₦airaland Forum

Irony1:
Oga if Germany achieved it in WW2 without air support and they had the heaviest machinery, they still conquered France in 2 weeks crossing the dardanelle a dangerous valley crossing. Again note Banjo is still to be blamed for the misadventure in Benin, he knew his orders clearly why keeping a detachment in Benin?

You want to compare the Nazi German army and their professionalism to ogogoro drinking, ashewo sexing Biafran army. Some, especially the ones from minority tribes in the Eastern region who did not want to be fighting for an Igbo Biafran republic in the first place.

Do you know how many fronts the Nazi army simultaneously fought on and successfully advanced in before effectively the whole world pushed them back bit by bit?

You want to compare that to a constantly retreating Biafran army, Muritala madness in trying to force the amphibious brigade across the Niger excepting, àbi?

Wetin persin nor go read for Nairaland sha.

Irony1:
Taaa keep quiet there do you know what a pincer formation is? The Nigerian army spread their division to attack that is not a pincer formation. You use a pincer formation when you are directly confronting the enemy or a detachment of the enemy encamped in a particular place.

Oh dear

Irony1:
The problem you have is that you lack deductive reasoning and as such you find it hard to analyse statements and find out what was not said. That is issue with so many Nigerians they are not smart in thinking.

Per the bolded, you might want to do some self introspection on that.

aswani:
Per the bolded, you might want to do some self introspection on that.

I said most Nigerians and I am directing it at you if there's any introspection, it has to be from you.

aswani:
You want to compare the Nazi German army and their professionalism to ogogoro drinking, ashewo sexing Biafran army. Some, especially the ones from minority tribes in the Eastern region who did not want to be fighting for an Igbo Biafran republic in the first place.

Do you know how many fronts the Nazi army simultaneously fought on and successfully advanced in before effectively the whole world pushed them back bit by bit?

You want to compare that to a constantly retreating Biafran army, Muritala madness in trying to force the amphibious brigade across the Niger excepting, àbi?

Wetin persin nor go read for Nairaland sha.

But their commanding officers were offshoot of the Nigerian army and were the best infantry commanders then. So if they are ogogoro drinking and ashawo chasing, then it speaks a lot about the Nigerian army don't you think so. When you point a finger at someone, your 4 fingers are pointing at you.

Irony1:
But their commanding officers were offshoot of the Nigerian army and were the best infantry commanders then. So if they are ogogoro drinking and ashawo chasing, then it speaks a lot about the Nigerian army don't you think so. When you point a finger at someone, your 4 fingers are pointing at you.

You certainly wouldn't get any argument from me on that. First sensible comment you've made so far, keep it up.

Irony1:
I said most Nigerians and I am directing it at you if there's any introspection, it has to be from you.

Ọ ma.

aswani:
You certainly wouldn't get any argument from me on that. First sensible comment you've made so far, keep it up.

Oga go and hide your face abeg. You cannot win this plot.

FSBoperator:
In this thread, you can see how they are vehemently denying what their rogue army and civilians alike did to minority people by claiming it is Nigerian propaganda against ibos.

You can also see them only drawing whataboutism to the so-called Asaba massacre which was in fact the public execution of captured Biafran soldiers who had ditched their uniforms and were roaming about the country side and in Asaba .

There is no single reference from them of Nigerian soldiers carrying out systematic genocide on ibo villages, towns and communities because it never happened.

But there are tonnes of documented literature of Biafran soldiers terrorising non Ibo minority people stuck in Biafra and also in the Midwest and parts of what is present day Ondo state.

They refuse to even acknowledge that riverine communities in Rivers state celebrate every year without fail on the day their communities were liberated by Nigerian federal forces .

Are those communities also perpetuating the so-called Nigerian propaganda.?

Several communities in Rivers and Akwa Ibom were totally wiped out by Biafran soldiers and the survivors marched into the heartland of Ibo land on the orders of Ojukwu never to be seen again.

Ojukwu even gave the order that any riverine community facing an imminent "threat" by Nigerian forces be evacuated. By evacuation, Ojukwu meant total anilihation.

If Biafra was so good for the minorities, why were young minority men risking their lives to escape into Nigeria to join the Nigerian side?

Ojukwu set up patrol units to prevent the young men from escaping and every single day, there were bodies floating on the rivers that had been shot by Biafran soldiers.

Let me not even talk about the barbaric and abominable acts of open air cannibalism practiced by the Biafran soldiers and civilians in places like Port Harcourt.

In Warri , a group of young itsekiri, Ijaw and Urhobo youth had stormed a Biafran military camp with machetes and clubs on hearing that the Biafran soldiers had been torturing , raping and cannibalism their fellow people. The mob was able to overpower the Biafran soldiers who fled like the cowards they are and on scrutiny of the camp , they found remains of roasted human parts .

with what one of their tribes men representing oshodi/isolo constituency in Lagos did last month by only choosing to send his tribes men to china for a workshop and training like 30 of them as a constituency project and almost all of them here supported that action so I believe all what you are saying imagine a yoruba state gave you a non westerner a platform to contest and won yet you never saw any westerner or even other tribes to also send to china there are Edo,itsekiri,ijaw,nupe Hausa,berom etc in Lagos yet this man only sent biafrans to china many of them even said it is only igbos that are in oshodi and isolo and they were the only ones who voted for him.

The news was on front page like 2 month or a month ago the medicine they can't swallow they love dishing it to other people and they will start crying wolf very cruel.

Ezeama400:
When are you guys going to give it a break in lies ?


The attached below is how Benjamin Adekunle massacred Ibiobio women and children, and ordered to be buried in a shallow grave..



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dB4-h_3ffc

So rose hogan Bassey was an Ibibio woman?is hogan bassey not an efik name again? to take accountability and responsibility for your actions and to always be honest in never in you people's dictionary meanwhile Benjamin adekunle never even massacred any Ibibio people they are all lies and propaganda!

Then your Ojukwu, Kanu and Ekpa should have come up with their own name instead of using a name created by the Portuguese and has nothing to do with your landlocked SE. So for once be yourself and create a name for your landlocked SE and let's hear word with out your fake Biafra.

gidgiddy:
And a white woman came up with the name "Nigeria" in London. Let's hear word

zeuss:
Yes those that kidnapped the chibok girl and still peddling terror in that axis are the bokoharam who's members are predominantly kanuri and enjoyed support from their age old alliy Fulani neighbors both groups are not indigenous to the Nigerian geological space and both groups have their origins in the exploitation of the indigenous population of northern Nigeria they were both slave raiders abducting the locals and forcefully selling them as slave to Arab slave merchant in the sub saharan slave trade.

But everybody must have come from somewhere in the first place!

balisa1:
But everybody must have come from somewhere in the first place!

wow, please tell us about the others and where they came from and when

Irony1:
It all happened because of the slow down of the military offensive to Lagos. If banjo had not slowed down we wouldn't be saying this. Banjo's incompetence was the factor. Again I will site another example South Vietnamese army had airforce equipment given to them by the US but because the Northern Vietnamese army used a fast Advancing strategy forced them into panic when it was clear that the northern Vietnamese army were a few kilometers from Saigon. Even the Blitzkrieg succeeded without the use of the airforce.

I get why you'd focus on Banjo's slowdown. But I think you're oversimplifying what actually happened.

First, rushing toward Lagos would’ve snapped his supply lines. By mid-1967, Biafra was already short on ammo and fuel—he might’ve shown up with empty guns. That’s logistics, not incompetence.

Second, Vietnam actually proves my point. The ARVN had all that US gear—airpower, tanks, everything—and still collapsed because their leadership failed, not because the North moved too fast. Speed exploits a hollow force, it doesn’t create one. Nigeria had way more resources; no amount of Biafran speed changes that math long-term.

And blitzkrieg? It absolutely needed airpower. The Stukas and Luftwaffe punched holes for the panzers. You can’t separate them.

Blaming Banjo alone ignores Ojukwu’s arrogance and dishonesty about the odds. Biafra was outnumbered and outgunned from day one.

newnigeriannew:
Then your Ojukwu, Kanu and Ekpa should have come up with their own name instead of using a name created by the Portuguese and has nothing to do with your landlocked SE. So for once be yourself and create a name for your landlocked SE and let's hear word with out your fake Biafra.

What are you waffling on about!? One can sense the frustration and bigoted insanity in the tone of your useless post!

Was it Ikemba Ojukwu that chose the name Biafra!? As a Yoruba man (correct me if i’m wrong on your ethnic identity), why are you so obsessed and frantic about Biafra or secession!? You sound so terrified of the prospects of a disintegrated Nigeria! Why is that!?

I notice you’re trying to drive the narrative towards secession of just the south-east if or when secession happens! Why is that!? Are you that much of a pathetic parasitic leech that you can’t envision you and your ethnicity surviving independent of the free oyel and gas you’ve been stealing from the Niger-Delta since the early 70s in the name of ‘one Nigeria’!? So what makes you think proud Igbo like me that are from the south-south/Niger-Delta would want to continue doing ‘one Nigeria’ with your sort after the south-east leaves!? I suspect you already know the answer to that, and that’s why you’re so desperate to try and engender some kind of division between the south-east and other Igbo or other ethnicities in the so called south-south….and this would explain the existence and promotion of these type of threads!

Dude, try and get some self respect’

Irony1:
Do you know that Lt Fola Oyewole one of Jan 66 boys handled logistics In Biafra when he was interviewed he said clearly that even soldiers didn't even see food. Abeg you people should stop lying. Evidence full ground. Most of our parents were soldiers in Biafra they never saw food.

I actually checked Fola Oyewole’s book Reluctant Rebel and his major interviews. Nowhere he said “soldiers didn’t even see food.” If you’ve got the exact page or clip, share it—but be careful: he was a logistics officer. His own memoir says he moved supplies, including food, to troops. There's no claim he never delivered anything.

Other Biafran vets also contradicted “never.” They talked about scarcity, but not total absence. So that line is an emotional overstatement. The war was a nightmare, yes, but Biafran soldiers did eat something.

You are the one waffling about your emptiness and should learn some self respect. The name Biafra is not a SE name, your Ojukwu,Kanu and Ekpa and all shouting Biafra are doing so because of the Niger Delta oil and seaports which are not in the SE, this was what you tried to steal that lead to your fake Biafra war and you were all tamed back to your land locked SE.

You just like to take what does not belong to you. Even Amadioha the God that has it’s origin in the SS you are claiming as your own. You are claiming Biafrans but even that name is not yours. Portuguese explorers named the curved Atlantic coastline from the Atlantic Ocean tributary called River Nun (in today's Bayelsa) to Cape Lopez in Gabon Gabon as the Bight of Biafra.

Remove SS from your post as you are not natives of the SS. In a few years now you will be claiming you are natives of the SW, just because you travelled on night busses over the river niger to the SW.

Always claiming what does not belong to you and your landlocked SE.

IGBOPROMISE1:
What are you waffling on about!? One can sense the frustration and bigoted insanity in the tone of your useless post!

Was it Ikemba Ojukwu that chose the name Biafra!? As a Yoruba man (correct me if i’m wrong on your ethnic identity), why are you so obsessed and frantic about Biafra or secession!? You sound so terrified of the prospects of a disintegrated Nigeria! Why is that!?

I notice you’re trying to drive the narrative towards secession of just the south-east if or when secession happens! Why is that!? Are you that much of a pathetic parasitic leech that you can’t envision you and your ethnicity surviving independent of the free oyel and gas you’ve been stealing from the Niger-Delta since the early 70s in the name of ‘one Nigeria’!? So what makes you think proud Igbo like me that are from the south-south/Niger-Delta would want to continue doing ‘one Nigeria’ with your sort after the south-east leaves!? I suspect you already know the answer to that, and that’s why you’re so desperate to try and engender some kind of division between the south-east and other Igbo or other ethnicities in the so called south-south….and this would explain the existence and promotion of these type of threads!

Dude, try and get some self respect’

zeuss:
wow, please tell us about the others and where they came from and when

Who are the others?

Irony1:
Let me burst your bubble the Nigerian army as of 1966 before the coups was only 10k strong in Number. The bulk of the infantry officers were igbos, before the war started Ojukwu knew that there was a skills gap in the Nigerian army especially in infantry division. Hence the fast advance was made to the West via Ore. If they had reached Ijebu Ode, Ojukwu had calculated that having Banjo a Yoruba man leading that advance would appeal to the Yorubas to join so that they would dislodge the Northern Soldiers from the Western region. Banjo slowing down at Ore and inviting a counter offensive was his greatest blunder, as he made the Nigerian to win the propaganda war in the West which encourage massive recruitment of youths and prisoners to swell the number of fighting men in the Nigerian army. That was the greatest mistake made by Banjo. The Nigerian army at the start of the war had a skills gap in Infantry especially in the commanding officers corps as the most skillful commanders were igbos.

I loved the way this conversation has been going, at least it has been cordial to a good degree. For me both positions are not totally wrong, maybe Banjo could have been faster and maybe he would have been totally encircled. In Benin, Banjo had the eastern region and a good number of communities who are igbos, igbo-speaking or sympathetic to the cause in midwest at his flank. Now driving further to Ijebu Ode, he would encounter a lot of communities which dont have such historical and cultural mixture advantage and then he would really be exposed to flanking action from anywhere from Ondo, Ife, epe-ikorodu axis. Then who was Banjo to the general yoruba populace, does the mere fact that a yoruba man is leading an invading army rally the Yorubas to the Biafran cause or would it be seen as the utmost betrayal and cursed by his people. The same assumption was made that just because Awolowo allegedly promised Ojukwu that he would lead yorubas to secede ultimately means that promise is bankable. The West was already politically splintered and Awolowo was not the end all and be all in the west, he does not hold the west by the collar to lead wherever he deem fit.

In his memoir, The Nigerian Revolution and the Biafran War, Major General Alexander Madiebo criticized the August 1967 push into Nigeria's Mid-Western Region and the subsequent advance towards the West as a catastrophic strategic blunder. He argued that the operation dangerously overextended the Biafran military and unnecessarily provoked the Yoruba-dominated Western Region into the conflict.

If General Modiebo who is a tactical genius, how can we dismiss that Banjo is wrong to believe it. To put some context into this by 1964, Madiebo had become the first indigenous commander of the Nigerian Army Artillery Regiment, an achievement that underscored his professional competence and rising stature within the army while Ojukwu throughout his career before the war was majorly in the staff and administrative role, he became the quartermaster general and then a military administrator. Banjo was trained in sandhurst the premier in the regular combatant course. So there is a lot of merit to their angle on the matter.

balisa1:
Who are the others?

how every body else found their ways into Nigeria

rabzy:
In Benin, Banjo had the eastern region and a good number of communities who are igbos, igbo-speaking or sympathetic to the cause in midwest at his flank.

Oga mi, you don't know much about Benin or it's environs to say this.

Once Banjo and his troops stepped foot in Benin, in fact once they left the outskirts of Asaba, they had no one sympathetic on their flanks. They were deep into enemy territory and that is about 40 or so miles from Benin

Banjo couldn't move any faster as he would have needed supplies to move as fast. Troops have to sleep, exercise and eat. Even the Nigerian army heading towards Benin never caught up with the backsliding Biafrans because they needed to check flanks and troops had to sleep, exercise and eat too.

Irony1 thinks they will just continue driving on vroom vroom until they get to Lagos, with big lorries and artillery, remember there was no expressway then.

Moving armies towards a target is not like in the movies, it has to be slow and deliberate or else a nice trap awaits that can completely anihilate your division.

AareGaa:
Your ancestors started the whole mess in January 1966.

Thank God they paid for it

And their children are still paying for it...

aswani:
Oga mi, you don't know much about Benin or it's environs to say this.

Once Banjo and his troops stepped foot in Benin, in fact once they left the outskirts of Asaba, they had no one sympathetic on their flanks. They were deep into enemy territory and that is about 40 or so miles from Benin

Banjo couldn't move any faster as he would have needed supplies to move as fast. Troops have to sleep, exercise and eat. Even the Nigerian army heading towards Benin never caught up with the backsliding Biafrans because they needed to check flanks and troops had to sleep, exercise and eat too.

Irony1 thinks they will just continue driving on vroom vroom until they get to Lagos, with big lorries and artillery, remember there was no expressway then.

Moving armies towards a target is not like in the movies, it has to be slow and deliberate or else a nice trap awaits that can completely anihilate your division.

Dude you are just clutching at straws and making no sense. I said what I said and it is clear if he was in enemy territory, why would he decide to retain a detachment of troops in that same enemy territory? The German werhmacht moved through Belgium that was hostile to them and through the dardanelles into France in 2 weeks abeg gimme a break.

Irony1:
Dude you are just clutching at straws and making no sense. I said what I said and it is clear if he was in enemy territory, why would he decide to retain a detachment of troops in that same enemy territory? The German werhmacht moved through Belgium that was hostile to them and through the dardanelles into France in 2 weeks abeg gimme a break.

Once more, stop comparing the German Army with the ragtag Biafran one. You are making yourself look, erm, a bit silly.

rabzy:
I loved the way this conversation has been going, at least it has been cordial to a good degree. For me both positions are not totally wrong, maybe Banjo could have been faster and maybe he would have been totally encircled. In Benin, Banjo had the eastern region and a good number of communities who are igbos, igbo-speaking or sympathetic to the cause in midwest at his flank. Now driving further to Ijebu Ode, he would encounter a lot of communities which dont have such historical and cultural mixture advantage and then he would really be exposed to flanking action from anywhere from Ondo, Ife, epe-ikorodu axis. Then who was Banjo to the general yoruba populace, does the mere fact that a yoruba man is leading an invading army rally the Yorubas to the Biafran cause or would it be seen as the utmost betrayal and cursed by his people. The same assumption was made that just because Awolowo allegedly promised Ojukwu that he would lead yorubas to secede ultimately means that promise is bankable. The West was already politically splintered and Awolowo was not the end all and be all in the west, he does not hold the west by the collar to lead wherever he deem fit.

In his memoir, The Nigerian Revolution and the Biafran War, Major General Alexander Madiebo criticized the August 1967 push into Nigeria's Mid-Western Region and the subsequent advance towards the West as a catastrophic strategic blunder. He argued that the operation dangerously overextended the Biafran military and unnecessarily provoked the Yoruba-dominated Western Region into the conflict.

If General Modiebo who is a tactical genius, how can we dismiss that Banjo is wrong to believe it. To put some context into this by 1964, Madiebo had become the first indigenous commander of the Nigerian Army Artillery Regiment, an achievement that underscored his professional competence and rising stature within the army while Ojukwu throughout his career before the war was majorly in the staff and administrative role, he became the quartermaster general and then a military administrator. Banjo was trained in sandhurst the premier in the regular combatant course. So there is a lot of merit to their angle on the matter.

Look I get your point. No doubt, but my issue is why did Banjo accept to lead that Biafra division to head to Lagos? If he knew that he had misgivings he should voice it out to his high command. He even got Ifeajuna to be his deputy commander for this.
The truth is Ojukwu felt with a Yoruba leading it would appeal to the Yorubas considering that they have been complaining about the heavy presence of northern soldiers in the west. As Banjo accepted it would have been better to continue the advance and probably surrender if he was encricled. That would have been the extreme case scenario if it failed, but clearly a fast advance as was noticed initially when they entered Benin put Lagos in fright mode. Imagine what would have happened if they had reached Ijebu Ode? Trust me Gowon would have abandoned Dodan barracks because if Yorubas were On Banjo's side, Gowon wouldn't feel safe and Britain would be forced to do business with the West and Eastern region than the north.

aswani:
Once more, stop comparing the German Army with the ragtag Biafran one. You are making yourself look, erm, a bit silly.

Even the northern Vietnamese army were far more ragtag than the Biafran army and mind you the best Nigerian infantry officers made up the Biafran army so do some introspection here.

ekitimanalways:
I actually checked Fola Oyewole’s book Reluctant Rebel and his major interviews. Nowhere he said “soldiers didn’t even see food.” If you’ve got the exact page or clip, share it—but be careful: he was a logistics officer. His own memoir says he moved supplies, including food, to troops. There's no claim he never delivered anything.

Other Biafran vets also contradicted “never.” They talked about scarcity, but not total absence. So that line is an emotional overstatement. The war was a nightmare, yes, but Biafran soldiers did eat something.

Oga stop trying to play smart every one including soldiers faced starvation why you trying to mischievous? Ask any Biafran veteran that fought even the boy brigade there will tell you everyone faced starvation.

ekitimanalways:
I get why you'd focus on Banjo's slowdown. But I think you're oversimplifying what actually happened.

First, rushing toward Lagos would’ve snapped his supply lines. By mid-1967, Biafra was already short on ammo and fuel—he might’ve shown up with empty guns. That’s logistics, not incompetence.

Second, Vietnam actually proves my point. The ARVN had all that US gear—airpower, tanks, everything—and still collapsed because their leadership failed, not because the North moved too fast. Speed exploits a hollow force, it doesn’t create one. Nigeria had way more resources; no amount of Biafran speed changes that math long-term.

And blitzkrieg? It absolutely needed airpower. The Stukas and Luftwaffe punched holes for the panzers. You can’t separate them.

Blaming Banjo alone ignores Ojukwu’s arrogance and dishonesty about the odds. Biafra was outnumbered and outgunned from day one.

Ojukwu had his flaws and his arrogance no doubt but he wanted to use the element of speed for this knowing fully well the skills gap in the Nigerian infantry at that time. Banjo slowing down gave the Nigerian army enough time to mount a counter offensive. At the time of their advance the fleeing Nigerian troops from the midwest didn't practice a scorched earth policy so the supply line as still there.

Irony1:
Even the northern Vietnamese army were far more ragtag than the Biafran army and mind you the best Nigerian infantry officers made up the Biafran army so do some introspection here.

The same Vietcong that showed the mighty US pepper and eventually made them turn tail and leave their country. That's who you are saying are more rag tag than the Biafran army that surrendered to an equally indisciplined Nigerian army, àbi?

Maybe you need to find a better example.

aswani:
The same Vietcong that showed the mighty US pepper and eventually made them turn tail and leave their country. That's who you are saying are more rag tag than the Biafran army that surrendered to an equally indisciplined Nigerian army, àbi?

Maybe you need to find a better example.

What really is your definition of a professional soldier and a ragtag army? You argue based on your tribal and ethnic bigotry tainted bias rather than being intelligent in writing and organising your thoughts.