₦airaland Forum

FOLYKAZE:
I was in a court sometimes ago and saw someone swearing by the law. The person came in as a witness to a case and i assumed he is a lawyer or a law professional. Law became a deity automatically with a system which has become an institution coupled with lord, sacred book and others.

Can we then categorically assume Law is God?

You are a one track record. A broken one at that. Everything is God to you.

Nobody swears by the law. You swear by the bible, quran or by iron. Anything else is an affirmation. Take it from someone who knows.

icedfire:
I can see the ghost!!! Whaooo so beautiful... u need to be high on meth, to see what we are all seeing

WALLAHI

Loluores:
Hmm, surgeon here (Emmanuel Lasker)

NICE

sinkhole:
This is violation of fundamental human right of eating. Nobody is saying they should not arrest but they should have allowed those guys to savour their fufu or at least told them to pack it in a "take away" to be eating at the station!
Do these "oyibos" think they have food at all?

The laws of the land must prevail. Justice must be done to the Ghanaians









and




to the fufu

Whats your chess personality?

Answer 20 quiz questions and find out here http://www.chesspersonality.com/

I did the quiz and I'm a technician in the mold of Vladmir Kramnik. http://www.chesspersonality.com/type/technician

Lennycool:
Although most people would joke that just living in Nigeria, was a dangerous job on its own ( they would be right ), in fact the only reason it’s not on this list is because we aren't paid, between the crime rate, terrorism
and decayed infrastructure, the fact that your actually alive to reading this right now means you're tougher than Rambo, but believe it or not there are Nigerians who have it much worse than you do, people who have to dance with death every time they go to work, so take a look at 9 of the most dangerous jobs in Nigeria.


9. Electrician

OK so most of you are surprised at this, but if you had really thought about it, you would have realized that being an electrician in Nigeria is no picnic, especially for those that work for power distribution companies, carrying their heavy wooden ladders in the hot sun, going to potentially hostile places to disconnect the electricity of potentially hostile people ( and you can guess they won't be happy about that ), we have had reports about electricians being beaten by locals and in one case flogged by a state governor because the electricity went out when his birthday was going on ( really it happened ), its like there not just electricians anymore but the power holding company itself, people blame them for everything. The danger doesn't end there folks, because even if by some miracle your not one day beaten by locals, there's still the problem of electrocutions from faulty wiring even electricians that don't work in private homes gets electrocuted, because either the owner of the house was too cheap to hire a proper electrician when he was building the house and instead did it himself or he hired a fake and only now when everything's gone to ruin does he call far from the case hire a proper electrician to risk his life and fix it.


8. Construction worker

You've seen construction workers in other countries before, fully clothed people, with hard yellow helmets for protection ( like in the picture above ), but if you’re in Nigeria you've got to know that's far from the case here.
They work on buildings sometimes more than five stories high, with no protection whatsoever (because boxers don't count) with most times the only support being long bamboo sticks, and with no health insurance, it would only take a misplaced foot on the bamboo to send them to their deaths, even if there on the ground the possibility of something falling on them is high, so of course it's dangerous.


7. Petrol tanker driver

We've all seen or heard about tanker related accidents and its never pretty, the damages are usually gruesome and fatalities high. Driving a normal vehicle through most Nigerian roads ( which seem to have more portholes than road ) is difficult enough, but driving a really large vehicle, filled with inflammable liquid is just playing with danger, all it takes is just one wrong turn, a big enough pothole or even a crazy driver and your dead, tanker drivers face the risk of agonizing death if burnt by fire or a quick one from impact alone .


6. Telecommunication mast

The danger in this one is pretty easy to see isn't it, all you have to do is look at your nearest mast, you see how tall it is, well its built by people and when it malfunctions, which it will every now and then someone has to repair it, that's where these engineers come in to fix these tall scary steel structures, most of them more than 40 feet high, the good news is at least the ones I’ve seen are equipped for the job, but still at those heights anything can happen.


5. Armed forces

This Covers the air force, navy and army, so basically people who are allowed to wield weapons and shoot people, with such privileges I.e. the guns, it begs the question how are these groups of people in danger, to answer that I would advise you to look around. We've got terrorist in the north bombing and killing people and had militants in the south killing and kidnapping people, and even though they face more danger than say the electrician, their paid almost the same if not less. I'm not even sure they have health insurance, and if they eventually die the family is hardly compensated, think about it the government hardly pays its living workers, you think their families are going to get compensated if they die, no wonder they are always so angry.

4. Police

I was kind of conflicted on whether to put this before or after armed forces, but then decided on after, because whatever soldiers were facing, the police were facing it too, for example soldiers are killed by boko haram terrorist, so are police officers, you know when they raid police stations to bust their peeps out if prison, and whereas the soldiers font have to deal with everyday problems like kidnappers, armed robbers or just crazy Nigerians, the police has to deal with that and still get killed by terrorists ( now does that seem fair ) all on top a bad paycheck and no insurance or compensation.


3. Armed robbers

I know most of you are probably asking yourselves " is armed robbery really a job ", well yes it is, sort of, but don’t just take my word for it according to www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/job, a job is work that a person does regularly in order to earn money ( so as long as they rob regularly we're good ), thank you Merriam, now that I have been vindicated and you're probably nodding in understanding, let's continue.

OK we've already cleared up the fact that armed robbery is indeed a job, so what makes it so dangerous? You ask, where should I start, oh I know “you ", not just you but everyone in Nigeria. Nigerians hate giving people things, especially money because we have so little of it, we even hate paying taxes because we don't want to give the government our money, and then here comes a group of armed individuals coming to take your stuff or worst, cash, and of course you can't do anything about it because they have guns, so in that moment you swallow your resistance and pain, so as not to get shot. Then a few weeks after getting robbed, you see were a group of people just caught a robber, right then you remember your new laptop that was stolen and suddenly it becomes personal. We've had incidences of robbers being beaten, maimed and burnt in Nigeria and though its very wrong, you can see where the hate stems from, but even if they weren't burnt to death by an angry mob, the law isn't much better, since the Nigerian police normally just shoots to kill, if you're a robber ( and they don't say freeze ), and if they don't kill you, you end up on in a holding cell till trial, which is almost worst than death, and when you do eventually get trialed, you risk spending 14 years in jail, life in prison or death if you killed someone, so next time you get robbed at gun point, just smile cause you know what's coming to them. Robbers ate hated and killed by both the police and people, yet its only number 3 so what job is worst ?


2. Oil vandal

This applies under the same job definition as armed robbery, Nigeria's special in this case as its one of the only country, whose citizens steel oil, it goes to show you how bad things are that people would steal their own resource. Though for some, the venture is extremely profitable, it is far from safe, besides the risk of getting burnt to death in the very likely chance that something goes wrong and an explosion happens, in which case they would probably suffer an agonizing death, there's also the fact the federal government has been on a war path with these vandals for several years now, security forces as well as local vigilante groups have been tasked with catching them ( and they don't play nice ), oil vandals risked the chance of getting burnt, shot or prison time ( yep pretty dangerous ), yet its not number 1 so what job is more dangerous than everything one the list


1. Manual river sand extractor

I actually learnt of this on an episode of don't tell my mother on discovery channel, when they came to Lagos and one of the places the guy visited was a river sand extracting site, for those of you who don't know what a manual river sand extractor does, let me enlighten you, they carry empty buckets to the floor bed of a river, fill it up with sand and carry it back up to the surface, pretty easy right, NOT, no part of that is easy or safe, first of all these rivers are very deep any inexperienced diver would drown in minutes, plus its a Nigerian river for crying out loud talk about murky, you wouldn't be able to see two feet in front of you, and did I forget to mention that the guy had no equipment whatsoever not even goggles, the only thing he was with, was the pocket and boxer shorts ( what's with manual workers and boxers in Nigeria ), this guys risk getting wounded or killed by sunken scrap metal or by dangerous aquatic life.


As you can imagine in jobs like this with ever present danger anything can go wrong and only the need for money and the decision to not be unemployed is the only reason these guys having quit, so do you still think you have a bad job bad.


http://naijaaid..co.id/2015/11/9-most-dangerous-jobs-in-nigeria.html?m=0

OP, telecommunication mast is not a job (no 6).

Armed robbery and oil vandalism are not jobs either (no 3 and no 2). If you define jobs as "work that a person does regularly in order to earn money", then robbery and oil vandalism would not apply as the money is NOT earned.

Drigdee:
Truth is bitter and the truth about the saying ‘if education is expensive, try ignorance’ is not an exception. Hence, nobody wants to remain uneducated as most opportunities, in this age, are tied to education. Yet, not everyone who gains admission into a university can afford to keep up with the demanding tuition. Public universities are known to be cheaper than all others. However, as not everyone can cope in the over-populated environment of these government schools, we bring you a list of both cheapest public and private universities in Nigeria.
Below is the list of the arguably cheapest private universities in Nigeria that are fully approved by Nigerian Universities Commision (NUC).
Note that not all of them are approved

SMH

Out of curiousity, I wonder if any of your texting demons sent you any birthday wishes.

Have a good one Joe

sonOfLucifer:

How do you communicate with someone living in a hole? Deep pit of ignorance.

Its astounding my brother.

slimstuff:
Most atheists are not bad people, they are just angry but they can not open up to tell you why. Some of them are born with issues. Some are born pedophile some are born gays and they hated God for it. Some where born hermaphrodite and they are just angry with God. But God has solution for it.

Second group. man/ women who want to give in to their lust they rejected God to give in to their lustful nature. If you acknowledge the presence of God, you will have to obey him.so to give in to there lust they denied God. I have seen people come to me after they have fallen heavily ill of aids and other strange illness out their lust " doing what God God them not to do. They came back for God's help.

3rd group: they have asked God for something and God did not do it, they just conclude that is is just like the scary story they tell kids at night. But if you ask your dad for a car and he ignored you, will you run out and start telling people that you have no father. There are many other groups still. Which ever group you are in, there is help, just ask! As for the person that said "they are annoying "there are advice that only age can teach you. There are things your father will tell you at 22, but cos you have not given birth or raised stubborn kids you will not get it then. it may take you more 20 years to understand it, by then he may no longer be their.

^^^^
Where to start from . . .

Jolllyjoy:
ama fine,like you

You sound like a cheerful person. That's an endearing quality. You should keep it up.

Jolllyjoy:
yea i slept like a baby

Hey you.

How are you today?

Jolllyjoy:


goodmorning.

Good morning.

Hope you slept well?

Jolllyjoy:
not anymore.

Howdy

Howdy!

What are you up to this fine night?

Jolllyjoy:
Hmmmmmmmmm

dunno why am not laughing thought you said they are hilarious.

Joy come on. Did you see the one where he said "the person you killed is dead"?

Hope you aren't having a bad day. Loosen up a bit.

If U Are Given 100 Million Naira To Denounce Ur Faith,will U? I can never agree to denounce xtianity.Never?

If its Christianity that is the faith in question, you'd be irresponsible not to renounce it.

God sees the heart doesn't he? Renounce it, collect your money, pray for forgiveness and then tithe. God gets 10 million for forgiving you and you get 90. Sounds good to me.

The bearded dude is star struck.

baddyoosha:
common sense is not common indeed

Obviously not.

Bump.

Strictly for shits and giggles.

I think the best person to ask will be Joagbaje.

He can text one of his internet savvy demons and they will get back to you.

Witch fighting? What are the rules of the sport?

You say its a tinted car but you can tell the color of the assailants skin?

Na wa.

anathemiamia:
The average age of male prisoners is between 20 and 30. Thats a lot of man power wasting away in prisons and they release them on 50000 to 200000 bail. There are so many ways to empower these guys while in prison and the one i feel would work best is turning a really large location to a work-prison system. Let them farm and at the end of their term, would have some money to start their own farming biz even if its in their village

You're right. They should be used for farming, road construction and other types of labor.

Benwems:
I'm not Am. It was a mistake because I was in a rush. I'm an Engineering graduate from the Great UNIBEN. Who are you? You're obviously not up to my standard!
I dont have time to engage in an 'e-war' with you. Take care.

Lol. I see you've made a review. You went from

Benwems:
Its you who didnt read the post. I read before I sign/or comment. Am completely education. Now let me educate about the topic because you are completely ignorant. Some days ago, job applicants for fidelity bank recruitment where asked to input the bvn in a column during application. After this was done hackers, hacked into fidelity bank server(s) and stole their bvn. Hope I have eliminated your acute ignorance!!!

to

Benwems:
Its you who didnt read the post. I read before I sign/or comment. I'm completely education. Now let me educate about the topic because you are completely ignorant. Some days ago, job applicants for fidelity bank recruitment where asked to input the bvn in a column during application. After this was done hackers, hacked into fidelity bank server(s) and stole their bvn. Hope I have eliminated your acute ignorance!!!

I repeat; the irony.

Benwems:
Its you who didnt read the post. I read before I sign/or comment. Am completely education. Now let me educate about the topic because you are completely ignorant. Some days ago, job applicants for fidelity bank recruitment where asked to input the bvn in a column during application. After this was done hackers, hacked into fidelity bank server(s) and stole their bvn. Hope I have eliminated your acute ignorance!!!

The irony.

Shocking survey.

Rivers state doesnt come as a surprise but Taraba?

I also thought Lagos would be pretty high up there. Anyhoo . . .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6s36h1tEN4

"My way" by Frank Sinatra being performed on a Theremin.

Simply beautiful.

The guy is clearly a scammer.

On one hand they say the TSA is Jonathan's initiative but now Fayose is calling it a fraud.

Which is it?

I'm curious as to how much time there is left for governance after all this social media circus.

drss:
read the statement again.

I stand by my earlier post.

They never said Nigeria is a wilderness.

They also never said Nigeria is a zoo.

Op and the Mod have serious comprehension issues.

maxsiollun:
Danjuma instigated the killing of Ironsi, Fajuyi –Joe Achuzia
Sunday, 07 March 2010 00:00 Nigerian Compass
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Beyond being one of the major actors in the Nigerian Civil War, Colonel Joe Achuzia (rtd.) is a very popular figure. In this revealing interview with EMMANUEL AGOZINO, Achuzia, popularly known as the Biafran Hannibal, talks about some of the other actors in the Civil War, including Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu; former President Nnamdi Azikiwe; former military Head of State, General Aguiyi Ironsi; and former Minister of Defence, General Theophilus Danjuma. Excerpts:


You were said to be a man that fought the civil war without rules. While some see that as barbaric others take to you be a hero. Who is Colonel Joe Achuzia?
Well, I don’t know about being great. All I know is that in history, every society passes through one phase or the other. It is only those phases that leave indelible marks on society that make for remembrance. And within the issues of remembrance, people now realise the activities that led to it. As part of these activities, certain persons are usually identified with that cause. It is in the process of this identification that certain names takes prominence, not because they are the best, but because within their activities, they left mark as a signpost for the remembrance of the activities that took place at that time. Fortunately, I seem to be identified in one of these activities. Anybody familiar with Nigeria’s history from independence will easily identify the landmarks, the memorable incidents that stand out in the history of this country. One of those is the three and half years civil war out of which at the end of it, names were bandied about and mine is one of those names. But luckily, I am still alive not only to help correct all the misinterpretation that some people assigned to me, but also let today’s generation know the roles that I played and also refute any false information. For me, these were the things that singled me out. But otherwise, there is nothing that I did. Regarding the allegations that I fought the civil war without rules, others have done even worse.


What will you say about the recent statement credited to General T.Y. Danjuma that late General Aguiyi Ironsi, who was killed as a military Head of State, was a useless man. What is your reaction?
You see, when I read Danjuma’s statement, I felt very sad about it. First, go and do your research and you will realise that what I am going to tell you is the truth. In the 2 Division, [b]it was this Danjuma, then a Captain in the then Nigeria Army, who was responsible for organising the security of General Ironsi. It was his job. So, if Danjuma turns today and tells the world  that he did not know about how Ironsi and Colonel Adekunle Fajuyi were killed in Ibadan, it will be a very big lie. If you want me to put it straight, it was because of the opposition of the unitary system declared by Ironsi that Danjuma organised his elimination along with Colonel Fajuyi in Ibadan. So, Danjuma cannot in all honesty deny that he was not the chief instigator of the killing. [/b]We were all living witness. I was in Lagos when the incident happened. So, I am not telling you a myth or what I did not know. It is this same group who killed Ironsi and Fajuyi in Ibadan that up till today are benefiting from the unitary system that Ironsi set up. Can you imagine. It is out of this same cabal too that the so-called Kaduna Mafia sprang up. I am not saying that it is all Northerners that wanted the total elimination of the Igbo during civil war period. But when we talk in terms of what Danjuma did, I know what I am saying. That is his character. It was just the way he killed Ironsi and Fajuyi that he betrayed the late General I.D. Bisala. He denied Bisala when Bisala needed him the most during the coup that killed  Genral Murtala Mohammed. If he is a soldier, he should have stood his ground as the GOC of the 3 Division. But instead, he did not. Let me say that when we talk in terms of military courage and bravery, rank does not bestow courage on people. I  like Danjuma. But he cannot deny the fact that he was the chief instigator of the murder of Ironsi and Fajuyi. History will continue to hold him responsible for that. When the war ended, he was the go between me and Bisala, especially in Enugu, when I was handing over Biafra to the federal side.

[b]
Are you saying you were the one that handed over Biafra to the federal side?
Yes.
But many believe that General Philip Effiong handed over Biafra to General Olusegun Obasanjo. Is that not correct?
No, it is a mistake that many people are not aware of up till today. I was the one who handed over Biafra to Obasanjo and Bisala. Effiong’s  role was going to Lagos to meet General Yakubu Gowon with some of our Biafran officers. And also reading the script which I prepared. I planned it that they should start from 9a.m. announcing that we had sent emissaries to the war fronts to meet Nigerian commanders so that everybody should lay down their weapons. That speech that we prepared was given to Effiong to read because if I should do that, the Nigerian side  will misinterpret it that possibly there was a coup in Biafra. So, to avoid that misinterpretation, we had to ask Effiong to read it. Because when Odumegwu-Ojukwu was leaving, he specifically told Effiong to represent him, while my job was to take care of the Army. I was the person in charge of the Biafran Armed Forces. So, I was  the one that actually handed over Biafra and not Effiong. Again, when the war ended, I was very visible. For instance, all the documents that Danjuma said that Gowon requested that I should sign, I signed them all. These included when Danjuma said that Gown asked that I should prepare a document of what I would like to do.[/b] I did all that and part of that document was what later led to the establishment of PRODA in Enugu. I also reported at the Board of Inquiry headed by the then General Adeyinka Adebayo. There I was told that one of the reasons why I was being detained was for the  protection of my life. But I asked them, ‘Protection against who?’ Well, they said that so many people were against me, especially the way I ended the war. So, for tempers to cool, according to them, I was kept in detention for seven years. But for me, I have always said that I don’t have any regrets over the war. Beside, I owe it as a moral duty to those whom I led through the war, especially with their situation today. They have not been compensated.

That is why we have today the Civil War Veteran, East West Command Association. The purpose is to look after the welfare of those comrades who survived the civil war. But as I am talking to you, up till today, none of them is less than 56 years and nothing has been done to help them. We are taking steps to bring their problem to the attention of the present government. I have written to President Umaru Yar’Adua. I have also written to the Ministry of Defence and to the President of the Senate, David Mark, that on the basis of “no winner no vanquished,” Nigeria owes it a duty to rehabilitate those veterans across the country as done in other parts of the world. The situation can be dangerous in the future if the government continues to exhibit lack of concern. Many people today may not know that those militants in the Niger Delta are all children of the war veterans. The members of the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) are children of the veterans. We don’t want a divided Nigeria again. We as veterans of the war gave a lot for the Nigeria  we have today. All we are asking is that the government should look into the welfare of these veterans. If you look at the present military command in the country, none of them saw the civil war. War is not good. And that is why we have been calling on the government to also take a census of the war veterans on both sides of the war and create a programme in the interest of reconciliation as the Army that fought the war is the Nigerian Army divided against itself based on the side one was standing at the time of the political logjam.


Now, 43 years after, do you think that the issues that caused that war have been resolved?
You see, it sounds naive when one talks about solving the issues that led to that war. There were multitudes of problems and issues that led to the civil war. While some are of the view that the January 1966 coup, led by Major Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu and Major Emmanuel Ifeajuna and the others, were the issues that led to the war. others tell you that the way Ironsi handled the issue of the coup by declaring a unitary system as opposed to the federating system in existence then led to the war. There are others who hold that it is the unbridled and the so-called ambition of appointing military administrators to take the place of political leaders. Also, there are those who say that the mismanagement by Gowon after the second coup, which brought Gowon into power  and led to the balkanization of Nigeria from the regional arrangement into states, caused the war. But whatever the cause, the war has been fought. To me, the greatest problem was the balkanization of Nigeria by Gowon without thinking of the future consequences. He did that to weaken the Igbo. But it turned out to be the root of whatever crisis that Nigeria is facing till today. By trying to take the so-called minorities away from the Igbo, when they  claimed that the Igbo were dominating, he  eventually opened their eyes like Oliver Twist. Whoever gave Gowon that advice gave him a wrong one because from then on the spiral effect brought Nigeria to the 36 states which we now have. The cumulation of all these, I will say, are parts and parcel of what in retrospect led to the  civil war. If Gowon did not create the 12 states, I do not think that the Eastern Region would have declared secession because there is nothing like dialogue. And that was exactly what happened. Gowon should have continuously kept seeking for dailogue.

But instead, he was advised to settle the situation the way he did by balkanizing the country. And once you do that, the people’s temper will rise. So, today, Nigeria cannot be at peace because the issues that led to the civil war have not been addressed. What do we have? We say we are practicing democracy, but here in Nigeria today what we have is a democracy of the cabals. It is these few cabals that are ruling the country. They have been doing so since the end of the war. And until the country wakes up to say enough is enough, the situation will continue. Hence, corruption will abound. It is only under the system of cabal leadership that certain people are favoured. And these few who are favoured will continue supporting the existence of the cabal government at the expense of the majority. If you look very well, you will see that many people do not understand what Wole Soyinka is trying to do. Knowing the deception that we call Nigerian democracy today, Soyinka has been doing his best trying to tell Nigerians that they should not allow themselves to be cowed into slavery. Because he is not a back seat General. That is why he comes to the front to tell Nigerians to say no to bad leadership that is going on in this country since after independence. For about two months now, all of us are seeing that what is happening with the leadership of this country.


There has been this controversy over the role Nzeogwu played during the first coup. While Odumegwu-Ojukwu keeps saying that it was Ifeajuna that was the leader of the coup, others say it was Nzeogwu. As one who saw it all, who actually was the leader of that coup?
You see, Nigerians have a way of mismanaging information. One person alone does not carry out a coup in the Army. A coup is a concerted arrangement by a few persons of like minds and ready to participate in overthrowing a system. So, the coup of January 1966 was carried out by a group of Army Majors. You cannot put it on one person. Otherwise, you are simply giving a dog a bad name to hang it. To say Nzeogwu, it means Nzeogwu and his group. Ifeajuna and his group. To be honest to your question, Ifeajuna and Nzeogwu were actually together in the plan and execution of the coup. Consequently, if the coup had succeeded, Nzeogwu or Ifeajuna could not have led the country or even [b]Victor Banjo who was a part of that group. [/b]So, all that is important is that the coup took place and that these names were the leaders of the coup.  Any other person from the side that didn’t  participate at that crucial time is not a part of the coup. Any other information is an after thought. Unfortunately, those that led the 1966 coup and participated, you only have the junior ones left. They were not the primary leaders. As a result, I would advice that the January event should be consigned to its proper place and perspective, that this an aberration that took place at a point in time in Nigerian history. It is not a situation to continue apportioning blames or encomium.


What do you mean by consigning it to its proper place?

I say this because as long as we continue to apportion blame or look at it as an Igbo coup, we will not come out of the morass of the problem posed by the coup. You know that after the coup, it had a wide ripple effect. Because the North felt that it was an Igbo affair and consequently in their usual characteristics way, they descended on the Igbo without first trying to find out exactly what happened. They reacted as a mob without thinking. That mob action  has since then placed Nigeria in jeopardy. The result was finally a coup in which Danjuma and Gowon emerged. Gowon then became the Head of State. But the funny thing about it was that they did not carry out the coup for enhancing the interest of Nigeria. They did it on the basis that they wanted to secede from Nigeria. Hence the word Araba (Let’s divide). It was very clear that even Gowon in his first speech he delivered made it clear that there was no basis for unity. But unfortunately, he took the advice of the  civil service dominated then by the Southerners to advice him that it is not in the interest of the North to pull out of the federation. It was this same people that advised Gowon that the best way to bring the Eastern Region to its knee was to balkanise it. But before he did that, information was also leaking to the Eastern Region Government. And the reaction of the East was no, we are one. If you say you do not want us, we will go on our own by any name. If you look at the situation critically, you will see that the Eastern Region was pushed out. They were being pushed out for purposes of total elimination. That was the beginning of the genocide. Otherwise, there wouldn’t have been the need to cut them off from the sea, air and land or get them landlocked. It was for this purpose that Bakasi was given out to Cameroun so that they will not give space for Biafra to retreat into Cameroun.

You mentioned Banjo. Where do you stand on the trial and execution of Banjo and his group during the war?

Banjo and his group  were tried under military procedure in line with the Biafran laws. I don’t think that it should be a thing for apportioning blames to anybody. They violated the war rules and laws at that time. And they were tried accordingly. Anybody could have fallen into that line. So, it was the laws at that time. And it was approved based on the orders of a military tribunal. So it is not a thing to blame anybody. 


Many people have blamed Odumegwu-Ojukwu for the way Biafra was defeated. Secretary General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Ralph Uweche, recently said that Odumegwu-Ojukwu’s way of leadership was responsible for the collapse of Biafra. Do you agree with this?


Biafra was never defeated nor collapsed. It is not true that Biafra was defeated. That is what many do not know.
Are you saying that Biafra was not defeated by Nigeria?
Yes.


What explanation do you offer for this?
Yes, I will do. Let me tell you the truth. You journalists must always do your research properly to educate the public. You should also look into the choice of words. You see, I repeat it again: Biafra was not defeated. It was not the Biafran Army that was responsible for the war efforts during the conflict. The efforts were handled by civilian populace. The soldiers were recruited to defend the civilians. The arms were provided by the civilians. In the executive council of Biafra, there were only two military personnel: Odumegwu-Ojukwu as the Head of State and Effiong as the Officer-in-Charge of Defence. The rest were all civilians. Those civilians were the ones who, when Odumegwu-Ojukwu left to attend the crucial meeting in Liberia, came to me and requested that I should stop the war. Today, there are living witnesses to what I am telling you. These include former Enugu State Chief Judge, Justice P.K. Nwokedi. He was one of those who came with Sir Louis Mbanefo and others to request that I take steps to stop the fighting. Initially, I was against it. But then I was reminded and made to understand that it is not my personal war. So, as a soldier, I have to obey the orders and demands of the Biafran Executive Council to stop the war. Another living witness is Obasanjo.

He is still alive. When I sent for him from Owerri, it was to my house he arrived. General Alani Akinrinade was the one I signalled to tell Obasanjo to come to Uga in Orlu Division. He and then Lt. Col. Sam Tumoye were at our headquarters when we discussed how to bring the war to an end. It was from my house that I took Obasanjo to meet Effiong at Igboukwu, which used to be the headquarters of the Biafran Directorate of Military intelligence. General Akinrinade is still alive and can testify to what I am saying. Nobody defeated Biafra. Commonsense will have tell you the truth. If they defeated Biafra, the federal side would have demanded our weapons. In my own case, I asked all my soldiers to go home with their weapons. Those that don’t want it should dump them by the roadside. Some handed them over to us. The truth is this. For a long time because of the laws in the archives of the military, what I am telling you today was kept under cover and secret. The essence is to give Nigeria a chance to formulate a new society where all can live in peace. But unfortunately, what I see now is that the issues that led to that armed struggle is yet to be addressed. And instead of addressing this issue so that Nigeria can have a good future, our leaders are still pursuing selfish interest. It is such that even in their presence, the Niger Delta struggle is rising every day.


[i]How true is it that when people say that former President Nnamdi Azikiwe was against Biafra?
[/i]Going down memory lane, Zik was never a tribal person. He is not an Igbo leader. He only looked at the country from a global point of view. That was why he stepped aside for Dr. Michael Okpara. His presence in Biafra was more accidental than of necessity. We knew what we did and to what length we bent backward for him to stay in Biafra. The only opportunity we allowed him to step out of  Biafra merely brought Biafra into a civil war within itself. This, we had to quickly, on Odumegwu-Ojukwu’s advice, militarily run around with the various administrators of the various local governments to avoid a war between the Zikist and the non-Zikist.

Interesting.

1supremo:
I know, but what I need is a semi acoustic guitar not an electro acoustic. Any ideas what the price is and where I can get it in Lagos? Did some scouting at Oshodi, but I couldn't find any.

Thanks

Budget from 80k upwards.