₦airaland Forum

Obiagu1:
Your input is needed in this thread not on this one you just posted.

https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-881188.0.html

ChinenyeN:
Onlytruth, I cannot, for the life of me, understand why you think it sensible that ND and Igbo have a union of ANY KIND. Neighbors or not, there exists no real reason for why ND and Igbo should WILLINGLY form any sort of union. Please, do not use the clumsy series of events that culminated in the incomprehensibly mass support of GEJ as a measure of relations between ND and Igbo. As 'strategic' as it may seem in your mind, it is naivety to think that such a clumsy occurrence means a damn thing.

Honestly, I hope you are not allowing the questionable "change in character" exhibited lately by ND people to fool you into believing that there exists even the most remote and phantom of possibilities of "Eastern Unity". To me, all the news I have been reading/hearing about ND meetings and this new "pro-Igbo" propaganda, is beyond incomprehensible. In fact, I even find it insulting. As far as I am concerned, the line that draws "Rivers state" should be the demarcation that indicates the beginning of "negligible territories". These negligible territories are essentially lands, of which we have no sentimental attachment. We should feel nothing toward the region; nothing at all. Furthermore, negligible territories equates to negligible people, meaning that just as with the land, we should feel nothing toward the so-called people that have traced themselves behind the line of negligible territories. Igbo approach to ANY and EVERY advancement made by negligible territories, should be characterized largely by indifference and realism. Actions and decisions undertaken by Igbo should not be based on any false sense of brotherhood; no "we are siblings" mentality. Those days are long-since dead. 20th century occurrences saw to that.

I am not opposed to engaging in joint, pragmatic ventures with those from negligible territories, but so long as history is my witness, there will not be any "unity of purpose". These "minorities" know what they want, and it is unbelievably naive to believe that it can ever be shared purpose.

TolaniLuv:
Yoruba people stink? Wow really! We are also dirty haha. No probs!

Please if you leave near ketu/alapere there's a place called Ajelogo. When I was growin up we usually don't pass around that side of town Why? They have alot of ibo's immigrate that came to Lagos from village who lives there! Damn one of the dirtiest place in ketu. Full wit dis yeye people callin us yoruba dirty and stink!

I really hate to talk poo about other tribes ! What I see here a educated people focusing on one subject Ojukwu not Ibo in general! But, seein some people changing it to tribalism is so rude.

Honestly, I remember when I fall sick I went to a chemist own by Ibo man I bought antibiotic I opened t and it was just powered , before I opened t I had been takin t for almost 3 days without a change I decide to open t and guess what I found!

I returned d antibiotic to him with original one my mom brought from office ! He was speechless, tried to beg my mom not to expose him. I was like wtf? You are selling fake drugs to local people and you want us to keep quite? You are killing ur people ,

He doesn't care I'm sure is shop is still up till today! Heartless people.

Yes I said some of una are 100% heartless. Selling fake drugs to Nigerians citizen God will judge una .

iiiyyyk:
WHO IS THIS MAN OJUKWU (Yoruba academia adore him)


When academics converge on UNIOSUN to dissect Ojukwu
February 14, 2012 by TUNDE ODESOLA
Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu- Ojukwu

Even in death, the late enigmatic leader and revolutionist, Chukwuemeka Ojukwu, who had a Master’s degree in History from Oxford University, United Kingdom, continues to generate issues. In a colloquium held last Wednesday, academics from various universities converged on Osun State University, Ikire campus, to discuss the Biafra War led by Ojukwu between 1967 and 1970. TUNDE ODESOLA, who was at the event, reports.



That Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, arguably the most popular name in Igboland, is dead is no longer news. However, since his death on November 25, 2011, issues of inequality, ethnicity, corruption, nepotism and maladministration – drawbacks of the Nigerian nation – have cropped up at various forums, where the pros and cons of the Biafra War were discussed.



Born on November 4, 1933 to a wealthy Nnewi businessman, Sir Louis Odumegwu Ojukwu, in Zungeru, Niger State, the young Chukwuemeka, on the bill of his father, went to the United Kingdom at the age of 13 to study at Epsom College and later Lincoln College, Oxford University, where he earned a Master’s degree in History before returning to colonial Nigeria in 1956. Twenty-six days after his 78th birthday, Ojukwu died in the UK in November, the same month he was born.



In recognition of Ojukwu as one of the country’s earliest historians, the immediate past Provost, College of Humanities and Culture, Osun State University, Oshogbo, Prof. Siyan Oyeweso, decided to use the occasion of his 51st birthday anniversary, to organise a colloquium entitled, ‘Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu: The end of an era?’ in honour of the departed leader.



In his opening address, Oyeweso, a historian, explained that the past and present realities of the Nigerian state had portrayed Ojukwu as a hero and not a villain.



He said, “The declaration of the sovereignty of the Republic of Biafra was a sectional resolve of the majority of the people of the Eastern Region rather than a personal action of Ojukwu. Long before 1967, there had been growing distrusts among the Igbo of the Nigerian state. For instance, a constitutional study group set up by the Okpara government in Eastern Region in 1965 had recommended Igbo’s secession in these words: Secession is the ultimate cure for our difficulties. In arriving at this conclusion, we have considered the population of Eastern Nigeria, her economic possibilities and scientific and administrative expertise and her goodwill abroad.”



The Biafra secession bid also brought to the fore the basic imperfections of the whole of the Nigerian enterprise and the insincerity of the political figures. It showed that the political entity called Nigeria was nothing more than agglomeration of states and peoples forcefully and hurriedly put together by Britain for mere economic exploitation. On the eve of the Nigeria Civil War, as it had always been since the mistake of 1914, there were persecutions of non-indigenes, particularly the Igbo in the Northern part of Nigeria while the Federal Military Government could not arrest the situation.”



The chairman of the colloquium, Prof. Olutayo Adesina, of the Department of History, Faculty of Arts, University of Ibadan, said the Biafra War represented an era of principled stance, fearlessness and selflessness. He said the events that led to the war left Ojukwu with no choice but to rally his people to war. He said, “The coup and counter-coup of 1966 greatly altered the political equation and destroyed the fragile trust existing among the major ethnic groups. The revengeful nature of the July 1966 coup manifested in chaos, confusion and the spate of unnecessary killings which spread throughout the country. The killings in the North in September 1966 were an important factor in the events that put the wedge between the regions. It was the clinching factor, which transformed secession from a contingency plan into an inevitability. A last attempt to bring the warring parties together resulted in a meeting of the military rulers in Aburi, Ghana, in January 1966. At the meeting, the East’s proposal for a co-federal arrangement was agreed upon. General (Yakubu) Gowon one way or the other misinterpreted the agreement which would have given the East the autonomy it wanted.



“Ojukwu waited in vain for the Aburi agreement to be implemented. It was from then on that both sides started moving physically apart and thoughts of the East seceding became real. When in 1966 things came to a head among the various factions of the political elite, the Army intervened on January 15, 1966 to resolve the impasse. But the Army itself was soon bedevilled by the struggle for power.”



A lecturer in the Department of Political Science, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State, Prof. Adewale Yaagboyaaju, said the Igbo had the right to self determinism even as he described Ojukwu as a unique leader. He noted that the socio-political ills militating against the unity and development of the country during the pre civil war era remained present in post- independence Nigeria.



Another lecturer at the History Department of OAU, Dr. Ade Adesoji, said the Igbo had always been at the receiving end in the country’s power equation. Adesoji noted that the nation’s political class had always used ethnic and religious sentiments to divide and oppress the people.



But an Economic Historian from OAU, Dr. Adetunji Ogunyemi, differed in his submission, accusing Ojukwu of imposing a selfish and thoughtless agenda on the Igbo. He said it was paucity of economic wisdom on the part of Ojukwu to have led the Igbo to war.



According to Ogunyemi, Ojukwu miscalculated by having a false opinion of the economic potentials of the East. The lecturer explained that the 31 per cent contribution of the Igbo nation to Nigeria’s GDP and the contribution of 21 per cent to the nation’s total economic output gave the Biafra and its advocates a false sense of self sustainability.



He said Ojukwu failed to realise that the economic potentials of Biafra were attainable within the socio-political and geographical expression called Nigeria and not outside it. Ogunyemi explained that the East needed other regions of Nigeria to realise its potentials stressing that “Ojukwu can never be a hero.” He also noted that prior to the civil war; the Igbo had dominated the civil service in the North.



A lecturer at the Department of History and International Studies, UNIOSUN, Dr. Noah Attah, who teaches political economy, said Nigeria needed another Ojukwu to stop the Boko Haram menace ravaging the country. Attah said Biafra came into being as a result of the Federal Government’s ineffectiveness.



A visiting lecturer to UNIOSUN, Prof. Francis Egbokhare, acknowledged Ojukwu as a true Igbo leader but differed on the manner the war was prosecuted. Egbokhare observed that the Yoruba demonstrated the power of constructive and collective struggle during the June 12 1993 presidential election saga, insisting that Ojukwu’s method was not calculative enough. He said the civil war still existed in the minds of Nigerians, adding that bombings by Boko Haram sect reflected grave disaffection among the people. Egbokhare observed that Nigeria needed attitudinal change on the part of government and the people.



Also contributing, Mr. Femi Oyedele described Ojukwu as a nationalist who loved Nigeria and her people greatly. He stressed that Ojukwu could have turned the Igbo down when asked to lead them to war. Oyedele, who said Nigeria should be celebrating the fallen Biafra leader, maintained that Ojukwu deserved a national burial just as he insisted that a national monument should be named after him.



Dr. Osaro Edo of the Department of History, University of Ibadan, Oyo State, said it was unfortunate that Nigeria had perpetually resisted the progressive tendencies of the Igbo, adding that the country would have moved forward tremendously if the Igbo had been allowed to develop at their own pace.



A lecturer in the Department of Languages and Linguistics, UNIOSUN, Dr. Uzoma Chukwu, said Ojukwu deserved commendation rather than condemnation for his role in the political evolution of Nigeria.



A communiqué issued at the end of the colloquium said, “Although the Nigerian Civil War ended in 1970, its continuing socio-political relevance remains an indictment on the corporate existence of the Nigerian state. The late Ojukwu has been portrayed as a villain on the pages of Nigerian history. Hence, the circumstances surrounding his emergence need a re-appraisal in the light of the current ethno-religious crises confronting the country.



Whereas the secessionist attempt by the late Ojukwu was considered a felony against the Nigerian state, it was a pointer to the fact that the basis of Nigerian state is weak and therefore needs restructuring and re-negotiation.



However, a major lesson from the civil war is that the basis of Nigerian unity cannot be negotiated by force, given the attendant untold hardship on the mass of the people. The Nigerian people should consistently engage the Nigerian state to extract and generate best governance practices to ensure steady development. The failure of secessionist attempt is traceable to the importance attached to the economic inter-dependence of the sections of the Nigerian state by the governing elite and Nigerians.

[url]http://www.punchng.com/education/when-academics-converge-on-uniosun-to-dissect-ojukwu/
[/url]

nagoma:
@noiseless

You are being very unfair to Almajiris on NL who have so far said nothing about Bianca's speech. We are confused and wondering why a deadman is still on the surface of the earth months after he kicked the bucket. The burial ceremony of course is a wasteful pagan practice. Ojukwus grave will be a gold mine and the miners ( themselves ibos) are getting ready.

SNCOQ3:
Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus' feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected,"Why wasn't this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year's wages." He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it."Leave her alone," Jesus replied. "[It was intended] that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me."
John 12:3-8

ekwy nwa:
Don’t hate but emulate cos we re not Mate

Ojukwu jerks every Yoruba man up so this course OJUKWUMANIA  is now compulsory for ever Yoruba man

Igbos are more than you; no amount of yapping can change the fact

Ojukwu died and the nation stood on its feet

From North, (Niger state) South South (Port Harcourt) down to [b]South west[/b] (Lagos)  

Lagos was literally brought to halt for ONE MAN…, CHUKWUEMEKA ODIMUEGWU OJUKWU

Clowns give it up to him, even your god Tinubu   got nothing on this HERO  

noiseless:
Madam zainab has told you suicide bombing alamjiris to go and take some lessons on life,but while you in her class it will be more useful to you personal if you could beg her to give you a lesson on how to live a life of peace and harmony with others orderwise you are doomed forever,if you are not already doomed hence your assignment online and offline.

alj harem:
Gbammmmmmmmmmmmm. God bless you

Not only did he want the oil but also some Important cities. He wanted Ondo, Lagos and Ogun part of Baifra and wanted Oyo, Ekiti and co out of biafra effectly spliting the country, Bakalizing the SW, Midwest and making them weak. Not even to the benefit of the Ndi igbo but to his friends.

I am sure most people did not know Enugu click Ojukwu had.

alj harem:
already !!!!!!!

Yes it is good Igbos are rising and getting stronger, No one is disputing that from u. Classic case of inferiority complex, the question here is Ojukwu not Igbos

cap28:
you are not making any valid point here - just ranting unecessarily. I am not a northerner but i can still see that Ojukwu was bad news for igbo people.  He did not lead by example.  If you say that you are a man of the people and that you are fighting injustice you should be ready to give up your life for those poeple but Ojukwu chose to give up every body's life except his own - how can such a man be someone to emulate - cant you see that he was a coward?

cap28:
many igbos are so brainwashed that they can't see the bigger picture - Ojukwu was never a man of the people - by virtue of his upbringing his outlook on life was totally different - dont forget that he had already been brainwashed with a western education that had created an identity crisis in his mind - this is the reason he respects roman generals rather than african generals - a sign of inferiority complex - the british actually respected Awo more than Zik or any other nigerian during that era because they saw Awo as an independent minded african who did not bow to westerners - this is why they framed him for treason and dumped him in prison on trumped up charges. As far as the likes of Zik were concerned they saw him as arrogant, self absorbed and easy to manipulate due to his vanity - i see Ojukwu as that kind of person - a person with an enormous ego - a person who puts selfish desires before the needs of his people - Kaduna Nzeogwu a detribalised igbo man is my hero. this man understood who the real enemy was.

noiseless:
Wouldn't it be useful that these evil sheikhs and imams do something humane for once in their misirable lives,by sending all these bunch of alamjiris(abandoned street muslim jihad children) to go help their "muslim brothers" who are being slaughtered in syria by the same muslim people and government over there,since they claim  their job is to defend islam/muslims instead of wandering about on nairaland?  The same  bunch of very sick people who were jumping up all over the place as if they won a lottery with their fake news that the burial committee could not raise 500.000.000 needed for the burial, and that igbos could not or refused to raise the fund.  So what is your problems now,or is your way of making criminals to attempt to disrespect his grave with the belief they will find gold,so that you come on nairaland with boosted  SinParty of yours against igbos to continue with your silly bashing.    CHEI!NA WA O FOR ALAMAJIRIS.

noiseless:
Wouldn't it be useful that these evil sheikhs and imams do something humane for once in their misirable lives,by sending all these bunch of alamjiris(abandoned street muslim jihad children) to go help their "muslim brothers" who are being slaughtered in syria by the same muslim people and government over there,since they claim  their job is to defend islam/muslims instead of wandering about on nairaland?  The same  bunch of very sick people who were jumping up all over the place as if they won a lottery with their fake news that the burial committee could not raise 500.000.000 needed for the burial, and that igbos could not or refused to raise the fund.  So what is your problems now,or is your way of making criminals to attempt to disrespect his grave with the belief they will find gold,so that you come on nairaland with boosted  SinParty of yours against igbos to continue with your silly bashing.    CHEI!NA WA O FOR ALAMAJIRIS.
[/quot

cap28:
you make very valid points which i agree with and yes i am an igbo[b][/b] but not a brainwashed one.

i beleive that ojukwu was just another power hungry igbo megalomaniac who didnt give a damn about the igbo people - this is why he was able to risk the lives of 3 million people knowing full well that he could never win this war against the western backed north.

the real hero was Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu who was a nationalist - his only negative trait was that he was politically naive without a deep understanding of the people he was up against.- in the end he was betrayed by those closest to him.

If Ojukwu had succeeded with the secession i beleive he would not have been a good leader - just another dictator. - dont forget that his father was very close to the former governor general of nigeria (a known racist) Ojukwu was an elitist and was only interested in power - you have to ask yourself how he was able to escape to ivory coast - as you know very well - nothing happens in africa without the authorisatino of the western nations - they aided and abetted his escpae - why? because he did a deal with them - that should tell you that he was not for the people because a true leader does not cut deals with the enemy - check all revolutionary leaders in the world - che guevara, thomas sankara, fidel castro - did they cut deals with foreign powers? even mandela had to spend 27 years in prison and was only allowed out when he chose to cut a deal with the western powers - that is the reason Ojukwu's life was spared - he agreed to cut a deal with them and then come back to join forces with them.

compare that to those who refused to cut deals - are they alive or dead? (Qadaffi, Sankara, Lumumba?)

pDude:
Nonsense!

When we are thinking of going to form our own nation because of all the violence meted out to us, some a$$hole is offering us free land.

Free land ishi gi! Chineke kpo gi oku o!

Abeg Igbo people, shine your eyes o! There aint shyt like free land.

htajz:
we dont have to form another marriage , we can be seperate nations politically while maybe sharing the same economic boundries , the most important thing is for both we ijaws and the igbos and other groups to get their resources and be able to control their destiny, there is no time we all made our mistakes in the past(even though some ijaws fought for biafra but this is not the time for that argument).[/b] the earlier the better, how long will it continue.[b]

bittyend:
Do you also know that I also maintained contact with Awo that when I had problem with Nigeria that he came to see me in exile? Do you know that there is nowhere in the written annals of Nigerian history where you would see a harsh word from me against Chief Awolowo

Chief Ojukwu NEVER insulted Awo - but why do Ibo people that idolize Ojukwu do something Ojukwu himself NEVER did,

Ojukwu was eccentric no doubt - but he was REAL, He respected the Yoruba race but you silly Ibo clowns don't, Did y'all see where he said Obasanja is NOT YORUBA??

Most of the mistakes he made during the war was due to youthful exuberance - but he was no doubt the GREATEST IBO MAN THAT EVER LIVED, You IBO clowns copy the mistakes he made - why not copy the good side of him??

R.I.P Ojukwu

houvest:
Very Strategic and poignant.

My concern is that as we have the Briggs and Asaris, we also have the Clarks. As we ally with the ND, we must also be discerning.

Onlytruth:
My brother Dede1

I always respect the opinions of some of you that are older than myself, and may have experienced the civil war. So, I take your opinions very seriously.
However, I am also a very talented strategic thinker.

I believe that is it not possible to understand the positon of our non-Igbo neighbors, until one has fitted into their shoes in the lead up to the civil war.
Also, I believe it is a grave mistake to judge most of them by the circumstances of 1967, because a WHOLE LOT has happened between then and now.
Let me leave that for now and focus on more salient points.

Personally, I believe that Eastern Nigeria +Anioma is ONE. Take a close look at Nigeria's history, not just during the civil war, but BEFORE, AND YEARS after the civil war.
Each time I look at it, I marvel at how we (both Igbo and non-Igbo) Easterners fell so easily to cheap blackmail and divide and conquer tactics.
I look at PH and Calabar for instance, and conclude that there is no reason on earth why these two cities could not have rivalled or even surpassed Lagos in greatness today, had our past leaders been more strategic in thinking.

For me, one of the biggest mistake of the Biafran war effort was that it never seriously carried the non-Igbo along.
We were unlucky not to have such leaders, but then, who is perfect on this earth.
A perfect strategy would have been to allow the whole Biafran secession effort to be led by non-Igbo almost completely (win or lose), with us prividing the needed numbers when necesssary.
The North did it successfully by foisting Gowon. Why couldn't we do the same?
Why is the North still one today, while our region was balkanized into SE and SS?
We have to start using our God given brains.
Extraordinary situation always calls for extraordinary strategies.

I would not mind a Dokubo or any seriously minded Ijaw or Ibibio leading MASSOB for instance. Igbo "smart folks" can be his advisers and guide in that effort.
The end result is the only thing that matters.

This is where I differ from some of my brothers.
I often say here that if someone like myself was in the Biafran war planning team, THERE IS NO WAY WE WOULD LOSE THAT WAR.
I'm serious.

So, I reject the idea that our neighbors cannot be an priceless asset to the emancipation effort.
On the contrary I even think that our dream will remain a dream if we fail to carry them along.

Here I stand!

Dede1:
My name is Dede nke Izizi and I do not endorse the message powerfully.   .  I am borrowing from my brother, “the Onlytruth”, in the whole world.  

I am not ready to repeat the blunders of 1914 amalgamation. I have not yet accepted the definition of “Niger Delta” as handed down to us by the so-called owners of Nigeria. Madam Briggs should come clean on this issue before I could give her my first ear.

There is no doubt she habors the element of denial of untrustworthiness linked to Nigeria/Biafra war.

Eziachi:
I wish Madam Briggs and her ambition, all the best and I hope that she and her people succeeds but please she should left Igbos/Biafran people out of her ambition of a new united country that will involved Ijaws and Igbos.
No chance in abyss for that.

Ijaw alone is big enough to be on their own as many nations in the world are less than a million people. Again may she succeeds without us, we are just happy to be peaceful neighbours.