Ever8090: empty chest beating as usual..you think you guys will touch Wike and won't get a deadly response?. For your information sir, the people of rivers state will rise against you people so bad that your people will be left with no option that to flee and leave rivers state. The thugs in rivers state are dying your property already, make any stupid move and geopadize the entire Biafera struggle
Shut the hell up. A used tool has no self importance. There is nothing chest beat about what Wike allegedly instigated at Obigbo. I remembered in 1974 when Ijo threatened the Rebisi people in Diobu instead Wharf Road was flooded with youths shouting Eniymba wu Enyimba. Only a deluded junky will hide behind "The people of rivers state" to spew idiotic crap such as above post. You are an expendable entity. Nigeria must disintegrated.
gidgiddy: I have been wondering about this boundary adjustment that was done in the 1970's that saw parts of Imo state such as Egbema, Etche and Obigbo carved into Rivers state. Today, Egbema people have half their community in Ohaji-Egbema LGA in Imo state, while the other half is in Egbema-Ndoni LGA in Rivers State. What was going here? Why was Obigbo taken out of Imo state, put in Rivers state, then renamed 'Oyigbo'?
You should wonder about the silly boundary adjustment within Nigeria. I have not heard that a country will wake one morning and decide to alter the ancestral boundaries of a certain section of the country. The indigenes know their terrines and points of delineation. The silly draconian boundary adjustment in the defunct eastern region of Nigeria remains an act of war.
Since 1967 when the idiotic southerners joined force to fight Ndigbo and Biafrans, the northern elites have regarded the southerners as fools and nobodies.
ThatFairGuy: Nothing like Shame there, those folks were just attacking dogs, the deranged Donald Tyrant gullible ass licker like we have here on NL.
If they can comment on situation here in Nigeria, why won't we on theirs?
Besides, America is every other Country's concern, else that World Power invested in them be taken away
The only dogs in this saga have been Dems and liberals who cannot build but destroy. Since 2016, Dems and liberal lunatics' have been on rampage from one city to another. It is democracy when the foolish fools win. I hate the so-called Democrats and liberals because they behave and act like Africans. If things did not go their crooked ways, there should be no way. They will be the first to pure insults on opponents in a debate they know little about.
If the jackasses had known that peaceful protest is an integral part of democracy, they should not waste their silly time. Does Nigeria government worth anything?
2by40ft: We are very glad this happened btw u an them all the evil intentions of ipob are exposed.
Do you really think anyone cared about the idiotic exposition? Is the intention of IPOB ever hidden? IPOB wanted new Biafra which will include all the Igbo speakers and defunct eastern region of Nigeria.
The caption of your thread is not only childish but very laughable. Never say never!!! War is very inevitable and nobody wants to fight. Nidigbo are very aggressive group of people yet you cannot read from their history where such aggressiveness was directed against weaker and smaller neighbors. Not even single inch of land belonging to their neighbor have been confiscated. Ndigbo and Biafrans did not start the Nigeria\Biafra war instead they tried to defend against the aggression from Gowon and Nigerians. Ndigbo will surely rise to fight if such idiotic aggression is directed towards them. Ndigbo stood up against British colonialists and forced them to write treaties.
ThatFairGuy: Trump is just too undemocratic. He's too desirous of that position, he's very different from The Whites. When I read his history, his high-handedness didn't just started today
This is the reason ordinary Americans love him. The man is very blunt.
DapperGuy: The Ikwerre people speak a language similar to Igbo. They bear Igbo names. I totally understand that they don't want to be classified as Igbo, but can someone objectively tell me how and why these people aren't related to Igbo people? Why is their dialect similar to Igbo? How did it all happen? If they don't want to be associated with the Igbo people, why can't they stop bearing Igbo-sounding names or use a dialect that isn't similar to Igbo?
I am a northerner, but southerners often mistake me for an Hausa person, and I try to educate them that I'm not. Yes, I speak Hausa, but that's because it's the lingua franca of the North. In the 1900s, only a handful of people in my village, who had interacted with hausa traders, understood Hausa. Bura is our native dialect and it is not related to Hausa the way Ikwerre is related to Igbo. A Hausa man won't understand one word in my language. That's how unrelated both languages are. My people were mostly farmers, while the Hausas and the Kanuris of Borno state were traders, who transacted business with Arabs. For my people, learning Hausa became a necessity because how else would you negotiate with a Hausa-speaking trader. As time went on, almost everyone in my village learnt Hausa, and some of them converted to Islam and married Hausa traders. At the time, my people weren't Christians, as the British hadn't arrived to proselytize. We worshipped nature and different gods. Islam came to my village first and we learnt Hausa out of necessity.
Years later, the British came and some of my people who hadn't embraced Islam, became Christians. In my village today, almost everyone speaks Hausa and Bura. Hausa is not our language, our forefathers learnt it for trading purposes and passed it on to us. Bura is our mother tongue and we still speak it, which the Hausa man doesn't understand because it is unrelated to Hausa. Now, because I speak and understand Hausa, shouldn't I protest that I am not Hausa when southerners assume that I am just because I speak it? I know a lot of southerners who have settled in the north for years and speak perfect Hausa. Does that make them Hausas?
That's why we have indigenous Christians in Kebbi, Borno (my state), Adamawa, Bauchi, Southern Kaduna, Niger, Nassarawa, the FCT, Taraba and Plateau state who have their own native dialects but understand Hausa because their forefathers had to learn the language to enable them trade with Hausa people. Some of these people were converted to Islam by Hausa traders. They are Muslims, but they are not Hausas. They speak a language a Hausa man will never understand.
There are people indigenous northern Christians call Hausa Christians. They are Hausa people from Zaria, Kano, Zamfara, Sokoto, etc who left Islam and embraced Christianity. Their language is Hausa and that's what they speak. They don't have any other native dialect.
Do you see why southerners should stop calling everyone from the north Hausa? If you meet a northerner, whether Muslim or Christian, ask them what their language is? If they are Zaar, Tangale, Bura, Angas, Berom, Chibok, Tera, Waja, Jukun, Kuteb, Nupe, Zuru, Bachama, etc, please, don't call them Hausa even if they speak Hausa. Don't be unfortunate! These languages are not dialects of Hausa. They are not related to Hausa in any way.
Now, back to my earlier question. Why is Ikwerre related to Igbo but they do not wish to be classified as Igbo?
The moment you stole from yourself, you begin to deny yourself. Some people would even attempt to cut their noses to despite their faces. A used tool has no self importance.
Masterclass32: Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike has declared that the state will continue to be home to people of the Igbo Ethnic Nationality.
Governor Wike gave the assurance during a meeting with South-East Governors, the leadership of Ohanaeze Ndi-Igbo and the Igbo community in the state at Government House, Port Harcourt on Sunday.
The governor said in the wake of the Oyigbo crisis, people peddled the rumour that he is chasing Igbos out of Rivers State which is not true because the state has an enduring relationship with the Igbos.
Tell your people, Rivers people will continue to live together with Igbos. Don’t allow your sons to tell you lies. Igbos are innovative and hardworking. There can’t be Nigeria without Igbos. Nobody should take them for granted. But that doesn’t mean you must allow criminals to spoil your name.
“If I hate Igbos, I won’t appoint your son into my state cabinet two times. But you have to obey rules. Don’t allow criminals to dictate to you”.
The Chairman of the South-East Governors Forum and Governor of Ebonyi State, Dave Umahi, has warned Igbos to be wary of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) because the outlawed group is trying to instigate another civil war.
He said they were in Rivers State to ascertain the veracity of the news circulating in the social media over alleged killing of Igbo people living in the State. According to him, their findings has proved otherwise.
Umahi after listening to Governor Wike’s narration of the atrocious activities of IPOB in Oyigbo that culminated in the imposition of curfew in the entire Local Government, warned Igbos to be wary of IPOB as the group was bent on instigating another civil war that will result in the murder of Igbo people.
The governor said he finds it nauseating that IPOB could go to Benue and Rivers State to foist its flag and claim the territories belong to the Igbo people. According to him, Igbo leadership are opposed to this stance by IPOB.
Umahi, who revealed that he has a huge investment in Rivers State, urged Igbos living in the State to respect the Government and people of Rivers State in order for them to continue to live and do business in the State peaceful. According to him, Ndi-Igbos cannot support any form of criminality.
Also speaking, the President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief John Nnia Nwodo said the meeting has reinforced the existing affinity between Igbos and the people of Niger Delta.
He described Governor Wike as a champion of restructuring of Nigeria and a man who loves justice.
He explained that the leadership of Igbos cannot remain aloof while some misguided few who did not experience the brutal reality of the last civil war continue to fan the ember of disunity.
Nwodo, said he was elated to hear from Igbo leaders that under the leadership of Governor Wike Igbo businesses have continued to thrive.
Former Rivers State Governor, Dr Peter Odili, lauded the Igbo leaders for the peace initiative and decision to visit Governor Wike.
He stated that every governor desires peace to govern and Governor Wike is no exception. He stressed that the people of the State endorse every measure taken by Governor Wike to ensure lasting peace in the State.
Present at the meeting were the Governor of Abia State, Dr Okezie Ikpeazu, Deputy Governor of Anambra State, Dr Nkem Okeke, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu. Other dignitaries are Deputy Governor of Rivers State, Dr Mrs. Ipalibo Harry Banigo; former Governor of Rivers State, Sir Celestine Omehia; the chairman of Rivers State Traditional Rulers Council and Amanayanabo of Opobo, King Dandeson Douglas Jaja, National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Uche Secondus, among others.
Certain fools in Igbo land should stop parading themselves as Igbo leaders. If I had been in the silly gathering where the bolded accredited to Wike was said, I would have stood up and walked away. It is completely idiotic for Wike to make such a braindead statement. Ndigbo are ancestral and integral part of Rivers State therefore it is moronic for the overgrown Bini kid to make such childish statement. What is the difference between "Rivers people and Igbo"? Are there also Rivers people and Ijo or Rivers people and Ogoni or Rivers people and Ikwerre? Sometimes I believe Nigeria is a major problem of Nigeria. In a well informed society, a sheep dung such as Wike has no chance on earth to become a dogcatcher talk less a gatekeeper.
There is no doubt Nigeria is home of the fools. A place where a noted sojourner and tenant suddenly becomes the origins. When Obigbo, formerly of Asa Country Council hedquarter at Obiehie, became part of Bori LGA in 1976, ironically Ogoni people decided to change name from Obigbo to Oyigbo.
Ogoni people were in a minority in Calabar province that housed the likes of Efik, Ibibio and Annang. The moment Ogoni person became the supervisory councilman for Bori LGA, the dinged minority decided to claim Obigbo. The same jackasses have tried their stinking hands on Eleme when the late was part of Gokana, Khana, Tai, Eleme and Obigbo which formed the Bori LGA in 1977. Can you believe that Ogoni had attempted to claim Eleme as part of Ogoni. Please note that Eleme had no even a disjointed historical link with Ogoni.
This silliness will come to end the moment Nigeria disintegrates. I know some ancestral link between Okrika and Mbaise, however there is no inch of land in Igweocha that belongs to my Okrika folks. I remembered the cautionary advice Justice Ambrose Ezeolisa Alagoa gave to Ijo peeps during one of his ruling on the case about ownership of Igweocha.
bhella10: They will start calling Ken Saro Wiwa a betrayal now
Are you this low on intellect? Ken Saro Wiwa wqas born a betrayal artist. It runs in his family. The shell BP scholarship used by Ken Saro Wiwa was meant for underprivileged Ogoni chap.
DCatt: You are just allergic to truth and it's just going to keep you blind.
Ooni being oba is a product of Nigeria's politics, it has nothing to do with Yoruba tradition, even Ooni knows that he's just larping and prays people stay ignorant. Ooni's place is with the Orisa and not as Oba but as an attendant.
Infact back in the days, Aareonakakanfo was almost as powerful as Oba Alaafin and Ooni was distant 3rd after Areonakakanfo. Ask real and neutral historians who knew about Nigeria well before we became western Nigeria and they will tell you.
You and those that change Yoruba history by making an Orisa attendant to start acting like Oba and destroying the foundation are the problem facing Yorubaland.
Ile Ife under Oyo was the Yoruba religious headquarters when all Yoruba worshipped Orisa even Aareonakakanfo was based in another town
Yoruba tradition of old is what is guiding me and until Yoruba return to the way the ancestors arranged it, you will keep holding the short end of the stick.
Oyo has the complete Yoruba political system and that is why
1. Alaafin is the only one with palace,
2. Alaafin is the only one that can install generalissimos of Yoruba title like Areonakakanfo and other paramount Yoruba titles.
3. Alaafin is the only one with ALASE EKEJI ORISA praise, even my own very Oba Awujale who has been Oba before Ooni can't claim that praise, all other Obas burrowed it from Alaafin.
4. Alaafin is the only one who is also now an Orisa (Sango)
Ooni back in the days is the same as how most church goers see their pastors today. Back then Oso(wizards) were healers, infact they were what you call doctors today. That's where names like Soyinka, Soyemi, Sorinde and others came from. Ooni had the power of Adeboye and Dr. Carson combine and was revered but he still answered to his Oba which is Alaafin.
You guys need to let Yoruba tradition be so you can receive blessings of the land. You can see how the Orisas are tormenting Yorubaland right now and that's why anywhere you see chairs and tables, Ooni will be the 3rd item there as if he's part of event planners consignments, he's damn too cheap. Ooni needs to stop running around like someone with mental problem demanding respect everywhere from Eleko Oba Akiolu to Tinubu, respect will find him if he deserves it.
Few wise non-Yari.ba people knew about the truth in the above post. However there are deluded Yari.ba peeps from backwater who are oblivious to the facts.
hajimosho: It's a big and heavy task on you writing notes to defend your absurdity. I wouldn't have made a statement if not for your repetitive rants. You are trying to pitch Oyo against Ife, when it is well known by all Yorubas that the latter is the foundation of their ancestry.
If you are paid to do this, the fund might not last you beyond a while, but if it is to divide the Yoruba nation, May it be solidified and your wish become thwarted.
Alaafin did not bow to Ooni. What being described by people of low intelligence as Alaafin bowing to Ooni is magnified by difference in height. In the picture circulated for all the wrong reason, both tried accord similar respect to each other.
You lots are just revealing yourself more and more to over 300 tribes of Nigerians and they would judge you accordingly with all your propaganda because must understand the history and laugh at your sneaky attempt of rewriting history
An Average Hausa Fulani teenagers knows who whipped Sarduna and his last wife in cold blood , same as Ogbomosho people knows how Samuel Ladoke Akintola was murdered, all Ijaw people know how Ojukwu ended Major Isaac Adaka Boro ended
.
Point of correction. Samuel Ladoke Akintola committed suicide. Isaac Adaka Boro was killed by a Yari.ba egocentric loudmouth. Sardauna and wife were killed by one of them.
abeyaktech: The All Progressives Congress, APC, National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, Saturday, said that the blood that runs through his veins is the same blood that runs in every Nigerian veins.
Tinubu who paid a condolence visit to Senator Aliyu Wamakko (APC- Sokoto) on the demise of his daughter, Sadiya Aliyu, called for unity, noting that the country could achieve nothing without unity.
Recall that former President Olusegun Obasanjo had said that Nigeria is fast drifting to a failed and divided country, noting that mismanagement of diversity and socio-economic development is one of the major reasons behind the country’s ordeal.
His words: “Today, Nigeria is fast drifting to a failed and badly divided state, economically our country is becoming a basket case and poverty capital of the world, and socially, we are firming up as an unwholesome and insecure country.
“And these manifestations are the products of recent mismanagement of diversity and socio-economic development of our country.
“Old fault lines that were disappearing have opened up in greater fissures and with drums of hatred, disintegration and separation and accompanying choruses being heard loud and clear almost everywhere.
“It would appear that anybody not dancing to the drum beat nor joining in chorus singing would be earmarked as ethnically unpatriotic or enemy of its tribe or geographical area. In short, the country is fast moving to the precipice. But happily, I observed that the five socio-cultural political groups gathered here have been getting together to find common ground, areas of agreement or accord for moving Nigeria away from tipping over.
“Before continuing, let me say that we must remind those who are beating the drums of disintegration and singing choruses of bitterness, anger and separation that if even Nigeria is broken up, the separated parts will still be neighbours. And they will have to find accommodation as neighbours or they will be ever at war. And those who prevent justice to be done invite violence to reign.”
Harping on unity, former Lagos state governor opined: “We have to unite to develop our country. The blood that runs in my veins is the same blood that runs in every Nigerian veins.
“Whether I am Yoruba and you are Fulani, Hausa or Igbo, the essence of our life is that we are Nigerians.
The bolded is completely laughable and strikes no accord of unity. The crap,"The blood that runs in my veins is the same blood that runs in every Nigerian veins" can only be true if he\she is of Yoruba descent.
EmekaMD: Desmond Idiot Eliot. I understand that "you don't talk while you chop" Good table manners Weldon Lagos state generates 30billion monthly isn't inspite of "godfatherism". Infact it is despite of it.
Lagos state is destined to be the largest economy in Nigeria and beyond cos of its location and the purpose it serves for the country of 200 million people. All exports and exports. You name it.
Lagos state would have been as developed as the likes of J.burg and more other advanced cities.
You cannot explain the fact that Lagos state is still dirty and most roads untarred. Gutters over flowing with the slightest rainfall. No visible city planning. Lagos state isn't doing well. It should not be used as a yardstick to measure development, and shamefully so cos of Alpha-Beta and "godfatherism".
You could not be more correct with the bolded. How could the shithole called Nigeria develop when people seemingly in control of its destiny are flippantly idiotic?
Advocate500: The same people that will tell u the igbo speaking area in Niger delta are not igbos but migrants from Benin republic will be quick to accept the okun people as yurobas, let us continue to deceive ourselves in this country when we are ready we all will know, the okun people have never complained about their relationship with the northern region just like the igbo speaking south south until now they are feeling insecure with their adopted brothers, when we are ready as people we will know.
Do not let Yari.ba teach you the historic facts about Nigeria.
This is an indictment on the so-called intellectualism of the shithole called Nigeria. A group of real university students from continents other than Africa could have thought out a way to handle the obscene situation in their universities.
solmusdesigns: Once you counter their narrative.. and question their folly they soon resort to insults to derail the thread to atleast run it to page 3 with meaningless back and forth bickering... Other times they throw insults wait for your reply and call a mod
.
Who would waste any precious time to call you dunce when you have proven the instance from your posts? If the foreign governments whom silly Nigerian government will rush for arms and equipment understand the plight of IPOB, they will not supply the weapons to Nigeria as they foolishly did in 1967. I know if you were given a century to figure it out, it will look a water poured on a stone.
So what are German Paliarment and Government supposed to do with their rally
Imbeciless that should come hold their Federal Lawmakers like Ike Ekweremadu, Abaribe and Orji Kalu and Political elders to account through protest so that the next Constitutional review can include referendum clause they are holding carnival in Germantown
.
Mumu person.
The German parliament and government shall remember it and oppose the shipment of G-3s and Mercedes Benz trucks to Nigeria for military use as they did in 1967. Only moronic dunces navigate to this forum to vomit craps on what they know nothing about.
Lt. Colonel Chukwuemeka Ojukwu: "The East Is At The Crossroads" | Prelude to Biafra | May 1967.
Friday, May 26th 1967.
Footage of Lt. Colonel Odumegwu Ojukwu, the Military Governor of the Eastern Region of Nigeria, giving a speech before the Eastern Region's Consultative Assembly and its Advisory Committee of Chiefs and Elders.
Themed "The East is at the Crossroads", Ojukwu asserted that the Muslim-dominated Northern Region was bent on imposing a feudal order on Nigeria and that the preponderantly Igbo Eastern Region had two choices: The first was to submit to domination by the North. and the second was to ensure "the survival of our people by asserting our autonomy."
Transcript of Ojukwu's remarks in the footage:
"Our meeting today is very crucial. The east is at the crossroads. Since our last meeting everything possible has been done by the enemies of east to escalate the crisis in an attempt to bring about the collapse of this region. They have failed, and will continue to fail.
In 1953 (sic - 1947) the late Sir Abubakar Tafewa Balewa, in a speech in the Legislative Council, said: 'Since the amalgamation of the southern and northern provinces in 1914, Nigeria has existed as one country only on paper. It is still far from being united. The country is inhabited by peoples and tribes who speak different languages; who have different religions; different customs and traditions; and entirely different historical backgrounds, and their way of life, and who have also gained different stages of development. We do not want our southern neighbours to interfere in our development. But I should like to make it clear to you that if the British quitted Nigeria now at this stage the Northern people would continue their interrupted conquest to the sea.' (*)
Interrupted conquest. That has always been the Northern intention. Thank God that the East has now awakened to its responsibilities, and with that awakening that ambitious dream will never be fulfilled in this country."
(*) Tafawa Balewa's words are recorded in several sources including "Legislative Council Debates", First Session, March 24, 1947, p. 212.
After the meeting, Ojukwu was given a unanimous mandate by the Consultative Assembly to pull out of the Federation of Nigeria "at an early practicable date" by declaring the Eastern Region, "a free, sovereign and independent state by the name and title of the Republic of Biafra."
Source: Personal Collection.
Note:
The following day, Lt. Colonel Yakubu Gowon, the Military Head of State who had succeeded Major General J.T.U. Aguiyi-Ironsi after the "counter-coup" of July 1966, made a broadcast by announcing a State of Emergency and promulgating the division of Nigeria into 12 states.
On May 30th, Lt. Colonel Ojukwu formally declared the secession of the Eastern Region from Nigeria. The date was chosen to mark the anniversary of the first of a series of anti-Igbo & Eastern Pogroms in the Northern Region. The first shots of what would become a civil war would occur on July 6th 1967. Starting as what Gowon, now promoted to Major General, would describe as a "Police Action", the conflict would be upgraded to one of "Total War" after the invasion of the Mid Western State by Biafran Military Forces on August 9th.
As I read the above post, one the things that stood tall is the comment in red. Many jackasses have floated the silly idea that LtCol Ojukwu did not consult with the elders of eastern region, hence, Eastern Region's Consultative Assembly and its Advisory Committee of Chiefs and Elders.
From the video, anybody with intelligent feelers will easily conclude that southerners are bunch of fools living on bloated welfare. How could a woman cannot pass a bag rice from Nigerian border at Seme yet the northerners can move loads of weapons through Nigerian northern borders with Niger and Cameroon?
loopman: Ipob will always betray their inherent stupidity everywhere
Please leave IPOB out of this skirmish between two perennial backstabbers,Yoruba and Tiv. Only a person who does not know the historical facts about the shithole called Nigeria will want to get involve.
ceaser: My Rejoinder to Persistent Accusation Against the Yoruba by Our Igbo Brothers on a Pan-Nigerian Platform.
The answer to your question was that Igbo in cahoots with the North of the Nigeria country put Awolowo in prison, but Igbo became the greatest beneficiaries. I shall elaborate on that towards the end of this factual account of history.
Proverbially speaking, Igbo people will seldom appreciate you if they enter your house and you welcome them with your food and drinks. Their eyes will be on your wife too, and failing to offer her to them as well, would be seen as your unwillingness to appreciate their handsome selves who had cared to pay you a visit! That describes their attitude towards their best friends on earth: the Yoruba. Yes, Igbo people, sit down and survey your peregrinations across Nigeria and the world and you would find that Yoruba people are your best friends.
The Igbo/Yoruba dichotomy began with the false narrative of Chinua Achebe, which is their favourite account like the Cathecism, that Awolowo orchestrated "a daylight robbery" of Zik's "mandate" to be Premier of the Western Region in 1954.
Achebe said in his book "The Trouble With Nigeria" that he was a student at the University College, Ibadan, when the "daylight robbery" occured.
But what was the fact? It's worth repeating before the Igbo false accusers for the umpteenth time because their hearts seethe in that hatred borne of patent biased reportage of events that Awolowo usurped what was supposed to be an Igbo leadership mandate over Yorubaland and associated ethnic groups of the old Western Region.
Don't forget that the elections of 1954 was conducted by the British and it was six years away from independence. The fact of the matter was that neither Awolowo's Action Group nor Zik's NCNC had enough seats in the Western Region's Parliament in Ibadan to form a Government when the votes were counted and who won which seats became public knowledge. Both parties then had to resort to wooing candidates of the smaller parties like the Ibadan Peoples Party and Mabolaje Grand Alliance to form a coalition with them.
The Action Group, of course, went to work assiduously, promising the candidates cabinet positions. On the day the parliament was opened, the white governor of Western Region asked the parliamentarians to signify their affiliations for the records. That was how most of the smaller parties' candidates openly declared their alliance with the Action Group. That was how Awolowo became the Premier. Go to Federal Archives at the University of Ibadan. The election results and parliamentary hansards of the time are there in original forms.
But backtrack to recall that from 1951 to 1954, Awolowo was already a quasi-premier of the West with the title of "Leader of Government Busines". That's why in his autobiography he has a chapter titled "Eight Years of of Office". That is,1951 -1959. He was already a burgeoning legend among his people as a sterling performer. The Igbo had hoped to truncate our pace-setting advancement in education, rural development, industry etc, with Zik taking over from him. I'm sure most Igbo of this generation don't know Awolowo had led the West for about three years before ZIK sought to upstage him.
The lie that Chinua Achebe swallowed alongside his umunna who had converged around the parliament building in Ibadan wearing their ishiagu for the crowning of an Igbo King over Yoruba people was dished out by Zik. He lamented to the press outside the parliament building at the end of swearing in that he had been betrayed. That all those who teamed up with Awolowo were his political associates whose support he had taken for granted. He claimed they simply defected overnight and blamed it on cultic loyalty. Maybe they were Ogbonis. LOL.
Igbo people had to believe him then hook, line, and sinker. He was their political god just as Awolowo was to most Yoruba people.
But, no sir! Those coalition members won their seats on their own steam just as you, Zik, had won yours with Yoruba votes in Yorubaland. They had the freedom to associate with who they wanted. They opted for Awolowo and his Action Group not so much because they were even playing Yoruba ethnic card but because they had a deal! Politics is a game of interest. Chief Augustus Meredith Akinloye of the Ibadan People's Party, for instance, had been promised a cabinet position. Of course, he couldn't have been deceived because if that had happened he could defect and the Action Group ruling coalition would collapse. He became Minister of Agriculture, Western Region.
Meanwhile, Zik became the Leader of Opposition in the Western Region but he was soon pressed by his Igbo kinsmen to leave a region where he had won an election to represent Yoruba people for the Eastern Region where they went to lay the foundation of hatred and hostility between themselves and their minority compatriots of today's Southsouth zone by removing Prof. Eyo Ita, a NCNC leader in his own right, as Premier. The Igbo had majority seats anyway. Zik then became premier. A surrogate in the Eastern parliament vacated his own seat for him.
I return to my opening line. The real act of provocation, which could have led to attacks on Igbo in Yorubaland, were Yoruba not the hospitable and liberal people they are, and which set the stage for the collapse of the First Republic, was laid by the Igbo in cahoots with the north with which they had a ruling federal coalition in Lagos.
It was the NCNC/NPC coalition that framed up Awolowo in a phantom coup d'etat when they could no longer tolerate him as Leader of the Opposition at the Federal Parliament and, of course, to takeover his sphere of influence.
With Awolowo held in Calabar prison for no just cause, the Igbo quickly pressed for the issue of creation of new regions of which Awolowo was the chief advocate as laid out in his autobiography published in 1960 months to independence in October. But they only wanted the Midwest Region he had proposed. They didn't want the COR (Calabar, Ogoja, Rivers) region, equally in the proposal. That would have split their Eastern empire. And, of course, their senior northern partner wouldn't brook any suggestion of a Middle Belt region, also proposed by Awolowo.
Thus, we had a situation where the smallest region in the country was split, while the bigger ones were kept intact. The Igbo plot worked as planned. In August 1963, a second class Igbo (that's by Igbo standard) from Asaba, in the person of Chief Dennis Osadebey, an old boy of Zik's alma mater, the Hope Waddell Training Institute, Calabar, became Premier of the Midwest Region. Hurray, Igbo now had two premiers!
By that, it was believed Awolowo's sphere of influence had been diminished forever.
Then the Igbo went for the bigger goal. They wanted to upstage their Arewa partners from power. They then formed an alliance with the rump of the traumatised and divided Action Group of Awolowo. Earlier, in 1959, they had rejected the same alliance with Awolowo for Zik to be Prime Minister and Awolowo, Minister of Finance. They belatedly formed an NCNC/Action Group alliance known as the United Progressives Grand Alliance (UPGA) for them to control federal powers in addition to two regions.
D-Day was 30 December 1964 when the general elections were held. Meanwhile, the Arewa senior partners in the NPC had wizened up to the Igbo game and also formed an alliance with another faction of the Action Group led by Chief Akintola. They then had what was called the Nigerian National Alliance (NNA). They won! Chief Akintola, without Awolowo's support, had successfully launched a counter-coup on the Igbo splitting of the Western Region by aligning with the north. The ensuing cabinet produced only three Igbo as Federal Ministers as against seven Yoruba. The Igbos were Raymond Njoku, Jaja Wachukwu, and K.O. Mbadiwe. This development, northerners have quietly argued, was the beginning of the coup of 15 January 1966. It is argued that the Igbo political elites, who had lost out, instigated Igbo boys in the military to strike. And that was why no civilian or military casualties were recorded in the whole East during the coup. But Chief Akintola and his newfound northern partners were all eliminated.
I draw you back. You know Yoruba people fight on principles. They launched massive agitations against Akintola for selling out to the northerners. They were not appeased by seven cabinet positions that didn't have the blessings of Awolowo and his progressive lieutenants languishing unjustly in prison. Operation Wetie began in earnest, shaking Balewa in Lagos and Akintola in Ibadan. Somebody had put on the body form of my highly esteemed friend, Prof. Wole Soyinka, to attempt stoppage of the announcement of the election results at gunpoint at Radio House in Ibadan for which the real Soyinka (LOL) was tried and freed by Justice Kayode Eso. Go and read Justice Eso's memoirs titled THE MYSTERY GUN MAN.
Eventually, Aguiyi Ironsi came to power. Awolowo petitioned him for his release. He rebuffed him till northern troops removed him from power. Then Gowon released Awolowo and invited him to join his government and stabilised the country then careening into chaos.
Igbo declared secession. A civil war ensued. They lost. At the end, they picked their favourite scapegoat, Awolowo, for their defeat The accusations traversed the war operations to post-war settlement.
First, he betrayed them, having promised them that if they declared secession, Yoruba would follow. Ask yourself, on what grounds? An old man just out of prison! A civilian! To declare secession in confrontation with Gen. Gowon who had just pitied him and set him free! Something an Ironsi had refused to do! How does that add up? Well, since it's Awolowo who had prevented Igbo premiership of Yorubaland, it must add up.
Second, he starved them during the war. Of course, General Gowon must have been too naive as a British-trained military officer to understand the implications of giving an unimpeded corridor of food supply to enemy territory in war! Awolowo had to teach him that the food was being hijacked by the Biafran troops.
Third, and back to what prompted this recollections ab initio. The accusation of £20. Honest Igbo know the truth. First and foremost, records of Nigerian banks in the East had been destroyed during the war as banks were prime targets of unruly elements among combatants on both sides during the civil war. Hence, apart from their passbooks, most Igbo claiming they had money in the banks had no proof. Many had even lost their passbooks. It was an era when there were no computers to keep soft copies of records or backups. Everything was done manually and in hard copies.
It was a mark of the magnanimity of the Federal Government that it created a fund from which banks were to pay £20 each to any Igbo with some proof of bank account ownership. It was a blanket thing. Even if you had £1 balance in your account you would get it. But those who had proof, especially those in the West - Lagos, Ibadan, Abeokuta etc - where their banking records were intact, had their accounts reactivated.
If anything, the Igbo had, over the years, rendered evil as reward to the only ethnic group in Nigeria that had received them with open arms, including Zik, from the time this country was established till date. If anyone should be held back by the unkindness of old, it should be the Yoruba against the Igbo and not the other way round. It's the Yoruba, among whom Igbo have found accommodation and toleration more than anywhere else they had ever set their foot upon on earth, who should be talking of Igbo betrayal, Igbo unfriendliness, and Igbo selfishness.
But it's one of those ironies of life that the victim is made the accused by his traducers. The Yoruba cosmopolitan outlook and liberal-mindedness is what have kept Nigeria one till date. It's only the Yoruba who have never unleashed violence against other groups. Not that they are contented with their lot in Nigeria or because they're cowards. It's not just in their DNA to spill blood carelessly! The only times they've engaged in any major public disturbances that cost lives (their own lives) were mainly to protest oppression and injustice visited on them and it was limited only to their space. They never went after non-Yoruba as scapegoats. That was during Operation Wetie and Agbekoya Revolt in the 60s and June 12 demonstrations in the 90s.
Let us hope that one day, some sections of Nigeria won't have to look back and regret that they blew their goodwill with the Yoruba.
If you hear of anybody supporting Igbo presidency outside Igboland today, who is not Yoruba, please, tell me. The same thing applied to Igbo sympathisers during the civil war: the Wole Soyinkas, Tai Solarins, the Col. Victor Banjos, the Prof. Sam Alukos of this world etc. They were all Yoruba, and some of them got imprisoned for it like Wole Soyinka. Col. Banjo wasn't as lucky. He was rewarded with bullets!
And recall that Col. Adekunle Fajuyi had died alongside Gen. Ironsi in July 1967 when northern soldiers came for the latter in Ibadan because Fajuyi didn't want the impression to be created, as the northerners wanted it, that Ironsi's death was a Yoruba set up. He chose to be executed with his Igbo commander in-chief who wasn't gracious enough to release Awolowo, his fatherly kinsman, from prison when he had the power to do so! How common is such vicariousness?
The Yoruba are still open to forging a meaningful partnership with the Igbo to safeguard and promote a glorious future. I hope voices of historically false accusations would allow the detente to reach its denouement.
Originally written by
Prof. Femi Olufunmilade
The writer of above crap is typical Yari.ba with bigmouth and empty brain. In addition, the fool did not even try to embark on little research as how the military operates or even consult few factual recorded events before making fool of him\her self with the above junk. The most ignorant of the whole piece is bolded in red color. By the way, Banjo and Fajuiyi were Lt Cols not Col. In formal mode such as in a written piece, soldiers are addressed properly according to their ranks.
Politics › Re: What Could Be Going Through The Mind Of Saraki And Sanusi Here? by Dedetwo(m): 1:03pm On Nov 10, 2020*. Modified: 1:41pm On Nov 10, 2020
