[size=14pt]The Igbo/Yoruba Relationship[/size]
By
Austin Orette
"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:
In 1957, the North threatened to secede if independence was granted to Nigeria because they were not ready. Zik, was supposed to have reached an understanding with Awo to let the North go. But to Awo’s consternation, Zik formed an alliance with the North which succeeded in delaying independence and allowed the North to get ready.
In 1966, a group of young Igbo officers planned a coup that killed only non-Igbo politicians. Included among the politicians was Ahmadu Bello who was a god-like figure to the Northerners. Before you could say Jihad, all the Sabongaris were on fire and the pogrom that would lead to the civil war has started..
Instead of trying to seek immediate political solution to the crisis, the Igbos declared Biafra. They war lasted for 30 months. The Igbos lost everything. The Hausa-Fulani oligarchy took this defeat of Biafra as the conquest of the South. Since then, they have transformed the privilege of leadership into that of a birthright and they have used it not only to stunt the growth of the South but also to subject their people to a state of perpetual servitude and feudalistic iniquities.
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Politics / Re: The Igbo And Yoruba Relationship - By Niger Delta Congress by Brixtonyute(m): 1:47pm On Jun 22, 2012 