₦airaland Forum

More on Michael Okpara's feats as premier of eastern region.

http://www.google.com/url?q=https://googleweblight.com/i%3Fu%3Dhttps://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2018/06/08/challenges-of-governance-in-imo/%3Famp%26grqid%3DQK6vXO6-%26s%3D1%26hl%3Den-NG&sa=U&ved=2ahUKEwja0ue5vu3dAhWFCsAKHb0DBk0QFjAEegQIAhAB&usg=AOvVaw3CkxKS7Aaz3YDgp072Pc9_

Bede2u:
Michael okpara....the youngest premiere in Nigerian history. He turned eastern region into the fastest growing economy in Africa...even b4 oil became a factor.

Dude never owned a house. He joined eastern region house of assembly in 1950 and had a steady political career lasting 16 years....7 of which he spent as premiere.

Died at age 64

It would be very hard to get these kind of leaders again! That stupid Nzeogwu coup messed up so many things for us that i don't even know where to start!

Nowadays, people go into politics and selfless service is the last thing on their minds! They're more interested in making billions (of dollars if possible) and being worshipped as 'your excellency....not much else!

After the british left gcc 7 emirates came together to form uae. They also invited qatar and bahrain...but the 2 emirates said no and went it alone.

Today, even tho uae is still a very powerful country, qatar is pulling major weight in the world and is the richest country in the world.

The futuristic al thani emir is fast turning the country into the switzerland of middle east

Xander85:
It would be very hard to get these kind of leaders again! That stupid Nzeogwu coup messed up so many things for us that i don't even know where to start!

Nowadays, people go into politics and selfless service is the last thing on their minds! They're more interested in making billions (of dollars if possible) and being worshipped as 'your excellency....not much else!

nzeogwu was an idiot whose memory should be cursed. Idiot thought nigeria was a small country he could control...he didnt appreciate the strenght of the north. Today, the east could have at least been wat lagos is to nigeria today..the richest zone...where the money is.

Enugu and ph could have been like abuja and lagos. The east had it all...but it wasnt enough...nzogwu and his goons wanted more...they got death instead. Curse their memory. Am sad now

Had things (the political-economy of Nigeria) remained as they were, with the upward economic trajectory the Eastern Region was witnessing pre-66, Port Harcourt would have overtaken Lagos by the 1980s.

Of course this is assuming all agitations by minorities in the region were addressed; which i believe, given time, they would have been! Not addressing these lingering issues before the coup of '66 allowed our enemies to see an opening through which they could come into the east...take advantage of the divisions that existed within the new region, and divide us further!

Bede2u:
state politics pains me eh....wetin be anambra and enugu? The last deputy governor of enugu state came from Abia. I as an enugu man know some of my anambra friends who i can support for enugu governor tomorrow. Many of us have mothers coming from outside our state sef. We are igbo. Nothing more. So if i critisize zik, its because of his deeds, not his origin.

Zik steped in to lead eastern region at a time division was very possible...but he chose to be zik of africa...lol. who send am? Oil was discovered in east since 1958 and u dont knw wat that means.. a whole zik who schooled in u.s didnt know wat dat meant? Insist on ur people going it alone. Insist insist insist. Make things difficult for the white colonialist....insist insist..until u get a better deal...insist more...conduct illegal referendums...rig it and show a result of overwhelming independence vote... if the whites want one nigeria, give them big conditions...and insist on them. Ghana at the time was not as big as eastern region...

Tell the whites that because of islam in north and west and lack of islam in east, that u cant advice ur ppl to form one country with nigeria. Then insist more...until they either gv u wat u want or imprison u.

Wen u get an independent eastern region, name it wat eva name u like and enthrone ursslf as king...let ur sons take over from u....then work for ur people like ghadaffi did. East could have been as developed as algeria today if we had futuristic leaders in the 50s after oil was discovered

There are far more Anambra people in Enugu state civil service than the other way round, yet, we keep hearing of what happened in 1991 , that followed state creation in most regions. It's alright.

About Zik,all you listed was achievable by him. If he could get Nigeria independence without bloodshed ( a phenomenon documented globally by observers) and start a Pan African movement named after him, there was nothing he couldn't have achieved , if he had set out to do it.
The only thing he didn't achieve in his life was being president post civil war era and that's because Igbos, including him, had begun to suffer from his previous inactions.

So, setting the Eastern region into what you described above was like 'beans' for him. That's part of why I believed that if he had intervened the right way, and with all his international connections, Nigerian division, pre 1951 or Biafra, late 60s , would have come on a platter of gold. Dude wasn't just interested.
The so called advice he was giving Ojukwu , prior to the war ( that people are harping about and calling Ojukwu stubborn for) ,was summarily for Igbos to remain in Nigeria, not minding the pogroms. How possible was that? Ojukwu had to shove him aside so he could concentrate. And what did Zik do after?
He vamoosed.

And let's remember Ojukwu didn't start the secession alone. There was a referendum in the Eastern region . He also worked with a lot of intellegensia , like Achebe, Okigbo and Co. We heap these blames on Ojukwu and identify all his mistakes just because we lost.

Xander85:
Had things (the political-economy of Nigeria) remained as they were, with the upward economic trajectory the Eastern Region was witnessing pre-66, Port Harcourt would have overtaken Lagos by the 1980s.

Of course this is assuming all agitations by minorities in the region were addressed; which i believe, given time, they would have been! Not addressing these lingering issues before the coup of '66 allowed our enemies to see an opening through which they could come into the east...take advantage of the divisions that existed within the new region, and divide us further!

that coup was everything....it changed everything.

There where 5 provinces in the east...onitsha, owerri, ogoja, rivers and calabar. Their capital where also the cities the provinces where named after...except rivers which had ph as capital.

If the provinces where given increased revenue according to derivation, we would have had 6 highly developed cities in the east...that would have reduced agitation as most ppl will leave the villages and move to the cities and stopped playing clannish politics.

By now most peeps from niger delta would have been speaking fluent igbo...and reasoning like igbo ppl.

aniomafirstson:
We also have umuigbo (delta) Akwukwu-igbo (delta)

Ok noted bro.

InyinyaAgbaOku:
There are far more Anambra people in Enugu state civil service than the other way round, yet, we keep hearing of what happened in 1991 , that followed state creation in most regions. It's alright.

About Zik,all you listed was achievable by him. If he could get Nigeria independence without bloodshed ( a phenomenon documented globally by observers) and start a Pan African movement named after him, there was nothing he couldn't have achieved , if he had set out to do it.
The only thing he didn't achieve in his life was being president post civil war era and that's because Igbos, including him, had begun to suffer from his previous inactions.

So, setting the Eastern region into what you described above was like 'beans' for him. That's part of why I believed that if he had intervened the right way, and with all his international connections, Nigerian division, pre 1951 or Biafra, late 60s , would have come on a platter of gold. Dude wasn't just interested.
The so called advice he was giving Ojukwu , prior to the war ( that people are harping about and calling Ojukwu stubborn for) ,was summarily for Igbos to remain in Nigeria, not minding the pogroms. How possible was that? Ojukwu had to shove him aside so he could concentrate. And what did Zik do after?
He vamoosed.

And let's remember Ojukwu didn't start the secession alone. There was a referendum in the Eastern region . He also worked with a lot of intellegensia , like Achebe, Okigbo and Co. We heap these blames on Ojukwu and identify all his mistakes just because we lost.

zik's vain-glory and stupidity cost us.

If i were him, i would NEVER join east with nigeria after oil got discovered.. i would drag my foot until i understand the extent of the oil and wat our options were.

Oil that already made rockerfella the richest man in history 200 years prior
Wat i will be thinking would be how rich i and my family would become if we came to control the oil 100%

I will rather die than hand over oil found in my territory to the larger nigerian nation.

superlightning:
Okpara was indeed a zikist in ideology, but his leadership qualities were simply his, NOT zik's. Let that also sink in. Zik himself was Herbert Macaulay's protege....so there is nothing insubordinate about starting a political career from someone else's foundation.

Ojukwu aggravated the problem by rejecting wise counsel from the likes of zik, okpara and ibiam. When he saw his loss coming, he ran away to ivory coast in the name of "exile" leaving the already battered people he was leading to lick their own wounds.

For your information, ironsi NEVER created any mess, he was trying to placate the north and at the same time, bridle the excesses of his Igbo kinsmen. Did he make a mistake by APPOINTING ojukwu to run the eastern region? You anambarians think too much of yourselves.

Boast all you can, but stop belittling others in the process. I don't hate ANAMBRA , there is even no such thing as anambra or abia or Enugu etc, Igbo bu Igbo. Igbo di otu.

I

Herbert Macaulay was no Igbo leader, Zik was. That's the difference.

There were many advice coming from all quarters for Ojukwu, ultimately, he couldn't have taken everyone's advise. By the way, do you mind explaining what you mean by "wise counsel" . Can you enumerate those wise counsels to Ojukwu that he rejected, let's see how wise they were, taking cognizance of the situation then.

Ironsi created a big mess. First he dissolved Igbo Union. Then he went on a folly driven mission to unify the government. Then he failed to present Nzeogwu and co to the North to butcher, since he was eager to please them.
If he wasn't going to butcher Nzeogwu and co to appease and pacify the aggrieved North, the next option was to surround himself with Igbo officers and carefully eliminate Northern officers who posed immediate danger.
Instead he did the opposite. He kept Nzeogwu and co alive, and then went and surrounded himself with Northerners. His decision to centralize the government made the propaganda of "Igbo coup" propagated by western region media gain more credibility.
Ironsi contributed a major part to the break out of Igbo progrom in the North, his poor leadership allowed the counter coup to occur. He was easily the worst leader in Igbo history and he left the young Ojukwu with too much mess to clean up when he was murdered.

Nobody is belittling anyone. And nobody has stopped other Igbos from celebrating their own achievements, but what won't happen is those who don't want to celebrate their own achievements, feeling aggrieved about Ndi Anambra celebrating theirs.

Bede2u:
nzeogwu was an idiot whose memory should be cursed. Idiot thought nigeria was a small country he could control...he didnt appreciate the strenght of the north. Today, the east could have at least been wat lagos is to nigeria today..the richest zone...where the money is.

Enugu and ph could have been like abuja and lagos. The east had it all...but it wasnt enough...nzogwu and his goons wanted more...they got death instead. Curse their memory. Am sad now

Go and read Adewale Ademoyega's book on why we struck before coming here to call nzeogwu an idiot.

Nzeogwu was a man who saw the future
Most of the problems we still have today was what nzeogwu was trying to avert.

Nzeogwu is still my hero forever.

InyinyaAgbaOku:
There are far more Anambra people in Enugu state civil service than the other way round, yet, we keep hearing of what happened in 1991 , that followed state creation in most regions. It's alright.

About Zik,all you listed was achievable by him. If he could get Nigeria independence without bloodshed ( a phenomenon documented globally by observers) and start a Pan African movement named after him, there was nothing he couldn't have achieved , if he had set out to do it.
The only thing he didn't achieve in his life was being president post civil war era and that's because Igbos, including him, had begun to suffer from his previous inactions.

So, setting the Eastern region into what you described above was like 'beans' for him. That's part of why I believed that if he had intervened the right way, and with all his international connections, Nigerian division, pre 1951 or Biafra, late 60s , would have come on a platter of gold. Dude wasn't just interested.
The so called advice he was giving Ojukwu , prior to the war ( that people are harping about and calling Ojukwu stubborn for) ,was summarily for Igbos to remain in Nigeria, not minding the pogroms. How possible was that? Ojukwu had to shove him aside so he could concentrate. And what did Zik do after?
He vamoosed.

And let's remember Ojukwu didn't start the secession alone. There was a referendum in the Eastern region . He also worked with a lot of intellegensia , like Achebe, Okigbo and Co. We heap these blames on Ojukwu and identify all his mistakes just because we lost.

I've often wondered why Zik, with all the int'l clout and connections he had at the time, wasn't able to convince the western world (or USA at the very least) to support the Biafran secession cause! It's been mentioned that part of the reason the west didn't support Biafra was because they had a premonition how great a Biafran Republic would be, and the superiority complex in them didn't want no 'black monkeys' showing them up like that! Remember this was the 60s, during the decade blacks in the US were fighting for their civil rights!

I feel, like has been stated above, that Ziks heart just wasn't for Biafra....and this is somewhat understandable given the fact he had close links to the north and western regions!

If not for all the above, Ziks clout coupled with the promise of free oyel from a independent Biafra should have been enough to convince the west to support the new republic in its fight to be free from the medieval minds that hold us all to ransom even to till today!

aniomafirstson:
Go and read Adewale Ademoyega's book on why we struck before coming here to call nzeogwu an idiot.

Nzeogwu was a man who saw the future
Most of the problems we still have today was what nzeogwu was trying to avert.

Nzeogwu is still my hero forever.

and all the problems igbos are facing today is because of the idiot.

It easier for u. U can claim delta wen u like and claim igbo wen u feel like.

Me and other igbos on this thread can only claim igbo...and the name is stigmatised today because of nzeogwu...he might be ur hero in anioma...no issue...but he is a cursed entity in south east political history.

Ask other igbos

Bede2u:
zik's vain-glory and stupidity cost us.

If i were him, i would NEVER join east with nigeria after oil got discovered.. i would drag my foot until i understand the extent of the oil and wat our options were.

Oil that already made rockerfella the richest man in history 200 years prior
Wat i will be thinking would be how rich i and my family would become if we came to control the oil 100%

I will rather die than hand over oil found in my territory to the larger nigerian nation.

You keep blaming the likes of zik and Nzeogwu for what they did.
Oga they have done their part.
what we should do now is learn from their mistakes.
Give our heroes some respect please.
ojukwu,zik and Nzeogwu all did what they thought was best for igboland.

Bede2u:
nzeogwu was an idiot whose memory should be cursed. Idiot thought nigeria was a small country he could control...he didnt appreciate the strenght of the north. Today, the east could have at least been wat lagos is to nigeria today..the richest zone...where the money is.

Enugu and ph could have been like abuja and lagos. The east had it all...but it wasnt enough...nzogwu and his goons wanted more...they got death instead. Curse their memory. Am sad now

Yet another non visionary person who placed national interest above tribal ones.
What the hell do you want to clean 'Nigeria' of bad leaders for?
Why not concentrate on your own Midwestern Region?
And the silly talk of the plan being about making Awolowo president afterwards makes me shiver. What stupid agenda is that?
Why couldn't Awolowo's people do that job alone ? Yet, after everything, the same Awolowo's people are part of those that wrongly labeled it an Igbo coup and made sure it stuck. The same Awolowo punished your people.
It's a lesson for all these Igbo people that thing being ethnocentric means being bigoted and go on to carry Nigeria on their heads like Gala.

The other non visionary one is Ironsi. He was the worst. The news of his imminent assassination was revealed to him by a younger Igbo soldier , as soon as it was freshly planned. But Ironsi went ahead to expose the same guy to the army, asking him to repeat what he told him in private, before everybody, accusing him of promoting tribalism and calumny against the Nigerian army. A DPO told me this.
The army eliminated the Igbo soldier and of course, Ironsi , afterwards.
The only thing we can do is not to allow these events to play out again

Bede2u:
and all the problems igbos are facing today is because of the idiot.

It easier for u. U can claim delta wen u like and claim igbo wen u feel like.

Me and other igbos on this thread can only claim igbo...and the name is stigmatised today because of nzeogwu...he might be ur hero in anioma...no issue...but he is a cursed entity in south east political history.

Ask other igbos

we have always been hated by other tribes even before independence. Or can you explain the jos 1948 massacre?
And was it even an Igbo coup?
Nwokem other tribes just need justification to hate us and Nzeogwu was the scape goat.

Xander85:
I've often wondered why Zik, with all the int'l clout and connections he had at the time, wasn't able to convince the western world (or USA at the very least) to support the Biafran secession cause! It's been mentioned that part of the reason the west didn't support Biafra was because they had a premonition how great a Biafran Republic would be, and the superiority complex in them didn't want no 'black monkeys' showing them up like that! Remember this was the 60s, during the decade blacks in the US were fighting for their civil rights!

I feel, like has been stated above, that Ziks heart just wasn't for Biafra....and this is somewhat understandable given the fact he had close links to the north and western regions!

If not for all the above, Ziks clout coupled with the promise of free oyel from a independent Biafra should have been enough to convince the west to support the new republic in its fight to be free from the medieval minds that hold us all to ransom to even to today!

the western world has a policy of not supporting secession. U.k didnt support the confederate states in american civil war even wen it was in their interest to do so...cos u.k was the most powerful country in the world then and america was threatning to usurp that power.

The west didnt support catalonia...doesnt support taiwan...they have never supported any agitation to change border. They will tell u to do it democratically and let both parties agree...that was why south sudan stood. Cos sudan agreed.

It wasnt because of how great they feared we would be. Biafra wasnt particularly great. Igbos werent particularly known nor respected in western circles...they just dont openly support secession.

Zik supported biafra initially and even composed the anthem.

But it was too late...the north would only leave the east to go after the last northerner is dead...we stood little chance.

It would have been possible to divide b4 1960 not after.

aniomafirstson:
You keep blaming the likes of zik and Nzeogwu for what they did.
Oga they have done their part.
what we should do now is learn from their mistakes.
Give our heroes some respect please.
ojukwu,zik and Nzeogwu all did what they thought was best for igboland.

we are learning from their mistakes here...thats why we are discussing them

InyinyaAgbaOku:
Yet another non visionary person who placed national interest above tribal ones.
What the hell do you want to clean 'Nigeria' of bad leaders for?
Why not concentrate on your own Midwestern Region?
And the silly talk of the plan being about making Awolowo president afterwards makes me shiver. What stupid agenda is that?
Why couldn't Awolowo's people do that job alone ? Yet, after everything, the same Awolowo's people are part of those that wrongly labeled it an Igbo coup and made sure it stuck. The same Awolowo punished your people.
It's a lesson for all these Igbo people that thing being ethnocentric means being bigoted and go on to carry Nigeria on their heads like Gala.

The other non visionary one is Ironsi. He was the worst. The news of his imminent assassination was revealed to him by a younger Igbo soldier , as soon as it was freshly planned. But Ironsi went ahead to expose the same guy to the army, asking him to repeat what he told him in private, before everybody, accusing him of promoting tribalism and calumny against the Nigerian army. A DPO told me this.
The army eliminated the Igbo soldier and of course, Ironsi , afterwards.
The only thing we can do is not to allow these events to play out again

as in eh...i feel all these things was planned by allah to gv the north and west lead over us.

Otherwise how can we justify strings and strings of mistakes from different igbo actors at the time.

Most ppl dont even know wat am about to say now...and i denied and defended it wen a yoruba msn brought it up...

But truth is...it was zik who would have been prime minister after the 1959 nigerian election if he had formed a coalition with awolowo.

But because britain already made balewa pm since 1957, zik chose to just align with the north and bcom governor general...instead of rocking the boat.

A deadly mistake...again

pazienza:
Herbert Macaulay was no Igbo leader, Zik was. That's the difference.

There were many advice coming from all quarters for Ojukwu, ultimately, he couldn't have taken everyone's advise. By the way, do you mind explaining what you mean by "wise counsel" . Can you enumerate those wise counsels to Ojukwu that he rejected, let's see how wise they were, taking cognizance of the situation then.

Ironsi created a big mess. First he dissolved Igbo Union. Then he went on a folly driven mission to unify the government. Then he failed to present Nzeogwu and co to the North to butcher, since he was eager to please them.
If he wasn't going to butcher Nzeogwu and co, the next option was to surround himself with Igbo officers and carefully eliminate Northern officers who posed immediate danger.
Instead he did the opposite. He kept Nzeogwu and co alive, and then went and surrounded himself with Northerners. His decision to centralize the government made the propaganda of "Igbo coup" propagated by western region media gain more credibility.
Ironsi contributed a major part to the break out of Igbo progrom in the North, his poor leadership allowed the counter coup to occur. He was easily the worst leader in Igbo history and he left the young Ojukwu with too much mess to clean up when he was murdered.

Nobody is belittling anyone. And nobody has stopped other Igbos from celebrating their own achievements, but want won't happen is those who don't want to celebrate their own achievements, feeling aggrieved about Ndi Anambra celebrating theirs.

I don't know the point you are trying to make. NCNC was founded by who? Herbert Macaulay. In which party Zik grow to establish himself? NCNC. It had nothing to do with tribe. It has everything to do with having a springboard to launch from and identify with. Why was zik even eyeing the western region under NCNC when he wasnt even a Yoruba? So my brother, it had nothing to do with being Igbo or Yoruba.

Ojukwu's sins are a kettle of fish altogether. I wouldn't want to digress too much in it neither do I want downplay ojukwu altogether. Of all advices and counsels, it was ziks, okpara's own he didn't give opportunity to at least listen to. Ojukwus actions and inactions will be extensively discussed another day.

Ironsi banning Igbo union and other ethnic organizations at the time as well as abolishing regional embassies, was a bid to unite a country threatening to divide along ethnic lines. He even brought in the infamous unitary system, all in a bid to make Nigeria one by all means. He naively wanted to unite Nigeria the "barrack way", and uniting the country meant placating the grieving northerners (who secretly were grieving because they had lost grip of national power).

These actions were honest but grave mistakes, it didn't make ironsi the worst Igbo leader. Enough of the one sided narratives being made against him. Recently, reevaluations on ironsi's stewardship as head of state has been made by political pundits. He was the first military head of state, others after him learnt from his naivety.

InyinyaAgbaOku:
Agbada style is not an Yoruba attire. It has a West African origin and is called different names in different cultures.

how sure are you? That Agbada has become the most sort after local attire in Nigeria and it is worn by all tribes but, it is recognized as a Yoruba attire.

superlightning:
I don't know the point you are trying to make. NCNC was founded by who? Herbert Macaulay. In which party Zik grow to establish himself? NCNC. It had nothing to do with tribe. It has everything to do with having a springboard to launch from and identify with.

Ojukwu's sins are a kettle of fish altogether. I wouldn't want to digress too much in it neither do I want downplay ojukwu altogether. Of all advices and counsels, it was ziks, okpara's own he didn't give opportunity to at least listen to. Ojukwus actions and inactions will be extensively discussed another day.

Ironsi banning Igbo union and other ethnic organizations at the time as well as abolishing regional embassies, was a bid to unite a country threatening to divide along ethnic lines. He even brought in the infamous unitary system, all in a bid to make Nigeria one by all means. He naively wanted to unite Nigeria the "barrack way", and uniting the country meant placating the grieving northerners (who secretly were grieving because they had lost grip of national power).

These actions were honest but grave mistakes, it didn't make ironsi the worst Igbo leader. Enough of the one sided narratives being made against him. Recently, reevaluations on ironsi's stewardship as head of state has been made by political pundits. He was the first military head of state, others after him learnt from his naivety.

both ojukwu, zik and ironsi gaffed so much in their actions at the time that i just have to believe that it was because they didnt have the benefit of hindsight.

Non was better than the other honestly

pazienza:
Thank you Nwannem.

In those OBJ era, during those Uwazuruike MASSOB days. I was in Ogidi with my uncle, and MASSOB was having rally in Onitsha, they were discussing about a distant relative of ours who was a MASSOB member and was involved in the rally.
My Uncle was angry and made derogatory statement about how "the Imo man Uwazuruike ", will not keep his stupid Biafra venture in Imo state, but would rather bring it to Anambra and Onitsha in particular and be exposing our young Anambra youths to danger. He was saying this with condescending tone towards Ndi Imo.[b]
I told him that he is right. He was happy and thought I was siding him. Then I went on and told him that this was how the troublesome Anambra people, Ifeajuna and Ojukwu went and brought war to Igboland, and the Anambra man called Ifeajuna went and betrayed Ndiigbo, while another Anambra man called Ojukwu after getting Enugu destroyed due to his incompetence, retreated to Imo state, where he got Aba, Owerre and Umuahia all destroyed, in addition to thousands of Ndi Imo (Abia and Imo) Youths, who had to die defending OAU(Owerri-Aba-Umuahia) from Nigerians .

He kept quiet and didn't say a word again. I bet his One dimensional brain and analysis never thought of that.

I have been with Imo people(Abia and Imo) who would go on about how Ndi Anambra (Ifeajuna) brought war to Ndiigbo. How Ojukwu was incompetent and made the war rage on because of his arrogance and how Zik abandoned the Biafra cause and joined Nigerians.

Then I reminded them that It was Ironsi folly that led to the counter coup, and that the likes of Nzeribe happily negotiated weapon deals for Nigerians and profited on it to the detriment of Ndiigbo, in addition to Omar Sanda, aka Ike nwachukwu, who happily fought with Nigerians Against Biafrans. They were all Ndiigbo from old Imo state.

They all kept quiet, I bet their one dimensional brain didn't allow them see the clearer picture[/b].

I was once in st Micheal road Aba to repair a troublesome phone, that road was very bad then, and worst still, it was rainy season, with too many pools of stinky water in the many pot holes on the road. Many Young people were there too, and I noticed they were having discussions about Enugu state.
They were mostly from Abia and Imo. But the general consensus from them was that Enugu people are backward people, and that other than Enugu capital which they argued was given to them by the Eastern region, that the rest of Enugu towns are backward and the people peasant farmers, who they claim are migrant paid farmers in Abia .

Ofcourse, I gave them a piece of my mind, I grew up in Enugu and consider myself an Enugu person, I saw that insult as insult to me.
I asked them how many of them had been to Enugu capital before? Surprisingly, only few of of them, then I asked those of them who said they had been to Enugu before, how many buildings in Enugu or roads were old buildings or roads? They confessed that they saw New buildings and roads, then I told them that Enugu is beautiful not because of old structures of Eastern region, which majority of them were left in ruins by Nigerian Army after the war. Enugu is what it is today, because the people had always elected credible leadership who built and maintained the state infrastructure, as well as attracted New investments in the real estate of the town. I told them that maybe, it's about time Ndi Abia started doing same.
I also took time to remind them that Enugu had produced many educated personalities and rank very high in JAMB, WAEC and Unity school performance statistics, hence can't be said to be backward state.
Towns like Ozalla, Obe, Agbani, Akpugo, Udi, Nsukka, etc are also fairly urbanized and can't be said to be bushes, they have decent clusters of modern beautiful houses. Surprisingly, none of the youths there have heard of those towns. Yet, they all have a negative opinion about Enugu, based on hear say, or even out of envy.

Coming back to Enugu from Aba, I boarded a public transport, and once we got to Osisioma and the stretch of Bad roads between The Aba- Umuahia section of the Enugu-PH road, tongues started wagging in the vehicle. Majority of the passengers who were Enugu people who came to buy wares from Aba, started talking about how Abia people are backward and dirty set of people, how they are all disgrace to Ndiigbo. How they stupidly keep electing Bad leaders, how Enugu is London and Aba and Abia is pigsty. Then they went on praising themselves and their state Enugu and rantings of how organized they are filled the air.

I was hoping that an Abia person must be in the vehicle to take them up, but it soon became obvious that either there was no Abians on the vehicle, or the Abians seem subdued to argue. I was weary from my Aba mission which yielded disappointment, but these people wouldn't just stop, so I had to step in.
I asked them, if Enugu is as sophisticated and wise as they claim, how come they are coming to Aba to buy goods and not have them in Enugu? Are they not aware that Enugu is closer to Lagos and Onitsha than Aba, seeing as the seaport is in Lagos ?
I reminded them that Aba is not the capital city of Abia State, and that Enugu state as a whole has no second city as big as Aba. Infact Aba comprising of five local governments( Aba North, Aba South, Osisioma, Obingwa, Ugwunagbo) is much bigger than Enugu capital in land mass and otherwise and has more economic and industrial activities going on it, which is why they(the Proud Enugu people in the vehicle) had to leave their London Enugu and come to the Pigsty of Aba to buy goods.
I reminded them that Umuahia is the capital of Abia State, and it's as neat as Enugu.
I told them that whatever they think Enugu is today, that an Abia man by the name Micheal Okpara, whose square seats close to Enugu government house today, played a big role in it.
I went on and on.

When I was done, silence fell on the vehicle, as they all went to ponder on their One dimensional brain, and allowed me to sleep.

See, the issue with the so called disunity and arrogance Igbo groups exhibit toward each other, is that it is ignorance driven.

Many Igbo people know next to nothing about other Igbo groups and their struggles or strength, they go about running around with what ever jaundiced one sided narratives they have towards each other.
I attribute this to dearth of quality leadership in Igboland and the rise of selfish politicians hell bent on dividing us to create modern day fiefdoms for themselves.

I'm laughing my heart out ! You really hit the nail on the head. Stereotypes and one dimensional thinking seems to be our bane as an ethnicity. Sometimes it foster development and competiton and other times it breeds unhealthy rivaly.
Most people both here and offline find it very difficult to let go of such one dimensional attitude. Many of these people are well known to us here, even though they find it convenient to think that by saying certain things against certain groups or state in Igboland, be it nauseating or not, that they've spoken the minds of fellow undiplomatic dummy amongst them and those who feel offended should as much bury themselves. To neutrals it's arrogance but to me it's incivility and these folks foolishly give the enemies a feeling that we are divided amongst ourselves. I won't call names but these folks know themselves, including the one you replied and the other shallow minded priest with prehistoric mindset.
But I still appreciate your maturity Pazienza! You are intelligent even to my greatest estimation. Thanks for making this forum proud and civil.You are a true son of Alaigbo. Keep it up bro and please let us, everyone keep this thread going despite the evil intentions of fallen beings in our midst.

nnamdijonathan:
how sure are you? That Agbada has become the most sort after local attire in Nigeria and it is worn by all tribes but, it is recognized as a Yoruba attire.

Only Yoruba call it Agbada. Don't Hausa people wear it a lot?

InyinyaAgbaOku:
Yet another non visionary person who placed national interest above tribal ones.
What the hell do you want to clean 'Nigeria' of bad leaders for?
Why not concentrate on your own Midwestern Region?
And the silly talk of the plan being about making Awolowo president afterwards makes me shiver. What stupid agenda is that?
Why couldn't Awolowo's people do that job alone ? Yet, after everything, the same Awolowo's people are part of those that wrongly labeled it an Igbo coup and made sure it stuck. The same Awolowo punished your people.
It's a lesson for all these Igbo people that thing being ethnocentric means being bigoted and go on to carry Nigeria on their heads like Gala.

The other non visionary one is Ironsi. He was the worst. The news of his imminent assassination was revealed to him by a younger Igbo soldier , as soon as it was freshly planned. But Ironsi went ahead to expose the same guy to the army, asking him to repeat what he told him in private, before everybody, accusing him of promoting tribalism and calumny against the Nigerian army. A DPO told me this.
The army eliminated the Igbo soldier and of course, Ironsi , afterwards.
The only thing we can do is not to allow these events to play out again

Ironsi was simply naive, he believed no soldier could go against the military cadre and attack him. He was also trying to placate the north.

I once blamed him for so many things gone wrong, but I discovered those after him were a lot WORSE.

superlightning:
I don't know the point you are trying to make. NCNC was founded by who? Herbert Macaulay. In which party Zik grow to establish himself? NCNC. It had nothing to do with tribe. It has everything to do with having a springboard to launch from and identify with. Why was zik even eyeing the western region under NCNC when he wasnt even a Yoruba? So my brother, it had nothing to do with being Igbo or Yoruba.

Ojukwu's sins are a kettle of fish altogether. I wouldn't want to digress too much in it neither do I want downplay ojukwu altogether. Of all advices and counsels, it was ziks, okpara's own he didn't give opportunity to at least listen to. Ojukwus actions and inactions will be extensively discussed another day.

Ironsi banning Igbo union and other ethnic organizations at the time as well as abolishing regional embassies, was a bid to unite a country threatening to divide along ethnic lines. He even brought in the infamous unitary system, all in a bid to make Nigeria one by all means. He naively wanted to unite Nigeria the "barrack way", and uniting the country meant placating the grieving northerners (who secretly were grieving because they had lost grip of national power).

These actions were honest but grave mistakes, it didn't make ironsi the worst Igbo leader. Enough of the one sided narratives being made against him. Recently, reevaluations on ironsi's stewardship as head of state has been made by political pundits. He was the first military head of state, others after him learnt from his naivety.

Well, we can agree to disagree.
We are all Igbos. Our fate are linked, whether we want it or not.
Imi bewe, anya ebewe.

Let's look at each other with love and learn to try and see the good in each other.
I enjoyed our exchanges.

Udo.

Bede2u:
as in eh...i feel all these things was planned by allah to gv the north and west lead over us.

Otherwise how can we justify strings and strings of mistakes from different igbo actors at the time.

Most ppl dont even know wat am about to say now...and i denied and defended it wen a yoruba msn brought it up...

But truth is...it was zik who would have been prime minister after the 1959 nigerian election if he had formed a coalition with awolowo.

But because britain already made balewa pm since 1957, zik chose to just align with the north and bcom governor general...instead of rocking the boat.

A deadly mistake...again

Align with Awolowo to do what?
Oga, forget that end.
Nothing good would have come out of aligning with that betrayer. It wouldn't have panned out well. Awolowo envied Zik to the moon and back.

InyinyaAgbaOku:
Align with Awolowo to do what?
Oga, forget that end.
Nothing good would have come out of aligning with that betrayer. It wouldn't have panned out well. Awolowo envied Zik to the moon and back.

Yeah it's true Awolowo envied Zik, but he was still comfortable with Zik as Prime Minister than Balewa. Most times, your worst enemy can become a stepping stone to the top. Who knows if Zik would have gotten the PM position had he rocked the boat and stunned the British by aligning with Awo.

So, folks, what do we do about these our new age Igbo governors?
They invited the FG to fight IPOB. i'm not even a member of IPOB but the fact the invited the army to kill our people means we are dealing with Ironsis, so what do we do?

InyinyaAgbaOku:
Align with Awolowo to do what?
Oga, forget that end.
Nothing good would have come out of aligning with that betrayer. It wouldn't have panned out well. Awolowo envied Zik to the moon and back.

did aligning with the north pan out well?

A zik who was prime minister is better than a zik who was president...regardless of who he aligned with.

Another mistake from zik

Chiwude:
Yeah it's true Awolowo envied Zik, but he was still comfortable with Zik as Prime Minister than Balewa. Most times, your worst enemy can become a stepping stone to the top. Who knows if Zik would have gotten the PM position had he rocked the boat and stunned the British by aligning with Awo.

It's alright