Katsumoto: Assignment for Biafrans who are boasting about defeating others in another phantom war.

Lets see if you have learned any lessons from the last war.

Can you list 5 strategic blunders made by the Biafran High Command?

Lets see if Internet Generals understand some strategy.

dayokanu:

One thing at a time.

Why are Igbos mor0nic?

Let me test your intelligence.

1. Do you go to war and expect your opponents to feed you?

2. Do you go to war armed with catapults?

3. Do you kill other leaders and spare yours? E.g Kaduna nzeogwu

4. Do you regard people who whoop you in battles as cowards? E.g Benjamin Adekunle

5. Do you think a warlord who flees is a hero? E.g ODEmegwu Ojuku

6. Do you get killed in droves in a particular region but cant stop going there? E.g kano Damanturu

7. Do you go to war without seeking alliances? E.g ODEmegwu Oju-iku

8. Do you go to war and claim your opponent was too vicious? E.g Igbo civilians

9. Do you think eating human being is ok? ( Statistics say of the 3m Biafra victims, 1m were victims of cannibalism of their own people)

Katsumoto:

Yes, Gowon created states to undermine Ojukwu but that was after Ojukwu refused to accept decree 8 because it would have meant that Ojukwu could be replaced by Gowon.


Is Ojukwu a Hero or a Villain? by Max Siollun
[/size]
January is a key month in Nigeria’s history. This January marks the 41st anniversary of the end of the Nigerian civil war, and the 44th anniversary of the Aburi accords – the debate in Aburi in Ghana which nearly pre-empted the war. The pivotal figure in both events is Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu.

Ojukwu is a man that evokes conflicting emotions. To some he is a born leader and a hero. To others he is an ambitious man that tried to break up his country. Where Ojukwu is concerned, no one is a neutral. The conflicting opinions on him are emblematic of his inconsistent personality and history. Ojukwu is an educated man that entered a profession that many Nigerians regarded at the time as a profession for the uneducated. He is a southerner born in the north who fought a three year long war against the north. He is a man who once led an attempt to secede from Nigeria, but later ran for President of Nigeria.

[size=12pt]A leader must be judged by what benefits or misfortune he has brought to his people. Has Ojukwu brought anything positive to his people? His record is grim. The “accomplishments” Ojukwu has brought his people include:

• Leading them in a brutal civil war they had no chance of winning, and which resulted in a million of them dying.
• Even when it became clear that his people were starving to death in massive numbers, he continued the war which was doomed from the start.
• He fled and left his people after the war.
• The civil war caused his people to be stereotyped as disloyal and led to an unwritten discrimination against them.
[/size]

Yet he is still revered. Ojukwu’s first official involvement in politics came after a group of young army Majors overthrew the democratic government in January 1966. Contrary to what has been written in some quarters, Ojukwu refused to cooperate with the Majors – including Major Nzeogwu. Ojukwu was appointed the Military Governor of the Eastern Region after the coup. This appointment was ironic as he had spent very little of his life in the east. Ojukwu was the most politically active of the four military governors. By mid-1966 the army was imploding and another army coup was staged by northern soldiers during which hundreds of Igbo soldiers (including Ironsi) were killed. A central plank of this coup was the elimination of Ojukwu. The ‘pointman’ who was to execute the coup in the eastern region was a young Lieutenant named Shehu Musa Yar’Adua (the older brother of Nigeria’s former President).

Aburi – Ojukwu’s Finest Hour

After being dragged to the brink of an abyss by two military coups in 1966, and pogroms which followed them, Ojukwu had refused to attend any meetings of the Supreme Military Council until the Ghanaian leader Lt-General Joseph Ankrah brokered a meeting in the neutral territory of Aburi in Ghana in January 1967. This was Ojukwu’s finest hour. Ojukwu prepared thoroughly and came armed with notes and secretaries. He managed to secure an agreement to devolve power from the federal government to the regions. This turned Nigeria into a confederation. In the words of one writer Ojukwu “secured the signatures of the SMC to documents which would have had the effect of turning Nigeria into little more than a customs union".

[size=12pt]The federal government attempted to implement the Aburi agreement in diluted form by enacting a modified Constitution (Suspension and Modification) Decree (Decree cool which turned Nigeria into a de facto confederation, but which did not incorporate ALL of the agreements reached at Aburi. Federal civil servants argued that to implement all of the Aburi agreements would lead to the dissolution of the federation. Ojukwu declined to accept the initial draft of the Decree and insisted on a full and complete implementation of the Aburi accords.

As the weaker party, could Ojukwu still have showed greater pragmatism to spare further suffering for his people? Even with its flaws, Decree 8 gave him 90% of what he wanted. The U.S. State Department was “impressed by extent to which Decree 8 appears to meet many of East's fundamental demands for much greater regional autonomy. While recognizing that it stops short of granting everything Ojukwu wants, Dept. considers Decree represents genuine effort by FMG and other Mil Govs to implement Aburi agreements and to retain Nigerian unity in form which least objectionable to East…..Consulate Enugu has reported that some prominent and moderate Easterners may incline toward above view".

WINNER TAKES ALL – NIGERIA’S MALAISE[/size]

In the “winner takes all” mentality that is so symptomatic of Nigerian politics, Ojukwu unrealistically held out for 100% of his demands and in the end, received 0%. His refusal to be tactically flexible by considering options other than secession, placed him and his people in a worse position than they started in. Rather than turning Nigeria into a confederation (which is what Decree 8 did), Ojukwu’s give no inch stance gave the federal government an opportunity to overrun the Eastern Region, carve the country into several states and concentrate massive powers in the central government. Forty years later many Nigerians now call for the restructuring of Nigeria, and for devolution of power to its regions. The opportunity to achieve this was squandered 45 years ago at Aburi.

Could Ojukwu have achieved his objectives – albeit at a later date, had he been more patient? The old adage is that “the best comes to those who wait”. Could he have accepted confederation in the short-term, then waited patiently until such time that the Eastern Region had enough weapons and infrastructure to sustain a fully independent state in the future?

WAS SECESSION A MISTAKE?

When armed confrontation with the federal government was imminent, Ojukwu knew that the Eastern Region had absolutely no chance of victory in an armed conflict with the federal government. Where did he obtain the confidence to secede nonetheless? It certainly was not from international opinion. Western diplomats warned him that they would not recognize a new state of Biafra. In a telegram from the US Department of State to the US Embassy in Nigeria dated March 24, 1967, the U.S. warned:

"East making serious mistake if it under assumption that international recognition of independent East would be easily obtained; our info clearly to contrary". This was the consistent US position as far back as July/August 1966. The US had previously noted that “Both US Ambassador Mathews and UKHICOM Cumming-Bruce have made strong representations in opposition to secession of any area of Nigeria. We consider such development would be major political and economic disaster for Nigerian people and severe setback to independent Africa."

Yet he declared secession, knowing full well that powerful countries would not recognize his new state, and that federal troops would invade immediately after secession. Ojukwu doubtless possessed outstanding leadership and motivational skills which he used admirably to pull his people solidly behind the war effort. However, exactly how did he possibly believe that the Eastern Region (armed only with a few elderly World War 2 era rifles) could succeed against an enemy armed with limitless mortars, machine guns, tanks, armoured personnel carriers, trucks and air force jets. One does not have to be a military strategist to see the folly of this decision. [size=12pt]


THE MID-WEST INVASION – A MISTAKE?

Under considerable military pressure from the federal army, in 1967 Ojukwu ordered Biafran soldiers to invade the Mid-West Region as a way to relieve military pressure on Biafra’s land, and to force the federal army onto the defensive. The invasion caught the federal government totally off guard and threatened a stunning military humiliation for it.


However, did the invasion of the Mid-West turn into a public relations disaster? The Military Governor of the Mid-West Lt-Colonel Ejoor had repeatedly stated that due to the multi-ethnic composition of his region, the "Mid-West will not be a battleground". Ejoor had even refused to let federal troops cross through his territory. Hence it was regarded as neutral demilitarised territory. However the invasion forced Ejoor off the fence he had been sitting on. He fled to Lagos, now firmly opposed to Biafra. Ojukwu had alienated a potential figure of friendly neutrality. The Mid-West was neutral until that invasion and may not have joined the war but for it.

Additionally, the invasion gave the rest of Nigeria the mistaken impression that Biafra's cause was not only about survival, but also about territorial conquest. It escalated the conflict and gave the federal army a free hand to start using heavy weapons, artillery and punishing air raids. Lt-Col Murtala Muhammed's 2nd division of the Nigerian army carried out massive reprisals against Igbos and murdered several hundred as punishment.

FLIGHT TO IVORY COAST

During the war, there was a widely held belief (propagated by Ojukwu and other Biafran leaders) that defeat for Biafra would be met by mass genocidal massacres by the federal government. If Ojukwu believed this, then his escape at the end of the war is deplorable. After over a million Igbos were killed (90% of whom were civilians), Ojukwu fled in the last days of the war when his people were at their lowest ebb, despite repeatedly promising throughout the war that he would never leave them to the mercy of the federal troops. If he believed that all his people would be massacred, then his flight to a exile abroad and refusal to stand side by side with them to finish a war he led them into, cannot be applauded.

http://www.pointblanknews.com/Special_Reports/os4390.html

Akanbi_edu: He he. I saw this post yesterday when it was 5 pages only to meet it at 24 pages today, less than 24hrs!!! Don't you people rest I have been trying to locate that snake called Beaf to come in with his SE/SS talks but alas, it appears he only values SE/SS alliance when Jonathan is concerned. Our northern posters must be having a swell time too on this thread as I have not seen a comment from known supposed northerners even though this thread is supposed to be on Hausa/Fulani and Yoruba.

How come it turned out to be another Igbo-Yoruba e-war?

Desola:
Ibos, clearly are the orchestrers of Nigeria's misfortune, they caused our malaise of today. Awolowo and Akintola saw through these people and they warned up to beware of the "ibo alakuko" but the British and Azikwe, out of their greed brought this curse called Nigeria upon us.

Desola:
D4mn! Ojukwu could have been a hero; reverred by other southern regions now. Why did he have to be so greedy? He just believed that he could take it all.

Giving all these antecedents, it makes me even more angry that the ibos can point fingers at any region or group of people in the Nigerian project for their downfall.

Ibos, clearly are the orchestrers of Nigeria's misfortune, they caused our malaise of today. Awolowo and Akintola saw through these people and they warned up to beware of the "ibo alakuko" but the British and Azikwe, out of their greed brought this curse called Nigeria upon us.

deal_ordea: To put an end to this thread!!!!

REST IN PEACE NIGERIA
1960-2015....55 years old since independence....

YORUBA WON the war and THE IGBOS LOST IT AlL

Peace out

Katsumoto:

I am sorry but not all of Yoruba history is oral. There are written accounts of Yoruba from many eminent historians; many of them Europeans.

Let me remind you that it was a Yoruba man, Bishop Ajayi Crowther, who wrote the primer for Igbo language. That fact alone demonstrates that Yoruba's were recording their history much earlier than Ndigbo.

To correct another ignorant statement, the emir of Ilorin is not from the same bloodline as Dan Fodio.

One_Naira:
The rest of us are ready and just waiting for the signature of each region or "war" as Dokunbo is screaming about. Simple as that!!!!!

One_Naira:

Then do as MOST REGIONs in Nigeria has been clamoring for. Both SE, SS and MB have asked for separation of this f2ked up Nation. The only people dated so far still fighting against the future of the hell of a nation are SW and North. The north is slowing joining the bandwagon of separation too. Igbo deemed Nigeria as a curse upon us too and Igbos do not want to live in the same nation with Yoruba and North. We sure as heck aren't hiding it, we've been saying it since day 1. The SS is starting to say the same thing and similar to Igbos, they aren't hiding it, they are very vocal about that ish. The MB on the other hand, do not want to live in the same nation with north. Noone want to live in this nation with eachother. Now do us all a favor and get your leaders together so we all can SEPARATE away from eachother rather than them going around trying to shut down any term of separation conducted by different groups of different region. The Igbos are ready, SS is ready (heck ogini just pulled out few weeks ago), the MB are ready, the only people still holding and forcing this country down everyone's throat are SW and North. One minute you are for one nigeria, the next you people are clamoring for something different. The rest of us are ready and just waiting for the signature of each region or "war" as Dokunbo is screaming about. Simple as that!!!!!

dayokanu:

Exactly, But Igbos are naturally dumb.

Ojukus corpse should have been left for pigs to eat for what he did to 1m Igbo civilians

I mean who does the below

During the war, there was a widely held belief (propagated by Ojukwu and other Biafran leaders) that defeat for Biafra would be met by mass genocidal massacres by the federal government. If Ojukwu believed this, then his escape at the end of the war is deplorable. After over a million Igbos were killed (90% of whom were civilians), Ojukwu fled in the last days of the war when his people were at their lowest ebb, despite repeatedly promising throughout the war that he would never leave them to the mercy of the federal troops. If he believed that all his people would be massacred, then his flight to a exile abroad and refusal to stand side by side with them to finish a war he led them into, cannot be applauded

Da infamous: parasites can never be ready....

texazzpete:

This is how you know children on Nairaland...bleating about war. War is not a nice thing at all. Go and speak to any surviving war veteran and they'll tell you that it's not nearly as glamorous as the 'Rambo' movies make it seem to be.
Be rushing for war. More likely than not, you will die bleeding and broken in a godforsaken gutter, with your entrails slowly sliding out of your stomach after being hit by shrapnel

Even the Asari Dokubo that is shouting, he will find out rather rapidly that true war is vastly different from ambushing outnumbered soldiers guarding oil facilities.

A greedy Awo desperate for presidency (even when he has the brain of a rat) Went on to deceive Yoruba people with 'Awo Policies' that has left millions of Yoruba almajiris walking all the streets of yorobacaves while Igbos are making money on top of them and using them to make money. After being frustrated of losing the presidency to a 29 year old gowon. Awo went on a lipton and otapiapia drinking spree. Abandoning his Yoruba proteges to Almajiri modeled policies.

Mr. Globe:
[size=30pt]Fifthly it was the lie that Gowon and the northern leaders fed to Awolowo that he would be made President of the country after the war and after being effectively being made de facto Prime Minister under Gowon during the war that got Awoloo to support them.[/size]




That is the history there. No propaganda can change that. Just like Yoruba people will never be taking seriously in the committee of nations.

God bless Femi Kani-Kayode!!! I call the moderators to now lock this thread!

Katsumoto:
The problem with some Igbo sons is that they believe they are smarter than others. Zik reneged on several agreements with Awo pre-independence, Zik was part of the government that jailed Awo, yet Awo should have supported Biafra.

It is important to contextualize Awo’s actions before and during the Civil war. To do so accurately, one must scrutinize the actions of all parties pre-Independence, post-Independence, and pre-Civil war.

In 1957, the Governor-General, Sir James Robertson, gave the three regions the choice of self-autonomy and independence but it had to be a majority decision. Awo voted for independence for the Western Region, Ahmadu Bello said the North wasn't ready for self-governance and would prefer to remain under British rule. Zik voted to put off Independence for the Eastern region, preferring to wait for the North to be ready. Zik had the choice of a country for the Eastern region but he wanted Nigeria at all cost. Similarly, at the same constitutional conference in London, Awo wanted a secession clause inserted into the constitution but Zik and Bello refused. Guess who would later want secession.

Now fast forward to the general election in 1959. The North won the most seats in the house. Awo offered to join a coalition with Zik, with Zik as Prime Minister (the PM had the real power) but Zik preferred to form a coalition with the North and accepted a redundant position as Governor-General with no real powers.
When Zik aligned with the North in 1959, guess who got most of the ministerial and administrative positions allocated to the South? Yes, you guessed it, the Igbos. The Yorubas and other Groups were left on the sidelines until Akintola broke away from the AG with the help of who? Zik and Okpara who thought that Akintola would defect to their party but played a fast one by preferring to form his own party and aligning with the North. Now when the situation of the Igbo changed with Akintola joining Balewa's government with positions held by Igbo now going to Akintola's supporters, what do you think happened next? Coup by Igbo officers.

In 1962, there were problems in the Western Region between Awo and Akintola who both belonged to the Action Group. Akintola was sacked but due to actions of NCNC (Zik's Party) members, the removal of Akintola wasn't effected. Balewa and Zik imposed a state of emergency on the West because of chair throwing in the Western House yet there were no states of emergency in the North and East for far more violent actions on the streets there (the TIV crisis and the Okrika riots). Awo was subsequently jailed on trumped up charges.

Now after the imprisonment of Awo, Zik thought that his party NCNC would take control of the Western region but Akintola decided to form his own party (NNDP) rather than join the NCNC. In the elections of December 1964, NNDP took control of the Western region. The NCNC cried that elections were rigged. According to Fazil Ope-Agbe (Akintola's right hand man), the ensuing mayhem in the West was sponsored by Okpara and Zik. With the AG in retreat, NCNC calculated that if Akintola's party fell apart, the NCNC would be in a position to pick the pieces. This is not far-fetched considering Zik's antecedents in the West.

With Akintola holding firm, NCNC didn't gain the advantage it sought. One year later, a group of officers who were predominantly Igbo, executed a coup that eliminated leading politicians and officers from the North and West. Despite the murder of these Northern and Western leaders, the Northerners, who were senior partners in the coalition with the East, picked another leader, Dipcharima, to replace Balewa. The East, even though it was the junior partner, had selected Madiwe. When the North refused to budge to this proposal, Nwafor Orizu, chose to handover to Aguiyi-Ironsi another Igbo man and in the process, Nigeria’s nascent democracy was truncated.
Awo was imprisoned on trumped up charges by the Balewa/Zik government and thrown in prison. Awo wrote to Ironsi in March 1966 requesting to be released from prison but was obviously ignored. Awo would later be released from prison by Gowon and driven home in Murtala Mohamed’s car. Despite his time in prison and his political difficulties with Zik/okpara, Awo would assume the role of a statesman and try to find a solution to the impasse between the North and the East. That speech by Awo to the Western regional house was a very noble one. Awo would also travel to Enugu to advise Ojukwu against armed conflict.

So putting all these into consideration, would any sane person expect Awo to simply just follow the East in a secession bid? Awo's loyalty was to his people. He did what he felt was best for his people concerning the circumstances. Despite all that, Awo advised Ojukwu not to go to war. When Awo offered to organise a meeting with Northern officers, Ojukwu replied, 'On the specific question of whether there is a possibility of contract with the North, the answer is at the battle field.'

Other than trying to play the role of an elder statesman and finding a solution to the problem, Awo owed no loyalty to the East. To betray the East, he would have had to have come to an agreement with the leaders in the East. Other than this speech which the OP and other Biafrans erroneously rely (due to a bad educational system), what other reasons exist to suggest a betrayal? NADA

Goddess12: If you are really yoruba, then you are OMO ALE JATI JATI, if a man like you comes home and find a female family member being raped to death, I am sure you will shake the man's hand and serve him tea, please go and cover your head with veil and walk straight into the deepest part of the lagoon.

Desola:

As long as that makes you sleep at night.

van bonattel:

The igbo have won more territory at peace than at war, why fight again?

deal_ordea:

Sharap you!!! How many territory have you won so far?? Was it the SS or MB that your run-away warlord won?? Your ignorant ojukwu lack wisdom of fighting a war and he lost it all!!! No wonder the young shall grow of the new generation of the igbos celebrated the mumu warlord without known fully well of what what happen during the war!!!

From what have read so far about the war, cow's were used as bait to know were the igbos lay ambush for almighty Banjo to specifically located were the igbos are hiding!!! Does any of you igbos know about that... MUMU low life people.. Sorry for the mis-typo, am using my phone

YORUBA WON THE FIGHT.... Accept that

Katsumoto:

Yes, Gowon created states to undermine Ojukwu but that was after Ojukwu refused to accept decree 8 because it would have meant that Ojukwu could be replaced by Gowon.


Is Ojukwu a Hero or a Villain? by Max Siollun
[/size]
January is a key month in Nigeria’s history. This January marks the 41st anniversary of the end of the Nigerian civil war, and the 44th anniversary of the Aburi accords – the debate in Aburi in Ghana which nearly pre-empted the war. The pivotal figure in both events is Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu.

Ojukwu is a man that evokes conflicting emotions. To some he is a born leader and a hero. To others he is an ambitious man that tried to break up his country. Where Ojukwu is concerned, no one is a neutral. The conflicting opinions on him are emblematic of his inconsistent personality and history. Ojukwu is an educated man that entered a profession that many Nigerians regarded at the time as a profession for the uneducated. He is a southerner born in the north who fought a three year long war against the north. He is a man who once led an attempt to secede from Nigeria, but later ran for President of Nigeria.

[size=12pt]A leader must be judged by what benefits or misfortune he has brought to his people. Has Ojukwu brought anything positive to his people? His record is grim. The “accomplishments” Ojukwu has brought his people include:

• Leading them in a brutal civil war they had no chance of winning, and which resulted in a million of them dying.
• Even when it became clear that his people were starving to death in massive numbers, he continued the war which was doomed from the start.
• He fled and left his people after the war.
• The civil war caused his people to be stereotyped as disloyal and led to an unwritten discrimination against them.
[/size]

Yet he is still revered. Ojukwu’s first official involvement in politics came after a group of young army Majors overthrew the democratic government in January 1966. Contrary to what has been written in some quarters, Ojukwu refused to cooperate with the Majors – including Major Nzeogwu. Ojukwu was appointed the Military Governor of the Eastern Region after the coup. This appointment was ironic as he had spent very little of his life in the east. Ojukwu was the most politically active of the four military governors. By mid-1966 the army was imploding and another army coup was staged by northern soldiers during which hundreds of Igbo soldiers (including Ironsi) were killed. A central plank of this coup was the elimination of Ojukwu. The ‘pointman’ who was to execute the coup in the eastern region was a young Lieutenant named Shehu Musa Yar’Adua (the older brother of Nigeria’s former President).

Aburi – Ojukwu’s Finest Hour

After being dragged to the brink of an abyss by two military coups in 1966, and pogroms which followed them, Ojukwu had refused to attend any meetings of the Supreme Military Council until the Ghanaian leader Lt-General Joseph Ankrah brokered a meeting in the neutral territory of Aburi in Ghana in January 1967. This was Ojukwu’s finest hour. Ojukwu prepared thoroughly and came armed with notes and secretaries. He managed to secure an agreement to devolve power from the federal government to the regions. This turned Nigeria into a confederation. In the words of one writer Ojukwu “secured the signatures of the SMC to documents which would have had the effect of turning Nigeria into little more than a customs union".

[size=12pt]The federal government attempted to implement the Aburi agreement in diluted form by enacting a modified Constitution (Suspension and Modification) Decree (Decree cool which turned Nigeria into a de facto confederation, but which did not incorporate ALL of the agreements reached at Aburi. Federal civil servants argued that to implement all of the Aburi agreements would lead to the dissolution of the federation. Ojukwu declined to accept the initial draft of the Decree and insisted on a full and complete implementation of the Aburi accords.

As the weaker party, could Ojukwu still have showed greater pragmatism to spare further suffering for his people? Even with its flaws, Decree 8 gave him 90% of what he wanted. The U.S. State Department was “impressed by extent to which Decree 8 appears to meet many of East's fundamental demands for much greater regional autonomy. While recognizing that it stops short of granting everything Ojukwu wants, Dept. considers Decree represents genuine effort by FMG and other Mil Govs to implement Aburi agreements and to retain Nigerian unity in form which least objectionable to East…..Consulate Enugu has reported that some prominent and moderate Easterners may incline toward above view".

WINNER TAKES ALL – NIGERIA’S MALAISE[/size]

In the “winner takes all” mentality that is so symptomatic of Nigerian politics, Ojukwu unrealistically held out for 100% of his demands and in the end, received 0%. His refusal to be tactically flexible by considering options other than secession, placed him and his people in a worse position than they started in. Rather than turning Nigeria into a confederation (which is what Decree 8 did), Ojukwu’s give no inch stance gave the federal government an opportunity to overrun the Eastern Region, carve the country into several states and concentrate massive powers in the central government. Forty years later many Nigerians now call for the restructuring of Nigeria, and for devolution of power to its regions. The opportunity to achieve this was squandered 45 years ago at Aburi.

Could Ojukwu have achieved his objectives – albeit at a later date, had he been more patient? The old adage is that “the best comes to those who wait”. Could he have accepted confederation in the short-term, then waited patiently until such time that the Eastern Region had enough weapons and infrastructure to sustain a fully independent state in the future?

WAS SECESSION A MISTAKE?

When armed confrontation with the federal government was imminent, Ojukwu knew that the Eastern Region had absolutely no chance of victory in an armed conflict with the federal government. Where did he obtain the confidence to secede nonetheless? It certainly was not from international opinion. Western diplomats warned him that they would not recognize a new state of Biafra. In a telegram from the US Department of State to the US Embassy in Nigeria dated March 24, 1967, the U.S. warned:

"East making serious mistake if it under assumption that international recognition of independent East would be easily obtained; our info clearly to contrary". This was the consistent US position as far back as July/August 1966. The US had previously noted that “Both US Ambassador Mathews and UKHICOM Cumming-Bruce have made strong representations in opposition to secession of any area of Nigeria. We consider such development would be major political and economic disaster for Nigerian people and severe setback to independent Africa."

Yet he declared secession, knowing full well that powerful countries would not recognize his new state, and that federal troops would invade immediately after secession. Ojukwu doubtless possessed outstanding leadership and motivational skills which he used admirably to pull his people solidly behind the war effort. However, exactly how did he possibly believe that the Eastern Region (armed only with a few elderly World War 2 era rifles) could succeed against an enemy armed with limitless mortars, machine guns, tanks, armoured personnel carriers, trucks and air force jets. One does not have to be a military strategist to see the folly of this decision. [size=12pt]


THE MID-WEST INVASION – A MISTAKE?

Under considerable military pressure from the federal army, in 1967 Ojukwu ordered Biafran soldiers to invade the Mid-West Region as a way to relieve military pressure on Biafra’s land, and to force the federal army onto the defensive. The invasion caught the federal government totally off guard and threatened a stunning military humiliation for it.


However, did the invasion of the Mid-West turn into a public relations disaster? The Military Governor of the Mid-West Lt-Colonel Ejoor had repeatedly stated that due to the multi-ethnic composition of his region, the "Mid-West will not be a battleground". Ejoor had even refused to let federal troops cross through his territory. Hence it was regarded as neutral demilitarised territory. However the invasion forced Ejoor off the fence he had been sitting on. He fled to Lagos, now firmly opposed to Biafra. Ojukwu had alienated a potential figure of friendly neutrality. The Mid-West was neutral until that invasion and may not have joined the war but for it.

Additionally, the invasion gave the rest of Nigeria the mistaken impression that Biafra's cause was not only about survival, but also about territorial conquest. It escalated the conflict and gave the federal army a free hand to start using heavy weapons, artillery and punishing air raids. Lt-Col Murtala Muhammed's 2nd division of the Nigerian army carried out massive reprisals against Igbos and murdered several hundred as punishment.

FLIGHT TO IVORY COAST

During the war, there was a widely held belief (propagated by Ojukwu and other Biafran leaders) that defeat for Biafra would be met by mass genocidal massacres by the federal government. If Ojukwu believed this, then his escape at the end of the war is deplorable. After over a million Igbos were killed (90% of whom were civilians), Ojukwu fled in the last days of the war when his people were at their lowest ebb, despite repeatedly promising throughout the war that he would never leave them to the mercy of the federal troops. If he believed that all his people would be massacred, then his flight to a exile abroad and refusal to stand side by side with them to finish a war he led them into, cannot be applauded.

http://www.pointblanknews.com/Special_Reports/os4390.html

Dede1:


I thought you have renounced the habit of “copy and paste” senseless falsehood from obscure journals. What was the bone of contention during the 1957 truncated constitutional conference and how was the conflict resolved when it resumed?