₦airaland Forum

shotster50:
NNamdi Kalu is a puppet master stringing you fools along...

TruthisGOD:
Is he the only one that preaches hate and instigates tribes? Is it because he can be heard true his media. Are u aware of the utterances made by a renowned monarch against another tribe before the just concluded election? Are you also aware of a call for genocide on a certain tribe by some group of people during the election period? Even people in this forum spew rubbish against some tribes. We are all guity of tribalism and hatred that's the truth about it. The earlier we realize our differences the better for us. If a team does not agree the can never progress no matter how intelligent, skillful and endowed they are.

The Forgotten Documents Of The Nigerian Civil War

By Odia Ofeimun | Sahara Reporters | Nigeria

_{The most comprehensive and almost cover-all organization of the documents of the Nigerian Civil War remains AHM Kirk-Greene's CRISIS AND CONFLICT IN NIGERIA, A Documentary Sourcebook 1966-1970 Volume 1, and Volume 2, published by Oxford University Press London, New York and Ibadan in 1971. Volume One, according to the blurb, “describes the prelude to the war and the succession of coups from that of 15 January1966 which initially brought a military regime to power in Nigeria”.}

...It is a preference, it seems, for the murky half-truths and out-rightly contrived lies, much of them horrid residues of war propaganda, that have mauled our public space and ruined civic projects so irremediably since the war. Yet so insistent are the issues, so inexorable in everyday political discussions, so decisive in the sentiments expressed across regional and ethnic lines, that to continue to let them fester in limbo is to be guilty of something close to intellectual treason.

To meet the challenge of the propaganda, it has become necessary, in my view, to provide a natural history of the documents, first, as a performance in genealogies, to audit the processes through which the documents passed in order to arrive at where they are. I consider this important so that those who may wish to dispute their veracity can do so with fuller knowledge of their odyssey.

I am minded to distinguish between offending the sensitivities of those who shore up the myth of we never make mistakes, and others who simply wish for bygones to be bygones.

As against bygoners, I think a country is unfortunate and ill-served when it carries a pernicious history on her back, that has been garnished by rumour peddlers and fiction-mongers, who may or may not derive any benefits from traducing the truth, but have been too committed to a line that makes looking the truth in the face unappealing. To keep silent, or to shelve a corrective, in the face of such traducers, is almost churlish. It is certainly not enough to break the silence by outing the forgotten documents. http://saharareporters.com/2012/10/21/forgotten-documents-nigerian-civil-war-odia-ofeimun

NatureBoy91:
English(grammar). We have seen you attended Harvard Law School. Then better work with the press and stop making silly debate which won't yield good to you. Truth is Truth. Take it or Leave it.

TruthisGOD:
I am an advocate of the truth! I listen to him and i accept the truth he says. His hate messages i discard. The foundation of this country is faulty that is the truth about it. Some people think that the problem of this country is only corruption but the major problem is tribalism and religion and is evidenced in Nairaland forum. By the way you talk abt war, has his followers killed any person or resorted to violence in their actulization? Instead we have some brain washed people bombing themselves nd the country in the name of some stupid religious believe. Suprisingly, even some educated people among them have this ideology. And you think if am given a choice i'll live in the same country with people that have such ideology?

The solution. Is to make me a Mod.

TruthisGOD:
i read and understand your post. Hate speech and undiluted truth, is he using it to gain relevant? Without the way he dishes information people will not take him serious. After more than 40yrs of civil war why are they still clamouring for secession? If you find the truth in the above answer you will know why i believe the may achieve it.

TechLector:
Many Nigerians are upset at the news that Lagos State, Nigeria spent NGN78 million (USD391,468) to maintain a website for their governor, Babatunde Fashola.

I can see why many are confused and outraged, considering that blogs are hosted for free on . Great dedicated servers cost roughly NGN 2000 (USD 9) a month and a fraction of that budget would retain talented Nigerian staff members to keep the site up to date for his tenure as governor.

As a professional web developer and a Lagosian, it is my duty to help people understand why N78 million is not just a reasonable cost, but actually a bargain. At the end of this, I hope I’d have convinced you, not confused you, that Lagos state was financially prudent in this project......

...... Hosting – NGN 40 million

The assets of Lagos state must be adequately secured. The server probably backs up every minute, randomly changes location between a network of 50 servers to throw off hackers, while keeping the load time at a respectable 24 seconds.

I could go on to point out the search feature which must have cost a fair bit to be engineered, embedded auto-playing (and looping) video which is a rarity on sites these days, content producers that keep the content regularly updated as well as other noteworthy features, but I’ve already exceeded the NGN 78 million budget.

I’m proud of Lagos state’s investment and look forward to further spendings of this caliber in the field. I humbly submit myself as a potential candidate in future projects.

My love for Lagos will help me strive to deliver such technical prowess consistently on such a tight budget. I live to serve and I’ll do my very best with the limited pay to make Lagos state proud of its digital assets.

source: http://techlector.com/break-down-of-how-raji-fashola-spent-78-million-naira-usd-391468-on-his-website/

TruthisGOD:
Don't think is unachieveable. Ideology never dies, one day the may achieve it. Talking about refrendum they cannot achieve it without media and international publiciity. That explains the essence of their media outfit. Nothing is impossible, the may achieve it.

azimibraun:
I don't know what you are trying to say because of the incoherence of your write up, Especially the topic. But I will still try to help you make a sense of it. Some of us are too educated and enlightened to take Mr Nnamdi Kanu seriously over his deranged and renegade ways. His modus operandi is getting serious igbo men, women and youths irritated. Self actualization cannot be gotten through Hate speeches from an Obscure Radio station you know.

There are UN guidelines and established Mechanisms for self actualization becouse it's not criminal to seek independence so long as you meet the requirements. Why is Mr Kanu in 2015 not exploring modern and acceptable means of getting Biafra and taking everybody back to the very dark days. South Sudan and Eritrea I guess are the 2 most recent countries to gain independence in Africa. Did he bother to do. Study on how they went about it? Nigeria was under colonial rule and south Africa too.

The same Britain that colonized Zimbabwe but we all got our independence differently. South Africa with some level of violence because of Apartheid, Nigeria got what is called a" Gentail Nationalism " it was very peaceful and had both the British and Nigerians smiling on the day of our independence.

Now the question is this; are the igbos through Nnamdi Kanu at war with the rest of Nigeria? No! Are they under Apartheid rule? No! Have they followed the UN approved means for self actualization one of which is a "Referendum"? No!

Because at this moment it's simple to see Majority of the Igbos don't think the Madman calling the rest of Nigeria " the Zoo" and making some non- easterners call the east " the Wild" is representing them. When you see a Nation who wants their own country you will know. Nnamdi Kanu is defrauding few unenlightened Igbos of millions of dollars and Naira over what is practically Unachievable.

Psalmwhyte:
Plz wait ooo, is dis d very Fernandez dat owns a Diamond mine in Angola?
If he is, why is it dat much is not heard or known of him in a country like Nigeria wia people like him are worshipped like ''gods''.
Walahi d Fernandez i knw get excess money infact i nicknamed him ''WORLD BANK''.
RIP 2 d Dead.

PentiumPro:
This ediot here is so full of undiluted bile. You going to die soon from excessive killer toxins in your system at the rate you are going with your hate and anger. Na only you be yibboe here?
You obviously need to be examined medically, your mental status is highly suspect.

SOUNDKING:
kudos to you prophet,those fighting for Biafra was Biafrans before the coming of the white man,those fighting for one Nigeria are mischievious and wicked. Nigeria is fuckingly expired.

erikcantona:
. B4 december nigeria may engage in full war or separate easily

Txonyi:
the zoo must fall. biafra will never miss the zoo. people will die of hunger o. people will owe IMF forever. the zoo will suffer. but before then, we MUST KILL the idiots tha shot our IPOB members.

DankemzI:
Biafra is a Task all Lovers of Freedom, Lovers of Justice, Lovers of Fairness & Equity must Support!
Irrespective of Tribe,...

DaBullIT:
these days if you speak the truth about kalu and Ojuwku , your comments are removed immediately , but threads calling Nigeria a zoo and nigerians animals exist for months on front page

what are we supposed to think ?

(not sections of it, or a few comments o! )

tinzymoha:
Y'all need to knw that the war fought during ojukwu's time is totally different, this man has never been arrested or seen with a weapon, he uses is words. I won't be surprised if one country is supporting him, once PMB takes this to another level by arresting him or his family so will dy.. They are just waiting for PMB to slip up

The Forgotten Documents Of The Nigerian Civil War
By Odia Ofeimun | Sahara Reporters | Nigeria

_{The most comprehensive and almost cover-all organization of the documents of the Nigerian Civil War remains AHM Kirk-Greene's CRISIS AND CONFLICT IN NIGERIA, A Documentary Sourcebook 1966-1970 Volume 1, and Volume 2, published by Oxford University Press London, New York and Ibadan in 1971. Volume One, according to the blurb, “describes the prelude to the war and the succession of coups from that of 15 January1966 which initially brought a military regime to power in Nigeria”.}

The volume takes the story up to July 1967 when the war began. Volume Two covers July 1967 to January 1970, that is, between the beginning of hostilities, and when, as testified by the last entry in the volume, General Yakubu Gowon made a Victory broadcast, The Dawn of National Reconciliation, on January 15, 1970. No other collection of civil war documents, to my knowledge, exists that compares with these two volumes. And none, as far as I know, has attempted to update or complement the publications so as to include or make public, other documents that are absent from Kirk-Greene's yeoman's job. Yet, as my title pointedly insists, there have been some truly 'forgotten' documents of the Nigerian Civil War which ought to be added and without which much of the history being narrated will continue to suffer gaps that empower enormous misinterpretations, if not falsehoods.

In my view, the most forgotten documents of the Nigerian civil war, which deserved to be, but were not included in the original compilation by Kirk-Greene - are two. The first is the much talked-about, but never seen, Ifeajuna Manuscript. It was written by Major Emmanuel Ifeajuna, the leader of the January 15 1966 Coup that opened the floodgates to other untoward events leading to the civil war. The author poured it all down in the “white hot heat” of the first few weeks after the failed adventure that ushered in the era of military regimes in Nigeria's history. Not, as many would have wished, the story of how the five majors carried out the coup.

It is more of an apologia, a statement of why they carried out the coup, and what they meant to achieve by it. It is still unpublished so many decades after it was written. The Manuscript had begun to circulate, very early, in what may now be seen as samizdat editions. They passed from hand to hand in photocopies, in an underground career that seemed fated to last forever until 1985 when retired General Olusegun Obasanjo, after his first coming as Head of State, quoted generously from it in his biography of his friend, Major Chukuma Kaduna Nzeogwu, the man who, although not the leader of the coup, became its historical avatar and spokesperson. Indeed, Nzeogwu's media interviews in the first 48 hours after the coup have remained the benchmark for praising or damning it. Ifeajuna's testimony fell into the hands of the military authorities quite early and has been in limbo. Few Nigerians know about its existence. So many who know about it have been wondering why the manuscript has not seen the light of day.

The other document, the second most forgotten of the Nigerian Civil War, has had more luck than the Ifeajuna Manuscript.

It happens to be the transcript of the famous meeting of May 6th and 7th 1967, held at Enugu, between Lt. Colonel Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, the Military Governor of Eastern Region, and Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Leader of the Yoruba and an old political opponent of the leaders of the Eastern Region. Awolowo attended the meeting at the head of a delegation of peace hunters in a bid to avert a shooting war after the pogrom against Easterners which presaged the counter-coup of July 29, 1966.

The transcripts of the meeting, never publicly known to have existed, entered public discourse formally when a speech by Chief Obafemi Awolowo delivered on the first day of the meeting was published in a book, Path to Nigerian Greatness, edited by MCK Ajuluchuku, the Director for Research and Publicity of the Unity Party of Nigeria, in 1980. The speech seemed too much of a teaser. So it remained, until it was followed by Awo on the Nigerian Civil War, edited by Bari Adedeji Salau in 1981, with a Foreword by the same MCK Ajuluchuku.

The book went beyond the bit and snippet allowed in the earlier publication by accommodating the full transcripts of the two-day meeting. Not much was made of it by the media until it went out of print. Partly for this reason and because of the limited number in circulation, the transcripts never entered recurrent discussions of the Nigerian civil war. The good thing is that, if only for the benefit of those who missed it before, the book has been reprinted. It was among twelve other books by Obafemi Awolowo re-launched by the African Press Ltd of Ibadan at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, Lagos, in March 2007. Important to note is that among other speeches made by Awolowo, before during and after, on the Nigerian Civil War, the transcripts are intact.

They reveal who said what between Chief Obafemi Awolowo, his Excellency Lt. Col. Emeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, Sir Francis Ibiam, Chiefs Jereton Mariere, C.C. Mojekwu, JIG Onyia, Professors Eni Njoku, Samuel Aluko and Dr. Anezi Okoro, who attended the meeting. Unlike the Ifeajuna Manuscript, still in limbo, the transcripts are in respectable print and may be treated as public property or at least addressed as a feature of the public space.

I regard both documents as the most forgotten documents of the civil war because they have hardly been mentioned in public discourses in ways that recognize the gravity of their actual contents. Or better to say, they have been mentioned, only in passing, in articles written for major Nigerian newspapers and magazines since the 70s, or parried on television, but only in figurative understatements by people who, for being able to do so, have appeared highly privileged.

The privilege, grounded in the fact that they remained unpublished, may have been partially debunked by the publications I have mentioned, but their impact on the discussions have not gone beyond the hyped references to them, and the innuendos and insinuations arising from secessionist propaganda during the civil war.

.....Forty years after the civil war, you would expect that some formal, academic decorum would be brought into play to sift mere folklore and propaganda from genuine history. But not so for those who do not care about the consequences of the falsehoods that they trade. They continue to pump myths that treat their own people as cannon fodder in their elite search for visibility, meal tickets and upward mobility in the Nigerian spoils system. Rather than lower the frenzy of war-time 'huge lies' that were crafted for the purpose of shoring up combat morale, they increase the tempo.

I mean: postwar reconstruction should normally forge the necessity for returnees from the war to accede to normal life, rather than lose their everyday good sense, in contemplation of events that never happened or pursuing enemies who were never there. Better, it ought to be expected, for those who must apportion blame and exact responsibility, to work at a dogged sifting of fact from fiction, relieving the innocent of life-threatening charges, in the manner of the Jews who, after the Second World War sought to establish who were responsible for the pogroms before they pressed implacable charges.

Unfortunately, 40 years does not seem to have been enough in the Nigerian case. Those who organized the pogrom are lionized as patriots by champions of the Biafran cause. Those who sought lasting answers away from blind rampage are demonized as villains. The rest of us are all left mired in the ghastly incomprehension that led to the war. Those for whom the civil war was not a lived, but a narrated experience, are made to re-experience it as nightmare, showing how much of an effort of mind needs to be made to strip the past of sheer mush.

As it happens, every such effort continues to be waylaid by the sheerness of war propaganda that has been turned into post-war authoritative history. http://saharareporters.com/2012/10/21/forgotten-documents-nigerian-civil-war-odia-ofeimun

OPCNAIRALAND:
Awolowo did not support anyone. Whats wrong with you Ibos always afraid to stand on principle and justifying issues along the balance of friend/enemy.

Awolowo stood on principle, simple! The principle is for everyone, majority or minority to have the right to determine their own destiny. Ojukwu agreed that majority should have independence but not the minorities under Eastern region.

Where and How did Awo support such a demented desire to suppress minorities like East wanted?

In an interview in Boston on July 9th 2001, Ojukwu told a questioner: “We've said this over and over again, so many times, and people don't understand: they don't want to actually. If you remember, I released Awolowo from jail. Even that, some people are beginning to contest as well. Awo was in jail in Calabar. Gowon knows and the whole of the federal establishment knows that at no point was Gowon in charge of the East. The East took orders from me. Now, how could Gowon have released Awolowo who was in Calabar?

Because the fact that I released him, it created quite a lot of rapport between Awo and myself, and I know that before he went back to Ikenne, I set up a hotline between Ikenne and my bedroom in Enugu. He tried, like an elder statesman to find a solution. Awolowo is a funny one. Don't forget that the political purpose of the coup, the Ifeajuna coup that began all this, was to hand power over to Awo. We young men respect him a great deal. He was a hero. I thought he was a hero and certainly I received him when I was governor.

We talked and he was very vehement when he saw our complaints and he said that if the Igbos were forced out by Nigeria that he would take the Yorubas out also. I don't know what anybody makes of that statement but it is simple. Whether he did or didn't, it is too late. There is nothing you can do about it. So, he said this and I must have made some appropriate responses too. But it didn't quite work out the way that we both thought. Awolowo, evidently, had a constant review of the Yoruba situation and took different path. That's it. I don't blame him for it. I have never done”.

This was quoted in Rudolf Ogoo Okonkwo's article, reporting the Okigbo International Conference, on page 102 of The GUARDIAN, Monday, October 1, 2007. Quite an interesting one for anyone who wishes to appreciate the folkloric dimensions that mis-led many who listened to Radio Biafra, or have followed the post-war attempts to win the war in retrospect instead of preparing the survivors, on both sides of the war, to confront the reality that mauled them and could maul them again unless they shape up.

Against Ojukwu's self-expiatory remarks, it is of interest to read Hilary Njoku, the head of the Biafran army at the start of the war. In his war memoirs, A tragedy without heroes, he declares that the meeting between Obafemi Awolowo and Ojukwu had nothing to do with the decision to announce secession.

Njoku writes that: “…most progressive Nigerians, even before him, saw 'Biafra' as a movement, an egalitarian philosophy to put Nigeria in order, a Nigeria where no tribe is considered superior to the others forever…….It was the same Biafran spirit which led Chief Awolowo to declare publicly that if the Eastern Region was pushed out of Nigeria, then the Western Region would follow suit.

When Ojukwu moved too fast recklessly in his ostrich strategy, the same Chief Awolowo led a delegation of Western and some Midwestern leaders to Enugu on 6th May, 1967 and pleaded with Ojukwu not to secede, reminding him that the Western Region was not militarily ready to follow suit in view of the weaknesses of the Western Command of the Nigerian Army and the dominant position of the Northern troops in the West. Ojukwu turned a deaf ear to this advice maybe because of his wrong concept”.(p.141)

Read the rest here: http://saharareporters.com/2012/10/21/forgotten-documents-nigerian-civil-war-odia-ofeimun

free2ryhme:
Crack cocaine is the crystal form of cocaine, which normally comes in a powder form.1 It comes in solid blocks or crystals varying in color from yellow to pale rose or white.

Crack is heated and smoked. It is so named because it makes a cracking or popping sound when heated.

Crack, the most potent form in which cocaine appears, is also the riskiest. It is between 75% and 100% pure, far stronger and more potent than regular cocaine.

SomebodyLovesMe:
FFK and Fayose are welcome to their opinion, but they could not have been said to speak on behalf of their tribe,.and you would notice that their words / actions were condemned by many Yorubas, because their intentions were perceived to be insincere.

This is not about one Igbo man. It is about the fact that through their words and actions, the majority of Igbos have demonstrated that tribe comes before principle or fairness, so much so that they would gladly support someone who almost completely destroyed the nation.

Chimamanda Adiche: Ethnicity has become, in Nigeria, more political than cultural, less about philosophy and customs and values, and more about which bank is a Yoruba or Hausa or Igbo bank, which political office is held by which ethnicity, which revered leader must be turned into a flawless saint. We cannot deny ethnicity. It matters. But our ethnic and national identities should not be spoken of as though they were mutually exclusive; I am as much Igbo as I am Nigerian. I have hope in the future of Nigeria, mostly because we have not yet made a real, conscious effort to begin creating a nation (We could start, for example, by not merely teaching Maths and English in primary schools, but also teaching idealism and citizenship.)

For some non-Igbo, confronting facts of the war is uncomfortable, even inconvenient. But we must hear one another’s stories. It is even more imperative for a subject like Biafra which, because of our different experiences, we remember differently. Biafrian minorities were distrusted by the Igbo majority, and some were unfairly attacked, blamed for being saboteurs. Nigerian minorities, particularly in the midwest, suffered at the hands of both Biafrian and Nigerian soldiers.

‘Abandoned property’ cases remain unresolved today in Port Harcourt, a city whose Igbo names were changed after the war, creating “Rumu” from “Umu.” Nigerian soldiers carried out a horrendous massacre in Asaba, murdering the males in a town which is today still alive with painful memories. Some Igbo families are still waiting, half-hoping, that a lost son, a lost daughter, will come home.

All of these stories can sit alongside one another. The Nigerian stage is big enough. Chinua Achebe has told his story. This week, he turns 82. Long may he live. http://www.premiumtimesng.com/arts-entertainment/108378-chinua-achebe-at-82-we-remember-differently-by-chimamanda-ngozi-adichie.html

GoldenBoi111:
These Niger-Deltans have understood that they can't make any political achievement in Nigeria without the cooperation of other tribes, and wisely began to issue their supports and cooperation to the Buhari led government while the misguided Igbos are still enslaving themselves with baseless sentiments.

Believe it or not, political appointments are catalysed by intelligent lobbying and not unnecessary hatred. No smart politician will appoint his haters to sensitive positions. I will never blame Buhari if he fails to appoint any Igbo to key positions. I am proud of Niger-Deltans and they are already reaping the fruits of their wisdom. Igbos should have a rethink [truncated by WhatsApp]

Solomon Dalong wrote: "Hypocrisy is when you lump diverse regions and peoples as NW, NE, and NC together as 'north' but when it comes to the south, you try to differentiate between SS, SE, and SW. So in this argument, Kachuwku, the NNPC boss is not an Igbo, but a Kilba man appointed as SFG is Hausa-Fulani. This is being clever by half. "https://www.nairaland.com/2569538/chukwuemerie-udochukwu-replies-igbos-buharis

PenSniper:
Hear him, “One of the things that I learnt from my leader, President Olusegun Obasanjo is that one must never respond to the ignorant, the uncouth, the uncultured, the unlettered, the unrefined and the accursed.

“He also taught us never to join issues with the embittered, the obsessed, the imbecilic, the foolish, the living-dead and those that are emotionally, psychologically and intellectually challenged.

“Rather than a response, such sad and sorry souls are only deserving of our prayers and our pity.”

Bevista:
And how do you know all what you wrote there. Really impressive stuff. Are you an energy expert? Quite refreshing for once to read an intelligent and well articulated response on NL, devoid of hollow talk and abuse.

amuwo1980:
@ laudate, if all Nigerians are half as sharp as you. I enjoyed your response

Chimamanda Adiche: Ethnicity has become, in Nigeria, more political than cultural, less about philosophy and customs and values, and more about which bank is a Yoruba or Hausa or Igbo bank, which political office is held by which ethnicity, which revered leader must be turned into a flawless saint. We cannot deny ethnicity. It matters. But our ethnic and national identities should not be spoken of as though they were mutually exclusive; I am as much Igbo as I am Nigerian. I have hope in the future of Nigeria, mostly because we have not yet made a real, conscious effort to begin creating a nation (We could start, for example, by not merely teaching Maths and English in primary schools, but also teaching idealism and citizenship.)

For some non-Igbo, confronting facts of the war is uncomfortable, even inconvenient. But we must hear one another’s stories. It is even more imperative for a subject like Biafra which, because of our different experiences, we remember differently. Biafrian minorities were distrusted by the Igbo majority, and some were unfairly attacked, blamed for being saboteurs. Nigerian minorities, particularly in the midwest, suffered at the hands of both Biafrian and Nigerian soldiers.

‘Abandoned property’ cases remain unresolved today in Port Harcourt, a city whose Igbo names were changed after the war, creating “Rumu” from “Umu.” Nigerian soldiers carried out a horrendous massacre in Asaba, murdering the males in a town which is today still alive with painful memories. Some Igbo families are still waiting, half-hoping, that a lost son, a lost daughter, will come home.

All of these stories can sit alongside one another. The Nigerian stage is big enough. Chinua Achebe has told his story. This week, he turns 82. Long may he live. http://www.premiumtimesng.com/arts-entertainment/108378-chinua-achebe-at-82-we-remember-differently-by-chimamanda-ngozi-adichie.html

Chimamanda Adiche: Ethnicity has become, in Nigeria, more political than cultural, less about philosophy and customs and values, and more about which bank is a Yoruba or Hausa or Igbo bank, which political office is held by which ethnicity, which revered leader must be turned into a flawless saint. We cannot deny ethnicity. It matters. But our ethnic and national identities should not be spoken of as though they were mutually exclusive; I am as much Igbo as I am Nigerian. I have hope in the future of Nigeria, mostly because we have not yet made a real, conscious effort to begin creating a nation (We could start, for example, by not merely teaching Maths and English in primary schools, but also teaching idealism and citizenship.)

For some non-Igbo, confronting facts of the war is uncomfortable, even inconvenient. But we must hear one another’s stories. It is even more imperative for a subject like Biafra which, because of our different experiences, we remember differently. Biafrian minorities were distrusted by the Igbo majority, and some were unfairly attacked, blamed for being saboteurs. Nigerian minorities, particularly in the midwest, suffered at the hands of both Biafrian and Nigerian soldiers.

‘Abandoned property’ cases remain unresolved today in Port Harcourt, a city whose Igbo names were changed after the war, creating “Rumu” from “Umu.” Nigerian soldiers carried out a horrendous massacre in Asaba, murdering the males in a town which is today still alive with painful memories. Some Igbo families are still waiting, half-hoping, that a lost son, a lost daughter, will come home.

All of these stories can sit alongside one another. The Nigerian stage is big enough. Chinua Achebe has told his story. This week, he turns 82. Long may he live. http://www.premiumtimesng.com/arts-entertainment/108378-chinua-achebe-at-82-we-remember-differently-by-chimamanda-ngozi-adichie.html