gidgiddy:
Ojukwu returned in 1957 and was commissioned a second Lieutenant, the first graduate to join the Nigerian Army.

TheGoodJoe:
From Wikipedia

One of the coup's prominent targets, Major-General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi, caught wind of the plot and escaped capture. He then began to move against the coup conspirators. Ironsi eventually managed to prevent the coup and then took power himself.


Jesus Christ.

From the article above.

General Ironsi then siezed power and appointed Ojukwu Military Governor of the Eastern Region.

You mean Ojukwu was among those that betrayed Nzeogwu for power. Unbelievable.

gidgiddy:


Ojukwu did not betray Nzeogwu, there was nothing to betray. Ojukwu was never part of Nzeogwu's coup and owed Nzeogwu nothing

Duru1:


Does anyone of reputable character in Nigeria had such a name?

AceRoot:


Please note that this is not true at all. A Yoruba officer who had finished from Oxford before Emeka had the honour of being the first graduate to join the Nigerian Army. Sadly the gentleman joined the Education Corps of the Army and never became famous or infamous. I wish I could remember his name though.

MetaPhysical:


Yes. Someone named Duru!

FrLukas:


We can't keep blaming Lugard.

He may have amalgamated Nigeria, but he hasn't continued to force us together.

Several times people had wanted to put secession clause in the constitution only to be opposed by some other selfish humans.

Even the Niger Delta led by Adaka Boro wanted to break away only to be stopped and crushed by the same Ojukwu.

I won't mention any tribe, but I'm sure we all know whom to blame.

unbitchable:
Lol. Col. Adeyinka Adebanjo was the most important person in his life, without him, ojukwu would have been a cloth merchant in his father's shop. yoruba have done so much for these people.

unbitchable:
Lol. Col. Adeyinka Adebanjo was the most important person in his life, without him, ojukwu would have been a cloth merchant in his father's shop. yoruba have done so much for these people.

fk002:
Nice one but this is a Biafran version/perspective of the civil war history.

Our own version clearly stated that it was Ojukwu that broke the Aburi agreement

gidgiddy:
The British officers at Kaduna kept wondering what an Oxford graduate was doing as a private in the Army and sent him for officers course in England. Ojukwu returned in 1957 and was commissioned a second Lieutenant, the first graduate to join the Nigerian Army.

Ojukwu rose rapidly through the Army. He was promoted to Lieutenant in 1958, Captain in 1960, Major in 1962 and Lieutenant Colonel in 1964.

Ojukwu was commander of the 4th battalion, Kano, when the first coup happened in January 1966.

As the coup unfolded, Major Nzeogwu called on Ojukwu to join the coup to which Ojukwu refused. Ojukwus refusal to join Nzeogwu is one of the major reasons why Nzeogwu's coup eventually failed.

General Ironsi then siezed power and appointed Ojukwu Military Governor of the Eastern Region.

6 months later, mid-level officers of the Nigerian of Northern extraction conducted a coup that led to the overthrow and killing of Ironsi, and the installment of Lt Yakubu Gowon as head of state. The coup also greenlighted a pogrom in which over 30,000 Easterners, mainly Igbos, were killed all over Nigeria, particularly in the North.

The inability of Gowon to stop the killings, the resentment in the Eastern Region against his government and the fact that Ojukwu was senior to Gowon caused bad blood between both men

The crisis became so bad that the then President of Ghana, General Joe Ankrah, intervened and invited both Gowon and Ojukwu to his Hiltop Mansion in Aburi, Ghana, for peace talks in January of 1967.

After two days of discussions, Ojukwu and Gowon signed an agreement that was to be known as the Aburi Accord.

A few months after their return from Ghana, Gowon broke the Aburi accord they signed by issuing decree 14 of 1967 which abolished all the 4 Regions, created 12 states, reversed the fical federalism practiced, changed the revenue sharing formular, all in a bid to increase the power of the North over the rest of Nigeria

For Ojukwu, it was the last straw. Ojukwu convened the Eastern Nigerian Consultative Forum, a body that comprised of all the chiefs and head of the 20 provinces that made up the Eastern Region. They sat and discussed for 2 days and mandated Ojukwu to declare the Eastern Region a separate country. On the 30th of May 1967, Ojukwu declared the Eastern Region a separate country called the Republic of Biafra.

In retaliation, Gowon declared war. The war raged on for 3 years and ended in January 1970 with Ojukwu handing over to his deputy, General Effiong, flying into exile in Ivory Coast and the subsequent surrender of Biafra.

Ojukwu later returned from exile 12 years later. He died in London in 2011 aged 78. His burial remains the greatest ever witnessed in Nigeria

Ojukwu is still revered by most Igbos because they believe he fought for their freedom.

gidgiddy:


You cant blame Lugard but you can blame Ojukwu? Which clause did Lugard use in creating Nigeria?

Blame Lugard for if he had not created Nigeria, there would be nothing to fight about. Since when he created Nigeria in 1914, the people have been fighting each other to this day

BanevsJoker:

Awolowo was the reason Gowon broke the Aburi Accord. He said if the Igbos were allowed to leave, the Yorubas would leave as well. At that time, Lagos was the most important state in Nigeria in terms of revenue. The oil boom hadn't started yet, so the cowardly Gowon reneged on the agreement, in order to keep Lagos. Ojukwu insisted on the Aburi accord, and declared Biafra. Gowon declared a war he thought he could win in weeks, it lasted 3 years.

jpphilips:


Which teenager wrote this nonsense?

FrLukas:


And when the opportunity to sever ties came, guess who fought for one Nigeria. No, not Lugard. That's right Nnamdi Azikiwe.

Not just one opportunity, but plenty. He thought the Igbos had firm control of Nigeria.

You can blame Lugard all you want, bit you are reaping the karma right now.

If Azikiwe had allowed the secession clause into the constitution, his children wouldn't have fought a war where millions of them died and his children's children's children won't be on Nairaland today screaming for freedom.

gidgiddy:


Stop listening to propaganda, it is not possible for one man to decide what is added or removed from a constitution in a democracy. Zik was not the owner of Nigeria. If secession clause never made into the constitution then it means that majority did not want it.

One more thing, even if secession clause had entered the constitution, it would not have changed anything because the military suspended the constitution as soon as they came in. The independence constitution is no longer what Nigeria uses today

FrLukas:


I don't think you have really read the history of Nigeria. I'll suggest you do that and learn how Azikiwe sold out his people and the agitators for secession.

It is a statement of fact that the Northerners too were agitating for their own Republic. Go search for the speech Azikiwe made to convince them to stay in Nigeria. These aren't fables.
They are facts. I won't do your research for you.

The constitution was suspended during the military era.

Before the military era, Nigeria could have disintegrated. But for Azikiwe's intervention.

The inclusion of the secession clause was so that every ethnic group then could review its inclusion in the Nigerian project.

By now, each unit that broke away would have celebrated over 30 years independence of their own.

Azikiwe is to blame for that.

When Adaka Boro wanted to secede with his Niger Delta people, guess who crushed his bid?

Ojukwu, another Igbo.

Can you see the pattern?

Yorubas have formed a regional security outfit now.

A prelude to being able to stand on their own.

Guess who the saboteurs are.

Guess who just sold out the South.

Guess who has agreed to community policing instead of forming their own regional security outfit.

Do you see the pattern there?

slimfit1:
Don't know why Hausa people can not just go on their own and have Sharia law in peace.

TheGoodJoe:
Even in death, Nzeogwu was still respected by federal and northern troops. Domkat Bali referred to him as:

“a nice, charismatic and disciplined officer, highly admired and respected by his colleagues. At least he was not in the habit of being found in the company of women all the time messing about with them in the officers mess, a pastime of many young officers then….we believed that he was a genuinely patriotic officer who organised the 1966 coup with the best of intentions who was let down by his collaborators….If we had captured him alive, he would not have been killed. I believe he probably would have been tried for his role in the January 15 coup, jailed and probably freed after some time. His death was regrettable.”

Enough said.