Why are you wasting your precious time and energy engaging this fellow who is first and foremost e-rat? whether you hate Ojukwu or Biafra is irrelevant. Today's Nigeria is the best judgement on who was on the side of truth in the Nigeria-Biafra War.

TeleboiZ005:
Nigeria's always abt "oil" ...
what's the essence of the oil after the war.
nigeria just becoming worst day by day.

Rossippi:


They were all greedy elite thieves with eyes on the oil.

They knew there was no ''threat'' of Nigerian forces coming down to kill all Igbos after the pogrom, like Ojukwu falsely claimed. They supported him in his propaganda and lies. They were corrupt elements, not elected representatives of Igbos, since it was a military dictatorship in power at the time.

The few Igbo leaders with conscience who warned Ojukwu against secession, like Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe (Zik of Africa) of blessed memory, and Brigadier Hilary Njoku, were ignored and sidelined, and called 'efulefu' (lost people).

The result?

2 million dead Igbos.

Ojukwu seceded because Gowon failed to implement the Aburi agreement they both signed, not because of the pogrom

DMerciful:
It is about the restoration of Biafra and not the creation of an Igbo country but if push comes to shove, the Igbos would go it alone including we Igbos in South South, Benue, kogi

This your Biafra is the most conflicting and confusing concept in the whole of humanity. You guys created a Biafra and fought a war for it because igbos were being killed in the north, but you insist it's not an Igbo agenda.

Igbos alleged marginalisation in Nigeria especially national politics, and so want out of Nigeria. But wants the ijaws, who are at a better political advantage and resource sharing advantage to go with them.

The igbos are angry at Nigeria but want to co-opt other tribes who are not so angry.

gidgiddy:


Ojukwu seceded because Gowon failed to implement the Aburi agreement they both signed, not because of the pogrom

You are partly right, Ojukwu seceded because of several reasons.

........Gowon failing to implement the Aburi accord as you rightly said,

The ongoing pogrom in the north and the failure of the FG to stop it,

Dissolution of the former Eastern region into East Central, South Eastern and Rivers states.

It was after the dissolution of the region that Ojukwu declared Biafra because he felt he's lost control over the other two new states.

I still blame him for the inadequate preparation, no real allies and not surrendering early enough when it was obvious that he was fighting over a small enclave already surrounded by Nigeria and getting smaller by the day

One thing Im happy about is that Gowon lived long enough to see the "one Nigeria" he fought for become a total disaster

Area4Area:
Who are the "'you guys" you were referring to?
Most of you feel anyone against your idea of Biafra now means that person is not Igbo.

What did YOU fight for because my late father fought on the Biafran side, did you see the war?
Northern leaders were killed in cold blood and you expected some hugs and kisses from the northerners?

You want Biafra today from the one Nigeria Igbo leaders helped in creating. You want Biafra today, why not in 1945, pre independence, 1963, 1966, why 1967? Was it because Nigerians especially northerners have learnt how to deal with the Igbos that they decided to opt out? Nonsense

Stop this rubbish on Nairaland. We both know each other very well.

Area4Area:
Who are the "'you guys" you were referring to?
Most of you feel anyone against your idea of Biafra now means that person is not Igbo.

What did YOU fight for because my late father fought on the Biafran side, did you see the war?
Northern leaders were killed in cold blood and you expected some hugs and kisses from the northerners?

You want Biafra today from the one Nigeria Igbo leaders helped in creating. You want Biafra today, why not in 1945, pre independence, 1963, 1966, why 1967? Was it because Nigerians especially northerners have learnt how to deal with the Igbos that they decided to opt out? Nonsense

Be brave and state your ethnic group when commenting on such sensitive topics. The 'you guys' I was responding to are those people who hate the truth as regards the Biafran war and the activities surrounding it. You are included even if you're from the SE or SS. Since when was it said that after a coup, a whole tribe should be murdered in their thousands? Biafra was as a result of those killings. More bloody coups happened but there wasn't any attacks on the ethnic groups of perpetrators. Why killing Igbo civilians in their thousands? Till date, no one has apologised for that. We know that prior to the coup there has been hatred of the Igbos. I only blame Igbo politicians and leaders of those days who thought they could manage the relationship and these other people will eventually forgo the hate. The hate remains till date hence our eagerness to re-establish Biafra. We're now use to the hate but know how to respond better. Ojukwu really tried his best. He made some mistakes but I won't ever blame him. The odds against Biafra was too much. If the war wasn't fought, the domination would have been worst than it is today. This is what the few Igbos who think they're too clever don't know. Gowon wouldn't have lasted 4yrs as the head of state because Murtala would have struck earlier. Murtala was just like Buhari. Yoruba land was effectively dominated without the shooting of a gun. The Igboland wasn't going to fall just that easily. The Niger Delta stood no chance. All southerners would have been called cowards for not standing up to the north. This the Igbos did to cover the shame but all we could get is insults from fellow Southerners. Did Ojukwu not submit to Brigadier General Ogundipe? Did the northerners accord the same man respect? You all know the truth but because it concerns Igbos, you hide it. Nemesis is catching up with everyone now. T.Y Danjuma is running up and down at present seeking for alliance to challenge the beast that Ojukwu stood up against. Anyone who thinks Igbos only are endangered in Nigeria is clearly blind. As a matter of fact, Igbos stand the highest chance of surviving anything destruction that befalls Nigeria. We've permutated all the likely fallouts of warfare in Nigeria to arrive at that conclusion. I'll stop here to go attend to some things.
Your people have formed Amotekun as a survival strategy yet the same beast are battling against it. Instead for you to strategize more on how to secure a survival of your people and land, it is Biafra that worries you. Ndo! I sorry for you. If you insist on standing in the way of Biafra, she will swallow you. Be warned!

gidgiddy:


Ojukwu seceded because Gowon failed to implement the Aburi agreement they both signed, not because of the pogrom

That's an even worse reason to secede.

I don't even know why Gowon agreed to meet Ojukwu in Aburi for anything.

He was the military ruler of Nigeria. What he said was LAW, under the terms of military rule.

It was just Gowon being his normal gentleman self.

He had no reason to meet Ojukwu, his subordinate, to discuss anything.

As soon as he created those 12 states, Ojukwu should have backed down and returned to his state house in Enugu to continue his duties like other military governors, not looking to secede and fight war with an army of 3,000 soldiers armed with toy guns and cutlasses.

Rubbish.

Rossippi:


That's an even worse reason to secede.

I don't even know why Gowon agreed to meet Ojukwu in Aburi for anything.

He was the military ruler of Nigeria. What he said was LAW, under the terms of military rule.

It was just Gowon being his normal gentleman self.

He had no reason to meet Ojukwu, his subordinate, to discuss anything.

As soon as he created those 12 states, Ojukwu should have backed down and returned to his state house in Enugu to continue his duties like other military governors, not looking to secede and fight war with an army of 3,000 soldiers armed with toy guns and cutlasses.

Rubbish.

Thats not how things worked in Regional times. Back then, the Regions were even more powerful than the central government. Gowon had become military ruler but the Eastern Region did not recognize him as head of state.

What people dont seem to understand is that the Regionalism practiced then made it impossible for any Region or even the federal government, from dominating another Region. The reason is that the Regions were large and they practiced fiscal federalism. In other words, the regions had resource control and payed for the federal government to exist. Unlike what obtains now that the Federal government control everything and pay for states to exist.


Another problem Gowon had was that, of the 4 Regional military Governors of the time, Adebayo, Ejoor, Ojukwu and Katsina, only Katsina was junior to Gowon. The other 3 were senior to Gowon.

Gowon had become head of state and the Eastern Region did not recognize him and there nothing he could do about it. So Gowon had bo choice but meet Ojukwu in Ghana, or carry on being unrecognised by the Eastern Region

Thats why Gowon and his Northern cohorts had to remove Regionalism and fiscal federalism, they both stood in the way of the North talking over Nigeria

So on the 27th of May 1967, Gowon issued decree 14 which abolished the 4 Regions, replaced them with 12 unitary states, alloted 6 of those states to the North, siezed all resources so that it was now the federal government paying the states.

Ojukwu and the Eastern Region were not about to sit down and be enslaved in such a blatant way so Ojukwu declared the independence of the Eastern Region 3 days later and the rest is history

Its just human nature that people will fight subjugation

Yujin:

Thanks my friend. You're one of those who say things the way they are and is prepared to face the future head on; not tied to the dreams of the hausa/fulani vampires. I personally have met tens of middle belt men who fought against Biafra and they told me the various sectors in which they fought. Majority of them regretted fighting the war. Lots of them had unforgettable scars. They said they were deceived. I even met one who was still in active service and married an Igbo woman from Umuahia. All the children were known with their Igbo names. Uche, Bonny, Ogor etc. At present, the lands of some of them have been taken over by the fulanis. Now, they've seen who the real enemy is but Rossipp will want to continue demonizing a people who's only crime was to seek their freedom from wanton killings and destruction. All that matters to him is Nigeria not minding the death and destruction visited on the constituent parts by a particular group.
As for your group, you're welcome to visit IPOB. We welcome and partner with your to see to our freedom from the evil contraption. The modalities will be agreed upon and we set to work. Those willing tools like Rossiipp and his people should forever be stationed with the fulanis.

Thank you very much for this post.

Leave all the Hausa fulani and Yoruba muslims to continue spewing rubbish here. They will soon start drinking poison out of the shock they will be getting soon.

Very evil group of people. You can imagine what they are coming up with. What in the hell is the essence of this post?

Rossippi:


Ojukwu and his henchmen were thoughtless. Secession is not something you wake up one morning and say you want to do.

Serious groups with secessionist ambitions stockpile weapons in secret for years. In secret, they seek out alliances and make deals with selected foreign partners as to how the latter would benefit from supporting the secessionist movement, eg via long term oil deals, trade deals, etc etc.

Ojukwu and co did none of that. They just used propaganda to deceive Igbos that the federal troops were coming to kill everybody, so let us use what we can to fight them, including cutlasses, catapaults, and dane guns.

Just total myopia and thoughtlessness - the very same naivety displayed by IPOB today, when they go disturbing British and US politicians to help them actualize Biafra. The same people who want Nigeria to be one at all costs!

If they had working brains, they would approach say China, or even North Korea, or Cuba, in secret negotiations. But no. It is TRUMP they are looking to as their ''saviour'' - a British ally!

I mean, their naivety and geopolitical blindness is just embarrassing.

Why are you crying over the loss of the Igbos? You are not an Igbo person, neither are you from the Middlebelt (where the bulk of the Nigerian soldiers who fought that war were from)...
So what is your pain or stress in all of this?

People like TY Danjuma have come out in shame to denounce their roles in the civil war and here you are bragging about the same war.

Are you sure you are sane?

gidgiddy:


Thats not how things worked in Regional times. Back then, the Regions were even more powerful than the central government. Gowon had become military ruler but the Eastern Region did not recognize him as head of state.

What people dont seem to understand is that the Regionalism practiced then made it impossible for any Region or even the federal government, from dominating another Region. The reason is that the Regions were large and they practiced fiscal federalism. In other words, the regions had resource control and payed for the federal government to exist. Unlike what obtains now that the Federal government control everything and pay for states to exist.


Another problem Gowon had was that, of the 4 Regional military Governors of the time, Adebayo, Ejoor, Ojukwu and Katsina, only Katsina was junior to Gowon. The other 3 were senior to Gowon.

Gowon had become head of state and the Eastern Region did not recognize him and there nothing he could do about it. So Gowon had bo choice but meet Ojukwu in Ghana, or carry on being unrecognised by the Eastern Region

Thats why Gowon and his Northern cohorts had to remove Regionalism and fiscal federalism, they both stood in the way of the North talking over Nigeria

So on the 27th of May 1967, Gowon issued decree 14 which abolished the 4 Regions, replaced them with 12 unitary states, alloted 6 of those states to the North, siezed all resources so that it was now the federal government paying the states.

Ojukwu and the Eastern Region were not about to sit down and be enslaved in such a blatant way so Ojukwu declared the independence of the Eastern Region 3 days later and the rest is history

Its just human nature that people will fight subjugation

What do you mean by Eastern Region did not recognize Gowon as head of state? Who was the eastern region that did not recognise Gowon as head of State? If the eastern region recognised General Ironsi as head of State, how come they did not recognise Gowon as head of State? You should have said Lt.Col Ojukwu did not recognise Gowon as his commander in chief. So who did the east recognise as the head of State? -Ojukwu? In all successful coups the leader automatically becomes the head of state. Sergeants have become head of state after a successful could. Any officer that refuses to recognise the new head of state is mandated to retire.

Who appointed the 4 Regional governors? The former head of state of course. What happens if Gowon removes and reappoint the 4 Regional governors. Except you tell me that the 4 Regional governors are independent of the command structure of the army and they are already independent.

The January 1966 coup and July counter coup really messed things up. The aftermath and the war itself was just political struggles between senior officers of the military. The civilians including politicians were held hostage by the military. Even the so called Aburi Accord was power sharing agreement between the military. The politicians were practically left out.

Nowenuse:


Why are you crying over the loss of the Igbos? You are not an Igbo person, neither are you from the Middlebelt (where the bulk of the Nigerian soldiers who fought that war were from)...
So what is your pain or stress in all of this?

People like TY Danjuma have come out in shame to denounce their roles in the civil war and here you are bragging about the same war.

Are you sure you are sane?

You are a nasty, stupid, illiterate vagabond to purport to know where I am from or not from, while having absolutely no clue who I am.

Are you a clairvoyant?

Bush village dunce with mosquito brain. If you cannot debate an issue without getting personal with ad hominem attacks and claiming to know what you don't know, then GET LOST FROM HERE.

wirinet:

What do you mean by Eastern Region did not recognize Gowon as head of state? Who was the eastern region that did not recognise Gowon as head of State? If the eastern region recognised General Ironsi as head of State, how come they did not recognise Gowon as head of State? You should have said Lt.Col Ojukwu did not recognise Gowon as his commander in chief. So who did the east recognise as the head of State? -Ojukwu? In all successful coups the leader automatically becomes the head of state. Sergeants have become head of state after a successful could. Any officer that refuses to recognise the new head of state is mandated to retire.

Who appointed the 4 Regional governors? The former head of state of course. What happens if Gowon removes and reappoint the 4 Regional governors. Except you tell me that the 4 Regional governors are independent of the command structure of the army and they are already independent.

The January 1966 coup and July counter coup really messed things up. The aftermath and the war itself was just political struggles between senior officers of the military. The civilians including politicians were held hostage by the military. Even the so called Aburi Accord was power sharing agreement between the military. The politicians were practically left out.

Thanks for this response. I was also about to tell him that it was Ojukwu, the military governor, who refused to recognise Gowon, not the Eastern region. The conflict partly arose from this personality clash between Ojukwu and Gowon, in which Ojukwu did not believe Gowon should be head of state.

We often forget that these were just young guys in their early 30s, not sufficiently mature to take on the huge leadership responsibilities they assumed.

Rossippi:


Low IQ mosquito brain. Ojukwu had NO RIGHT to declare a ''Republic of Biafra''.

First of all he was a military dictator. His declaration was not subjected to any political processes.

You are obviously an unschooled person to think a military colonel can just wake up one day and artbitarily secede from a country without debate, without negotiation, just by saying ''we secede!'

Where in the world does that happen?

NAME ONE instant that that has happened anywhere on earth?

Oya, go and declare secession today, let us see if your death toll will not hit 10 million.

Not that you care anyway. Did Ojukwu care that his irrational act would lead to millions of Igbo deaths?

Did Ojukwu go to those villages to warn the old women that they would starve and die in his coming battle, for which he had no weapons?

Of course not. Or they would have told him, ''no war''.

Instead, he lied to the people that they could defeat Nigeria with their cutlasses and matchets.

He lied to them that Nigerian troops were heading to the east to kill everyone. A BLATANT LIE FROM THE PITS OF HELL.

None of you Biafran warmongers care about the Igbo people. To you, their lives are expendable.

Disgusting set of people.

Come on get out of my sight.

Bloodthirsty air head.

Anybody who wrote the bolded crap should have no IQ in his\her stream of thought. Nigeria is indeed basket of fools. At least, Ojukwu worked with consultative body of the elders from eastern region before the proclamation of Biafra. Elder's group did Gowon before assuming power as the head of state and which body did Gowon when announced that Nigeria has been divided into 12 states? Such action was termed a major constitutional change. Only foolish Colonel such as Gowon will wake up in the morning and proclaim Nigeria has been divided into 12 states when a section of the country did not recognize his usurpation of the position of Head of State.

Rossippi:


Did they TRY?

Was it not Yorubas and Hausas that were appealing to the same 'military dictator' Ironsi, to apprehend Nzeogwu and co and try them for murder?

Why did Igbo elders and leaders keep quiet?

Or you think other Nigerians didn't notice that the Igbo elite were silent?

Stop taking your countrymen for fools. That will lead to the end of your problems.

The bolded showed you are truly ill-educated. You are a typical Nigerian who makes the most noise on a subject matter he/she knows little about.

Dedetwo:


The bolded showed you are truly ill-educated. You are a typical Nigerian who makes the most noise on a subject matter he/she knows little about.

You cannot substitute educated debate with ad hominem attacks. If you cannot address that statement I made with a relevant countervailing argument, kindly get lost.

Dedetwo:


Anybody who wrote the bolded crap should have IQ in his\her stream of thought. Nigeria is indeed basket of fools. At least, Ojukwu worked with consultative body of the elders from eastern region before the proclamation of Biafra. Elder's group did Gowon before assuming power as the head of state and which body did Gowon when announced that Nigeria has been divided into 12 states? Such action was termed a major constitutional change. Only foolish Colonel such as Gowon will wake up in the morning and proclaim Nigeria has been divided into 12 states when a section of the country did not recognize his usurpation of the position of Head of State.

Who did Nzeogwu consult before he went round murdering elected leaders of the country in cold blood?

Shooting them dead in their homes?

You do realise that that was what precipitated the whole crisis?

wirinet:

What do you mean by Eastern Region did not recognize Gowon as head of state? Who was the eastern region that did not recognise Gowon as head of State? If the eastern region recognised General Ironsi as head of State, how come they did not recognise Gowon as head of State? You should have said Lt.Col Ojukwu did not recognise Gowon as his commander in chief. So who did the east recognise as the head of State? -Ojukwu? In all successful coups the leader automatically becomes the head of state. Sergeants have become head of state after a successful could. Any officer that refuses to recognise the new head of state is mandated to retire.

Who appointed the 4 Regional governors? The former head of state of course. What happens if Gowon removes and reappoint the 4 Regional governors. Except you tell me that the 4 Regional governors are independent of the command structure of the army and they are already independent.

The January 1966 coup and July counter coup really messed things up. The aftermath and the war itself was just political struggles between senior officers of the military. The civilians including politicians were held hostage by the military. Even the so called Aburi Accord was power sharing agreement between the military. The politicians were practically left out.

Why do you think Gowon met Ojukwu in Ghana if he could just fire Ojukwu and replace him with a loyalist? He couldn't because nobody would have listened to him in the East. Regionalism seriously curtails the powers of an executive President. During Ironsi's tenure, the North did not really recognise Ironsi as head of state. But there was one thing Ironsi had which Gowon did not have, he had seniority.

Rossippi:


You cannot substitute educated debate with ad hominem attacks. If you cannot address that statement I made with a relevant countervailing argument, kindly get lost.

The idiotic statement you made has no bases to be granted relevancy. Did you really understand intrigue of mutiny and counter mutiny?

Dedetwo:


The idiotic statement you made has no bases to be granted relevancy. Did you really understand intrigue of mutiny and counter mutiny?

You sound like a drunken, semi-literate soldier.

I guess that was how Nzeogwu sounded when he went around shooting elected leaders in their homes.

Rossippi:


Who did Nzeogwu consult before he went round murdering elected leaders of the country in cold blood?

Shooting them dead in their homes?

You do realise that that was what precipitated the whole crisis?

Again, you have to understand the fine line between military parlance and civility. Coup is part and parcel of military parlance. It is even noted but not encouraged. Nzeogwu did not have to consult anybody to precipitate a coup but should be soldier enough to withstand countermeasures. Gowon was not even a soldier enough to admit he participated in the coup of July 29, 1966.

In all my years, I've still never heard a cogently explained reason WHY Nzeogwu and friends committed those atrocitites in shooting those leaders.

What exactly did Tafawa Balewa do to deserve murder? Or Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto? Or Akintola? Or Festus Okotie-Eboh?

I've never heard any explanation that made sense.

Rossippi:


You sound like a drunken, semi-literate soldier.

I guess that was how Nzeogwu sounded when he went around shooting elected leaders in their homes.

I guess semi-literate soldier could have debated more intelligently than you have done. It is very clear you have never seen a parade ground in your freaking life.

Rossippi:
In all my years, I've still never heard a cogently explained reason WHY Nzeogwu and friends committed those atrocitites in shooting those leaders.

What exactly did Tafawa Balewa do to deserve murder? Or Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto? Or Akintola?

I've never heard any explanation that made sense.

Are you this low in cluelessness? Muhammadu Buhari was one of the reasons that spurred the coup of January 15, 1966. Tafawa Balewa's nepotistic tendencies to have dunces such as Muhammadu Buhari commissioned into Nigerian army stood like a shinning star.

Dedetwo:


I guess semi-literate soldier could have debated more intelligently than you have done. It is very clear you have never seen a parade ground in your freaking life.

What has ''parade ground'' got to do with this intellectual debate?

No wonder Fela called you guys ZOMBIE.

No working brain.

Rossippi:


What has ''parade ground'' got to do with this intellectual debate?

No wonder Fela called you guys ZOMBIE.

No working brain.

You must be excessively drunk on stupidity to call these craps you vomited on this forum as an intellectual debate. What a jerk.

Dedetwo:


Are you this low in cluelessness? Muhammadu Buhari was one of the reasons thet spurred the coup of January 15, 1966. Tafawa Balewa's nepotistic tendencies to have dunces such as Muhammadu Buhari commissioned into Nigerian army stood like a shinning star.

You don't like an elected leader's appointments, so your solution is to shoot him??

Zombie o, zombie (zombie o, zombie)
Tell am to go straight
A joro, jara, joro
No break, no job, no sense
A joro, jara, joro..

- Fela Kuti.

Thanks for displaying your LOW IQ military reasoning here.

No wonder we ended up in civil war.

Rossippi:



You don't like an elected leader's appointments, so your recourse is to shoot him??

Zombie o, zombie (zombie o, zombie)
Tell am to go straight
A joro, jara, joro
No break, no job, no sense
A joro, jara, joro..

Fela Kuti.

Thanks for displaying your LOW IQ military reasoning here.

No wonder we ended up in civil war.

It is jackasses such as you who tend to fan the embers of useless soldier such as Gowon end up in a war.

Dedetwo:


You must be excessively drunk on stupidity to call these craps you vomited on this forum as an intellectual debate. What a jerk.

I can see you have less than a secondary school education. You sound very much like a school dropout.

Even your diction betrays you.

I suggest you enrol in college. Right now, you're like a wild animal.

I'm done with you. We are on very different levels.

Rossippi:


I can see you have less than a secondary school education. You sound very much like a school dropout.

I suggest you enrol in college. Right now, you're like a wild animal.

I'm done with you. We are on very different levels.

I shall bet my last cent you do not even know the composites of corruption. If you did, the silly question about Nzeogwu and January 15, 1966 coup should not have been asked.

Dedetwo:


I shall bet my last cent you do not even know the composites of corruption. If you did, the silly question about Nzeogwu and January 15, 1966 coup should not have been asked.

Sure. Igbo leaders were angels from heaven. None of them stole a penny. It was only Hausas and Yorubas that were corrupt. Which was why the coupists left Igbo leaders untouched.

And since when did the penalty for alleged corruption become storming the accused's home and shooting him dead without trial?

Animal in human skin.