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RedPanthar:
I'm pleased to invite you to join my content writing team. Yes, I'm recruiting an elite team of content writers and together we're going to be involved in " writing articles remotely " as part of a bigger business model. Each writer onboard the team earns 1 Million Naira at the end of our working partnership together.


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* You learn on the project



I'm inviting you onboard to join me on this project. If you're interested, send me a message


Thank you

i'm interested

rentAcock:
Q#24 1 more question after this!! Please spell out the elements, not just the symbols

Na Cl

rentAcock:
Q #17 I will accept just one name

PENCE

rentAcock:
Q#15 spelling counts here, I will accept any of 3 words

POUNCE

rentAcock:
Q#14 I will accept just the first or last name or even the full name, but spelling counts!!

GEORGE BUSH

rentAcock:
Q#12 full spelling or abbreviation accepted

american president j.f kennedy

rentAcock:
Q#12 full spelling or abbreviation accepted

j.f kennedy

rentAcock:
Q#11 Spelling matters y'all

eclipse

rentAcock:
Q#7 Please spell the full name, first and last name

B

rentAcock:
Q #6 Please write out the full answer, not just the letter!!

PANCREASE

G

Hunchogee:
These are the top ten richest states in Nigeria 2020.. Abuja wasn't considered in this ranking..

1. Lagos
2. Akwa Abasi Ibom
3. Rivers
4. Delta
5. Bayelsa
6. Anambra
7. Kano
8. Ondo
9. Ogun
10. Kaduna..

Nigeria Ayaya
Nigeria Amaka
Find attached below according to CBN

Mynd44, Lalastclala, Seun front page
https://www.proshareng.com/news/Nigeria%20Economy/NBS-Publishes-Additional-11-States-Nominal-GDP-From-2013-to-2017/45495

According to First Bank.. You can find link below

https://fbnquest.com/capital/insights/good-morning-nigeria/a-glance-at-sub-national-gdp/

OP U AND LIE DEY LIKE 5&6
When did 2013 - 2017 gdp becomes 2020 gdp...?

It all began with what many
would describe as the first oil
war, which was fought in the 19th
century in the area that would
later become Nigeria.
Nigeria was then known as the
slave coast but by the 1870s, this
changed as Britain were no more
willing to acquire slaves and
rather opted for palm oil.
This product attained high
demand by the British through
the 19th century, as it was
needed as an industrial lubricant
for machinery.
The increased need for the
tropical plant by the British, which
is native to the Niger Delta, was
also to maintain the feat that the
British had achieved: being the
world’s first industrialised nation.
Initially, most of the trade in the
palm oil was not coordinated as
natives were able to sell the
product to the highest bidder.
Native chiefs became wealthy
because of palm oil.
Europeans, on the other hand,
were competing over who would
acquire preferential access to the
palm oil trade.Sir George Dashwood Taubman
Goldie (1846–1925)
, an aristocrat of the Isle of Man,
would be an important figure in
Nigeria’s palm oil business.
In 1879, Goldie formed the United
African Company while he took
control of the Lower Niger River.
“By 1884, his company had 30
trading posts along the Lower
Niger. This monopoly gave the
British a strong hand against the
French and Germans in the 1884
Berlin Conference. The British got
the area that the UAC operated
in, included in their sphere of
influence after the Berlin
Conference,” according to
accounts by
africasacountry.com.
The Berlin Conference of 1884–85
was a meeting between European
nations to create rules on how to
peacefully divide Africa among
them for colonization.
The conference, basically, gave
the British access to the Lower
Niger and did not leave much for
the Germans and French.
After the British got the terms
they wanted from other
Europeans, they directed their
attention to the African chiefs.
By 1886, Goldie had started
moving inwards into River Niger
and Benue, which was against
the verbal agreement he had
made with the chiefs.
The initial agreement was that
the United African Company
would not go past the coastal
areas.
In that same year, the company’s
name changed to “The National
Africa Company” and was granted
a royal charter, giving it the right
to administer the Niger Delta and
all lands around the banks of the
Benue and Niger Rivers.
The company was subsequently
renamed to “Royal Niger
Company”, which survives, as
Unilever, till date.
The Royal Niger Company went
ahead with its unfair trade with
the local chiefs.
Historical accounts state that the
British tricked the native chiefs
into signing agreements that
gave them the exclusive rights to
export palm oil after originally
agreeing that there will be free
trade in the region.
The chiefs believed this and
signed deceitful contracts that
were written in English.
King Jaja — Ajambele
The British enforced those
contracts and hence when
Jaja, a
chief from Opobo wanted to
export palm oil on his own, he
was accused of obstructing
commerce and was forced into
exile.
He was, however, in 1891, allowed
to return home but he died on his
way back after being allegedly
poisoned with a cup of tea.
Jaja’s incident got many of the
native rulers to start taking a
second look at the deals they
were getting from the Royal
Niger Company.
Frederick William Koko Mingi VIII
of Nembe kingdom, popularly
known as King Koko was one of
such rulers.
Having been faced with
encroachment from the Royal
Niger Company, he also had
qualms with the monopoly
enjoyed by the company and
tried to seek out favourable
trading terms, with particularly
the Germans.
Koko Mingi VIII — Pinterest
The Royal Nigeria Company, was
by 1894, denying natives direct
access to their former markets
and essentially dictated whom
they could trade with.
Following this and further
restrictions, King Koko, in that
same year, denounced
Christianity and formed an
alliance with the kingdoms of
Bonny and Okpoma to take down
the company.
The Bonny refused the alliance
but this did not stop the move.
According to historical accounts,
on January 29, 1895, King Koko
led an attack on the Royal Niger
Company’s headquarters, which
was in Akassa in current day
Bayelsa state.
King Koko succeeded in capturing
60 white men as hostages, as
well as, several goods and
ammunition, though he lost 40 of
his men.
King Koko agreed to release his
white hostages in exchange for
being allowed to choose his
trading partners but the British
refused to negotiate with Koko,
who subsequently killed 40 of the
hostages.
As retaliation, Britain’s Royal
Navy attacked the area of
Brass
(Nembe) and burned it to the
ground on February 20, 1895,
killing many people in the town.
The British, by April 1895, had
resumed their normal operations
while King Koko was on the run.
The people of Brass were fined
£500 (today’s $35) by the British
while the looted weapons and
the surviving prisoners were
returned.King Koko was also reportedly
offered terms of settlement by
the British, but he rejected it and
disappeared.
He was declared an outlaw by the
British. He, however, committed
suicide in exile in 1898.
The Brass war, however,
negatively affected public opinion
in Britain against the Royal Niger
Company, hence the company’s
charter was revoked in 1899.
Following this, the Royal Niger
Company sold its holdings to the
British government for £865,000
(1.1 million dollars).
That was the amount Britain paid
to acquire the area that would
later be known as Nigeria.https://face2faceafrica.com/article/how-nigeria-was-sold-to-the-british-for-1-1-million-dollars-in-1899?fbclid=IwAR3bbgW6ybRAz7BTUbIMf4KGU3Vbq5977KraHUu0MmhbgOUWR7HOEPw-joo

CONTINUE READING BELOW
http://www.codewit.org/reports/biafra/18191-nigeria-s-war-over-biafra-1967-70

Nigerian aggression, British support British interests are very clearly revealed in the declassified files. ‘Our direct interests are trade and investment, including an important stake by Shell/BP in the eastern Region. There are nearly 20,000 British nationals in Nigeria, for whose welfare we are of course specially [sic] concerned’, the Foreign Office noted a few days before the outbreak of the war. Shell/BP’s investments amounted to around £200 million, with other British investment in Nigeria accounting for a further £90 million. It was then partly owned by the British government, and the largest producer of oil which provided most of Nigeria’s export earnings. Most of this oil was in the eastern region. Commonwealth Minister George Thomas wrote in August 1967 that: ‘The sole immediate British interest in Nigeria is that the Nigerian economy should be brought back to a condition in which our substantial trade and investment in the country can be further developed, and particularly so we can regain access to important oil installations’. Thomas further outlined the primary reason why Britain was so keen to preserve Nigerian unity, noting that ‘our only direct interest in the maintenance of the federation is that Nigeria has been developed as an economic unit and any disruption of this would have adverse effects on trade and development’. If Nigeria were to break up, he added: ‘We cannot expect that economic cooperation between the component parts of what was Nigeria, particularly between the East and the West, will necessarily enable development and trade to proceed at the same level as they would have done in a unified Nigeria; nor can we now count on the Shell/BP oil concession being regained on the same terms as in the past if the East and the mid-West assume full control of their own economies’. Ojukwu initially tried to get Shell/ BP to pay royalties to the Biafran government rather than the FMG. The oil companies, after giving the Biafrans a small token payment, eventually refused and Ojuwku responded by sequestering Shell’s property and installations, forbidding Shell to do any further business and ordering all its staff out. They ‘have much to lose if the FMG do not achieve the expected victory’, George Thomas noted in August 1967. A key British aim throughout the war was to secure the lifting of the blockade which Gowon imposed on the east and which stopped oil exports. In the run-up to Gowon’s declaration of war, Britain had made it clear to the FMG that it completely supported Nigerian unity. George Thomas had told the Nigerian High Commissioner in London at the end of April 1967, for example, that ‘the Federal government had our sympathy and our full support’ but said that he hoped the use of force against the east could be avoided. On 28 May Gowon, having just declared a state of emergency, explicitly told Britain’s Defence Attache that the FMG was likely to ‘mount an invasion from the north’. Gowon asked whether Britain would provide fighter cover for the attack and naval support to reinforce the blockade of Eastern ports; the Defence Attache replied that both were out of the question. By the time Gowon ordered military action in early July, therefore, Britain had refused Nigerian requests to be militarily involved and had urged Gowon to seek a ‘peaceful’ solution. However, the Wilson government had also assured Gowon of British support for Nigerian unity at a time when military preparations were taking place. And Britain had also made no signs that it might cut off, or reduce, arms supplies if a military campaign were launched. The new High Commissioner in Lagos, Sir David Hunt, wrote in a memo to London on 12 June that the ‘only way… of preserving unity [sic] of Nigeria is to remove Ojukwu by force’. He said that Ojukwu was committed to remaining the ruler of an independent state and that British interests lay in firmly supporting the FMG. Before going to war, Gowon began what was to become a two and half year long shopping list of arms that the FMG wanted from Britain. On 1 July he asked Britain for jet fighter/bomber aircraft, six fast boats and 24 anti-aircraft guns. ‘We want to help the Federal Government in any way we can’, British officials noted. However, Britain rejected supplying the aircraft, fearing that they would publicly demonstrate direct British intervention in the war and, at this stage, also rejected supplying the boats. London did, however, agree to supply the anti-aircraft guns and to provide training courses to use them. The Deputy High Commissioner in Enugu, Biafra’s main city, noted that the supply of these anti- aircraft guns and their ammunition would be seen as British backing for the FMG and also that they were not entirely defensive weapons anyway since ‘they could also take on an offensive role if mounted in an invasion fleet’. Nevertheless, the government’s news department was instructed to stress the ‘defensive nature of these weapons’ when pressed but generally to avoid publicity on their export from Britain. High Commissioner Hunt said that ‘it would be better to use civil aircraft’ to deliver these guns and secured agreement from the Nigerians that ‘there would be no publicity’ in supplying them. Faced with Gowon’s complaints about Britain not supplying more arms, Wilson also agreed in mid- July to supply the FMG with the fast patrol boats. This was done in the knowledge that they would help the FMG maintain the blockade against Biafra. Wilson wrote to Gowon saying that ‘we have demonstrated in many ways our support for your government as the legal government of Nigeria and our refusal to recognise the secessionists’. He also told him that Britain does ‘not intend to put any obstacle in the way’ of orders for ‘reasonable quantities of military material of types similar to those you have obtained here in the past’. Gowon replied saying that ‘I have taken note of your concurrence for the usual purchases of arms supplies to continue and will take advantage of what is available now and others when necessary’. By early August Biafran forces had made major gains against the FMG and had invaded the mid- West region. Commonwealth Minister George Thomas noted that ‘the chances of a clear-cut military decision being achieved by either side now look rather distant’. Rather, ‘we are now faced with the probability of an escalating and increasingly disorderly war, with both sides shopping around for arms’. In this situation, he raised the option of Britain launching a peace offensive and halting all arms supplies. But this was rejected by David Hunt in Lagos and others since it would cause ‘great resentment’ on the part of the FMG against the British government and be regarded as a ‘hostile act’. Instead, the government decided to continue the flow of arms and ammunition of types previously supplied by Britain but to continue to refuse supplies of ‘sophisticated equipment’ like aircraft and tanks. The decision to continue arms exports was taken when it had already become clear in the behaviour of the Nigerian forces that any weapons supplied would be likely to be used against civilians. It was also at a time when Commonwealth Secretary General Arnold Smith was making renewed attempts to push for peace negotiations after having been rebuffed by Gowon in a visit to Lagos in early July. By early November 1967 the FMG had pushed back the Biafrans and captured Enugu; British officials were now reporting that the FMG had ‘a clear military advantage’. Now that our side seemed like winning, talk of reducing arms to them disappeared; George Thomas now said that ‘it seems to me that British interests would now be served by a quick FMG victory’. He recommended that the arms export policy be ‘relaxed’ and to supply Lagos with items that ‘have importance in increasing their ability to achieve a quicker victory’. This meant ‘reasonable quantities’ of equipment such as mortars and ‘infantry weapons generally’, though not aircraft or other ‘sophisticated’ equipment. On 23 November 1967 the Cabinet agreed that ‘a quick Federal military victory’ provided the best hope for ‘an early end to the fighting’. By early December, Commonwealth Secretary George Thomson [sic, not Thomas. need also to check cos he may have been FO minister at this time' he certainly became CW sec by mid 68] noted that the ‘lack of supplies and ammunition is one of things that are holding operations up’. He said that Britain should agree to the FMG’s recent shopping list since ‘a favourable response to this request ought to give us every chance of establishing ourselves again as the main supplier of the Nigerian forces after the war’. If the war ended soon, the Nigerian economy will start expanding and ‘there should be valuable business to be done’. Also: ‘Anything that we now do to assist the FMG should help our oil companies to re-establish and expand their activities in Nigeria after the war, and, more generally should help our commercial and political relationship with postwar Nigeria’. He ended by saying he hoped Britain could supply armoured cars since they ‘have proved of especial value in the type of fighting that is going on in Nigeria and the FMG are most impressed with the Saladins and Ferrets’ previously supplied by Britain. As a result Britain supplied six Saladin armoured personnel carriers (APCs), 30 Saracen APCs along with 2,000 machine guns for them, anti-tank guns and 9 million rounds of ammunition. Denis Healey, the Defence Secretary, wrote that he hoped these supplies will encourage the Nigerians ‘to look to the United Kingdom for their future purchases of defence equipment’. By the end of the year Britain had also approved the export of 1,050 bayonets, 700 grenades, 1,950 rifles with grenade launchers, 15,000 lbs of explosives and two helicopters. In the first half of the following year, 1968, Britain approved the export of 15 million rounds of ammunition, 21,000 mortar bombs, 42,500 Howtizer rounds, 12 Oerlikon guns, 3 Bofors guns, 500 submachine guns, 12 Saladins with guns and spare parts, 30 Saracens and spare parts, 800 bayonets, 4,000 rifles and two other helicopters.ritish support for a united Nigeria, saying in April 1968 that ‘I think we can fairly claim that we have not wavered in this support throughout the civil war’. These massive arms exports were being secretly supplied – indeed, massively stepped up – at a time when one could read about the actions of the recipients in the newspapers. After the Biafran withdrawal from the mid- west in September 1967 a series of massacres started against Ibo residents. The New York Times reported that over 5,000 had been killed in various towns of the mid west. About 1,000 Ibos were killed in Benin city by local people with the acquiescence of the federal forces, the New York Review noted in December 1967. Around 700 Ibo males were lined up and shot in the town of Asaba, the Observer reported in January 1968. According to eyewitnesses the Nigerian commander ordered the execution of every Ibo male over the age of ten. Nigerian officials informed the British government that the arms were ‘important to them, but not vital’. More important than the actual arms ‘was the policy of the British government in supporting the FMG’. This support was now taking place amid public and parliamentary pressure for a halt to British arms to Lagos, with 70 Labour MPs, for example, filing a motion for such an embargo in May 1968. Yet the real extent of arms supplied by Britain was concealed from the public. Throughout 1967 and 1968, Ministers had been telling parliament that Britain was essentially neutral in the conflict in that it was not interfering in the internal affairs of Nigeria but simply continuing to supply arms to Nigeria on the same basis as before the war. As the declassified files, referred to above, show, this was simply a lie. For example, Wilson told the House on 16 May 1968 that: ’We have continued the supply… of arms by private manufacturers in this country exactly on the basis that it has been in the past, but there has been no special provision for the needs of the war’. One British file at this time – mid-1968 – refers to deaths of between 70,000-100,000 by now as ‘realistic’. The Red Cross was estimating around 600,000 refugees in Biafra alone and was trying to arrange desperately needed supplies to meet needs, estimated at around 30 tons a day. Humanitarian suffering, especially starvation, was severe as a result of the FMG’s blockade of Biafra. Pictures of starving and malnourished children went around the world. The FMG was widely seen as indulging in atrocities and attacks against civilians, including apparently indiscriminate air strikes, in an increasingly brutal war in which civilians were the chief victims. The files show that Wilson told Gowon on several occasions in private letters that he had successfully fended off public and parliamentary criticism in Britain, in order to continue to support the FMG – clearly showing where the government’s priorities and sympathies lay. As in Vietnam at the same time, Wilson was not going to be deflected by mere public opposition from backing ongoing aggression by key allies, whatever the level of atrocities and casualties. With federal forces in control by mid-year of Port Harcourt, the most important southern coastal city, British officials noted that ‘having gone this far in supporting the FMG, it would be a pity to throw away the credit we have built up with them just when they seem to have the upper hand’. Britain could not halt the supply of arms since ‘apart from other considerations, such an outcome would seriously put at risk about £200m of British investments in non-Biafra Nigeria’, George Thomson explained to Harold Wilson. It was also at this point that British officials sought to counter widespread opposition to the Nigerian government by conniving with it to improve the ‘presentation’ of its policies – another example of Britain’s past ‘information operations’ described in earlier chapters. Britain urged the FMG to convince the outside world that it was not engaged in genocide or a policy of massacre and to make public statements on the need for a ceasefire and humanitarian access to Biafra. High Commissioner Hunt suggested to Gowon that the federal air force be used for ‘psychological warfare’ and to drop leaflets over the Ibo towns which would help the FMG score a ‘propaganda point’. Officials noted that their support for the FMG was under attack and that ‘our ability to sustain it… depends very much on implementing enlightened and humane federal policies and securing public recognition for them’. What was needed was ‘good and well- presented Nigerian policies which permit that support to continue’. Wilson therefore urged a senior Nigerian government official, Chief Enahoro, ‘to make a greater effort to ensure that their case did not go by default’. The files indicate that these ‘presentational’ issues were much more important to British officials than any actual suffering of the Biafrans themselves. London never did anything significant to press the FMG. British officials ruled out threatening to cut off, or reduce, arms exports to force the FMG to change policies. The issue that most concerned the government at the time was that it would be forced to withdraw or reduce its support for Gowon in the face of public pressure. This, therefore, had to be countered, and the FMG needed to make greater efforts.

The formerly secret files on the
Nigerian civil war in the late 1960s
show very clear British complicity
in the Nigerian government’s
aggression against the region of
Biafra, where an independence
movement was struggling to
secede from Nigeria. This brutal
civil war resulted in between one
and three million deaths; it also
significantly helped shape modern
Nigeria, and not least the division
of oil revenues between the
central government and the
regions and people.
Background to civil war
For those in Britain old enough to
remember the war in Nigeria in
the late 1960s, ‘Biafra’ probably
still conjures up images of
starving children – the result of
the blockade imposed by the
Nigerian government in Lagos to
defeat the secession of the
eastern region, Biafra. For
Biafrans themselves, the period
was one of immense suffering – it
is still not known how many died
at this time as a direct result of
the war and the blockade, but it
is believed to be at least one
million and as high as three
million.
For those seeking to understand
Britain’s role in the world, there is
now an important side of the
Biafran story to add – British
complicity in the slaughter. The
declassified files show that the
then Wilson government backed
the Nigerian government all the
way, arming its aggression and
apologising for its actions. It is
one of the sorrier stories in
British foreign policy, though by
no means unusual.
The immediate background to the
war was a complex one of
tensions and violence between
Nigeria’s regions and ethnic
groups, especially between those
from the east and the north. In
January 1966 army officers had
attempted to seize power and
the conspirators, most of whom
were Ibos (from the East)
assassinated several leading
political figures as well as officers
of northern origin. Army
commander Major General Ironsi,
also an Ibo, intervened to restore
discipline in the army, suspended
the constitution, banned political
parties, formed a Federal Military
Government (FMG) and appointed
military governors to each of
Nigeria’s regions.
Ironsi’s decree in March 1966,
which abolished the Nigerian
federation and unified the
federal and regional civil services,
was perceived by many not as an
effort to establish a unitary
government but as a plot by the
Ibo to dominate Nigeria. Troops
of northern origin, who dominated
the Nigerian infantry, became
increasingly restive and fighting
broke out between them and Ibo
soldiers in garrisons in the south.
In June, mobs in northern cities,
aided by local officials, carried out
a pogrom against resident Ibos,
massacring several hundred
people and destroying Ibo-owned
property.It was in this context that in July
1966 northern officers staged a
countercoup during which Ironsi
and other Ibo officers were killed.
Lieutenant Colonel (later General)
Yakubu ‘Jack’ Gowon emerged as
leader. The aim of the coup was
both to take revenge on the Ibos
for the coup in January but also
to promote the secession of the
north, although Gowon soon
pulled back from calling explicitly
for this. Gowon named himself as
the Supreme Commander of the
Armed Forces and head of the
military government, which was
rejected by the military governor
in the eastern region, Lieutenant
Colonel Ojukwu, who claimed, with
some justification, that the
Gowon regime was illegitimate.
Throughout late 1966 and 1967
the tempo of violence increased.
In September 1966 attacks on
Ibos in the north were renewed
with unprecedented ferocity,
stirred up, eastern region officials
believed, by northern political
leaders. Reports circulated that
troops from the northern region
had participated in the
massacres. The estimated
number of deaths ranged from
10,000 to as high as 30,000. More
than one million Ibos returned to
the eastern region in fear.
In January 1967 the military
leaders met in Aburi, Ghana. By
this time the eastern region
under Ojukwu was threatening
secession. Many of Ojukwu’s
eastern colleagues were now
arguing that the massacres the
previous September showed that
the country could not be reunited
amicably. In a last minute effort
at Aburi to hold Nigeria together,
an accord was agreed that
provided for a loose
confederation of regions. Gowon
issued a decree implementing the
Aburi agreement and even the
northern region now favoured
the formation of a multistate
federation. The federal civil
service, however, vigorously
opposed the Aburi agreement and
sought to scupper it.
Ojukwu and Gowon then disputed
what exactly had been agreed at
Aburi, especially after the Federal
Military Government (FMG) issued
a further decree in March which
was seen by Ojukwu as reneging
on the FMG’s commitment at Aburi
to give the eastern region
greater autonomy. The new
decree gave the federal
government the right to declare a
state of emergency in any region
and to ensure that any regional
government could not undermine
the executive authority of the
federal government. Ojukwu then
gave an ultimatum to Gowon that
the eastern region would begin
implementing its understanding
of the Aburi agreement, providing
for greater regional autonomy, by
31 March.While Biafra was threatening to
secede and declare an
independent state, the FMG
imposed sanctions against it to
bring it into line. On 26 May the
eastern region consultative
assembly voted to secede from
Nigeria and the following day
Gowon declared a state of
emergency throughout the
country, banned political activity
and announced a decree restoring
full powers to the FMG. Also
announced was a decree dividing
the country into twelve states,
including six in the north and
three in the east.
On 30 May 1967 Biafra declared
independence and on 7 July the
FMG began operations to defeat
it. It lasted until January 1970 as
an extremely well-equipped
Nigerian federal army of over
85,000 men supplied by Britain,
the Soviet Union and few others,
took on a volunteer Biafran army,
much of whose equipment initially
came from captured Nigerian
supplies and which only later was
able to procure relatively small
quantities of arms from outside.
The background is therefore very
complex and it remains far from
clear cut as to where the ‘blame’
lay for the failure of peaceful
negotiations and the resort to
war. It does appear, however,
that the FMG did go back on its
agreement at Aburi on the extent
of regional autonomy it was
prepared to offer the easterners.
Before they began to back the
FMG unequivocally once war
began, British officials had
previously recognised the
legitimacy of some of Ojukwu’s
claims. The High British
Commissioner in Lagos, Sir Francis
Cumming-Bruce, had told Gowon in
November 1966, for example, that
the September 1966 massacres
of the Ibos in the north ‘changed
the relationship between the
regions and made it impossible
for eastern Nigerians to associate
with northerners on the same
basis as in the past’. The issue
was one of basic ‘law and order
and physical safety throughout
the federation’. He told Gowon
that the FMG had to go ‘a
considerable distance to meet the
views of Colonel Ojukwu’.
British officials also recognised
that the Aburi agreements were
‘extremely woolly on many
important points and lend
themselves to infinite arguments
over interpretation’. By end
January 1967 Cumming-Bruce was
saying that both Gowon and
Ojuwku were ‘seriously at fault
and they share responsibility for
poisoning of atmosphere [sic]‘.
Then there was the wider
question of whether it was
legitimate for a region to secede
and whether Biafra should have
been allowed to establish its
independence. Again, a lot of
complex issues are involved.
British officials feared that if
Biafra were to secede many
other regions in Africa would too,
threatening ‘stability’ across the
whole of the continent. Most of
the great powers, including the
US and Soviet Union, shared this
view largely for the same reason.
Yet there appears to be no
reason why Biafra, with its 15
million people, could not have
established a viable, independent
state. Biafrans argued that they
were a people with a distinctive
language and culture, that they
were Christian as opposed to the
Muslim communities lumped into
the Nigeria federal state, which
had, after all, been a colonial
creation. In fact, Biafra was also
one of the most developed
regions in Africa with a high
density of roads, schools,
hospitals and factories. The
struggle for an independent
state certainly appeared to have
the support of the majority of
Biafrans, whose sense of
nationhood deepened throughout
the war as enormous sacrifices
were made to contribute to the
war effort.
What is crystal clear is that the
wishes of the Biafrans were
never a major concern of British
planners; what they wanted, or
what Nigerians elsewhere in the
federation wanted, was simply
not an issue for Whitehall. There
is simply no reference in the
government files, that I have
seen, to this being a
consideration. The priorities for
London were maintaining the
unity of Nigeria for geo-political
interests and protecting British oil
interests. This meant that
Gowon’s FMG was backed right
from the start. But the files also
reveal astonishing levels of
connivance with the FMG’s
aggression.

Sammy07:
Chase the Fulani in igbo land first before coming down to us.
BTW, You said is that the only project in igbo land.
Pls, point Jonathan project in the south.
You're just hating. Pure hate.

ENUGU INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT WHO BUILT IT

A video prove that
democracy exist in Biafraland...
It is believed that demecracy existed in biafra land even before the colonial era.
WATCH...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22RdktfbX8o

LAGOS, Nigeria, Dec. 29, 1964—The
Federal Republic of Nigeria moved
to the brink of dissolution
tonight, the eve of the first
national elections since the
country became independent of
Britain four years ago.
The Prime Minister, Sir Abubakar
Tafawa Balewa, emerged from a
three‐hour emergency meeting
with President Nnamdi Azikiwe
and Opposition southern leaders
and announced that the elections
would go ahead tomorrow as
planned.
The United Progressive Grand
Alliance, which dominates the
southern half of the nation,
reaffirmed its threat to boycott
the polls.
The election is now virtually
conceded here to the National
Nigerian Alliance, the party of the
conservative Moslem Hausas of
the vast Northern Region and of
a faction of Yoruba tribesmen in
the Western Region.
Leaders of the southern
Opposition appealed at today's
meeting for an election
postponement after alleging that
scores of the organization's
candidates had been denied the
right to contest seats in the
north.
The boycott decision by the
southerners and the North's
seemingly certain yictory
heightened fears here that the
prosperous Eastern Region, rich in
newly found oil, might secede
from the Federation.
The Premier of the Northern
Region, Sir Ahmadu Bello. openly
accused the Ibo tribesmen of the
Eastern Region of plotting a
separate state.
He charged that this was the real
topic of discussion at today's
emergency meeting and said he
did not attend for this reason.
The meeting was also boycotted
by the pro‐Government Premier
of the Western Region.
Sir Ahmadu charged that the Ibos
falsely pictured themselves “as
the oppressed peoples of Nigeria”
to gain sympathy for their
intended secession.
But the real reason, he
contended, was that the East's
new oil revenues made a
breakaway economically possible.
Sir Ahmadu urged that if the East
insisted on seceding, “then other
Nigerians ought to concede such
a right in peace.”
The Northern Region leader,
echoing a speech by President
Azikiwe three weeks ago,
declared that if Nigeria was about
to dissolve, a conference should
bercalled.”to divide our assets.”
The month ‐ long election
campaign has been marked by
widespread violence. Clashes
between political rivals have
occurred almost daily and several
politicians have been killed.
Tribalism is at the root of the
crisis. The Yorubas of the West
have long feared domination by
the more aggressive Ibos of the
East. And both these southern
tribes have a traditional fear of
being overwhelmed by the more
numerous Hausas to the north.
The Northern Region won a slim
majority in the 1959 elections
that led to independence but
agreed to form a coalition with
the East as a gesture toward
national unity.
During the first few years after
independence the coalition
functioned behind an outward
veil of harmony. But the elections
have unleashed once again all the
deep‐rooted tribal antagonisms
that lie just beneath the
Federation's surface.
In the election tomorrow, most of
the voters will mark their ballots
opposite brightly colored symbols
because they, cannot read
English, the official language.
Most Hausas in the Northern
Region, where only the men are
permitted to vote, will make their
marks opposite a green hoe—
symbol of the Northern People's
Congress.
The Ibos of the Eastern Region
have always been loyal to the
red rooster of the National
Convention of Nigeriar Citizens.
The rooster is also likely to reign
supreme in the MidWest Region
whose autonom j the National
Convention championed last year.
The Yoruba West is one of the
few areas where a contest lis
anticipated. Most YorubaS favor
the palm tree of the Action .
Group, whose former leader, Chief
Obafemi Awolowo, is in jail under
a sentence foi treason.
But the National People's
Congress is hopeful that its ally in
the west—the National Nigerian
Democratic Party‐^‐will cut
deeply into. the Action Group's
traditional strength.
The Federal Election Commission
has erected hundreds of
aluminum‐sheeted polling booths
in areas where there are ~no
churches, mosques or schools for
polling centers.
But scores of these temporary
shelters have been torn down by
partisans of the Action Group and
the National Convention, which
have urged their backers to
boycott the elections because of
alleged fraud in the North.https://www.nytimes.com/1964/12/30/archives/nigeria-appears-near-a-breakup-secession-of-east-is-feared-in-wake.html

OnwuCheka:
My people cannot mention 1 leader with any legacy yet they can not go a week without masturbating over Awolowo.

All Igbo here, please mention 1 legacy of Azikiwe today in his hometown or in Biafraland at large.

I'll wait.

afonja hiding under ibo moniker... shame on u...
Nnamdi azikiwe: the british built only one school in the whole of eastern region the rest were build by our people...
source: https://www.blackpast.org/global-african-history/1949-nnamdi-azikiwe-address-ibo-people/

MinorityOpinion:
Biafra killer of minorities

the N.Army dat have been killing niger deltans and raping their women are they igbo?
d last time i checked it was an afonja officer that shot a man dat went to buy drugs for his pregnant wife in warri and northern soldiers in leaked video threatening to rape n infect their women with HIV

government at the centre. The
Action Group led by Awolowo
became the official opposition, so,
in 1964, Akintola, the deputy
leader of the AG who became
premier of the western region
This
continued in 1964, there was an
internal friction in the Action
Group because at independence,
the NCNC-NPC formed a coalition
when Awolowo moved to House
of Representatives as leader of
opposition went behind Awolowo
to form alliance with the north.
This brought a very sharp division
in the Action Group; it also
affected the position of NCNC and
NPC, so eventually it led to some
troubles in the west. In the
western region, the crises
continued and led to what is
called Operation Wetie and the
Western House of Assembly was
dissolved; the election wasn’t
true election, there were
constituencies where Action
Group and NCNC candidates were
not allowed to register so these
continued until January 1966,
when the military took over the
country.
As a key player in Government
then, was it really an Igbo coup or
were there actually some form of
support or sympathy from Igbo
politicians for the masterminds of
the coup?
The Igbo politicians didn’t even
know the coup was plotted if
Mbazulike Amaechi didn’t know
then, nobody knew. I’m aware
that the Igbo, NCNC politicians
didn’t know that there was a plot
about that. What happened,
those who’re involved were
mainly Captains and a few Majors
and there were many Igbo
Captains in the army that time,
everything was on merit; for
example, in 1961 when we
wanted to establish Nigerian Air
Force, about 12 people were
recruited to go to Germany to
learn how to operate military
aircraft; when they went there
they’re first of all taken on
altitude test to know whether
you have attitude, and they’ll
take you up and tumble the
aircraft many times; when they
did that and came down, even
though the Minister of Defence
was a northerner and he selected
more of northern boys to do that,
of the 12-13 people that were
sent eight were northerners.
After the altitude test, six of the
northerners packed their things
and returned to Nigeria. None of
the Igbo came back, other people
from other tribes continued. Don’t
forget at the time of
independence, the whole
northern Nigeria had produced
only one Doctor Diko from Kaduna
state; they produced only one
lawyer in the whole northern
Nigeria; Barrister Abdurasak from
Kwara state. This was the level
of education there then.
But where did we miss the track?
Where we missed it then was
when the military took over the
government of the country and
then there was crisis within the
military itself. Emeka Ojukwu was
appointed the military governor
of old eastern region, David Ejoor
military governor of Midwest as it
was known then, Adekunle Fajuyi
in the west, and Usman Kastina
for the north. Kastina was the
only major; others were Lt.
Colonels because there was no Lt.
Colonel from the north. When
they killed Aguiyi Ironsi in the
reprisal coup of July 1966, the
headship of the federal
government became void; Yakubu
Gowon was promoted to
headship, Ojukwu said Gowon
cannot command him, Gowon said
if you’re senior to me come and
occupy this seat. So, it was ego
and pride that led to the civil war;
personality clash between
Ojukwu and Gowon. I describe
that war as avoidable civil war
because it could have been
negotiated out; there was a
mistake on our own part. So, the
military incursion in politics as a
result of ego and personality
clash between Gowon and
Ojukwu, the whole situation was
mishandled into a civil war in
which lives were lost on both
sides; in which lives were lost on
the Nigerian side, small number of
people but on the Biafran side,
millions but that’s not the painful
thing. The most painful thing
there is that government has
stopped being government in
Nigeria because the military came
into government and they
started changing; from Gowon to
Murtala Mohammed; from Murtala
Mohammed to Obasanjo; from
Obasanjo to Buhari to Babangida;
from Babangida to Abacha and
from Abacha to Abdusallami
Abubakar and these people
stayed for 38 years in
government. The military stayed
for 38 years of our independence
in government and in the process,
they were doing what the military
were trained to do. The military is
trained to act rough, to fight, to
conquer, to destroy, to loot, to
steal, to vandalise; that is what
the military is trained to do. All
targeted at the appropriate
enemy and so for 38 good years,
Nigeria was ruled by the military
and but for two years of the 38
years, the other 36 years were
the military from one side of the
country only. Because apart from
Obasanjo’s two years, the other
36 years were military from
northern Nigeria and so, they
don’t see the country again as a
country. They see the country as
a colony of the north; a colony of
a part of the country and in order
to kill the proper understanding
of the country and how the
country came about and how
things came about, they
abolished the teaching of history
in schools. The military abolished
the teaching of history in schools,
because if you teach history in
schools, people must learn that
Azikiwe was at a time the
President, that this person was
Premier of the West at a time,
that this ruler came up at a time
or that this happened. So, they
knew that if they allowed history
to be taught, the growing
generation will be made to know
the true story about their past
and who was who and who is
who. So, they abolished the
teaching of history in the country
and then, introduced what they
knew best; looting and stealing.
This started with small, small
stealing and then the thing
developed into massive looting.
So, that’s where the country
derailed.
Would you say the Igbo are really
marginalised?
Not that they are just
marginalized, they are being
treated as not equal partners in
the country. The Igbo are not
treated as a part of the
federation. No. They are being
treated as a conquered race, as a
colony. That is the truth.
There’s a central body that
should fight for the Igbo,
Ohanaeze Ndigbo; what will be
your assessment of Ohanaeze
Ndigbo?
I know Ohanaeze as an
organization until they introduced
rotation into the constitution;
that is, this state will now
produce the leader and at the
end of this, this state will
produce. The leadership shifted
from what would be given to
where you come from and the
thing started deteriorating. It
started going down. When it will
go up, I don’t know but it will not
be easy for the man who will
raise it up to do so because it’s
easier to destroy than to build.
The destruction has been so
much. So, the Igbo now don’t
have leadership. Nobody leads
them. Like in the olden days, Dr.
Azikiwe was in charge of the
political leadership; Chief Z. C. Obi
was the leader of the Igbo
culturally and non-politically. So,
wherever there was a problem of
common interest to Ndigbo,
whether you belong to the Action
Group of those days or the NCNC
of those days or the Mbadiwe’s
Democratic Party of those days;
what will happen is that Z.C. Obi
will summon a meeting, special
meeting and all these leaders will
come together and solve the Igbo
problem and everybody goes
back to his political party. There
is no leadership in Igbo land.
There’s no leadership for Igbo
now.
What can you say about the
renewed agitation for Biafra?
Well, I would have advised the
government of the day to give
the agitatohttps://www.sunnewsonline.com/how-ojukwu-gowons-personality-clash-caused-biafra-war/rs for Biafra what
they want.

•Igbo being treated as a conquered colony in Nigeria Chief Mbazulike Amaechi, first republic Minister of Aviation is about the last of the titans. The only surviving nationalist in this exclusive interview with Saturday Sun’s team of MAGNUS EZE, GEOFFREY ANYANWU and DAVID ONWUCHEKWA, expressed sadness over the parlous state of Nigeria. He talked about the collapse of national cohesion, the 1966 coup, agitation for Biafra, restructuring, 2023 Presidency and other issues. How do you feel about the current state of Nigeria? I feel sad about Nigeria because this was not the Nigeria we founded; this was not the Nigeria in which we spilled our blood, in which we lost our lives, in which we lost our freedom; went to prison, went to detention on many occasions, which we founded on patriotism and nationalism and wanted to serve, nurturing to become a big country in Africa and the world because God has given Nigeria the potential to be the biggest and richest country in Africa and to compete in the world. This is no longer that Nigeria we dreamt of. So, I am sad with the Nigeria I see now. Where did we miss it as a country? First of all, Britain started ruling against the will of the people they found in those places; they said they were protecting some part of the country, and colonising some part. In 1914, they said for administrative convenience, they merged Northern and Southern Protectorates. The south had richer resources and more money than the north, so, they understood that administering the north alone was no longer a solvent proposition. So, Lord Lugard dreamt of merging the north and the south and gave effect to it so that he can use the resources of the south to run the whole country since the north was not solvent on its own. They kept running this until the ‘40s when nationalists sprang up in the country and started demanding that Nigeria should be allowed to rule herself; that Nigerians should be allowed to rule their country. This agitation was led by first of all Sir Herbert Macaulay and people like Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, Dr. Akiola Maja, S.O. Gbadamosi, all these people came together and formed the Nigerian Youth Movement and later Nigerian National Democratic Party. From there, some people thought that confining the democratic struggle to Lagos alone would not solve the problem in the country. From there, it was decided to form a national political party, so, in 1944, the National Council of Nigeria and Cameroons (NCNC) was formed. This was because southern Cameroons was part of Nigeria at that time, and also some part of northern Cameroons. Herbert Macaulay was the National President while Dr. Azikiwe was the National Secretary. Then in 1947, they decided to tour the country to collect mandate from the people of the country; north, south, east and west, to go and tell the British Government that Nigerians wanted independence. While on this tour, Herbert Macaulay became sick; he had a little accident at Kano, he was aged between 80 and 90 then. He was returned to Lagos where he died, but before his death, he said many significant things. First, he said in his dying bed, tell the NCNC to stop for four days for Herbert Macaulay before they carry on. He also said again; tell Oged, to keep the flag flying. Oged was his very beloved son, Ogedengbe, who was part of the radical Zikist Movement at the time. Finally, before he breathed his last, if the younger ones had seen his picture, he was always in bow tie with his thick moustache; he gave an illustration with himself. He said ‘as my bow tie and moustache are parallel and inseparable, so shall the unity between the north and the south be indestructible.’ Having said that, he gave up the ghost after a few minutes; the NCNC gave him a week and continued. At a meeting, the NCNC decided that Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe who was at the time the National Secretary should assume the position of National President and another person from the north became the National Secretary. Later on, the National Secretary died and Kola Balogun became the National Secretary, Zik continued as National President so the essence intensified the agitation of liberation of Nigeria from the clutches of imperial British Government. He sent a delegation to London to demand the Nigerian independence, to demand abrogation of the constitution which Governor Richard imposed on the country they called it then obnoxious Richard Constitution 1946. So, eventually that constitution was abrogated because Governor Richard was recalled and another governor, John Macpherson sent to Nigeria; in 1951-52 the new constitution created northern, eastern and western region and proposed a federation. It was at this stage that following the agitation which had been joined by the trade union movement; by other political parties, so two political parties sprang up Northern Peoples Congress (NPC) led by Ahmadu Bello, and Action Group led by Obafemi Awolowo of the Western region. Zik continued to lead the NCNC and in 1946, the youths in NCNC thought that the speed or progress in agitation for independence was slow, so they formed radical youth movement which was called Zikist Movement, the movement believed in revolutionalising for independence but the NCNC, the parent body believed that we should take it easy, go by negotiation etc. So, this brought at times conflict, indoor and occasionally open door conflicts between the Zikist movement and NCNC but the struggle went on. The Zikist movement at foundation was chaired by MCK Ajuluchukwu and secretary was Kola Balogun. In 1949 the NCNC decided to make a call for revolution and so it was to take the form of doing things not criminal but not in conformity with the laws like telling people not to pay taxes to a foreign government, by telling the policemen not to arrest or molest brother Nigerians when the white police officers urged them, because up to that time no Nigerian was allowed to reach the rank of superintendent or assistant superintendent of police; the highest rank a Nigerian would obtain in police was inspector and sergeant major; no Nigerian reached the rank of commissioned officer. It was decided that a lecture would be delivered and Zikist Osita Agwuna undertook to deliver the lecture at Tom Jones memorial hall in Idumota Lagos. And he delivered the lecture in October 1949 and promptly Brutish police and British Government in Nigeria went into action they quickly rounded up the Zikists who attended the lecture; Ostia Agwuna was arrested, Fred Anyia, Anthony Enahoro was arrested etc and charged to court; in the court they adhered to the policy of the Zikist Movement not to make plea in any court presided over by the white man or any court of the imperial Government in Nigeria. They maintained it, some of them like Mallam Raji Abdallah told the court if you’re satisfied that my struggle to win freedom for my country is a crime, I ask you to give me the maximum sentence prescribed by law, so they were sentenced to various terms of imprisonment- Mokwugo Okoye in Lagos three years imprisonment with hard labour; Ostia Agwuna, three years imprisonment with hard labour, Mallam Raji Abdallah 2-3 years imprisonment with hard labour; Fred Anyiam and others were all sentenced to various terms of imprisonment. I was then the secretary of Zikist Movement at Benin; I was picked up and thrown into Benin prison; at Onitsha, Ikenna Nzimiro was Chairman of Zikist Movement and one young man from Asaba were sent to prison; at enugu, J.C.J. Anakwe, at Jos, Bob Ogbuagu and so on all over the country. But, then we didn’t lose hope when we came out of prison; the struggle continued. The older members of the NCNC received theirs as a matter of fact in those days if you came out of political imprisonment; you’re given a public reception usually a big rally reception and so forth and then you are awarded the PG cap to wear. PG cap means prison graduate, if you wore a PG cap and come to the motor park they don’t charge you, enter a bus wearing the PG cap, the bus conductor will not charge you. Everywhere, nationalism was the in thing, so this continued until series of conferences in 1956 -57 until Nigeria became independent sovereign nation on October 1, 1960, and the people of the country said in many areas these people who fought for our independence, we’ll elect you; you go and run our country for us now with the nationalism in you, we trust you. So, it wasn’t money; people won elections without spending money, without bribing any electoral officer, electoral officers in those days were civil servants. We formed the first government and in 1961, we said no, this constitution which British Government gave us and which the Queen of England signed our independence, we were going to give ourselves our own constitution, not one signed by the Queen of England and so parliament set up a committee; brought people from within and without the parliament and met 1961 into 1962 and came up with the republican constitution and so in 1963, Nigeria was declared a republic and now made it Federal Republic of Nigeria. We elected a President; in fact, it was written in the constitution that the first president of the country will be Nnamdi Azikiwe and remained president in 1964, there was no single party that ushered in independence- the NCNC scored a total of 2. 6 million votes throughout the country to secure 94 seats in the House of Representatives, the Action Group scored 1. 59 million votes to score 74 seats, NPC scored 1.56 million votes to score 144 seats in Parliament. Note that NCNC scored 2.6 million votes for 94 seats but the party that had 1.56 million votes got 144 seats in parliament, so that’s British gerrymander. So, know that all the troubles in Nigeria all along are caused by Britain; they would not want to see someone from southern Nigeria to lead this country. It’s their plan. That’s the gerrymander in carving out the constituencies. So, NCNC scored almost all the eastern seats, more than half of seats in the west and some parts of the north and with the total 2.6 votes. centre. The Action Group led by Awolowo became the official opposition, so, in 1964, Akintola, the deputy leader of the AG who became premier of the western region when Awolowo moved to House of Representatives as leader of opposition went behind Awolowo to form alliance with the north. This brought a very sharp division in the Action Group; it also affected the position of NCNC and NPC, so eventually it led to some troubles in the west. In the western region, the crises continued and led to what is called Operation Wetie and the Western House of Assembly was dissolved; the election wasn’t true election, there were constituencies where Action Group and NCNC candidates were not allowed to register so these continued until January 1966, when the military took over the country. As a key player in Government then, was it really an Igbo coup or were there actually some form of support or sympathy from Igbo politicians for the masterminds of the coup? The Igbo politicians didn’t even know the coup was plotted if Mbazulike Amaechi didn’t know then, nobody knew. I’m aware that the Igbo, NCNC politicians didn’t know that there was a plot about that. What happened, those who’re involved were mainly Captains and a few Majors and there were many Igbo Captains in the army that time, everything was on merit; for example, in 1961 when we wanted to establish Nigerian Air Force, about 12 people were recruited to go to Germany to learn how to operate military aircraft; when they went there they’re first of all taken on altitude test to know whether you have attitude, and they’ll take you up and tumble the aircraft many times; when they did that and came down, even though the Minister of Defence was a northerner and he selected more of northern boys to do that, of the 12-13 people that were sent eight were northerners. After the altitude test, six of the northerners packed their things and returned to Nigeria. None of the Igbo came back, other people from other tribes continued. Don’t forget at the time of independence, the whole northern Nigeria had produced only one Doctor Diko from Kaduna state; they produced only one lawyer in the whole northern Nigeria; Barrister Abdurasak from Kwara state. This was the level of education there then. But where did we miss the track? Where we missed it then was when the military took over the government of the country and then there was crisis within the military itself. Emeka Ojukwu was appointed the military governor of old eastern region, David Ejoor military governor of Midwest as it was known then, Adekunle Fajuyi in the west, and Usman Kastina for the north. Kastina was the only major; others were Lt. Colonels because there was no Lt. Colonel from the north. When they killed Aguiyi Ironsi in the reprisal coup of July 1966, the headship of the federal government became void; Yakubu Gowon was promoted to headship, Ojukwu said Gowon cannot command him, Gowon said if you’re senior to me come and occupy this seat. So, it was ego and pride that led to the civil war; personality clash between Ojukwu and Gowon. I describe that war as avoidable civil war because it could have been negotiated out; there was a mistake on our own part. So, the military incursion in politics as a result of ego and personality clash between Gowon and Ojukwu, the whole situation was mishandled into a civil war in which lives were lost on both sides; in which lives were lost on the Nigerian side, small number of people but on the Biafran side, millions but that’s not the painful thing. The most painful thing there is that government has stopped being government in Nigeria because the military came into government and they started changing; from Gowon to Murtala Mohammed; from Murtala Mohammed to Obasanjo; from Obasanjo to Buhari to Babangida; from Babangida to Abacha and from Abacha to Abdusallami Abubakar and these people stayed for 38 years in government. The military stayed for 38 years of our independence in government and in the process, they were doing what the military were trained to do. The military is trained to act rough, to fight, to conquer, to destroy, to loot, to steal, to vandalise; that is what the military is trained to do. All targeted at the appropriate enemy and so for 38 good years, Nigeria was ruled by the military and but for two years of the 38 years, the other 36 years were the military from one side of the country only. Because apart from Obasanjo’s two years, the other 36 years were military from northern Nigeria and so, they don’t see the country again as a country. They see the country as a colony of the north; a colony of a part of the country and in order to kill the proper understanding of the country and how the country came about and how things came about, they abolished the teaching of history in schools. The military abolished the teaching of history in schools, because if you teach history in schools, people must learn that Azikiwe was at a time the President, that this person was Premier of the West at a time, that this ruler came up at a time or that this happened. So, they knew that if they allowed history to be taught, the growing generation will be made to know the true story about their past and who was who and who is who. So, they abolished the teaching of history in the country and then, introduced what they knew best; looting and stealing. This started with small, small stealing and then the thing developed into massive looting. So, that’s where the country derailed. Would you say the Igbo are really marginalised? Not that they are just marginalized, they are being treated as not equal partners in the country. The Igbo are not treated as a part of the federation. No. They are being treated as a conquered race, as a colony. That is the truth. There’s a central body that should fight for the Igbo, Ohanaeze Ndigbo; what will be your assessment of Ohanaeze Ndigbo? I know Ohanaeze as an organization until they introduced rotation into the constitution; that is, this state will now produce the leader and at the end of this, this state will produce. The leadership shifted from what would be given to where you come from and the thing started deteriorating. It started going down. When it will go up, I don’t know but it will not be easy for the man who will raise it up to do so because it’s easier to destroy than to build. The destruction has been so much. So, the Igbo now don’t have leadership. Nobody leads them. Like in the olden days, Dr. Azikiwe was in charge of the political leadership; Chief Z. C. Obi was the leader of the Igbo culturally and non-politically. So, wherever there was a problem of common interest to Ndigbo, whether you belong to the Action Group of those days or the NCNC of those days or the Mbadiwe’s Democratic Party of those days; what will happen is that Z.C. Obi will summon a meeting, special meeting and all these leaders will come together and solve the Igbo problem and everybody goes back to his political party. There is no leadership in Igbo land. There’s no leadership for Igbo now. What can you say about the renewed agitation for Biafra? Well, I would have advised the government of the day to give the agitators for Biafra what they want.