OJUcrook:
Philip Effiong is the real Civil war hero on the Biafran side. He did not run away, he stood his ground and surrendered because he knew the odds were stacked against the Biafrans.

However, Ojukwu, the initiator of the war, could not equip his army properly, he could not feed his civilians adequately yet he once boasted before the commencement of hostilities that he had the largest army in Black Africa and that the other side(Nigeria) will be shocked as to what they will get from him. Ojukwu boasted that he would fight till the last drop of his blood but when the federal forces closed in on him, he ignominiously ran away to Abidjan after commndeering a plane that was meant to airlift sick Biafran children, abandoning the civilians he swore to protect.

Alhaji Shehu Shagari later granted Ojukwu amnesty in 1982 after twelve years in exile. In 1983 Ojukwu contested in the Senatorial election, he also contested in the 2003 and 2007 Presidential elections but lost woefully on all occassions.

It is highly preposterous that a man who led a war against Nigeria, came back to Nigeria and participated in elections in the same country he fought against

BlackMbakara1:
He that fought and stayed back RIP.

henrydadon:
was biafra ever a country..

you people are trying too hard

DO NOT STAND AT MY GRAVE AND WEEP | by Mary Elizabeth Frye

Do not stand at my grave and weep.
I am not there; I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.....

Do not stand at my grave and cry;
I am not there; I did not die

kropotkin2:
Ok. We understand how and why he lost, but what we cant understand is why he chose to run away

gidgiddy:


Go and read Nigerian history well before coming online to show your ignorance. The whole trouble started when Gowon broke the agreement he signed in Ghana with Ojukwu. What kind of 'police action' requires 3 Divisions of the Nigerian Army? Long before Ojukwu invaded the mid west, the Nigerian Army was already bombing parts of Nsukka and Ogoja. The war was already on before Ojukwu got into the mid west.

The 3 million people you are talking about were killed by Nigeria just because the people said they dont want 'one Nigeria' any more. Ojukwu fought a war to liberate his from Northern controlled Nigeria. There is no shame in anyone fighting for their freedom, even at the cost of millions of lives. The allied forces kost nearly 40 million people in the second world war to get freedom in Europe.

Ojukwu was a freedom fighter who fought the combined military might of Britain, Russia, Nigeria and Egypt and held firm for 3 years. When the end was near and the center coukd no longer hold, he exited. If you were waiting for him to stay back and get himself captured and killed in other to prove he is brave, keep waiting. Ojukwu would have been a fool to let this happen.

Ojukwu fough and lost. When you cant beat them, you join them and thats what he did by returning to join politics.

There can never be any shame on Ojukwus part for fighting for the freedom of his people.

ZoneBslayer:
the descendants of a fallen demon doing what they know how to do best

keep resting in peace Mazi Effiong...this was before the deceitful creation of states, when the Easterners were one..an Effiong leading the Igbos..yet they said the igbos wanted "their oyel" and their lands...

gidgiddy:


Go and read Nigerian history well before coming online to show your ignorance. The whole trouble started when Gowon broke the agreement he signed in Ghana with Ojukwu. What kind of 'police action' requires 3 Divisions of the Nigerian Army? Long before Ojukwu invaded the mid west, the Nigerian Army was already bombing parts of Nsukka and Ogoja. The war was already on before Ojukwu got into the mid west.

The 3 million people you are talking about were killed by Nigeria just because the people said they dont want 'one Nigeria' any more. Ojukwu fought a war to liberate his from Northern controlled Nigeria. There is no shame in anyone fighting for their freedom, even at the cost of millions of lives. The allied forces kost nearly 40 million people in the second world war to get freedom in Europe.

Ojukwu was a freedom fighter who fought the combined military might of Britain, Russia, Nigeria and Egypt and held firm for 3 years. When the end was near and the center coukd no longer hold, he exited. If you were waiting for him to stay back and get himself captured and killed in other to prove he is brave, keep waiting. Ojukwu would have been a fool to let this happen.

Ojukwu fough and lost. When you cant beat them, you join them and thats what he did by returning to join politics.

There can never be any shame on Ojukwus part for fighting for the freedom of his people.

timeboss:
,,,,LOL,,,,, LOL,,,. Miss Ojukwu went for the "Miss Ivory coast" contests.,,,LOL,,, while Effiong stood as a brave man. That's the the definition of a true hero. you could imagine had Effiong also fled, what would have been the fate of another 7 million.
The truth has spoken!

prince985:
[s][/s]
complete rubbish

koladebrainiac:
Effiong is not even a born Igbo.

Princedapace:


are u a kid?

he couldnt have stayed!

He was a leader and he must av been protected by his soldiers.. there is no way u expected him to stay.. he lost, yes but u expecting him to stay means u dont understand war or u are kidding..

i know what i said will still not make sense to u! Or u like the way Awolowo was jailed and humiliated and died? No, a wise leader will never allow that.. a wise leader chooses to die by his own gun rather to be captured or shot by his enemy.

chemicalDisease:



Is that all?

Afonjass.

MrMcJay:
For those saying Ojukwu fought and lost,

1. The ONLY Biafran offensive throughout the war consisted of more than 5,000 Biafran Soldiers was led by Yoruba man named Col. Victor Banjo.

2. The Biafran offensive of more than 5,000 soldiers was stopped at Ore by 179 Yoruba Soldiers led by Colonel Oyinlade Iluyomade.

3. The 3rd Marine Commando, that eventually spearheaded the end of the three-year war in January 1970, was led by another Yoruba man named Benjamin Adekunle.

4. After Ojukwu ran away to Abidjan dresses like an aunty, the Biafran army surrendered to another man named Olusegun Obasanjo.

Let no one distort history, while none of Ojukwu's children or relations died of starvation during the war, Millions of Biafran children died of kwashiokor and other malnutrition-related diseases. When food supplies were dropped by airplanes, instead of distributing the food to the hungry Biafrans, Ojukwu and his soldiers sold these food to those who could afford it.

When the relief agencies dropped used clothing for the Biafran population, these same Biafran Soldiers seized and sold these clothes to those who could afford them.

The true heroes of Biafra are men like Banjo, Men like Effiong, Biafran men who fought with just a rifle and two bullets and not opportunistic and cowardly turncoats like Ojukwu who led his soldiers into slaughter and ran away only to came back to collect pension from the Nigerian Government.

gidgiddy:


Considering that your leader Awolowo gave up without a fight right in Lagos, Yoruba land and became 'second fiddle' to a boy young enough to be his son (Gowon) I think that Ojukwu did well in comparison.

Yorubas are the only people who surrendered their land before the fight even started.

NICENEDU29:

In fact, in addition to what you said, the Afonjas are a typical illustration of the saying that "Cowards die many times before their real death". Lol!

Princedapace:


are u a kid?

he couldnt have stayed!

He was a leader and he must av been protected by his soldiers.. there is no way u expected him to stay.. he lost, yes but u expecting him to stay means u dont understand war or u are kidding..

i know what i said will still not make sense to u! Or u like the way Awolowo was jailed and humiliated and died? No, a wise leader will never allow that.. a wise leader chooses to die by his own gun rather to be captured or shot by his enemy.

oglalasioux:
Ojukwu tried for us but he executed the war poorly. Testimonies from his own Chief of General Staff, Alexander Madiebo, Cyprian Ekwensi (Divided We Stand), Tony Ubesie (Isi Akwu Dara n'ala), and others suggest he ran a one man show. Unfortunately he didn't learn from the mistakes of Adolf Hitler and Napoleon Bonaparte who were both defeated by England : same England that made sure Gowon used their system of dispiriting the populace to win the war.

Once the enemy achieves the objective of starving the civilian population, the war is as good as over. Ojukwu lost the war to hunger and not the Nigerian military.

ZoneBslayer:

and yet the Igbos trusted him to lead them..

kropotkin2:
Ok. We understand how and why he lost, but what we cant understand is why he chose to run away

MrMcJay:
For those saying Ojukwu fought and lost,

1. The ONLY Biafran offensive throughout the war consisted of more than 5,000 Biafran Soldiers was led by Yoruba man named Col. Victor Banjo.

2. The Biafran offensive of more than 5,000 soldiers was stopped at Ore by 179 Yoruba Soldiers led by Colonel Oyinlade Iluyomade.

3. The 3rd Marine Commando, that eventually spearheaded the end of the three-year war in January 1970, was led by another Yoruba man named Benjamin Adekunle.

4. After Ojukwu ran away to Abidjan dresses like an aunty, the Biafran army surrendered to another man named Olusegun Obasanjo.

Let no one distort history, while none of Ojukwu's children or relations died of starvation during the war, Millions of Biafran children died of kwashiokor and other malnutrition-related diseases. When food supplies were dropped by airplanes, instead of distributing the food to the hungry Biafrans, Ojukwu and his soldiers sold these food to those who could afford it.

When the relief agencies dropped used clothing for the Biafran population, these same Biafran Soldiers seized and sold these clothes to those who could afford them.

The true heroes of Biafra are men like Banjo, Men like Effiong, Biafran men who fought with just a rifle and two bullets and not opportunistic and cowardly turncoats like Ojukwu who led his soldiers into slaughter and ran away only to came back to collect pension from the Nigerian Government.