Sincere 9gerian: It was easy for Awo to believe that "one Nigeria" could still be salvaged because the over 50,000 persons slaughtered in the north during the pogrom were not Yorubas. If 50,000 innocent Yoruba civillians were slaughtered in the north for any reason, it would have been SUICIDAL for Awo to speak of "one Nigeria" anywhere in the west, except from EXILE. The truth is that Awo and yorubas were not directly affected by the massacres that lead to secession. Therefore, only few yorubas,eg Soyinka,etc with HUMAN CONSCIENCE, could personally identify with the travails of the Igbos. Awo for sure was BLINDED by DESPERATION to be president of "one Nigeria" that he threw CONSCIENCE to the dust bin. Awo pleaded for diplomacy over the massacre of 50,000 innocent Igbos but he didn't use diplomacy when his political ambition and power base in the west was threatened. Awo unleashed operation "wetie" that lead to the wild wild west and several killings.

na wa for historian.

ACM10: He made some very interesting contributions. But it will be unfair to review a book without reading it.
He has to understand that an average Onyeigbo do not consider Yorubas as enemies. Our grouse is with the conduct of Awolowo during and after the war.
The inference that Yoruba
had thrown a much stronger
loyal support to the
leadership of Nnamdi
Azikiwe than the Igbo ever
exhibited toward Chief
Obafemi Awolowo is a complete balderdash! It is true that NCNC were able to win some seats in the western region in 1952 election, but Yoruba support for Zik did not go beyond that. Remember that AG won some seats in the east too. Beyond Awo/Zik, Ndigbo have thrown their support behind Yorubas on countless occasions; Abiola, Obasanjo, etc. By the way, Awolowo and other Yoruba politicians often use an unflattering terms to describe Zik and Ndigbo. Read some of Awolowo's books or watch Akintola's video on youtube.

There are some rogue characters in Nigeria and Biafra during the civil war. So there is no doubt that some people engaged in activities which were inimical to the war effort. Singling out Biafrans is rather unfair.

On the other hand, Ironsi misread the mood of the northerners especially their elites. He did not envisage that situation will degenerate to 2nd coup de etat or pogrom. He kicked against all the advice from senior officers of the coup in the making. To demonstrate his detribalized nature, he surrounded himself with officers of northern origin.
When the mood of Nigerians were low, he embarked on "apology tour" trying to please the northerners who showed an outward contempt for his leadership. Releasing Awolowo who was a convicted felon during the regime of the deposed government headed by a northerner will be counterproductive to his "appease the north" effort. Ojukwu cannot release Awolowo either without an express permision from Ironsi.

There is no doubt that the true enemy of Ndigbo are Hausa/Fulani oligarchy. But they cannot do much if Yoruba withdraws their support for them.

The fact remains that Ndigbo and Yorubas are rivals; and Yorubas tends to exploit Hausa/Fulani-Igbo feuds to hurt us.

Yorubas made a feeble attempt to secede. But they could not do much since there was an intimidating presence of northern troops all over the western region.

I don't know Dr. Nwaezeigwe personally. Though he strikes me as an interesting character. But I'm disappointed with some of his assessment. Though some are logical from the revisionists point of view. I agree with him that Ndigbo and Yoruba should forge a common front which will be based on magnifying our common grounds and minimizing our point of differences. But he should consult his history books on where such mindless unity led us to in the past.

That is d reason why there can never be trust between Nigerians. Continue to see each other as enemies while while other third world nations with different tribes, religion and races keep growing developing.

pazienza:

Achebe's memoir might be his personal opinion,but it's an opinion that over 90% of igbo youths[b][/b] and elders share ,so quit the BS about achebe abusing the mind of young igbos. Dr nwaezeigwe is a maniac,how can an igbo man justify awolowo's 20 pounds policy,it's obvious that this man has a personal agenda,there is no other way to explain this his yoruba asslicking.

I want to believe that it is your personal opinion that 90% of Igbo youths share similar view with Achebe. In my view the present generation of Igbo Youths have gone passed the atrocities of the war committed against their fathers and have carved a niche for themselves politically,educationally and business wise.So revisiting the issue of Genocide against the Igbo people by a Yoruba in our current situation is not only useless but senseless.

None of my children knew about Biafra before But thank God they have now read Achebe's book and even god cannot persuade them to marry or do business with an Igbo now. This is what irresponsibke talk by useless old people cause. They just poisons the young people.

berem: Pesin never read book, im don sabi pass pesin wey write am! Na only jist dem jist am,im don dey misyarn! I wonder when the book finally reaches nigeria what will happen next? ARA GA AGBA NDI Yoruba!!

If u had been a reasonable person why should a book written by Achebe be the basis upon which ur reasoning lies. If wat this Dr says will not matter then y should Achebe's book matter? The only book or books pardon me that should not be contested are Bibles and Quarans becos we believe they are from God. Or is Achebe now God? He isn't the best we've even got in Naija (sorry, I guess he's ur best there) so y should we reference a book frm a mentally derailed clown like him? The ability to think deep before acting is what differentiated the yorubas from..Majority of ur leaders can't think! Sometimes when common sense elude the strongest man he becomes the most foolish person like Ojukwu and Achebe! Didn't they plan, consider their inventory and the possible outcome of it even if it didn't go their way be4 going into war? Ojukwu won't do that! No be only gun the lunatics read...AWO wey read sense come teach am sey no be gun they win war na strategy... Make una take heart oo 'cos the die is already cast. Na greed unna leader take finnish unna oo..

Dr. Nwaezeigwe? Very unpopular, guess this is a great opportunity for publicity? Pls did i hear him say he was discussing Ibo presidency with Dr. Fasheun? If i may ask in what capacity? The same man bargaining for Ibo presidency entered ekenedilichukwu luxurious bus? (Onye apari)

Dr Nwaezeigwe would not be the first (or the last for that matter) to tend to apologize for everyone else but his own. I am not a trained psychologist, but I have seen too many of these types, all over Igboland, all my life. He is the type that even apologized to Northerners in the heat of the pogroms. They accepted blames for what few officers did without consulting anyone. These types (due to some part deeply felt shock of loss) develop a wierd view of the world: they blame themselves and their own for all the world's problems.

Quite sad I must say.

Let me tell Dr Nwaezeigwe that his loss was also felt by almost EVERY IGBO family. We ALL lost the war. I understand that different people deal with that loss in different ways; but for a fully grown man and a teacher at higher institution -whose opinion carry much weight among his students- he should do himself and the rest of society a big favor by undergoing a psychiatric treatment, else he may wake up one day to say something that will force his own kins to expel him from Igboland.

Dr Nwaezeigwe should realize that (as someone said a few pages back), Achebe's book was not talking about what happened inside the secret chambers of Nigerian or Biafran government. He was only talking about an egregious situation (egregious in this context is intended to mean "openly bad", "something every normal person would perceive as bad", ). The war was not fought under the bed. It was fought in full glare of the whole world. Even some of the information in Achebe's book could have been strung together by any amateur author, using only quotes from civil war actors on the Nigerian side.
Again, some of us younger folks who never saw the war could have allowed the whole thing to die down had some Yoruba in this and other forums towed a more silent line when issues of this war comes up in forums online; but NO, what we see is constant justification of the tactics adopted by the Nigerian side to effectively wipe Igbo off the map. Even foreign media alluded to that. Even on this forum, one can count in one hand the number of Yoruba's who condemn the adoption of starvation as a weapon of war; even today!

The man (Nwaezeigwe) also comes across as if he is embarking on a good 'ol "pull him down" on Achebe. We have that a lot in our side of Nigeria, and we the youths are planning to fight such character in our midst. Achebe did not say anything that even an illiterate in Igboland could not see during and after the war. The issue has long been settled in Igbo minds, and one million Nwaezeigwe's can never erase it. We can choose to move on, and are in fact moving on without help; so the man should cure himself of defeat mentality and leave the rest of us alone, because we know what happened!

OmoLisabi:
See this mor0n

na your mama be norom

aurenflani:

That is d reason why there can never be trust between Nigerians. Continue to see each other as enemies while while other third world nations with different tribes, religion and races keep growing developing.

we don't see each other as enemies. WE ARE ENEMIES!

Old story. The bitter can die in bitterness, like that will stop the world from moving on. Awo the legend lived and died in peace. You make the choice to be bitter and mentally retarded. It wont stop us, cant stop us. . Yoruba for life

felifeli: None of my children knew about Biafra before But thank God they have now read Achebe's book and even god cannot persuade them to marry or do business with an Igbo now. This is what irresponsibke talk by useless old people cause. They just poisons the young people.

Good. Because we don't want to marry or do business with useless, ugly, Yoruba eating, betraying, cowardly, aboki slaves.

abysirius: If u had been a reasonable person why should a book written by Achebe be the basis upon which ur reasoning lies. If wat this Dr says will not matter then y should Achebe's book matter? The only book or books pardon me that should not be contested are Bibles and Quarans becos we believe they are from God. Or is Achebe now God? He isn't the best we've even got in Naija (sorry, I guess he's ur best there) so y should we reference a book frm a mentally derailed clown like him? The ability to think deep before acting is what differentiated the yorubas from..Majority of ur leaders can't think! Sometimes when common sense elude the strongest man he becomes the most foolish person like Ojukwu and Achebe! Didn't they plan, consider their inventory and the possible outcome of it even if it didn't go their way be4 going into war? Ojukwu won't do that! No be only gun the lunatics read...AWO wey read sense come teach am sey no be gun they win war na strategy... Make una take heart oo 'cos the die is already cast. Na greed unna leader take finnish unna oo..

people dey talk, subsidy beggar dey talk.

advocate666:

Good. Because we don't want to marry or do business with useless, ugly, Yoruba eating, betraying, cowardly, aboki slaves.

Alj Harem get a life. Like this ever made a difference? Dumb crap bucket. Bitter, generational ass wipe. With your ugly for corner smelly village head. smh

proudlyafrican:

I want to believe that it is your personal opinion that 90% of Igbo youths share similar view with Achebe. In my view the present generation of Igbo Youths have gone passed the atrocities of the war committed against their fathers and have carved a niche for themselves politically,educationally and business wise.So revisiting the issue of Genocide against the Igbo people by a Yoruba in our current situation is not only useless but senseless.

keep decieving yourself. 99% igbo youths share similar views with Achebe. Thats a fact.

My other thought is that we Ndigbo must learn (even if unwillingly) that we cannot be progressing, and basically besting even our hosts in many ways, and not attract envy. It is human nature. The question is what should we do to ensure that our progress never triggers mass murder?
The man did not provide an answer to that. Maybe we should also apologize for progressing. I do not think that playing dead and fawning at everyone is the right strategy; we have to adopt a practical strategy to ensure it never happens again. These types of people are why Ndigbo have been relegated to the back in the Nigerian scheme of things through many years. I thank God that we have started to come back politically. It is long past time we stop apologizing and suffering from defeat mentality. We must grab our stake and dare the devil.

A good piece from Dr Nwaezeigwe.

Dr Nwaezeigwe disscussing Ibo presidency!

Zeus I: That man is insignificant in Igbo and those are the kind of nonentities barbarians run to for solace in times of trouble. Awolowo is a mass murderer of God chosen people(black jews), and history will forever dispise him and his tribe and his acolytes except for the likes of 'soyinka'. Awo's name is a curse!

What history are u talking about? Igbos are irrelevant in Naija as far as this country is concern. When the name Nigeria is mentioned: take it or leave it, Yoruba and Hausa will be mentioned before ur God forsaken tribe. And remember, AWO is d reason why many are educated here and as such can not 4get him. On the other hand, I guess Ojukwu is the reason many of u guys are also under the sun in many of our market places spread around.

advocate666:

Good. Because we don't want to marry or do business with useless, ugly, Yoruba eating, betraying, cowardly, aboki slaves.

So in your (lack of) culture bad soup (ofenmanu) is a great curse. This shows that your brain is in your stomach. Probably made from akpu too. Na chineke god go punish you well well five times a day. Ewu ngwogwo.

LoL. I don diss am well well. The man no go fit chop even akamu tonite. He dey joke with me.

felifeli: None of my children knew about Biafra before But thank God they have now read Achebe's book and even god cannot persuade them to marry or do business with an Igbo now. This is what irresponsibke talk by useless old people cause. They just poisons the young people.

your children cant deal with it. Marrying igbo ladies is now a new tactic Yoruba men are employing to bring beauty to their tribe. How many igbo guys have you seen marrying dirty Yoruba girls. search

phreakabit:

He has totally burnt his bridges. Some issues aren't meant for public consumption.

What are the things not meant for public consumption? You mean we shouldnt know the lies peddled for ages?

dayokanu:

What are the things not meant for public consumption? You mean we shouldnt know the lies peddled for ages?

Lies keep the sheep bitter and in bondage for the few to achieve their goals. Like Ojukwu, like the fellow losers whining on this thread.

In the first instance, the Igbo first lost the golden opportunity to have Chief Awolowo fully on their side when, neither General Ironsi nor Col. Ojukwu failed to see the wisdom in releasing the former from prison custody in Calabar. Chief Obafemi Awolowo had to wait for the six or seven months before he could be released and granted amnesty by General Yakubu Gowon, who subsequently elevated him.

That's a good comment. Faultless.

If the father of African literature actually wants to be objective concerning the conduct of the civil war, then he should first focus his literary search-light at the internal mechanisms of the conduct of the war on the side of Biafra.

Interesting!

In other words, if any blame were to be apportioned for the defeat of Biafra and the suffering of the Igbo masses, it cannot be targeted at external forces such as Awolowo, but at the internal elite who masterminded the failed civil war policies of the leader, like Achebe himself. One would want Professor Achebe to explain to Nigerians in general and the Igbo in particular, what happened to the millions in foreign currency raised abroad in support of Biafra but which never got to the shores of Biafra? How much of such money were actually raised and who were those Igbo leaders of Biafra entrusted with the duty of bringing the fund to Biafra?

What also happened to the millions given to such people as Dr. K.O. Mbadiwe and Mojekwu, a relative of Odumegwu-Ojukwu for the purpose of purchasing arms and ammunition to prosecute the war? Did they not cart away with the money and never returned to Biafra until after the defeat? Where again could one place those who sold relief materials meant for the poor and suffering citizens of Biafra, when it was meant to be distributed free? Were all these atrocities against the Igbo equally masterminded by Chief Obafemi Awolowo?

Interesting!

Viewed critically, even the literary icon himself, acting on the capacity of Biafra’s Minister of Communication, could not have supported any policy that would have given the Federal Government undue advantage over Biafra. Even the Federal Government’s policy of an all-round twenty pounds exchange cannot be faulted by any economic theory given the undetermined value of the Biafran currency.

This is an undiluted reality. No Igbo, I repeat, no Igbo has come up with any alternative to the twenty pounds policy. If you have bank papers, go to your bank and cash your money. If you don't have papers, well too bad. How are we going to verify your claims? So spoils of war, take 20pounds each in addition to whatever you have in bank. (if there are papers to substantiate your claims)

The abandoned property saga did not take place in Yorubaland.

I am still waiting for them to counter this statement. Ojukwu, the rebel leader, even got all his belongings.

Above all, although there could exist a situation of mutual rivalries between the Igbo and Yoruba, such competitions never for once degenerated into a state of anti-Igbo riots, with countless loss of lives and property.

Flawless.

salam001: Dr Nwaezeigwe is not = Ndigbo,just a confused man

i dont think he is confused, his mom is yoruba and he grew up in yoruba land, he is trying to be objective here but i fault him in doing so and not reading dr achebe's book or even other documents by such people he mentioned like wole soyinka and other international accounts. i believe just like achebe this man has the right to express his opinion, but as a doctor of history i expected him to be well researched to the point that he would know that most of his statements can be disproved.Like i said until wole soyinka, obj and others alive and involved then can write otherwise contrary facts to what achebe wrote, i will take every other suppose writings with a grain of salt.


another thing this so called historian wrote that is an opinion and not fact is this:"In the first instance, the Igbo first lost the golden opportunity to have Chief Awolowo fully on their side when, neither General Ironsi nor Col. Ojukwu failed to see the wisdom in releasing the former from prison custody in Calabar. Chief Obafemi Awolowo had to wait for the six or seven months before he could be released and granted amnesty by General Yakubu Gowon, who subsequently elevated him."

for as many outside international source has noted, ojukwu was the one that facilatated his release. hmmm, am beginning to think that this man needs to tell me whether he bought his degree or just ignorant. it is stupid and career sucidial to comment on a book you havent read, all because you dont agree with achebe.

Changing story by force. How someone can criticized a book he did not read in an effort to bring publicity to himself is comical yet he calls himself educated. What I'm trying to fathom from this man is how he feels he holds more authority to speak on the matter more so than Achebe. He didn't experience the war but rather what he claimed he learned as a historian, barely opened the book to read what Achebe opinion on the war was, but yet he feels has more right to speak on the matters that occurred in the war than someone that did experience the war (in this case Achebe). I don hear am. SMH. What baffles me is that: it is he, he alone, that know what happened to Biafrans. Despite all Igbo that experienced the war narrating the same story as Achebe, the civilians weren't narrating what they experienced but rather listening to what the Achebe's and Ojukwu told them. it is he, he alone that know, experienced and saw what happened. The rest just slept through the war, woke up one day and ran to Ojukwu to tell them what happened. That's why I laugh whenever I see the term "ojukwu propaganda" to Igbo. Abeg nwoke, sit down. Many igbo children today had parents or grandparents that experienced the war, some still have the effect of the 20 pounds and abandoned property saga affecting them till now. No matter how much Nigeria try to distort history, try to force Igbo to forget Biafra history, extracted it from Nigerian school so Igbo children wouldn't know what occurred but rather listen to their nigerian's own distort history, try to change the stories told by those that experienced it and try to force the alternative story down our throats, you cannot remove the tragedy from those that experienced it mind. They would continue telling us the story of Biafra until they die off, we the children that did not experience it would continue to listen to them.

So he is not an FBI(Full Blooded Igbo)? Mtscheeeeew! I come dey waste my bandwidth since? No wonder he keeps talking trash.smh

salam001: Dr Nwaezeigwe is not = Ndigbo,just a confused man

He's not confused. Just a man trying to make himself more known hence the reason he kept mentioning places he gave a speech at, people he talks to, etc. He's trying to be objective, I guess trying to burn the bridges but failed terribly.

Andre Uweh:
He is Igbo to the core and I know him personally. I have even given him a call over this issue. My only worry is that he has behaved like some chaps here who have not read the memoirs yet are on rampage.
He is a nice guy though.

Lol. And you had to call him to ask if he read the memoir despite the fact that it was clearly stated in the article that he didn't read it. So now, my fear is did you really read the article?

mimifonwon:
another thing this so called historian wrote that is an opinion and not fact is this:"In the first instance, the Igbo first lost the golden opportunity to have Chief Awolowo fully on their side when, neither General Ironsi nor Col. Ojukwu failed to see the wisdom in releasing the former from prison custody in Calabar. Chief Obafemi Awolowo had to wait for the six or seven months before he could be released and granted amnesty by General Yakubu Gowon, who subsequently elevated him."

for as many outside international source has noted, ojukwu was the one that facilatated his release.

Lol. Ridiculous. Who is the International source? Fredrick Forsythe by any chance? I submit you have no clue what you are talking about.

[b]

Sealeddeal: What has this man actually said? Why do the 'Yorubas' believe him more than that of Awolowo and Achebe? If Yorubas believe this historian,they are inadvertently saying that Awolowo and Achebe,who were participant in the war,are liers.Awolowo said that he starved children but the children were not his target.Achebe said that Awolowo deliberately starved children as a weapon of war citing Awolowos' claim of such.but this doctor is trying to say something that no one but Yorubas understand.[/b]they want to hide under this cloak of a miserable lecturer to exonorate themselves/their leaders.All the Doctors claim has not,in any way,proved that Awolowo didnt commit genocide. This doctor's claim can just be regarded as,'why biafra lost the war'.Biafra govt were aware of saboteurs in their midst back then and we the present Igbos know that there are saboteurs in our midst up until now.Dr Nwaezeigwe didnt provide anything to prove his claim and non of his claims seem to suggest that Awolowo didnt commit genocide. This issue has been discussed severally and i do not see any reason to believe that this Dr Nwaezeigwe has more understanding then the participant in the war. The Yorubas will actually vote him to power because it seems he said this because of his meeting with Afeniferes who told him to help Yorubas to come out of this. The truth remains that Obafemi Awolowo was a mass murderer who,out of sheer love of death and cowardice,killed himself. Achebe is right.Dr Nwaezeigwe is schizophrenic. Yorubas supporting him are beggers.

The most sensible post. Dalu.

Awolowo did not deny using starvation in the war, Achebe said he used starvation in the war. In other words, Achebe did not lie whatsoever since the man he accused actually said he did the exact same thing Achebe claimed he did. Some people reasoning sometimes, na wa poo

Lastly he's defense against the 20 pound policy. i'm still in shock that an Igbo man would defend that policy. I guess it did not affect him personally

mimifonwon:

i dont think he is confused, his mom is yoruba and he grew up in yoruba land, he is trying to be objective here but i fault him in doing so and not reading dr achebe's book or even other documents by such people he mentioned like wole soyinka and other international accounts. i believe just like achebe this man has the right to express his opinion, but as a doctor of history i expected him to be well researched to the point that he would know that most of his statements can be disproved.Like i said until wole soyinka, obj and others alive and involved then can write otherwise contrary facts to what achebe wrote, i will take every other suppose writings with a grain of salt.


another thing this so called historian wrote that is an opinion and not fact is this:"In the first instance, the Igbo first lost the golden opportunity to have Chief Awolowo fully on their side when, neither General Ironsi nor Col. Ojukwu failed to see the wisdom in releasing the former from prison custody in Calabar. Chief Obafemi Awolowo had to wait for the six or seven months before he could be released and granted amnesty by General Yakubu Gowon, who subsequently elevated him."

for as many outside international source has noted, ojukwu was the one that facilatated his release. hmmm, am beginning to think that this man needs to tell me whether he bought his degree or just ignorant. it is stupid and career sucidial to comment on a book you havent read, all because you dont agree with achebe.

He's being half Igbo makes sense, most Igbo people will rather agree with Achebe's 'opinion' than side with Yoruba folks, but he gravitates towards his Yoruba kindred somewhat your opposite as an half yoruba with more softness for Igbo. At the end of the day even you guys caught in the middle are forced to choose sides.

Andre Uweh:
He is Igbo to the core and I know him personally. I have even given him a call over this issue. My only worry is that he has behaved like some chaps here who have not read the memoirs yet are on rampage.
He is a nice guy though.

For heaven's sake, you don't have to read any memoir to know that Biafran elites sabotaged the Biafran Project! They screwed up and jumped ship! Ndigbo, open ya eyes.