vicenzo:

There was never a time that the fact that biafra was a collective wish of all eastern tribes,and not just the igbo was in doubt. At a point when the nigerian and british propaganda machine were telling the world that the igbos were dragging the rest of biafran people along, ojukwu demanded that a plebicite be conducted by the international observers in the minority areas of biafra, the british,having gathered an intelligence report that informed them that a 2/3 of the biafran minorities would vote for biafra,advised gowon to turn down Ojukwu's offer, as they knew that allowing the plebicite to hold would have been resulted in acknolwedging the sovereignty of biafra,as a plebicite would have shown that secession was a collective wish of biafran people.

do u hv facts to bck up d abv claim of urz or z it z jx hearsay?

vicenzo:

There was never a time that the fact that biafra was a collective wish of all eastern tribes,and not just the igbo was in doubt. At a point when the nigerian and british propaganda machine were telling the world that the igbos were dragging the rest of biafran people along, ojukwu demanded that a plebicite be conducted by the international observers in the minority areas of biafra, the british,having gathered an intelligence report that informed them that a 2/3 of the biafran minorities would vote for biafra,advised gowon to turn down Ojukwu's offer, as they knew that allowing the plebicite to hold would have been resulted in acknolwedging the sovereignty of biafra,as a plebicite would have shown that secession was a collective wish of biafran people.

do u have facts to back up d above claim of yours or is it just hearsay?

drasaq: @ na2day, the book was launched ystday.published by spectrum books ltd and available in bookshops and spectrum offices.

bro, how much is the book missed the lunch by a whisker..

eagle,eye:

Again, you miss the point. How many of the brave Yoruba soldiers, including this Brigadier-General Alabi, really gained from the spoil of the war? I believe these Brave Yoruba soldiers fought with their hearts and for the True Unity of Nigeria, but they were left to hang and dry after the war.
People like Danjuma, IBB, Abacha and other Hausa-Fulani people gained the spoils of the war. Oil Wells and Power.
Even Isaac Adaka Boro, who thought he was fighting the Igbo oppressors died in questionable circumstance.
Again, are we willing to still fight on behalf of the ELITES, or we should all think and come to a National Conference and decide how we are to be governed and how we are to make the best of this contraption Called Nigeria?
Tribalism is a weak arguement to continue the way we are.

There is nothing bravery in the Yoruba officers and soldiers during war. However, they are what every reasonable Nigeria has come to know, loud mouths. Brig. Gideon Alabi-Isama is not a Yoruba. The major problem with certain accounts of the war is noted author’s exaggerations. For instance, Alabi-Isama never commanded a brigade in 3MCDO. However, he was a sector commander. In fact, Alani Akinriande played more prominent roles in 3MCDO than Alabi-Isama.

Any Nigerian who remotely associates Nigeria with unity is indebted to delusion. Nigeria is wildly growing in population that is set on political pedestal meant to document our cultural differences and antagonism. We must find a way to disengage from colonial union in peace or pieces.

Igbo.owore:


@ My dear igb0-son, If I could remember, in a previous thread in your words you called me " a Monday morning arm chair football critic" and I said I am surprised that you could compare war to a football match. I don't care about ojukwu's war strategy after all he stated in an interview that he was not trained at Sandhurst so his knowledge of warfare was limited. I am so sure, whatever strategy the cantankerous coward adopted, biafra would have been defeated. ojukwu knew about the January 1966 coup but he never reported the coupist. Let me quote again from Adewale Ademoyega'd book "Why We Struck" Page 70
"Of the Lieutenant-Colonels, only two were known to be political and revolutionary and were willing to take part in any effort to revolutionise Nigeria. These were Lieutenant-Colonels Banjo and Fajuyi. For reasons that are later explained, neither of them actually took part in the coup of January 15. Lieutenant-Colonels ojukwu and Njoku were unsure and preferred to adopt the "if you boys succeed, we shall go along with you" attitude". Before you raise any issue, ojukwu too alluded to that fact in his book "Because I Am Involved". Ejoor in an interview said, ojukwu had sounded him and Gowon out to carry out a coup in 1964.

I still don't understand what you wanted from Awolowo, this man at his own personal safety travelled to ibo land to beg the deluded cantankerous coward, yet he remained obstinate after all he knew he could run away with his family members. I don't have to remind you the fate of Yoruba officers who fought on the biafran side (Banjo and Ademoyega). Also Wole Soyinka who went to jail because of the ibos, has been called unprintable names by the same people just because he said chinua achebe is not the father of African literature. I have always said the average ibo person thinks he is the only one God gave a brain. When an ibo man owns something, it is his only but when another man owns something, he now remembers we should be our brother's keeper. I still don't understand what you meant "if he had stood up for the truth"? You wanted to turn his land to a battlefield yet you wanted him to keep quiet and waste innocent lives? My dear igbo-son, your people are the only ones who are smart abi. If it was the other way round would you allow the Yoruba people turn your land into a battlefield? Nzeogwu said in his last interview that the real power was not in Lagos but in Kaduna, yet that deluded cantankerous coward sent troops on their way to Lagos. Do I have to remind you what the biafrans troops did in the neutral Mid-West. There is a Yoruba proverb that says you don't open your eye and allow a fly enter your eye.

On the Aburi Accord, ojukwu's body language showed his mind was made up and was waiting for the slighted excuse before he activated the war button. You never made reference to my post where I said chinua achebe even said in his book that Gowon obviously never understood what he was signing. Is that what you call in good faith? I saw a video of the Aburi meetings recently, where at the end of the meeting when they were posing for photographs, where your dear brother was smoking in the front of cameras. I smoke too and am surprised that a man could not control his urge for a few minutes till he got to his hotel to smoke is allowed to lead his people to their deaths. Yet he knew it wise to evacuate he and his family from danger.

There is a saying in Yoruba land that a witch cried yesterday and the child died today, who does not know it was the witch that killed the child. In 1964, ojukwu had sounded out Ejoor and Gowon on the possibility of carrying out a coup. chinua achebe wrote a book about how some officers carried out a coup. Then their junior brothers struck. They kill the four most senior Northern Officers while the most senior officer in the NA who happened to be an ibo man is not at home when they came for him. They killed the Prime Minister who is a Northerner but like in the above case the President who is an ibo man is out of the country. They killed the premier of the Northern Region but when they got to the house of the premier of the Eastern Region he is placed on house arrest because he had an august visitor and later the coup leader comes visiting. Then the senate president who is an ibo man hands over to the GOC of the NA another ibo man. So who is fooling who? An incident happened when I was in secondary school. I had just resumed JS 1 and started in second term because I had been sick throughout the first term. One day after school hours, I was trekking home and suddenly I saw my fellow school mates running but I just kept strolling until another shouted out to me to run. When I looked back I saw boys with bottles and knives stabbing and beating our fellow school students apparently some bad boys in my school had gotten in to a fight and injured some Akoka boys. I could easily have been killed for no reason than I was school mates with some boys with bad home training. This was a school I was barely two weeks. I don't support mob action of any kind and I would never support the killing of innocent citizens under any guise but I maintain it is the problems of the ibos to fix.

On my handle, call me whatever that suits your disdain and disgust for me. You have obviously chose what you want to believe. You said I cant stand the ibos, I can but am always with my guards on

The above is a classic example of regurgitating fabricated crap from Nowa Omoigui without self discipline.

vicenzo: Finally, this alabi of a man is true to his kind. I couldn't find a single iota of truth in his trash of article. See how the man tried so much to paint his fellow tribesmen(Obj and Adekunle) with black, while painting himself as holy rambo, haha! The same liar that told us how he overpowered in a true rambo style, some group of biafran soldiers who came to kill him.

The old morally depraved man was even boasting about his promiscuity and inability to keep his marriage vows, what kind of lesson was he hoping to teach his sons with that kind of story,huh? I guess it's all part of his rambo fantasy.

We have a typical case of pseudologia fantastica here,believe alabi story and you can as well believe that rats can fly. Nonsense!

Alabi Isama enlisted into the Nigerian Army as Abdulrahman Alabi. He now claims that his father is from Utagba-Unor in Delta. If this is true, then he is supposed to be an Anioma man which would effectively make him an Igbo. However, his mother is Yoruba and he is aculturated as Yoruba. Gen. Alex Madiebo recently stated that Alabi Isama did not overpower any Biafran as he claims rather he convinced Biafrans that he was Igbo. Along the same line of reasoning, Gowon also stated that Nigerian army intelligence indicated that Isama-Alabi joined Biafram Army purportedly through coercion.

For me, it appears that some peripheral Igbo like Isama-Alabi and Gen. Ogbemudia who is Igbo from Igbanke an Igbo town in Edo State were duplicitous at the early stages of the war to see where the wind would blow. When the Biafrans began to retreat, it was easy for them to switch sides.

Now we should be careful not to allow the re-writing of history. Recently, Ogbemudia who is a closet Anioma Igbo gave an interview where he alleged that the massacre of Anioma people in Asaba and the environs never happened. Ogbemudis's allegation goes against all documented proof by eye witnesses and other independent sources. On the other hand in several interviews, Alabi tried to justify the Asaba massacre.

The insults here are unnecessary, No tribe should suffer what befell the Igbo based on pure military misadventure. Anyone that gloats over the genocide against the Igbo should recognize what Martin Niemoller said:

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out--
Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out--
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out--
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me--and there was no one left to speak for me.

The forces that were bent on exterminating the Igbo targeted the Yoruba after 1993 and but for Abacha's death, the Yoruba might have faced similar fate,

See Emma Okocha's interview.



‘Ogbemudia guilty of war crimes

Emma Okocha
[By EMMANUEL AGOZINO.]
Contrary to widely held views that the first Prime Minister, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa was shot during the January 1966 coup among the overwhelming populace, author, diplomat and sports administrator, Emma Okocha reasons that believing such is akin to accepting that water means fire. An avid campaigner for reparation for Asaba genocide, in his Nigerians best seller, Blood on the Niger, the first Black on Black genocide, Okocha throws more light on his research findings, in this interview with EMMANUEL AGOZINO. He also gives an account of what happens to his Anioma people of defunct Midwest Region between 1967-70, Nigerian civil war under the then Col. Murtala Muhammad, who commanded the Second Division Nigerian Army captured the region, among other issues.

Your book, Blood on the Niger, seems to be centred on the Asaba massacre and about January 15, 1966 coup, what is your view on the recent comment made by Gen. Samuel Ogbemudia (rtd) that there was no genocide in Midwest, especially in Asaba, and that your people should rather thank him for hiding many Igbo civilians in his house during the war in Midwest?
In the first place, Brigadier Samuel Ogbemudia is an Igbo man. So, he cannot claim that he was sheltering his own people. So also is late Archbishop Benson Idahosa. Trace their history back and you will be shocked how they all adopted Benin name and culture to cover their identity and atrocities. You know I told you that anytime I heard the name of Ogbemudia I have a lot of emotion. Because he was the person responsible for my going back to school when I was orphaned. But because of his latest vituperations in the News Magazine, the gloves are off. I am throwing away the gloves in my hands and I have to return fire to him because of the blood of Asaba people in his hands.

Samuel Ogbemudia
I told you about what happened in Benin to Asaba when these hordes overran our people. There is even a case of madman called sea never dry. Do you know that they killed even a madman? And one Major Uwaifo and others, all of this Benin name were leading the massacre and committing the atrocities. There is death squad among them that goes to cleanse the city. Apart from house to house search, their style was to go out and look for children who are sucking breast from their mother. They snatch them away from their mother and smash their heads on the ground. These were Benin and Urhobo soldiers. What I am saying is that they were more killings here than other places during the civil war.

Unfortunately, many of the soldiers that committed this evil went to St Patrick College here in Asaba. It was Samuel Ogbemudia that was the head of this killing. At a time, the Northerners and Yorubas soldiers could no longer stand the sight. But the Benin soldiers under Ogbemudia felt it was opportunity to wipe out our people. They were killing and the crying of women and children did not touch the soldiers. The more direct and hateful killing came from Benin officers. For them not to apologise or show remorse for this genocide committed under Ogbemudia’s supervision is a crime against humanity. That is why we are opening up their dark-pages which I told you was full of blood of innocents.

Do you know that Ogbemudia at the beginning was part of the Nigerian military contingent in Congo? What many did not know is that when Nigeria went to Congo, Ogbemudia was court-marshaled for illegal diamond smuggling by the military. The next thing was for him to be shamelessly dismissed from the army. But it took the intervention of Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe. That was what saved him, an Igbo man stood in by ensuring he was not dismissed but how many people know.
I told you that Ogbemudia is an Igbo man from Igbo-Akiri village near Agbor. But at heat of the war, he collaborated with few renegades and they changed the name of the town to Igbanke as part of the cultural genocide against his own people. Go and read your history. Before war, the people called Igbanke people are Igbo-Akiri and they are Igbo people. The worst genocide you can inflict on a race is to psychological uproot them from their root and history. Genocide can be of many dimensions. But that is what Ogbemudia did to Igbo-Akiri people. Today, the people cannot claim they are Benin or Igbo, but we know their root.

What happened in those days was like a new pattern of self-denial that would reoccur in River State, when suddenly the Ikwere people declared themselves not Igbo. From time immemorial, the people that are today called Igbanke, were known and called Igbo-Akiri. Changing Igbo-Akiri to Igbanke was by Ogbemudia with the full support of few saboteurs as a strategy to ensure their survival. Because it would have been unthinkable at that time to reveal that a predominantly Igbo town produced the Military Governor of Midwest. So, for him to say he saved the Igbos, the truth is that he saved himself.
And when they were killings in Kaduna, July 29, they killed almost every officer from the East. Ogbemudia escaped by luck because he was known to be Igbo. It was not that he was smart, but God saved him. He was in Kaduna with Nzeogwu. So, he escaped and ran down to Benin. Back in Benin, he started having problems with Col. Ben Ochie from Asaba, who was the commander of the Brigade of Guards. So, he was the one to go to Lagos to procure arms for Midwest because Midwest was supposed to be neutral ground. So, Ogbemudia got entangled with Northerners through his double agent. So when he came back he was full of suspicion because the Igbos have over nine officers higher than him.

Ojukwu
There was Col. Conrad Nwawo, Col Rudolf Trimmell, Lt Col Sylvanus Nwajei, Lt Col Mike Okweichime, Lt Col Morah, Lt Col Ochie and many others. Ogbemudia was just a Major, the other one was Major David Ejoor, who is an Uhrobo. That was when he decided to get into alliance with Federal side. Ogbemudia turned to the Federal side because he didn’t like the emergence many Igbo over him. And when the opportunity came he moved and organised the poisoning of Biafran soldiers through Benin women. Those people you see in Ore, many of them died as a result of swollen stomach and they didn’t know what killed them. Ogbemudia conspired with Benin women who give themselves to Biafrans only to poison them. Ogbemudia lined up Delta Igbo and butcher them. Everybody that is Igbo in Benin was either clubbed to death or maimed. At the end of the war he changed and pretended as one that is giving the Igbo people in Midwest hope.
Our parents were all slaughtered, that is why his record in the genocide is overflowing with serious violation against our people. So, the point I am making is that Ogbemudia is guilty of war crime. I believe he is on the top list of genocide offenders in Nigeria. The next person is Muritala Muhammad, the number one butcher of Asaba, we will never forgive Muhammad for the atrocities he committed in Asaba. Number three, I.B.M Haruna, who when he was asked at the Oputa Panel why he did that and he replied he did his job and that he will do it again. Number four is Theophilus Danjuma, the man who conspired and eliminated his Commander in-Chief in Ibadan and continued the ferocious genocidal operations against the Asaba people up to the death of Major Timothy Onwuatuegwu.

In your view why do you think 1966 coup was regarded as Igbo coup?
It was termed Igbo coup in order to find excuse for the so-called revenge coup of July 29’1966 where the cream of the top Igbo soldiers who were ahead were to be eliminated. In my book, Nzeogwu the Unknown, we all know that this was not an Igbo coup. It was a band of ten revolutionaries that included a senior lieutenant who is a Yoruba. Again, that Adekunle Fajuyi was killed is not because he was going to die with his Commander in Chief. No, Fajuyi was killed because Danjuma and his band of murders considers him as part of the January revolutionary against Balewa.

Are you saying that Col. Fajuyi was part of the January 15 coup?
Yes. Very simple, Col. Fajuyi was an insider in the coup and a mentor to the boys. In fact, he was the one who suggested to them that the post of Prime Minister of Nigeria should go to Chief ObafemiAwolowo. Fajuyi was also the one who promised that whatever happened to the coup, the boys will have a safe landing. Do you think that Danjuma and his Northern soldiers did not know what they did by slaughtering Fajuyi. This idea that Fajuyi died only because of Ironsi is not true. The Northern soldiers knew everything and they were on a revenge mission, not only against Ironsi but also against Fajuyi. Take for instance, when Ironsi demanded for the heads of the boys under the pressure of the Northerners, Fajuyi was the only one who stood between Ironsi and the boys. He convinced Ironsi to play cool with the boys.

Danjuma
That was why the boys were not touched under Ironsi. Ask Danjuma he is still alive and I challenged Danjuma to make a statement. He knows what I am telling you. For Danjuma to say that these boys selectively killed Northern soldiers, nobody was killed out of cold blood. Check the number of casualties. They were all arrested including FaniKayode. If they were murderers like the propaganda of this Western press has propagated, why didn’t they kill Chief Fani-Kayode, but rather they dragged him down to Lagos and he was crying like a baby? S.L. Akintola, Premier of the West got killed in a shootout he started.

How?

Yes, how can a Premier learn how to operate machine gun? The man who taught Akintola how to operate a machine gun was the Commander of the Fourth Battalion in Ibadan. And he was a target. The truth is that the people they were targeting, their plan was to demobilise them. They cannot leave them without demobilizing them otherwise the coup will fail. But if they prove offensive, you use every power to do it. And even you trying to demobilise them, your life is not guaranteed. That was what happened in the case of those who lost their lives. So, in the various operations, they were not shooting and killing everybody. What happened is that in the West they carried out the coup successfully.
Some people thought they failed because Col. Unegbe did not give them key to the Amoury or they are trying to get the key. But I tell you, they were totally armed to the teeth on what they wanted, they carried out the operations. The story of the Armoury and Col.Unegbe from Ozubulu, an Igboman, was not true. Why Unegbe was killed was not because he wasn’t letting go the key. Commanders of the Armoury don’t go home with keys in military tradition. Unegbe was short dead because he had an issue to settle with the revolutionaries.
What was this issue?
He was part of the coup but towards the later hours he back-pedaled. The penalty for such at that zero hour is demobilisation. Leave him alone, you constitute an obstacle.Do you know that the Commander of the Ibadan garrison specifically, the Second battalion was part of the second coup that was to take place 17th January?
Which second coup?
The conservative coup of Balewa led by Akintola. They want to crush the opposition in the West, East and Tiv land. It will be a conservative government element of NPC and Akintola NNDP. Wole Soyinka, Tai Solarin, M. I Okpara, Chris Okigbo, all those Ibadan boys were to be eliminated. But this came to the knowledge of Kaduna Nzeogwu, who was the first Nigerian trained professional military intelligence officer. Balewa and his group were to do this coup January 17 before Nzeowu and his group struck. So, January 15 was not an Igbo coup because Prime Minister was to be given to Chief Awolowo.
Another thing that worries me is why the same Western press have never asked Chief Awolowo what was his views even after he came out of prison. They keep saying the man has sagacity, he was principle, he was not compromising and all that. How come he did not open his mouth one day to talk about these boys since he knew very well that the boys were going to install him until he dies? He was their mini-god. They didn’t want Azikiwe, they didn’t want Osadebay or Okpara. How come it is Awolowo they wanted? Yet, he didn’t make any coment on the coup in all his campaign till he died. The western press will never tell you that. But they all know that the aim of the January 15 coup was to make Awo Prime Minster.

So, it was not an Igbo coup?

Yes. Because out of the four regions then, Northern region, Western region, Eastern region and Mid-Western regions, Igbo led two. So, if it were Igbo coup, why should an Igbo be against an arraignment that already favors him? Is it not madness? In the Federal set up, the Igbos have more Ministers than others. People like Raymond Njoku. He was the first Minster of transport and within short time he established the best Airways in Commonwealth. The Nigerian Railway under Okechukwu Ikejiani became better than the Indian Railway. From Maiduguri to Enugu and PortHarcout. Njoku pioneered the best waterline services, which Sir Louis Odumegwu Ojukwu chaired.
The waterline continued until Ebenezer Babatope under Gen. Abacha sold it. K.O. Mbadiwe was there. Jaja Wachuku the first foreign Minister. Nwachukwu once saved Nelson Mandela, who was going to the gallows. Jaja Wachuku was one of the founding fathers of OAU. Aja Nwachukwu, another brilliant star was the minister of Education. What did he do? He established the Federal government college system in Nigeria. Apart from Government College in Umuahia, he established government college Owerri, Sokoto. Shehu Shagari has to beg him as friend, please give me Government College Sokoto.
And he established the University of Lagos. And what do they pay the Igbos for establishing UNILAG? Nothing. An Igbo man brought Prof. Eni Njoku from Cambridge to head the Vice Chancellorship of UNILAG and in leaving Cambridge all the White Deans followed Njoku to Nigerian because Njoku at that time had PhD in various fields. He was the first African that Zik acknowledged as a true scholar. That was how UNILAG became what it is. Vice Chancellor of Nigerian Premier University, Prof. Kenneth Dike is also an Igbo. So why should Igbo now overthrow this arraignment that favours him by planning coup? Igbo then headed all three universities in Nigerian. out of four, most strategic was Ibadan. I am just picturing for you what Nigeria was before the coup, when things were done on merit.

Some people still believed the coup was led by Nzeogwu, but late Dim Chukwuemeka Ojukwu said it was lead by Ifeajuna. In your research who actually led the 1966 coup?
It was by Christian Anuforo. He was the commander of the Armored Column in Gboko, the Tiv Province, when he refused order to continue the brutalities against the Tiv people fighting for their human rights. Anuforo was the Unite Commander. He just came back from England with Bsc Mathematics. As a professional soldier, he didn’t feel it was right for him to use his weapons against civilians. But he was ordered from Kaduna to wipe them out. That was the first crisis by these feudal conspiracies. In fact, some of the Tiv Chiefs supported the Sarduana policies that the Tiv freedom fighters should be wiped out. And Anuforo refused and was threatened with decommissioning but he was lucky that he was transferred back to Kaduna. At that point in time he was unhappy and you know, he had his own colleagues. This includes people like Cap. Nwobosi who is still alive, Maj.Timothy Onwuatuegwu, Maj Okafor of the Federal Guards, etc. At the same time, there was the Ibadan school. Maj. Emmanuel Ifeajuna, the first Nigerian graduate officer. Ojukwu was also the first graduate officer but he came from England. In Ibadan, Ifeajuna had already carried out a lot of revolutionary movement. From DMGS as a student leader, he refused intimidation and was leading a lot of insurgent student’s union movement. So, whoever that says that this is just Igbo people who wanted Igbo rule is telling lies. Then among this Ifeajuna groups were intellectual that include Wole Soyinka, Chris Okigbo, who was Nigeria’s greatest poet at that time, Tai Solarin. They knew what the Ifeajuna group were doing. Ifejuna also had his alter ego in the person of Maj. Ademoyega. They were graduates, and wanted to use the Army to actualise their revolutionary thinking for Nigeria.

I will not like to mention his name but there was a Professor that took over the radio station during the wetie operation. At that time, Ifeajuna was the leader because he continued to link up with the groups at Kaduna. Because when Anuforo left the Tiv Region, he went back to Kaduna, and there, he meet his former classmate Maj. Chukwuma Nzeogwu, knowing the strategic place of Nzeowgu, as the only first trained intelligence officer at that time. Nzeogwu then joined them but he was not the leader at that time. Nzeogwu was more of an Hausa boy. He was not smoking, womanizing, drinking. He always has his head barbed, wore Babriga, spoke Hausa, and never attended any Igbo community meeting. So, anyone telling you that it was Igbo coup is confused.
Nzegwu was attracted to marshal music, especially the type that came from Yugoslavia, where he was an admirer of Marshal Tito and Fidel Castro of Cuba. So he will spend the next one hour listening to marshal after he came back from Mass. So, that was how they started having meetings from Ibadan to Kaduna and it was being coordinated by Ifeajuna. At that time, Ifeajuna became the leader. Why the leadership changed to Nzeogwu was that on the D day, the operation everywhere was successful. In fact it was the most successful coup in Nigeria because there was a little bloodletting.



Yakubu Gowon
He moved the command despite the advice of Ika Igbo, who knows the terrain to his friend Victor Banjo. So, when Banjo got to Ore. He stopped for his own reason. If you read Wole Soyinka’s book, The Man Died, Soyinka too wondered why Banjo stopped. Gowon was about fleeing or surrendering. When Banjo stopped in Ore. That was the end for Biafra. Federal troops reorganised and took to the massacre in Asaba. There is always envy by other ethnic groups the way they look at Igbo. It is natural because they always believe the Igbos take more than they can chew.

[b][/b]Truncated due to article being too long.




http://www.mydailynewswatchng.com/2013/05/02/balewa-died-of-heart-attack-not-by-bullets-okocha/

Tafawa Balewa died of Heart Attack, Awolowo committed suicide

the truth must stand

Hmm Gen Alabi Isama version is thought provoking. For the first time I am able to see the other version of the great story for Nigeri/Biafra war, at least in my lifetime. But what is true about Chinua Achebes version? What can we really believe? There is so much that we can get from this be be careful the truth will never be hidden. The strory goes on......

I am really scared of the narrow mindedness of most Nigerians. IGBOs and YORUBAs be careful. The question is what do Igbos stand to gain from attacking the Yorubas? What do Yorubas have to gain from this bickering rather than trying to foster peace amongst its people and Nigerians. I believe relationship is spiritual and if the realities on ground are anything to consider you will notice that Yorubas were not as educated and enlightened as the Igbos before the Independence but they have come from so little to where they are today. The Igbo are a pride to the black race as they were able to get all the education needed for leadership. They had most things long before the Yoruba. They are great indeed! But I must say it is really unfortunate that they once revered Igbo empire in the scheme of things have become a subject of petty issues which despite their almost absolute domination of the polity before the independence.

I wish to say every sinking great empire will seek to whip up unnecessary sentiments rather concentrating on trivial issues that brought them to their state of defeat. The Nigerian Nation is a defeated Nation. Lets concentrate on fostering PEACE. If only we can define a vision for the Nation we will GROW and will be greater than greatest empires that ever existed. There is no bases for comparison of the two Africa greats. WHY FIGHTING!

DerideGull:

There is nothing bravery in the Yoruba officers and soldiers during war. However, they are what every reasonable Nigeria has come to know, loud mouths. Brig. Gideon Alabi-Isama is not a Yoruba. The major problem with certain accounts of the war is noted author’s exaggerations. For instance, Alabi-Isama never commanded a brigade in 3MCDO. However, he was a sector commander. In fact, Alani Akinriande played more prominent roles in 3MCDO than Alabi-Isama.

Any Nigerian who remotely associates Nigeria with unity is indebted to delusion. Nigeria is wildly growing in population that is set on political pedestal meant to document our cultural differences and antagonism. We must find a way to disengage from colonial union in peace or pieces.

Assuming Yoruba Generals like US Generals who worn the Civil War (WW 2) are NOT brave soldiers, is it the Ibos who lost (and Ojuku the war instigator fled to Abidjan) for years that is a brave man? Is Hitler who committed suicide not better than an ojuku who ran away?? Well, at the end of the day, the whole world who won and who lost and we know and have decided who was a brave gallant victorious soldier and the coward who fled from his war!

diskots: Hmm Gen Alabi Isama version is thought provoking. For the first time I am able to see the other version of the great story for Nigeri/Biafra war, at least in my lifetime. But what is true about Chinua Achebes version? What can we really believe? There is so much that we can get from this be be careful the truth will never be hidden. The strory goes on......

I am really scared of the narrow mindedness of most Nigerians. IGBOs and YORUBAs be careful. The question is what do Igbos stand to gain from attacking the Yorubas? What do Yorubas have to gain from this bickering rather than trying to foster peace amongst its people and Nigerians. I believe relationship is spiritual and if the realities on ground are anything to consider you will notice that Yorubas were not as educated and enlightened as the Igbos before the Independence but they have come from so little to where they are today. The Igbo are a pride to the black race as they were able to get all the education needed for leadership. They had most things long before the Yoruba. They are great indeed! But I must say it is really unfortunate that they once revered Igbo empire in the scheme of things have become a subject of petty issues which despite their almost absolute domination of the polity before the independence.

I wish to say every sinking great empire will seek to whip up unnecessary sentiments rather concentrating on trivial issues that brought them to their state of defeat. The Nigerian Nation is a defeated Nation. Lets concentrate on fostering PEACE. If only we can define a vision for the Nation we will GROW and will be greater than greatest empires that ever existed. There is no bases for comparison of the two Africa greats. WHY FIGHTING!

I think you are REALLY IGNORANT going by your post! When were ibos EVER ahead of Yorubas? Achebe lied in his book as pointed out by several accounts including John de St. Jorre, and even Alabi Isama (watch his video has he re-enacted the manoeuvres, sickle cuts and pin down tactics that he used to move an army of 40,000 a distance of over 300 KM from Calabar to PH, covering over 50 Miles in 1 Day using Biafra vehicles which he captured! While Achebe lied thoroughly in his book, he mentioned that "...in one leap.." ibos recovered ground against the Yorubas (not true in the absolute sense) though they made progress just like any human race of people would make progress in 20 years if they are not sleeping. That indicates that Yorubas were AHEAD and ibos were playing catchup, read history before you distort it - Yorubas were ahead and Achebe accepted that much. Yorubas have always been far more educated than ibos, till today go and check your facts mister before you make a foo.l of yourself in public but only Yorubas are never brought up to boast and put themselves up in the face of other people.

Yorubas NEVER go to attack ibos! Think about it! During the war when Yorubas had a prime chance to attack ibos, they would have done that and readily joined the war but they remained neutral until Ojuku raised an army to march to Lagos. The Yorubas had every reason to stop the ibos in Ore and kill them and thereafter engage the best form of defense which is ATTACK! That is why Yorubas eventually joined the war, just like the Mid West which ojuku also encroached upon but was previously neutral!

And what is igbo empire? When did ibo empire exist? Who was their king and ruler? Where and who did they conquer? Kai, some people are downright dumbo! Ibos NEVER had any Kingdom or Empire which they conquered by war or acculturation or subterfuge! Go and check your history abegi! The only notable kingdoms in the South of Nigeria are the Yoruba Kingdoms of Oyo (the Oyo Empire) and Benin Empire. How did ibos who till today maintain they never had kings or rulers have an empire?? Oh, I see...you are talking about their individual family empires? Well, every one had and still have that today, even animals!