When some people attack china Achebe for stating the obvious it baffles me,funnier is the fact that the Yorubas have taken it very far by calling him names,one fact remains none of u losers will ever get to the level of Achebe.
Obafemi Awolowo and Chinua Achebe’s tale of fantasy
Posted by: Femi Fani-Kayode Posted date: October 08, 2012
I am a historian and I have always believed that if we want to talk history, we must be dispassionate, objective and factual. We must take the emotion out of it and we must always tell the truth. The worst thing that anyone can do is to try to re-write history and indulge in historical revisionism. This is especially so when the person is a reverred figure and a literary icon. Sadly it is in the light of such historical revisionism that I view Professor Chinua Achebe’s assertion (which is reflected in his latest and highly celebrated book titled ‘’There Was A Country’) that Chief Obafemi Awolowo, the late and much-loved Leader of the Yoruba, was responsible for the genocide that the igbos suffered during the civil war. This claim is not only false but it is also, frankly speaking, utterly absurd. Not only is Professor Achebe indulging in perfidy, not only is he being utterly dishonest and disengenious but he is also turning history upside down and indulging in what I would describe as ethnic chauvinism.
I am one of those that has always had tremendous sympathy for the igbo cause during the civil war. I am also an admirer of Colonel Emeka Odumegwu Ojukwu who stood up for his people when it mattered the most and when they were being slaughtered by rampaging mobs in the northern part of our country. At least 100,000 igbos were killed in those northern pogroms which took place before the civil war and which indeed led directly to it. This was not only an outrage but it was also a tragedy of monuemental proportions.Yet we must not allow our emotion or our sympathy for the suffering of the igbo at the hands of northern mobs before the war started to becloud our sense of reasoning as regards what actually happened during the prosecution of the war itself. It is important to set the record straight and not to be selective in our application and recollection of the facts when considering what actually led to the starvation of hundreds of thousands of igbo women, children and civilians during that war. And, unlike others, I do not deny the fact that hundreds of thousands were starved to death as a consequence of the blockade that was imposed on Biafra by the Nigerian Federal Government. To deny that this actually happened would a lie. It is a historical fact. Again I do not deny the fact that Awolowo publically defended the blockade and indeed told the world that it was perfectly legitimate for any government to impose such a blockade on the territory of their enemies in times of war. Awolowo said it, this is a matter of historical record and he was qouted in a number of British newspapers as having said so at the time. Yet he spoke nothing but the truth. And whether anyone likes to hear it or not he was absolutely right in what he said. Let me give you an example. During the Second World War a blockade was imposed on Germany, Japan and Italy by the Allied Forces and this was very effective. It weakened the Axis powers considerably and this was one of the reasons why the war ended at the time that it did. If there had been no blockade the Second World War would have gone on for considerably longer. In the case of the Nigerian civil war though the story did not stop at the fact that a blockade was imposed by the Federal Government which led to the suffering, starvation, pain, death and hardship of the civilian igbo population or that Awolowo defended it. That is only half the story.
There was a lot more to it and the fact that Achebe and most of our igbo brothers and sisters always conveniently forget to mention the other half of the story is something that causes some of us from outside igboland considerable concern and never ceases to amaze us. The bitter truth is that if anyone is to be blamed for the hundreds of thousands of igbos that died from starvation during the civil war it was not Chief Awolowo or even General Yakubu Gowon but rather it was Colonel Emeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu himself. I say this because it is a matter of public record and a historical fact that the Federal Government of Nigeria made a very generous offer to Ojukwu and the Biafrans to open a road corridor for food to be ferried to the igbos and to lessen the suffering of their civilian population. This was as a consequence of a deal that was brokered by the international community who were concerned about the suffering of the igbo civilian population and the death and hardship that the blockade was causing to them. Unfortunately Ojukwu turned this down flatly and instead insisted that the food should be flown into Biafra by air in the dead of the night. This was unacceptable to the Federal Government because it meant that the Biafrans could, and indeed would, have used such night flights to smuggle badly needed arms and ammunition into their country for usage by their soldiers. That was where the problem came from and that was the issue. Quite apart from that Ojukwu found it expedient and convenient to allow his people to starve to death and to broadcast it on television screens all over the world in order to attract sympathy for the igbo cause and for propaganda purposes. And this worked beautifully for him.
Ambassador Ralph Uweche, who was the Special Envoy to France for the Biafran Government during the civil war and who is the leader of Ohaeneze, the leading igbo political and socio-cultural organisation today, attested to this in his excellent book titled ‘’Reflections On The Nigerian Civil War’’. That book was factual and honest and I would urge people like Achebe to go and read it well. The self-serving role of Ojukwu and many of the Biafran intelligensia and elites and their insensitivity to the suffering of their own people during the course of the war was well enunciated in that book. The fact of the matter is that the starvation and suffering of hundreds of thousands of igbo men, women and children during the civil war was seen and used as a convenient tool of propaganda by Ojukwu and that is precisely why he rejected the offer of a food corridor by the Nigerian Government. When those that belong to the post civil war generation of the igbo are wondering who was responsible for the genocide and mass starvation of their forefathers during the war they must firstly look within themselves and point their fingers at their own past leaders and certainly not Awolowo or Gowon. The person that was solely responsible for that suffering, for that starvation and for those slow and painful deaths was none other than Colonel Emeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, the leader of Biafra, himself.
I have written many good things about Ojukwu on many occassions in the past and I stand by every word that I have ever said or written about him. In my view he was a man of courage and immense fortitude, he stood against the mass murder of his people in the north and he brought them home and created a safe haven for them in the east. For him, and indeed the whole of Biafra, the war was an attempt to exercise their legitimate right of self-determination and leave Nigeria due to the atrocities that they had been subjected to in the north. I cannot blame him or his people for that and frankly I have always admired his stand. However he was not infallible and he also made some terrible mistakes, just as all great leaders do from time to time. The fact that he rejected the Nigerian Federal Government’s offer of a food corridor was one of those terrible mistakes and this cost him and his people dearly. Professor Chinua Achebe surely ought to have reflected that in his book as well. When it comes to the Nigerian civil war there were no villains or angels. During that brutal conflict no less than two million Nigerians and Biafrans died and the yoruba who, unlike others, did not ever discriminate or attack any non-yorubas that lived in their in their territory before the civil war or carry out any coups or attempted coups, suffered at every point as well. For example prominent yoruba sons and daughters were killed on the night of the first igbo coup of January 1966 and again in the northern ‘’revenge’’ coup of July 1966. Many of our people were also killed in the north before the outbreak of the civil war and again in the mid-west and the east during the course and prosecution of the war itself. It was indeed the predominantly yoruba Third Marine Commando, under the command of General Benjamin Adekunle (the ‘’Black Scorpion”) and later General Olusegun Obasanjo, that not only liberated the mid-west and drove the Biafrans out of there but they also marched into igboland itself, occupied it, defeated the Biafran Army in battle, captured all their major towns and forced the igbo to surrender. Third Marine Commando was made up of yoruba soldiers and I can say without any fear of contradiction that we the yoruba therefore paid a terrible and heavy price as well during the war because many of our boys were killed on the war front by the Biafrans.
The sacrifice of these proud sons of the south-west that died in battle to keep Nigeria one must not be belittled, mocked or ignored. Clearly it was not only the igbo that suffered during the civil war. Neither does it auger well for the unity of our nation for Achebe and the igbo intelligensia that are hailing his self-serving book to caste aspertions on the character, role and noble intentions of the late and reverred Leader of the Yoruba, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, during the civil war. The man may have made one or two mistakes in the past like every other great leader and of course there was a deep and bitter political division in yorubaland itself just before the civil war started and throughout the early ‘60’s. Yet by no stretch of the imagination can Awolowo be described as an igbo-hating genocidal maniac and he most certainly did not delight in the starvation of millions of igbo men, women and children as Achebe has tried to suggest. My advice to this respected author is that he should leave Chief Awolowo alone and allow him to continue to rest in peace. This subtle attempt to denigrate the yoruba and their past leaders, to place a question mark on their noble and selfless role in the war and to belittle their efforts and sacrifice to keep Nigeria together as one will always be vigorously resisted by those of us that have the good fortune of still being alive and who are aware of the facts. We will not remain silent and allow anyone, no matter how respected or reverred, to re-write history. Simply put by writing this book and making some of these baseless and nonsensical assertions, Achebe was simply indulging in the greatest mendacity of Nigerian modern history and his crude distortion of the facts has no basis in reality or rationality. We must not mistake fiction and story telling for historical fact. The two are completely different. The truth is that Professor Chinua Achebe owes the Awolowo family and the yoruba people a big apology for his tale of pure fantasy.
Yeske!: ^^ If you attack Hitler, you're in trouble with the Germans? Awolowo = Hitler.
you people don't have hero - Ojukwu was never a hero he deserted your fathers when they need him most and you the sons show him how unhappy you are by not voting him ... we have a hero - Awolowo.
ubandire: When some people attack china Achebe for stating the obvious it baffles me,funnier is the fact that the Yorubas have taken it very far by calling him names,one fact remains none of u losers will ever get to the level of Achebe.
Are you stupiid or deft? ples choose one between stupiid or deft and tell me which one u are. Do you want to tell me that at your age you have not heard about the starvation against Biafrans in the war? You as an unbiased fellow have you asked who and who implemented the law?
is anybody disputing the starvation policy here? or is your brain out of credit? - the issue here is that the policy was not to wipe out the igbos like the beret wearing toad stated but it was meant to bring the war to a stop cos its senseless in the first place...you can't be fighting me and expect me to be feeding you but when you are now taking the food provided for the masses to feed soldiers fighting against me i have to do something and some people will suffer infact before the
Like I said in my previous post elsewhere......I will always want to put some measure of blame on Pa Awolowo.
We had the chance to finish off these damn niggas then, even at the risk of been condemned by the international community.
He should have poisoned the food been send to the fore-bearers of the iboz making noise here today...with that, we will not be making these back and forth arguments.
The few surviving ones should have been send to the farms as human-donkey.
This is what you get if you give Iboz any ounce of chance....they will come back to hurt you for your kindness.
ilugunboy: Like I said in my previous post elsewhere......I will always want to put some measure of blame on Pa Awolowo.
We had the chance to finish off these damn niggas then, even at the risk of been condemned by the international community.
He should have poisoned the food been send to the fore-bearers of the iboz making noise here today...with that, we will not be making these back and forth arguments.
The few surviving ones should have been send to the farms as human-donkey.
This is what you get if you give Iboz any ounce of chance....they will come back to hurt you for your kindness.
I agree with you completely. When I speak people think I am extreme and Its Yorubas who cant think deep that would accomodate the Igbos who have an agelong hatred for Yorubas.
SLA Akintola was my granduncle and he obviously knew the Igbos more than most politician of that time thats why he called them Ibo Alakuko.
Find his clip on youtube and listen to it. It shows that the Igbos have always been this way from time immemorial
Listen to part 1 , 2 and 3 of these and you would understand the Ibos better. The people that knew Ibos for who they were are Akintola and benjamin Adekunle
ilugunboy: Like I said in my previous post elsewhere......I will always want to put some measure of blame on Pa Awolowo.
We had the chance to finish off these damn niggas then, even at the risk of been condemned by the international community.
He should have poisoned the food been send to the fore-bearers of the iboz making noise here today...with that, we will not be making these back and forth arguments.
The few surviving ones should have been send to the farms as human-donkey.
This is what you get if you give Iboz any ounce of chance....they will come back to hurt you for your kindness.
Monkey shitt-licker, you guys are lucky, the war wasn't just East vs Yorugba. Yorubagbaland would have been like the old oyo which the fulanis sacked and they ran away to a new location. Its still not late, try any nonsense and see yourselves as refugees in Benin, Bigoted fool.
Ngodigha1: Monkey shitt-licker, you guys are lucky, the war wasn't just East vs Yorugba. Yorubagbaland would have been like the old oyo which the fulanis sacked and they ran away to a new location. Its still not late, try any nonsense and see yourselves as refugees in Benin, Bigoted fool.
Yorubas are smarter than you and would defeat you every single time you come up with your uprising.
Battles are fought with brain and not brawns thats why Awolowo, Adekunle and Obasanjo were at the fore front of the humiliating defeat of Biafra.
Start another war and when Another Adekunle descend on you, You would shout genocide again. pussyass niggas
I agree with you completely. When I speak people think I am extreme and Its Yorubas who cant think deep that would accomodate the Igbos who have an agelong hatred for Yorubas.
SLA Akintola was my granduncle and he obviously knew the Igbos more than most politician of that time thats why he called them Ibo Alakuko.
Find his clip on youtube and listen to it. It shows that the Igbos have always been this way from time immemorial
Listen to part 1 , 2 and 3 of these and you would understand the Ibos better. The people that knew Ibos for who they were are Akintola and benjamin Adekunle
And he was murdered with just one gun shot on that his ugly tribal-marked face. Rest in peace, the first man to fight Awo the murderer. The firstman to show to the world that Awo was a muster. Thanks to those dirty slaps you landed Awo in Jos.
Ngodigha1: Monkey shitt-licker, you guys are lucky, the war wasn't just East vs Yorugba. Yorubagbaland would have been like the old oyo which the fulanis sacked and they ran away to a new location. Its still not late, try any nonsense and see yourselves as refugees in Benin, Bigoted fool.
Why not PM a venue for me....so that we can personally settle this score between me and you finally.....I need to really put you in your place once and for all
Why not PM a venue for me....so that we can personally settle this score between me and you finally.....I need to really put you in your place once and for all
Asz gobbling monkey, you caword should P.M as soon as possible. Bastardd.
Ngodigha1: And he was murdered with just one gun shot on that his ugly tribal-marked face. Rest in peace, the first man to fight Awo the murderer. The firstman to show to the world that Awo was a muster. Thanks to those dirty slaps you landed Awo in Jos.
Real warlords dont flee to Abidjan below is what they do
Shortly afterward, a detachment of soldiers led by Captain Emmanuel Nwobosi arrived at Akintola’s residence. Upon sighting the soldiers, Akintola opened fire – lightly wounding a few of them including Capt Nwobosi. After bravely fighting for his life and engaging the soldiers in a gunfight, Akintola was shot dead by Nwobosi and his men.
Real warlords dont flee to Abidjan below is what they do
Shortly afterward, a detachment of soldiers led by Captain Emmanuel Nwobosi arrived at Akintola’s residence. Upon sighting the soldiers, Akintola opened fire – lightly wounding a few of them including Capt Nwobosi. After bravely fighting for his life and engaging the soldiers in a gunfight, Akintola was shot dead by Nwobosi and his men.
He wasn't a coward and has never been a coward. He is also my hero. Reason, because of the dirty slaps he delivered on Awo's face in Jos. He also highlighted to the world that Awo was a beast and people didn't take him seriously. RIP Akintola, the man that landed awo slaps and landed him in prison as well. I hereby advice GEJ to make Ladoke Akintola university Ogbomosho to a fed university.
Ngodigha1: He wasn't a coward and has never been a coward. He is also my hero. Reason, because of the dirty slaps he delivered on Awo's face in Jos. He also highlighted to the world that Awo was a beast and people didn't take him seriously. RIP Akintola, the man that landed awo slaps and landed him in prison as well. I hereby advice GEJ to make Ladoke Akintola university Ogbomosho to a fed university.
Foolish iboz....always without any stickler to principle....thought you said all Yorubas are cowards....you are now recanting publicly that your foolish age long assertion?
Ngodigha1: He wasn't a coward and has never been a coward. He is also my hero. Reason, because of the dirty slaps he delivered on Awo's face in Jos. He also highlighted to the world that Awo was a beast and people didn't take him seriously. RIP Akintola, the man that landed awo slaps and landed him in prison as well. I hereby advice GEJ to make Ladoke Akintola university Ogbomosho to a fed university.
you are so comfortable with writing rubbish and half-truths ... i won't blame you its a function of your Igbo DNA - APPARENTLY ACHEBE'S SIN OF HALR-TRUTH IS ACTUALLY GENE MOTIVATED
Foolish iboz....always without any stickler to principle....thought you said all Yorubas are cowards....you are now recanting publicly that your foolish age long assertion?
ASZHOLE, Tell me where I said all yorubas are cowards, 99.5% are including you. Sucker.
LocalChamp: Achebe needs cure from Awophobia – Adebanjo On October 9, 2012 · In Interview 7:17 pm
BY CLIFFORD NDUJIHE
FIRST generation Awoist and elder statesmen, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, yesterday picked holes in Professor Chinua Achebe’s accusation that Chief Obafemi Awolowo was part of General Yakubu Gowon’s cabinet that initiated pogrom and genocide as a policy against the Igbo during the civil war.
In a 16-paragraph, 2109-word rejoinder to Professor Achebe’s book, “There was a country,” yesterday, Adebanjo said instead of vilification, the late sage should be commended for his efforts in minimizing the damage that could have arisen from the war.
He said the civil war could have been avoided if Biafran Leader, Colonel Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu had not reneged on his promise to Awolowo to negotiate with the Federal Government and kick-started the war by attacking the Mid-West.
Claiming that Awolowo did not hate the Igbo and made efforts to rehabilitate the Igbo after the war, he said Professor Achebe had displayed his deep-rooted hatred for Awolowo and the Yoruba race with his comments.
He said: “If it is true that Chief Awolowo was such an architect of pogrom and genocide against the Igbos, how would Professor Achebe explain the fact that there were no incidents of pogrom or genocide against the Igbos in any part of the then Western Region composed mainly of the Yorubas, and Chief Awolowo’s primary sphere of influence.
Rather, the Igbos who fled the West on the clarion call of Ojukwu for them to return to the East had their properties kept safe for them, with the rents collected on the properties duly accounted for at the end of the civil war and paid to such Igbo owners.
It should be noted that no incidents of “abandoned property” occurred in the Western region – Chief Awolowo’s zone, rather the controversy around such property were restricted to areas such as Port Harcourt and the Northern region.”
Wondering what Achebe wanted to achieve by exhuming the dark years of the nation’s history at a time a host of Yoruba and Igbo leaders were collaborating to find a lasting solution to Nigeria’s problems, Adebanjo said he was distressed that Achebe be could be credited with the comments.
The rejoinder read: “I am sad and distressed that a literary giant and an elder statesman such as Professor Chinua Achebe should be credited with the statement attributed to him in his latest book on the Nigerian Civil War at this time in Nigeria’s political history, over 40 years after the end of the Nigeria Civil War.
“His statements however, are not unfamiliar to those of us who were around during the civil war, and who knew what falsehood and half-truths were bandied around then especially from “Biafra Radio” and supporters of the Biafra cause, notable amongst whom was Professor Chinua Achebe.
Some thought they were effusions from supporters of Biafra in order to enlist international support for Ojukwu but many on the other hand attributed Professor Achebe’s position to his pathological hatred for Chief Awolowo and the Yoruba race.
“Professor Achebe has accused Chief Awolowo of being part of General Gowon’s cabinet that initiated pogrom and genocide as a policy against the Igbos. Yet, Professor Achebe cannot claim ignorance of the fact that specific recorded instances of pogrom and genocide were a consequence of the 2nd military coup of July 1966 in which the Northern Soldiers and Northerners committed series of atrocities against the Igbos in the North.
At this time Chief Awolowo was still in Calabar prison serving his jail term of treasonable felony, it was after his release from prison that Gen. Gowon invited him to join his cabinet as vice Chairman of the Federal Executive Council and Minister of Finance.
The war was already brewing at such time. At the risk of his life, and against the advice of his cabinet colleagues Chief Awolowo made contact with Ojukwu and met him in Enugu to dissuade him from going to war. In his one-on-one meeting with Ojukwu, Chief Awolowo tried to persuade Ojukwu to come to a round table conference with the Federal Government to iron out his differences with the government.
But despite the assurances then Colonel Ojukwu gave to Chief Awolowo that he had accepted to dialogue, Ojukwu reneged and a few weeks later attacked the Midwest and thus declared war against the Federal government, which is how the civil war became inevitable.
“The above facts are verifiable. Fair minded persons cannot accuse Chief Awolowo of being part of the intellectual arm of a cabinet that intentionally initiated the pogrom of the Igbos, when in fact the record shows he took positive steps to persuade Ojukwu to avoid the conflict.
Whilst the war was raging after the liberation of part of the then South East which then included Port Harcourt and Calabar, Chief Awolowo visited Enugu and Port Harcourt where he saw Kwashiorkor (malnourished) victims for the first time.
He wondered how this could happen in view of the quantity of food items sent through international agencies to the civilians in these areas. He was then informed that the food never got to the civilians, the food items were cornered by the soldiers who were feeding to the detriment of the civilians. One can imagine such a report being provided to a cabinet filled with military officers conducting a war.
It should not be surprising that to avoid feeding enemy soldiers, the Federal Government at the time put a stop to the delivery of food meant for the civilians population that was being hijacked by Biafran soldiers.
This is what Achebe mischievously called the deliberate starvation of the Igbos. “I would like Professor Achebe, if he can; to make reference to any publication where Awolowo made the statement that starvation was a legitimate tool of war. Furthermore, if such starvation ended with the end of the war, Professor Achebe should explain why if the specific objective of the policy was to reduce Chief Awolowo’s enemies, why did he not influence the continuation or doubling up on such policy when Nigerian troops had control of Biafran territory at the end of the war.
One would have thought the charge of genocide should have been better directed at the leaders of Biafra who had first hand knowledge of the starvation in the area they controlled, and yet did not as they could, bring an end to the war sooner before two million people, mainly members of future generations had died of starvation as professor Achebe claimed.
“Also, during the war it became known that the Nigerian currency, which Biafran soldiers had looted from Central Bank locations in Biafra occupied areas were being exchanged to buy arms for the Biafran army.
To put a stop to this Chief Awolowo, as the federal commissioner for finance, suddenly changed the Nigerian currency without the prior knowledge of members of the cabinet. Even General Gowon, who was the head of state, was informed only a day before the announcement.
These two major policies of stopping food meant for civilians which was being ambushed by the Biafrans soldiers and the sudden change of Nigerian currency were two factors that quickly brought the misery of the civil war to an end.
“It should be noted that Chief Awolowo’s prudent management of the Nigerian economy made it possible for the Federal Government to prosecute the civil war without borrowing a kobo from the outside world. This achievement was acclaimed globally. It is this policy that quickly put an end to the insurgence that Professor Achebe has interpreted as punitive measure against the Igbos.
“At the end of the civil war, a problem did arise with respect as to how to verify the amounts creditable to Biafrans who made claims to money held in Nigerian banks before the declaration of war. Unfortunately there were no records to confirm the amount in savings or current accounts held by a good number of such Biafran claimants. As a result, a committee was set up by the Central Bank, the members of which were unknown to Chief Awolowo. Such committee recommended an across the board payment of 20 pounds to every claimant.
It is therefore most uncharitable for Professor Achebe to put the blame of the payment of this amount on Chief Awolowo. Furthermore, to extrapolate from this policy a deliberate policy to stunt or obliterate the economy of the Igbos does not stand up to critical review and is rather far fetched. Firstly, what is an administrator to do in the face of such unverifiable claims? Pay every all and sundry claim? As Chief Awolowo has stated, doing so would have bankrupted Nigeria at the time.
Secondly, common sense would suggest that claims that such sums as were left behind were very substantial needed to be substantiated. It should be noted that the percentage of all Nigerians in general with substantial amounts in banks during that period was limited. In addition, with the advent of impending war, the natural reaction is a run on banks to withdraw all such sums or as much as possible, particularly for Igbos then deemed to be fleeing to a new country Biafra.
Under such context, the payment of 20 pounds (a substantial sum at the time) to all claimants without proof of specific amounts due to them was not altogether an unreasonable policy. More to the point, this was not a policy recommendation that can be specifically attributable to Chief Awolowo, but rather the recommendation of a committee of the Central Bank set up at the time,
“It is noteworthy that after the division of the country to 12 states by General Gowon in 1968, the East central state composed mainly of Igbos emerged. Chief Awolowo then diligently saved the monthly allocation due to Igbos during the war and released same to them at the end of the war.
The African Continental Bank (ACB) and the Cooperative Bank for Eastern Nigeria the two main Financial Institutions of the Igbos at the time and which had become moribund during the civil war were rejuvenated by Chief Awolowo by his releasing substantial funds to them for active operation. Professor Achebe would have to explain how these actions beneficial to the Igbo emanate from somebody whom he claims has hatred for the Igbos or harboured intent to deliberately and systematically exterminate the Igbos or deny their right of existence as a group.
Furthermore, after the civil war, Professor Achebe can not claim ignorance of the fact that Chief Awolowo personally wrote to prominent Igbos (including Professor Achebe himself) who had fled the country during the war to come back home.
One of those who responded to the call and whose home coming was facilitated personally by Chief Awolowo was the late Chief M.C.K Ajuluchukwu the former editor of Dr. Azikiwe’s Newspaper “The West African Pilot” and his wife a medical doctor who were then based in Germany. Chief Awolowo facilitated the employment of the wife at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital and also latter employed Chief Ajuluchukwu himself as the director of research and publicity of his party – The Unity Party of Nigeria.
“If it is true that Chief Awolowo was such an architect of pogrom and genocide against the Igbos, how would Professor Achebe explain the fact that there were no incidents of pogrom or genocide against the Igbos in any part of the then Western Region composed mainly of the Yorubas, and Chief Awolowo’s primary sphere of influence. Rather, the Igbos who fled the West on the clarion call of Ojukwu for them to return to the East had their properties kept safe for them, with the rents collected on the properties duly accounted for at the end of the civil war and paid to such Igbo owners.
It should be noted that no incidents of “abandoned property” occurred in the western region – Chief Awolowo’s zone, rather the controversy around such property were restricted to areas such as Port Harcourt and the Northern region.
“Whilst it is true to say Chief Awolowo had the ambition to rule the country, it is unkind to say he wanted to achieve this by wiping out the Igbos whom he considered an impediment. On the contrary, Chief Awolowo’s position has always been to rule the country with other progressive elements from all parts of the country including the Igbos.
This he demonstrated in 1959 after the pre independence general election when he offered to serve under the late Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe as prime minister, with him as minister of finance. The NCNC (the party lead by Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe) turned the offer down and preferred an alliance with the NPC under the late Saudana of Sokoto Sir Ahmadu Bello. This incident was referred to by the late Dr. M.I Okpara (former premier of the former Eastern Region in an interview in the New Nation Magazine published in 1977 by the veteran journalist Chief Gbolabo Ogunsanwo.
In the interview Dr. Okpara said he will regret to the last day of his life that he did not support the alliance between the Action Group and the NCNC which could have made Dr. Azikiwe the prime minister and Chief Awolowo the minister of finance. Even before the general election of 1983 there were attempts to form an alliance between the UPN led by Chief Awolowo and NPP led by Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe all in an attempt to have progressive forces form an alliance against the conservative NPC. Again this attempt did not materialise due to the opposition by the Yoruba leaders in the NPP at the time. It is also interesting to recollect that at the demise of Chief Awolowo Chief Ojukwu himself remarked that “Awolowo was the best president Nigeria never had”. None of the foregoing suggests a man with hatred for the Igbos.
“Yoruba leaders led by the late senator Abraham Adesanya have been working in close political collaboration with prominent Igbo leaders like Admiral Ndubuisi Kanu a former Governor of Lagos State and Admiral Ebitu Ukiwe a former Chief of general Staff and Professor Ben Nwabueze in an honest attempt to find equitable solutions to the problems of the Country.
The leaders of both ethnic groups have been putting their heads together for the emergence of a progressive Nigeria in peace and unity. It is sad that instead of Professor Achebe joining in this progressive movement he has chosen to bring into the front burner the dark period of Nigeria’s history.
What he stands to gain by repeating such falsehood, I cannot honestly comprehend. I believe how ever it is clear from the historical record that Awo had no Igbophobia, it is Professor Achebe that has to be cured of his Awophobia.”
Read through the above crap and a person will conclude no Yoruba was killed during and after July 29, 1966 coup in Nigeria. Even the murder of a Yoruba son in Ibadan was turned into a cacophonic fiery tale by the government publication of western region
Ovularia: [s]Obafemi Awolowo and Chinua Achebe’s tale of fantasy
Posted by: Femi Fani-Kayode Posted date: October 08, 2012
I am a historian and I have always believed that if we want to talk history, we must be dispassionate, objective and factual. We must take the emotion out of it and we must always tell the truth. The worst thing that anyone can do is to try to re-write history and indulge in historical revisionism. This is especially so when the person is a reverred figure and a literary icon. Sadly it is in the light of such historical revisionism that I view Professor Chinua Achebe’s assertion (which is reflected in his latest and highly celebrated book titled ‘’There Was A Country’) that Chief Obafemi Awolowo, the late and much-loved Leader of the Yoruba, was responsible for the genocide that the igbos suffered during the civil war. This claim is not only false but it is also, frankly speaking, utterly absurd. Not only is Professor Achebe indulging in perfidy, not only is he being utterly dishonest and disengenious but he is also turning history upside down and indulging in what I would describe as ethnic chauvinism.
I am one of those that has always had tremendous sympathy for the igbo cause during the civil war. I am also an admirer of Colonel Emeka Odumegwu Ojukwu who stood up for his people when it mattered the most and when they were being slaughtered by rampaging mobs in the northern part of our country. At least 100,000 igbos were killed in those northern pogroms which took place before the civil war and which indeed led directly to it. This was not only an outrage but it was also a tragedy of monuemental proportions.Yet we must not allow our emotion or our sympathy for the suffering of the igbo at the hands of northern mobs before the war started to becloud our sense of reasoning as regards what actually happened during the prosecution of the war itself. It is important to set the record straight and not to be selective in our application and recollection of the facts when considering what actually led to the starvation of hundreds of thousands of igbo women, children and civilians during that war. And, unlike others, I do not deny the fact that hundreds of thousands were starved to death as a consequence of the blockade that was imposed on Biafra by the Nigerian Federal Government. To deny that this actually happened would a lie. It is a historical fact. Again I do not deny the fact that Awolowo publically defended the blockade and indeed told the world that it was perfectly legitimate for any government to impose such a blockade on the territory of their enemies in times of war. Awolowo said it, this is a matter of historical record and he was qouted in a number of British newspapers as having said so at the time. Yet he spoke nothing but the truth. And whether anyone likes to hear it or not he was absolutely right in what he said. Let me give you an example. During the Second World War a blockade was imposed on Germany, Japan and Italy by the Allied Forces and this was very effective. It weakened the Axis powers considerably and this was one of the reasons why the war ended at the time that it did. If there had been no blockade the Second World War would have gone on for considerably longer. In the case of the Nigerian civil war though the story did not stop at the fact that a blockade was imposed by the Federal Government which led to the suffering, starvation, pain, death and hardship of the civilian igbo population or that Awolowo defended it. That is only half the story.
There was a lot more to it and the fact that Achebe and most of our igbo brothers and sisters always conveniently forget to mention the other half of the story is something that causes some of us from outside igboland considerable concern and never ceases to amaze us. The bitter truth is that if anyone is to be blamed for the hundreds of thousands of igbos that died from starvation during the civil war it was not Chief Awolowo or even General Yakubu Gowon but rather it was Colonel Emeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu himself. I say this because it is a matter of public record and a historical fact that the Federal Government of Nigeria made a very generous offer to Ojukwu and the Biafrans to open a road corridor for food to be ferried to the igbos and to lessen the suffering of their civilian population. This was as a consequence of a deal that was brokered by the international community who were concerned about the suffering of the igbo civilian population and the death and hardship that the blockade was causing to them. Unfortunately Ojukwu turned this down flatly and instead insisted that the food should be flown into Biafra by air in the dead of the night. This was unacceptable to the Federal Government because it meant that the Biafrans could, and indeed would, have used such night flights to smuggle badly needed arms and ammunition into their country for usage by their soldiers. That was where the problem came from and that was the issue. Quite apart from that Ojukwu found it expedient and convenient to allow his people to starve to death and to broadcast it on television screens all over the world in order to attract sympathy for the igbo cause and for propaganda purposes. And this worked beautifully for him.
Ambassador Ralph Uweche, who was the Special Envoy to France for the Biafran Government during the civil war and who is the leader of Ohaeneze, the leading igbo political and socio-cultural organisation today, attested to this in his excellent book titled ‘’Reflections On The Nigerian Civil War’’. That book was factual and honest and I would urge people like Achebe to go and read it well. The self-serving role of Ojukwu and many of the Biafran intelligensia and elites and their insensitivity to the suffering of their own people during the course of the war was well enunciated in that book. The fact of the matter is that the starvation and suffering of hundreds of thousands of igbo men, women and children during the civil war was seen and used as a convenient tool of propaganda by Ojukwu and that is precisely why he rejected the offer of a food corridor by the Nigerian Government. When those that belong to the post civil war generation of the igbo are wondering who was responsible for the genocide and mass starvation of their forefathers during the war they must firstly look within themselves and point their fingers at their own past leaders and certainly not Awolowo or Gowon. The person that was solely responsible for that suffering, for that starvation and for those slow and painful deaths was none other than Colonel Emeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, the leader of Biafra, himself.
I have written many good things about Ojukwu on many occassions in the past and I stand by every word that I have ever said or written about him. In my view he was a man of courage and immense fortitude, he stood against the mass murder of his people in the north and he brought them home and created a safe haven for them in the east. For him, and indeed the whole of Biafra, the war was an attempt to exercise their legitimate right of self-determination and leave Nigeria due to the atrocities that they had been subjected to in the north. I cannot blame him or his people for that and frankly I have always admired his stand. However he was not infallible and he also made some terrible mistakes, just as all great leaders do from time to time. The fact that he rejected the Nigerian Federal Government’s offer of a food corridor was one of those terrible mistakes and this cost him and his people dearly. Professor Chinua Achebe surely ought to have reflected that in his book as well. When it comes to the Nigerian civil war there were no villains or angels. During that brutal conflict no less than two million Nigerians and Biafrans died and the yoruba who, unlike others, did not ever discriminate or attack any non-yorubas that lived in their in their territory before the civil war or carry out any coups or attempted coups, suffered at every point as well. For example prominent yoruba sons and daughters were killed on the night of the first igbo coup of January 1966 and again in the northern ‘’revenge’’ coup of July 1966. Many of our people were also killed in the north before the outbreak of the civil war and again in the mid-west and the east during the course and prosecution of the war itself. It was indeed the predominantly yoruba Third Marine Commando, under the command of General Benjamin Adekunle (the ‘’Black Scorpion”) and later General Olusegun Obasanjo, that not only liberated the mid-west and drove the Biafrans out of there but they also marched into igboland itself, occupied it, defeated the Biafran Army in battle, captured all their major towns and forced the igbo to surrender. Third Marine Commando was made up of yoruba soldiers and I can say without any fear of contradiction that we the yoruba therefore paid a terrible and heavy price as well during the war because many of our boys were killed on the war front by the Biafrans.
The sacrifice of these proud sons of the south-west that died in battle to keep Nigeria one must not be belittled, mocked or ignored. Clearly it was not only the igbo that suffered during the civil war. Neither does it auger well for the unity of our nation for Achebe and the igbo intelligensia that are hailing his self-serving book to caste aspertions on the character, role and noble intentions of the late and reverred Leader of the Yoruba, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, during the civil war. The man may have made one or two mistakes in the past like every other great leader and of course there was a deep and bitter political division in yorubaland itself just before the civil war started and throughout the early ‘60’s. Yet by no stretch of the imagination can Awolowo be described as an igbo-hating genocidal maniac and he most certainly did not delight in the starvation of millions of igbo men, women and children as Achebe has tried to suggest. My advice to this respected author is that he should leave Chief Awolowo alone and allow him to continue to rest in peace. This subtle attempt to denigrate the yoruba and their past leaders, to place a question mark on their noble and selfless role in the war and to belittle their efforts and sacrifice to keep Nigeria together as one will always be vigorously resisted by those of us that have the good fortune of still being alive and who are aware of the facts. We will not remain silent and allow anyone, no matter how respected or reverred, to re-write history. Simply put by writing this book and making some of these baseless and nonsensical assertions, Achebe was simply indulging in the greatest mendacity of Nigerian modern history and his crude distortion of the facts has no basis in reality or rationality. We must not mistake fiction and story telling for historical fact. The two are completely different. The truth is that Professor Chinua Achebe owes the Awolowo family and the yoruba people a big apology for his tale of pure fantasy. [/s]
Every successive post of yours reinforce one thing..and that is you are a lying double faced bastard!
Everyone on this forum is aware of the standard Igbo loud mouthed habit of labelling Yorubas as cowards.
In every successive post in the past about about Biafra some of you tribal bigots were always beating your chest to claim that at no point did Awolowo and ever Ojukwu met before the war. Now Adebanjo has confirmed what we had been saying for long how Awo/Emeka met, but again instead of telling you lot the truth, if he knew what happened during the meeting, he kept the false going by saying that Awo came to convince Ojukwu not to go to war but to a discussion table, which was absolute nonesense.
He forgot that Aburi was the brain child of Ojukwu who prefers talk than anything else. Agreement was made and signed in Aburi to keep peace, which Awo the one that want to talk hated and advised Gowon to reject it on his return from Ghana, tot he dismay of Eastherners and the host Ghana.
Whether you guys like it or not, the fact remained that Awolowo tried and succeeded in manipulating two naive and young men that found themselves were they never expected to to be found by events in Emeka Ojukwu/Gowon.
He came to Enugu and promised Ojukwu declaration of Oduduwa if Easterners go and Ojukwu assured him that his force will arrive Lagos as quickly as they can in the event that the north based in Lagos, retaliate at the declaration of Oduduwa, hence Biafra troops early show up in the so called invasion of Ore. Ore was never meant to be an invasion but support.
He went back to Lagos to tell Gowon another thing and supported the north because as he told Gowon, Yorubaland will be no theatre of the war because they are sandwiched in the middle and the position of Lagos as the capital.
We are all praying that one day, that the northerners will open up and tell the truth, especially Gowon. The day they will annoyed to open up, that day, Nigeria will never be the same again. When Junaid Mohammed accused the Yoruba recently as always speaking in codes, he knew what he is talking about.
Ileke-IdI: The best solution for all these wahala, is for someone to write a book from an unbiased view point.
Achebe was a Biafran, so it's understandable if he piled most of the negatives with the Yorubas. Unfortunately, his views are biased.
I don't understand how he could name the Hitler (Ojukwu) almost blamess.
You want a book? Have this
"All is fair in war, and starvation is one of the weapons of war. I don't see why we should feed our enemies fat in order for them to fight harder." (Chief Obafemi Awolowo (Nigerian Minister of Finance, July 28th 1969)"Until now efforts to relieve the Biafran people have been thwarted by the desire of the central government of Nigeria to pursue total and unconditional victory and by the fear of the Ibo people that surrender means wholesale atrocities and genocide. But genocide is what is taking place right now - and starvation is the grim reaper.
This is not the time to stand on ceremony, or to go through channels or to observe the diplomatic niceties, The destruction of an entire people is an immoral objective even in the most moral of wars. It can never be justified; it can never be condoned." (Mr. Richard Nixon, September 9, 1968- During the Presidential Campaign)."Federal troops, killed, or stood by while mobs killed, more than 5000 Ibos in Warri, Sapele, Agbor"(New York Times, 10th January, 1968)."It’s (mass starvation) is a legitimate aspect of war" (Anthony Enahoro, Nigerian Commissioner for Information at a press conference in (New York, July 1968)
"Starvation is a legitimate weapon of war, and we have every intention of using it against the rebels"(Mr Alison Ayida, Head of Nigerian Delegation, Niamey Peace Talks, Republic of Niger, July 1968)"The Igbos must be considerably reduced in number" (Lagos Policeman quoted in New York Review, 21 December, 1967)"One word now describes the policy of the Nigerian military government towards secessionist Biafra: genocide. It is ugly and extreme but it is the only word which fits Nigeria's decision to stop the International Committee of the red Cross, and other relief agencies, from flying food to Biafra"(Washington Post (editorial) July 2, 1969).
"In some areas outside the East, Igbos were killed by local people with at least the acquiescence of the federal forces, 1000 Igbo civilians perished in Benin in this way"(Max Edward- Reporter on the ground-New York Review, 21 December 1967)."After federal forces take over of Benin, troops killed about 500 Igbo civilians after a house-to-house search with the aid of willing locals (Washington Morning Post, 27 September, 1967)."The greatest single massacre occurred in the Igbo town of Asaba where 700 Igbo male were lined up and shot as terrified women/children were forced to watch" (London Observer, 21 January, 1968)
"Federal troops, killed, or stood by while mobs killed, more than 5000 Ibos in Wari, Sapele, Agbor" (New York Times, 10th January, 1968)."There has been genocide on the occasion of the 1966 massacres, the region between the towns of Benin and Asaba where only widows and orphans remain, federal troops having,for unknown reasons, massacred all the men" (Paris Le Monde, 5th April, 1968)."In Calabar, federal forces shot at least 1000 and perhaps 2000 Igbos, most of them civilians"(New York Times, 18th January, 1968).
"Bestialities and indignities of all kinds were visited on Biafrans in 1966. In Ikeja Barracks (Western Nigeria) Biafrans were forcibly fed on a mixture of human urine and faeces. In Northern Nigeria numerous Biafran house-wives and nursing mothers were violated before their husbands and children. Young girls were abducted from their homes, working places and schools and forced into intimate intercourse with sick, demented and leprous men'' (Mr. Eric Spiff (German War correspondence Eyewitness, 1967).
"There has been genocide, for example on the occasion of the 1966 massacres , Two areas have suffered badly [from the fighting]. Firstly the region between the towns of Benin and Asaba where only widows and orphans remain, Federal troops having for unknown reasons massacred all the men. According to eyewitnesses of that massacre the Nigerian commander ordered the execution of every Ibo male over the age of ten years" (Monsignor Georges, sent down on a fact-finding mission by His holiness the Pope reporting his finding in Vatican Rome, Le Monde, French Evening newspaper, April 5, 1968).
"650 refugee camps, contained about 700,000 haggard bundles of human flotsam waiting hopelessly for a meal, outside the camps, was the reminder of an estimated four anda half to five million displaced persons, the Kwashiokor scourge, a million and half children, suffer(ed) from it during January; that put the forecast death toll at another 300,000 children, More than the pogroms of 1966, more than the war casualties, more than the terror bombings, it was the experience of watching helplessly their children waste away and die that gave birth to, a deep and unrelenting loathing, It is a feeling that will one day reap a bitter harvest unless, "(Frederick Forsyth, British writer January 21st 1969)
"I saw several hundred of Zombie-like creatures -men, women and children, lying, sitting or squatting in the midst of others who were dead. The living ones were completely reduced to skeletons and could not talk. I was seeing for the first time, kwashiorkor, Frankly, I took fright, I believe that any foreign troops from anywhere in the world occupying Ikot Ekpene or any other town in Biafra would have shown much more sympathy" (Gen. Alex Madiebo, Ikot Ekpene, July 1968)"One word now describes the policy of the Nigerian military government towards Biafra:- genocide. It is ugly and extreme but it is the only word which fits Nigeria's decision to stop the International Committee of the red Cross, and other relief agencies, from flying food to Biafra. "The Nazis had ressurrected just here as Nigerian forces" (Washington Post (editorial) July 2, 1969)
"The loss of life from starvation continues at more than 10,000 persons per day - over 1,000,000 lives in recent months. Without emergency measures now, the number will climb to 25,000 per day within a month - and some 2,000,000 deaths by the end of the year. The new year will only bring greater disaster to a people caught in the passion of fratricidal war, we can't allow this to continue or those responsible to go free" (Senator Kennedy appeals to Americans - Sunday, November 17, 1968)
"I want to see no Red Cross, no Caritas, no World Council of Churches, no Pope, no missionary and no UN delegation. I wantto prevent even one Ibo from having even one piece to eat before their capitulation. We shoot at everything that moves and when our troops march into the centre of Ibo territory, we shoot at everything even at things that do not move" (Benjamin Adekunle, Commander, 3rd Marine Commando Division, Nigerian Army to French radio reporter)."The war aim and (final) solution properly speaking of the entire problem, is to discriminate against the Igbos and in their own interest. Such discrimination would include above all the detachment of those oil-rich territories in the Eastern Region, in addition, the Igbos' freedom of movement would be restricted, to prevent their renewed penetration into other parts, leaving any access to the sea to the Igbos, is quite out of the question" (Federal Nigerian Minister speaking to E. C. Schwarzenback, Swiss Review of Africa, February 1968).
"Let us go and crush them. We will pillage their property, violation their womenfolk, kill off their menfolk and leave them uselessly weeping. We will complete the pogrom of 1966"(The theme song of Radio Kaduna, government-controlled, 1967-1970). "Unfortunately this [Gowon's] enlightenment at the top level does not penetrate very deep: a Lagos police officer was quoted last month as saying that the Igbos must be considerably reduced in number"(Dr Conor cruise O'Bien , 21 December 1967 New York Review)
"Myself and The same UNICEF representatives went on to convey something of what lay behind this intransigence: "Among the large majority hailing from that tribe who are most vocal in inciting the complete extermination of the Igbos, I often heard remarks that all Nigeria's ills will be cured once the Igbos has been extaminated from the human map"(Dr Conor Cruise O'Bien (21 December, 1967, New York Review)
In every successive post in the past about about Biafra some of you tribal bigots were always beating your chest to claim that at no point did Awolowo and ever Ojukwu met before the war. Now Adebanjo has confirmed what we had been saying for long how Awo/Emeka met, but again instead of telling you lot the truth, if he knew what happened during the meeting, he kept the false going by saying that Awo came to convince Ojukwu not to go to war but to a discussion table, which was absolute nonesense.
He forgot that Aburi was the brain child of Ojukwu who prefers talk than anything else. Agreement was made and signed in Aburi to keep peace, which Awo the one that want to talk hated and advised Gowon to reject it on his return from Ghana, tot he dismay of Eastherners and the host Ghana.
Whether you guys like it or not, the fact remained that Awolowo tried and succeeded in manipulating two naive and young men that found themselves were they never expected to to be found by events in Emeka Ojukwu/Gowon. D He came to Enugu and promised Ojukwu declaration of Oduduwa if Easterners go and Ojukwu assured him that his force will arrive Lagos as quickly as they can in the event that the north based in Lagos, retaliate at the declaration of Oduduwa, hence Biafra troops early show up in the so called invasion of Ore. Ore was never meant to be an invasion but support.
He went back to Lagos to tell Gowon another thing and supported the north because as he told Gowon, Yorubaland will be no theatre of the war because they are sandwiched in the middle and the position of Lagos as the capital.
We are all praying that one day, that the northerners will open up and tell the truth, especially Gowon. The day they will annoyed to open up, that day, Nigeria will never be the same again. When Junaid Mohammed accused the Yoruba recently as always speaking in codes, he knew what he is talking about.
Brilliant example of conjecture ....more of your own personal understanding of events leading to the sad war.
"All is fair in war, and starvation is one of the weapons of war. I don't see why we should feed our enemies fat in order for them to fight harder." (Chief Obafemi Awolowo (Nigerian Minister of Finance, July 28th 1969)"Until now efforts to relieve the Biafran people have been thwarted by the desire of the central government of Nigeria to pursue total and unconditional victory and by the fear of the Ibo people that surrender means wholesale atrocities and genocide. But genocide is what is taking place right now - and starvation is the grim reaper.
This is not the time to stand on ceremony, or to go through channels or to observe the diplomatic niceties, The destruction of an entire people is an immoral objective even in the most moral of wars. It can never be justified; it can never be condoned." (Mr. Richard Nixon, September 9, 1968- During the Presidential Campaign)."Federal troops, killed, or stood by while mobs killed, more than 5000 Ibos in Warri, Sapele, Agbor"(New York Times, 10th January, 1968)."It’s (mass starvation) is a legitimate aspect of war" (Anthony Enahoro, Nigerian Commissioner for Information at a press conference in (New York, July 1968)
"Starvation is a legitimate weapon of war, and we have every intention of using it against the rebels"(Mr Alison Ayida, Head of Nigerian Delegation, Niamey Peace Talks, Republic of Niger, July 1968)"The Igbos must be considerably reduced in number" (Lagos Policeman quoted in New York Review, 21 December, 1967)"One word now describes the policy of the Nigerian military government towards secessionist Biafra: genocide. It is ugly and extreme but it is the only word which fits Nigeria's decision to stop the International Committee of the red Cross, and other relief agencies, from flying food to Biafra"(Washington Post (editorial) July 2, 1969).
"In some areas outside the East, Igbos were killed by local people with at least the acquiescence of the federal forces, 1000 Igbo civilians perished in Benin in this way"(Max Edward- Reporter on the ground-New York Review, 21 December 1967)."After federal forces take over of Benin, troops killed about 500 Igbo civilians after a house-to-house search with the aid of willing locals (Washington Morning Post, 27 September, 1967)."The greatest single massacre occurred in the Igbo town of Asaba where 700 Igbo male were lined up and shot as terrified women/children were forced to watch" (London Observer, 21 January, 1968)
"Federal troops, killed, or stood by while mobs killed, more than 5000 Ibos in Wari, Sapele, Agbor" (New York Times, 10th January, 1968)."There has been genocide on the occasion of the 1966 massacres, the region between the towns of Benin and Asaba where only widows and orphans remain, federal troops having,for unknown reasons, massacred all the men" (Paris Le Monde, 5th April, 1968)."In Calabar, federal forces shot at least 1000 and perhaps 2000 Igbos, most of them civilians"(New York Times, 18th January, 1968).
"Bestialities and indignities of all kinds were visited on Biafrans in 1966. In Ikeja Barracks (Western Nigeria) Biafrans were forcibly fed on a mixture of human urine and faeces. In Northern Nigeria numerous Biafran house-wives and nursing mothers were violated before their husbands and children. Young girls were abducted from their homes, working places and schools and forced into intimate intercourse with sick, demented and leprous men'' (Mr. Eric Spiff (German War correspondence Eyewitness, 1967).
"There has been genocide, for example on the occasion of the 1966 massacres , Two areas have suffered badly [from the fighting]. Firstly the region between the towns of Benin and Asaba where only widows and orphans remain, Federal troops having for unknown reasons massacred all the men. According to eyewitnesses of that massacre the Nigerian commander ordered the execution of every Ibo male over the age of ten years" (Monsignor Georges, sent down on a fact-finding mission by His holiness the Pope reporting his finding in Vatican Rome, Le Monde, French Evening newspaper, April 5, 1968).
"650 refugee camps, contained about 700,000 haggard bundles of human flotsam waiting hopelessly for a meal, outside the camps, was the reminder of an estimated four anda half to five million displaced persons, the Kwashiokor scourge, a million and half children, suffer(ed) from it during January; that put the forecast death toll at another 300,000 children, More than the pogroms of 1966, more than the war casualties, more than the terror bombings, it was the experience of watching helplessly their children waste away and die that gave birth to, a deep and unrelenting loathing, It is a feeling that will one day reap a bitter harvest unless, "(Frederick Forsyth, British writer January 21st 1969)
"I saw several hundred of Zombie-like creatures -men, women and children, lying, sitting or squatting in the midst of others who were dead. The living ones were completely reduced to skeletons and could not talk. I was seeing for the first time, kwashiorkor, Frankly, I took fright, I believe that any foreign troops from anywhere in the world occupying Ikot Ekpene or any other town in Biafra would have shown much more sympathy" (Gen. Alex Madiebo, Ikot Ekpene, July 1968)"One word now describes the policy of the Nigerian military government towards Biafra:- genocide. It is ugly and extreme but it is the only word which fits Nigeria's decision to stop the International Committee of the red Cross, and other relief agencies, from flying food to Biafra. "The Nazis had ressurrected just here as Nigerian forces" (Washington Post (editorial) July 2, 1969)
"The loss of life from starvation continues at more than 10,000 persons per day - over 1,000,000 lives in recent months. Without emergency measures now, the number will climb to 25,000 per day within a month - and some 2,000,000 deaths by the end of the year. The new year will only bring greater disaster to a people caught in the passion of fratricidal war, we can't allow this to continue or those responsible to go free" (Senator Kennedy appeals to Americans - Sunday, November 17, 1968)
"I want to see no Red Cross, no Caritas, no World Council of Churches, no Pope, no missionary and no UN delegation. I wantto prevent even one Ibo from having even one piece to eat before their capitulation. We shoot at everything that moves and when our troops march into the centre of Ibo territory, we shoot at everything even at things that do not move" (Benjamin Adekunle, Commander, 3rd Marine Commando Division, Nigerian Army to French radio reporter)."The war aim and (final) solution properly speaking of the entire problem, is to discriminate against the Igbos and in their own interest. Such discrimination would include above all the detachment of those oil-rich territories in the Eastern Region, in addition, the Igbos' freedom of movement would be restricted, to prevent their renewed penetration into other parts, leaving any access to the sea to the Igbos, is quite out of the question" (Federal Nigerian Minister speaking to E. C. Schwarzenback, Swiss Review of Africa, February 1968).
"Let us go and crush them. We will pillage their property, violation their womenfolk, kill off their menfolk and leave them uselessly weeping. We will complete the pogrom of 1966"(The theme song of Radio Kaduna, government-controlled, 1967-1970). "Unfortunately this [Gowon's] enlightenment at the top level does not penetrate very deep: a Lagos police officer was quoted last month as saying that the Igbos must be considerably reduced in number"(Dr Conor cruise O'Bien , 21 December 1967 New York Review)
"Myself and The same UNICEF representatives went on to convey something of what lay behind this intransigence: "Among the large majority hailing from that tribe who are most vocal in inciting the complete extermination of the Igbos, I often heard remarks that all Nigeria's ills will be cured once the Igbos has been extaminated from the human map"(Dr Conor Cruise O'Bien (21 December, 1967, New York Review)
So much for propaganda....no point dignifying this with a rebuttal....the objective is clear.
Brilliant example of conjecture ....more of your own personal understanding of events leading to the sad war.
Glad you didn't disagree with me. At least non of you will ever say again that there was never at any time Awo/Ojukwu met to discuss issues. It wasn't my conjecture anymore but that of Adebanjo.
