ANOTHER LOOK AT VICTOR BANJO

by Deji Yesufu

Two Sundays ago, I had the immense privilege of meeting Prof. F. A. Ogunsheye. She is the elder sister of Victor Banjo and matriarch of the Banjo family.

Prof. Ogunsheye is the author of the book A Break in Silence, a historical narrative on the life of Victor Banjo, published by Spectrum in 2001. Mama Ogunsheye, as we would appropriately refer to her in Western Nigeria, is in her 90s but she is still strong and you cannot miss that beautiful Queen’s English with which she speaks.

I had gone to see her after Church service to give her a copy of a draft of my book on her brother. I introduced myself and I showed her the book, which has a bold picture of her brother on the front cover. She brightened up immediately, “O… Thank you.”

Then she said:“Were you at the war with him…”

I let out a smile. My grey hair keeps betraying me.

“No ma. I learnt about Victor Banjo by reading your book and in the other books on him, particularly the one written by Prof. Omigbodun.”

“O yes, that’s my niece… Thank you. You would do a launch of this book, wouldn’t you?”

“We will by God’s grace,” I said. And she walked away carefully to her car.

My publishers had requested I get a number of reviews on the book from notable persons in Nigeria. I thought that I could get one or two from retired Army Generals who had either served under Banjo or knew who him somehow. The one or two I approached declined very courteously.

I was still wondering why they did this when I spoke to Prof. Fasanmade, of the University of Ibadan, about my challenge. Prof told me that his experience with the Banjo matter was that even long after his death, Victor Banjo was still feared by many people in the Nigerian Army.

And most would rather not speak about him. I knew immediately that whenever my book was released, it would stare some hornet’s nest.

Victor Banjo was not an alien to controversy in his life time. The central part of the book, Why We Struck, told the story of this great Nigerian.

Adewale Ademoyega, the author of the book and one of the plotters of the first coup in this country, recounted how he used to fear for Banjo’s life. He said while Banjo was not loquacious, he never hid his disdain for the lacklustre manner with which the war was being prosecuted by the government of Ojukwu. It was not difficult for many of Ojukwu’s spies, planted all around him, to give a bad report of Banjo to Ojukwu.

My deduction is this: when Ojukwu executed Banjo, he was doing the Nigerian side their greatest favour. Victor Banjo was Gowon’s greatest threat in the early days of the war.

Here is a long quote from Victor Banjo in his letters to his wife, as published in A Gift of Sequins (pages 148-150). It is his thoughts on courage and the factor of fear in the average Nigerian male:

“…But then I have ceased to attempt to explain the behaviour of Nigerian average males since these events started (the events being the January 1966 coup). Fear seems such a powerful deteriorating influence on the character of the average Nigerian male… I have thought long and deeply about the phenomenon of the clear fickleness and lack of courage of the average male under conditions of direct individual confrontation.

“In fact the phenomenon is not new, the extreme circumstances of this year have only served to accentuate it. The tragedy of our nation is primarily due to this fact. I think the reason stems from the fact that the male is fundamentally self-centred; an attitude of mind largely engendered by the sociological factors of our present age… The struggle is fundamentally among the male because our society is basically male oriented.

“The condition of a permanent state of struggle for social elevation, creates in the male an attitude of mind whereby his every action is subjective to the consideration that it assists or retards his march upward… With females it is different. Generally they are divorced from the struggle in the sense that their status is invariably relative to that of the man they are associated with, so they have not generally developed the instinctive subjective attitude to life except in a few cases of career girls.

“There are of course other contributory factors such as psychologically, women are more naturally self-sacrificing and hence are more likely to be loyal to an ideal even a loosing one… such as historical, most British colonial officers in the past were usually poorer species of those back in the UK, and tended to encourage a great deal of fawning, sycophant adulation amongst the subject peoples in order to enhance their superiority cult, consequently the system tended to elevate the fawning sycophant who normally lacks character competence or principles and retard the man of worth, so that over the years there has been a general precipitation upwards of worthless men, who have tended to sustain the tradition of success being at the price of principles. There are of course a host of others. I could write a book on the subject, and might before long.

“But your theory is certainly correct: the Nigerian male is certainly in general terms less morally brave than the female.”

Victor Banjo would therefore not have been surprised that men in the Nigerian military, that he served wholeheartedly in his lifetime, cannot write a review on him 50 years after his death.

Banjo was an example of courage on fire. By the break of the day of 15th January, 1966, when it was obvious to all that senior military officers of the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and above were being hunted by certain majors for extermination, Banjo took his life in his hands and launched out to stay the mutiny in the army.

As at 9am of 15th January, Lt. Col. Victor Banjo was the most senior military officer on the streets of Lagos and the only one for that matter. He was ensuring that law and order was restored to the polity. Ironsi and others were in hiding. In fact, Banjo’s arrest was premeditated on this fact: his sheer boldness in the face of danger. His superiors could not believe that he could not have had a hand in the coup.

But the simple fact was this: If Banjo had been part of the coup plotters that morning, his aim would have been to entrench himself in the seat of power and not restoring order and peace among his colleagues as he was doing when he was treacherously arrested. You may read the rest in my upcoming book.

I end this short thought on Banjo with this: Did Victor Banjo waste his life?

I have a feeling that many who have read the story of Victor Banjo think that this great Nigerian wasted his life. Mrs. Funto Oyeleye, Banjo’s eldest child, told the story of how, after they had visited their father in the State House in Enugu in the first quarter of 1967, where Banjo was living with his friend and colleague in the military, Col. Emeka Ojukwu, their mother had begged Banjo to return to Lagos with her and the children, or at least flee the country with them.

The war was no longer his business. Banjo could have left this country at that time. Banjo would not bulge. Later when they where flying to Lagos, Banjo was told that his wife was weeping throughout the trip. He sent a letter to her and assured her that he would be fine. Here is the point:

Victor Banjo could have left Nigeria by May 1967, before the civil war broke out in June; but he would not. He was too much of a patriot to do so. Banjo was on his way to the University of Ibadan, when he joined the Nigerian military as the 16th Nigerian to do so in 1954, at the age of 24. He was trained by the military from that level until he became a graduate – being one of five graduates in the army in those days. He had been trained as a military officer to restore peace to a nation in time of crisis. How could he abandon this country at a time when the country needed him most?

Why then did Victor Banjo join the Civil War? You would have to learn about that from my book.

My point in this essay is this: though Victor Banjo was killed at 37 years of age, at the prime of his life, his contribution to the Nigerian story will remain with us as long as life remain on this earth.

100 years from now, when all of us will be dead and buried, Western Nigeria will still be talking about him because of all the books that have been written on him. There is no sound story on the Biafran conflict that does not mention him.

We understand from the life of Jesus Christ, who died at 33, that it is not how long but how well people live that matters. Banjo died for a united Nigeria. He fought for true federalism. His only sin was that he was 50 years ahead in his thinking in relation to those of his contemporaries. And because they could not match his elevated mindset, they preferred him silenced.

And he told them at the point of his death that he could not be killed: “I’m not dead yet…”, were his final words, as the bullets tore through his chest. He and three others being the first set of Nigerian military officers to be executed on trumped up charges of a military coup by the military of junta of the then Biafran nation.

Dr. Okey Ndibe’s review on my book on Victor Banjo read in part: “…a zestful, concise and highly readable book…” We plan that the book would be out before May 2018. I hope you all make out time to attend the launching, which hopefully will be in the city of Ibadan.

Victor Banjo did not waste his life. He gave his life for the saving of his people – particularly the Yoruba tribe. Victor Banjo is not dead… he yet lives on. Fifty years after his death, Victor Banjo is my man of the Year 2017; his life and ideals are worth remembering in these times.

Source: http://mouthpiece.com.ng/another-look-at-victor-banjo/

Seun, Lalasticlala do consider for front page.

Picture

Victor Banjo and his group did not fight against Ojukwu or against Gowon. They were revolutionists who wanted to bring socialism to Nigeria. Their intention was to remove Ojukwu , go back to Nigeria and remove Gowon so as to finally actualise their objective.

U look around u, and u see thousands, bereft of intellectual reasoning! How many men, can write such letters to their wives(i cant), and how many wives can begin to understand such(she cant)?!


Where are d intellectuals of our generation An afonja, fighting for d other side, with no apologies!


We're all here, arguing, over d size of our dicks! Focktards!

PFRB:
Victor Banjo and his group did not fight against Ojukwu or against Gowon. They were revolutionists who wanted to bring socialism to Nigeria. Their intention was to remove Ojukwu , go back to Nigeria and remove Gowon so as to finally actualise their objective.

The author provided sources. Both living and dead. What is the source for the statement in bold.

VBCampaign:


The author provided sources. Both living and dead. What is the source for the statement in bold.

Read his statement or letter to obasanjo

“Let them understand in the west that am not leading a Biafran army, but an army of liberation made not only of Biafrans but other ethnic groups. Make the Governor of the West and other Western leaders understand this. Urge them not to be taken in by any propaganda by the biafran government about a Biafran plan to subjugate the nation, especially the west."

PFRB:

Read his statement or letter to obasanjo
“Let them understand in the west that am not leading a Biafran army, but an army of liberation made not only of Biafrans but other ethnic groups. Make the Governor of the West and other Western leaders understand this. Urge them not to be taken in by any propaganda by the biafran government about a Biafran plan to subjugate the nation, especially the west."

What in that statement equates with yours:

"Victor Banjo and his group did not fight against Ojukwu or against Gowon. They were revolutionists who wanted to bring socialism to Nigeria. Their intention was to remove Ojukwu , go back to Nigeria and remove Gowon so as to finally actualise their objective."

its over 50 years, can we move on now