Enahoro Speaking On Biafra And Making Perfect Sense. - Politics - Nairaland
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| Enahoro Speaking On Biafra And Making Perfect Sense. by oduasolja: 10:14pm On Mar 09, 2012 |
This was the opening statement of Enahoro's First Press Conference in London (as Nigeria's spokeperson) after the war began in 1967. He had been pardoned a year earlier on August 3, 1966. Gowon signed the instrument of pardon for all the treasonable felony convicts on August 2, 1966, a day after formally taking over the government on August 1, 1966. Between July 29 (when Ironsi was killed) and August 1, 1966 Nigeria had no government. Before dealing with the subject of our meeting, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the British Press and, through you, the British people for the support which they generously gave me four years ago in my extradition case. I am emboldened to meet you today by the memory of that support and by the knowledge it gave me that once the British Press and people are given the facts, there can be no doubt as to where their sympathies would like in the Nigerian crisis. Britain and Nigeria are fellow members of the Commonwealth, with all that this implies in friendly interchange in various fields and at many levels. The British created Nigeria and together we have built it. Britain has substantial commercial and industrial interests in Nigeria; the annual turnover of British trade with Nigeria, for example, is of the order of $510 million a year. Some 20,000 United Kingdom subjects live and work in Nigeria. Nigeria supplies 10% of Britain's oil requirements. For these and other reasons, the Nigerian crisis must be of some concern to people in Britain. Clearly, from what I have said, there is much else besides oil between our two countries, although oil has come very much to the fore lately because of events in the Middle East. Let me say at once that Britain's interest in Nigerian oil is the same as ours - to keep it flowing. I do not doubt that as soon as circumstances permit, the flow will be resumed and will grow. It is now being suggested in some quarters that the rebel administration in Enugu has de facto control of the area in which most of the oil installations occur and that the Oil Companies might therefore make their payments to Enugu treasury. I need hardly say that such payment would be contrary to the Agreement and would be totally unacceptable to the Federal Government. As is well known, a Government which has no control of territorial waters and external trade can hardly claim sovereignty over its territory. The effective blockade by the Nigerian Navy has shown that the Enugu Regime does not have control of territorial waters or external trade. Therefore, though Ojukwu may be able to take some action which may temporarily affect oil production, only the Federal Government of Nigeria is in a position to take the more significant action of preventing the off-take and marketing of oil. . . [color=#006600]What now, about the future? Let me first correct some misconceptions which I have discovered here. It is said that the so-called Biafra is a gallant little nation fighting for self-determination, threatening nobody, wishing to live its own life, led by a young Rockefeller. Why then not let them go? This is no the case. Biafra is not and never was a nation and there hasn't been much gallantry in our recent past. We have no Rockefellers, let alone a young one. The act of union which created Nigeria also created Eastern Nigeria and there was Nigeria long before there was an entity known as Eastern Nigeria. If the union of Nigeria is dissolved, there are no legal bonds to tie together the Ibos and the coastal kingdom and other tribes of Eastern Nigeria, who would be as fully entitled to self-determination as the Ibos are. What is more, they have shown that they would fight for it.[/color] If secession by Ojukwu and his group is accomplished, Nigeria will most probably disintegrate. Once fractionalization starts, it certainly will result in the further disintegration of the former Eastern Region of Nigeria. Neighboring states with ethnic and other problems similar to ours will in due course also disintegrate, and a chain reaction will be set up all over Africa. Africa would end up in petty little principalities. Each successor 'mini state' would be sovereign enough to acquire foreign protectors and purchase arms. Such a situation, with its inevitable dislocations and frictions over boundaries, trade and division of assets, would produce wars. Foreign countries would intervene on behalf of their 'protectorates' and the conflagration would become bloodier and more permanently damaging to the interests of Nigeria, of Africa, and of foreign countries with stakes in the area. [color=#550000]It is said that Biafra would be self-sufficient economically. There would, of course be no Biafra for any length of time. Only some 5 per cent of Nigeria's oil is produced in the Ibo areas. 60% is mined in the Rivers area and all the pipelines at present run through the Rivers area and 35% is produced in Mid-West State. Of the total value of agricultural exports from the former Eastern Nigeria, the 7,000,000 Ibos produce $25 million and the 5,000,000 non-Ibo peoples produce $48 million. Further, the only 'new lands' left in Eastern Nigeria for settlement is in the non-Ibo Ogoja and Calabar areas. Wiser heads in the Central East (i.e. Ibo) who are at present shut out of public affairs by Ojukwu appreciate therefore that the interests of the Ibos can be best secured in a Nigerian Federation where the industry of their people and the resources of others can be harnessed for the common good. [/color]It is said that the present struggle is one between the largely Moslem North and the largely Christian East. This is an outdated conception of the crisis. The creation of States completely alters the picture. There is now no Northern entity and no Eastern Nigerian identity. Were this not the case, if States had not been created, and if this were a North versus East match, I, for my part, would have found it difficult to accept office at this time. Nigeria is very much a secular state and religion does not play any significant part in Nigerian politics. There is a large number of Moslems in Western Nigeria and Lagos. General Gowon is a Christian. So am I. What is now going on is a struggle for the very survival of our nation . http://www.dawodu.com/enahoro.htm |
| Re: Enahoro Speaking On Biafra And Making Perfect Sense. by Willywilly9: 10:23pm On Mar 09, 2012 |
Enahoro died a confused man, 1 Like 1 Share |
| Re: Enahoro Speaking On Biafra And Making Perfect Sense. by oduasolja: 10:57pm On Mar 09, 2012 |
Willy+willy:sorry , i know . the truth is bitter. very bitter indeed. |
| Re: Enahoro Speaking On Biafra And Making Perfect Sense. by EMANY01(m): 11:45pm On Mar 09, 2012 |
If he had a choice that speech of his would never have been made .But we will never know will we .Education does different things to different people Some have it and their horizons are broadened others get it and are knocked into tunnel vision so badly they couldn't tell a near to long term threat to them until it bit them in the ass. Before anyone accuses me of casting aspersions on the respected Enahoro do note he and Ojukwu attained the same level and quality of education. I am certain of one thing : the Man died regretting the part he played in the civil war after seeing what his pay masters of the time turned his Beloved Nigeria into in the decades that followed especially with the marginalization of the south/south south east from the influencing areas of the countries economy the wealth of which was sourced from his area and neighboring territories . |
| Re: Enahoro Speaking On Biafra And Making Perfect Sense. by Yeske2(m): 9:19am On Mar 10, 2012 |
Too bad, it's his children and children's children that are seeing and feeling the mistake their patriarch helped in moulding-Nigeria. |
| Re: Enahoro Speaking On Biafra And Making Perfect Sense. by Ikengawo: 2:54pm On Mar 10, 2012 |
What he's saying is right and I'm saying this as a proud igbo man. Biafra would have given precident to 100 other conflicts in nigeria in such an unsure time in africa. It would create further wars over boarders and resources and intensified western meddling. Africa was spared the boarder wars that for 2000 years europe suffered without end until ww2. Read history. Nigeria was held together for the restoration of the dignity of man. This was azikiwe's declaration before biafra and once we remember that well know again this nation was ordained to exist by god as the black mans last hope of challenging the west. If nigeria fials the black man will lose his last giant. Ghana will never actualize the potential to challenge britian or france. Think beyond the petty. |
| Re: Enahoro Speaking On Biafra And Making Perfect Sense. by Dede1(m): 3:17pm On Mar 10, 2012 |
EMANY 01: Anthony Enahoro had a choice but chose to play stupidity as indicated in the post. When he was confronted in Washington, DC with the same speeches while he was on exile and seemingly a member of NEDECO or whatever it was called or known, the old man wept and begged every Igbo son in the hall at Howard University to forgive him. I went up to him right in his ugly face and told him I shall take my grudge against him to my grave. The moronic halfwit was the first exponent of starvation as a weapon of war. |
| Re: Enahoro Speaking On Biafra And Making Perfect Sense. by oduasolja: 10:31pm On Mar 10, 2012 |
Dede1: biafra was a tyrannical regime , that forcefully appropriated minority land for the igbos. so Bleep u . |
| Re: Enahoro Speaking On Biafra And Making Perfect Sense. by Uchek(m): 8:55am On Mar 11, 2012 |
The man died a frustrated and disillusioned man - a victim of his inhuman support for injustice and inequity. The same man who supported Gowon and the North against Aburi later become an advocate of the Aburi Accord which his government reneged through his belated Movement for National Reformation,MNR A year or two before he died, he was calling for Sovereign National Conference and that Nigeria be restructured into about 8 regions. He was advocating in 90s and 2000s in his seventies what Ojukwu advocated for in 1967 in his thirties. He is advocating for the same solutions for which he rejected and caused millions of death through starvation. He wants us to forget his wicked role in Gowon's government and see him as an elderstatesman. Its been 45 years after[b] Aburi Accord[/b] which would have given Nigeria the political foundation and structure for its regions to develop at it own pace and ability. Enahoro and his ilks who joined hands with the North (even when it was clear that the North was not fighting for their own interest) will never escape the guilty judgement of history. Whatever he achieved in moving the motion of independence, his role in Gowon's government which is the precursor of all the problems in Nigeria has consigned into the dustbin of history. |
| Re: Enahoro Speaking On Biafra And Making Perfect Sense. by Dede1(m): 12:03pm On Mar 11, 2012 |
oduasolja: Only a malnourished ninny would term Biafra government a tyrannical regime. Everybody in eastern region of Nigeria, even the Cameroonians in Nigerian army who turned Biafran, supported Biafra government in the war of survival. Before and during the war, there was no single piece of real estate belonging to minority in eastern region that was forcefully or unpersuasively appropriated to Igbo. Rather in 1976, Nigerian tyrannical regime appropriated all crude oil producing areas in Igbo land to the minorities. Everybody knows the abandon property policy which was designed for Port Harcourt but not other cities in Nigeria. I am very happy to see Nigeria go useless in every phase of human endeavor but not happy with the slow pace. The relentless call for Republic of Igbo land does not seem to come from people who want to do anything with minorities or their useless land. Let me borrow your ill-formed phrase, “so bleep u” for display of ignorance. 1 Like |
| Re: Enahoro Speaking On Biafra And Making Perfect Sense. by oduasolja: 1:53pm On Mar 11, 2012 |
Dede1: u are very dumb. was a referendum organised  ??why didnt ojukwu wait for an organised referendum why did minority groups like ijaw and some of the others fight against biafra. why were minority villages invaded by biafran soldiers and civilians killed by biafrans. why were prominent minorities locked up throughout the war. |
| Re: Enahoro Speaking On Biafra And Making Perfect Sense. by Dede1(m): 4:15pm On Mar 11, 2012 |
oduasolja: If I call you a dingbat without an adjectival clause, it will amount to unpardonable insult to jackasses. I am not surprise a moronic mooncalf such as you assumed Biafra or any country for that matter had to conduct a referendum before staging resistance to external aggression. Did Nigeria conduct a referendum when it conducted military incursion into Chad and Cameroon over Lake Chad and Bakassi Peninsula respectively. Why would Nigeria even seek consent from a dullard such as you? Name one person from the minority ethnic group of eastern region that was thrown into prison in Biafra. There were Ijo peeps that fought against Biafra. There were Igbo extractions that fought against Biafra. By the same token, there were Ijo sons and daughters who fought for Biafra. You are really dumb. Oodua will be routed if halfwits such as you shall constitute the army of Oodua Republic. Eastern region of Nigeria became Biafra including all none or contiguous areas that are native to the minorities. I am not surprise that a gull such you would think Biafra will invade land considered to be part and parcel of eastern region of Nigeria hence Biafra. If you continue to flaunt this mindless below average intellect, you could be disowned by your parents. |
| Re: Enahoro Speaking On Biafra And Making Perfect Sense. by aljharem(m): 4:55pm On Mar 11, 2012 |
Dede1: I wonder why you keep replying this Oduasolja. Can't you tell the dude is always upto mischieve ? Dede1 have have been on Nairaland long enough to know does to engage and those that a waste of time. (pure bigotry) |
| Re: Enahoro Speaking On Biafra And Making Perfect Sense. by oduasolja: 3:21am On Mar 12, 2012 |
Dede1: once again u are just beating around the bush. spewing gargbage as usual and trying to avoid the stark realities. what was formerly know as eastern region was broken up into 3 states right before ojukwu declared it as biafra. so under whence did he get the mandate to declare what was then the defunct eastern region as biafra? why did he accept gowon as his head of state, if he was only plotting to double cross him. what makes you think any minorities want to be in the same country as you. |
| Re: Enahoro Speaking On Biafra And Making Perfect Sense. by ekwynwa: 3:59pm On Mar 12, 2012 |
oduasoja = alh harem |
| Re: Enahoro Speaking On Biafra And Making Perfect Sense. by chosen04(f): 5:47pm On Mar 12, 2012 |
oduasolja: SORRY . . . . . . NDO SOUND so hopeless . . . . . . |
| Re: Enahoro Speaking On Biafra And Making Perfect Sense. by EMANY01(m): 3:16am On Mar 13, 2012 |
"Oodua will be routed if halfwits such as you shall constitute the army of Oodua Republic." No greater truth...... |
| Re: Enahoro Speaking On Biafra And Making Perfect Sense. by T9ksy(m): 4:02am On Mar 13, 2012 |
Oodua will be routed if halfwits such as you shall constitute the army of Oodua Republic." You wish! If only wishes were horses................. |
| Re: Enahoro Speaking On Biafra And Making Perfect Sense. by oduasolja: 5:21am On Aug 30, 2012 |
Dede1: u are obviously a dummy. Like enahoro said the boundaries of eastern nigeria are not absolute. there never was an eastern nigeria until 1945 long after Nigeria came into existence. many minorities did not want to be part of your biafra. |
| Re: Enahoro Speaking On Biafra And Making Perfect Sense. by icez: 8:05am On Aug 30, 2012 |
hmm... |
| Re: Enahoro Speaking On Biafra And Making Perfect Sense. by Uchek(m): 6:32pm On May 14 |
Why would Ojukwu wait? Why did some Minorities support Biafra oduasolja: |
| Re: Enahoro Speaking On Biafra And Making Perfect Sense. by Cjrane2: 8:21pm On May 14 |
in the end, Enahoro failed his own children and grand children, while blinded by anti-Igbo grudges. the same way some people today would rather choose an incompetent and corrupt bufoon to manage their lives rather than a competent person if the person is Igbo. Then they turn around to ask Igbo to protest and undermine the person claiming he is corrupt and incompetent!. 1 Like 1 Share |
| Re: Enahoro Speaking On Biafra And Making Perfect Sense. by Cjrane2: 8:29pm On May 14 |
Dede1: Hindsight is 20-20. Enahoro and even Gowon have finally seen the light. Imagine Gowon refusing to speak Hausa as his final token of asserting his rebellion to his masters! Wonders shall never end! |
| Re: Enahoro Speaking On Biafra And Making Perfect Sense. by Oceanfl0w: 9:03pm On May 14 |
You created a topic that you're ignorant of or know very little about. Sha, catch your cruise, cus that's your intention |
| Re: Enahoro Speaking On Biafra And Making Perfect Sense. by jahsharon: 9:18pm On May 14 |
Those that the gods want to kill, they first make them deaf 1 Like |
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