₦airaland Forum

HE is a professor of English, a writer of repute and runs regular commentary on socio-political development of the country. Twice, he has been nominated to receive national honours, and twice, he turned down the offer. His books have always generated furore. When he published A man of the people just before the military coup of January 1966, it received critical review by a section of the public.

His latest work, due to be released in Nigeria soon, is a chronicle of the activities of the civil war. The publishers, Penguins, described it thus: “Now, years, in the making, comes the towering reckoning with one of the modern Africa’s most fateful experience, both as he lived it and he has now come to understand it.

Like or dislike him, Achebe cannot be ignored Things Fall Apart, his first book, has been variously rated as one of the 50 most influential books. He has also been described as one of the most influential Africans in the 21st Century.

Achebe, who was cultural ambassador for Biafra during the war, displayed deep-seated dislike for the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo and his people, the Yoruba.

Dismissing the argument that the Federal Government, involved in a war, had to do what it did to facilitate its victory, the writer said: “Supporters of the Federal Government position maintain that a war was being waged and the premise of all wars is for one side to emerge as the victor. Overly ambitious actors may have taken actions unbecoming of international conventions of human rights, but these things happen everywhere. This same group often cites findings, from organisations (sanctioned by the Federal Government) that sent observers during the crisis, that there was no clear intent on behalf of the Nigerian troops to wipe out the Igbo people … pointing out that over 30,000 Igbo still lived in Lagos, and half a million in the Mid-West.”But if the diabolical disregard for human life seen during the war was not due to the Northern military elite’s jihadist or genocidal obsession, then why were there more small arms used on Biafran soil than during the entire second world war? Why were there 100,000 casualties on the much larger Nigerian side compared with more than two million ‘mainly children’ Biafrans killed?”

He maintained that the pre-and post-war policies of the government were calculated to wipe out Ndigbo, Achebe said the same policy has kept his people out of the mainstream of the political configuration of the country 42 years after the war. This did not take into consideration that an Igbo, Dr. Alex Ekwueme, was Vice-President in the Second Republic. When there was a consensus that power had to shift to the South in 1999, Ekwueme slugged it out with Chief Olusegun Obasanjo for the ticket of the dominant political party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). However, given the prevailing mood in the country, the Yoruba had to be compensated for the annulment of the presidential election of 1993 won by the late Chief Moshood Abiola. The sentiments swayed victory for Obasanjo at the Jos National Convention. While Obasanjo, a Yoruba, won, Ekwueme, an Igbo, had a good run and could not be said to have been disgraced. Since then, he has been handed crucial assignments by the party since he was the pioneer Chairman of the PDP’s Board of Trustees.

A political activist and convener of the Coalition of Democrats for Electoral Reforms (CODER), Mr. Ayo Opadokun, took umbrage at the position of Achebe in the new book. He said: “The new write-up is another rehash of the perverted intellectual laziness which he had exhibited in the past in matters relating to Awo when Achebe described Awo as a Yoruba irredentist. What he expected was that Awo should fold his arms to allow the Igbo race led by Zik to preside over the affairs of the Yoruba nation. The fact that the Yoruba people in their wisdom, having found out that the NCNC through Zik and Okpara had established a government of their choice and then wanted to follow up with the appropriation of the Yorubaland as their catchment area. It is a demonstration of the contempt of Achebe and his ilk for the Yoruba nation.

He said: “The story of the emergence of Nigeria as a country as christened by the concubine of Lugard can’t be written sensibly without admitting one or two areas of flaws where founding leaders were not disposed to making a nation out of Nigeria.

The NCNC led by Zik and his people, in a terrific conspicuous collaboration, after having put Awo in jail, forced the creation of Midwest and the NCNC refused to allow the creation of another in their region. Perhaps the West had the smallest landmass of the three regions.

“Secondly, in the run-up and activities towards Nigerian nationalism, it was clear that the East and West were in contest for socio-economic and political power. The fact is that with what the NCNC, driven by Igbo nationalism to which Achebe subscribes, the Yoruba nation was being derided by the likes of Achebe who wanted to forcefully appropriate Yoruba territory. And because the Yoruba nation led by Awo would not accept that, they became enemies.

The political problem with the Igbo

stemmed from the ban on import

of stockfish and second hand clothing after the war. He felt that it was fundamental error for a group of Nigerians to live on stockfish that lacks nutritional value and that it was degrading for Nigeria to be importing second-hand clothing. Being an economist, a honest and forthright Nigerian who would not mortgage his conscience to win votes, he had to carry that cross all his life. Even after his death, Prof Achebe has written a new book, repeating the gaffe. It is another demonstration of how far inveterate enemies can go.

“I cannot believe that a scholar of Achebe’s stature could be so unforgiving. Mathew 6: 14 and 15 enjoins every Christian to forgive fellow human beings.

“Some have been trying to build a bridge between Igbo and Yoruba. I remember my colleagues like Rear Admiral Ndubuisi Kanu (Retd), a former governor of Lagos and Imo; Commodore Ebitu Ukiwe, a former Chief of General Staff who headed the Council for Understanding and Unity; Dr. Arthur Nwankwo; Alhaji Abdulaziz Ude and so many of them who are men of honour. Their efforts have not been devalued by the attitudes of people like Prof Achebe. Their efforts and ours led to the formation of CUU. It became so powerful that Dodan Barracks had to proscribe the organisation.

“Let our Igbo brothers be reminded that about three quarters of their assets not in the Eastern region are in Lagos. We have been very liberal and accommodating and have allowed them to live undisturbed. When there was civil war, it was only in Yoruba land that the estate of the Igbo was returned with the rent. Let no one think that the Yoruba were fools by being so accommodating.”

Chairman of the Afenifere Renewal Group (ARG), Wale Oshun wondered why some Igbo, especially Chinua Achebe “find it convenient to pick Awolowo as a scapegoat of all that happened to them during the war.”

He asked, “did awo start the war? He was just the Federal Commissioner for Finance with responsibility for coming up with appropriate fiscal and monetary policies. He was not at the battle field and could not therefore be fairly charged with genocide..”

The former Chief Whip of the House of Representatives also challenged anyone to come up with any publication where Awo said starvation should be regarded as a legitimate weapon of war. “Neither in any of the books written by him nor on him was any such thing said. It is the work of those who hated his guts. It is not factual. It must be remembered that even when he was not in the cabinet, he tried to prevent the war, but as soon as it broke out, it was between Nigeria and Biafra. He had to come up with policies that would end the war quickly. Those who are peddling this line have forgotten that Awo was in prison when the crisis started.”

Reacting to the suggestion that Awo was one of those who supplied the intellectual power that drove the policies that eventually and effectively ended the war, Oshun said, “if he was in Nigeria and Nigeria was fighting a war, was he supposed to supply intellectual power to Ojukwu? I regard it as a mere emotional statement.”

Oshun also found no merit in the contention that the late Leader of the Yoruba wanted power at all cost and saw the war as an opportunity to further that ambition.. He said: “If Awo wanted power, he would have stayed on in the cabinet after the war. But, rather, he left, saying it had become indefensible to be part of a military government in peace time. If he was scheming for power, he would have held on and used the same military to further his ambition. So, where is the evidence he did anything to project himself and the Yoruba?”

Awo’s official biographer, Prof Moses Makinde, who heads Awolowo Centre for Philosophy, Ideology and Good Governance, Osogbo, is the author of ‘Awo: The Last Conversation’. The other two are: ‘Awo as a Philosopher’ and ‘A Memoir of the Jewel’. He disagreed with Achebe, maintaining that the Ikenne-born statesman was a full-blooded nationalist.

His words: “I do not agree with Prof Achebe on the statement. It is not true that Awo’s civil war role smacked of even an iota of selfish political aggrandisement. I was his biographer and I can state authoritatively that, though he did not penetrate the North, he had a firm belief in the unity of Nigeria and that was why he wanted to govern the country as an indivisible entity. All the governors and other close associates of his would attest to the fact that he was a believer in the oneness of Nigeria which was why he wanted to govern the entire country for the overall benefit of her entire citizenry.

“He was a rare politician and a disciplinarian who believed in selfless service to his people in one whole entity called Nigeria. And that he always preached to all his lieutenants at any point in time. That, of course, accounts for why all his landmark achievements in the Western Region still speak for his patriotic and selfless inclination till today.”

The debate continues to rage. What is not in doubt is that the fight for a better Nigeria remains the preoccupation of true nationalists and patriots

http://thenationonlineng.net/new/news/achebes-war-memoir-stirs-controversy/

PointB: For once let me praise Tinubu, the guy is a smooth operator, a profession con artist, I doff my hat! Rabadu once claimed (perhaps rightly) that Tinubu's criminality is of international proportion! Why would and ex-policeman and a well documented crime fighter band with such criminal, to the extent of falling maga of such huge proportion? Was it to have a first hand, up close and personal experience with such criminal mind? For placing his faith in Tinubu's sleazy hands, Ribadu fall my hand seriously! Tinubu is a sharp guy, one of Nigeria's best political con artist!

But in all honesty Tinubu is losing touch, how come the weeping General, Buhari, is yet to sign up to Tinubu's spin? Or is the General learning from the Policeman's fate? Who will be the next sucker in Tinubu's cloak and dagger game? Babangida Aliyu, seems like a plausible option, as Rufia is too garrulous. Tinubu over to you. This time around, at least double the price!

The big problem for him will be when he loses ondo. Thats when the south west people will begin to realize they have long been under Tinubu maze. Thats when his puppets called governors will start challenging him.

No surprise here. The problem now is how to add ondo to Tinubu's business empire which is falling apart.

I only blame El rufai for dealing with yorribers without a back up. People who could betray their own fathers and children for money.

The same people that trooped to sso rock to exchange abiola for parcels.

PeterKbaba:
and you think the south west are afraid of a breakup of nigeria... south west is the back bone of nigeria, peaceful, entertaining, vibrant economically, best structures, the majority of the most productive nigerians home and abroad reside / wants to reside in lagos. We also have crude oil all over South West ( Lagos State / Ondo State / Ogun State /Edo State ) and soon Ekiti State ... So what exactly are you talking about, una too dey jealous person sef aba

lmaooo... I neva knew i was replying an adult with teenage mindset.
South West is the parasite of Nigeria. You have nothing, you contribute nada to the center... you feed on free meal, thats why you love Nigeria with your lives.

Oh I see their is oil all over south west, wait until the breakup happens and the pipelines are cut off then we can fully know how much you people love palm oil to substitute it for the one you have now.


to answer your question, soith west would wish for anything but a disintegrated nigeria

hidden

PeterKbaba:
When was the last time your achebu guy stepped foot in the south east, just a questions..... cause Awo died fighting for his people in nigeria and not writing love letters or novels in another man's land to make money, wole soyinka ( a noble price winner ) is also with his people in Lagos, protesting the government for a better Nigeria. So I really dont get why you achebu guy is afriad of the south east.... I cant blame him tho, IF ACHEBE TRY ENTER SOUTH EAST, NA HIM BROTHERS GO STILL PLAN WITH PEOPLE TO KIDNAP AM... CURSED PEOPLE.

o
If I was achebe, I wont step into a cursed Nigeria too. Lets have Biafra and see if achebe will not touch down next day. And oh, you think war must be involved this 2nd time? its not fuel subsidy protest.

AND MAY I KNOW WHAT AWO KILLED HIMSELF FIGHTING FOR AND THE RESULTS.

[quote author=Dudu_Negro]....nobody personified those fatalistic traits better than Odumegwu Ojukwu, who at the end succumbed to the ravages of aids.[/quote]well, you need that to stay happy, but its on record that awo died of cowardly taking the rat poison way. I await your source...... or maybe he died the way aids patients in your family and village died. you never know.

Achebe only collaborated Femi Fani Kayode in stating the obvious. I want to be president awolowo sheepishly and selfishly wanted to weaken igbos in order to be president and was played by a much younger gowon. the reason he committef suicide like judas. Why stone aged people worship him at the expense of great people like soyinka explains why they are still in the stone age.

I guess these people they call 'natural pigs' want me to risk a ban on this thread.

This dumbo is talking about Achebe not being relevant to Nigerian polity. The same person that severally refused national honours.
who is awolowo in nigeria, who knows him. he died infamously and does not have a legacy or respect whatsoever anywhere in nigeria apart from amongst stone age yorrober people. If awo had another chance, he would still commit suicide.

And oh we see how your leaders love you... lmao.

we see how your leaders went to aso rock to betray abiola for some 'parcels'

we see how Tinubu loves you

we saw how much obasanjo loved you in his 8 years presidency.

we see all that

^
dumb f/u.ck. you clearly didnt read or understand the entire article. You clearly didnt see where he stated that there is nothing wrong with loving oneself but being animaliatic about it, to achieve futile personal ambition is the problem


well if you live like an animal, you die like an animal. in this case rat poison helped him out.

vowiski: You have no brains at all. †ђξ last tym ℓ̊ checked, ℓ̊ could still see Google Custom Search on Nairaland. If you are banned by Google, you can never use any AdSense feature. Come back when you have a brain.

As a Level 6 Google AdSense user, ℓ̊ sure knw ‎​ђã† ℓ̊ am saying. ‎​⌣»̶·̵̭̌·̵̭̌✽̤̈̊Ŧђɑ̤̥̈̊п̥̥̲̣̣̣kƨ̣̣̣̇̇̇̇✽̤̈̊·̵̭̌·̵̭̌«̶⌣

just like the illiterate you are and how dumb you type.

'A level 6 Google Adsense' user cannot differentiate between google custom search and local search box.

kill yourself you irreparable dummy

This book is a must have and read for any igbo person. Y'all need to shine your eyes.

And this is why people, that low life s.c.um of the life rotting in the grave deserves no iota of respect.That explains why he died of self inflicted rat poison.

Almost 30 years before Rwanda,
before Darfur, more than 2 million
people – mothers, children, babies,
civilians – lost their lives as a result
of the blatantly callous and
unnecessary policies enacted by the
leaders of the federal government
of Nigeria.
As a writer I believe that it is
fundamentally important, indeed
essential to our humanity, to ask the
hard questions, in order to better
understand ourselves and our
neighbours. Where there is
justification for further
investigation, justice should be
served.
In the case of the Nigeria-Biafra war
there is precious little relevant
literature that helps answer these
questions. Did the federal
government of Nigeria engage in
the genocide of its Igbo citizens –
who set up the republic of Biafra in
1967 – through punitive policies, the
most notorious being "starvation as
a legitimate weapon of war" ? Is the
information blockade around the
war a case of calculated historical
suppression? Why has the war not
been discussed, or taught to the
young, more than 40 years after its
end? Are we perpetually doomed to
repeat the errors of the past
because we are too stubborn to
learn from them?
The Oxford English Dictionary
defines genocide as "the deliberate
and systematic extermination of an
ethnic or national group ...". The UN
general assembly defined it in 1946
as "... a denial of the right of
existence of entire human groups".
Throughout the conflict the Biafrans
consistently charged that the
Nigerians had a design to
exterminate the Igbo people from
the face of the earth. This
calculation, the Biafrans insisted,
was predicated on a holy jihad
proclaimed by mainly Islamic
extremists in the Nigerian army and
supported by the policies of
economic blockade that prevented
shipments of humanitarian aid, food
and supplies to the needy in Biafra.
Supporters of the federal
government position maintain that
a war was being waged and the
premise of all wars is for one side to
emerge as the victor. Overly
ambitious actors may have "taken
actions unbecoming of international
conventions of human rights, but
these things happen everywhere".
This same group often cites findings,
from organisations (sanctioned by
the federal government) that sent
observers during the crisis, that
there "was no clear intent on behalf
of the Nigerian troops to wipe out
the Igbo people ... pointing out that
over 30,000 Igbos still lived in Lagos,
and half a million in the mid-west".
But if the diabolical disregard for
human life seen during the war was
not due to the northern military
elite's jihadist or genocidal
obsession, then why were there
more small arms used on Biafran
soil than during the entire second
world war? Why were there 100,000
casualties on the much larger
Nigerian side compared with more
than 2 million – mainly children –
Biafrans killed?
It is important to point out that most
Nigerians were against the war and
abhorred the senseless violence that
ensued. The wartime cabinet of
General Gowon , the military ruler, it
should also be remembered, was
full of intellectuals like Chief
Obafemi Awolowo among others
who came up with a boatload of
infamous and regrettable policies. A
statement credited to Awolowo and
echoed by his cohorts is the most
callous and unfortunate: all is fair in
war, and starvation is one of the
weapons of war. I don't see why we
should feed our enemies fat in
order for them to fight harder.
It is my impression that Awolowo
was driven by an overriding
ambition for power, for himself and
for his Yoruba people. There is, on
the surface at least, nothing wrong
with those aspirations. However,
Awolowo saw the dominant Igbos at
the time as the obstacles to that
goal, and when the opportunity
arose – the Nigeria-Biafra war – his
ambition drove him into a frenzy to
go to every length to achieve his
dreams. In the Biafran case it meant
hatching up a diabolical policy to
reduce the numbers of his enemies
significantly through starvation —
eliminating over two million people,
mainly members of future
generations.
The federal government's actions
soon after the war could be seen not
as conciliatory but as outright
hostile. After the conflict ended, the
same hardliners in the Nigerian
government cast Igbos in the role of
treasonable felons and wreckers of
the nation – and got the regime to
adopt a banking policy that nullified
any bank account operated during
the war by the Biafrans. A flat sum
of 20 Nigerian pounds was approved
for each Igbo depositor, regardless
of the amount of deposit. If there
was ever a measure put in place to
stunt, or even obliterate, the
economy of a people, this was it.
After that outrageous charade,
Nigeria's leaders sought to devastate
the resilient and emerging eastern
commercial sector even further by
banning the import of secondhand
clothing and stockfish – two trade
items that they knew the
burgeoning market towns of
Onitsha, Aba and Nnewi needed to
re-emerge. Their fear was that
these communities, fully
reconstituted, would then serve as
the economic engines for the
reconstruction of the entire Eastern
Region.
There are many international
observers who believe that Gowon's
actions after the war were
magnanimous and laudable. There
are tons of treatises that talk about
how the Igbo were wonderfully
integrated into Nigeria. Well, I have
news for them: The Igbos were not
and continue not to be reintegrated
into Nigeria, one of the main
reasons for the country's continued
backwardness.
Borrowing from the Marshall plan
for Europe after the second world
war, the federal government
launched an elaborate scheme
highlighted by three Rs – for
reconstruction, rehabilitation, and
reconciliation. The only difference
is that, while the Americans actually
carried out all three prongs of the
strategy, Nigeria's federal
government did not.
What has consistently escaped most
Nigerians in this entire travesty is
the fact that mediocrity destroys the
very fabric of a country as surely as
a war – ushering in all sorts of
banality, ineptitude, corruption and
debauchery. Nations enshrine
mediocrity as their modus operandi,
and create the fertile ground for the
rise of tyrants and other base
elements of the society, by silently
assenting to the dismantling of
systems of excellence because they
do not immediately benefit one
specific ethnic, racial, political, or
special-interest group. That, in my
humble opinion, is precisely where
Nigeria finds itself today.
http://guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/oct/02/biafran-war-nigeria-mediocrity-persecution-igbo?cat=commentisfree&type=article

[quote author=Kay-Dee]Problem is, millions of people tuned in last night to watch this debate and what they saw is what will stick in their heads. How many will be watching when Obama's ads start playing Romney's sound bytes from the debates and analyzing the contents ? probably hundreds or just a handful. The debate was the big stage to big a big and lasting impression. I still dey vex for Obama .[/quote]there are still two more important, more watched and more deciding debates ahead so never mind.

[quote author=Area_boy]give him a gay boy friend lets see how gay he is [/quote]stay there, that could be the least thing someone desperate for visa can do. A straight nigerian person can become more gay than elton john when a visa opportunity presents itself

Olalekan M Ayelokun



if its not gay assylum, its child molestation or incext. UK needs to deport all these people back to their caves or stop refering them as 'Nigerians'

Ayorh4you: which oil do u hv Mr man? U nid 2 wake up frm ur sleep. D oil is ours (Kogi) and we gonna fight it 2 d last point. Bar.awo

is your name not ayokunle or is it ayodeji. Ayo, Another fraudulent yorrober person.

which oil is yours? palm oil?

As long as this world remains, china will never be a world power and chinese will never be an international language. If anybody has to learn anything then china are the ones to learn English but owambe people must always play second fiddle.

[quote author=A-40]That is what baffles me the most!! How do you turn around 8 years of Bush misrule overnight! While the economy is still in a humdrum. I still believe Obama could have done better with his bailouts didn't exactly do too well there but I look at Romney a guy that doesn't even have a defined and well thought out policy of his own!! (Can't believe people are actually considering this chameleon) Bush was not this bad perhaps if not for those foolish wars he fought maybe the economy would not have gone to the dogs. Just saw the re run and I'm disappointed Barack didn't shoot his lying a$$ down maybe he was thinking about his missus sha

"Romney says he will pay for $5T tax cut without raising deficit or raising taxes on middle class"

This just knocked me out[/quote]Thats what I meant when I said too many lies. I expect the obama campaign to capitalize on those in coming days.
you used the best word to describe him. A chameleon.
True, obama could have done better but romney cannot do any better. with the bullcrap he has as plans which by the way are never consistent.

Seun: Obama bleeped up. He could not defend his policies and his usual rethorics could not stick to the newest version of Mitt Romney.

lmaooo... only a few on NL can see this sarcasm.


meanwhile, why didnt op cite the source of this 'victory' on the thread topic.

[quote author=Ileke-IdI]Nigeria should fall in line. China is the next big thing.[/quote]^
Parasitic no resource having yorrober people. Always looking for free food to su..ck. smh.

Good for them. Now they can leave our oil for us. Abi them don leave am self as the noise has ceased.

ehie: Whatever rocks your boat dude

I thought you'd be sleeping already. You need that.

ehie: @freiburger and Mr Globe,You guys are just putting my brain to sleep,Obama's four years has been terrible,he got owned by Romney tonight even the left wing media msbc,cnn,yahoo etc agreed.

well your brain needs a good sleep if it cant see the obvious. obama's 4 years was the aftermath of bush 8 years. people forget the way the economy was when obama came in and expects a sharp miracle.
O just have a good laigh when some folks think romney can do better.

Freiburger: First, i'll give you 10likes for this. What people dont understand is what has beeen the driving forces behind the president strong lead in the opinion polls even in the swing states, these are the Romney mistakes and his personality, he has never in anyway been connecting with the middle class families, all of a sudden i heard his talking repeatitively about the the MCF, very funny. Well, he who laugh last always laughs best.

the man has already gotten the reputation for saying and doing anything to be president. The same man thay said he didnt care for 47% all of a sudden couldnt defend that and turned around to say he cares for 100%. lol. Mitt Romney has never been consistent. Even his tax plans are not.

maclatunji: I think some people here are still lost in the #Obamamania wilderness. That performance by Obama in this morning's debate is one of the worst I have seen in a long time on any platform- Ok, aside the GEJ monologue we had during Nigeria's Presidential Campaign.

foh with your biased mind. He didnt even do badly, only that people expected him to go all out on mitt which he didnt (yet). That was why everybody was shocked. And that is why some are giving romney the victory.

obama simply didnt engage romney as was expected and if he had done, it would be a diffrent story.

vowiski: Stop spreading fraudulent and disgraceful information. Nairaland hasn't been banned by Google.. Rather Seun is dumping Google Advertising network for something that would be a success later.. You don't know how AdSense works, Seun will definitely make more with his 1st party advertising network.

If Seun had brains, he could start his own advertising network, that can be a success, Adplacers and Clickads have been a total failure, seun can correct their failures and give advertisers and publishers a reason to smile..

will u shut the f up. only an idi/iot rushes into disagreement without facts.

if you dout nairaland was banned, go check on www.bannedcheck.com


dumped adsense my ass. how many people have you ever heard dumped adsense. even sites with millions of more traffic than nairaland.

I think these spontaneos feel of romney victory will backfire in coming days. when facts and figures begin to come up.

airmark: How did George Bush jr,a republican, drive the economy better than Clinton, democrat?

lmao, you beat me to that... George Bush brought America to where it is today economically.


To the debate, I think this was just a strategy. There are two more debates which will even be closer to the elections. obama is no fool to let all those mitt romney gaffes slide. the 47%, bain outsourcing, etc. I think obama played to a script. Mitt Romney just dropped a whole lot of lies which will be used against him in subsequent debates.