₦airaland Forum

tpiar:
http://www.afenmaiconnect.com/the-history-of-igarra-people/

There is a little error in that account. Supplied by that link.
Igarra people are a line of Oshuku migrants from Kwararafa Kingdom. The Oshuku people were led out of Kwarafafa Kingdom by a man called Ohemi (Ohimi and Oshemi being the variant pronounciations). Ohimi had four sons named Ozoko, Itaazi, Negedu and Oduniya in descending order of seniority.

Ohemi stopped over and sojourned. in Opoto (Igala) land where he died. His sons migrated off Opoto land as follows:
Negedu moved with his supporters (not necessarily descendants) to form a kingdom in Panda in present Toto LGA of Nassarawa State which he ruled with the title of Ohemi as King, and his dynasty still maintains the Ohemi-Negedu title till today. Oduniya went with his supporters to establish a kingdom in Koton Karfi in present day Kogi state where he too ruled as a king titled Ohemi-Oduniya and his dynasty too has maintained that title till today. The two eldest, Ozoko and Itaazi moved further down south and circumstances dictated that Itaazi settled at Okene as his wife gave birth at that point of the journey. He too assumed kingship over Okene as Ohemi. The eldest, Ohemi-Ozoko moved further down South with his supporters and settled in Igarra and ruled as Oshemi (one of the variant pronunciations of Ohemi). His title was Oshemi-Ozoko the Oshinoyi (Igarra word for King) of Igarra. Unfortunately, however, his dynasty lasted for about 150 years and crumbled due to complex developments in his palace. It was at that point in history that the Nupe slave raiders arrived Afemai areas which included Igarra, Auchi, Ososo, etc. The modus operandi of the Nupes was to buy slaves by negotiating with the traditional ruler of any town or village they arrived for trade. Where no organized traditional leadership system existed they chose the smartest and fastest learner of the nupe language as the village representatives that would serve as a language bridge between them and the locals. In Igarra, where Oshemi dynasty had crumbled they had to identify the smartest learner and it fell on one very smart one of the numerous Otarus who were merely fetish priests while Oshemi's dynasty lasted. This Otaru became the go between and of course as well became the most exposed man in the village that headship of the village was willingly surrendered to him pending when the Oshemi's descendants would put their house back in order and re-establish the Oshemi dynasty. This was however not to be as they could not get that done before the European explorers arrived Igarra in 1911. The Europeans penned down the default leadership structure they met on ground which presented that very Otaru as the foremost man in the village. They documented it that Otaru was the Village head without the real authority over the people. There was no one really educated enough or learned in English Language at that time to be able to realize and correct that error of documentation made by the white man. This was how Otaru became known as the Igarra village head.
As people became more and more lettered owing to proliferation of schools, the error was discovered and attempts started being made to correct it by the Oshemi's clan and its supporter clans while the clans of the Otarus have always resisted it. The issue has taken the forms of legal battles, open violence-though now discouraged by both sides, and sometimes dialogue.

chyz:
Im talking about Akoko Edo. There are people there called the Igarras, they are close proximity to the yorubas. They are a small tribe that most likely be consumed by the yoruba. The speak yoruba, name their children yoruba names, even the culture is so interwined with yoruba. Alot of them are of yoruba stock apart from the Igarra tribe. I know people who are Igarra.Go to a Igarra house hold during a gathering and u will hear nothing but yoruba being spoken with a few igarra words here and there.

I doubt if you ever really visited Igarra. Igarra has no link with Yoruba. You can also hear Hausa and Igbo being spoken there. In Igarra people even bear Hausa derived names like Damisa, Daudu, Daniya, Saiki, Mayaki, etc. Some bear Benin derived names like Aido, Uduoza, Lawani, etc. Does that mean they are also both Hausas and Binis simultaneously? If you judge Igarra Identity by names you hear there you'll make terrible mistakes. Igarrans just love to bear names from other lands. However there are concerted efforts now to halt that trend as it has caused them a lot of identity crises. Igarrans are Igarrans and neither Yorubas, nor Hausa nor Igbos.

I know Igarra very well. Well, Igarras are not Yorubas and they have no links with Yorubas in any way. Igarras have v and z in their alphabets while yorubas don't have these letters in their own alphabetical system. Igarra people of Akoko-Edo speak Etuno dialect of the Oshuku language. Some Igarra names are Ozioma, Ofuje, Adaviriku, Adeche, Eneze, Ajimego, Ochavinekine, Asusheyi, Iramofu, Ukana, Osireyeriopa, Ozaime, Ozeyeivo, etc, and I don't think any Yoruba man here can interpret any of these names based on Yoruba diction.

[I don't know why you are writing long epistles.]...................................................................................................

Yourself has written long epistles too.

[ The summary of the matter.
- Awo wanted central power, but his treachery of trying to play the North and Zik killed his chances and left him high and dry.]..........................................................................................................................................

I have already punctured that fallacy with superior logic. You rather furnish us we a more power logic or refrain from making that accusation. Zik and Igbos lust for power has rather left them high, dry and irrelevant till today in Nigeria's politics. Even the Southern Minorities they so hated and oppressed have become more relevant than them.

[ Awo would attempt a civilian coup to wrestle power from from the center, having failed to do so democratically due to his greed, was caught, tried in a court of justice by a Yoruba judge, found guilty of treason and corrupt practices, and rightly jailed.].....................................................................................................................................................

I have already explained that Awo's coup was in response to Zik-Balewa coup against the Western Region. The Yoruba George was working for Zik and Balewa.

[ Zik/ NCNC, had no hands in Awo's travails, his greed and desire for central power was his undoing. On the contrary, it was Zik who pleaded that Awo be jailed in Calabar instead of North, for zik feared for the safety of Awo in the Northern prison, where the Northern youths are rightfully angry with Awo for his greed in trying to usurp Tafawa govt.]...................................................................................................................................................................................

Zik was part and parcel of the government that jailed Awolowo so he can't be innocent as long as he did not resign in protest. If he truly had the power to plead that Awo be taken to Calabar Prison he should have also used same to plead for a reduction of the jail term. Zik's position was ceremonial and empty. Why would he plead for leniency on behalf of the same person he earlier called a two headed snake he was trying to kill? Was that not an opportunity to finally kill the 'snake'? Please cook a sweeter lie.
However Awo was first taken to Lekki prison and later transferred to Calabar. The question of Northern prison never arose.

[ Awo never wasted time at the opportunity of having central powers( this had been his life long desire, behind the camouflage of a man just comfortable with regional powers) the moment Gowon offered him that option.]....................................................................................................

Awo always wanted Middle Belt alliance against the Core North hence his alliance with UMBC. Gowon himself is a middle belter. Awo was therefore consistent in his desire. Moreover Awo was released by Gowon so it would have been absurd and a big ingratitude and treacherous for him to reject Gowon's offer and team up with Biafrans against Gowon when it was Biafrans who colluded with the Core North to jail him in the first instance. Gowon also released Isaac Adaka Boro, and Boro did same by teaming up with Gowon in gratitude against Ojukwu who earlier crushed his Niger Delta Republic declaration and got him sentenced to death. It is the natural way any reasonable person would responded under such circumstances.

[ Awo would later attempt a second civilian coup to oust IBB, was caught again and took his life, rather than accept the option of exile offered to him by IBB.]..............................................................................................................................................................

That is mere conjecture till it is proven logically.
Why did IBB not arrest and publicly try all his accomplices in the said coup after Awo allegedly committed suicide over same? You obviously don't know how the military handles coups.
May be it was a one-man coup by only Awo. Very funny allegation!

[Awo was driven by bitterness, greed and lust for central power all his life, and those vices eventually consumed him.]

Those characteristics were more of Zik's.



Thanks too.

Ariani:
. If GEJ were wise, he would have steered a middle course between Yorubas and Igbos knowing fully well that these two tribes don't see eye to eye. But as a SS person who should be neutral he tilted too much towards the Igbos and so lost the Yoruba solidarity he acquired in 2011. Due to his excessive desire to please the Core North

Do you mind explaining what you mean by the above vomit.

You better lick that vomit as it is self-explanatory. The explanation is in the part you deliberately cut away in quoting it.

?

.

The following accounts exposes Zik as he who introduced tribalism not only into politics but into the Nigerian national life entirely.
1. In 1938 he pulled out all his Igbo brothers from NYM in protest against the victory of an Ijaw man over the Yoruba man Igbos supported.
2. In 1949 Zik boasted openly that it appeared a certain god of Igbos had destined them (Igbos to free Nigeria and indeed Africa from the captivity of ages. This was an implicit claim that the Igbo tribe was superior to all others in Africa. If that was not tribalism what else could it be?
3. NCNC was formed by a Yoruba man and Zik was made his deputy by him. The same Zik was handed NCNC by the Yoruba man Macaulay at the point of his death but in less than 10 years Zik had converted it to a full Igbo party and even chose an Igbo like himself as deputy, moved the soul of the party to the East.

All these happened before 1954 - the year of the Western Region saga, and Awolowo became circumspect of Zik's deep seated tribal propensities hence Awolowo had to throw the nuisance out of the Western Region when he made his attempt to capture the West for that Igbo god. Had he succeeded he would have claimed that the superiority of the Igbo tribe and that god of Igbos had finally bestowed leadership on them over other tribes. Then he would have ruined the Western Region with his bad policies and moved up North to seek Premiership too and then moved over to Ghana and other African countries one after the other to seek presidency in order to further prove that their god had destined them to rule over all others. No wonder he sought to be the Zik of Africa by all means.

If Awolowo was truly found guilty of corruption then why did the Zik-Balewa government not trace those accounts he 'stole' those monies into and freeze them? Why did Zik later seek the UPGA alliance with Awo the person who was earlier 'indicted' and 'convicted' of corruption by the very government he himself (Zik) was part and parcel of? Was Zik so unprincipled to align with a corrupt person in trying to oust his new enemy, Balewa, from power?
Zik was even the one actually guilty of corruption as he was the first ever Nigerian to be charged with corruption by even the colonial masters themselves over his fraudulent involvement with Africa Development Bank finances far far before independence. The issue was swept under the carpet by the Balewa government because he (Zik) was part of the governing NCNC-NPC coalition.

Ariani:
However the posers put forward by the OP that Zik blighted the future of the South with his countless alliances and rather worthless compromises with the North remain unaddressed by our Igbo brothers. If Zik had not been so naively to keep seeking the inclusion of the North as part of Nigeria, the question of Awolowo staging a coup, Biafra War decimating Igbos, Ojukwu did this and that, today's Yoruba vs Igbo antipathy and all what not would not have been. Zik messed up the entire South, simple and Short!

Let it be known that it was the greedy Awo who was too eager to play at the center, ended up playing treacherous game of using Akintola to try to form alliance with the North, while same time trying to sound out Zik that left him empty handed and forced zik to ally with the North.

Awo also introduced tribal politics in the western house, killing any chance of southern unity there too.

I think SLS article captured those points well.

Let it be known that Zik had even before 1960 always wanted to form alliance with the North, hence cooked up the Awolowo double dealing theory to defend his blunder of teaming up with the North when it began to boomerang. The following points suffice:
1. What double dealing did Awolowo also do in 1957 that made Zik decide to sell out by asking the entire South to wait till the North became ready for independence?
2. What double dealing did Awolowo do in 1938 when Zik decided to split NYM along Igbo/Yoruba lines?
3. Akintola went to Ahmadu Bello entirely on his own to seek a deal because he was already a minister in the pre-independence government put in place by the colonial masters and headed by Balewa. Akintola obviously did not want to lose his position which was what Awo's anti-AG/NPC coalition posture implied.
3.When Zik heard Awo had simultaneously sent Akintola to Ahmadu Bello, why did he (Zik) not simply call Awolowo on phone to find out from him if he was actually behind Akintola? Rather than do so Zik is reported to have said, "....the snake we are trying to kill has two heads". That means he himself implicitly confessed that he had always nursed a desire to kill (ruin) Awo politically even before that time that Awo was alleged to have doubly sought coalition with him and Ahmadu Bello and that Zik only came to 'discover' at that moment that the snake even had two heads. That shows Zik never really liked him even before then and was therefore ready to accept any excuse, however flimsy, to justify any ruinous onslaught on him. If not why did Zik find it difficult to just dial him on phone and ask him if he actually sent Akintola to Ahmadu Bello knowing fully well that Akintola and Awo already hated each other as of then?
4. For Ahmadu Bello to call Zik on phone and notify him that Akintola was with him with an alternative deal meant that Zik himself too had already begun talks of striking a deal with Ahmadu Bello. That reinforces the fact that Zik always wanted to work with the North against the Southern interest. If Zik too had not already sent emissary to Ahmadu Bello, then Ahmadu Bello would not have found it necessary to call Zik back and inform him of the new development.
5. One would have expected Ahmadu Bello to call Awolowo first and ask him whether it was he who actually sent Akintola to him. That Bello did not bother to do so meant he already knew and believed Awo had no hand in it owing to his hitherto publicly demonstrated dislike for the North.
6. If Zik sincerely believe that Awo was double faced, then Why did Zik, in less that 4 years, later agree and even send Michael Okpara to Ibadan to meet Awo's wife towards seeking a new deal between NCNC and AG that led to the UPGA merger poised to remove Balewa from power? Had Zik forgotten that it was the same 'snake' with two heads he was now seeking alliance with? Had Awolowo turned from a snake back into a human being while in prison at that time Zik was seeking the UPGA alliance with the AG faction of the same Awolowo? Why did Zik fail to suspect again that Awolowo could possibly be making another simultaneous deal with the Balewa-Akintola NNA while agreeing to form UPGA with him?
7. Did Zik not even later abandon the UPGA and crossed over back to the NNA when the later offered him his empty position of ceremonial president again?
8. Did Zik not also initially back Biafra only for him to defect to the Nigerian side when Biafra began to lose?

The three last instances (Nos. 6,7 and shows clearly that Zik himself was the two headed snake which Awolowo unfortunately never tried to kill but kept allowing to bite him even into jail in collusion with his masters up North.

Ariani:
Moreover SLS lied for claiming that Yorubas were guilty of the first attempt to take over power by unconstitutional means in his obvious reference to Awo's alleged coup. The actual first and successful attempt to bypass constitutional provisions to take over power was by the Hausa-Igbo collusion of Zik/Balewa/Ahmadu Bello NPC-NCNC coalition government when they re-appointed their ally and stooge, Akintola, as premier of the Western Region without any election as against the Western Region's constitution then.

The decision to crip the wings of Awo was that of NPC and not NCNC, your fast move to rope NCNC into that was typical of your ilks( Yorubas), always eager to lay the troubles youcreated for yourselves at the feet of the Igbo man, rather than face your northern friends, who you happen to be fellow muslims with.

It was Tafawa Balewa that made it clear that he was out to conquer the western region, Akintola was your Afonja,and from my understanding, his political wing more than politically matched Awo's.

And Yes, he ( Awo) Committed the first civilian coup, was found guilty of treason and other corruption charges in a court of justice, and rightly jailed.

SLS is right with that bit of history, and his summation of Yoruba, as the problem with Nigeria.

I can see at play again the usual Igbo disease of assuming whoever disagrees with Igbo style and approach to politics is a Yoruba person. Very pitiable mindset. So every other non Yoruba must always justify your greed and defend your lies? What an insult.
The decision to crush the Western Region was that of the coalition government made up of NCNC and NPC. If NCNC was not involved in that decision, then why did Zik not resign from that government in protest to that or at least speak out against it? If NCNC was not part of the plot, then why did the NCNC members of the Western House cause chaos and prevent the House from carrying out the voting to determine whether Akintola would continue as premier or not? Awolowo's indictment was politically motivated by Zik and Balewa. Zik and Balewa also were the first to bypass laid down rules to take over power and that itself was a coup. SLS made that analysis while all was well between him and the Yaradua/GEJ regime. But the moment he got into murky waters with GEJ and the ACN formed a coalition with his brothers he never criticized yorubas again till today. Igbos' shortsighted greed ruined Nigeria.

BlackTechnology:
You will know the real reason Awo left NCNC if you put aside your tribal hypocrisy and relearn history again

It is not about asking me to relearn history. I have supported my own claims with facts and logic but you have kept on talking about me going back to history as if the facts I have supplied you with are events of the present. Why not rather furnish us here with those historical facts known to you alone?
For your information I am not a Yoruba person at all. I have had the course to tell people here many times that I am from the defunct Midwestern Region. Therefore my defence of Awolowo is not based on any tribal sentiments but what my logical mind filtered out as the deadly truth after reading through as many accounts as available to me on Nigeria's political history.
In fact we Midwesterners, now Edo/Delta had and still have misgivings with Yorubas till today over they way they treated us in the old Western Region by calling our representatives in the Western House Kobokobo (a derogatory term meaning unintelligible barbarians) and that accentuated our agitation for our own region which we got. So also we had and still have resentment against Igbos for invading our territory during the war, illegally occupying, killing young men and raping young girls in Benin City, Auchi, Warri, Sapele, Igarra, Lampese; calling us Aboki friends and slaves for refusing to support Biafra notwithstanding the fact that it was Igbos themselves, under Zik's leadership, that first made friends with abokis and gave power to abokis over the entire South, etc. So If I decide to be tribalistic it can't be to the defence of Yorubas or Igbos.
I therefore am just analysing the Yoruba Igbo antipathy as a neutral party and my findings tell me clearly that Igbos are guiltier than Yorubas in the disunity of the South and its enslavement under the Northern hegemony.

BlackTechnology:
Go back and read your history properly

After the death of Herbert Macaulay, Awo refused to be led by Azikwe.

History will help you.

You are obviously not sound in History. Let us even assume but not concede that Awolowo once belonged to NCNC. His leaving it was obviously because Zik was building unitarian ideas into it and Awo, an unrepentant federalist, could not tolerate it. How did you expect a federalist to remain in a party that was getting increasingly unitarian in philosophy? Is it not the unitary system Zik wanted that has ruined Nigeria till today? Is Awolowo therefore not vindicated to have abandoned NCNC on account of Zik turning it to a unitarian party? Would you yourself agree to belong to a party openly canvassing for unitary system in the Nigeria of today?
If Awolowo left NCNC because he refused to be led by Zik after Macaulay's death as you claim, then how come that in 1960 the same Awolowo later offered the same Zik the prime minister position with himself as Finance Minister under him? Was that not a scenario under which Awolowo was ready to be led by Zik? Be more holistic and logical in your claims.

atlwireles:
I rather start with Enahoro, Okite-eboh and even David Ejoor/Ogbemudia. They should all have known better, that their people have nothing in common, politically, with 70% of what is called Nigeria today.

Zik should be started with because all the other one-Nigerianists were inspired by him. None of Okotie-Eboh, David Ejoor, Ogbemudia was there when Zik decided to coerce Awolowo into waiting till the North to beacme ready. Awolowo too messed up there as he too mistakenly overrated the so-called Zik's wisdom so much that he fell for Zik's blind ambition to have a "complete" Nigeria at independence. I read it that Northerners even declared in that conference that any part of the South Was free to go solo. If Awolowo had just invoked his positive stubbornness to get out of Nigeria with his Oodua Republic leaving Zik to keep suffering under Hausa-Fulani the story would have been different. But unfortunately Awo too fell for Zik's juju and jazz and we are all paying today.

BlackTechnology:
Why did Awo pulled out of NCNC after the death of Herbert Macaulay (Yoruba) and the takeover by Azikwe.?


Awo was the first traitor if you care to read about NCNC and Herbert Macaulay

You can't pull out of what you don't belong to. Awo NEVER belonged to NCNC at any time let alone pull out of it. Awolowo, as a strong federalist, loathed NCNC completely as NCNC's political philosophy was built on unitary system advocacy smuggled into it by Zik. It was actually Zik who pulled out of NYM because a Niger Deltan supported by Awo defeated a Yoruba man supported by Zik himself. That means Zik hated Niger Deltans with a passion. Remember NYM was formed by youths on the consensus and agreement that Herbert Macaulay's NNDP was not radical enough in its call for independence. Zik agreed with those Youths' reasoning and joined NYM on return from Ghana, so NNDP died. But after the victory of the Niger Deltan Ernest Okoli in the NYM election, Zik pulled out of NYM in protest and went back to join the newly formed NCNC of the same Herbert Macaulay whom the youths including Zik had all initially agreed was not radical enough in his ideas and approach to independence. That was Zik's first act of treachery which made Awolowo and Ita Eyo disband NYM and went their separate ways to form AG and NIP respectively.
In 1949 Zik also refused to show up on the day he was billed and he himself had earlier accepted to be the speaker at a public symposium to press for independence and criticize the colonial masters. After waiting for him in vain by the other Southern youths that day Anthony Enahoro had to take up the gauntlet impromptu and he spoke against the whites. He got arrested and locked up, and the next morning on being interviewed by British journalists Zik declared that Enahoro and all the other youths who organized the symposium were suffering from youthful exuberance. When Enahoro regained his freedom he broke ranks with Zik and for the first time joined Awolowo's AG and published a book titled "Zik: sinner or saint". That was another betrayal of the Southern course by Zik. Go and find out.
Another set of Igbo men, Ojukwu and Ironsi betrayed the Niger Delta for Zik's one Nigeria when they crushed Isaac Adaka Boro's declaration of Niger Delta Republic.,
However the question still remains: If Zik had not laid the precedent of betraying the Southern interest repeatedly would any other part of the South be doing so today? Simple questions need simple Yes or No.

BlackTechnology:
Which Southern tribe betrayed the SS(Jonathan).?

Which Southern tribe supported the Southern unity through Jonathan.?

Betrayal of Southern unity started with Zik (an Igbo). If Zik had not laid the precedent no other southern tribe would have carried it further.
On the issue of Jonathan: what you need to understand is that the Southern Solidarity includes the middle belt as well because the South/middle alliance gave GEJ the presidency in 2011. It was therefore Jonathan himself who even betrayed the Southern Unity Question by marginalizing the SW and repeatedly harassing them with soldiers despite the fact that only the SW risked forming the SNG group which poured out in the streets of Lagos to press for GEJ's ascendancy to power against the Yaradua cabal made up of politicians of NW and his own SS brother like Ibori. Also the SW voted massively for him in 2011 but he let them down by later harassing them with soldiers, releasing Al-Mustapha, refusing to convoke a genuine SNG, and insulting their elders. Remember that in 2010 GEJ, without any provocation, declared that the SW was being governed by rascals. However the SW overlooked that when it came to voting time in 2011 and gave him bloc votes. If GEJ were wise, he would have steered a middle course between Yorubas and Igbos knowing fully well that these two tribes don't see eye to eye. But as a SS person who should be neutral he tilted too much towards the Igbos and so lost the Yoruba solidarity he acquired in 2011. Due to his excessive desire to please the Core North he also lost all the middle-belt states he won in 2011. He surrounded himself with useless advisers in a manner reminiscent of Ironsi. Also at a time the public was suspicious of the Northern elite as being at the root of BH Jonathan sacked a fellow SS man, Azazi, as NSA and replaced him with Dasuki a Northerner. Was that any tribe's fault? In fact the most annoying of it all was that he adopted the name of the very Azikiwe who repeatedly sold the South to the North indicating he was coming to do same which he really did. It was all his fault. The SW did not betray him at all but only acted to survive his onslaught against them.

This is my own little contribution:
There is a general consensus among all southern Nigerians (SE, SS and SW) today that the remotest cause of Nigeria's disunity and failure is the North's born-to-rule philosophy which was invented by Ahmadu Bello and propagated into the consciousness of the average Northerner so much that they imbibed it and lived by it till today.
However, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, a member of the born-to-rule Northern oligarchy made an analysis on Nigeria woes and in it heaped blames on both Yorubas and Igbos but, in an obvious characteristically dishonest attitude of a typical ruling class Northerner, reserved no single blame for his own North for propagating the anti-democracy born-to-rule philosophy which seriously undermined and most severely damaged the foundation of our democracy, yet Igbos are referencing that very speech to make a case against Yorubas. I find it disingenuous on the part of Igbos.
Moreover SLS lied for claiming that Yorubas were guilty of the first attempt to take over power by unconstitutional means in his obvious reference to Awo's alleged coup. The actual first and successful attempt to bypass constitutional provisions to take over power was by the Hausa-Igbo collusion of Zik/Balewa/Ahmadu Bello NPC-NCNC coalition government when they re-appointed their ally and stooge, Akintola, as premier of the Western Region without any election as against the Western Region's constitution then. Were they expecting Awolowo the victim to fold his arms and watch the federal government lead with bad examples? Was it not still the same Hausa-Igbo coalition that first disobeyed the Privy Council thereby setting the stage for lawlessness? Nzeogwu/Ifeajuna coup was justified on the strength of these lawless acts by the Ahmadu Bello/Zik/Balewa government. Only the manner Ifeajuna executed the Lagos aspect made nonsense of the whole show. I wish Nzeogwu handled the Lagos axis of it, the story of the coup and Nigeria in general might have been different.

However the posers put forward by the OP that Zik blighted the future of the South with his countless alliances and rather worthless compromises with the North remain unaddressed by our Igbo brothers. If Zik had not been so naive to keep seeking the inclusion of the North as part of Nigeria, the question of Awolowo staging a coup, Biafra War decimating Igbos, Ojukwu did this and that, today's Yoruba vs Igbo antipathy and all what not would not have been. Zik messed up the entire South, simple and Short!

OJUcrook:
Yes, you are partially correct. The Jos riot was in 1945 but the ibos were not only the victims of the mayhem, all southerners in Jos were. But despite the hostility the northerners have shown the southerners, nnamdi azikiwe, an ibo man still formed a coalition government with the same northerners, just because of his greed and lust for power

That Zik of a man, to me, was suffering from some form of personality defect. He collateralized the lives of his own brothers for his personal and self seeking ambition to become venerated as a 'nationalist' or even a 'continentalist' titled Zik of Africa. A man who heard Ahmadu Bello and Balewa clearly when they both proclaimed their hatred for Igbos but still went ahead to form a coalition with the same persons was surely a psychiatric hospital patient mistaking himself for a nationalist.

Those who in an attempt to paint Awo as a tribalist by repeating this quote "........But before the
inauguration into the offices, Awo went
and brainwashed the yorubas, asking
the how could they allow someone
from Across the Niger to come over to
rule them?............." are obviously mischievous and can't really digest what Awo said.
Awo did not ask how they could allow another tribe (Igbo) man or a non Yoruba to come and rule them. There were other non-Yoruba and even Igboid tribes within the Western Region hence were not from across the Niger, e.g. Binis, Akoko-Edos, Aniomas, Etsakos, Esans, Urhobos, Owans, Itsekiris, Isokos, Aniomas (the group assumed to be Igboid in the Old Western Region), etc. Awolowo did not resist the idea that these tribes and even the Igboid among them rule the Western Region as long as they were natives of the Western Region and therefore had equal stakes in it as Yorubas. What he was against was having a man from across the Niger i.e. from another region entirely - both the Eastern or Northern Region (as River Niger cuts off the Western Region both from the North and East) to nurse the ambition of ruling the Western Region as no one from the Western region; be it Bini, Yoruba, Akoko-Edo, Etsako, Itsekiri, Ijaw, Anioma, etc; was reciprocally seeking to cross River Niger into the North or East to rule them.
For goodness sake the colonial masters divided Nigeria into three regions so that each region would govern itself and have peace and not for one region to try to colonize and govern another. Zik's flooding of the Western Regional House of Assembly with Easterners and his final attempt to take premiership of the West was an attempt to defeat the essence of creating the Regions in the first instance. Zik was pursuing local inter-regional imperialism which Awolowo resisted. How could resistance to imperialism be same as tribalism? Can we use that logic to term Zik himself a racist for fighting against colonization and seeking independence from white imperialists? Did Awolowo or any other Westerner ever attempt to go and rule the Eastern Region or Northern Region? Why could Zik not simply begin his charity from home?
If Zik so truly believed in one Nigeria why did he refuse to use his acclaimed political wizardry to give a strong foothold to NCNC in the North and then try to seek Northern premiership? Zik was born and brought up in the Northern Region hence he was most popular there, so why not simply start his political career there or the Eastern Region which he hailed from by blood? Why the Western Region where he was neither from nor born and brought up?
A northerner was ruling the Northern Region, Zik allowed his fellow Easterners to be ruling their own Eastern Region yet he himself an Easterner wanted to be ruling the West at the same time so that no Westerner will be ruling anywhere. Was that a good scenario needed to balance the tripod structure back then?
If Zik had already won the election as Igbos say here, then how come Awolowo prevented his swearing in and Zik never went to court to reclaim his mandate? How could Awolowo alter the results that have already been openly declared by the electoral body? It is like claiming that after INEC announced Wike as winner Peterside rallied Ijaws against Ikwerres and got the results changed by INEC to deny Wike of being sworn in. Does that make sense at all?
The truth is that neither AG nor NCNC had the required numbers to claim victory hence alliances needed to be formed with the smaller parties as characteristic of parliamentary system, and it favoured AG. That alliance is what Igbos distort as cross-carpeting. Can Zik himself be accused of cross-carpeting to NPC when he and his NCNC formed alliance with NPC to give power to Balewa? Igbos claim Zik was good at sacrificing his own personal ambition for others like Balewa and Shagari so as to keep Nigeria united. But Zik could not sacrifice his Western Region ambition to Awolowo to keep the Western Region united. How would a united Nigeria emerge with a disunited Western Region as part of it?

Igbos and distortion of facts.

Most people who accuse Awolowo of tribalism obviously confuse a federalist mindset with a tribalistic mindset. As federalist Awolowo believed that each ethnic nationality was and still is a country of its own which deserved to protect its own culture from undue interference while slowly and at its own natural pace hybridizing with other cultures to finally deliver a genuine national unity and not the forced and hurried type Zik wanted and which Ironsi pushed down our throats which ended up being counterproductive till today.
There is a consensus among all Nigerians today that Britain amalgamated us without regards for our differences and opposing cultures. However many of us came to this conclusion through the hindsight provided by later events. But Awolowo had the foresight to see it ahead that only a purely federalist system characterized by a very slow and carefully controlled inter-tribal assimilation would guarantee peaceful co-existence and eventual slow but sure breaking of inter-tribal barriers to achieve genuine national unity at its own natural pace like it happened in the USA.
At some time in the US history inter-racial marriage was seen as a taboo by both blacks and whites and therefore criminalized as the various races were yet to understand and accept one another on the genuine fears that such could lead to crisis. But with time those fears were eradicated at their own natural paces and the law was repealed. Would you therefore call the Americans of those times racists? You don't try to get faster than nature or else you cause damages that will take centuries to correct. This exactly was what Zik and Ironsi did to us with their desire to unify Nigeria by force against the pace of nature. Awolowo, Ahmadu Bello, Enahoro, Balewa by their intuition knew Zik was totally mistaken, and they are vindicated today.
Moreover It was Zik that first boasted openly in 1947 that one god of Igbos had destined them to be the messiah of Nigeria. That was a tribal slur which made Awolowo to become circumspect of Zik onto his attempt to later govern the Western Region in 1954. The same Zik had as far back as 1938 pulled out together with his Igbo brethren from NYM (the first pan-Nigerian nationalist movement) in an envy driven protest of the victory of an Ijaw man backed by Awolowo. Awo could not have backed an Ijaw man if he was a tribalist.
Awo only later gave Zik back what Zik started. Zik was the first tribal champion. But when the others decided to go tribal to prove a point to him Igbos started complaining.

There are three different accounts here of guilt of tribalizing politics.

Only one was by Awolowo and it involved repelling an intruder from another region entirely who abandoned his own region to seek leadership in another. Awolowo could therefore be said to have practised regional politics and not tribal politics. And he was justified because Nigeria was split into regions for each region to govern itself and not one region to govern another- a desire Zik was nursing.

However, two were by Zik, namely his pulling out of NYM with his Igbo brothers in protest of the electoral victory of the ijaw tribe over his own tribe's wish even though they and Ijaws were from the same Eastern Region, and again Zik's use of tribal clarion call to deny an Efik man a position despite the Efik man was still from the same Eastern Region as Zik.

The difference is clear. Awolowo fought against intrusion by a man not because he was from a different tribe but because he was from a different region and therefore had his own home region to begin his charity from.
But Zik fought against people from his own region just because they were of different tribes from his.

Now, tell me the tribalist. Be honest!

EzeUche:
Awo played both sides. Zik and the North could not trust him, because he talked out of both sides of his mouth. Typical Yoruba. As the article clearly states, Awo main concern was handling the nation's finances for the benefit of his Yoruba people. He gave the same offer to the north, so why would Zik join forces with him?

This article clearly shows how treacherous the Yoruba are. Onye ara.

Either way, I am not a Zik fan either. He believed in the illusion of One Naija. Now Michael Okpara is my hero.

This allegation that Awolowo played double game in 1959 seems to be established on the fact that while Awo himself met Zik and offered the said proposal, Akintola, on Awolowo's order, as it appeared, was at the same time meeting Ahmadu Bello in another geographical location with a similar offer. However a more critical and logical analysis places before any open minded person the following possibilities which were more likely the case:
1. Before 1959 Akintola was already a friend of the North and was therefore already holding a ministerial position in a Tafawa Balewa led pre-independence pseudo-indigenous governing body put in place by the colonial masters in preparation for their final depature. Hence Akintola went entirely on his own to negotiate with Ahmadu Bello without Awolowo's blessing or approval since he was already used to the luxury and perks of office which Awolowo's aversion an AG-NPC coalition would automatically deny him of. Nigerians don't taste political office and let go of it easily on principles.
2. If it was really Awolowo that delegated Akintola to approach Ahmadu Bello with that deal, the same Akintola would not have later turned round to claim that Awolowo's refusal to align with the North was responsible for the non-inclusion of Yorubas in the independence government let alone openly rival him to the extent of colluding with Zik and Balewa to imprison him. Akintola would rather have calmly acknowledged that the North preferred Igbos' and Zik's NCNC to his and Awolowo's AG, and would therefore not have heaped so much blame on Awolowo for the yorubas' 'losing out.
3. When Zik was informed that Awolowo had sent Akintola to Bello at the same time he came to him with a deal, the simplest rule of even secular courtesy let alone that of Christianity, which Zik claimed as his religion, demanded that he confronted Awolowo straight with that report of apparent duplicity in the spirit of fair hearing which even human courts uphold. Moreover a Zik who knew that Akintola had already been in the Northcentric pre-independence government and hence would make all possible attempts to remain in it should have taken the alleged Awolowo's involvement in Akintola's move with a pinch of salt.
4. Zik obviously wanted an opportunity to get back at Awolowo for earlier on 'denying' him Western Region's premiership, hence any allegation against Awo, however illogical, would be useful as a justification for any irrational decision taken in pursuit of that.

5. The mere fact that in less than 4 years later Zik made a volte face and took his NCNC into a coalition with the same Awolowo's AG to become UPGA which sought to unseat the Balewa-Akintola NNA utterly punctures the theory that Zik's initial rejection of Awolowo's offer was due to Awolowo's 'duplicity'. Or did Zik forget that it was the same 'double faced' Awolowo he agreed to form UPGA with?

I rather think Zik rejected Awo's AG-NCNC offer more because was too preoccupied with his one Nigeria fantasy to recognize the inherent dangers most of his decisions and choices posed to the entire South and particularly the Igbos. In facts Zik's weird and strange attachment to that fantasy made he himself double faced, double dealing, uncoordinated, unstable, unpredictable, and so disorganized that he made it into Nzeogwu's hit list. Remember Zik later abandoned UPGA in the lurch to join the same North-led NNA after he was offered president position again to come and continue pursuing his unrealistic one Nigeria dream once more. What could be more treacherous and double faced that that?
The Western Region issue is on its own another kettle of fish about which Zik was also in the wrong.

-

.

Justcash:
[b]That was a good article by bluetooth.

Zik has never been my hero. I hate him for struggling to keep Nigeria one.

However, we must not overlook the fact that he was more nationalistic in his political orientation than Awolowo and Bello.

While Bello and Awolowo agreed that Nigeria was a mistake, they were more ethno-religious leaders than nationalistic leaders.

Yes zik was a political harlot, but he played the real meaning of politics: who gets what, how and when,  in a nationalistic way.

If Awolowo and Bello were like Zik in terms of politics, the ethno-religiouse Pluralism that became a plaque in Nigeria's unity would have been at a minimal.

I see the award as a recognition of his nationalistic outlook in politics.

In the real sense, Nigerian leaders in the 1960s werent surpposed to be ethno-religiously biased in their leadership style. This is the reason why Nigerians are still grappling in our aim for development. It is the reason why this country will remain a farce and needs to dis-integrate or be restructured politically. [/b]

Advocacy for oneness among peoples of different and in fact opposing cultures and belief systems can't pass for nationalism. Any political philosophy that ignores stark realities of the possibility that such could gravely endanger the lives of some or all of the people qualifies as dangerous and lethal fantasy and not nationalism.
Zik's advocacy of oneness was Akin to an attempt to keep a cat, a snake and dog all in one and the same uncompartmentalized cage believing that one day the dog, the snake and the cat will just wake up and lose their carnivorous appetite towards one another and begin to live together harmoniously. That was naivete of the highest order, and that is actually evil.
A genuine nationalist is not he who tries to do what is practically impossible, but he who recognized the constraints imposed on his ambition by nature, and therefore acts accordingly and realistically especially when he is fully away that driving such ambition beyond natural constraints could lead to bloodshed and permanent enmity as we now have today. Awolowo, Enahoro, Ahmadu Bello and Balewa recognized these constraints and the bloodshed which the contrary could precipitate, and therefore acted accordingly hence were the genuine nationalists. But Zik was the odd one out who chose to pretend all was well when reality dictated otherwise.
The differences among the various tribes in Nigeria are too great to be ignored under the guise of seeking oneness.
And by the way what exactly was the oneness Zik was seeking? Was any tribe really at full blown war with any other? Differences can't be eliminated but only managed as much as possible.
Against this background Zik was an incurable idealist and not a nationalist as all his ideas about nationhood and nation building have done us more harm than good. An idea is judged not by its content but by the result it yields. Zik's nationalism caused a bloody war and strained relationships permanently.
We all agree to the consensus that the white man was utterly wrong to have amalgamated us without regards for our differences, yet some of us are hypocritically celebrating as a nationalist the Zik who wanted to carry further and perfect the white man's amalgamation with his one Nigeria belief. That is hypocritical.
If Zik is a nationalist for seeking a further amalgamated one Nigeria, then Lord Luggard was a better nationalist for commencing the amalgamation in the first instance.

Elan83:
southern elites, political leaders & religious leaders has failed dea children,, posterity'll surely judge dem,, 2 dwell wt hausa-fulanis z d worst tin 2 befall any human being,,

Zik started the game of dwelling with Northerners in the name of seeking one Nigeria. Had Zik allowed reason to triumph over emotional fantasy he would not have gone into the NPC-NCNC alliance in which Igbos were the inferior partners and which was the first seed of bad governance sown in Nigeria leading to Northern domination which the South has ever since them been struggling unsuccessfully to shake off.

ThE deadly truth of the matter is that Zik's rejection of Awo's proposal had nothing to do with the perception that Awo was "treacherous". If Zik were really convinced that Awo was a fox then common sense dictated that he should not have gone into UPGA alliance with the same "fox". Zik's later co-formation of UPGA with Awo's AG badly punctures the theory that Zik preferred the North because Awo was not reliable. Rather Zik was so consumed by his one-Nigeria fantasy in pursuit of which he became averse to facing stark reality and took decisions which conflicted with his better judgement. Zik was so naïve to seek oneness with a people who had slaughtered his own brothers on two occasions and publicly kept declaring their hatred for Igbos. Zik was simply myopic, naïve, unrealistic, dreaming against reality, hoping against hope, etc. Was Awolowo also responsible for the fact that the decimation of Zik's kinsmen/brothers in the war was not enough reason for him to re-examine his one-Nigeria fraud and fantasy?

Truckpusher:
Let us abandon this unitary system of Governance before it is too late but some parasite won't just won't listen until it is too late.

This system isn't working and can never work yet for the love and greed of oil some region in this country are yelling over their "dead body" while some are sitting on the fence.
If the peace loving people of Edo are being attacked over their own God given resources then you're no longer safe even in your own communities no matter the region you're coming from. This is an eye opener if only you know the story of the true face of the Niger Delta militancy and the oppressive elite of the Nigerian society.

I hope that Zik from his grave, and his tribesmen who first preached "One Nigeria" and preferred unitary system can now see the evil they caused this country. Honestly Zik and everything about him was evil. He was a man with a very wicked political philosophy disguised as nationalism.

janefrancisca:
and hausas/fulanis are born lovers i guess, even the love in their heart is so big that God had to give them extra space. . With all the lives that have wasted and sent to the beyond all in the name of boko haram, fulani herdsmen/indigenes clash and other riots. You love the yorubas but yet u kidnap and even kill them too. The Ibos are just realist, they known the One Nigeria is just a facade. I would rather sleep with the devil on the same bed than an angel i do not know.

Who invented the facade called "one Nigeria"? An Igbo man called Zik, and he propagated that facade with the assistance of his Igbo kinsmen at a time both Yorubas and Hausas had seen through Zik's facade of oneness and therefore maintained that Nigeria was not one and that attempts should not be made to force Nigeria to become one. An Igbo man, Ironsi, eventually used military force to make Nigeria one in order to satisfy Zik and his fellow Igbos. But the forced oneness soon backfired on Igbos just 6 months later and from then on till today Igbos painfully realized that Nigeria can't really be one. But unfortunately, instead of Igbos to acknowledge that the Yorubas and Hausas are vindicated about in their position that one Nigeria is a fraud invented by Zik their own brother, they pretend as if they themselves never at any time in the past believe in one Nigeria. If Igbos really want an equittable Nigeria then they should be honest enough confess they were the original one-Nigerianists who invented that slogan that has ruine Nigeria till today rather than keep trying to create the impression that "one Nigeria" was the brainchild of Yorubas and Hausas.

RickyTan:
SS is not a tribe. Plenty of Igbos in the SS so your anti Igbo rant makes no sense. Now mind your own Yoruba business and leave Easterners alone

And there you go again with the Yoruba tag on any SS person who does not fall for the Biafra fraud. The Igboid peoples in the SS don't make up to 7% of the SS's population, and moreover 80% of them don't agree they are Igbos. And this they do with very strong logical reasons.
And who has claimed here that the SS is a single tribe? It is Igbos that should leave the SS alone. Igbos claim the SS people are their cousins and at the same time say that the SS is not a single tribe. Then how come peoples of different tribes are all your cousins at the same time? Fraudulent people!
Igbos should stop calling us their cousins. We are not in anyway related with them. That we are neighbours with them geographically does not automatically translate to blood links. The SS is not the one trying to seceed from Nigeria and trying to force Igbos to join them. It is rather the Igbos that are trying to force the SS into Biafra. So it is Igbos that should be asked to leave the SS alone. When Igbos, led by Zik in 1960, foolishly decided to sell the entire South to slavery under the North by teaming up with Ahmadu Bello against the rest of the South we all respected their right to freedom of political association even though we knew their decision to team up with the North was fueled by greed and opportunism. So Igbos too must respect the right of freedom of the SS to remain in Nigeria and not join Biafra. Igbos should leave the SS alone and go and mind the business of their alliance with the North which Zik left for them as his legacy.

Jesus himself used the parable in which He clearly said that the rich man was inside a fire from where he begged that a drop of water be put into his mouth as the fire was too hot. Jesus also compared unbelievers to grass which will be weeded off and burnt with fire.

Agreed that God can't allow his own children to suffer eternal thermal torment. But then the question is; who are God's children? Not everyone is a child of God even though he created everyone. Did God not use flood to torment his creatures during the time of Noah? Was it not fire God released to burn up 250 men who challenged Moses' authority in Numbers 16: 35?

JW has misled and continued misleading people with their distortions of Bible teachings. If God will really not turture people for sin then there would not have been restraint in doing evil here on earth