Arewa is so obsessed about their so called 'civil war victory' and you often hear them talk arrogantly about their liberation of the Niger Delta or South South from their Igbo brothers. They use this refrain to justify their control of 90 per cent of oil blocs, high revenue allocation through greater number of states and hamlets as local governments, control of the armed forces and bureaucratic apparati of government.

I read this trash always and besides Paul Unongo's interview in Sunday Trust Oct 27, 2013 page 58. Late Muhammed Shuwa interview Daily Trust Nov. 5, 2012, most of their commentaries celebrate the balkanisation of the Eastern region-but any suggestion to Northern unity as an illusion, like Prof Ben Nwabueze wrote recently, is greeted with fury.

On this premise, Northerners virulently resist any constitutional change in the status quo. They always remind Niger Deltans, who question the lopsided and exploited federalism, that they should be grateful having been liberated from the Igbo. I am Igbo-speaking Niger Deltan and the truth is a lie told frequently unassailed assumes truism. So many Niger Deltans, before the advent President Goodluck Jonathan and out of psychological insecurity,began to believe that "the 'Hausa' were our messiah." The North was thought to have 'saved' our lands from the Biafrans and helped us fight them from our 'resources'. During this period the North reaped bountifully from the region politically with glee and without any recompense.

Now the chickens have come home to roost. And the North are no more seen as genuine allies. The North simply sees the region, lumped with the Igbo, as conquered peoples, their resources as spoils and booties of war. They still cannot reconcile that the "junior partners" can produce a President over and above the deft, rampaging, manouvering and strategic Muslim Fulani. And they have responded violently and legally as is their nature.

Back in the old east, besides the suspicion bred by the Aro-led slave dealings, are there major highlights of majority-minority killings? Are there cases of political marginalisation or developmental seclusion? With near homogeneity factor in old East accentuated by high inter-marriages, historical, cultural, religious, economic, geographical and perhaps, political ties, can we correctly say the Igbo are at war with their neighbours?

Why did Eyo Ita, from present Akwa Ibom become first premier of Eastern Region? Why did Igbo back Philip Effiong as new leader of Biafra after Ojukwu's departure for peace talks in Ivory Coast? Why did several non-Igbo Easterners make so much impact politically and militarily in the Eastern setting?

People like Margaret Ekpo, a Calabar woman won the Aba seat for Eastern Assembly and Udo Udoma began the Ibibio State Union in the 1940s in Aba. W.U. Bassey was the third in rank to Ironsi, Louis Edet was the highest Eastern-backed Police officer and first indegenous IGP; Clement Isong was Nigeria's first CBN governor; Henry Etim Duke was first board chairman Customs and Excise; Mathew Mbu was second Eastern nominated Foreign Affairs Minister after Aja Nwachukwua. Okoi Arikpo and Imoke senior werte all non Igbo who found their internationally acclaimed destiny within the Eastern govt.

Why did the Igbo ban their members from contesting the 2011 Presidential elections for the first time post Nnammdi Azikiwe for a near hundred per cent support for a Goodluck Jonathan, an Ogbia minority in Bayelsa State and in the process, lose over 3000 souls and goods and properties destroyed in North? Why would an Anambra State- a state blessed with more human resources, development, better GDP and per capita income and far more international clout than Jonathan's Bayelsa decide to sink or swim with him examplified in the state elections where it vowed not to allow him shamed by detractors who want to use the state to test their popularity in their continuing onslaught against a constitutionally entitled incumbent?

Infrastructurally, a look at the layout and aesthetics of major cities in the old East shows a uniform development pattern. The Eastern govt continued from where the British left off in Enugu, PH, Calabar, Aba, Onitsha, Owerri, Uyo, Umuahia, Ikom, Ikot Ekpene, Abakaliki, Awka, Orlu, Bonny among other cities of the East. Michael Okpara replicated the Enugu Presidential Hotel in P/Harcourt and a six storey Metropolitan Hotel in Calabar. The University of Calabar and University of PH were satellites of UNN? Okpara built the Obudu Cattle Ranch, Nkalagau Cement Factory Enugu, Golden Guinea Breweries, Umuahia, Trans Amadi Industrial Zone, Onne Free Zone all in PH, and severa lrice and palm produce industries all over the East and grew the region's economy at 12 per cent before the Malaysians came to pick their first seeds its palm oil and agro skills.

Against this background, I consider the North's claims paternalistic and spurious. claim of the North that they liberated Niger Deltans from some other humans, who are not even superior to them, not a tool to destroy southern solidarity and degrade the dignity of the Niger Deltan?

So the questions are: Who liberated who from who? Is the South South a liberated zone of the North? Is it a case of soured grapes or cheap blackmail? Or is it a case of divide and rule?

If we are to take the traitors' positions of Ken Saro Wiwa, Adaka Boro and Elechi Amadi, all Igbo speaking Niger Deltans who claimed in the course of the war of freedom by Biafra that Igbo will dominate the rest as the reason for North's messianic posture, how do you reconcile it with their exploitation of South South oil and the vicious onslaught against Jonathan?

Kponkwem:
If we are to take the traitors' positions of Ken Saro Wiwa, Adaka Boro and Elechi Amadi, all Igbo speaking Niger Deltans who claimed in the course of the war of freedom by Biafra that Igbo will dominate the rest as the reason for North's messianic posture, how do you reconcile it with their exploitation of South South oil and the vicious onslaught against Jonathan?

Just to correct an impression, only Elechi Amadi is an Igbo speaking Niger-Deltan.

Afam4eva:
Just to correct an impression, only Elechi Amadi is an Igbo speaking Niger-Deltan.

I agree that Elechi Amadi is Ikwerre Igbo and therefore understands Igbo naturally, but both Saro Wiwa and Boro grew up among Igbo. Saro Wiwa lived mostly in Umuahia and was in Govt College. His Igbo was impeccable. Boro stayed in Nsukka, enjoyed Eastern govt subsidies and was even elected Student Union govt President in UNN. Check your facts.

my brother you are even going too far. Let assume the north liberated the Niger Delta, What has the Niger delta to show for its Liberation?

that notwithstanding, let do another maths, Won't it be more profitable to the Niger Deltan to share its wealthy with ONLY the Igbos, than with ENTIRE NIGERIA. My brother do the maths... I would prefer to share my 10 Naira with one person than to share let say 3 or 4 persons...

Well, it seems both the Liberator and Liberated are f..ls, yet i would say the Liberators are just wise business men...hence both the LIBERATED and the conquered are now "The Conquered"...who loosed and who won...The Liberated loosed more than the conquered...

Yet even THOSE USED AS TOOLS to conquer the conquered are also been slaved...THERE'S ONLY ONE WINNER AND ONE FIGHTER...THE CONQUERED are still the one fighting the WINNER and trying to save both THOSE USED in conquering them and THE LIBERATED.

Kponkwem:

I agree that Elechi Amadi is Ikwerre Igbo and therefore understands Igbo naturally, but both Saro Wiwa and Boro grew up among Igbo. Saro Wiwa lived mostly in Umuahia and was in Govt College. His Igbo was impeccable. Boro stayed in Nsukka, enjoyed Eastern govt subsidies and was even elected Student Union govt President in UNN. Check your facts.

When you said "Igbo Speaking", i thought you were referring to indigenous Igbo speaking.

Afam4eva:
When you said "Igbo Speaking", i thought you were referring to indigenous Igbo speaking.

No my brother, I just used the phrase to show the affinity. But its hightime the youths in the east confronted the truth and the history so they can seperate facts from fiction being sold to them. This is the only way we can rediscover our true selves and forge ahead.

Kponkwem:

No my brother, I just used the phrase to show the affinity. But its hightime the youths in the east confronted the truth and the history so they can seperate facts from fiction being sold to them. This is the only way we can rediscover our true selves and forge ahead.

Bros having schooled in UNIPORT, I know how misguided most people from ND are. To make the case worse, some Igbos don't help matters, they make a lot of stupid noise about advanced we are more than other tribes.

Furthermore, during my NYSC at Sokoto, a Bayelsa dude expressed his disgust for Igbos. He said "I will prefer to giveaway my oil to an Hausa man than for Igbo man to benefit from it."

The domineering attitude must stop. Igbos must recognise that this race is symbiotic.

saintneo:

Bros having schooled in UNIPORT, I know how misguided most people from ND are. To make the case worse, some Igbos don't help matters, they make a lot of stupid noise about advanced we are more than other tribes.

Furthermore, during my NYSC at Sokoto, a Bayelsa dude expressed his disgust for Igbos. He said "I will prefer to giveaway my oil to an Hausa man than for Igbo man to benefit from it."

The domineering attitude must stop. Igbos must recognise that this race is symbiotic.

Don't even worry about that sort of small minded people talking about giving Bayelsa oil away to the north instead of the east.
That person is not only a victim of excessive hatred juice drunk from his equally small minded elders, but a lazy fellow incapable of doing his own research.
He should have found how the so-called present day Bayelsans survived before the discovery of oil, because that way, he can predict how they will continue to survive after oil has been exhausted.
The traitors to their mother land: Ken Saro wiwa, Adaka Boro, have paid the ultimate price for their stu.pidity, and Elechi will in due course.

My Eastern brodas, pls leave ND out of ur Ibo talks. Yu peeps tried b4 wit Biafra, it didn't work. So, it will not work now.

Discuss hw to beta AlaIbo n think less of ND.

Wen it's tym for ND/SS to merge wit de Ibos, then nothing can stop it.
So for now, yu can talk of all of Ibo land especially Ebonyi State.
Arios

naijaking1:

Don't even worry about that sort of small minded people talking about giving Bayelsa oil away to the north instead of the east.
That person is not only a victim of excessive hatred juice drunk from his equally small minded elders, but a lazy fellow incapable of doing his own research.
He should have found how the so-called present day Bayelsans survived before the discovery of oil, because that way, he can predict how they will continue to survive after oil has been exhausted.
The traitors to their mother land: Ken Saro wiwa, Adaka Boro, have paid the ultimate price for their stu.pidity, and Elechi will in due course.

Look @ wat hate has turned yu into.
Call them traitors, but here in de SS, we know them as HEROs.
Nnamdi Azikiwe dat caused it frm day one, Ojukwu dat ran away like a coward, u didn't call them Stupid, na men way help salvage their peeps frm future extinction na him yu D̶̲̥̅̊ε̲̣̣̣̥γ̲̣̣̥ call stupid.
Let's compare both regions now, who will yu say has no direction.
Ebonyi state gat me thinking tho.

My people are just wallowing in ignorance. Its a fact that I have used GEJ's administration to know who are the haters and the lovers of Niger Deltans. I must say that up till now, Igbos are the reason why GEJ is still strong in the presidency. They are the only people that fought the northerners to stand still to make sure he was sworn in after Yaradua's demise.

Let us face the fact, we are worse today because Biafra lost the war. But we were told to believe that the Northerners librated us. We were never a conquered people!

What really is Liberation, Liberation from whom or what.

The coup that led to the civil war was led by a Niger Deltan chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu, the coup was what brought igbos down from grace positions they occupied before the war, notice another igbo soldier Aguiyi stopped the coup.

Still talking about Liberation a very briliant Journalist once asked Gowon who was the leader of the North and Nigeria during the war why he was still bent on fighting the East even with Hunger and other unorthodox war techniques after Liberating the Niger Deltans , Notice the Niger Deltans were Liberated some few months after the war started in July 29 1967 all Niger Delta Areas were captured or Liberated within 5 months of war , why then did Gowon and the Nigerian army continue the war even after liberating the Niger Deltans they should have gone home with their Loot and allowed igbos to go on with their Biafra since Niger Delta was the issue of the war.

The real answer came from Gowon him self that Nigeria can not do without the Igbos

If gunmen in two tiny states of Rivers and Bayelsa are capable of harassing and destabilizing things to a point of concern, what if more areas of the nation open up another theatre of national unrest? While addressing the Niger-Delta problem, give serious attention to this big omission in your seven point agenda. Gen. Yakubu Gowon who fought the war that keeps Nigeria one today was not crazy when at the end of that bloody war he instead of isolating the Biafrans put in place the 3Rs programmes of Reintegration,Rehabilitation and Reconstruction having declared the result of the war as No Victor, No Vanquished
He even in response to a military governor?s request to know why he Gowon funded the East Central State(Igbo State) more than his own state that equally suffered devastations of war said that Nigeria can not do without the Igbos and that was why he fought so hard to get them back into Nigeria
God bless Yakubu Gowon.

http://www.focusnigeria.com/igbo-nigeria.htm

stebell:

Look @ wat hate has turned yu into.
Call them traitors, but here in de SS, we know them as HEROs.
Nnamdi Azikiwe dat caused it frm day one, Ojukwu dat ran away like a coward, u didn't call them Stupid, na men way help salvage their peeps frm future extinction na him yu D̶̲̥̅̊ε̲̣̣̣̥γ̲̣̣̥ call stupid.
Let's compare both regions now, who will yu say has no direction.
Ebonyi state gat me thinking tho.

Obviously, you failed to read the article.
I agree about the traitors. Everyone of them benefitted tremendously from the institution they turned around to attack, just like Amechi is fighting GEJ today, because he thinks, he'll be better of a under Kwankwaso as a VP, and not a mere governor. It's and has always been about SHORT term benefits for you guys. To bad for you guys, everything doesn't end in the short term.
Next, you'll tell me how an Igbo man did you wrong personally

There is no doubt in my mind our fathers mismanaged the Nigerian civil war. Nobody liberated the Nigerdelta, than the Nigerdeltans themselves.. Hundreds of young men like my father were in the army already and thousands more joined the army on the Federal sides to defend their homelands in the 1967-70 war. The roles of David Ejoor, Paul Omu and Ogbemudia will be totally reversed today, if that war was fought again. Jonah's three years in power was God sent, because,the average man walking the streets of Southsouth know the people seeking their downfall on a per second basis. Lo and behold, they are not Igbos. Just imagine what life will be for us in the southsouth today without the political support from the East. The Oppositions, were prepared to kill and bury Goodluck, 90 days after he took office in 2011. Only God knows why. We became the inferior minority to them. All, they did was awaken the spirit of the southsouth people. From all indications, most of them are surprised at the aggressive nature of our push back. Nigeria is our country, just as it is their country. Unfortunately for them, we pay 90% of her bills and they cannot wish this fact away. They don't have to like us, but they must put up with us as THE FIRST AMONG EQUALS.

@OP, Calling anybody in the Southsouth of 1967-70 a traitor is wrong. You were not in their shoes back then. Today, some people are calling the southsouth minorities traitors, because they have decided to carry their own political cross.

Yea, just like the goat liberated the yam from the barn. lmao.

atlwireles: There is no doubt in my mind our fathers mismanaged the Nigerian civil war. Nobody liberated the Nigerdelta, than the Nigerdeltans themselves.. Hundreds of young men like my father were in the army already and thousands more joined the army on the Federal sides to defend their homelands in the 1967-70 war. The roles of David Ejoor, Paul Omu and Ogbemudia will be totally reversed today, if that war was fought again. Jonah's three years in power was God sent, because,the average man walking the streets of Southsouth know the people seeking their downfall on a per second basis. Lo and behold, they are not Igbos. Just imagine what life will be for us in the southsouth today without the political support from the East. The Oppositions, were prepared to kill and bury Goodluck, 90 days after he took office in 2011. Only God knows why. We became the inferior minority to them. All, they did was awaken the spirit of the southsouth people. From all indications, most of them are surprised at the aggressive nature of our push back. Nigeria is our country, just as it is their country. Unfortunately for them, we pay 90% of her bills and they cannot wish this fact away. They don't have to like us, but they must put up with us as THE FIRST AMONG EQUALS.

@OP, Calling anybody in the Southsouth of 1967-70 a traitor is wrong. You were not in their shoes back then. Today, some people are calling the southsouth minorities traitors, because they have decided to carry their own political cross.

Good write-up!
You have a realistic position on what's going on. Remember, Paul Omu, and others were not the only easterners to fight for Nigeria. There were the Ike Nwachukwus, and even Ukpabi Asikas too. Where as other Igbos who chose to side with the federal army for their own reason, it's only in the minority areas of Ijaw, Efik, and some other "riverine" people that still make laughable excuses for joining the federal side after they actively pushed and even suggested the name "Biafra" themselves. When Hausa people were killing us in the north in the 1960s, the Igbo was as good as the Ijaw, Efik, Ibibio, and Ogoni to be massacred.
Unfortunately, even today, some Igbo people who sided with the Federal side in order to survive the war don't know that the war has already ended, that's why some Ikweres claim not to be Igbos begininng from 1967 while their father that applied for and worked in the civil service prior to the war categorize themselves as Igbos.
Those realistic eastern minority people who understand the long term game of this country must rise up and quieten the Rotimi Ramechis of the SS who only look after their own short term interest.