The Biafra War-a Case Of Genocide Or Not?

lighten up tilapia!
haba

 Most often,people tend to tribalise the Biafran war by terming it Igbo war.It was originaly a self defense secession by peoples of the former Eastern region.It became an Igbo war when a lot of other ethnicities(some Igbo groups inclusive) were promised total resource control by the then Government.They were as well fed with the false belief that the Igbos were interested in their oil resources.

 Most often,people tend to tribalise the Biafran war by terming it Igbo war.It was originaly a self defense secession by peoples of the former Eastern region.It became an Igbo war when a lot of other ethnicities(some Igbo groups inclusive) were promised total resource control by the then Government.They were as well fed with the false belief that the Igbos were interested in their oil resources.

5th entry  does posting from a mobile phone suck that much?

Chei!!!

I didn't know you are a bit smart sha. So it took you just a day to discover this.

Are you sure you have not been cheating?

You have been secretly eating your nootropic foods to improve your brain power.

Smart boy, eat your nuts, dried fruits and oily fish more frequently.


this is a nonsensical statement from a person who claims that genocide did not occur during the biafran war. you said your uncle fought on the biafran side? i think that is the biggest lie any fool can ever tell. My point is since 2million poeple who died is not genocide according to you but mere random case of human right violations then i think your people will be the next target.

I had to repeat myself again that what this topic has shown is that Nigeria is a million miles away from being a nation, let alone a united one. Then can anyone tell me how you can make progress with this sort of deep rooted hatred presented as facts.  Sagamite was asking me where he called me names when I ask him to tone it down but on the same posting he used words like DIMWIT,IDIOT, BELLIGERENT, FOOL and so many others to make his point. You have to laugh at this things and he lived in England as well and must have noticed that SNP whose only agenda is to take Scotland away from the UK is the party in govt now in Scotland. So can you imagine MASSOB ever to be registered by Nigerian authorities and let alone being allow to win an election? So that is the difference between Nigeria and a civilized society.

As Biafran, looking back, so many mistakes were made during the war, especially our elders allowing Ojukwu to be the head of state but I can understand their reasons. Persons like Okpara, Ibiam or Kogbara would had been an ideal choice while Ojukwu concentrate on the military front. It was obvious that ,any of the semi illiterates like Gowon, OBJ, Adekunle, Murtala, Danjuma, Joe Garba etc were jealous of Ojukwu as a person and will do all they can to bring him down and humiliate him. Afterall he was the son of the richest man in the whole black nations, a first class oxford graduate, it's only reasonable that those stats will illicite jealousy in competitive environment like the army, so the war with Biafran to them became Ojukwu must be stopped war.

And British too won't tolerate an educated, young and rich African who is vocal to succeed, they preffered the illiterates ones they can control, just like they did with Idi Amin but he ended up haunting them and they believed that Emeka will be a torn in their flesh and had to be stopped and his personal appearance doesn't help either,  all they were seeing was another Castro in the the British colony or Empire and America bing distracted in Vietnam at the same time. This is my personal observation.

Those that kept saying that Ojukwu led the Biafrans into war are either towing the same line or has blinded minds to the truth. The day Biafra was declared Ojukwu wasn't even there.  It was the old EASTERN house of parliament that voted to secede from because Biafran lives are no longer safe anywhere in Nigeria and Ojukwu being the most senior Biafran officer and already governor of the region was naturally asked to head the new nation. Nigerians has no reason to declare a war and start shelling, they could have initiated a talk like in Aburi or they can implement the Aburi accord they signed which Ojukwu kept reminding them till this day.

Seccession in my opinion is not the reason for Nigeria declaring war on Biafra, it's purelly people in the army settling score with Ikemba, afterrall as I had previously mentioned Southern Cameroon seceded from EASTERN Nigeria in 1961 and joined French Cameroon and nobody delared any war them. And  in the north too, a part of the old Adamawa emirate seceded and joined Cameroon along with their Hausa/Fulani cousins from Marou and Garou and Ngounderi too and nobody said a word.  Their first president Ahmadu Ahijo is from Garou and could easily being a Nigerian, hence his total support to Nigeria during the war and the blockade of the Atlantis from the side of Cameroon.
So Nigerian war with Biafra is to teach Igbos a lesson and their so called educated young leader as Ojukwu was only in his thirties then.

Unless anyone can tell me why the rest of Nigeria wants the Igbos in Nigeria by all means when it's obvious they don't want to be, I am still going to believe that there is something that is not quite right. Never ever can you force someone to marry you except within the Nigerian union. Honestly I will like to know. This is just my opinion, don't abuse me and any civil opinion is welcomed.

I undertand your point but you can't be in a marriage because of what you think will happen to another person, that is not a reason to be in a union. If Ijaw and Itshekiri wants to fight according to you, what business of the Igbos is their? Are you telling me that when the old Yoguslavia were fighting, that they don't have neighbours or that those neighbours died too because they were fighting? what kind of reasoning is that?

Whether Oni or Alafin want to bury themselves that will be their business, as if they haven't lived as a kingdom before the white man arrived. People often forgot that before Nigeria, our people are nations of their own and they had always lived as neighbours peacefully until the British created a lion that turned into a dragon.

Anybody who is seeing Nigeria now and in the past and still believe that Nigeria will ever live peacefully in a political union is either decieving themselves or being economical with the truth. Economic union maybe but political union, not in this world.

Can you ever imagine, Germany, UK, France, Italy etc existing as a single nation and what the result will be? Who do think will rule? Can you imagine an Englishman being happy to be ruled by a German or a Frenchman? They are complaining in an economic union now let alone a full blown political union. That is what Nigeria represents, where you put proud and independent nations that their cultures has shaped their ways of doing things and thinking differently into one basket and they openly love to hate each other and expect that one day miraculouly they will start kissing each other. Not In a million years!!!
I am a realistic person!!

As I said Don't expect me to respond to you if you don't state your sources.



Stuff White People Like: An undereducated, human butcher and a warped mind. In Amewrica you will be a hero because the West  love blacks who can inflict maximum destruction on his fellow black.

To paraphrase you: Killing millions of Igbo people is nothing.

I'm wondering. . .
Is there a connection between the first coup which was led by Igbos, and which killed numerous prominent Northern politicians (including Tafawa Balewa) and great antipathy towards the Igbos from Northerners? I have heard no reports of such strife before the Nzeogwu led plotters brutally killed Tafawa Balewa et al.

Before you crucify me, it's just a question.

the great antipathy towards the igbos in northern Nigeria is because they are the only once who are Christians. Infact they are the only ethnic group that are christians in Nigeria. All other ethnic group are muslims. I hope your "question" have been answered.

@texazzpete
Go and learn your language first, then we can discuss NIGERIA AND BIAFRA.

see Edo Oyibo discussing Biafra

"I only speak English" and you are proud of it

You couldn't have captured it more succinctly any other way than this. I guess texazzpete has his answers

   

@topic
i have read the whole comments on here and i must say both sides have made a lot of sense,however i still believe it was genocide,also i beleive this kindof history should be shown in mvovie/film form to school children not only of ibo extraction but all over nigeria,so they will realise what it took for the country to be one and to learn from the mistakes on both sides,for the ibos on here i must say one thin that has always counted against them has been the "me against the world" mentality,for anybody to think the yorubas can't do without the ibos and that the result of yoruba multi millionaires was as a result of abandoned properties strikes me as a very naive statement,  to say the least

the war has happened and we reallyneed to move on and forget all these millitant actions,raving and ranting, its more of the ibo s dropping the biafran hangover against the rest of nigeria i.e not allowing their children to inter marry other tribes,networking with just themselves and the rest of other tribal undercurrents e.t.c
however i believe the war is not something to be swept under the carpet,it should be rememberedand the government should acknowledge it officially and even have a public holiday

It's you that is an ethnic jingoist. For you to say that over 2million people (mainly women and children) that was deliberately murdered was not a genocide but rather just a randome case of human rights violations is a disgrace. Most of the victims were delibrately  starved to death, murdered in the hopsitals  including tearing out foetus from pregnant women. You said it is okay.

My point is if it was only the biafran soldiers that were killed then it is not a genocide but fallout form the battle. Now I say to you and sagamite who are direct beneficiary of the war, SHAME ON YOU.

When Ojukwu was running for President, y'all that voted for him didn't know that there was no 'One Nigeria'.

Isn't it true that in addition to the federal government blockade, the fact that the Biafran millitary command appropriated the cream of the crop for the millitary contributed to the starvation also?

In world war two, despite having a numerically superior army in the Battle of Singapore, the British General Percival surrendered to the Japanese. he claimed he wanted to avoid massive civillian casualties in the battle for the twon itself. You also should blame Ojukwu for continuing a war even after defeat was inevitable, hence prolonging scenes of starvation and despair.
That, perhaps, may be why many educated igbos i've spoken to can't stand Ojukwu himself.