jungle for over five hours until the plane was ready to take off at 0300 hours on the 11th of January.'

Source: The Nigerian Revolution and the Biafran war. By General Alexander A. Madiebo. pp. 372-373.

You attempt to obfuscate readers by presenting information that is not relevant in an attempt to seem more knowledgeable than others. What has Atumaka or where he hailed from or the incident between Onwuategwu and Achuzia got to do with the point you were trying to make?

I am not surprised you have the audacity to accuse me of being pedantic on the account of referring to a Brigade as Battalion and at the same time stating you had better believe Madiebo than "the great Dede1 from NL".

Of course, Madiebo was the commander of Biafran army and good reason he should be held responsible for such fallacy. I would not have bothered if an idle civilian such as you committed such blunder.

I am not discounting that Ogbogu Kalu was the commander of 14th Div and had been tasked to stop 3MCDO from the capture of Owerri and its surrounding communities. However, the task was never met by 14th Div under Ogbogu Kalu. Again anybody who knew the strength of military formation will frown at the wisdom of deploying a Division against a mere 14th Brigade of 3MCDO as the bolded comment in your post indicated. 

With the serious push by the elements of 3MCDO, mainly 17, 13, 16 and 15 Brigades, to capture Owerri and its surrounding communities, in fact, Owerri had been captured, “S” Division with 52, 63, 68 and 60 Brigades along with 8th Commando Unit were drafted to leapfrog 14th Div in order to halt the advance of the Nigerian vandals.  By 1969, should I say that Owerri was recaptured and 3MCDO completely disorganized.

I did a quick read of the topic and was surprised to see two Commonwealth Nations supporting opposite sides. Canada supported Biafra, and the U.K. supported the FG of Nigeria. Amazing how western powers played both ends.



Nigerian Civil War - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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


The British and Soviet Union supported (especially militarily) the Nigerian government while Canada and France helped the Biafrans. The United States seemed to be neutral but helped the Biafrans through the Red Cross.

Dede1:


I am not surprised you have the audacity to accuse me of being pedantic on the account of referring to a Brigade as Battalion and at the same time stating you had better believe Madiebo than great Dede1 from NL.

Of course, Madiebo was the commander of Biafran army and good reason he should be held responsible for such fallacy. I would not have bothered if an idle civilian such as you committed such blunder.

I am not discounting that Ogbogu Kalu was the commander of 14th Div and had been tasked to stop 3MCDO from the capture of Owerri and its surrounding communities. However, the task was never met by 14th Div under Ogbogu Kalu. Again anybody who knew the strength of military formation will frown at the wisdom of deploying a Division against a mere 14th Brigade of 3MCDO as the bolded comment in your post indicated. 

With the serious push by the elements of 3MCDO, mainly 17, 13, 16 and 15 Brigades, to capture Owerri and its surrounding communities, in fact, Owerri had been captured, “S” Division with 52, 63, 68 and 60 Brigades along with 8th Commando Unit were drafted to leapfrog 14th Div in order to halt the advance of the Nigerian vandals.  By 1969, should I say that Owerri was recaptured and 3MCDO completely disorganized.

You are a funny chap. How do you know I am a civilian? We are guessing now right??

So in wars, each side selects a formation that is equal to the other side and then engage each other? A brigade can only engage a brigade and a battalion can only engage a battalion?? What a ludicrous suggestion. What is on record is that the Biafran formation under Kalu re-captured Owerri. That is also the view of the Biafran commander, Madiebo, but as always, everyone is wrong except Dede1.

BTW, anyone reading your posts would conclude that the Biafran formations were of similar strengths to their Nigerian counterparts. We know that to be false; the Nigerian side had more men and more equipment. So a Nigerian battalion could have been better resourced than a Biafran Brigade. I am not kidding and you know it. BTW, here are other links that states that Owerri was captured by Kalu.

Medical camps for care of Biafran children are established in the Ivory Coast run by doctors of New York's Columbia Presbyterian Hospital and Ivory Coast Red Cross. (April 1969)

Biafra recaptures Owerri using its 14th Division under Col. Ogbugo Kalu. (April 1969)

103a. Col. Ogbugo Kalu and Biafran Information Commissioner, Ifegwu Eke, address 6 foreign jounalists in Owerri to counter Nigerian denial of its recapture (April 1969)
http://community.vanguardngr.com/forum/topics/the-untold-story-of

This is a pdf newspaper report from 1969 Dede1
http://www.newspaperarchive.com/SiteMap/FreePdfPreview.aspx?img=100276867 .

BootyOnMe:

My grand pa was blown out of his bed in one place called called Otu-Ogwu!
My momma and grand momma ran to Benin. NA BINI PEOPLE SAVE MY MAMA O!
My parents were sooooooooo jobless, they kept phocking and phocking. . . THEREBY PRODUCING 5 CHILDREN IN LESS THAN 4 YEARS! I think only 10 months and 2 weeks separated sibling #2 from sibling #3! My poor mom did not see a period for ALL 4 years! NO PADS! My last sibling was born in 1971! Then they stopped!!!

I suspect the native doctors had opened up their 'abortion' clinics to help my parents out. . . MY MOMMA WAS A STAUNCH CATHOLIC(STILL IZZZZ). . . EWWWW!!!

Thank God one of us quench! (Not my portion sha. . . na boy!)
My 5 uncles ran to Biafra land and were eating dead people and smoking Igbo endlessly with Ndi-Igbo across the Niger!
Thank God ALL of them are still alive and well.

Nor be small tin o!

Chei! see schizophrenia in evolution. You need some help.

Katsumoto:

You are a funny chap. How do you know I am a civilian? We are guessing now right??

So in wars, each side selects a formation that is equal to the other side and then engage each other? A brigade can only engage a brigade and a battalion can only engage a battalion?? What a ludicrous suggestion. What is on record is that the Biafran formation under Kalu re-captured Owerri. That is also the view of the Biafran commander, Madiebo, but as always, everyone is wrong except Dede1.

BTW, anyone reading your posts would conclude that the Biafran formations were of similar strengths to their Nigerian counterparts. We know that to be false; the Nigerian side had more men and more equipment. So a Nigerian battalion could have been better resourced than a Biafran Brigade. I am not kidding and you know it. BTW, here are other links that states that Owerri was captured by Kalu.

Medical camps for care of Biafran children are established in the Ivory Coast run by doctors of New York's Columbia Presbyterian Hospital and Ivory Coast Red Cross. (April 1969)

Biafra recaptures Owerri using its 14th Division under Col. Ogbugo Kalu. (April 1969)

103a. Col. Ogbugo Kalu and Biafran Information Commissioner, Ifegwu Eke, address 6 foreign jounalists in Owerri to counter Nigerian denial of its recapture (April 1969)
http://community.vanguardngr.com/forum/topics/the-untold-story-of

This is a pdf newspaper report from 1969 Dede1
http://www.newspaperarchive.com/SiteMap/FreePdfPreview.aspx?img=100276867 .

You could be a commanding general however I would question the wisdom of your command if you deploy entire division to halt a flanking Brigade. In fact, 14 and 17 Brigades of 3MCDO on the flank of Utuk’s 16th were harassed by 29th Battalion of 68 brigade, BOFF and elements of 8th Commando under Major Stainer.

As for Ogbogu Kalu addressing media after the recapture Owerri, I say it was in accordance with military parlance since he was the sector commander and the highest Biafran military officer within Owerri Theater of the war.

I have tried to give you the benefit of doubt as a veteran but some of your postulations on military matters while debating on NL leave me a doubter.

WAR EXPERIENCE IS INDEED HORRIBLE,IT IS NOTHING TO TALK ABOUT, BUT I SEE A RE-OCCURRENCE OF CIVIL WAR!!!,IF CERTAIN ISSUES ARE NOT ADDRESSED IN NIGERIA, BET ME NIGERIA WILL NOT SURVIVE ANOTHER CIVIL WAR, PLS I BEG THE NORTHERN CARTEL TO STOP SPONSORING TERRORISM,AND CONCENTRATE ON DEVELOPING THE NORTH AND NIGERIA AT LARGE,THEY SHOULD KNOW THAT LEADERSHIP IS NOT BY FORCE,BUT THROUGH DEMOCRACY

I was there , i happened to work for CNN, we took camera to video the war but unfortunately the cassette we videoed fell into the River Niger, hahahaha

@ poster.

BEST. THREAD. EVER!!

Please ask the stupid tribalists here on NL. Bunch of cowards and chairborne warriors.

freepeople:

Chei! see schizophrenia in evolution. You need some help.

lol, see insult.

poweredcom:

I was there , i happened to work for CNN, we took camera to video the war but unfortunately the cassette we videoed fell into the River Niger, hahahaha

and it was swallowed up by a mamiwater

cheikh:

Abagworo 

@^^ So your family story is enough for you to conclude that war of survival is not war of secession as in the Biafran case? . The above is the worst pseudo-intellectual sophistry induced by denial of reality and of course by psychic dislocation caused by loss of a noble war fought by gallant men and women of the East. There is no shame in defeat or loss of war that was fought between so called brothers as the "Nigerian side claimed that it was a "fratricidal war" hence the desire to "keep Nigeria ONE is a task that must be done". I guess a lot of Igbo are in your state of mind set and psychic confusion. It's no big deal to loose a war and certainly nothing to apologise, deny or feel ashamed of either . Bro, raise your head high and not down like a defeated man which certainly you are not .

He is right,many biafrans fought for survival,most igbo towns don't even know what was happening at the center, nobody called a town meeting to inform them,they just met nigerian troops trying to shoot them all to death,thats when they knew they had to defend their children and women folk,hence their decision to join the biafran army.

Yes,ojukwu wanted seccesion,but most biafran soldiers where fighting to protect ndiigbo from a nigerian army that was determined to send them into extinction.

Abagworo:

There was a time NL banned Biafran war threads because they can get sentimental at times and lead to re-opening old curing wounds.

A lot of lies fly around about Igbo ethnic group with regards to the war.People even personify Igbo like its the name of a single man who took personal decisions during the war.For example a poster wrote that Igbos came to their village to move them else where and take over their land.That is pure display of illiteracy.Biafran soldiers came to evacuate civilians in a war zone to a safer place and all they could think of was Ibos came to take over their land.I think it might have been a propaganda used in winning the heart of the unintelligent people.

The simple truth is that apart from the political class, the average Igbos on the street were fighting to live.People were hearing rumours that they have killed all the Delta Igbos and are about crossing the River Niger to come and finish killing those in the East.Some people in the villages volunteered to join Biafran forces in order to defend their people.

Selective killing of Igbos by Federal troops at captured mixed territories made other people believe Igbos were the problem.Igbo denial was a key to survival.

Nnaa,i tire 4 them o! Even my mum and her town people had to evacuate their town for the next town,because their town became war zone ,i guess ojukwu was evacuating them to claim the land for nnewi people,some people have fish brain,i tell you.

Wasn't born before the war. Fact is, i came to this world about a decade after the war ended. However, the few tales about suffering and death told to me by my grandparents are enuf to make me cringe at the mention of warfare. What happened during that era shouldn't be treated with levity. If the proper moves are not made to set this country on the path to recovery, im afraid we might have to replay that disastrous era, just to give proper definition to what a nation ought to be.

I Hate all the Northerners and South Westerners because of what they did to my Brothers and Sisters (Igbo's), May God forgive them cos, if i can catch any of them one on one i will definitely kill him or her, They are heartless, senseless, fooling and self-centered individuals which is why they are still killing our brodas in the name of Boko Haram,

Didnt quite witness the war nor up to 56. I however remember the Go On With One Nigeria (GOWON) , Dont sit on the fence,Join the civil defence and Take Cover jingles and the trauma of having the urge to run for safety at the sound of any flying plane even though i was in the SW. A govt school which later became my alma mater was then turned to a military barracks and the students relocated to another town. We stayed in that town because my dad who was out of the country felt it was safer for us.

I still dont feel good about the war going by all i read in the papers while growing up, the propaganda and the massive loss of lives. If this country has to fall apart i hope it will be done by negotiation and not war. Just not worth the effort IMO when you will end up coming to an agreement after wasting lives.

As for Aluta, that one dey plenty o! As a great Akokite when NANS was truly for students and not political contractors, dodging policemen and finding antidotes to teargas was a way of life. I miss those days when students single handedly fought the govt to a standstill though some paid heavily by getting rusticated or becoming temporary jailbirds. Of course most of the Students Union executives later became Human Rights activists. BTW is NANS still functioning?

This question should be ,when will this civil war stop still among Yoruba's ,Ibo's, and Hausa's?
Because what we are now experiencing is more than The Civil War (1967 - 1970).
In the north is problem of Boko haram, in the south is problem of Godfathers, in the east  is the problem of kidnapping,
So my fellow Nairaland, Nigeria is heading to a big pit were no one can survive.except does that believe in revolution.End time for a country that ones leave in plenty now in big want.We are all blindfolded looking for a way out,been lead by blind leaders .

pazienza

Yes,ojukwu wanted seccesion,but most biafran soldiers where fighting to protect ndiigbo from a nigerian army that was determined to send them into extinction.

@^^ Ojukwu as an individual cannot want secession without the overwhelming support of his people if you really understand the urgency of the times and the [b]worldview [/b]of the Igbo- Nobody can have such over-arching power over the majority wish or not. He was merely the "voice of the people" never mind later day revisionists and cowards who want to blame Ojukwu for everything under the sun as the sole head and desirer of Biafra then. It's amazing what defeat and loss does to a people's psyche. I guess most people find it extremely difficult to disabuse themselves of the linear Euro-centric/ hierarchical and feudalistic worldview in interpreting Igbo worldview about the Biafran conflict- hence the fixation on Ojukwu alone by turncoat revisionists and some Nigerians.

i first perceive the thread as a good one but at the end of the second page, i now see the motive! (its not actually to know the ppl but , )

anyway
@topic , the truth is that the story of the war differs and confusing. what i learned from my govt lesson class for my jamb at Lagos (by a Yoruba teacher) is confusingly different from what i learned from my govt class teacher in awka (by an igbo teacher), then the ones my mom and my older brothers tells me here especially about Hausa ppl(because they make the war look like igbo vs Hausa) makes one weep blood!

cheikh:

Abagworo 

@^^ So your family story is enough for you to conclude that war of survival is not war of secession as in the Biafran case? . The above is the worst pseudo-intellectual sophistry induced by denial of reality and of course by psychic dislocation caused by loss of a noble war fought by gallant men and women of the East. There is no shame in defeat or loss of war that was fought between so called brothers as the "Nigerian side claimed that it was a "fratricidal war" hence the desire to "keep Nigeria ONE is a task that must be done". I guess a lot of Igbo are in your state of mind set and psychic confusion. It's no big deal to loose a war and certainly nothing to apologise, deny or feel ashamed of either . Bro, raise your head high and not down like a defeated man which certainly you are not .

I miss your point.Are you implying that all Igbos met one day and decided that they wanted to wage war against Nigeria?I told my story from the point of view of my Grandfather who is alive till this day.He went to war to defend his people and not to conquer other people.To him the war wasn't lost because Igbo survived.

Starting from the genocide in the North down to Asaba and even Benin, the aim of that war was to wipe out the Igbo race.

abagoro:

I miss your point.Are you implying that all Igbos met one day and decided that they wanted to wage war against Nigeria?I told my story from the point of view of my Grandfather who is alive till this day.He went to war to defend his people and not to conquer other people.To him the war wasn't lost because Igbo survived.

Starting from the genocide in the North down to Asaba and even Benin, the aim of that war was to wipe out the Igbo race.

no doubt! this was actually what the ppl at the head made our grandpa and grandma to believe (the killing of igbos in the north even pregnant ones serve as prove)and these was what led so many of them to join the biafra army not to conquer but to defend ( cos of illiteracy they know nothing about succession or con Federal govt then) .

even few years ago before my grandma died(i heard my grandpa died during the war), he never allow any aboki man to do our shoes inside our compound in the village instead she will order us to go outside and meet him ( though i never know why but i suspect the hatred still in her)

abagoro:

I miss your point.Are you implying that all Igbos met one day and decided that they wanted to wage war against Nigeria?I told my story from the point of view of my Grandfather who is alive till this day.He went to war to defend his people and not to conquer other people.To him the war wasn't lost because Igbo survived.

Starting from the genocide in the North down to Asaba and even Benin, the aim of that war was to wipe out the Igbo race.

Bros, Nigeria is what it is. Most people treat Nigeria/Biafra civil war with skewed interest. Biafra did not declare war on Nigeria or start even “police action” against Nigeria yet moronic imbeciles on NL would like to create a phrase that never existed such as “war of secession”.

Why should any group of people start a war because the group wanted to secede? Biafran issue was not a case of fighting for independence from a colonial master. Biafra fought to survive the uncalled military onslaught against it by Nigeria.