But I refuse to accept that our back were against the wall. For us to say that we didnt expect a backlash of that nature after the Nzegwu coup must mean that our people under-estimated the North, Islam and the mentality of their people.

Now on to the Pogrom! poo had definitely hit the fan. Our people were being slaughtered in their numbers, I still recall vivid and graphic tales of trains pulling in stations in the east with headless bodies, decapitated corpses, slain Pregnant women with their feotuses hanging out of their cut open tummy, aircrafts being stopped on the tarmac and Easterners being pulled out and shot point blank by the military and other such tales. Now a sight like that is bound to aggravate anybody and testostorone would start flowing. Was a cessation our only avaliable option?! NO!! But Ojukwu, hungry for power, filled with anger and his blood pumping jumped to the conclusion of pulling out of Nigeria

To say those that were involved in the war dont regret it is rather unfair. Instead say those that you have met and know personally dont regret it. I have heard alot of people talk about that war and none of them speak well of it. If they had a choice, they would never have fought.

THe Igbos lost so much after that war. We lost jobs, we lost alot of influence in government, we were highly distrusted by the Government (the North), the Federal government had very heavy military presence in the East and post-war vitimization continued for a very long period

When Ojukwu ran, that was the final blow. Even his deputy had to surrender. There was no reason to fight anymore. Their spirits had been broken.

The Feds triumphed. Gown only declared "no victor, no vanquish" so as to quickly re-integrate the East back into the general scheme of things. The IGBOS lost that war. We know it, Nigeria knows it and the Biafran apologists are living in denial.

He never once apologized to the grieving widows, widowers, parents and children which he led into battle! He never once thought it prudent for him to tell us why he ran!! I guess coming home and being celebrated by psychophants must have given him the complex of a god.

I want someone to tell me what the war achieved. Show me were the east were before the war and how much better off we are now.

Look at the OGONI 10, Ken-Saro Wiwa and the 9 other MOSSOP leaders. They fought the Government and Shell Petroleum against the injustice and inhumane way they were being treated. Incase you do not understand their plight, Ogoni is 0.001 of the size of the Eastern region Ojukwu controlled. The government massacred them in their numbers. Any Ogoni man caught near an Oil installation was shot. A dusk till dawn curfew was in place, they had every reason to militate, but they never once took up arms. He was arrested in 1992, spent months in prison without trial, was warned and released, upon his release, he stepped up his activism. In 1993, he was arrested again and after a month was released and he went back at it. Now the Ogoni people were motivated. They were ready to go to war, they were so gullible that they felt that their local charms and gods would see them through a battle with the Nigerian Army, Ken knew this, yet never spurred them to fight. 1994, he was arrested yet again along with others and this time he was executed and his body taken away by the government. Today the Ogoni cause has gotten a bigger audience than that of Biafra. SHell agreed to pay the families of the Ogoni 10 a sum a 15.5 million US Dollars in an out of court settlement and also Shell has been asked to pay Ogoni a massively insane amount in compensation and also clean up the spillage in Ogoni. The Ken Saro Wiwa fight gave voice to the Niger Delta struggle. Even with the Amnesty, the Federal governmant cant still contain the aftermath effect of Ken Saro-wiwas death (after over 15 years). If s'hit goes down tomorrow, Ken Saro-Wiwa would be a rallying point for an uprising . Many will see the Ogoni cause as worth laying down their lives to protect like their leaders did. Those who lost their loved would take succor in knowing that they fought a fight worth dying for.

What did Ojukwus' war give us, what did our sons, daughters, mothers, Fathers, Sisters and brother die for?! What are the gains of over two years of loss?!

FACE:

I also have relatives that fell in battle and those that fought from the beginning to the end. My home town, Umuahia was a major war zone and you can imagine the level of destruction, carpet bombing and blind artillery barrage that we suffered, which led to the death of many. All people that I know that were involved in the war do not regret fighting the war, they only regret losing the war. If we were to face the same circumstances leading to the war, we would fight again with no regrets.

Now about General Chukwuemeka Odumegwu (translated:am I surprised/afraid ? or fierce lion) Ojukwu. The best thing that happened to NdiIgbo and Nigeria was that he did not fall in battle. That would have been the ultimate humiliation and would have led to several factions, who would have carried on the battle. It would have given the feds a sense of triumph and I am glad that it did not happen.

The fact that he left the scene, was like a hovering spirit which prevented Federal troops from causing further punishment to Ndi Igbo. Following the surrender of Biafra, the feds declared "No Victor no Vanquished" situation for a good reason. The Biafran soldiers were not disarmed when the war came to an end. The federal govt had to at least pretend to be acting in good faith, lest Ojukwu reinforced and launched another uprising from exile. His departure ensured that the feds walked on an egg shell while dealing with NdiIgbo as he was like a time bomb waiting to happen.

Ojukwu was only human and he made some strategic and tactical mistakes during the war, but which General doesn't make mistakes ? The war was foisted on us and Ojukwu did well to answer the call of duty at that age.

Odumegwu, may you rest in peace and find rest in the bosom of our Lord.

Rest in peace all Biafran soldiers that fell in battle.

Rest in Peace all Biafran vets that have departed in peace time Nigeria.

Rest in peace all civilian casualties that died of starvation, artillery and bomb shells in markets, hospitals, their homes and those that were executed by federal troops.

My tribute to my uncle Martin, who passed away not too long ago. He fought in many sectors of the war. He saw war and war saw him.

My tribute to living vets like Dee Eziachi.

Tribute to all those who believe that we had to fight to survive. Those that understand that our backs were to the wall and the only way was forward.

We lost the war but not in shame. We did not achieve our goal but we kept our dignity. We earned our respect, wrote it in blood and set it in stone.

To Nigeria, Ojukwu was an elusive trophy, but to Biafrans, he was a fence between the devil and the sea and we are glad that the fence did not fall.

Was a cessation our only avaliable option?! NO!! But Ojukwu, hungry for power, filled with anger and his blood pumping jumped to the conclusion of pulling out of Nigeria.

FACE:

That is to assume that the federal government was right in not stopping the pogrom that followed the counter coup. That is also to lend credence to the assumption that Jan 15 coup was planned by easterners and executed on their behalf by the 5 majors. That also presumes that there was nothing wrong in military men joining hands to lynch civilians while the CIC looked the other way.

You need to count 1 before counting 2. Ojukwu did not just pull Eastern region out of Nigeria at the sight of headless bodies.

There was a stalemate that that lasted several months before Biafra was declared. Following the counter coup, Ironsi was not declared dead or in captivity and that was an issue.

Ojukwu insisted that the 2ic should take command in the absence of Ironsi as his whereabouts were unknown. That was not a new side to Ojukwu as he had helped foil the Jan15 coup when he was the commander of 5th Battalion in Kano, so he had already established himself as someone who would not take insubordination.

He asked Gowon several times to stop the Killing and nothing happened. It was simply bad news being from Eastern region and living in the north.

Before Biafra was declared, he went several times to Aburi with Gowon and an accord was finally reached only for Gowon to renege on the accord, which promised loose federation as we had.

When Gowon reneged on the accord and insisted on total control, Biafra was declared after a meeting with representatives of the former region.

There were series of events that led to declaration of Biafra so it is unfair to say that he declared Biafra to satisfy his whims , caprices and megalomania. This was the son of a multi millionaire, whose dad was recognised and knighted by the Queen of England, yet he chose to lead his people when they needed a leader.

Go back to my post, I said that all those that I know only regret losing the war but not the fight.

Igbo were already distrusted a long time before the war. The mass killings started in the 40s, continued in the 50s and 60s and January 15th was only an excuse to unleash mayhem of immense proportions.

If they were not loathed before the war, how come Jan 15th was called an Igbo coup and not Nzeogwu coup?

The Nigerian army and many Nigerians view Nzeogwu as a hero and he was taken to Kaduna and buried in a military cemetery when he fell in battle.

If he was a hero to the Nigerian army, why then did they participate in and encouraged the killing of innocent civilians who were thought to be Nzeogwu’s kinsmen (Easterners) in pretext of a recompense? What recompense exactly ?

When Ojukwu left, he gave hope to combatants and concern to Nigerian army that he might start another uprising if more humiliation was inflicted on Easterners. He was the proverbial over-hanging shadow.

Of course, we all know that we lost the war, but we did not do so in shame. We gave a good account of ourselves and emerged with our dignity.


You should look up to Gowon to apologise to the grieving widows and to your grandmother, for he threw the bombs that killed her children in their home and I know not to blame Ojukwu for the artillery barrage and carpet bombing that took out my relatives. If Gowon had respected Aburi accord, the war would not have happened.


Show me were Nigeria were before the war and how much better off we are now.

Comparing Biafra and Ogoni is like comparing apples and oranges. To start with, Saro Wiwa did not die in battle. He was arrested several times and released, but he over estimated the influence of western press on Abacha who executed him.

Secondly, you are wrong to assume that OMPADEC and 13% were his achievements, when there are several states benefiting from those policies and rightly so as members of those states also agitated for those concessions.

Is it not double speak, when you say that Ogoni people rightly laid down there lives for what you concede that they achieved through courts ? Who were Biafrans going to take to court? The court equivalent of Biafran quest was Aburi and Gowon reneged on the agreement.

You can also flip the coin to the other side. He who dares; wins. Not all investments pay off, but you need to invest to gain. The fight was worthy and we have no regrets.

Gowon did what he had to do and fortune was in his favour. Ojukwu also answered a call, when we needed him to answer. Regardless of what you think, he shall remain a legend.

Now I feel like Physics HQ (I respect him though) after this energy sapping thesis. Let’s just agree to disagree, unless you keep it short and simple.

asha 80:

i am suprised that okija juju said nothing about the reneged aburi accord in his long post.

Okija_juju:

@ Face

Nice point once more and there is no way I can respond to this without writing you a thesis.

In the end, I'll take your option of agree to disagree.

Mourn your hero while I celebrate the passing of coward.

In the end, it is what it is. Life goes on!

I wish you the best in your endeavours and pursuits!

Aburi is no doubt an important event in the grand scheme of things leading up to the break-away and eventually the war, but I choose not to dwell on it for too long because Aburi did not affect the East solely. The West also got screwed over on the Aburi accord and yet we chose to break-away and look what it cost us.

I am looking at the human value. The lives lost was not worth the war if we werent willing to go down swinging! Just saying!

T8ksy:

Gbosa!!!

How i wish there were more igbos like you on this site and in the country.