HOW WOULD YOU RATE THE MAP OF BIAFRA..........YOUR VOTE IS NEEDED

DO YOU BELIEVE IN BIAFRA? Someone who had read a piece I wrote sometime ago titled, “How I became a Nigerian” confronted me with this question. I guess the query arose because I’d indicated that Biafra was the first country I came to know as a child. I actually did have to become Nigerian. Before I address the question, let me state something by way of definition to eliminate all ambiguity about what Biafra is. For anything to be worthy of belief, it’ll either be a personality, an entity defined by socio-political and geographical parameters, or an idea usually encapsulated in a concept, philosophy or ideology. The Biafra in question is certainly not a personality nor is it a political unit with cadastral limits. That Biafra expired in the wee hours of 1970. That leaves us with the issue of Biafra as an idea. That, I think is the one I’ll be dealing with. To get a grip on the concept of Biafra, we must revisit the unfortunate events of the ill-fated first republic. After being granted that dubious independence in 1960 and becoming a republic two years later, the ship of the Nigerian state careened from one crisis to another in its elusive search for stability and legitimacy. And you can trust politicians on this count: their characteristic hubris and unbridled corruption will always nudge the polity to the edge of the precipice. In 1966, a group of ambitious, middle-level army officers took one look at the emerging scenario and elected to intervene; violently. Through a quirk of fate, the putsch was successful around the federation save in the south-east. Incidentally, the ring leaders of the initiative were mostly of south-eastern extraction or more specifically, Igbo. On the whole, that audacious initiative failed; as I believe it was destined to. The first republic effectively expired ushering in military rule headed by the inimitable General John Thomas Umunnakwe Aguiyi-Ironsi: an Igbo man. Predictably, there were reprisals against the Igbo and their interests especially in Northern Nigeria. Thousands of Igbo were horrendously slaughtered in a pogrom that was a precursor to the genocidal war. Aguiyi-Ironsi himself was to pay the supreme price in a well articulated military ambush in Ibadan. He was felled alongside his host, Lt. Col. Adekunle Fajuyi; military governor of the Western Region at the time. The Igbo, no longer assured of safety outside their homeland were compelled to make the unpalatable and precarious journey home; abandoning all their properties and investment. The cerebral Lt. Col. Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, then military governor of Nigeria’s Eastern Region, was under intense pressure to extract some form of guarantee for the safety of the Igbo across the federation. There were numerous summits and conferences convened in a bid to hammer out a compromise. In spite of the celebrated meeting of all stakeholders in Aburi, Ghana, then Nigerian head of state, Gen. Yakubu Gowon could offer no such guarantee as the killing and persecution of the Igbo continued unabated. It was this dire situation that forced the hand of the south-eastern leadership towards secession thereby declaring the sovereign state of Biafra in 1967. The horrors of the 30-month long civil war are properly documented for the benefit of all who’re not afraid to confront the crude truth. From the foregoing, it is clear that Biafra happened as a predictable reaction to a peculiar interplay of events. If there had been no coup in 1966, there would have been no pogrom and the military would never have come to power. There would certainly have been no Biafra. I’d like to draw an analogy from the hallowed institution of marriage. With over two decades under my belt, I can say without fear of contradiction that no one approaches the sacred altar of matrimony with the faintest thoughts of a separation or divorce. I wasn’t thinking of divorce on the 12th of December 1992 and I’m not considering it even now. That’s simply because I’m enjoying a little happiness in here. Unfortunately, I can’t make the same claim for many of my friends and associates. For many, marriage has become something to be endured. But it was not designed to be so. So when marriage ceases to deliver on the promise of happiness and bliss, the only option, painful and stigmatizing as it is, is separation. I recently watched a friend go through the gruesome process of divorce. The day the court finally dissolved the union, my friend came apart completely. That’s why God hates divorce. That explains why the Church has no procedure for annulling the marriage covenant. In there, it’s “until death do you part.” But the reality on ground is that the divorce courts are very busy. Governments exist for the welfare of the people. The legitimacy of any government is hinged on its continuing ability to provide for and protect its citizens. Governments must create and sustain the enabling environment for the people to thrive and realize their deepest aspirations. The right of a people to determine what those aspirations are is unimpeachable. So also is the process of realizing them. That’s what democracy is all about; the very same thing exotically christened self-determination. Those rights are inalienable. Biafra wasn’t an original idea. It wasn’t something that was scrupulously articulated. It was merely a reaction to a government that had failed to rise to the demands of the occasion: a default solution, if you may. In essence, Biafra represents the resolve of a people to demand for a better deal. That’s what started in Tunisia, swept away the well-entrenched Hosni Mubarak of Egypt and has Libya’s Gaddafi’s future hanging by a thread. Syria’s Al-Assad and Yemen’s Saleh are fairing no better. Despotic regimes everywhere are predictably jittery, and why not? When people say the unity of Nigeria is not negotiable, I assume the well being and security of all Nigerians have been factored in. I assume that that unity is founded on the bedrock of the peoples’ unalloyed and unforced commitment to the nation’s growth and sustenance. And the nation’s primary focus must be to provide the greatest good for the greatest number. Where governments falter or fail in this fundamental task, they lose the moral basis to demand the peoples’ commitment, and the unity of such an entity becomes accordingly compromised. Husbands are obligated to love their wives while wives are enjoined to submit to their husbands. Even though a wife’s submission should not ordinarily be predicated on a husband’s love, we know all too well that the performance of one encourages the other. So a husband who has ceased to love and cherish his wife cannot simply turn around to demand submission. And if such a woman approaches the courts demanding the quashing of the union, he would have no tenable basis to oppose it. As with husband and wife, so it is with a nation and her peoples. I hate divorce as perfectly as I detest the idea of secession. But I’ll have no qualms recommending both options if the circumstances so demand. The Boko Haram exponents are well within their right to demand to live how they wish. What they do not possess is the right to injure other people’s interests in the process of actualizing theirs. The charter of an organization is not complete without a provision for opting out. If you can subscribe, you must also be able to unsubscribe. So do I believe in Biafra? I think I answered that question a very long time ago. OLUGU OLUGU ORJI mnia nnanta2012@gmail.com oluguorji.wordpress.com

Ayokunle Odekunle: Biafra – ‘Forgotten’ but not forgotten (FLASHBACK)

By Ayokunle Odekunle

To the ethnic group that rose from the claws of near extermination to be the driving force of Africa’s largest economy, you have my respect.

A big house

A foreign village headmaster named Lord Laguda came around to colonize 3 families and some sub-families staying in a very large compound. These families stay in separate quarters within the house and were clearly independent of each other. Each of the 3 families and the other smaller sub-families had something unique they produced. For his selfish reasons and that of his Queen in Igilandi named Queen Alake, the three totally unrelated families alongside sub-families staying around their area were forced to come together as one and form a clan now named Naigara.

The names of the families are Arewa, Yariba and Ndigbo. These families have very different characteristics. Arewa family are the largest and highly temperamental. This family believe it is their birthright to lead others wherever they find themselves as God ordained them to be leaders right from the time of creation. Not that they are too good at that though. The Yariba family are the most educated but very hypocritical and arrogant. They believe that since they have the most exposure and education, they are better than every other person alive. The Ndigbo family are the most illustrious, industrious albeit greedy people.

Before Lord Laguda left them, he placed the Arewa family as the leader of the Naigara clan and ensured the family was placed in vantage positions. This did not go down well with the two other families and sub-families who felt like second class citizens in Naigara.

So, there we have it. Three unrelated families staying together as ‘one’ in a house.

As is the case with things built on shaky foundations or marriages built on deceit and cohersion, things started falling apart. The center threatened to start withdrawing it’s support

After Lord Laguda left them and allowed them rule themselves, these people started showing themselves as lacking the ability and capability to lead. In the Yariba family, there was serious fighting between Owolowo and Abintola over who will emerge as the Mogaji of the Yariba ruling house. This fight led to serious crisis and soon, Yaribaland was named Wild Wild West. Politicians and council chiefs in Naigara suddenly made the treasury of Naigara their own. The Agbekoya boys (Military boys) watched as things had degenerated in Naigara. They had to act fast.

The crisis got more intense. There was an attempt by some members of the Ndigbo family to overthrow the leadership of the Naigara clan and install the ambitious Yariba man called Owolowo (he was in jail then). The coup failed but an Ndigbo man named Oronsi emerged as leader. The Arewa family members were very unhappy with this development. Since naturally, they have been ordained by God to lead and for others to do follow follow, they couldn’t imagine themselves being led by those Ndigbo people. Some members of the Ndigbo family started singing and dancing Ayinla Omowura’s subliminal songs to taunt the Arewa family. The members of the Arewa family prevailed on their militiamen to take over power. They did, and Oronsi was killed. As if that was not enough, members of Ndigbo family were killed like chicken. It was a massacre. It got so bad that children of the Ndigbo family ran away from the apartments of the other families back to their own wing of the house.

Meanwhile, the leader of the Ndigbo family, a short, sturdy man known as Olukwu was not happy with the way his people were being mistreated and maltreated. He called the new leader of the Naigara clan named Lakubu Kowon and told him of the intention of the Ndigbo family to go on their own.

Kowon disagreed

To make things worse for everybody, Kowon decreed that from then on, each family will cease having their own exclusive apartments (End of Regionalism). Each party, he said will have to share the main sitting room. Furthermore, he decreed that each familes will have to convert their large rooms into 4 rooms (Creation of more states). Olukwu thought these policies were aimed at the Ndigbo people.

He called Kowon’s bluff

People tried to broker peace between Naigara and the Ndigbo family. Olukwu and Kowon were invited by Kofi Asante to the land of the black men called Khana. To a place called Akuri precisely . At the meeting, Olukwu (Oxford trained guy) asked Kowon “Do you concur that the Ndigbo family should secede and go on their own”? Kowon who did not understand the meaning of the word ‘concur’ said “Yes, I concur”. So Olukwu got back home and told the Ndigbo people “Kowon has agreed that we can go on our own o”.

Pronto, Kowon said “I didn’t agree o. I only concurred!”

There was no turning back from here. Olukwu in a room known as Ahiara declared that from now his people had formed the Republic of Biafra and ceased to be a part of Naigara. Kowon refused to concur this time around.

And a bloody war began

The Naigarians and Biafrans fought a very bloody war. The Naigarians however failed and/or refused to keep the battle to the battle ground. They went into the rooms where the children of the Ndigbo slept and killed their children. They went to the markets, hospitals, schools and threw bombs. They killed the old harmless people waiting for God to kill them honourably. They killed the goats and chicken who were deserving of honourable deaths on Christmas Day only. They dishonourably took the virginity of the young girls.

They killed innocent Biafrans and their animals

Funny enough, the same Owolowo whom the Ndigbo people who planned the first coup wanted to make leader was released by Kowon and made him the Seriki of Naigara. It was Owolowo who planned and executed wicked and obnoxious economic policies to frustrate the Ndigbo people. Owolowo popularly said “Why should I feed my enemy? Why should I allow them have food”.

That was it. Innocent children who did not know the cause of the conflict were made to pay. These children who were used to eating Ogbono and Akpu now saw lizards as a delicacy to crave for.

Lizards ran out of stock. Wall geckos too. Delicacies. Gone. Nothing more to eat.

Kwashiokor, marasmus and all sort of diseases set it. Breast-feeding mothers ran out of breast milk to give their badies. The babies died. The mothers anguished. 9 months of hard labour. Gone. Wasted.

Owolowo, Kowon, Banjamin Adakunle and the Naigarians failed to remember that wars should only be fought on the battle field and that civilian targets should be avoided as much as possible. That is in consonance with the Geneva convention.

The water in Biafra turned to blood. There was no food anywhere. No medicine to cure the sick. The soldiers were weary. The Naigarians were winning. Olukwu ran way and left his people behind.

The war was over.

Sad story

It is appalling that the tales of the Biafra war are being kept away from the public. From this present generation. The leaders of tomorrow.

Nigerians love to live in grand illusion and/or insane delusion. They like to believe things are fine even when it is clear to see. We love to wish away things; consoling ourselves that things can be worse and so we should be content with the present.

I have news for you

You wish you can wish away history? You cannot. History is not something to be avoided or hidden from public glare. It is something to be taught to the present generation so the future can be better and they can learn from the mistakes of the past generation.

The immediate and remote causes of the January 1966 coup, the July 1966 coup, the Biafra genocide are being hidden from this generation who ought to be the leaders of tomorrow. The mistakes that led to the 1966 coups, the Western Nigeria crisis of the early 1960s, operation wetie, the 1976 coup are being repeated albeit unknowingly. Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it. If you do not know your history, then you don’t know anything. You are a leaf that doesn’t know it is part of a tree.

Some Saturdays ago, I attempted to conduct a history class on Twitter to share my little knowledge of the causes of the Biafra war to my followers. I received strange calls and subtle threats. Many people felt telling the story of Biafra is wrong. Some said telling the story of Biafra will ignite another war. Others who are of the opinion that no wrong was done to the Igbos are also against the telling of the story. Why?

Many Nigerians derided late Chinua Achebe when he wrote ‘There was a Country’ which was his own account of the Biafra Genocide. Many are of the opinion that Achebe was just a bitter old man who wanted to divide the country by opening old wounds.

Those thinking that way have stunted intellectual development in my opinion. Is the country not divided as we speak? Are the causes of the civil war not being repeated? Were the Igbos not massacred and ill-treated by the rest of the country? Did Achebe not have cause to be angry and disillusioned? Was this so-called ‘Biafra War’ not a genocide? Are Igbos still not being marginalized till today? Are people still not taunting the Igbos over the loss they suffered as a result of the war? Do some dim-witted writers like Femi Fani-Kayode still not write articles to deride, sneer, jeer and belittle the Igbos? Everything in ‘There was a Country’, are they not being repeated today?

You can try to cover up the story of Biafra all you want to. You can deride the Igbos all you want to. You can ban films that tell the stories of Biafra as you like. You can threaten those people who try to tell the story of Biafra all you want to. However, you cannot change history. You cannot change the fact that the nation is sitting on a keg of gun powder. Perhaps, if we had learnt from the causes of Biafra, we won’t be here today.

The Government should take the bulk of this blame. Hiding the history of Biafra from this generation, banning films on Biafra and so on are irresponsible. If the story of Biafra has been told repeatedly and we learn from it, we won’t have MASSOB today. Had government learnt from Biafra and taken steps to assuage the ill feelings the Igbos still have towards Nigeria, we won’t have a group like MASSOB. I know it as a fact that many Igbo people still welcome the idea of seceding. That is what happens when government refuses to publicly acknowledge that these people were wronged, apologize publicly and compensate them duly. This is also what happens when you relegate the story of the great suffering of these group of people to the background as if they are unimportant.

To those little children who lost their lives due to the insensitivity and wickedness of the Nigerian Government from 1966-1971, to those who suffered huge economic loss due to the economic policy of late Obafemi Awolowo who said no matter how much Igbos had in banks before the war, they would only be able to get £20 back, to those who suffered bodily impairment as a result of the war, to those who lost harmless fathers, children, mothers to the war, you all are heroes and are not forgotten.

To the ethnic group that rose from the claws of near extermination to be the driving force of Africa’s largest economy, you have my respect.

The Nigerian Government may try to ‘forget’ you but to well-meaning Nigerians who love history, who know the history of the Biafra War and are not cold and wicked, you are not forgotten.