laudate:


Has it occurred to you that government can always amend or even repeal any of its own laws, at any time for any purpose? Continue deceiving yourself that the Igbo cannot be deported, because they are entitled to both Nigerian citizenship and dual citizenship. Is it not the Nigerian govt that grants Nigerian citizenship till date? You think they cannot change the laws concerning this aspect? All it takes to change that, is a stroke of the President's pen!!

Afterall, Fashola deported some people from Lagos at one time, and most of your kinsmen cried. Can you see why we keep telling you that assumption is the mother of all errors?

kingzizzy:
What does it take to push the Igbos out? The 50, 000 of them that were slaughtered? The Aburi agreement that was broken? An agreement is an agreement. You dont sign an agreement and come back and say you offering 80%. If Ojukwu had accepted that, what stops Gowon coming back a week later to offer only 40%? If Gowon felt that the agreement he signed in Ghana was to be ammended, it was incumbent on Gowon to call another meeting and discuss an ammendment. The break down of the Aburi agreement was because of the inability of Gowon to implement what he signed. Blame Gowon not Ojukwu.

Gowon left Ojukwu with no option than to declare Biafra when Gowon changed the structural arrangement of Nigeria by abolishing the 4 Regions and creating 12 states. Even as at that, Gowon could have tried other acenues for peace such referendum, plebicite ir a second Aburi meeting. But Gowon rushed to war as his first resort when it should have been his last resort. If Ojukwu had really wanted war, he would have never agreed to go to Aburi where he signed an agreement ti recognise his junior, Gowon, as head of state.

All this was because the Northern oligarchy wanted to dominate the political and economic life of Nigeria. Unfortunately for them, neither Ojukwu nor Igbos were about to take it laying down like slaves as the rest of Nigeria were prepared to

kingzizzy:
Of course a government can ammend its laws. Im going by what is on the ground at the moment. It is not for me to say what they Government might do or not do. I an one person who believes that Igbos should think about home and developing their land. A mass deportation might be a good thing for Igbos for 2 reasons. It will finally show the doubting ones that 'one Nigeria' was always a scam and also, it will force them to repartrate their investments home.

kingzizzy:


What does it take to push the Igbos out? The 50, 000 of them that were slaughtered? The Aburi agreement that was broken? An agreement is an agreement. You dont sign an agreement and come back and say you offering 80%. If Ojukwu had accepted that, what stops Gowon coming back a week later to offer only 40%? If Gowon felt that the agreement he signed in Ghana was to be ammended, it was incumbent on Gowon to call another meeting and discuss an ammendment. The break down of the Aburi agreement was because of the inability of Gowon to implement what he signed. Blame Gowon not Ojukwu.

Gowon left Ojukwu with no option than to declare Biafra when Gowon changed the structural arrangement of Nigeria by abolishing the 4 Regions and creating 12 states. Even as at that, Gowon could have tried other acenues for peace such referendum, plebicite ir a second Aburi meeting. But Gowon rushed to war as his first resort when it should have been his last resort. If Ojukwu had really wanted war, he would have never agreed to go to Aburi where he signed an agreement ti recognise his junior, Gowon, as head of state.

All this was because the Northern oligarchy wanted to dominate the political and economic life of Nigeria. Unfortunately for them, neither Ojukwu nor Igbos were about to take it laying down like slaves as the rest of Nigeria were prepared to

laudate:


You are beginning to sound like a broken record. If the Nigerian govt at that time wanted to push the Igbo out, they would not have initiated a police action to compel Ojukwu to drop the idea of secession. In fact, Ojukwu was the one who started laying the groundwork for secession, when he started taking over all the federal govt assets in the old Eastern region, and was asking Shell to pay oil royalties directly to him, instead of the federal govt, like they had always done.

As for Aburi accord, getting 80% of your demands met, is better than getting nothing at all, not so? If Ojukwu had agreed to take that 80% share that was offered, Nigeria would have been a confederation by now, the civil war would not have taken place, and most likely the 3 million Igbo souls that were lost would probably still be alive today. He should have taken a leaf from Ben Gurion's book who negotiated the borders of Israel's lands, several years ago.

Finally, in order to put a stop to Ojukwu's secession bid, Gowon created 12 states, which was a masterstroke. He wanted to weaken Ojukwu's power base, in order to make Ojukwu to see reason, and also wanted to give the minorities of the old Eastern region their own voice. If he wanted to push the Igbo out, would he have done this? Ojukwu did not expect this kind of reaction from Gowon, and it left him floundering. His followers like you, are still making the same mistake till today. Read up Sun Tzu's book The Art of War. It would help you understand a lot of things.

Now kindly stop derailing this thread with all your lamentations about Ojukwu and the civil war. Focus on the topic at hand...

Rossikki:


Use your common sense Mr Man. Insofar as you did not have the military wherewithal to confront the Nigerian military, it was incumbent on Ojukwu to seek a PEACEFUL RESOLUTION of the crisis, even if the Aburi agreement was broken. Even if Gowon created 12 states. Even if Gowon kidnapped Ojukwu's daughter. The ONLY VIABLE SOLUTION for the Igbos at the time, was a PEACEFUL RESOLUTION of that crisis. PURE AND SIMPLE.

Instead, your dictator, Ojukwu, unilaterally declared secession from Nigeria, knowing full well he lacked the resources to back such a dramatic, provocative act. Look, there are over 700 secessionist movements on earth. The US alone alone has over 30. Why has none of them actually moved to declare secession from their respective countries? Because they lack the military capacity to enforce such an action against the parent state. BASIC COMMON SENSE, which you, Ojukwu, and many other Igbos, have somehow failed to grasp. Is it an IQ problem with you people?

Debatesmartly:
As a Panafricanist this thread make me sad.
When will we as African get it?

laudate:


And you need to let go of your propaganda. Unfortunately, this thread's objective is NOT the civil war, so I do not want to derail it. What Awolowo said was that "if the Igbo were allowed to secede or were pushed out, the Yorubas would be left with no option but to follow suit." The question is: were the Igbo allowed to secede or were they pushed out? NO. In fact, Gowon initiated a police action to compel Ojukwu to drop his secession plans and remain within Nigeria.

As for the Aburi accord, a decree was enacted which would have given Ojukwu 80% of his demands that were made at Aburi. He rejected it because he was hell-bent on going to war. A wise man would have accepted that offer, and gone back to the negotiating table to ask for more. Just like Israel did, under Ben Gurion.

Ojukwu instigated the war by declaring secession. Even after it started, he was given options from several quarters to put an end to it. He refused. Only to turn round and abandon his people on the battlefield.

Rossikki:


Use your common sense Mr Man. Insofar as you did not have the military wherewithal to confront the Nigerian military, it was incumbent on Ojukwu to seek a PEACEFUL RESOLUTION of the crisis, even if the Aburi agreement was broken. Even if Gowon created 12 states. Even if Gowon kidnapped Ojukwu's daughter. The ONLY VIABLE SOLUTION for the Igbos at the time, was a PEACEFUL RESOLUTION of that crisis. PURE AND SIMPLE.

Instead, your dictator, Ojukwu, unilaterally declared secession from Nigeria, knowing full well he lacked the resources to back such a dramatic, provocative act. Look, there are over 700 secessionist movements on earth. The US alone has over 30. Why has none of them actually moved to declare secession from their respective countries? Because they lack the military capacity to enforce such an action against the parent state. BASIC COMMON SENSE, which you, Ojukwu, and many other Igbos, have somehow failed to grasp. Is it an IQ problem with you people?

pazienza:


Again, this is piece of trash coming from you. You should be ashamed of yourself.

Biafra more than had the military wherewithal to confront and defeat Nigeria.

World powers decided the war, and there was no way of knowing that they could have all sided Nigeria against Biafra.
Eritrea confronted Ethiopia, and won because the world powers didn't entirely side Ethiopia. So yes! Biafra had every right to go for freedom and would have won if there were no outside interference from world powers or alteast if they(Biafrans) got equal support from the world powers.

You claim to be pan African but yet have no problem with Caucasian neocolonists like Britain helping you win your war against fellow Africans, lol what a joke, reminded me of Grandiose Murtala who had no qualms with British imperialists helping him to commit war crimes against fellow Africans to get his hands on Eastern region wealth, but greedily felt he could sidetrack his Caucasian masters that won the war for him by keeping the war booty and spoils to himself, while he went on rampage in OAU meeting in Addis Ababa blabbing about neo colonialism of Britain and America and need for African unity. Unity with who? Unity with same Africans he murdered and nearly bombed into extinction with weapons supplied by his Caucasian friends.
It's not imperialism when Caucasian powers help you subjugate fellow Africans, but it's imperialism when they come looking for you to keep your end of the bargain by demanding unfair trade rules and concessions, as their help to you to bomb your fellow Africans was not for free.
Clowns!
Of course, he paid the price with his life.

The dictator is the one who came forcing unity, who felt starvation was a legitimate weapon of war, and the shame is on all those who continue to defend such a dictator act why casting freedom heroes in the mode of dictators.
You lots are the reason African have failed and would continue to fail.

Rossikki:


Use your common sense Mr Man. Insofar as you did not have the military wherewithal to confront the Nigerian military, it was incumbent on Ojukwu to seek a PEACEFUL RESOLUTION of the crisis, even if the Aburi agreement was broken. Even if Gowon created 12 states. Even if Gowon kidnapped Ojukwu's daughter. The ONLY VIABLE SOLUTION for the Igbos at the time, was a PEACEFUL RESOLUTION of that crisis. PURE AND SIMPLE.

Instead, your dictator, Ojukwu, unilaterally declared secession from Nigeria, knowing full well he lacked the resources to back such a dramatic, provocative act. Look, there are over 700 secessionist movements on earth. The US alone has over 30. Why has none of them actually moved to declare secession from their respective countries? Because they lack the military capacity to enforce such an action against the parent state. BASIC COMMON SENSE, which you, Ojukwu, and many other Igbos, have somehow failed to grasp. Is it an IQ problem with you people?

Rossikki:
Forget those 200 countries rubbish. If it's like that why haven't the millions of Igbos in Nigeria left the "zoo" and moved to those 200 countries? Or they prefer zoo abi? Abeg make we hear something o jare.

potter7:
Who feed you this bullshit your spewing You thought ojukwu was "hell bent on going to war"?? Go back to your history books​ and stop spreading half baked information you overhead in a beer parlor.

kingzizzy:


There is a limit to seeking peaceful resolution. Somebidy cannot carry on slapping your face and you keep taking it because you want peace. It doesnt matter who you are, a time will come when you will say enough is enough. We all have our breaking point. Ojukwu did so much so that there would be peace. In the first coup of January 1966, Ojukwu refused to help Nzeogwu and even helped foil the coup. When the first wave of massacres happend to Igbos in the North, many Igbos ran back to the East. Ojukwu as military Governor of the Eastern Region convinced many Igbos to returned to the North. Ojukwu even escorted a large number of Igbos to the Northern border with Eastern Nigeria and told told them to go back in the spirit of 'one Nigeria' only for them ti killed in greater numbers a few months later. In the counter coup of July 1966, over 300 Igbo officers were murdered including the Igbo head of state, Aguiyi Ironsi. Enugu baraks had about 800 Northern Soldiers. It took the tireless efforts if Ojukwu and Lt Col Ogunenwe to hold the Igbos from descending on that Barrack and killing all of them. Ojukwu even arranged the safe departure of all of them from Enugu train station back to the North. Over 50, 000 Igbos were massacred but Ojukwu defied the cry of his fellow Igbos to pull them out of Nigeria and went to Ghana to meet Gowon and find lasting peace. After 2 days of meeting, they reached an agreement. Before they signed this agreement, the president of Ghana, General Ankrah asked all parties 'do you all agree with this agreement?', they all said yes and signed. Only for Gowon to retirn to Nigeria and start talking about honouring 80% of the agreement. The final straw that broke the Carmels back was when Gowon unilaterally changed the structural agreement of Nigeria by abolishing the 4 Regions and creating 12 states! Something he signed not to do in the Aburi agreement.


Haba! What was Ojukwu to do? What else could that man have done after all he had done for peace was rebuffed? What was Gowons imput as head of state so that there would be peace? He was ready to go to war to kill those he called brothers.

Ojukwu went over and above what a normal person would have done so that there would be peace.

What you people expected Ojukwu to do was roll over and surrender to the dictates of the Northern oiligarchy like Awolowo did? Sorry but an Igbo man cannot do that, not without a fight.

If I am surrounded by 5 big men who wish to bully and subjugate me, how long do I let them intimidate me before I stand up myself?

Ojukwu was faced with 2 choices, accept Northern controlled Nigeria or declare your sovereignty and fight for it. Ojukwu did what he was supposed to do

kingzizzy:
You are defending Gowon, I am defending Ojukwu. What this should show anyone is that we are different people who have our on different outlook. Since we cant agree, it is only natural to accept that 'one Nigeria' isnt worth the paper it is printed on. Disintegration becomes inevitable. Coming back this thread, when Biafra is achieved, it is almost inevitable that Biafran and Nigerian leaders will have to sit down and discuss the sharing of assets and liability accumulated since 1914. In that meeting, the issue of citizen rights will have to discussed. An example is, what happens to Igbos who have Nigerian mothers and are entitled to dual Nigerian/Biafran citizenship? What about Igbos married to Nigerian women? What about Igbos who own landed properties or other investments in Nigeria? The reason why these questions are important is that it doesnt just affect Igbos, it affects all foreigners in Nigeria. There is no such thing as having one law for Igbos and another for someone from China, we in a democracy not military rule.

In the worst case scenario where Nigeria decides that all Biafrans should go back home.

1) Igbos have the largest investments in Nigeria outside Nigerians themselves. Asking them to go will see the largest capital flight in Africas history and one which Nigeria will not recover from for years to come. Nigerians dont seem to realise that nobody practices 'one Nigeria' like the Igbos. It is an Igbo man that will go to a jungle in Sokoto and build a house.

2) A mass deportation of Igbos will destroy the Nigerian economy. No international investor will ever step foot in Nigeria because what the investor will ask himself is 'if they could do that to people they once called brothers, what can they do to me?'

3) The standing of Nigeria in the international community will be that of a 'spiteful country' ruled by emotion rather than sense.

4) In other to successfully mass deport Igbos, Nigeria will to enact retrogressive imigrations laws that not only infringes on the rights of Biafrans, but all foreigners.

5) Mass deportations will increase international sympathy for Biafrans while making Nigeria a pariah nation

HarryDuce:
Just read through your post from the beginning to the end. I'm sure you know that it makes no sense. Be the judge.

pazienza: You are defending Gowon, I am defending Ojukwu.

pazienza:
"In an authoritative and detailed memorandum on
the background, cause and consequences of the
Nigerian civil war issued in November 1968 by
more than sixty British subjects, including Sir
Robert Stapleton, the last British governor of the
Eastern region( 1959-60), it was concluded that of
the 37 percent of the population which they
estimated that minority group represented in
Biafra, only 10% would favour continued
association with the federal government". The.
New York review of Books, Volume 14,Number 8.
April 23, 1970


Gowon was very much aware that his State creation in the East won't survive the scrutiny and fire of democratic referendum/plebiscite.

The British armed him with the above report.

Which was why he stuck to his guns rather than negotiations or referendums.

kingzizzy:


For a people who cherish their freedom, both are the same thing

WHY ABURI ACCORD FAILED, BY ASIODU |tnv | THE NIGERIAN VOICE |

Asiodu: But coming back from what I was saying. Go and read decree 8, if we had implemented it - in three months, we would have had four independent states.

Q: Why was it not implemented?

Asiodu: "Because, it didn't satisfy the Easterners. The decree had been promulgated by Gowon. It was to be implemented then. But it was seen by Ojukwu as not being sufficient. I am saying that politics is something which has to be played with some tact. Sometimes my brothers there see black and white where there is immediately green in between. Sometimes, there is really no finesse in politics. They will think the reality is not important as how you get there. The reality was that Nigeria was finished under decree number 8. The reality is that although it was finished, they didn't proclaim 'we hereby dissolve Nigeria'. But that was of no effect. You go and read it. But it was rejected...." https://www.thenigerianvoice.com/thread/12170/87243/1

Asiodu: "Then few of us- Alison Ayida, late Aliu Martins, myself, Abdulaziz, who served in the East, 'we went to ask Ojukwu what is it you want so that we could prepare the ground for a meaningful conference, where every side would know what they are saying.' Eventually, just as Ojukwu was warming up to tell us what he wanted , so that we could have come back to Lagos, sell those ideas to Gowon, and see if we can reach agreement, C. C. Mojekwu came and broke up the meeting.

He destroyed that last chance, and we flew back empty handed. Before they started cooking up the Aburi, they went to with unequal preparation. But before then, General Gowon was only communicating with him as an officer. He did know that behind Ojukwu, people were working. So, we didn't want Ojukwu to get the wrong impression. In anyway, we then agreed that a letter be prepared, addressed from my house, signed by Alison Ayida,who was in Oxford (cuts in, he was in Oxford too?) at the same time? Two of us signed this letter trying to spell out to him the consequences of what will happen if secession was declared. That there would be war and if there is war, until you vanquished federal authority, you will not get recognition which will give you access to the sea, and so on.

I can be embittered. I can feel for my people. But I have a duty to make sure that every step I take, I have calculated all the scenarios and make sure that in the worst scenario , I am not taking them to a worst decision. https://www.thenigerianvoice.com/thread/12170/87243/1

Asiodu:"When they subjected this Aburi accord to simple analysis, it was simply saying Nigeria is no more practically. And as far as was concerned, the civil war or no civil war, then chaos would have started later. All the same, we said look, … if we still want to be a country….authority which deals with customs, currency, federal trunk roads, foreign and external defences, that is more than enough for a government. But it must be able to act.

You can not say that in the Ministry of Defence, you can not promote somebody a Lt Col, except you have a unanimity. You cannot move one plane to another place except through unanimity. Even when you have those limited powers, they must be able to function. And you cannot function in the context of those things they said. And then what you have is four countries.

Q:And the permanent secretaries vetoed it?
Asiodu: "No. The permanent secretary made analysis and said look, if you are really serious, if you say you are having Nigeria, you must have central function which must be fulfilled. There is no need saying this is central function and you cannot fulfill it. So, we analysed and said these were based on incorrect premises. People came with proper papers, well formulated. The other side just went thinking they were going to do initial breaking of the ice. Therefore, please try to reconcile this to ensure that we still have a country.

Gowon in fairness, vetoed that approach, and still proceeded to have decree number 8 of 1967. If you go and read that decree, and if the East had accepted that decree, there would have been no need for secession. Nigeria would have disintegrated within three months. And you can not move anybody without unanimity. You collect revenue, you cannot transfer it…"

Q: Decree 8 was an affirmation of Aburi accord?
Asiodu: It was an affirmation of the Aburi accord which gave the East under Ojukwu, more than 95 per cent of what Aburi meant. But because there were maybe one or two phrases which they didn't like, if they read that thing and it is still there, they'd have got what they wanted. But it was such that, hostilities would have broken out among four independent countries. Not one on one.

And I think, we don't have much time now. With the present challenges in the country and the lack of serious effort to address the issue, we may even be in worse position if we are not careful. Because, this time, it will not be federal versus Biafra, but among 110 million people. So we are going to end up with warlords, if authorities should finally break down and I appeal to God that we avoid that, by stopping all these jokes as if we can continue milking this country forever.

What we are doing is not sustainable. And the sooner we address, try to create a new national austerity programme, discipline ourselves, decide that we cannot be millionaires, billionaires in little islands with a whole ocean of poor wretched people, there would be this tsunami which will overwhelm all of us.https://www.thenigerianvoice.com/thread/12170/87243/1

Gowon’s creation of 12 states in May 1967 has its root in Decree 8, 1967 which he promulgated in March as his answer to demands by Lt-Col Odumegwu Ojukwu for the implementation of the Aburi Accord, named after the venue in Ghana of the meeting held on January 4 and 5, 1967, at the initiative of the country’s military authorities to stem the drift towards the country’s disintegration which began with the first coup in January 1966.

As a result of that decree, the title of the military head of state changed from Supreme Commander to Commander-in-Chief and his word ceased to be law without the support of the regional governors on subjects like commerce, industry, transport, armed forces, police and higher education. In addition, military area commands were to be created as part of the accord. Apparently as military governor of the most aggrieved Eastern Region at the time, Lt-Colonel Ojukwu did not think these and other concessions were good enough.

Not even when the secretary of his government, Mr. N. U. Akpan said the said decree in his view “faithfully implemented the Aburi decisions,” as Professor Jonas Elaigwu quoted in his 2009 “Gowon: A Scholarly Biography of a Soldier-Statesman.”

However, whereas Ojukwu did not accept Decree 8 ‘67 as good enough, virtually all the senior technocrats who were at the Aburi talks condemned it as giving too much away against Nigeria’s interests. Read more at http://www.dailytrust.com.ng/news/columns/-true-federalism-and-all-that/148320.html#LyoiumQLala1kXfq.99

“True federalism” and all that… By Mohammed Haruna | Publish Date: May 25 2016 5:00 AM |
In rejecting the decree, Ojukwu stood alone among his colleagues. And his rejection, along with other decisions he had taken like his seizure of some national assets in his region, led to the conclusion among the federal authorities that the man had made up his mind to curve his region into a sovereign nation.

Gowon’s state creation was partly his preemptive strike aimed at isolating Ojukwu. Contrary to the revisionism we have been subjected to all these decades, that move was widely acclaimed as wise. For, up until then giving minorities in each region their sub-regions was widely considered a solution to their agitations that had started even before Independence in 1960. Read more at http://www.dailytrust.com.ng/news/columns/-true-federalism-and-all-that/148320.html#LyoiumQLala1kXfq.99

Ojukwu: Hero or Villain? | By Max Siollun on December 16, 2007

The federal government attempted to implement the Aburi agreement in diluted form by enacting a modified Constitution (Suspension and Modification) Decree which turned Nigeria into a de facto confederation. Ojukwu declined to accept the initial draft and insisted on a full and complete implementation of the accords reached at Aburi.

Nonetheless as the weaker party he could still have showed greater pragmatism to spare further suffering for his people. At this point Ojukwu’s decision making must be questioned. Ojukwu would have saved many lives had he shown a greater degree of flexibility by accepting the Decree as it gave him 90% of what he wanted. In the “winner takes all” mentality that is so symptomatic of Nigerian politics, Ojukwu unrealistically held out for 100% of his demands and in the end, received 0%.

His intransigence placed him and his people in a worse position than they started in. Rather than turning Nigeria into a confederation (which is what Decree 8 did), Ojukwu ’s intransigence gave the federal government an opportunity to overrun the Eastern Region, carve the country into several states and concentrate massive powers in the central government. Forty years later many Nigerians now call for the restructuring of Nigeria, and for devolution of power to its regions.

Ojukwu had a golden opportunity to achieve this over 40 years ago but squandered it. Had he shown some patience he may have achieved his objectives – albeit at a later date. The old adage is that “the best comes to those who wait.”

Ojukwu could have taken a leaf from the book of another infant country named Israel. For several decades Jews fought to be given their own state in what was then British Mandate Palestine. In 1947, they were granted their state but only on half the land that they wanted.

Realizing that it is best to accept what is achievable today, rather than risk holding out for 100% and getting nothing, Israel’s first leader David Ben-Gurion accepted a state but cleverly did not enunciate the borders of this state – this leaving the door open to agitate for more land at a later date. Today the “green line” borders of Israel encompass more land than it originally had at independence. [/color] https://maxsiollun./tag/ojukwu/

TheCabal:
At the recent Kampala Peace Talks, Dr. B. J. Imkeme from Calabar, a retired Senior Medical Officer in the employment of the former Eastern Nigeria Government, who is well known to the other side, gave a resume of rebel atrocities in the South-Eastern State in the following words:

It was clear to all right thinking people that these people (the minorities) wanted to remain within the Federation of Nigeria but with States of their own in which they enjoyed the right of self-determination. This did not suit the Ibos of the newly declared ‘Republic of Biafra’ and so they were determined either to force the 6 million non-Ibos into their Republic or to exterminate them systematically. To this end, Ibo soldiers were quickly sent to all non-Ibo areas with instructions to keep down the people, detain or even kill all who dared raise a voice in protest against the idea of ‘Biafra.’

The Provincial Secretary for Calabar, an Ibo man, called a mass meeting in June, 1967 and addressed the Calabar people thus, and I quote: "‘You Calabar people say you want a State of your own. Let me tell you that by the time the Federal Troops come here to enforce this mad idea there will be no one left but grass and weeds, for we shall have flattened your land and lolled all you Efiks.’"

From then on, the non-Ibos of the Eastern Region were subjected to torture, detention, all forms of human indignities and even killing.

In Asang, a town in Enion Division where I come from, and which is just a mile from Okpo, my own village, all the inhabitants numbering about 400 were carried away to an unknown destination. Two women, one a relation of mine, who had been bed-ridden for two years were slaughtered in cold blood because the soldiers said it would be a burden to carry them along and they were under instructions not to leave alive any person in the town. On the way out a woman gave birth to a babe, and was groaning in her travail. The soldiers bundled her out of the canoe which was taking them away, shot both mother and the innocent child only a few minutes old.

In Attan Onoyon, another town in Enoing Division, the whole town was burnt down together with all the people the Ibo soldiers could lay hands on.....

laudate:


Please learn how to quote properly, so that you do not mix up my initial posts, in the same block with your responses. Now, let us all kindly go back and study the issues surrounding the relationship between Crimea, Ukraine and Russia.

First of all, it was Crimea that declared independence from Ukraine and voted in a referendum to join Russia in 2014. They discovered too late that they had jumped from frying pan to fire, as it gave Russia a chance to then move in and annex their lands. Prior to that, the same Crimea had nationalised or taken over all Ukraine's assets on their soil. But they cried wolf, and began to appeal for help from the outside world when they discovered that their decision to join Russia had landed them in trouble.

What happened next? The UN issued its standard communique, but did not send in any forces to help Crimea. Instead they proposed the following:

US and the European Union imposed sanctions on Russia. Why? Russia is a world power and the US has been trying to find a way to limit its' influence in world affairs for years. For the EU, Russia holds an important strategic position on the European continent, and they wanted to ensure that other nations do not follow Russia's example.

But then you need to ask what kind of sanctions were imposed by the US on Russia?
These sanctions were against targeted individuals, not against the entire country of Russia. They were like a mild slap on the wrist. Even the sanctions imposed by the EU were minimal. 21 Russian officials were targeted by travel bans and asset freezes. Again the country of Russia was spared. Russia still had the clout to even vetoe US-drafted UN Security Council resolution to make the Crimean referendum invalid.

The EU later adopted a non-recognition policy of the illegal annexation of Crimea by Russia. The EU also introduced restrictive measures against persons involved in actions against Ukraine's territorial integrity on 17 March 2014. Over 149 persons and 37 entities were affected including about 60 Russian or Crimean politicians, members of the military, and govt officials for their role in the occupation of Crimea, 13 entities in Crimea were ‘nationalised’ by the de facto authorities, as well as a Russian state airline flying directly to Crimea. These measures were extended to 15 September 2016. Yet these measures have not stopped the properties of Crimean citizens from being seized till date. Neither has it stopped widespread human rights abuses within that territory.

Since 2014, there have been reports issued by Ukraine on the current status of Crimea showing that: .
The response from the UK was that thier "country is consistent in non-recognition of the annexation of the Crimea. "The UK Government pays great attention to violations of rights in the Crimea, including the violation of property rights. Since the illegal seizure of the Crimea, we, as well as the EU, does not recognize the annexation by Russia....". As at 2016, Crimeans were still lamenting that their properties had not been returned to them.

Since 2014 when Crimea was annexed by Russia, its' citizens as well as nationals of Ukraine have been begging different Western nations and international bodies to apply further sanctions on Russia. Yet, those Western countries have been dragging their feet. You really need to ask yourself if your proposed Republic of Biafra holds the same strategic importance, as Russia does to the West. Countries act based on self-interest, rather than any other interest.

It was for this same reason that the US invaded Iraq in 2003 and finally got rid of Saddam Hussein, years after he had attacked Kuwait. Don't forget that Kuwait was one of the world's largest producers of oil, and held a lot of strategic importance for US.

Yet, when Liberia a former US colony in West Africa was at war, the US did not send in an armed unit to take out Sergeant Doe who was wreaking havoc in that country. It took ages before the outside world responded. And even then, it was ECOMOG forces under the leadership of Nigerian commanders that did so.

Kindly remember this. All countries are equal, but some are more equal and more strategic than others. Do you think a newly formed Biafra on the west coast of Africa, would wield enough clout or strategic importance to make the Western world send in armed units in response to your country's call? Do you honestly think the EU will rush down to rescue your properties that are still on Nigerian soil? When the chickens come home to roost, assumptions will not automatically be transformed into solutions...