₦airaland Forum

[quote author=peacengine post=43723603][/quote]Jonathan was voted into power by the entire South (SW, SS and SE) together with the middle Belt. The Core North hated him, voted against him and shed blood when he was declared winner. But Jonathan abandoned all those zones that voted for him and concentrated all his attention trying to please the Core-North which never wanted him in power in the first instance. He took huge funds generated in the South (where he got his votes) to do projects in the Core North where he was rejected at the polls. He even naively declared in PH that he purposely left his own SS region unattended to because he did not want to appear partial. He acted as if he did not know that Zik, Ironsi, Abiola, and the rest who tried to sacrifice their own people's interests to please the North never actually succeeded in pleasing them but ended up being killed or hounded out of power by them. The only thing that pleases the North is to have their own in power even if he does NOTHING for them. Even if you help their kinsman to get to power they will always reward you negatively. When Zik blindly and foolishly chose to hand them power in 1960, they later used that same power to rig 1962/63 censuses and 1964/65 elections against the same Zik, and till today based on that rigged census Zik's region has 5 states while the NW of the Ahmadu Bello whom he gave power now has 7. Abiola too helped them crush his own brother Awolowo but the same Northerners made sure Abiola's mandate was stolen and got him killed. So Jonathan is to blame for his own political misfortune because he refused to learn from history and was therefore condemned to repeating it and the consequence followed.

Below is the proof that it was and still is a blatant lie that the military junta can't completely do without some level of unification or unitary system:

Nzeogwu also accused Ironsi of tribalism,
when he told Ejindu in one of his post coup
interviews that he did not like
everything in his (Ironsi's) administration:
Hear him (Nzeogwu): “Yes, everything. First he chose the wrong
advisers for the work he half-heartedly set
out to do. Most of them were either
mediocre or absolutely unintelligent.
Secondly, he was tribalistic in the
appointment of his governors. Thirdly, the
Decree 34 was unnecessary, even silly in
fact.”

Now, Nzeogwu was a very brilliant military officer who was well read and knew much about military dynamics in politics. That such an officer described Decree 34 as silly meant that he knew that a military junta could actually do completely without any level of unitary system or unification decree contrary to the claim of those who continually seek to make excuses for Aguyi Ironsi's blunder.

kingzizzy:
OMG! You are an example of a Nigerian who does not know Nigerian history. It is really pathetic that so many Nigerians just don't know the history of their country but are quick to shout 'one Nigeria!'. I suggest you google the history of Nigeria and read about the period from January 1966 to May 1967 to cure your ignorance. You said that Ironsi dismantled the regions and created 35 provinces? Can you tell us the name of any one of these provinces Ironsi crated? You don't even know that the four regions were still in place almost a year after Ironsi died? You don't even know that Ironsi was on a tour of the four regions when he was killed? Ironsi was killed when he was on the western region tour, so how can he be visiting the regions if he had already dissolved them? Yes it is true that Ironsi promulgated the unification decree,and he had to do this because military rule is not democratic rule. Every military rule runs on some kind of unification decree. But he did not abolish the regions which is the main thing you are arguing here. You don't even know that the reason why Ojukwu declared Biafra on the 30th of May 1967 was because Gowon had announced the creation of states 3 days earlier on the 27th of May, which was against the Aburi confederal agreement he signed with Ojukwu in Ghana. The 36 states Nigeria has today is a creation of military Governments starting from Gowon all the way to Babangida. So how can you blame Ironsi for unitary rule when he never created any state? Cure your ignorance or start reading books, the North killed Ironsi because they wanted political power, that's always been what they wanted in Nigeria

You Igbos always try to rewrite history in your dubious quest to defend your brothers. It is you that has not read enough books and therefore need cure for your deliberate ignorance. The question is simply why did Gowon have to issue decree 59 in restoration of the regions if Ironsi did not tamper with the regions at all at all? Rather that logically address this very point and the others I raised showing clearly that Gowon restored the regions meaning Ironsi dismantled them you, in the typical Igbo attitude resorted to expletives and abusive language.
You yourself agreed that Ironsi promulgated the unification decree because he assumed that a military junta could not do without some level of unitary system. Then why again are you saying Ironsi did not introduce unitary system? And it is a blatant lie that the military can't operate without some form of unitary system. If so why did Nzeogwu, a military man too, condemn Ironsi for that unitary system and suggested that Ironsi should have adopted confederacy? Why did Northern soldiers who were equally military officers like Ironsi keep warning him against unitary system if it was actually fact that military can't rule without some form of unification decree?
What those of you Igbos who always defend Ironsi don't realize is that the January coup was precipitated by a gross abuse of power by the government at the centre over the Western Region as Balewa unduly declared emergency there, sponsored and signed into law a bill by which he retroactively gave himself the power to forcefully install Akintola against the majority wish in the assembly, disobeyed the privy council verdict, broad daylight rigging of the censuses and elections in the South, etc. If the centre could so much abuse the little power it had, then common sense dictated that anyone who sincerely came to correct the system should have further weakened the centre. Nzeogwu therefore correctly suggested confederacy-a system that makes the centre weaker - hence Nzeogwu is still seen till today as the only sincere guy among those coup plotters as he alone suggested confederacy. But Ironsi strengthened that same centre by his unification decree. Was there any logical sense in Ironsi's choice? Was that an Indication that Ironsi was sincere about solving the problem on ground? Ironsi even went as far as removing the term "federal" from Nigeria's official name. Which became merely "Republic of Nigeria" meaning the federating units no longer existed, and someone is still cooking up stories here claiming Ironsi did not dissolve the regions.
Gowon's military junta restore the regions fully to the status quo ante and ran them like that for 9 months before the Aburi meeting. So what is this crap that military can't totally do without unification? Ironsi introduced unitary system not because he was sincerely convinced that military can't do without it but because he wanted to fully implement Zik's idea of a fraudulent one Nigeria run on a unitary system that would give Igbos undue advantage over others. Just as Northerners wanted power so did Igbos and more desperately even. The Northerners patiently waited for him to bring the coup plotters to book but rather than do that he began transferring them to Eastern prisons. Was that not a clear evidence of Igbo agenda in his mind? Why then should the Northern officers not seize power from him and kill him? Were they kids? Even Ademoyega, another military guy who wrote "Why we struck" criticized Ironsi for the unification decree. That means Ademoyega knew that a military junta could actually operate completely without unitary system? Ironsi was the most unfortunate thing that ever happened to Nigeria.
Your claim that Nigerians shout one Nigeria without knowing history is another blatant revisionism. It was only yourselves the Igbos that invented the "one Nigeria" sloganeering led by Zik. All other tribes warned them that Nigeria was not one and could never become one given the realities on ground but they never listened. So I find it absurd for an Igbo man to hypocritically come online and accuse others of ignorantly shouting one Nigeria.

kingzizzy:
People like you talk out of ignorance. How can you say that Ironsi destroyed the federal structure when all 4 regions that were the federating units of Nigeria were still there up to day Ironsi died? It was Gowon that came in, abolished the regions,took away resouce control, created 12 states and turned Nigeria into a unitary state. Ironsi never abolished the 4 regions! Get that into your head. In the bid of Gowon and his fellow northerners to exercise complete control of Nigeria, they introduced 'divide and rule' by abolishing the regional structure which Ironsi had maintained

And people like you talk out of pure mischief and peddle lies to deceive the gullible. Aguyi Ironsi dismantled the regions and split Nigeria into 35 provinces and set out to draft a new unitary constitution which would suit the operation of unitary system over the new 35 provinces even though the public did not demand a constitution review from him. That showed he had something wicked up his sleeves. Go back and check your books. Aguyi Ironsi promulgated a decree 34 which he himself titled unification decree. If Aguyi Ironsi did not dissolve the regions then what else was his Unification Decree 34 meant to achieve? Get this into your block head. Unification means to make several separate entities to lose their individual identities and become one. Don't you have a dictionary in your house? Aguyi Ironsi was advised against tampering with the regions in any form at all but he arrogantly refused to and even argued that such was the only way his military junta could govern effectively.
The Northern officers who staged the counter coup that killed Aguyi Ironsi made it clear that his unification decree was one of the reasons they killed him as the decree amounted to bundling every region together as one single seamless entity under Igbo domination thereby heightening the Igbo domination fears already in the air. Were the Northern officers lying against Ironsi? If Ironsi's action did not substantially alter the regional structure would the Northern counter coup officers have listed tampering with the regional structure as one of his sins? If Ironsi left the regions intact as you want us to believe then why did he not allow the civilian premiers continue in their positions and allow the regions whose premiers were killed by the Igbo boys in Jan 15 to simply conduct parliament elections to quickly replace them?
Gowon actually returned us to the four region structure immediately he took over. He did that by his own Decree 59 which he pronounced on September 1 1966 i.e just two days after Ironsi's death and overthrow. If Ironsi's Decree 34 did not alter the status quo at all then why was there the need for Decree 59 by Gowon?
But the moment Ojukwu declared Biafra he had to quickly break it down to 12 states as a strategy of war aimed at dividing the eastern minorities against Igbos hence weakening the Igbos towards the war. If Ojukwu had not declared Biafra Republic Gowon would not have broken the restored regions into 12 states. Recall that Gowon clinched power July 30 1966 and Ojukwu declared Biafra May 1967. Now, during the time lapse between these two dates Gowon abrogated Ironsi's Unification Decree and restored the four regions which stayed alive while he and Ojukwu argued over the best system to adopt between confederacy leading to the Aburi Accord meeting in Ghana. In his arguement at Aburi Ojukwu's position was that each region should be allowed a greater autonomy. Now if Gowon had already broken down the region to states as of that moment I don't think Ojukwu would have still been referring to regions in his demands. He would have rather included a restoration of the regions as the first item in his list of demands at Aburi. Of course you can't be demanding for autonomy for regions which were not in existence. You would rather demand for the regions first before demanding for their autonomy. So the mere fact that Ojukwu, a very intelligent officer, did not include restoration of the regions in his list of demands meant the regions were actually existing under Gowon. But it was after arrival from Ghana that Gowon broke the regions to states as a war strategy response to Ojukwu's declaration of Biafra. Get this logical analysis into your head and stop defending the irreversible evil Ironsi did to this country just because he was of your tribe.

Biafraandpeace:
Nigeria issue is older than you and didnt start in 1966 by aguyi ironsi....dont mention him ok.
The problem started with contraption between different ethnic majority and minorities, between religious and religion which shouldn't be combined by the British colony.
For this contraption called nigeria to see the light again, let us remove our eyes from oil-----exactly what brought up Nigeria and biafra war. If the North had oil, they wouldn't lift a muscle to fight biafra to stay, if the west had oil, they wouldn't join the killing spree of biafrans.

However, after the war, so much hatred had envelope the heart of average nigerians towards the biafrans and degenerated to high skies...
Therefore, the igbos/biafrans still has more than 3.5million reasons not to stay in nigeria...
I BELIEVE the north and west that fought the war have natural untaped resources that will be use to develop themselves apart from oil..The Germans, France, Britain, these country does not have oil, yet they developed to enviable height.
I still believe it was the northern and western laziness and failure to see beyond oil that made them killed more than 3.5millions souls. I concur to slipt Nigeria. It's a must to support.

Are you yourself older than Nigeria's issue? If I should not mention Aguyi Ironsi then you too should not mention Awolowo, OBJ, etc, OK?
FYI oil had already been discovered in the South-South as at the time Aguyi Ironsi dismantled federalism and replaced it with unitary system which made oil revenue available to all Regions to steal at the centre. Both Yorubas and Northerners kicked against unitary system which was meant to make oil money available to them yet you Biafrans keep alleging that Yorubas and Hausas are only after the SS's oil. Northerners rejected unitary system with riots and shed blood in protest against it despite it was a system promising to make oil revenue available to them. So how logical is your claim that it is the oil the North and Yorubas are interested in? Do a people riot and shed blood in protest against what they are interested in? Was it not your brother Aguyi Ironsi that made South-South's oil revenue available to all other regions in his dubious quest for one Nigeria inspired in him by Zik?

Was it not Biafrans that started preaching "one-Nigeria" when it was clear that Nigeria could never really become one? When the North felt it was not ready for independence hence was not prepared to join the South to form a single country was it not a Biafran called Zik that decided to have independence delayed by all means till the North became ready to join Nigeria? Was it not the same Zik who acquiesced to the North's condition that they must be given ruling power if they are to join Nigeria? When Isaac Adaka Boro declared Niger Delta Republic at the same time the North was ready to seceed into Araba Republic was it not two Biafrans, Ironsi and Ojukwu, that drafted soldiers to crush that republic and re-integrate it into Zik's one Nigeria? Biafrans were killed in thousands by Northerners in 1945 and 1953 in Kano and Jos yet Biafrans under Zik's leadership still went to form alliance with Northerner's in 1960. Was that a sensible decision? Was it the fault of Yorubas and Niger Deltans that Igbos formed alliance with a people who had already been killing them and still planned to continue killing them?
Divided as Nigeria had been even before 1960 it would have still worked out eventually had Aguyi Ironsi just allowed the equitable federal structure bequeathed on us by the Colonial Masters to stay.
Biafrans have used unitary system to cause problems among us leading to looting, marginalization, oppression, etc, and they now want to leave Nigeria so that they can escape the consequences of the unitary system and fraudulent one Nigeria they forced on us while the other tribes suffer it. Do they think they are smart? We will therefore not allow them to go. They must be held back so that we all "enjoy" Zik's one Nigeria and Aguyi Ironsi's unitary system.

Nigeria veered off the path of good governance and began its journey towards failed state status when in 1966 Aguyi Ironsi dismantled our federal structure due to his crass ignorance and arrogance. Only a return to pre-1966 federalism will save Nigeria as under such system no part of Nigeria can reap from where it has not sown, no money will be available at the centre to be embezzled, attention will shift to the state governors and LGA chairman for those two levels will be the custodians of the bigger revenues, revenues will stop coming from Abuja and every individual will have to toil and labour to contribute to the revenue generation of his state hence corruption will no longer be tolerated on tribal sentiments because people will find it very offensive for their respective state governors to embezzle revenues they suffered to generate themselves, all forms of militancy, eg BH, Niger Delta men, OPC, Bakassi, Arewa, etc, will cease as most youths will be in the farm, quarries or mines toiling to raise revenues for their states in order to avoid hunger, cities will be decongested on their own as most people will return to the rural areas of their origin to participate in extractive and cottage industries, Nigeria will become a net exporter again and the Naira will ultimately return to its 0.68k to 1$ status.

Aguyi Ironsi should be posthumously given a national award of dishonour for blocking our path to greatness in this country.

rexzqcom:
Learn something from this educative discussion.
Zik is the author of Nigeria intractable problems of today.His unitary government of "one Nigeria", with ambition that him, and his igbo pioneers as pioneering national leaders ended up parcelling and bundling up the nation for the Hausa/fulani today.
Leant earlier that ironsi dictatorship actualized the unitary government system. Never knew it was the brain child of Zik. Such is life. We were given a befitting system of government by the colonial power. Lost due to greed.

Zik's queer and strange preference for unitary system in a multi-ethnic society served as an inspiration to most Igbos and even the coup plotters and Aguyi Ironsi himself. Only Nzeogwu did not buy the crap of unitary system being marketed by Zik and his fellow Igbos cohort. While Aguyi Ironsi and Ojukwu were busy dismantling the federal structure and replacing it with Zik's unitary "one Nigeria", Nzeogwu condemned Ironsi and declared in his post-coup press interview that a confederacy was best for Nigeria.

T9ksy:
Simply because the ibos somehow believed that eventually they will come to dominate the new nation. I suggest anyone interested should google zik's public statement in 1948 at the 1st year anniversary of the Igbo Union where he clearly referred to the ibos innate trait to dominate wherever they find themselves.

Clearly, it was ibos greed and covetousness that brings us to the impasse we are in now. Now we are stuck with this fake One Nigeria and nothing save a massive loss of lives can unshackle us from the quandary we unfortunately find ourselves in, presently.

Zik was not a genuine nationalist as Igbos would love to have us believe. He was rather an incurable tribalist who kept pretending and faking nationalism. If Igbos had faced reality as did others we would not have been in this mess today after 56 years and there's still no hope.

zendy:
I can't blame Zik for believing in one Nigeria. Zik was not a soothsayer who could see the future.He was a man who thought that with self rule, Nigeria would be a great country. Until you try something, you can never be sure if it will work or not. So Zik was willing to give 'one Nigeria' a try. It's just unfortunate that it had and still has disasterous consequences.

Zik did not need to be a soothsayer to know that one Nigeria would never work. The Awolowo, Enahoro, Ahmadu Bello and Tafawa Balewa who maintained that Nigeria was not one and should not be made one did not have any special soothsaying talents, but they rather saw the reality on ground and accepted it as it was unlike Zik who equally saw that reality but pretended not to see it, and in addition labelled Awolowo and the rest as tribalists for saying the naked truth and facing stark reality. While Zik did all that Igbos supported him.

In fact Zik read Anthropology from the United States. Anthropology is a science discipline which studies the cultural evolution of peoples and therefore seeks how best to ensure that different peoples cohabit peacefully. To that end it is a basic tenet of Anthropology that the best way for different peoples to live peacefully together in the same country without hatred and bloodshed is for each and every tribe to recognize and respect the cultures and beliefs of the other tribes without denouncing them or trying to make them change no matter how silly those other tribes' cultures and belief systems might appear.
But the Zik who knew this as an anthropologist started preaching "one-Nigeria" and even went to Ahmadu Bello and said, "Let us forget our differences and move forward". Was that in harmony with the principles of the course he read and bagged a certificate in? Courses are meant to be read and the knowledge gained therein applied to practically solve problems in the society. But Zik chose to do the opposite. Then of what practical value was his knowledge and academic qualification? For a man who read Anthropology and even lectured in it for sometime to return to his own country to preach one-Nigeria which was clearly against the principles of the course he read can only mean that such a man was not genuinely interested in the peaceful existence and rapid development of his country but wanted to fool every other tribe to the undue advantage of his. Even the Awolowo, Enahoro, Balewa and Bello who neither read anything near Anthropology nor attained the same academic level as Zik knew better than Zik that it was wrong to seek a seamless oneness among totally different peoples. Zik was just a very fraudulent and unprincipled politician who did not practise what he read in the university.

chernest2002:
Anyone must have made mistakes sometime but only a nationalist can will election anywhere,if chief Awolowo have not been so radical he would have won the support of others national leaders, if ss could vote obj after Odi massacre,why should anyone blame se for voting obj?Olu falae is not a tribalist neither is Ojukwu nor igbos, but everyone has right to vote for his choice and that does not mean being tribal as even pmb have made us to know that he will only give back to those that gave him and with that word have put more division on already divided state. Civilised leader heals while uncivilised ones divides ,blame will never solve the problem

Your claim that Awolowo lost elections because he was not a nationalist does not stand the test of logic. How many presidential elections did Zik win with all his "nationalism"? Awolowo did not win presidential elections not because of his radicalism but partly because of rigging and also because he was very realistic and bluntly truthful just like Ahmadu Bello and Enahoro. And Nigerians hate truth. These three persons saw it clearly that Nigeria was not one and could not become one anytime soon, and they did not pretend otherwise. They said it exactly as it was. In fact they suggested the inclusion of secession clause in our independence constitution. By that clause any region which later felt cheated would have had the constitutional right to peacefully pull out of the union without a single bloodshed. Such a constitutional provision would have instilled in all our future leaders the fear of the consequences of misgovernance and Nigeria would not have been this misgoverned as it regrettably is today, and therefore no region would have eventually later had the reason to want to pull out. But Zik, who also saw that reality and even understood it better by virtue of the course he read in USA, unfortunately chose to reject the secession clause but started preaching "one-Nigeria" just to appear as a nationalist in the eyes of the gullible Nigerians. Such a person was not a nationalist. A genuine nationalist is not he who preaches unity among totally different peoples with even opposing cultures knowing fully well that unity among such peoples could easily lead to misgovernance and bloodletting as we now have today. A genuine nationalist is rather the person who has foresight and therefore sees ahead enough and rejects a kind of unity which he knows could possibly lead to oppression, ever growing inter-tribal hatred and bloody rivalry among different peoples as we had before independence and still have till today. Therefore the genuine nationalists are Awolowo, Enahoro, Ahmadu Bello and Balewa who saw this clearly and therefore preferred regional autonomy and federalism to Zik's unitary system that just bundles everyone together without regards for their individual differences. Federalism limits cross interaction and makes everyone mind his business without undue intrusion and oppression from others. We all complain today that the colonial masters were wrong in amalgamating us without regards for our differences, and yet Zik wanted to still amalgamate us further with his one Nigeria. That means Zik was a neo-colonialist. And those who rejected his Neo-colonial idea, he labelled them tribalists. That was too thoughtless of him given his level of education.

lawani:
I never exonerated the coup plotters. If you read the Major Nzeogwu coup speech, you will conclude they were not in the right frame of mind. I don't support the killing of Chief Okotie Eboh just because he was the Finance Minister and the so called ten percenter which was taking party contribution too far. They gave contracts to party members and expected them to fund the party with ten percent. That was wrong as contracts were supposed to be awarded on merit as much as possible and political parties funded voluntarily by members. Chief Festus Okotie Eboh did nothing to warrant being killed. Then there were many Yoruba in the NCNC but Dr Zik was the leader. His name was also in the Federal constitution. His position of President was only ceremonial like that of the Queen of England and you can not blame him for the failure or success of government. He was just ceremonial. He can not reject the call to resume at the position. Since he was there before, however his party was removed from government. The coupists killed so many people they should not have killed as you said especially officers but there was no reason to kill Dr Zik as well or the Eastern Premier as they did nothing wrong. Dr Zik had no power in government and little or no influence.

If Dr Azikiwe had done something wrong or publicly incited to do wrong, it would have been recorded and he would not have escaped punishment. We can not just rewrite history like that. Some of the coup plotters and assassins who survived the coup and the war were later assassinated by the secret service.

If we follow your arguement that the ceremonial/powerless nature of Zik's position within the central government exonerated him from the Western Region's crisis hence justifies his being spared by Ifeajuna, then how come Ahmadu Bello who was as not even a part of the central government at all, thus had lesser federal powers than Zik to that effect equally or even more exonerated of the Western Region's crisis, had his name in the hit list and was not spared? Ahmadu Bello had no executive power over Balewa as well but his moral support for Balewa's undue interference in the Western Region's crisis earned him the coupists' wrath. Zik was also guilty of furnishing Balewa with the same moral support at the initial stages before the 1962 census. Same with Okotie-Eboh and Osadebey. Whatever roped in those killed also roped in Zik.

My insistence on double standards on the part of the coupists as regards the sparing of Zik is not based on what extent of power Zik's position conferred on him to do or undo. It is rather based on the fact that the names of Zik and Okpara were in the original Nzeogwu's hit list which Nzeogwu himself later reeled out after the coup failed in the South. The mere fact that Zik's name featured in that list establishes his culpability in the eyes of the coupists on the strength of the moral support Balewa enjoyed from him just like he did from Okotie-Eboh, Osadebey, Akintola and Okpara all at the initial stages. So why did the same coupists spare him?

Zik was nothing but a fraud who wanted to deceive people with one Nigeria. Why zik rejected Awolowo's offer to make him (Zik) prime minister and accepted the position of president was that he felt he would not be able to manipulate Awolowo even as head of government but could use his superior academic abilities to manipulate Balewa and Northerners generally.

If it was Awolowo that really cause the problem of the Western Region which precipitated the coup, then why was his name missing in Nzeogwu's original hit list while Zik's name was in it?
The fact that Ojukwu attended Awolowo's burial and did not Attend Zik's tells you that Ojukwu later realized in life that Zik's inconsistency was the problem of the entire South.

chernest2002:
well igbos voted obj against Olu Falae, they also voted obj against Ojukwu, that shows that they want good governance and not tribalism, in the case of good luck they also believe he was performing and they voted for continuity. I still tell you that if Zik wanted to dominate Nigeria he would have no accepted the office of president then,but he did it to show his unselfish desire which some igbos and all yoruba did not like. Zik tried to be a nationalist ,and if Awolowo and his brother had not caused those problems that gave the army opportunity to take over we would still be practicing the federalism system, so the blame goes to everyone not igbos, now Gej is out and many people have seen that Buhari is not the messiah, he kills with no reason,saying that IPOB, the youth of his country are trying his security and he have to shot with life bullet. He Buhari is dividing the country.

Your claim that Igbos rejected Ojukwu and Falae for OBJ was because Igbos don't want tribalism does not cut it because Neither Falae was not a tribalist as he had served in various government levels and no one was able to accuse him of running his office on tribal sentiments. Ojukwu himself was not a tribalist. That Ojukwu tried to defend Igbo interest through war is not tantamount to tribalism. Anyone would do so when faced with a similar challenge. Igbos chose OBJ not because he had any good governance to offer but because he was the North's candidate. OBJ's first coming in 1976 - 79 was full of corruption and looting of the treasury, so why should Igbos claim it was for good governance they voted him? Why do Igbos now hate the same OBJ?

Your claim that Buhari has killed IPOB members is similar to the fact that OBJ massacred thousands of innocents in Odi in 1999 yet Igbos gave him bloc votes again in 2003 election. Is the life of IPOB members more sacred to Igbos than those of the Bayelsans whom OBJ killed and Igbos saw nothing wrong in?

Zik was not a nationalist as some people claim. He was a confusionist. If Zik had remained in his own Eastern Region and had therefore not gone to intrude into the affairs of the Western Region to forcefully and undemocratically installed Akintola as premier against the Yoruba' wish with the help of Northerners, Akintola would have been silenced and the crisis which led to the coup would not have happened in the first instance.
If Zik was really sincere with his nationalism and "One-Nigeria" he should have gone to seek the premiership of the Northern Region where he was born, brought up and therefore was most popular and known than in the East or West. Why did he go to Yorubaland where he was neither from nor grew up? What kind of nationalist was that? How many Yorubas or Northerners intruded into the Eastern Region to seek their premiership? Would Easterners have accepted it if Awolowo or Ahmadu Bello had come to Enugu to contest for premier? Zik read Anthropology in the University. Anthropology deals with the evolution of peoples cultures, and it is a principle in Anthropology that the only way for different peoples to live together peacefully without bloodshed is to limit cross-interactions among them and that each tribe respects the different cultures and beliefs of the other tribes no matter how silly those cultures may appear. Now, Zik who knew all these as an anthropologist was desiring one Nigeria whereby people will just abandon their cultural beliefs and become "one". Zik even went to Ahmadu Bello and said, "Let us forget our differences and move forward" despite he knew that such is against the tenets of the very Anthropology he read. And you tell me Zik was a nationalist?

lawani:
I was not there actually but reliable accounts insist NCNC elements co sponsored the wetie riots. It required funding, organisation and etc. PM Balewa said his government will not interfere in the Western region crisis but Chief Akintola went to meet Sir Bello and the story changed. Dr Zik was a ceremonial President and the real ruler of the country was Sir Bello. If he had applied common sense and respected himself, he would have earned the respect of the AG people but his agenda was different and it was the total subjugation of everybody by whatever means, rendering everybody useless. Dr Zik was not with him on that. Dr Zik and PM Balewa were members of the Ogboni society and an Ogboni person is under an oath to never be in support of evil at any time backed with a solemn prayer that if he derails he should not prosper.

Zik was not only an NCNC element but the national leader of the NCNC. If really the NCNC co-sponsored wetie which was in protest against the broad daylight rigging in favour of the Akintola-Balewa Coalition, then how come Zik soon afterwards made a U-turn, dumped the wetie solidarity and went to accept a position again with the Akintola-Balewa coalition against which he was sponsoring wetie? It is either Zik was a crass opportunist being consumed by a lust for power and position or that he never really co-sponsored wetie.

However you have not clarified how your theory that "the plotters came for murderers" explains why the Igbo boys spared Zik, Okpara and Dennis Osadebey whom you claim were not murderers but killed Okotie-Eboh who was even far less a murderer by the same standard as Okotie-Eboh was the first NCNC man to realize that their party made a fatal mistake by aligning with NPC instead of AG. He also was the first and only NCNC member to warn Balewa for carrying the quarrel with Awolowo too far immediately Awo was jailed and the Western Region started boiling. Zik continued to enjoy the game while over 2000 Yorubas had died. So how does your theory explain that Zik was not a murderer but Okoti-Eboh was?

Omexonomy:
Deadlytruth
That was why i said in "1963 or so" which means i was not sure of the particular date. None the less the truth is very deadly. Mynd44 lalasticala barcanista front page material.

Yes it was in 1962. However Awolowo was already the enemy of both Zik and Bello. Therefore the possibility of Ahmadu Bello (the Northern leader) colluding with Awolowo to hurt Zik his coalition partner was Zero.

What I think explains better why Zik lost Southern Cameroon was Igbo domination over the Eastern minority tribes. This is supported by the fact that Isaac Adaka Boro also later claimed his declaration of the Niger Delta Republic on Feb. 23 1966 was to free Ijaws from Igbo domination.

chernest2002:
igbos never misled any tribe but igbos believed that a new nation would have worked as one,but history have shown that i can not work, igbos don't hate youroba as some thinks. In 1999 igbos voted obj against their own people, igbos are leaving with all tribes,investing in other tribes, so how do anyone thinks that igbos hate them? But in other words, igbos are hated cause you don't vote them, you don't invest in igbo land,and so on.

In 1999 Igbos and indeed the entire Nigeria had no choice than to vote for a Yoruba man as only Yorubas really contested that election. So no one can credit anyone for voting for a Yoruba man then. If it were a contest between OBJ and a Hausa man Igbos would have voted for the Hausa man as they voted for Shagari when awolowo contested against him. In 1999 they preferred OBJ because he was the North's face and interest in that election. Recall that OBJ's candidacy was sponsored by the North while the Falae whom Yorubas put forward as their genuine choice was rejected by Igbos. Even in 2003 igbos voted for OBJ (still the northern Oligarchy's candidate) and rejected their own son Ojukwu. So Igbos always support the North against the South.

Igbos idea of one Nigeria was a fraudulent one because it was aimed at making Nigeria one through a unitary system in such a way that would enable them dominate others. Zik who wanted "One-Nigeria" and unitary system actually schooled in the US where he heard no one preach "One-America" but all of them practising federalism and getting good results of rapid development. Us is similar to Nigeria in terms of ethnic diversity, and it is an academic principle that only federalism works for a multi-ethnic democracy. But Zik who knew this as a PhD holder returned from the US to start preaching unitary system and one Nigeria and denouncing federalism with the moral support of other Igbos. Do you think that was an indication that he and Igbos were genuinely interested and committed to the good governance and development of Nigeria or that they were actually just pursuing a selfish hidden agenda?

Omexonomy:
Southern cameroön was part and parcel of present day southern nigeria and speaking the same language with nigeria. In order for zik not to have a landslide victory (in 1963 or so) obafemi awolowo conspired with the northern gov to convice the southern cameroon to go and join their kith and kin in cameroon but they refuse to allow the people of mordern adamawa and some part borno to go and join cameroon. With that move zik lost in the election. The father of the great skipper Roger miller up till his death was claiming to be a nigerian thru the northern cameron. The first president of cameroon Aijo's family return to nigeria after the move and settled in the present day adamawa. In od.

Even a new born baby can see the how the post turns logic on its head as follows:

1. In 1963 Awolowo had already been hounded into jail by the ZIK-Ahmadu Bello coalition NPC-NCNC. Was it from prison Awolowo connived with the same Northern government which hated him and jailed him?

2. Awolowo was a political enemy to both Zik and Ahmadu Bello beginning from 1959 and indeed throughout the first republic, and Ahmadu Bello, the North's overall leader was ready to harm and crush all Awolowo's interests to the favour of Zik his junior slave partner in their Igbo-Hausa Oligarchy of NPC-NCNC. The election over Southern Cameroon was held in 1962 when Zik and Ahmadu Bello were still in honey moon and having political sex over the just concluded marriage between NPC and NCNC thus their victory over the AG of Awolowo their dreaded foe. Now if the issue of Southern Cameroon was a battle between Awo and Zik, then how come Ahmadu Bello colluded with his imprisoned foe to hurt Zik his newly wedded slave wife with whom he was still enjoying the sweetest political sex he ever had in life?

If you must lie, then do it intelligently.

lawani:
It was Sir Ahmadu Bello that was responsible for rigging elections in the West, the NCNC co sponsored the wetie riots that followed according to accounts I heard because the NPC dumped them to ally with Akintola's NNDP to form the new government. So in that light, Dr Zik can not be put on thesame pedestal as Sir Bello. I dont support the way of the coup plotters, I dont support the killing of people who were not murderers and who did not waste human lives. The coupists lacked respect for human lives. They were not much different from the religious rioters who act without common sense. One has to recognise the sanctity of life even in full scale war.

I don't agree that Zik co-sponsored the wetie riots in favour of Awolowo's side. If he did he would not have suddenly turned around again to dump UPGA and rush back to join the Akintola-Ahmadu Bello NNA-NPC coalition when the latter offered him his empty ceremonial president position once more. Zik was a very unprincipled man and a crass opportunist who could do anything to get anything. As long as Zik worked with Ahmadu Bello at the initial stage to unconstitutionally capture the Western Region for NCNC-NPC by way of having Awolowo jailed and helping Balewa disobey the privy council verdict that declared Akintola unfit to remain as Premier, then Zik was as guilty of murder as Ahmadu Bello. It was only after census was rigged against the whole South including Zik's Eastern Region that Zik began to antagonize Ahmadu Bello. Had Ahmadu Bello rigged the census against only the Western Region and inflated the Eastern Region's numbers as he did for his own Northern Region, believe me Zik would not have rejected the result as he was hell-bent on crushing the Western Region by any available means all aimed at humiliating Awo to boost his influence over the entire South.

Without a return to genuine federalism these roads will remain like that or get worse as the unitary system we practice will only keep making funds available at the centre for the likes of Dasuki to steal. But with true federalism the centre will become dry and state Governments and Local Governments will shoulder the construction of roads and there'll be change.

MakeWeTalk:
WHo has been feeding you these lies?

Lai Mohammed?

Why not rather just point out the "lies" in my submissions instead of accusing me of having been fed with lies? This exactly is where Igbos irritate me. You use superior arguements to dispel what you think is a lie and not resorting to name calling. Neither you too were there in the whole scene. We all heard the accounts and read from books written by different participants who are not immune to error, hence we only use logic and common sense to see through their intentions.

My question is therefore simple. Why did the Igbo boys not detail the only Yoruba man in their midst, Ademoyega, to kill just one of their targets? This is the most revealing fact of the ulterior ethnic agenda hidden deep down in their minds.

lawani:
People keep saying the coup plotters should have killed all politicians. Why is that? You kill only murderers, then recover stolen money from corrupt politicians, any other thing is madness. Dr Zik did nothing to warrant being killed and maybe Chief Akintola would not have been killed if not that he was firing at the soldiers. Life is sacrosanct, President IBB seized power in this country without shedding any blood despite that the regime being removed committed judicial murder. So the coupists should not have killed all corrupt politicians but only murderers. After the coup, Nigeria would have broken up since the Northern soldiers were prevailed upon to vacate the West which they did, only Gen Gowon remained in Lagos but then the Biafrans believing the Yoruba to be cowards invaded the West with Biafran forces. That was the singular event, the reason why we have Nigeria today, the West joined the war against Biafra, if the Biafrans had seen the Yoruba as respectable and equal humans, Nigeria would have split in 1967 under the watch of Britain and etc but the adventurous Biafrans ruined it. Once again, if they had not invaded the West, the West would have seceded.

Going by the same standard by which you judged Zik not to be a murderer, the Okotie-Eboh whom the Igbo boys killed was not a murder as well. So why did they kill him and let Zik free? I am a SS person from Okotie-Eboh's area, hence your logic aimed at defending the duplicity of those Igbo boys will never sell in my eyes.

Your claim that Akintola was killed because he fired back at the Igbo boys fails the test of holistic analysis in the sense that the Igbo boys also killed Okotie-Eboh who did not resist them but even knelt down and passionately begged them in all humility to have mercy on him. Why kill such a person who was so humble at the point of being killed? Too baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad!
Those Igbo boys were just animals in human flesh.

However, the Igbo boys themselves did not claim they came to kill murderers but to kill all the politicians who were part of the failed NPC-NCNC coalition. So why leave out Zik who was a major actor in that coalition?

Even if we agree with you that the Igbo guys came for only the murderers, Zik also was as guilty as Ahmadu Bello because they both colluded together to cause anarchy in the Western Region which led to over 2000 deaths of both Awo's and Akintola's followers. Zik's attempt to use his Igbo boys in Western House to help Akintola and Ahmadu Bello capture the West for NNDP-NCNC-NPC coalition sparked off the first violence in the Western House. So by any standard you term Ahmadu Bello a murderer, Zik also qualifies as one.

Mckennedy:
When we told them Abokis & fulanis are too barbaric in nature yorubas won't hear,, instead they will start calling you names, , I saw how people were massacred...

And Yorubas were the first to tell you Igbos in 1959 that the Abokis & fulanis are too babaric but you and your Zik did not hear but went ahead to form a coalition with the Abokis and Fulanis claiming one Nigeria at a time the abokis had already killed thousands of Igbos in 1945 and 1953. You are only pointing a single finger while ten are pointing back at you. That is crass hypocrisy.

However, Hausa vs Yoruba fights have always happened. It happened in Shagamu under the regime of OBJ whom Igbos voted into power in collusion with Abokis (i.e. PDP) in 1999. So who do we blame for that one?

Sctests:
I want to hear yorubas shout 'One nigeria'.

Yorubas are not Igbos like Zik and Ironsi who kept on chanting one Nigeria while thousands of their own Igbo brothers were being massacred by Northerners from 1945 to 1970.

omoigbomina:
please dispute the facts and records he presented with your own facts as well.

Does he really have any facts to prove history wrong? They never admit where they were wrong but cry victimization for the evil they started.

MakeWeTalk:
You have forgotten one of the Majors is Yoruba, one from delta state.
why blame the ibos

I blame Igbos because the Igbo boys (Ifeajuna, Okafor, Anuforo and Nwobosi) did not really assign any of the targeted politicians in the hit list to the Yoruba man among them i.e. Ademoyega. This was obviously because they had an ulterior motive different from the generally agreed agenda that all the politicians that participated in the corrupt and failed NPC-NCNC coalition be killed. The Igbo guys actually did not want Okpara and zik killed even though they so pretended at the planning stage to convince Ademoyega and Nzeogwu (the no nonsense Deltan) that it was a patriotic venture they co-opted him into, and they knew that if they had detailed Ademoyega to kill Okpara and Zik he would do so perfectly without having any basis for mercy based on tribal considerations. This is why we say the coup was an Igbo coup not by the composition of its planners but by the manner of execution by the Igbo section of the plotters. Nzeogwu later expressed his displeasure with the ethnic pattern of the execution by the Igbo caucus of the plotters.

ikennaj44:
yorubas are the real betrayers and back stabbars, and perpetual slaves to hausas from the creation of nigeria, check history. islam Is the binding force that adhere you yorubas with them

Do you really have any facts to prove your claim that Yorubas are backstabbers? Igbo are the real backstabbers. A coup was planned to kill all corrupt politicians and on the day of action the Igbos killed every other tribe's politicians and military officers and left their own brothers untouched. Is that not backstabbing and betrayal? And that was what led to the war.
Now, tell me how Yorubas ever betrayed Igbos.

justice2016:
How old re you ? Re you saying what u were told ? There was never alliance with Npn and Npp .I was old enough that time .Igbos massively supported Npp Zik and some Npn

Igbos massively voted for Abiola n Obj under Pdp . Igbos state has been under Pdp uptil date .Stop making up story .Just leave peaceful igbos alone and fight Hausas who re killing u in your own backyard

It is not a matter of age but of records and technology. It is there live on you-tube how Zik ordered his disciples to join Shagari in NPN. Videos don't lie.

I am not a Yoruba person FYI. Mind you that Hausas have killed more Igbos than every other tribe in Nigeria.

Igbos voted for OBJ in 1999 because OBJ was the North's choice and not the Yorubas'. Yorubas put forward Falae as their real choice but Igbos voted against him. If OBJ were really Yorubas choice Igbos would not have voted for him. So stop lying that Igbos voted for a Yoruba man in OBJ. OBJ was a lackey and stooge of the North and that was why Igbos prefered him to Falae.

NRC won Igbo states on June 12 election, and IGBOS like Chukwumerijie and Nzeribe were used by Abacha to kill June 12. IGBOS have never supported yorubas. A people who voted against their own son and Hero, Ojukwu, to please the North can't vote for a true Yoruba candidate in any election.

ikennaj44:
yorubas are the real betrayers and back stabbars, and perpetual slaves to hausas from the creation of nigeria, check history. islam Is the binding force that adhere you yorubas with them

After being given the hard facts of history proving that Igbos are the real betrayers and sell out you are still arguing. If you have any version of history different from the one I gave you why not state it? Igbos are the problem of the south because of their short sighted greed.

ikennaj44:
LOL, will I say yorruber cowards and their slave masters. that is, slave masters killing their slaves, or gods killing their worshipers, or shepherds slaughtering their sheeps. these yorubers are too much o, their long throat for crumbs from their master have no rival, these crumbs always ally them with their masters against the south, when it turned sour, they will start anticipating for pity from south. let them settle their scores with their slave master

You obviously are not very acquainted with Nigeria's political history. FYI Igbos have been the peoblem of the South from the very beginning in 1960. Igbos are the authentic slaves of Hausa.

In the 1959 election towards independence, the AG of Yorubas, led by Awolowo, avoided Hausa Fulani parties like NEPU and NPC and aligned with UMBC the middle Belt party based in Jos and Makurdi; while the Igbos' NCNC led by Zik chose to align with NEPU the core North's (i.e. Hausa-Fulani) party. At the end of the election Zik's NCNC won about 89 parliamentary seats while Awolowo's AG won about 73. The Niger Delta Congress won about 8 seats and other smaller parties too won some few seats. In all, the Southern parties and their allies won a total seats of 178 parliamentary seats while the Hausa-Fulani NPC won only 132 seats. But no single party won a simple majority to enable it produce the prime minister on its own. It meant alliances had to be formed. At that point Awolowo the, yorubas' leader, approached Zik, the leader of Igbos, and proposed that all Southern parties... the NCNC, the AG and NDC, come together and use their combined seats of 178 to defeat the North's 132 so that Zik a Southerner would become the first Nigeria Prime minister and thereby disgracing Ahmadu Bello and proving him wrong on his belief that the North was born to rule. But Zik turned Awolowo's offer down, took his 89 seats to form alliance with Ahmadu Bello's 132 seats. This gave rise to the Igbo-Hausa NCNC coalition which now had 221 seats while Awolowo's AG with 73 seats was left in the cold as the opposition. The Igbo-Hausa Coalition formed the government with Hausas producing the prime minister in the person of Tafawa Balewa while Igbos were the junior partners (slave equivalent) a therefore given the powerless position of governor general in the person of Zik. It was beginning from that moment the North took the born-to-rule philosophy to be confirmed by Zik and Igbos. The North had always hated Awolowo for his progressive ideas and ideological politics even before independence because they saw Awo's free Education policy as a threat to the Northern Feudal Oligarchical system that thrives and survives on the ignorance of the followers and ordinary men. So on getting to power with the help of Zik and Igbos in general the Hausa-Fulani NPC now decided to silence Awolowo once and for all. Zik quickly presented himself as a willing tool in the hands of Ahmadu Bello to achieve that. So the North used the power which Zik and Igbos gave them to first repress the Yorubas and hound Awolowo into jail while Zik helped them instigate widespread violence in the Western Region with the assistance of the Igbo members of the Western Region's parliament just in order to please their Hausa masters. Zik even went as far as liaising with Akintola, Awolowo's brother but enemy, in his quest to crush AG completely so that his Igbo-Hausa alliance will dominate Nigeria with Igbos being the junior slave partners. But just a month after Zik successfully helped the North to jail Awolowo his fellow Southerner, the 1962 census was held and the North used its federal might to rig it badly against the South and especially against Igbos in order to maintain their dominance and even cut Zik off completely. It was at that point Zik realized he had been foolish and stupid all along. He now had to fight the Hausa-Fulani alone as he had helped them imprison the Awolowo who would have supported him from the Western side. It is the result of that population census that has led to the North having 19 states and FCT today while the South has 17. But thank God that the Igbos who gave power to the North to rig that census have suffered the consequences more than everyone else today as only the Igbo's SE Region has 5 states while every other Region has at least six. The Northwest of the Ahmadu Bello whom Zik aligned with now has 7 states. Call it nemesis if you can. Also the North used the federal power (whic Zik and igbos gave them in 1960) to kill thousands of Igbos later on in 1967 both in the North and even within Igbo land all during the War. While the massacre of Igbos was going on during the War Zik still ran to support the North all in the name of "one-Nigeria) Call it stupidity if you can.

That was how the Igbos sold the South to the North which therefore became masters in Nigerian politics while Igbos continue to align under them as slaves like in 1979 (NPN-NPP alliance) and 1999 (the PDP made up of Igbos and Hausa-fulanis) till today.

So judge fairly, who is the slave of Hausas between Yoruba and Igbo? Be honest in your answer!

I can see a lot of revisionism by Igbos here.

justice2016:
Na lie Igbos voted for NPP Zik party . Another lie Abiola got the highest vote from Se/SS . And remember the INEC boss was an iggbo man Humphrey nwosu who went ahead to release the election result despite refusal by IBB . Please don't distort history

In 1979 Zik took his party NPP into an alliance with NPN and that was why Alex Ekweme was given running mate by Shagari. It was the NPP--NPN alliance Igbos voted for and not only Zik's NPP.
In 1960 Zik also aligned his NCNC with Ahmadu Bello's NPC which made Zik himself to have governor General position conceded to him by Hausas.

Igbos like Chukumerijie and Arthur Nzeribe formed ABN which they used to assist Abacha (a Northerner) to kill June 12.

In 1999 Igbos again joined the North to vote for PDP.

In 2003 Ojukwu formed APGA for Igbos and even contested on APGA's platform but Igbos voted for OBJ the North's stooge and lackey and did not vote for Ojukwu their own brother.

Igbos are the real slaves of the North any day.

Dragonking:
Northerner kidnaps girl in bayelsa
Northerner kidnaps Igbo king
Northerner kills people in Benue state and replace them with cows.
Northerners bombs his own people in borno
Now, northerners are fighting their sophisticated host in broad day light in Lagos.

So, tell me, who is the real enemy of one Nigeria?

As for the Yoruba's, I hope you know who ur true enemies are because no matter what, you will never see anybody from SS or SE or middle belt fighting you in your land...The only people that do so are ur masters from the northern side.

Igbos have always been the original slaves of Northerners as history shows that Igbos have been killed more by Northerners especially in Kaduna and Kano. Why Igbos are making jest of Yorubas in this thread is because Yorubas aligned with Hausas for the first time and displaced Igbos from their friends the Hausas. Igbos pretend to hate the North but history shows that whenever a Northerner contests with a Yoruba they always vote the Northerner just like Zik aligned with Ahmadu Bello in 1960 and still aligned with Shagari in 1979 and again Igbos aligned with the North to vote OBJ in 1999. Igbos are the perpetual slaves of Hausas.