9jaDoc:


Exactly.
Ok, he didn't exterminate 6 million
BUT he encouraged this...

WetinConsignMe:


So...
Moving on...

@ bolded. We are now up to #6

Remember I said:

I think most of these things are explainable and I don't think any of them necessarily disqualifies Awo from being a hero, especially to the Yorubas. I'll expatiate in my following posts.

I will now continue addressing the points.

Papiikush:
I do not trust her story. Women are always too forward to play the victim card because they are certain the society will defend them.

Let a hear the man's side of the story.

9jaDoc:


He was expecting the West to also secedue. You read Awo's speech. Banjo and his troops were supposed to encourage that. He was supposed yo link up with Yoruba leaders and secede. And it almost worked too but Banjo and Ifeajuna had other ideas. See below.

This is from "America's secret files on Ojukwu"

Why Ojukwu Killed Banjo, Ifeajuna and Others

In the most detailed revelation yet, Ojukwu said he killed Victor Banjo, Emmanuel Ifeajuna, Philip Alale, Sam I. Agbam because they wanted to remove him, remove Gowon and install Chief Obafemi Awolowo as the Prime Minister. In a secret document cabled to the Defence Intelligence Agency in Washington, the US military and defence attachés in the Nigeria reported that based on available information at the time (3 August 1967), “in the long run Njoku will unseat Ojukwu.”

In a chat with the American consul, Bob Barnard, in Enugu three days after the executions, Ojukwu said: “The plotters intended to take Brigadier Hillary Njoku, the head of Biafran Army, into custody and bring him to the State House under heavy armed guard, ostensibly to demand of him that Njoku be relieved of the command on the grounds of incompetence.

Once inside the State House, Njoku’s guards would be used against him (Ojukwu). Ifeajuna would then declare himself acting Governor and offer ceasefire on Gowon’s terms. Banjo would go to the West and replace Brigadier Yinka Adebayo, the military governor of Western Region. Next, Gowon would be removed and Awolowo declared Prime Minister of Reunited Federation.”

Ojukwu continued: “Victor Banjo, Ifeajuna and others kept in touch with co-conspirators in Lagos via British Deputy High Commission’s facilities in Benin.”

When the American consul asked Ojukwu for evidence, Ojukwu replied: “Banjo is a very meticulous man, who kept records and notes of everything he did. The mistake of the plotters was they talked too much, their moves too conspicuous and they made notes which came into my hands. As a result, the conspirators came under surveillance from the early stages of the plot’s existence. Their plans then became known and confirmed by subsequent events.”

In another document, Major (Dr.) Okonkwo, whom Ojukwu appointed as military administrator of the Midwest, said he and Ojukwu participated in court-martialling Banjo in Enugu on 22 September 1967 and Banjo “freely admitted in his testimony that a group of Yorubas on both sides of the battle were plotting together to take over Lagos and Enugu governments and unite Nigeria under Chief Awolowo. Gowon, Ojukwu and Okonkwo were to be eliminated. Gowon was to have been killed by Yoruba officers in the Federal Army.” He added that when arrested on the night of 19 September, Banjo offered no resistance because he said then it was too late to stop the affair and the plot was already in motion. His role, Banjo said, was already accomplished. “As far as is known, Banjo died without revealing the names of his collaborators in Lagos,” Okonkwo said.

9jaDoc:


CONFESSIONS FROM AWO'S ASSOCIATE, ADEBAYO ADEYINKA


In a no-hold barred interview with FS Onluine recently,a grass root politician ,Mr Adebayo Adeyinka who lives within the College Road at Ifako-Ijaiye axis in Ogba ,a suburb of Lagos, Nigeria was livid with rage when he learned that a key politician connected to the issue was denying the incident.
He revealed that Chief Awolowo wanted to lead some kind of guerilla warfare or militant campaign against the government of President Babangida so that he can be overthrown through a popular or people -led putsch.

According to him , the Elder Statesman summoned a meeting of his core loyalists over the issue and this was even filmed so as to strengthen the extent of commitment of each of the politician that attended the meeting,
He pointed out that however unknown to all of those who were privy to this meeting and clarion call , Chief Lateef Kayode Jakande ,Former Executive Governor of Lagos State had a different plan as he betrayed them to the military.

THE BETRAYAL OF AWOLOWO BY LATEEF JAKANDE

He Said:' But unknown to them , Chief Jakande was planning to betray them, he went to President Ibrahim Babangida and promptly showed him the tape
"Papa Awolowo was invited for a meeting with President Ibrahim Babangida who was then staying at Dodan Barracks which was the seat of power as at then and the truth of his clandestine meetings was revealed to him by the gap -toothed

IBB's OPTIONS TO AWOLOWO AND HE CHOOSING THE N20 RAT POISON OPTION:-

"He gave Papa some options and that was for him to be ready to face a court martial , be ready to go to a prison or better still go on exile
"At this stage Papa felt instead of allowing some ambitious khaki boy to mess him up he should just pack it in and call it a day ,so Chief Awolowo decide to commit suicide so as to save himself from the ignominy of going to prison for the second time in his lifetime.

"But before he did this he called his core loyalists for a meeting ,before then he had called up Late Chief Bola Ige [Cicero],since the latter had a very strong understanding of the Hausa Language having had his formative years as a young man in Kaduna but discovered that the late Esa-Oke strongman was innocent after he was interrogated by Papa
"He called others for enquiries while asking them to tender the video cassettes of the meeting they all attended to discuss the plans to topple President Babangida for examination ,at this juncture Chief Jakande developed a cold feet as he could not produce his own copy of the video which was freely distributed to all that was present at the meeting previously before the betrayal and that was how the cat was let out of the bag.

"So he cursed him at this point and pointed out that he will never have any form of relevance politically as far as Nigeria was concerned and till today members of the Awolowo Dynasty avoids him like a plague.
"I was there when the letter he wrote to the family to beg them for forgiveness over the unfortunate incident was read in the presence of all present ,if he continues to deny I am ready to confront him publicly again on the same issue as I can even remember that elders asked him to go to the grave of the late sage to plead for forgiveness.

"When he was questioned he lied that the National Security Organization now State Security Services had visited his house to check on him and in the process took the tape in question but" Awoists" knew that this was a very weak argument as he did not inform their political group of this development before their enquiry on the subject.

"That was how Senator Abraham Adesanya assumed the leadership of the Awolowo camp of Yoruba politics after the demise of the man ,he was not even so close to Awolowo during his lifetime like Chief Jakande and that was why many called him Baba Kekere on account of this cosy relationship

IRONY OF AWO PAYING BIAFRANS 20 POUNDS AND DIEING COURTESY OF 20 NAIRA RAT POISON:-

"Before he gave up the ghost, he said his prayers and then took the poison which killed him almost immediately but the public was not fully aware as they were given a different account of what happened.
"We were simply told that he died while he was brushing his teeth in his bathroom at his Park Lane,Apapa residence here in Lagos

EXPOSING HOW MUCH AWOLOWO STOLE FROM NIGERIA

(1) He was stupendously wealthy during his lifetime, infact there is NO company at Oba Akran in Ikeja ,Lagos where he does not have at least a five percent equity, Dideolu Court in Ogba alone cannot be valued at less than N10 Billion ,that was the place that he had in mind to be his Seat of power if he was elected as Nigeria's President.

(2) He owned Shonibare Estate but the man he was using as a front and who later went to prison over some issues which Awolowo himself was privy to eventually laid claim to the estate.
"He got all of this wealth due to a great measure of goodwill and tax waivers he gave to investors whenever they come to establish their business.

(3) Anytime you buy a bottle of Coca-Cola you are enriching the Awolowo Dynasty,

(4) Go to Ijebu Ikenne and you will discover that the price of bag cement there is different from other parts of the nation due to the subsidy that the citizens enjoy on account of Awolowo who was their son and I hope you know that West African Portland Cement is in Ewekoro and not Ikenne.

(5) He listed such blue chips like Dunlop Nigeria Plc,
(i) Guinness Nigeria Plc.
(ii) Neimeth Pharmaceutical Nigeria Plc.
(iii) May and Baker Nigeria Plc.
(iv) Vitafoam Nigeria Plc.
(v) Wahum Nigeria Limited .
(vi) CAP Nigeria Plc.
(vii) International Paints of West Africa [IPWA].
(viii) Berger Paints Nigeria Plc.
(ix) Berec Nigeria Limited. ,
(x)Kabelmetal, Nigeria Bottling Company Plc
(xi) Leventis Nigera Plc.,
(xii)West African Portland Cement Company,[Lafarge ].
(xiii)Wema Bank Nigeria Plc.
(xiv) Scoa Nigeria Plc.
(xv) CFAO Nigeria Plc.
(xvi) Cadbury Nigeria Plc.
(xvii)Wemaboard Estates, Odu'A Group.
(xviii) Livestock Feeds Nigeria Plc.
(xix) Nigerian Breweries Plc as places the Awolowo family have commercial interest to mention just a few.

(6) Apart from this stocks analysts believe that the most visible of his investment ,The Nigerian Tribune Newspapers cannot be valued at less than N100billion today in terms of brand evaluation as Thisday Newspapers was valued by the Owner ,.Mr Nduka Obaigbena at N200 Billion recently during a media chart while celebrating his fiftieth birthday sometimes last year.

WHEN A THIEF BECOMES A KING MAKER:

"He made Sijuwade rich, because he was his business associate and in fact some of us held very strong views that he was one of his fronts and later the same man became the Ooni of Ife"he added
Mr Adebayo Adeyinka recalled his several years of following grass root politics right from the days of Action Group to the Unity Party of Nigerian era in the second republic but now lamented that he had since lost all interest in partisan politics due to the massive corruption in our polity.

HOW AWO FAMILY NOW REGARD ''AWOISTS"

"On account of this great betrayal Awolowo family members regard the "Awoist" as a group people should deal with using a long spoon till this day and this explains why when The Peoples Democratic Party Government gave some of them political appointment lately they accepted it without thinking twice.

WetinConsignMe:


Thank you. Couldn't have said it better

VillageWinch:


Igbos have NOTHING to do with the suicide of Awolowo nor it's revelation years after the fact. Igbos had accepted what they were told and moved on BUT the truth has a way of never staying covered. It was only a matter of time.

It angers me because such acts of extreme selfishness always anger me. That's just the type of person I am

T9ksy:



The "too MANY" people that knew were ONLY IBOS, the late sage's sworn enemies and they are the only ONES known to have been repeating the same stories (without any incontrovertible evidence) to support there lies.

And it angers you because someone you people just love to hate allegedly committed suicide? Do you even read the garbage you wrote?
I doubt it very much. If you were that offended by the (spurious) allegations, you should have taken a LONG walk off the shortest pier.

Konquest:

^^^^^^^^
^^^^^^^^

Please note that the Eastern Region
does not refer to Ibos but to all
the ethnic groups that were in the Old
Eastern Region.

Awo gave a speech on the floor of
the Western Region Parliament in May
1967 in Ibadan when he made that
comment and he clearly stated in
English that if the Federal Government
allows the Old Eastern Region to secede,
then Lagos and the Old Western Region
would leave Nigeria. He was SIMPLY
calling for 1 UNITED Nigeria!

This is what the rebels and their propagandists twisted to misled
their people and said Awo promised
Ibos that he would secede, which he did
never said!

The newspapers reported the following
day Awolowo's speech which can
still be read online in the Daily Times
of that day in the month of May19, 1967.

All the 10 points listed at the start of this
thread are FALSE and MISLEADING!
The problem we have is that a lot of
the younger generation don't read standard Nigerian Civil War books
but only really on pieces of falsehood
from propaganda Websites especially
those created by Ibos which I started
noticing online in the late 1990s on
Yahoo!Groups and other media.


I have read a lot of books since 1981
that were written by senior military officers
like OBJ, Alexander Madiebo and others
so as to gain a better understanding
from both sides. The answers to most
of the questions here can be found
in the standard history books and
autobiographies and biographies.



Chief Obafemi Awolowo NEVER committed
suicide when he died in 1987! He died of
natural causes. I was as a grown
man then and everything about his translation
was in the public domain and he was
highly eulogised by IBB and other
legendary people in Nigeria and around the world. Chief
Obafemi Awolowo who was a SAN and
a GCFR, became a subject of attack
by some Ibos [simply because he
contested Presidential elections in the 2nd Republic]
so as to prevent him from winning the
elections. This has continued till
today with young Ibos telling further
lies/concocting FICTIONAL stories
on the Internet that he drank poison
and committed suicide. This is absolute
stupidity on the part of these young
ones who were NOT born or were babies
in 1987 when Obafemi Awolowo
died and it is a shame that the Ibos
are behind this FAKE STORY. Go to
several Websites and blogs and you
will see threads and topics that were
started by these people!

"Awo on the Nigerian Civil War" was a book
written by Chief Obafemi Awolowo
in the early 1980s to correct all the
negative information about him by
the Ibos but he never foresaw the
devastating effect that the Internet
would have in the future on his image otherwise
he would have taken those who
spread falsehood about him to
court as a SAN and senior lawyer that
he was
for defamation of character.


Did you know that Emeka Ojukwu was a foundation member of the Awolowo
Foundation which was founded in 1991?
If Awo (who was 29 years older than
Ojukwu and old enough to be his father)
had really offended Emeka Ojukwu,
Ojukwu would not have said in his tribute
in 1987 that Awolowo is the BEST President Nigeria never had. He would
also not have been part of the founding
of Awolowo Foundation along with
Gen. Yakubu Gowon. Ojukwu and his
misadvised team
had to use lies as a propaganda tool
to maintain political control in the rebel
enclave
during the Civil War like Goebbels
of Nazi Germany did.


You see, a lot of these IBO leaders
who led Ibos into a devastating Civil
War related and hobnobbed with
the Yoruba elite and those from other
ethnic groups who played active roles
in keeping Nigeria united, and then
these S/E leaders go
behind to divert the attention of their
people by encouraging the spread of
lies. I know that Chief MCK Ajuluchukwu
defended Awolowo over those lies being
told by some of his kinsmen.

Did you know that China Achebe's
daughters married Yoruba and Itsekiri
men, while Achebe's son married a
woman from Oguta? So I wonder
where the tribal propaganda and sickening
defamation of character is coming
from. These people behave like
victims so as to make themselves
feel good by concocting the biggest
chain of lies I have seen in living
memory!

The non-Ibos of the Old Eastern
Region had rejected
secession and even before 1960, there
was a COR (Calabar/Ogoja/Rivers)
movement calling for separation
from the Ibos and this partly led to
the Ijaw nationalist, Jasper Isaac Adaka
Boro to lead a 12-day revolution/secession from the Eastern region
in 1966 because of marginalization
by the Aguiyi Ironsi government.

Some Ibos like Margaret Ekpo, Jesus
of Ogbunike and his followers, and more
were locked up for the entire 2 years and
6 months of the Civil War until they
were liberated by Nigerian Federal troops.


Last but not least, the invasion of the
Mid Western State by the rebels infuriated
the Edo's, Urhobos, Itsekiris, Isokos
and some sections of what is now Delta
North and it made many of them to
join the Nigerian Army in large
numbers to defend themselve as a result of attrocities that were commited against them such as the desecration of the Palace of the Oba of Benin and the
looting of the Palace of some artifacts
among other attrocities. According to Col. Ogbebor,
in a Sunday Punch 2-page interview 3 years ago, Bendelites had a strong
presence during and after the Civil War
in the Nigerian military.

Vivere:


Awo never used the word 'ANNOUNCE.' Why do you persist in telling lies? Oya, provide the link and URL to your story, so we can all read it and verify.

GhanaMustGoo:
My Yoruba friend tells me "atilo" is a kind of native Yoruba dance. So he was saying something like 'Baba dance' ? Doesn't make any sense...

T9ksy, Ovamboland, oladeebo, Ofemannnu
lawani, koladebrainiac, Michael004

WetinConsignMe:


Your friend was playing with u.
I know enough Yoruba to know this is not true.
I am pretty sure "Baba atilo" means "Baba don't go"

So why was Ojukwu telling Awo not to go?

9jaDoc:


Your friend is talking nonsense.
"Baba atilo" means "Atilo's father"
Just as they call Obasanjo "Baba Iyabo"
because his daughter's name is Iyabo.
Get it now?



Ok, so why was Ojukwu suddenly calling Awo Atilo's father?
You guys are not making any sense

WetinConsignMe:


Your friend was playing with u.
I know enough Yoruba to know this is not true.
I am pretty sure "Baba atilo" means "Baba don't go"

Vivere:

Big lie. The Igbo were not allowed to secede and they were not forced out. Instead, there was a police action to keep them within Nigeria and a civil war to stop them from seceding. So why is Awolowo being blamed, when the Igbo were not allowed to secede?

GhanaMustGoo:


You, Mr. Cerebral capacity, what is the.meaning of "Baba atilo"

Ovamboland:


Intelligent people don't make alliances based on newspaper reports, you meet behind closed doors and issue a joint communique with the written version ratifiable by signatures.
How can a whole region comprising of many nationalities, some claiming high intellect, declare a new country with alliances based on unilateral declaration on the pages of newspapers

9jaDoc:


Thank you. This your simple sentence sums up everything

WetinConsignMe:


My friend, why are you trying to be too clever by half? Here is the letter you keep talking about in it's entirety.
Where in this letter does Ojukwu even imply he wanted to rule the West? Quite the contrary. He and Banjo had the same rank. Do u think he was unaware Banjo would not be a yes man to him and would do whatever was best for his own people? Notice how he addressed himself as "Military Governor", the same title Banjo would have in the West - equals.

Here is the letter (note the bolded):

From: The Military Governor,
Republic of Biafra Enugu,
22nd August, 1967.
My dear Victor,

1. For some time now, you and I have been discussing the circumstances that have led to the current and inevitable disintegration of what was the Federation of Nigeria. We have been fully convinced that the aim of the Hausa/Fulani complex has ever been, and will ever remain, the total domination of every other part of what was known as the Federation of Nigeria. It is impossible to forget that the crisis which led to the army take over in January 1966, the coup of the Northern soldiers led by Gowon in July 1966, the wholesale and indiscriminate massacre of the people of what is now Biafra- and, to a less degree,the people of the Mid-West and West, including the Yorubas, were all the direct result of Hausa/Fulani attempt to subjugate and use as tools,the gallant people of Western Nigeria namely the Yorubas. We do not need to remind ourselves of the heavy losses in life and property suffered by the Yoruba people in their fight for justice and freedom during 1965.


2. Sharing our belief that the people of Yorubaland have a right to live a life of equality and self-respect and justice free of domination and dictatorship from any quarter, you have both identified with the cause of the Biafra struggle for survival and expressed your determination to see the people of Yorubaland freed from Hausa/Fulani domination.
We, the people of Biafra, for our part are willing and have decided to give you and the people of Yorubaland every assistance to achieve your aim.


3. After clearing the whole question with my Executive Council, I, as the Commander in Chief of the Biafran Armed Forces, have decided to place at your disposal Biafran forces, for the liberation of
Yorubaland on the following clear conditions:-
(i)You will have nothing to do with the Military Administrator in the Mid-West Territory during your sojourn there prior to your move to the West.
(ii)The willingness and preparedness of Biafra to assist any part of the former Federation of Nigeria wishing and willing to liberate itself from the Hausa/Fulani domination, does not in anyway whatever
imply any inclination on her part to compromise her sovereignty or preserve what remains of the defunct Federation of Nigeria. In other words, our sovereignty and break with Nigeria is irrevocable. Nothing must, therefore be said or done by you or any member of the Liberation Army to give a contrary impression.
(iii)Biafra is determined to maintain and safeguard her sovereignty and ensure that her integrity and safety are never again threatened.
(iv)Biafran troops will, after the liberation of the Yorubaland, remain in that territory only for as long as we in Biafra consider it necessary for the Yorubas to consolidate their position and sovereignty against any external threat.
(v)On the liberation of the Yorubaland, you will be appointed as the Military Governor of that territory.
(vi)The liberation of Western Nigeria will be a prelude to the liberation of all Yorubas up to the River Niger and the severance of all connections between the West and the North at Jebba.
(vii)During the period of Biafrans troops’ presence in your territory, all political measures, statements or decrees shall be subject to the approval, in writing by myself or on my authority.
(viii)Should our troops arrive and liberate Lagos, the government of the Republic of Biafra reserves the right to appoint a Military administrator for the territory. Such an Administrator will remain in office until a merger of that territory with Yorubaland is effected by Biafran troops.
(ix)As soon as possible after your appointment as the Military Governor of Western Nigeria and separation of that territory from Nigeria, you and I must meet to discuss:
(a)the duration of stay of Biafran troops in your territory;
(b)the areas and subjects of cooperation between the liberated sovereign states of Western Nigeria, or by what name it may call itself, and Biafra.


4. I do not need to remind you that Biafra regards all Yoruba as friends. As such everything should be done, to ensure that minimum force and loss of life are involved in achieving the objective of liberation.



5. It is essential, in order to avoid misunderstanding or confusion, that all subsequent requests for support be formally made to me by you in writing.



6. Will you please signify in writing, your acceptance of the above conditions so that you may leave for Western Nigeria and lead the army of liberation.



Yours very sincerely,
signed Lt. Col. Odumegwu Ojukwu,
Military Governor and Commander in Chief of Biafran Armed Forces.

koladebrainiac:
what part of promise people make in politics. in politics countries don't practice friendship, they practice allies

Maduawuchukwu:


Awolowo in my estimation chose to support one-Nigeria for various reasons.
Firstly, the oil reserves in the East and the wealth therein.Oil was becoming the energy hotcake of the world just as renewable energy is going to be that of the future and the riches he could profit from was stupendous.
Also, Awo must have felt that with the death of Balewa and Ahmadu Bello and the political redundancy of Azikiwe because of the war, the coast was clear for him to become Nigerias strongest man and Leader;maybe even for life. The north outsmarted him sha.
Lastly, he might have felt that the west could not afford a war so they should side with the north. But then, neutrality was an option just like the mid-west and his region would have been unaffected by his neutrality. So.

WetinConsignMe:


Well put. I believe oil was why Nigeria didn't break up in the 60s. Leaders of the July 66 mutiny actually wanted secession of the North. But the British and some Nig leaders were aware of the stupendous wealth underground in the East so that was unthinkable.

WetinConsignMe:
So we are now at #5.
Here it is:

5) That Awo promised Ojukwu personally, and later said publicly, that the West would secede if Biafra seceded.


Well, it depends on how u interprete what Awo said publicly and whether u believe what he was said to have said to Ojukwu and to others privately.

My own take is that Awo was in no shape to be leading a secession. He just got out of jail, he needed some rest and probably money, plus he was surrounded by northern soldiers who were closely monitoring him. Plus he was not military with an army at his command like Ojukwu. Plus the few senior Yoruba military officers were one-Nigeria.

As to whether he made the promise at all, here are what were said by various people and by Awo himself:
TO BE CONT'D
------------------------------------------------------

CONTINUING:

On July 2001 Rudolf Okonkwo pointedly asked Ojukwu if there was such agreement. Here is what he said (note the bolded):

RUDOLF OKONKWO: Did the meeting take place, and was there such an agreement?

OJUKWU: We’ve said this over and over again, so many times, and people don’t understand; they don’t want to actually...

Don’t forget that the political purpose of the coup, the Ifeajuna coup that began all this, was to hand power over to Awo. We young men respected him a great deal. He was a hero. I thought he was a hero and certainly I received him when I was governor. We talked and he was very vehement when he saw our complaints and he said that if the Igbos were forced out by Nigeria that he would take the Yorubas out also. I don’t know what anybody makes of that statement but it is simple. Whether he did or didn’t, it is too late. There is nothing you can do about it.

Here is what Sam Aluko, who was at the meeting, said:

"What Ojukwu Told Me, Before, Durring, And After The War" - SAM ALUKO

"Awolowo said, if the East left the federation, the Yoruba would have to leave the federation."

"Really, I was being integrated in the East because, at that time, Obafemi Awolowo was in the Calabar prison and I was the only one allowed to see him. Ojukwu used to give me protection to go and see him."

This interview is the most intimate account of the thoughts and actions of Col. Odumegwu Ojukwu before, during and after the Nigerian civil war. The account is coming from Professor Sam Aluko, the respected Nigerian economist, who has revealed that he was the most trusted friend Ojukwu had. That friendship started immediately the Ikemba Nnewi assumed the governorship position of the Eastern Region. Since then and through the period of the war, Ojukwu’s exile in Cote d’Ivoire and his return to Nigeria, that friendship had sustained.

Excerpts:

How close were you to the late Chief Emeka Odumegwu Ojukwu?

I will say that I was very close to him till his death. Immediately, he became governor of the former Eastern Region, when I was a senior lecturer in Economics in the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, he called me the third day he became governor. He said he wanted to come and see me in my university. I never met him before. How can the military governor come and see me? I said no. I told him I would come and see him, instead. I told the person he sent that he should tell the governor that I was the one who should come and see him and not him coming to see me. That was on January 20, 1966. So, when I said I was going to see him, my wife said she would go with me. She said we didn’t know the man and therefore she wanted to be present at the meeting. She reasoned that we couldn’t predict a soldier who just came. When we got to the military governor’s house, Ojukwu said: ‘Madam, I know you would come because you thought that I will do something to your husband.’ He said he had never met me before, but those in the military had been reading so much about me and they venerated me. According to him, that was why he wanted to see me. He said he wanted me to help him to run the government of the Eastern Region.

We discussed and he asked what role I would like to play and I said I would remain in the university because I didn’t want to leave. I promised to do whatever I could do to help him. The first cabinet that he formed, we both sat down and looked at the names of those from the Eastern Region to be cabinet members. He did not know them because he was not living in the Eastern Region. He was outside, in Kaduna and in Lagos. He spoke Yoruba better than I. So, we were speaking in Yoruba most of the time. That’s how the relationship began and we became very close. It was through him that I knew Adekunle Fajuyi, the governor of the Western Region. We continued until after the counter-coup in July. I was very sad. They killed many Igbo. Many who were not killed had cuts in the head and other parts of the body. He called me and said what could he do? What was going on in his mind was to go to a place in Benue and sack a village there. He wanted to kill as many people as possible. I said no. I said as a Christian, Christianity doesn’t allow for vengeance. As a Christian, I said he should not do that.

Was that when the killings in the North started?
Yes. That was the period the pogrom started. I said he should get in touch with the Head of State, but he said no because it was wrong for Yakubu Gowon to be Head of State because there was Ogundipe, who was a Brigadier and the most senior military officer at the time. He said when the coup happened in January, the most senior officer became the Head of State. So, he argued that when the counter-coup happened, the most senior should also become the Head of State. But the northerners will not take that at that time. Ogundipe himself did not want it because he said there were few Yoruba in the army. He said he will just be there without support and they would kill him. So, they made him High Commissioner in London. When the pogrom continued and the people were coming to the East from the North, Ojukwu said he was afraid that the easterners coming back might attack those who are non-easterners in the East. He then made a statement on the radio that all those who were non-easterners should leave the East.

At the time, there was rumour that Professor Babatunde Fafunwa was killed because he was from the West. But Fafunwa was in Benin Republic attending a conference. Ojukwu said the rumour was a sign of what was to happen. He said they would be attacking the northerners and the westerners and claim easterners did. So, he will ask everybody to go. I went to see him in Enugu and I said: “well, Your Excellency, I will have to go back to the West.” He said no, emphasising that when he talked of westerners, it did not apply to me because I was one of them. Non-easterners in the East were scared. Fafunwa and I were the most senior in the place. Fafunwa was not around and I said: “I will have to take them to the West to make sure that they were safe.” He said it was OK and that he will give me soldiers to make sure that all the students and staff were safe. He said when I got to Benin, I should hand them over to the governor in Benin to take them to the West and I should return to my job in Nsukka.

What of your protection?
He said I needed not worry because I was one of them. [b]Really, I was being integrated in the East because, at that time, Obafemi Awolowo was in the Calabar prison and I was the only one allowed to see him. Ojukwu used to give me protection to go and see him. [/b]So, I was enjoying myself. When I got to Benin, I did not return to the East. I got the people to Ibadan and then called him to say: “Your Excellency, I am here and I am no longer coming back to the East.” He said: “Doctor, don’t call me Your Excellency, call me Emeka. You are older than I and I adore you. Just call me Emeka and I will call you Sam.” I was talking to him every night from Ibadan...

What date was this?
That was January 1967. I said: “Emeka, I don’t think you should think of secession. I said it was the Igbo that were killed in the North and not all easterners.” I said “from my living in the East and going round the East, I know that the Igbo were not very popular in the Rivers area and the Calabar area. I told him that if he declared secession, he would be fighting two wars. I told him he would be fighting internal war against people with him, who didn’t want to be ruled by the Igbo and he would be fighting Nigeria who didn’t want him to succeed. I told him not I didn’t think he could win the war. I think that made a great impression on him. He said: “Doctor, your analysis is perfect.” He said, “after all, why should I secede? “He said: “All my father’s Lagos. I was brought up in Lagos. I came to the East on posting as a military governor. I have discovered that ruling the Igbo is like ruling a pack of wild horses. They are very difficult to rule. I will rather want to be away from here to another place. It is very difficult to persuade the Igbo against their will.”

I told him he didn’t have to persuade them against their will, just be loyal to them. I went back to Adebayo. We had a reconciliation meeting. Awolowo, Onyia and myself were sent to meet Ojukwu in Enugu. Ojukwu insisted that if I did not come, he would not receive them. So, we went together. We discussed.

When was this?
That was March 1967. Awolowo was very frank with him. He told him: “Look, governor, you cannot secede. You cannot go alone. Just as you fear the North, the West also fears the North. The soldiers in the North are occupying the West. So, we have the same common interest. But don’t let us secede. Let us do whatever we can do together to unite and confront the North so that we can have a settlement on how we want to run this country.” Awolowo said, if the East left the federation, the Yoruba would have to leave the federation...


Here is a newspaper report of what Awo himself said publicly (note the bolded):

Why Awo did not make West to Secede
VANGUARD
26 SEP 2017
By Eric Teniola
ON May 1, 1967 at a meeting of Leaders of thought of Western Region, Chief Obafemi Awolowo made the following declarations:
“I consider my duty to Yoruba people in particular and to Nigerians in general to place four imperatives, two of them categorical, and two conditional:

(1) Only a peaceful solution must be found to arrest the present worsening stalemate and restore normalcy.

(2) The Eastern Region must be encouraged to remain part of the Federation

(3). If the Eastern Region is allowed by acts of omission or commission to secede from or opt out of Nigeria, then Western Region and Lagos must also stay out of the Federation.

(4) The people of Western Nigeria or Lagos would participate in the Ad hoc Constitutional Committee or any similar body only on the basis of absolute equality with other Region of the Federations”.

It was the gravest statement made by any leader in Nigeria at a crucial time.
...
The question is why did the Western Region not follow the Eastern Region when it seceded on May 30, 1967?

The Daily Sketch which published in full Chief Awolowo’s speech on May 2, 1967 sold in Enugu at two shillings per copy which is more equivalent of today’s six hundred naira. The speech was a hot cake.

Then there was the argument that the fate of the Yorubas in Ilorin and Kabba provinces at that time was not properly addressed in that speech considering the political influence of Chief Josiah Sunday Olawoyin (1935-2000) and later leaders like Chief Cornelius Olatunji Adebayo (76), my friend Chief Ayo Opadokun and Dr. Abubakar Olusola Saraki (1933-2012).

It is a pity that Chief Awolowo did not publish his memoirs before he died in a domestic accident in his hometown of Ikenne in Ogun state in the early hours of May 9, 1987. Maybe he would have shed more light on why he made those declarations.

I personally believe till today that it was that speech that took the Federal Capital from Lagos, although events have proved later that taking the Federal Capital out of Lagos does not equate with taking commerce out of Lagos- thanks to Chief Bola Tinubu and his successors.

Chief Awolowo’s speech stunned the nation. It was a wakeup call on General Yakubu Dan-Yuuma Gowon (83), the Head of State at that time to prepare for war and save Nigeria. If Chief Awolowo had taken Western Region and Lagos out of Nigeria, it would have been suicidal...

If Chief Awolowo had taken Western Region and Lagos out of the Federation at that time definitely Western Region and Lagos would have been the battle ground. And where were the troops and how prepared was he for a major war. At the time he made those declarations, officers of the Western Region in the Nigerian Army were less than 7%. At that time Lagos, Ibadan and Abeokuta garrisons were occupied by ‘northern troops’. Even the then Governor of Western Region, Major General Adeyinka Adebayo was not prepared for war. Chief Awolowo admitted on May 1, 1967 speech, that ‘We have neither the military might, nor the overwhelming advantage of numbers here in Western Nigeria and Lagos...'



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9jaDoc:


That Ogundipe was one funny guy. While Ojukwu was busy still insisting Ogundipe must be head of state he had already ran to UK and no one heard a peep from him after that.

WetinConsignMe:


So we are now at #5.
Here it is:



Well, it depends on how u interprete what Awo said publicly and whether u believe what he was said to have said to Ojukwu and to others privately.

My own take is that Awo was in no shape to be leading a secession. He just got out of jail, he needed some rest and probably money, plus he was surrounded by northern soldiers who were closely monitoring him. Plus he was not military with an army at his command like Ojukwu. Plus the few senior Yoruba military officers were one-Nigeria.

As to whether he made the promise at all, here are what were said by various people and by Awo himself:
TO BE CONT'D

WetinConsignMe:
No Nigerian politician living or dead has more controversies attached to them than the person of Chief Obafemi Awolowo.

What are the basis of these controversies?
To what extent are they justified?

Let this be the definitive thread on Awo's controversies.
So, even if you've presented your arguments elsewhere, present them here again for the record.

POLITELY present your points. Try to be courteous and respectful or at least avoid personal attacks on anyone.
No bigoted tribal posts please.

Please remember, Awo is a hero to most Yorubas and like a god to some, so try to be respectful.

Here are Chief Awolowo's controversies in chronological order (all these are in public domain. No input from me whatsoever):

1) That he introduced tribal politics into Nigeria in 1951 by, overnight, convincing a staunch NCNC allied Ibadan party to switch allegiance to AG in other to prevent Zik from becoming first premier of the West.
As Unongo put it:
"Zik’s party produced a Zik premiership in Western Nigeria and in the night, Awolowo went round to convince the Yoruba that, ‘you are a tribe. Your tribe is called Yoruba. Zik’s tribe is called Igbo. Do not allow this to happen. Whether you like me or not, it is better to have a Yoruba man to rule over Yorubaland’. Unfortunately, I feel, this was the starting point of our problems."

2) That he tried to orchestrate the first coup in Nigeria in 1963. For this he was sentenced to 10 years hard labour by a Yoruba judge after a long trial. A co-conspirator, Enahoro, later escaped to Ghana and confessed they were indeed planning a coup.

3) That the January 1966 coup plotters intended to release him from jail and install him as prime minister.

4) That only Ojukwu could have released Awo from Calabar prison as Gowon never had authority in the East and was never in any position to order the release of Awo or any other prisoner in the East.

5) That Awo promised Ojukwu personally, and later said publicly, that the West would secede if Biafra seceded.

6) That Gowon promised him rulership of a re-united Nigeria once the war was won. That he resigned from Gowon's administration in 1971 because Gowon reneged on that promise.

7) That he encouraged the starvation of Biafrans durring the war. That he made the statement: "Starvation is a legitimate weapon of war."

88) That he was the architect of the 20 pound policy after the war, which most Igbos considered cruel.

9) That he commited suicide by poison in 1987 after a co-conspirator gave Babangida a tape of them plotting a coup.
As Adebayo Adeyinka, a staunch Awoist, put it:
“Papa Awolowo was invited for a meeting with President Ibrahim Babangida who was then staying at Dodan Barracks which was the seat of power as at then...
He gave Papa some options and that was for him to be ready to face a court martial, be ready to go to a prison, or better still go on exile
At this stage Papa felt instead of allowing some ambitious khaki boy to mess him up he should just pack it in and call it a day, so Chief Awolowo decided to commit suicide so as to save himself from the ignominy of going to prison for the second time in his lifetime ."

10) That he was corrupt.
As Adeyinka put it (in trying to praise Awo):
“He was stupendously wealthy during his lifetime, infact there is no company at Oba Akran in Ikeja, Lagos, where he does not have at least a five percent equity. Dideolu Court in Ogba alone cannot be valued at less than N10 Billion, that was the place that he had in mind to be his Seat of power if he was elected as Nigeria’s President.
He owned Shonibare Estate but the man he was using as a front and who later went to prison over some issues which Awolowo himself was privy to eventually laid claim to the estate"
"He got all of this wealth due to a great measure of goodwill and tax waivers he gave to investors whenever they come to establish their business.
Anytime you buy a bottle of Coca-Cola you are enriching the Awolowo Dynasty."
He listed these blue chip companies as places the Awolowo family have commercial interests "just to mention just a few":
"Dunlop Nigeria Plc ,Guinness Nigeria Plc, Neimeth Pharmaceutical Nigeria Plc ,May and Baker Nigeria Plc ,Vitafoam Nigeria Plc ,Wahum Nigeria Limited ,CAP Nigeria Plc , International Paints of West Africa [IPWA], Berger Paints Nigeria Plc ,Berec Nigeria Limited ,Kabelmetal, Nigeria Bottling Company Plc ,Leventis Nigera Plc ,West African Portland Cement Company,[Lafarge ],Wema Bank Nigeria Plc, Scoa Nigeria Plc ,CFAO Nigeria Plc, Cadbury Nigeria Plc ,Wemaboard Estates, Odu’A Group, Livestock Feeds Nigeria Plc , Nigerian Breweries Plc"
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Uglyojuku:


A lot of them..that is the educated few..who put their money in the banks withdrew their money which is normal but at the end of the war everybody was magnanimously given 20 pounds... 12000 naira...and everyone that had money in other banks got their money back after the war,people like Azikwe,Ojukwu etc.What better way should the government have taken if I may ask my Biafla people..after the same Biafrans have stolen all the money in Benin central bank..

masseratti:
sorry about your grandpa,but have you asked some salient questions from your folks? 1st where did grandpa stayed before the war,in the west,north or in the east? With this you are a step closer to the truth,now yes 90% of people all over the world losses their fortune in the time of war,except the undertaker and the gunsmiths, that said,the war didn't happen immediately most people of Eastern origin withdrew their "" Nigerian pounds "converted it into biafran currency,its not possible that they will leave their money in Nigerian banks and head east,there is no records of the banks refusing to pay anyone before the war the problem was that records of depositors were lost in the east due to destruction of the banks,everyone that had money in other regions banks got their full money back after the war.e.g Azikwe,Achebe,Nwabueze.

masseratti:
which many people got no money Govt knowing fully well they don't have records declared 20pounds to those that had accounts in the bank and those who didn't have which was the majority, you think govt will annouce free 12000 naira today for everyone ,the equivalent of 20 pounds today people that av accounts and people that don't av accounts won't claim it?