₦airaland Forum

Beaf:
Its like you really hate Igbo's (and ND peeps from your other mad thread). I find that very strange when Igbo's don't rule you, why would you hate someone who has no power over you?. . . Fear of the past? Fear of revenge for almajiri slaughters?

You need to calm down, nothing but your own shadow is chasing you.

beaf, neaf what is the meaning of that?

is he lying?

calid, thank u that is what i have been telling them

sokoto would survive

we do not want south-west also

yorubas can take there lagos with them

we northerners want to be on our own

how am i becomerich

seanet02:
Who needs Ekwueme??

gbam gbam gbam

the question is who is Ekwueme

insisted of us trying to stop old politicians from gaining power.

Ojiofor:
Nobody asked Awo for food or Nigeria gov to feed Biafrans but their starvation policy means they were shooting airplanes bringing food to Biafra.That is  what made Awo guilty of war crimes.

sharrp dia

is it only throught the air food can reach biafra!!!!

what about the niger/delta region, why can't they use the ships and drop the food in portharcount

it was the ijaws and nigerdelta people that did not bring food to biafrans

so stop blaming awolowo

or u want to say awolowo, yorubas soldiers and the northerners invaded ijaw land so as to stop food from reaching the biafrans.

think about it and do not be biased

igbo and yoruba wake uo ah

becomrich4:
First of all you painted zik has an hero. he stood by, while they killed 50,000 igbos and another 1,000,000 igbos.  I just want us to get the fact right. Zik is not an hero. at least not my own hero. You see here is my reason. When northerners murder Igbos, what was the response of zik and Ojukwu. Instead of zik supporting Ojukwu , he refused because of his person ambition. Is that a good man. 50,000 of his people were murder for no reason based on thier fault.

I am not a person who is scared to rewrite the history of Nigeria. we would have avoid the killing of 1,000,000 igbos , if zik was not a selfish man, and if his personal ambition he put aside and work for the common goal of people . if zik spoke against the killing at that time. There would never been a civil war. And 1,000,000 igbos would still be alive.(same thing jonathan is about to do, if he does not break up nigeria. his person or your lifes, mikhail gorbachev broke his nation)


You talk of 20 pound. You must ask yourself this question. what could 20 pound worth do then. a teacher salary was about 10 pound. And teachers at that times, where the most highly paid people. Teachers , then where likes gods. 

Do you want to tell me every igbo man was a teacher. NO.? most igbos where making less than 5 pound before the war.

2 How many igbos put thier money in banks, at that time. Not many . but when you compare to how many igbos made claim of having bank account. less than 1% of igbos put thier money into bank at that time. but nearly 99% igbos got more than 20 pound. Got from the Yorubas. or do you think northerners who killed 1,000,000 igbos were the one who gave them that money. NO. It was the yoruba people.


3. It should be on record that awolowo 20 pound that he gave the igbos, put the Yoruba people into disadvantage in business till today. Many igbos got money. what did you yorubas get for the war. Nothing.

It would be noted the fraud that was also involve in the distribution of this money.

An igbo man with a name like ikechukwu uchenna, would collect 20 pound under different names.

He would go there first as

Ike Uchenna  and collect 20 pound

the second he goes there under a new name Ikechukwu nna, he collect 20 pound

Next time he goes there, Ike uche , , he collect 20 pound

Next time, he became ikechukwu uchenna , he collect 20 pound

You he end up collecting 80 pound. This is what happened. Igbos had no ID at that time.

While the Yoruba nation was destroyed finances.because the north who started the war, had no money and they took Yoruba money to fight the igbos, while even the igbos who collect 20 pound, where collecting Yoruba money. Because it was about 1970 we really as a nation start producing serious money.

While you complaining that they gave you 20 pound of Yoruba money. What did the yorubas who they collected the money from should say.


You talk of starvation ?? I  am telling you, they ship food to biafra, and my father ship  carry food to igbos was attacked by biafra. that silly believe that they use starvation was wrong. That why my name is segun.

The story of use for many years was most use by northerner to put the blame of the civil war on chief obafemi awolowo so that they can win election. instead of them offering apology to the igbos, they put the blame on awolowo.  But the truth is, please go and ask Ojukwu, Chief Obafemi awolowo was in jail when the whole thing happen. He was in jail in the east. how can a man who is in jail be blame for starting a civil war

gbam

ezeuche and co are just too feeled with hate for the yoruba people

that hate has blinded them to see the truth, but instead they believe what there parent tell them

i was alive duing the war, i know they yoruba people did them no wrong.

they are just to bitter to see reason and be open minded

DapoBear:
Hrm. I'm feeling pretty hungry right now. I could go to the grocery store to replenish my fridge. Maybe instead I should go to war with Awolowo. After all, we know the rules, when you go to war with Awo, he is obliged to feed you and your family.

bro u could not have put it better

Gbawe:
My brother , that is why learned Nigerians (eg Wole Soyinka) insist that blind followership is equally responsible , as bad leadership , for the situation Nigeria finds itself in. We know that nothing works in Nigeria because of corruption.  We also know that Nigeria is moving backward because we are being led badly by corrupt men and women who  have being rigged in as leaders everywhere. These men and women must be voted out in favour of progressive leaders for Nigerian to make badly needed and long overdue progress. One only needs to look at how Jonathan is indulging the disgraceful antics of one of the worst Governors, by far, in Nigeria (Gbenga Daniel) for it to be clear that Nigerians will gain  corrupt leaders and ruinous hands as an automatic accompaniment to a GEJ victory.

gbam

we as nigerians really need to take the bull by the horn

all the presidential aspirant are all corrupt and are thieves even the so call tinubu is a bloody thieve

as i have said earlier, until a revolution is placed in the country, there is not moving forward

ribadu, tinubu, buhari and co are all thieves

the only person i can pass is fashola because he is a thieve but he his doing his job!

jonathan and co, are just doing everything in there power to get into the office

jonathan said before he leaves there would be constant electricity, has he done it, the answer is no

now, where did the money go, the answer is we do not know?

shame, is only God that would help us

Ninapha:
He is our son. When they tell you your child is a thief, you can’t just jump up and start celebrating. You will have to find out and establish the truth.

What is She saying here? Is she alright? Go ahead and investigate him for bringing Nigeria to the forefront when there are Dozen of issues awaiting your comment. The Bomb blast, the Amunition at the Port and all other issues seeking your Govt attention, andyou are here talking about someone who brought grory to Nigeria.

10, 000 demons in the form of Emegwali are saints compared to those probing him.

@ bolded

i think the government should have more pressing issues than this investigation of emeguali

chuqudy:
Sheer jealousy.

there is no jealousy in this matter

if he is not a fraud, then he has nothing to be scared about

although i do not support this investigation

look the sooner the yoruba, igbo and other southerner unite the better it is for ur lifes

Who shall we send and who will go for us" Holy Bible.

As Nigeria tethers at the brink of disaster, it has become hell for Southerners. But each time it tries to forge a common alliance that will throw off the yoke of the Hausa-Fulani tyranny it becomes more divided than ever because of the distrust and animosity between the Igbos and the Yorubas that arose out of the ashes of the Biafran war.

It is barely 30 years since the end of the war but any attempt to examine the source of these animosities has tended to generate more heat than light. Due extreme emotions, objectivity is lost. To move forward, it is necessary to expose these animosities since this is the root of the great divide in the South and the source of strength for the Hausa-Fulani oligarchy.

Rightly or wrongly, the Igbos have blamed the Yorubas for their lack of support of the Biafran cause. They have accused the Yorubas of everything from being cowards to traitors. Their esteemed leader, Awolowo, is the bogey man. He has been blamed for everything from famine in the East to the drought in the North. This is not an attempt to hold brief for Awo, because I know this gentleman can hold his own from the grave.

This war was a very traumatic period in Nigerian history especially for the Igbos. But how did we get there? Are the Yorubas or Western region really responsible for what befell the Igbos? Since the end of the war, it has not been to obtain records and transcripts of official deliberations that took place in the immediate period leading to the war. Most of the major players are dead. The few who are still alive are silent. Ojukwu who was a major player is loquacious but whatever he has said or still saying is empty, peripheral and to a great degree, self-serving. The Biafran war needs to be studied so we can learn from the mistakes of the actors who were human and acted according to the dictates of their time. With these lessons we can free ourselves from recrimination, bury the hatchet and salvage the South from the choke-hold of the Northern hegemony.

There is much blame to go around but as a minority person who has watched the three tribes fight one another over the resources of the minorities, I sincerely believe that the Yorubas have been blamed out of proportion to their roles during the war. It is time for the Igbos to forgo the emotions and re-examine the war and the period in which it was fought. Perhaps, they will discover that the war was lost before it was started. No matter how noble your cause is, nobody wants to die for a lost cause. This was a tactical war that resulted from the action of Igbo officers. If Nzeogwu and the gang of coup plotters had not struck, maybe the history of Nigeria would have been different. Perhaps the pogrom that took place in the North would not have happened. The various regions would have matured and Nigeria would have evolved a strong confederation through dialogue.

There were various issues and personalities that played themselves out in periods before and during the war. There were rivalries between individuals with different approaches to solving problems. Zik and Awo worked hard to gain the trust of their people. Ojukwu and Gowon were trusted into the limelight by the events that unfolded. It is difficult to fathom the extent to which the wish to hold center stage can corrupt good motives, The rivalry between Zik and Awolowo dates back before independence. Either out of intellectual laziness or the need to divert attention from the failings of the Igbo leaders during the war, the role of Awo has been played up to mythical proportions.

It is easier to mention external factors than to look at the intrinsic weakness that led to the fall of Biafra. It was a war that came too early and was badly prosecuted. It was fought in a period of national hysteria when all the regions were going through their individual crisis: from the conflagration in the West to assassination of Ahmadu Bello and the ensuing pogrom. It was a period of mob hysteria and the loudest voices were not necessarily the voices of reason. It should be recalled that at the beginning of the war, Awo had spent almost three years in prison. Here was a man who, at the peak of his career found himself in jail. His region in crisis and his much beloved son dead. He watched all he had toiled for literally go up in flames. This no doubt may have had a profound effect on him. Is it possible for him to think that the Eastern leaders did not support him in his hour of need. Is it impossible that the years in solitary and his experience in the West and the lives lost may have taught him that political solution was the best way to go at the time, and that no region can go it alone?

It should also be recalled that Zik, also opposed the war. But this eloquence was no match for Ojukwu’s arrogance and bravado. Till his death there was an uneasy silence between these two. Because both were Igbos, the relationship between them was not explored. Maybe political scholars did not consider it controversial enough. Ojukwu has used Awo to explain his failing for a long time and it is time that this issue is explored and the characters of the two men compared. In one his rare interviews, Awo explained that when he met Ojukwu at the Calabar prison, he did ask the young man to try and explore a political option but Ojukwu in reply said Awo was talking platitudes. But granted that Awo gave Ojukwu his verbal support what does it say about the Igbos when on the verbal proclamation of one man they would embark upon a war? What other Yoruba leaders did they meet? Awo is just one man in Yoruba land. However much they revere him, they are not gong to on a suicide mission just because Awo said so. Any good leader looks to the long term interest of his people.

Those who have accused Awo of tribalism forget one thing: Awo was elected to defend the interest of the Western region. It was somebody else’s to do the same for the Eastern region. At various times, each region has threatened to secede from the Nigerian federation. When in 1957 Nigeria was to be granted independence the North said it was not ready. Awo was said to have had discussions with Zik saying the South should go ahead with independence because the North will never be ready even if given a hundred years. Zik turned around and formed an alliance with Ahmadu Bello and the South waited three years for the North to prepare for independence (Similarities between Pakistan and India. The British divided India into two nations –India and Pakistan because of religious differences).

This is the origin of our problems. Awo never forgave Zik for this. This pattern of alliance and betrayal was to repeat itself until their death. They could no longer trust each other on issues of South-South dialogue as Zik was always prone to renege at the last moment only to emerge with a Northern alliance. Because of this, Awo fought tooth and nail to gain ascendancy over Zik in the West. He played a role in the carpet crossing in the West that deprived Zik the leadership. He was accused of exploiting tribal sentiments to further his purpose but he was a man who acted according to the dictates of his time. To do otherwise is to suffer perdition. Zik learnt quickly from this episode, made a dash to the East and practically threw Eyo Ita out of the Eastern house to become the premier. This was the politics of the time. Everybody played the game.

It is against this background that I see Awo as a leader who loved his people and this should not be seen as hatred for others. Those who also say that the Yorubas gained ascendancy of industry because of the marginalization of the Igbos fail to see the fact that most institutions in the West had been built before independence under the captainship of Awo.

Awo is a man who looked for the long term interest of his people. The sooner the Igbos stop using him as an excuse for the failure of Biafra, the easier it is for them to discern good leadership that would serve them.

After all the atrocities that resulted from his faulty judgment during the war, I am amazed that Ojukwu is still a celebrated figure in Igboland. If he were in other lands he would be confined to the heap of infamy because so many lives were lost due to his decisions. His conduct and utterances since his return from exile leaves much to be desired. He is a spoilt child who never grew up. He did not learn nor forgot anything. He is a man who loves power and not for what he can do for his people but for what power can do for his ego. To continue to blame the Yorubas for his failures shows that he has not learnt to take responsibility for his actions. He is a lost cause but I am amazed at the gullibility of his followers. Despite being labeled as cowards and traitors, the Yorubas have learned to thread very carefully. They have taken the lessons of the Biafran war to heart and fully understands that going it alone will not yield good results. Each time they try to seek the alliance with the Igbos because they know it is the right thing to do fully realizing that arrogance in this enterprise will serve no good purpose. While they may be outraged about the condition they find themselves, they do not consider it good judgment to endanger the lives of millions in a precipitate action that will not have a lasting solution

When it concerns Abiola and Obasanjo they are in a difficult situation. This is what you might call a tight situation because these two individuals did everything to demean Awo whom the Yorubas revered. In fact, Abiola in a bid to gain ascendancy in the Hausa-dominated process derided Awo to the great satisfaction of his Northern masters. Today, Awo must be laughing in his grave! This is the dilemma faced by the Yorubas. Their love for justice and freedom on one hand and a desire to avenge the humiliation of Papa Awo, on the other.

After all is said and done, I know that the three big tribes have one thing in common: a desire to exploit the resources of the minorities. This is the only place they are united. But the Ogonis and other minorities have decided they would not tolerate this situation any longer. After watching the politics of the big three, I will state categorically that it is the precipitate actions of the Igbos that brought us to this present predicament and the onus is on them to join alliances with forces that will extricate us from the present situation. I am not asking them to lead. They are war weary. This is understandable. They should, however understand that Nigeria is not a better place for the Igbo man than for the Yoruba man. At present, the South has become an object of derision.

CONCLUSION: The Igbos should understand that the crisis facing the South today was directly or remotely caused by them. But because their leaders had not been sincere to them, they have continuously propagated the lie that the West is responsible for their problem. A few facts should illuminate this:

by Austin Orette

link: http://www.nigerdeltacongress.com/iarticles/igbo.htm