₦airaland Forum

Hmm. Have been away for long. Where do I start from?

Ugwumba, Laudate, Obong It's about the Nigerian civil war and what led to it that we're talking about, isn't it? This is the second time I'm explaining this:

The Biafran War was about Nigeria and the breakaway state of Biafra (a country the Igbos fully support, based, as babyosis puts it, the nature of events at the time)

Right from the time I countered the claims of Afam (who in his ''wisdom'' did say and I will quote below later) of the war with the accounts of other people as they see it, the likes of babyosisi, Planner, Kanto, Afam himself, Donzman, and RichyBlack (all, I believe, of the Igbo ethnic stock) have continued, relentlessly to pelter me, my ethnic group and person with caustic, defamatory and extremely cruel statements without any provocation from my end.

Laudate, Ugwumba and other rational beings on this forum will just go and read from where I started posting on this discussion and see the responses of these people to know the true state of events here.

Afam's post:

Afam:
It seems it is now fashionable for people to make sometimes ridiculous attempts to rewrite history.

Without bothering to spend time on quite a load of rubbish put down by the writer one cannot dispute the following

1. That a yoruba man was among the 5 majors that spearheaded the coup
2. That Ironsi (being the most senior in the army) took over and locked up Nzeogwu and co
3. That Gowon led a counter coup 6 months later and proceeded to call himself the commander in chief
4. That a Brigadier General of yoruba extraction (Ogundipe) was the most senior surviving person in the army who should ordinarily take over government
5. That Ojukwu refused to see Gowon (a junior Col to him) as his CIC as that would mean retirement as his junior cannot be his CIC
6. That Ojukwu and the Eastern part of the nation maintained a position that even those who went to Aburi agreed upon for about a year before the war broke out
7. That Nigeria did not restrict its fighting of the war outside Eastern part of Nigeria so I wonder why someone in his right senses will question Biafra fighting outside Eastern part of the nation unless the writer's idea of war is for you to stay in your house and continue to defend while your enemy comes in with every type of amour

Put differently, Ojukwu insisted on equity and fairness and in reality fought a war that the yorubas would have fought if Ogundipe stood his ground as the most senior army officer in the Nigerian army then and not allow a junior Col (Gowon) to take over the mantle of leadership.

So, while I am not a fan of Ojukwu I dare say that as an Igbo man I am happy for the boldness he exhibited even though his family background meant he could have lived life to the fullest and lived a comfortable life. Let the lies stop, let people stop trying to to rewrite histories because there is always a lesson for us to learn from past mistakes.

If indeed I am against the Igbos, as claimed by many of these shortsighted people, will I acknowledge the likes of Ugwumba and some of naijaking statements in all of my replies on this matter? Will I dignify their posts with replies if I'm against them and their ethnic groups? Men of goodwill and unbiased position will understand from our discourse on this matter that the aforementioned sets of people (babyosis, Kanto et al) are the types that some selfish Igbo leaders will recruit and use again to foment trouble against the Nigerian State.

There is no disputing the fact that there are rational people amongst the Igbos, and indeed all ethinc groups in this country - including the despised Hausa/Fulani. How in the world do you think I will be so naive, as not to notice this?

laudate:
Richy black, thanks for your comments.

Maybe some people saw the January 1966 coup as an Igbo coup, not just because most of the officers involved were Igbo, but because in the execution of the coup, only politicians from other regions, lost their lives. Who knows?

I believe the young officers who initiated that coup may have had altruistic motives, but things went wrong at the end of the day. The probably learnt too late, that coups & violence create more problems than the ones they were originally designed to solve.

Laudate,
Why will I blame the Northern people much for their actions? True, they went extreme with their attacks on other people. But we have to be fair on them too. They lost many of their people in the war too.

Will all these Igbo loudmouths be talking like this today if it was the Hausa/Fulani North that was largely slaughtered and lost that war in 1966 - 1970? I'm only trying my best to be fair on all the parties involved in the war. The hausa/fulanis up until today are the least educated people in this country. You can imagine the barbaric way they would handle the situations that led to that war at the time. Their Sardauna was slaughtered, along with several other top politicians from the North, by a group, largely made up of Igbo military Majors. Many other politicians from other areas were spared. Now, would you blame them for being suspicious?

Ordinary religious sentiments draws the fury of these people, talk less of killing their elected leaders. It's like pulling on the tail of a Lion! This is what I've been trying to make all these recalcitrant Igbos see, but will not because the likes of Kanto and his ilks are dafts and blind.

I quite understand why the Igbos are bitter about it. They lost out in the scheme of things. It's painful, but that's what fate has brought to them. They should just accept their fate and move on with their lives - as many of them are currently doing.

Ugwumba,
Sincere apologies. If you read further down, in my reply to Laudate, I told him I will not mis-talk again.

naijaking,

naijaking1:
I did not know about Zik and Prof. Eyo Ita, but I told the story of M.I Okpara and pipe borne water in Calabar.

Without holding brief for either politicians, we must look at these incidents from proper temporal and political perspectives.

I also heard that Ojukwu was very hard on some Onitsha officers, while most 1960s era Igbo politicians regarded the Wawa people as "un-educatable".

I think these politicians were just being politicians, and not necassarily trying to subdue their minority population, afterall by the time these suppressive actions were taking place, they had no way of knowing that cross-river, or rivers states would be created out of the then eastern nigerian region.

Chief Asiodu's statment must be also be understood in the context of his job in the federal government.

When all is said and done, him and his people remain Igbos( maybe only when convenient), but the efforts of other delta Igbos like Achuzie, must never be diminished

Did the political actions of our early politicians explain the reason why some people from Onitsha, Asaba, PH, Calabar areas formed an alliance against their own people during the civil war?

Only time will tell.

This is one great post from you. And while I will not dispute the fact that some ''forms'' of hatred did spread from the ''centre - Enugu'' to people other than the minorities in the old Eastern Region, you will agree with me that this is not the way the minority people at the time see it, generally. The general feeling then, was that of distrust for the Igbo rulership.

The statement credited to Chief Phillip Asiodu was an eye opener. You might say he was a Federal Government commissioner or whatever, but that statement was made in bad light and is the statement held on to by successive military and civilian administrations to deprive our people of their God-given wealth. Today, Asaba is enjoying a state capital status, and Asiodu is benefitting from allocations from the centre. Today, Asiodu can say he too is from the Niger Delta, because his state is a core Niger Delta state, even when Asaba produces no drop of oil. Is this the type of justice that we want in this country?

I will not dignify people like RichyBlack and Kanto with a reply. And Donzman, since you're hell bent on getting a reply from me, I will demand you first ask me in a courteous manner before I can give you a reply.

babyosisi,
Please go to the romance section and contribute meaningfully there if there's nothing you can add to this interesting discourse.

Laudate,
You have my word. I will not mis-talk again. Your write up there sure corroborates my earlier stance that it was the general mood in the country, especially in the North (the distrust, fear of betrayal, etc) that led to the pogrom that was to follow in the North. It was an unfortunate incident, but I believe that had Aguiyi Ironsi prosecuted the January 1966 coup plotters, we would not be talking about that war today.

No need to reply.

laudate:
Hmmn. . . . . .true, mistakes were made by all the three major ethnic groups, but I fail to see why you claim the Yorubas should have prevented Brigadier Ogundipe from acceding command to a junior Colonel like Gowon. Ogundipe, was a career military man. The Yoruba people did not assist him to get into the army, neither did he get his position on the basis of their votes. The man made a career decision to quit the army, instead of insisting on taking command. How does this decision by one man, qualify a whole ethnic group to be tagged as[i] cowards[/i]?? I don't get it o! Did he ask the Yoruba to come to his rescue when he was bypassed in favour of Gowon, and they refused? Afterall, Adekunle Fajuyi volunteered to go with Ironsi when he was arrested. The decision cost him his life. Does his own action strike you as the act of a coward?

Secondly, if Ironsi had court-martialled the 5 majors immediately after the coup occurred, would the whole story have turned out differently?

The Southern minorities realise that many of their kith & kin were killed in the 1966 progroms. But instead of blaming all other ethnic groups, they have resolved to take their case to God, try & put the past behind them and move on with their lives, the best way they can. As for them blaming the Igbo, nah. . . .it is actually the other way round.

True!! For the first time, someone has clearly identified some of the issues that caused tension between the southern minorities & their Igbo neighbours.

Yeah. . . . .Ohaneze started asking for higher derivation revenue, after oil was discovered in Imo & Abia states. Before the discovery, they didn't make this demand.

Southern minority leaders did not realize that they "simply substituted the feared igbo hegemony with slavery to the Hausa/Fulani, where the bulk of the oil wealth has been spent" to use your own words. The southern minourities and their leaders merely want to have a say, in the way the oil revenue from the resources in their districts is being spent, and they are tired of living by the river (i.e. oil) and washing their hands with the spittle! If the oil wealth is being used to develop other parts of Nigeria, it should also be used to develop their own area, where the oil wells are located. Period. The issue is not about 'slavery' or 'hegemony'. It goes way beyond that!!

Men, all these ones na upper-cut deadly blows.

Ugwumba,
I have read some of your posts on this board. You have my utmost respect for bringing your wealth of experience to bare on several burning issues on NL. I will not forget the way you quickly dismiss the claims of people who think OBJ is not the pivot on which other thieves rotate in the thread on OBJs worth

You have done thesame here. I stated in one of my entries on this thread that the Biafran war was largely an oil war. I did not state categorically that the war was fought because of oil. I hope you will not join the band wagon of people with myopic views and tribal sentiments to further plunge this discussion into oblivion.

That said, I must state that all you've written so far is largely true; point 4 featuring prominently.

babyosisi:
I have nothing but great love and admiration for your posts Obong. Igbos,Efiks,Ibibios,Anangs and other tribes in the crosriver/Akwa Ibom area so similar in virtually everything. We have the most intermarriage,we have some similar words,we eat the same foods made in almost the same fashion,we dress alike,look alike,even have similar festivals. We have names like Inyang, Affiong and Ette in various areas of Igboland.
We have Igbos who were formally in Cross River state for years and only recently now in Ebonyi state.

During the civil war my family,I was told fled to Oron because some of my great uncles had wives from that area.
People fail to realise that the Nigerian army did not stop in Igboland. People from Akwa Ibom and Cross river were slaughtered in their hundreds of thousands together with Igbos. As far as the awusa and Yoruba warriors were concerned,they were all Igbos.
Outside of of our areas,the average non South Eastern or East central Nigerian call us all Igbos.which is another topic of it's own.

The same marginalisation Igbos feel in the Nigerian politics is also visited on the average Efik man. I do not regard myself a tribalist and will not treat people differently because of ethnic origin but when we have characters like ono and his caddy mohada AKA okoroamadi cajoling and ridiculing a whole race of great people,they ought to be put in their rightful places. People make decisions based on the situation at hand. The war has been fought,the war was lost.People who were at the receiving end of things have since moved on and gone on to heights imaginable. The Igbo man at the end of the war had $20 pounds to start life afresh having lost all property and means of livelihood and I'm proud to say that we have not done too badly as a people. With what we see in your failed Nigerian state,every "biafran" wishes Biafra was a reality,at least by now we would not have been part of you all's mess.

Every tribe in Nigeria will at some point feel the frustration with the system in Nigerian where the Northerner sees Nigeria as his "allah given right". Yorubas felt the pinch when Abiola was denied his rightful ascent to the "throne of Nigeria"
This is now your turn!!

babyosisi:
I do not regard myself a tribalist and will not treat people differently because of ethnic origin but when we have characters like ono and his caddy mohada AKA okoroamadi cajoling and ridiculing a whole race of great people, they ought to be put in their rightful places. People make decisions based on the situation at hand.

You sure aren't a tribalist. But looking back at some of your posts in this and other threads, I think you know the type of people you can deceive into trusting you as far a tribalism is concerned. For your information, I don't believe a shred of your support for anyone in the Niger Delta.

Your people made a rather harsh decision based on the situation at hand at the time. And I don't know how I have ridiculed any race in any of my replies to this thread. I just share my views of the situation at the time, as I see it. If my logic does not add up, just prove me wrong with facts, rather than looking down on my people and their trade and asking for us to dance kokoma and owigiri for you.

I will advise any Niger Delta brother, including Obong to ''shine his eyes'' and don't believe in any of the three major ethnic groups in this country - including the Igbos. That does not mean we won't relate with them as close neighbours, but we must be careful. It's because of their closeness that we find ourselves in a precarious position today.

Remember the words of one of the Igbos to the Federal Government under Gowon about the Delta people. His name is no one else than the man Chief Phillip Asiodu, an Igbo man from Asaba, who was once the Federal Commissioner for mines and Power. Read up this link

http://www.cdd.org.uk/resources/workingpapers/niger_delta_eng.htm

And then take note of these words:

Indeed, one of General Gowon's key advisers in the Federal Civil Service, Mr Phillip Asiodu, made the cynical remark that the people of the Niger Delta could do nothing to change this state of affairs because they were numerically insignificant in the Nigerian scheme of things.

What state of affairs is he talking about? - The continuous deprivation of our people their God-given rights to utilise their resources for their own good. He said that when there was agitation for the development of the Delta region, after the Civil War, with the intent of continuosly improverishing our people.

Now, he was able to say this because his people are close to our people. His ancestral lands share common boundries with our own. Their is an adage that says that it's the people that are close to you that should first be questioned in times of external aggression. They know your secrets and can easily leak it out to your enemies.

You want make I tell you now so that you go go tell Ojukwu and company to go and pollute their minds? Anyways, just to let you in on one that's popular. Ken Saro Wiwa style did not pay much at the time because we were under military regime. We will still largely adopt his tactics, especially now that we are in a democratic settings. That's why you see, education is the key. Our people need to be enlightened to move ahead.

And that's why I'm amazed at you guys because a lot of you in the 60s were well educated. So, I'm still wondering how Ojukwu managed to pull a fast one on you guys and you fell very hard for it.

That's the bit I can let you in on at this time. Takia.

Just passing by.

Planner:
Good. Becuase we do not want Asari Dokubo (supported by the youths of the niger-delta region) who have not hidden his admiration for Osama Bin Laden.

That's the only statement that I could hold on to from your last post. But I remember I once told you lad to go and sleep when the elders are talking. Oya, go now before I come and chase you to bed.

I did a bit of reading up myself and I found out that the amount stated as carried by Alams in his plane (1 million GBP) were the monies he allegedly carried with his entourage on his way to London.

The last time i checked the word ''allege'' in a dictionary, it means: to assert without proof So, I can safely say, then, that until such a time as the British Police come up with this amount, transferred back to the Bayelsa State Government account, I will not believe their claims.

I have repeatedly told you guys on NL to desist from believing everything you read on a newspaper website. How popular is that newspaper? Have they done any serious investigation in the past that led to some fruitful discoveries we can call facts? Who is their editor-in-chief? Is he a man of good repute amongst journalists?
Then, statements like the one quoted below does not go down as facts.

On his relationship with Santolina Investment, Uzamene stated that it was as a result of a property he bought from D.S.P. Alamieyeseigha some where at Port-Harcourt, Nigeria, for the sum of 430 million through the Governors lawyer a certain Barrister Yusuf

Where is this property located in Portharcourt? Why do you have to buy the property for so much? If they could come up with the amount of money involved in the deals, they should be able to give us a link to their claims.

All i'm driving at is rational thinking, not just accepting stories as they come.

Your amount of money for an automated gate for a government house is ridiculous. My laptop ( a typical one for that matter) costs much more than a thousand dollars. And you want me to believe that an automated gate is just that meagre amount? Think again.

I'm beginning to think that gate is worth N40 million naira. I don't care what people who have not been to Yenagoa to see this gate would say.

Do you think that all of the kidnappings, thrash and bunch of never-do-well roaming the creeks of our lands formenting trouble have the proper blessings of our true leaders? Let me tell you guys something you don't know. Those folks are acting the brief of some selected selfish lots amongst us. Why do you think they don't garner much popularity amongst our people at the grassroots level? Do you think at this time that the people of the Niger Delta will go to war because of these people? Who, out of us in the Delta will arm himself now and say he's fighting on the behalf of criminals? See, they don't have our blessings.

I have already told you some of our strategy up there. You will be surprised that not one of the real leaders doing the real work of preaching self determination to our people will shoot a pistol or arrow until our desire is met. Just watch out.

Unlike Ojukwu and his people, who thought it's through carrying arms against a sitting government and gyrating and brandishing some weapons given to him by the French, with which he was able to convince the generality of the Igbos that time, thereby influencing their decision to go to war. He also deceived them into thinking they were fighting for dignity, self respect, pride, retaliation etc etc - just like some suicide bombers tell their disciples that they will be rewarded with seven virgins each in heaven. LOL!!

This time, the true leaders of the Delta will not go out there in a deadly battle field. Our battle field will be in the board rooms of well meaning individuals and nations all over the world. And, I tell you, we will win. Just watch out.

I'm not a historian. Pardon my wrong use of words. Correction taken. We all learn everyday.

But I'm surprised that with the level of exposure and intellect of the Igbos at the time that they did not look back at history, the way we in the Delta are doing now, to study what transpired in the case of Virginia and West Virginia. How could their leaders have been so blinded by greed? Na wa o. So much for enlightenment.

And when you think of the fact that many people of Igbo extraction followed this Ojukwu man, you'll begin to question their intent for going to war. It's just not good enough to put the blame squarely on the leaders at the time. Leaders have followers - no matter how few the leader may be. And a vast majority (if not all of them) of the Igbos voiced their support for Ojukwu's agitation. They couldn't have put up such resistance to the government of the day if there wasn't some form of guarantee.

denex:
@ono

you want me to provide concrete evidence that N40 was collected for gate building? When it was Alams and the contractors who claimed this themselves. Is it not madness for the prosecution to be providing evidence to back up the defence's case? I have no evidence. It is Alams that should produce evidence.

For somebody to quickly admit that he used N40 million to construct gate, then I believe it may have been more.

Then you're talking about gadgets in a gate. What kind of gadgets? Does the gate serve cold beer on Sunny days? Or does it give the guards a back massage? Please stop it!

Do you know what it means to carry GBP1 million cash? That means you have much more where that came from.

Andy Uba wasn't carrying up to $1 million cash when he went to the USA.

Can I safely say then that there was nowhere where the claims of a N40million naira gate was made at anytime? Thanks.

Nowadays it's fashionable to see wonder-gates in government circles and in the corporate world. Gates with devices that can transmit messages about the identity of who ever is approaching it to the host. Gates that can fling wide open at the instance of the host, without him having any maiguard opening it. Gates that reads your ID cards, accept you and then fling open for you to go in. Gates that are bullet proof, theft deterrent, anti-touch, etc etc. Those surely are expensive gates.

We have such gates where I work.

Andy Uba carried $1 million Dollars, Alams carried 1 Million Pounds. All na thief thief. I did not exonerate Alams of theft. Neither did I for OBJ and his ilks. Get the message?

naijaking1:
To a large extent, the basic principles of self determination started in the 1960s, but was poorly excuted as Biafra,  continues today, via Ken Saro Wiwa, MEND, etc.

True talk. That's what I've been telling them ever since. We have learnt a lot from their mistakes. We will do our own self determination in a much better way. For instance,

1. We in the delta have already gone on an enlightenment campaign to take the issue of resource control to the grass roots. This is against the selfish inclination of Ojukwu in the case of Biafra. He wanted the loot all to himself and some of his Igbo leaders clique.

2. We will get the support of international friendly nations, who can share in our grief in the delta and sympathise with us. And we will not go after countries like France. We will look for more powerful and friendly ones, that we can understand their language. Not the one that only one person can communicate with.

3. There are other things I cannot divulge in a public forum like this. But, sure enough, they are better than the Igbos tactics during the 60s.

And what if he had a million pound sterling on him when he went to London. We have heard of worst cases.  Andy Uba had more cash than that when he accompanied OBJ to a program in the US. Abeg make una go chill somewhere.

Madam,
Granted, he indeed pilfered public funds while he was in office. It's the way people swallow what the media reels out, hook line and sinker that's baffling.

And since we all agree that anyone in power in Nigeria generally have a tendency to steal public funds, and 100% of the time, these people do, why are we making so much noise about Alams's case? If you say it's because of the[b] amount of money involved[/b], well, I think you need to do some inward searching to see those who are looting us blind in this country.

denex:
Alams and the contractors that built the gate maintain that it cost N40 million.

Any gate that is more than a million Naira is suspicious. Even automated gates gan are not that expensive.

That man thief those money O! Let's not forget too that he was helping oil bunkerer in the Niger-Delta to launder their money. That is why MEND wants him freed so that their millions will not remain locked in his account.

Please provide concrete evidence to show that he accepted he spent that much on that gate. Well, I wouldn't know how ''fortified'' - in terms of gadgets and all that gate may be, and maybe he inflated the cost of constructing and installing the gate, but isn't that what many Nigerians in power are known for? Even OBJ, ministers, Permanent Secretaries, etc etc have inflated several contracts sums on projects executed in their domains. OBJ even bought a house for his graduating son in New York. So, why is the kettle crying at the roof top that the pot is black, when we can see it's bottom? This is not to say that his actions are right, but the way the media is going about him is ridiculous. Right from the time they painted a picture of him in women clothings, I knew something was amiss, and that the whole issue of Alams thievery was a frame up.

Crude oil binkering is not an issue here. A whole ship loaded with crude oil - MT African Pride, was declared missing under the watch of the Nigerian Navy. Some heads had to roll that time. But, by the way, where was it clearly written that Alams was involved in crude oil theft in the creek? With the plethora of charges brought against him in that link, one wonder why they could not include his involvement in the shipment of crude to the UK or elsewhere as one of his sins.

tboy1:
http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/1361.html

I honestly don't know how I'm going to believe all that's written in that link. I have been adding several millions of British Pounds and US dollars and properties in South Africa and elsewhere that at a point, I asked how much the Federal Allocation to Bayelsa state alone amount to throughout the duration of Alamsco as Governor of Bayelsa State? And how does that compare in dollar terms?

From what I can glean from the link, you must be stupendously rich, richer than an ordinary Governor to own such stuff. The amount of money in the link, converted to Naira would equal or be greater than all the amount of money allocated to Bayelsa state at the time. So, how did he pay civil servants in the state? How did he get the money to build the Niger Delta University? How was he able to pay Julius Berger to construct the major highway connecting Yenagoa to the East West raod at the time? What about the gas turbines that supply electricity to Yenagoa, Kaiama and other places, when Bayelsa was not yet latched on to the national grid?

And I believe the cost of that gate must have been inflated. I have seen the government house gate at Yenagoa. That gate couldn't have been that expensive. Some mischief makers are at work here.

My people, like I said earlier, there's no doubt that Alams stole. But that he stole that much is what I cannot swallow.

@Prizm and Naijaking:
I'm ready to discuss this topic with the maturity level that it requires if everyone here (somehow, 95% of the contributors are of Igbo descent) are willing to do just that.

Right from the start, these people have been calling me names and other shit. And not until someone went overboard with acidic posts directed at me, did I reply in a distasteful manner. If we want to dicuss reasonably, I'm ready for that, otherwise, I will continue to hit back.

By the way, we need to go back to the first post -  the originator of the thread (BUSHFELLOW). He said and I quote:

To me i am still searching for what to call Ojukwu but i believe Igbos marginalization today is caused by their greedy Ohaneze and leaders of thought from that region just like the Niger Delta problem lies on their leaders past and present. the war ojukwu called for was for his personal interest and not that of the igbo region.

Now, after reading Omatseye's write up, many Igbos came here to say that the guy does not know what he's talking about, he's a fool, and all that thrash. When they came up with their reasons for the war, they kept leaving out other vital information and justifying their leaders' (Ojukwu and company) actions alone. They claimed it's a war for the self determination of the Igbos. Some (other Igbos) said it was Ojukwu's war. I wonder which one I should believe now.

And if this thread is about learning some lessons from the mistakes of leaders in the past, then I believe we in the delta have learnt a lot.

Laudate,
You see, these people have been ''programmed'' to defend what's theirs, even when the person is at fault. You better don't waste precious time answering them.

The main point has been made: The Igbos lost the Biafran War because they did not exhaust all other possible means of averting the War, and why was that? Answer: They employed the crudest possible means at resolving ordinary misunderstanding at the time. They allowed themselves to be blinded by[b] pride, greed, shortsightedness[/b], and I-know-it-all attitude towards the issues at stake. Point Blank.

I know the above will draw another thunderous condemnation from the Igbos. But I have developed thick skin for their unguarded utterances. It's in their blood.

denex:
@ono

since you asked what I think, I will tell you what I think. I think you should live forever and not die. I think God should make you be the first person to enter hell alive.

For thinking it is okay for a governor to spend $300,000 on his daughter's birthday, I think you should live a life of destitution.

But that's because you asked what we all thought. I think you're wicked and utterly corrupt!

You see, this is the reply of a rational person. But, Denex, do you in your wildest imagination think Alams can spend such amount on a graduation party? I mean, N40 million Naira? All those figures are the imaginatination of wicked men and women who are hell bent on bringing another person to disrepute.

And just to bring Madam Militia to the realm of reality, N40 Million = $312,000. using current exchange rate. Well, if a nigerian governor - from one of the largest oil producing state in Nigeria - Bayelsa state spends that amount of money on a graduating daughter of his, me think he can pass. What do you think folks?

Oya, Militia tell us what you mean. The ball is now in your court. Which currency be that one up there? Na currency from ya side?

Just the way they claimed that the man dressed like a woman to escape from London and got sick heads laughing their ass off. You can pull such stunts and get away with it with gas-heads, but not with reasonable people like me and denex

Alams stole, true. But to bring some mind-boggling, cooked up figures here thinking you'll fool me is what I can't take. Do you know that $40 million = N5.12 billion naira? Even if Alams stole that much money, how on earth do you think he would be stupid enough to want to spend all that amount on a party for a graduating daughter of his? Is she the only child he has at the time? Wasn't there other important things in his life that he'll spend money on other than a party?

Sister Militia, please go and cool down somewhere.

I will step in now.

I believe that ever since Babacratic OBJ came back from Jamaica and was allowed free passage to the corridors of power, via PDP BOT leadership, things have suddenly taken a different dimension across the land.

Did you guys notice that EFCC was very quiet ever since baba went back to Otta to feed the chickens? But when Baba came back from Jamaica and went straight to Abuja, EFCC bounced back to life again, especially when the whole government of national unity plans of Umoru suddenly turned sour,  to a ruse.

EFCC is on the trail of all those who were against Baba's third term, including Alamsco.

Planner:
You reason like a child. How old are you? So you actually believed that you people are using the "civilised ways" by way of kidnapping and all that.

Friend try and read in-between the lines.

C'mon, go and sleep, can't you see it's too late to discuss with elders? I will send those Ikwerre youths (your kith and kins in the Portharcourt, formenting trouble) to come and lull you to sleep. Anyways, they (Ikwerres) have said they don't want to have anything to do with you people. Who will I send to lull you to sleep now?

Planner:
That is not the issue. We igbo people used the uncivilised method and lost and you people are using the civilised ways and winning.

That is pretty strong language for someone from the ethnic group with a very "strong sense of decorum".

Oh! so you now agree that your people lost that war - using uncivilised means. My dear, that's the best word I've heard from you today. You do not want to know how we're winning our wars on all fronts.

I see I used something touchy this time. Sawrie lad, you pulled too hard on my tail. Please be careful next time.

Well the war sure had a toll on your people. That's why your leaders lost every inch of sense and decorum; they resorted to joining forces with the evil beings at Okija and other shrines - for proper enlightenment on the civilised way of making hard-earned money through ritual killings.

Don't get me started, you idiot.

Well, for people like madam babyosisi, who loves looking down on fishermen, please look down on me o! My grandfather padlled canoe from my village all the way to Lagos in the early 70s, just after the Civil War. It was his fish trade that helped him all the way to Lagos, where he found shelter and set up a business to train my father.

We in the delta are very much wiser than before. And indeed, we've learnt a lot from the mistakes of the Igbos. An ant will not look an elephant in the face and call him a fool. He sure knows the dire consequences. We will employ better means to fight for our own self-determination - the ones Igbos fought for the wrong way and lost several millions of able bodied men and women in their prime.

I am the grandson of a fisherman, and am proud to be one.

Prizm:
It is the height of folly for ANYONE (especially someone of Niger-Delta origin for instance) to waltz into a thread of this nature to deride and caricature the self-determination efforts of those who fought on Biafra's side. The more sensible approach, even if one has strong reasons for objecting to "Ojukwu's personal war", I think would have been to carefully study the facts, reach out to other Nigerians (Igbos included by the way), and build a broad grassroots movement to tackle visionless leadership in Nigeria.

I did not read through your post the last time thoroughly. I've just done that now, and I realise I'm dealing with another igbo man, who's feeling very bitter about that war. It's a normal thing to feel bitter about it. I indeed made some snide remarks about the war and igbo people. I made those statements because your brothers provoked me to do so. They kept on making a fool of themselves, casting aspersions on my person, people and tribes and calling them terrible names. I later apologised to the generality of Igbos on this forum for my unguarded utterances. What else would you have me do? This scenario of ours on this issue is much similar to what transpired in the Nigeria of 1966, between the parties involved before the war.

Prizm:
1) The actions of a few Igbo soldiers (plus one Yoruba man) in 1966 against the supposedly corrupt ruling establishment of the day cannot with due diligence be tagged an "Igbo orchestrated coup". The Igbo people were not consulted for this action; the perpetrators also did not claim to be acting in Igbo interest. They did what they felt would benefit Nigeria as a whole.

2) Before this action, the Igbo people did not have any particular need for a revolution because unlike today, the Igbo people were richly represented in every sphere and strata of government and the working class.

3) It is unconscionable and downright bizarre to commence a large scale extermination of fellow Nigerians (Igbos or people of south-southern origin) because of the actions of a few soldiers. That action served to illustrate that Nigeria was never one or united even if it was politically correct to claim so.

Folks can argue from now till tomorrow on what should have happened or not have, but really, its akin to crying over spilled milk. At this juncture, it behooves this present generation to draw some lessons from the mistakes of the past and then vow never to repeat those mistakes again. This is why it is remarkably sad that people who ought to be railing against the brigands in power (who have always executed their anti-people policies without facing negative consequences) are now mired in endless tribal baiting and infighting.

Will be back to address those bullet points.