A retired Brigadier-General and Chief of Staff, 3rd Marine Commando, during the Nigeria civil war, Godwin Alabi-Isama, has disclosed that former President Olusegun Obasanjo was not only clueless during the war, but acted as a weakling in many instances.
According to General Alabi-Isama, Chief Obasanjo exhibited a lot of weaknesses that did not portray him as a gallant soldier throughout the period he served the army during the war.
In an interview published in the current edition of TheNEWS magazine, our sister publication, the retired General punctured a lot of claims in My Command, a book written by the former President chronicling his experience in the war.
According to him, Obasanjo never wanted to be part of the war. He was so scared of death that he evaded every opportunity to go to the battle front.
He disclosed that retired General Alani Akinrinade picked Obasanjo to lead the troop after Benjamin Adekunle was dropped as the commander following an alleged unethical conduct.
“Gowon was not sure that Obasanjo would want the job of replacing Adekunle because he was an engineer…Gowon said we should contact him.
“When we met Obasanjo, we told him our mission and gave him a comprehensive briefing on the situation at the war front. We went with maps and explained to him the defects of Adekunle’s plan to attack the Igbo heartland.
“We aso told him about Operations Pincer 1, 2 and 3 and explained that if Pincer 2 was adopted, the war would end in 30 days.
“We spoke for three hours without food or drink. Obasanjo simply listened.
“And when he spoke, he said he was an engineer and he was not going to the war front. He also said we wanted to have him killed by nominating him for a spot at the war front,” the retired soldier said, adding that this comment got him angry and that he reacted instantly by reprimanding Obasanjo.
He said he reminded Obasanjo at the venue of their meeting how he and his engineering corps were unable to blow up the bridge in Ore when the Biafran army were advancing to Lagos and how the situation was salvaged by Mr. Akinde of the Public Works Department at Ibadan, assisted by men of the Ministry of Works.
“I was so incensed that I continued to pour venom on him,” he added.
Alabi-Isama said as against Obasanjo’s claim that he ordered the bridge to be blown up, the idea actually came from the wife of then Governor Adeyinka Adebayo. He explained that she was the one who suggested to Obasanjo that the action be carried out.
When Obasanjo eventually took over as the Commander of the 3rd Marine Commando, Alabi-Isama said he and Akinrinade gave him a comprehensive briefing, but that he refused to listen because of the grudge he haboured from his first encounter with Alabi-Isama.
As a result of this, his first battle experience, according to Alabi-Isama, was a disaster.
Emphasising Obasnajo’s cluelessness, he said the first decision he made when he took up the leadership of the troop was to start paying the soldiers on the battle field by allotment.
“He ordered an attack on Ohoba, some 40 kilometres from Owerri, just four days after taking over from Adekunle. He did not even know that we had to plan,” Alabi-Isama explained, adding that Obasanjo lost 1, 400 men in the attack, something that never happened before he took over, because he refused to listen to advice.
In another incident, the retired General said Obasanjo ran away from the scene of an attack claiming he was heading to Port Harcourt, an eight hour journey, to get ammunition for the same battle when he could ordinarily radio the army headquarters.
He described Obasanjo as completely incompetent and inefficient, saying the former President never went to battle even as a commander during the war.
“For instance, he went to inspect Colonel Iluyomade, but when he got there, there was shooting. He quickly got into his jeep and ran away.
“He was shot in the buttocks while running. A general will be shot in the chest, and not in the buttocks,” said the army general, who is set to launch a book titled The Tragedy of Victory: On-The-Spot Account of The Nigeria-Biafra War In The Atlantic Theatre, his own version of the war experience aimed to counter some of the ‘lies’ by Chief Obasanjo.

http://pmnewsnigeria.com/2013/06/20/obasanjo-was-a-clueless-war-commander-gen-alabi-isama/

No wonder the coward was shot in the buttocks.

What is the point of recycling this story which may be partly true ay this time?. Obj was probably in his 30s during the civil war, that is the age of acceptable mistakes. Let me give other examples:
-Gowon did lavish society wedding when the war had barely ended and people were still dying.
-Ojukwu was sleeping with wives of top Biafran army officers while they were dying on the front for Biafra.
-Ojukwu also cowardly ran away telling his generals cock and bull stories and abandoned his people to statvation and deathrl
-Murtala Muhammed lost millions of pounds of equipment and thousands of lives in 3 failed attempts at Abagana.
-The Biafran incursion.into the midwest was one of the most mediocre and stupidest offenssive in history.
Maybe i need to tell you more before you realise that Nigerias civil war main characters were all flawed and too young for the responsibilities they were carrying.then and Obj was just one of them.

Adminisher:
What is the point of recycling this story which may be partly true ay this time?. Obj was probably in his 30s during the civil war, that is the age of acceptable mistakes. Let me give other examples:
-Gowon did lavish society wedding when the war had barely ended and people were still dying.
-Ojukwu was sleeping with wives of top Biafran army officers while they were dying on the front for Biafra.
-Ojukwu also cowardly ran away telling his generals cock and bull stories and abandoned his people to statvation and deathrl
-Murtala Muhammed lost millions of pounds of equipment and thousands of lives in 3 failed attempts at Abagana.
-The Biafran incursion.into the midwest was one of the most mediocre and stupidest offenssive in history.
Maybe i need to tell you more before you realise that Nigerias civil war main characters were all flawed and too young for the responsibilities they were carrying.then and Obj was just one of them.

How do you know all these? Was there "twitter" then?

The man was stupid for not getting him fired they are both incompetent. However coming here to insult him for no reason is just ridiculous.

This is the reason baba kept attacking Benjamin Adekunle in his book.

Lol, karma they say,is a b.iatch!

Obj aka "general bully", you see yourself You shouldn't have attacked gej, see now , your junior for army don open ya smelling yansh.

Oya baba iyabo,tell me how it feels to be attacked

*Shot in the buttocks while running away from war front# like father like son

No wonder Obj hated the Igbos,and virtually did noting in Igboland,as a president,because the bullet scar on his buttock always reminds him of Igbo military brutality

That reminds me,Obasanjo's son was also shot on the buttock,while running away from boko haram.
This family and their cowardice is legendry.it's unheared of in the history of humanity.

As days rolls by,the true picture of the war,is being unearthed.
I was 'wowed',when i read the line of the report that says,OBJ lost over a thousand-plus soldiers,only in a single encounter with ill-armed and underfed Biafra soldiers,at Ahoba near Owerri(1,400).
Same story was told in Abagana war front,and other places,where Nigerian soldiers ably aided by British,Egyptian,and Russian war mercinaries,lost both men and equipments in a great number.
Just imagine Biafran soldiers being properly armed/trained,and the war fought without any external direct influence of world powers?

Adminisher:
What is the point of recycling this story which may be partly true ay this time?. Obj was probably in his 30s during the civil war, that is the age of acceptable mistakes. Let me give other examples:
-Gowon did lavish society wedding when the war had barely ended and people were still dying.
-Ojukwu was sleeping with wives of top Biafran army officers while they were dying on the front for Biafra.
-Ojukwu also cowardly ran away telling his generals cock and bull stories and abandoned his people to statvation and deathrl
-Murtala Muhammed lost millions of pounds of equipment and thousands of lives in 3 failed attempts at Abagana.
-The Biafran incursion.into the midwest was one of the most mediocre and stupidest offenssive in history.
Maybe i need to tell you more before you realise that Nigerias civil war main characters were all flawed and too young for the responsibilities they were carrying.then and Obj was just one of them.

If you are referring to the Abagana massacre,i'm very sure that the OP of this particular thread is the chief mastermind...
Col.Joe 'Air Raid' Achuzie ..Except you are an impersonator.
Ogbueshi i can't help but blow your cover ..Ochiaya 1 of Ahaba.
Nna nwai na ekene.
Still one of your avid admirers sir.

Thank God other generals who witnessed the war are still alive. Obasanjo painted himself as the hero of the war. The secret is becoming public knowledge. He was such a coward. Why does Obasanjo think he is the superman of Nigeria: Nigeria starts and ends with him? He has the wisdom to rate the performance of others but when he was there he did not do any better.

Thank God its just a page......what a relief

From which region?

brownlord:
From which region?

He is from the region where cowards are seen as heros.

From the region where shiny zincs are banned.

From the region where people live like pigs and suffer like camels.

Obj got shot in the buttocks by Biafran soldiers while running.

His son also got shot in the buttocks by boko haram while running.

Hmmm

No be talk am oh....






Goggle don't lie

Obj....the stupid General that is alway claiming to be James Bond

JosephAchuzie:
No wonder the coward was shot in the buttocks.

Donmarrius:
No wonder Obj hated the Igbos, and virtually did noting in Igboland,as a president,because the bullet scar on his buttock always reminds him of Igbo military brutality

How do some of you bring yourselves to say things like this This is really disheartening.

omenka:
How do some of you bring yourselves to say things like this This is really disheartening.

What's this one saying?.Just prove me wrong!.

Osama alabin or wetin be dat ur name? Why you no nominate yourself? Jelousy dey worry you. Ote dey there dey hate as i dey make my money....(in olamide voice)

Isama Alabi no get sense at all, Obj nah smart guy... yoruba people would say; ma' ja ma' sa la fi n' mo akin kon'ju loju ogun... Obj I love your bravura jawe

Donmarrius:
What's this one saying?.Just prove me wrong!.

There are whole parts of this country that haven't witnessed any Federal touch since Jonathan came on board. Does it mean he "hates" the people of that region There are lots of such places in other administrations in the past as well, does it mean those presidents "Hate" people from those regions

I'm not here to argue with you. I know your type. Hate is like cancer, eats you up slowly from the inside unnoticed until it's too late. Rid yourself of it.

Have a lovely day.

JosephAchuzie:


He is from the region where cowards are seen as heros.

From the region where shiny zincs are banned.

From the region where people live like pigs and suffer like camels.

yet your army and region surrendered to him to make the war end.

Cowardice truly runs through the veins and DNA of Obasanjo.

He got shot in the buttocks , so also did his son.

Nigerian Army should stop recruiting Obasanjos henceforth.

Is that why he's like this?

To be honest, the Biafrans did pull off a great feat but theiir troubles started with their arrogating and occupying stance on the riverine and Niger Delta people. If they had won the hearts and minds of the Niger Delta people the war would have been a different story.

I read that the Biafrans soldiers saw themselves first as conqureres and occupies before the non Ibo territory. They shut down schools and forced whole communities to relocate in some riverine communities. When the Nigerian forces advanced and reclaimed part of the non ibo territories they came as liberators and provided much needed medicine and food and tried to return these reclaimed communities back to normalcy by mandating compulsory school attendance. Other yet to be liberated communities after hearing of how the federal troops treated reclaimed communities were eager to kick the Biafrans out.

This is the major blunder on the part of the Biafrans. if they had won the hearts and minds of the non Igbo people they would have succeeded.

Obasanjo is an enigma of sort.

A wife bashing husband.

A terrible father.

A coward and incompetent General.