I am one of those that has always had tremendous sympathy for the igbo cause during the civil war. I am also an admirer of Colonel Emeka Odumegwu Ojukwu who stood up for his people when it mattered the most and when they were being slaughtered by rampaging mobs in the northern part of our country. At least 100,000 igbos were killed in those northern pogroms which took place before the civil war and which indeed led directly to it. This was not only an outrage but it was also a tragedy of monuemental proportions.Yet we must not allow our emotion or our sympathy for the suffering of the igbo at the hands of northern mobs before the war started to becloud our sense of reasoning as regards what actually happened during the prosecution of the war itself. It is important to set the record straight and not to be selective in our application and recollection of the facts when considering what actually led to the starvation of hundreds of thousands of igbo women, children and civilians during that war. And, unlike others, I do not deny the fact that hundreds of thousands were starved to death as a consequence of the blockade that was imposed on Biafra by the Nigerian Federal Government. To deny that this actually happened would a lie. It is a historical fact.
Again I do not deny the fact that Awolowo publically defended the blockade and indeed told the world that it was perfectly legitimate for any government to impose such a blockade on the territory of their enemies in times of war. Awolowo said it, this is a matter of historical record and he was qouted in a number of British newspapers as having said so at the time. Yet he spoke nothing but the truth. And whether anyone likes to hear it or not he was absolutely right in what he said. Let me give you an example. During the Second World War a blockade was imposed on Germany, Japan and Italy by the Allied Forces and this was very effective. It weakened the Axis powers considerably and this was one of the reasons why the war ended at the time that it did. If there had been no blockade the Second World War would have gone on for considerably longer. In the case of the Nigerian civil war though the story did not stop at the fact that a blockade was imposed by the Federal Government which led to the suffering, starvation, pain, death and hardship of the civilian igbo population or that Awolowo defended it. That is only half the story.
There was a lot more to it and the fact that Achebe and most of our igbo brothers and sisters always conveniently forget to mention the other half of the story is something that causes some of us from outside igboland considerable concern and never ceases to amaze us. The bitter truth is that if anyone is to be blamed for the hundreds of thousands of igbos that died from starvation during the civil war it was not Chief Awolowo or even General Yakubu Gowon but rather it was Colonel Emeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu himself. I say this because it is a matter of public record and a historical fact that the Federal Government of Nigeria made a very generous offer to Ojukwu and the Biafrans to open a road corridor for food to be ferried to the igbos and to lessen the suffering of their civilian population. This was as a consequence of a deal that was brokered by the international community who were concerned about the suffering of the igbo civilian population and the death and hardship that the blockade was causing to them. Unfortunately Ojukwu turned this down flatly and instead insisted that the food should be flown into Biafra by air in the dead of the night. This was unacceptable to the Federal Government because it meant that the Biafrans could, and indeed would, have used such night flights to smuggle badly needed arms and ammunition into their country for usage by their soldiers. That was where the problem came from and that was the issue. Quite apart from that Ojukwu found it expedient and convenient to allow his people to starve to death and to broadcast it on television screens all over the world in order to attract sympathy for the igbo cause and for propaganda purposes. And this worked beautifully for him.
Ambassador Ralph Uweche, who was the Special Envoy to France for the Biafran Government during the civil war and who is the leader of Ohaeneze, the leading igbo political and socio-cultural organisation today, attested to this in his excellent book titled ''Reflections On The Nigerian Civil War''. That book was factual and honest and I would urge people like Achebe to go and read it well. The self-serving role of Ojukwu and many of the Biafran intelligensia and elites and their insensitivity to the suffering of their own people during the course of the war was well enunciated in that book. The fact of the matter is that the starvation and suffering of hundreds of thousands of igbo men, women and children during the civil war was seen and used as a convenient tool of propaganda by Ojukwu and that is precisely why he rejected the offer of a food corridor by the Nigerian Government. When those that belong to the post civil war generation of the igbo are wondering who was responsible for the genocide and mass starvation of their forefathers during the war they must firstly look within themselves and point their fingers at their own past leaders and certainly not Awolowo or Gowon. The person that was solely responsible for that suffering, for that starvation and for those slow and painful deaths was none other than Colonel Emeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, the leader of Biafra, himself.
I have written many good things about Ojukwu on many occassions in the past and I stand by every word that I have ever said or written about him. In my view he was a man of courage and immense fortitude, he stood against the mass murder of his people in the north and he brought them home and created a safe haven for them in the east. For him, and indeed the whole of Biafra, the war was an attempt to exercise their legitimate right of self-determination and leave Nigeria due to the atrocities that they had been subjected to in the north. I cannot blame him or his people for that and frankly I have always admired his stand. However he was not infallible and he also made some terrible mistakes, just as all great leaders do from time to time. The fact that he rejected the Nigerian Federal Government's offer of a food corridor was one of those terrible mistakes and this cost him and his people dearly. Professor Chinua Achebe surely ought to have reflected that in his book as well.
When it comes to the Nigerian civil war there were no villains or angels. During that brutal conflict no less than two million Nigerians and Biafrans died and the yoruba who, unlike others, did not ever discriminate or attack any non-yorubas that lived in their in their territory before the civil war or carry out any coups or attempted coups, suffered at every point as well. For example prominent yoruba sons and daughters were killed on the night of the first igbo coup of January 1966 and again in the northern ''revenge'' coup of July 1966. Many of our people were also killed in the north before the outbreak of the civil war and again in the mid-west and the east during the course and prosecution of the war itself. It was indeed the predominantly yoruba Third Marine Commando, under the command of General Benjamin Adekunle (the ''Black Scorpion") and later General Olusegun Obasanjo, that not only liberated the mid-west and drove the Biafrans out of there but they also marched into igboland itself, occupied it, defeated the Biafran Army in battle, captured all their major towns and forced the igbo to surrender. Third Marine Commando was made up of yoruba soldiers and I can say without any fear of contradiction that we the yoruba therefore paid a terrible and heavy price as well during the war because many of our boys were killed on the war front by the Biafrans.
The sacrifice of these proud sons of the south-west that died in battle to keep Nigeria one must not be belittled, mocked or ignored. Clearly it was not only the igbo that suffered during the civil war. Neither does it auger well for the unity of our nation for Achebe and the igbo intelligensia that are hailing his self-serving book to caste aspertions on the character, role and noble intentions of the late and reverred Leader of the Yoruba, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, during the civil war. The man may have made one or two mistakes in the past like every other great leader and of course there was a deep and bitter political division in yorubaland itself just before the civil war started and throughout the early '60's. Yet by no stretch of the imagination can Awolowo be described as an igbo-hating genocidal maniac and he most certainly did not delight in the starvation of millions of igbo men, women and children as Achebe has tried to suggest.
My advice to this respected author is that he should leave Chief Awolowo alone and allow him to continue to rest in peace. This subtle attempt to denigrate the yoruba and their past leaders, to place a question mark on their noble and selfless role in the war and to belittle their efforts and sacrifice to keep Nigeria together as one will always be vigorously resisted by those of us that have the good fortune of still being alive and who are aware of the facts. We will not remain silent and allow anyone, no matter how respected or reverred, to re-write history. Simply put by writing this book and making some of these baseless and nonsensical assertions, Achebe was simply indulging in the greatest mendacity of Nigerian modern history and his crude distortion of the facts has no basis in reality or rationality. We must not mistake fiction and story telling for historical fact. The two are completely different. The truth is that Professor Chinua Achebe owes the Awolowo family and the yoruba people a big apology for his tale of pure fantasy.
Comments:
-
- Aderemi Kunle and 75 others like this.
- Adam A. B. Galla I support and concur with everything you have said my brother. In terms of war, everyone wants to be a winner and will attempt to utilize every strategy to achieve their goal. The revisionism is self-serving and of no use. Allow the dead to continue to rest in peace and may we never witness such acts in our lives again!
- Johnny Walker Beckham Adetunji-Adeoye Thanks for this write-up. I'll be meeting Prof Chinua Achebe later in the week sir. I'd gladly point out some of this fact in question to him and respectfully compare the arguements from both sides.
- Doghudje Doghudje You have not solved the problem, only throwing the blame back and forth. When will any sane and wise person in that country realize the solution is in FORGIVENESS, APOLOGY FROM EVERY TRIBE AND HEALING which Gowon failed to achieve immediately after the War???
- Kunle Peters Hummnnn....God Bless you Chief FFK,if Papa Awolowo had been an enemy of the Igbo's.....Ojukwu himself wouldn't have commented that Papa Awolowo is the best president Nigeria never had on Papa Awolowo's death....
It is a pity that somebody like Prof.Chinua Achebe could say such things about Papa Awo... - Francis Ebhohimen This is one reason I like this wall. Its always enlightening here when you are neutral. I am one and I didnt find it hard to figure the truth as well laid out in the above piece. Am presently studying the naval blockade in the WW I, the british blockade of the north sea approach to Germany and the French assisted blockade of the medittereanian are recorded as acceptable campaign planning tools. The Germans like Ojukwu misjudged the harsh effects of these measures and ought to take an alternative cause of action like the acceptance of the food corridor offer. Again, past leaders and great ones for that matter have made horrible mistakes like we see here in the heat of conflict. An entire war cabinet, with several bright minds sit together to collectively make a horrible decision that ultimately spells doom for their people. Its called the Group Think Phenomenon. We should learn from these past mistakes and never let it happen again in our land! Thanks for this piece, am better informed.
- Erejuwa Gbadebo I rarely comment but this time I will... I'd like to implore ALL Nigerians, and you too my friend... let us remember that we are Nigerians first... resorting to tribal lines has never paid us and never will! ALL humans, and therefore ALL Nigerians are flawed! That is why what happened in Nigeria happened! Can we please continue to tread the path of peace and reconcilliation. Nigeria's greatest asset is the diversity of her people... Long may that remain...
- Dayo Babalola Nice one Chief FFK.You are indeed the son of Balogun of the Source and a great leader of repute in the Yoruba Nation.Thank you for refuting an attempt by a seniled old chauvinist to denigrate the Yoruba race .History is better not told that told in a distorted manner as done by a hitherto respected author.We all know that the oldman is close to his grave,but he should not sow another seed of bitterness in the land as we have more than enough to contend with as a country.
- Adaobi Uchegbu the sad question to all your arguments is this--WHAT WAS THE GOOD IN LETTING THREE MILLION INNOCENT CHILDREN DIE????.u are talking about the deaths of yoruba soldiers.those are soldiers!!!.can u compare the life of an innocent baby to the death of matured,battle-ready yoruba men who knew that they would probably die in the battle..do u know how many children were abandoned by their dead or fleeing mothers.OH!!,may NDIGBO never see such evil again.we may forgive,but we wont forget.as for apologies,uncle achebe will not offer apologies!.he is not only the writer but he spoke the mind of every true IGBO son/daughter.and he saw,firsthand,war being ravaged in his home land.the truth is what we owe ourselves.at his age,who is he afraid of?.what is he lacking?.a man whose book is reproduced all over the world and in different languages.CHINUA ACHEBE has spoken the truth.
- AdétòmÃwá Adétiléwá Tale of pure falasy.... cant see any fantasy in that Achebe essay. Good job chief
- Michael Chukwuma THERE WAS A COUTRY is a book by Prof. Achebe, every other Nigerian that does not agree with his views is free to write his/her own book. Prof. Achebe lived and was active during the war and his perception of the characters should be first hand and not pass on to him by others or history. Prof. Soyinka was also active during the period, and I believe he may put something together on this subject and his views of the key characters... History is written by people and not spirits....
- Francis Ebhohimen I sincerely dont support the supposition that we leave in ignorance of our past especially the ugly past in order to further tribal or regional coexistence. The truth and the records need to be set straight so that we dont end up telling our grand and great grand children lies about their history. Our children deserve to know where they are coming from and the study of history is the only way to properly appreciate this. I wasnt born during the civil war but papers like this enable us know what really went down. The details of the WW1 and 2 and subsequent wars are well documented and assessible by all. Even commanders' tactics and strategies are there for all to study and draw necessaary lessons. I believe we will be doing our society a great disservice when we know the facts of a historical matter of the sort and intentionally under whatever guise refuse to lay it bare.
- Charles Oyedeji With wars, there are always as many accounts as there are participants and victims which leads me to the point I am trying to make. No one can turn Awo into a villain for Yorubas, just like Ojukwu cannot be turned into a hero in Yorubaland. This goes for the views of the Igbos on both men as well. At best, you will find magnanimous and enlightened men who have the depth to see the strengths and weaknesses of both ethnic leaders. At the end of the day, the past cannot be changed and it will augur well for the future interest of all, especially the Igbo to realise that only today and the future matters now. A very hard nut to crack for ordinary, everyday minds!
- Kunle Ifesanya Kola Fagbemi wrote: "Let our igbo friends answer some basic questions: how come only the igbo premier was not killed during the Nzeogwu coup? Was it Yorubas that have been killing the Igbos since the '50s in the so-called progroms? ...They do their business in Yoruba towns, own houses with no hindrance, yet Yorubas are seen as their enemies. How many Yorubas have houses in Igbo cities or can acquire a plot of land to build a house today in Igbo land? Igbos, you are ingrates and u better cure yourself of this Yoruba-phobia."
- Adewunmi Adeniyi Amusa @Chief FFK, Can you please put all this historical facts together in a book for those of us that were either too young or not born at the time of the war so that, some people would not continue to feed us with fictions or one sided biased stories.
Having said that, politics is a selfish activity because, every political actor selfishly wants his/her own opinion or interest to supercede that of others. - Jagunmolu 'OluwaDare Lasisi Thanks for this brilliant piece Bros FFK.Achebe's book has just opened floodgates of controversial issues.
- Majekodunmi Olukayode I must say i admire the style of Chief Femi Fani-Kayode.To me,the Igbos should not have blamed anybody but themselves for all that happened during the war.Most well informed Nigerian felt their pains as a result of the killing in the North immediately after the 1966 counter coup. Some of us also recall that it was January 1966 that gave birth to July 1966, apart from that most books by military experts on the Nigerian Civil War highlighted the lack of preparation by the Biafrans.Wars and battles are won not by emotion or sentiments but by well laid out plan.Those in doubt should read about the effort of then Colonel Olusegun Obasanjo in his book: My Command. To those who feel Achebe's book was in exercise of his freedom to write, we assure them, that we, as a people of the South West of Nigeria, are never afraid of writing.We wrote the first novel in Amos Tutuola's Pam wine Drinkard.It was our writing that gave the black race the first nobel prize in Literature. The fact of the matter is that nobody,no matter how highly placed can rewrite our story.
- Idu Yemi-Eweka THE PROBLEM WITH US IN NIGERIA IS THAT WE GET UNNECESSARILY EMOTIONAL WHEN CERTAIN ISSUES ARE RAISED. Am neither Yoruba nor Ibo so I am not writing from a tribal view point. The first point I wish to make make is that the Biafrans like to tell the world that this was a war of self- defense; yet they fired the shots and invaded the Midwest and they were not stopped until they got to Ore. Until this act of aggression was Launched the Federal Govt had been saying that combating the rebels would be a police action. Driving the Biafran army back across the Niger took the full might of the Nigerian Army, there after we were in a state of war, and in state of war you do what you have to do to win as soon as possible. It is in this light that I see the federal governments subsequent action of changing our currency so that people in the rebel areas could no longer use the same money to buy food and weapons.
- Idu Yemi-Eweka And now am just looking for trouble.... IF THE BIAFRAN LEADERS CARED SO MUCH ABOUT THEIR DYING PEOPLE WHY DIDN'T SURRENDER EARLIER WHY DID THEY HAVE TO WAIT 3+YEARS...ANYWAY NO VICTOR NO VANQUISHED
- Akin Lawanson No one expects Prof Achebe to be in support of the blockade but it was the blockade that ended the war on time. Without the blockade Nigeria may have ended up like the old Sudan with an unending civil war and proffessional rebels, arresting all forms of progress. The cost was high but better than a century long war. It is always better to settle disputes by talk. No one is right in a war and Prof Achebe or Col Ojukwu would probably have done thesame thing in Chief Awolowo's shoes.
- Igwe Uche You have just agreed with Achebe in the midst of sectional outburst. Why is it that Awo,Zik and Sarduana, Ojukwu are seen by parochial people like you as above criticism? Many be them did their best during their time but they were human too.They must have made some mistakes. At least with hindsight. I thought you will dig up history to contradict Achebe but you ended up defending Awo only. It is sad that you have allowed tribal sentiments to consume your objectivity. Chief FFK, your rambling is a disappointment. Facts are sacred. I went to UI and so a beneficiary of Awo's educational policy but if he admitted that he initiated the starvation policy during the war then what is your point. Achebe just said what we know already!!
- Igwe Uche The timing of Achebe's book may not be the most appropriate, but he said nothing new I insist.
- Adesina Simeon Abiodun this only shows the fallibility of all men, when the chips are down, only God is incorruptible!
- Mathew Chidi Ojemaye I don't know why people add sentiments to national issues. you people should say it, has it is and in actual fact, to some certain extend the man was a sell out. They sold the Igbo...See More
- Fafaa Dan Princewill I have read Achebe's excerpts very carefully and that of FFK even more carefully and come to the inescapable conclusion that both are agreed on the essential facts and that it is the interpretation or conclusions from the facts that differ; there is therefore no basis for claims of revisionism on either side. Is starvation a legitimate weapon of war and did FG employ starvation as a tool of war? All three seem to agree that starvation was employed as a weapon of war. However, on the appropriateness of starvation as a weapon of war, FFK supports Chief Awolowo's position while Achebe differs and claims further that malice aforethought was part of the decision to employ starvation as a tool of war.
- Femi Fani-Kayode @Igwe Uche, obviously u did not read the essay or ur understanding of english is not verry good. Achebe said Awo and Gowon were responsible for the genocide and I said that this is not the case and that rather Ojukwu was. Where is the agreement between Achebe and I? Why won't I defend Awo when Achene has lied against him? U people amaze me. One mention of Biafra and u lose all sense of objectivity and reasoning. Pl free urself from ur ignorance. U need a heavy dose of truth to set u free.
- Ifeanyi Unaeze Fani-Kayode, go ahead and write your own book and state your views and perceptions about the war. Most importantly,tell us the exact role(s) played by Chief Awo in and during the war. Attacking Chinua Achebe is myopic and misdirected.
- Fafaa Dan Princewill We are all alive and witnesses to the boko haram scourge. it has been my view that if present trends continue, starvation possibilities may sprout in parts of the North. It would NOT be sufficient to state that boko should surrender or that non- Northerners have no responsibilities if and when mass starvation results from the grave stress northern nigeria economy now faces. There is no need for a blame game, it is wise that FG has applied delicate handling this time and we hope that it continues to do so
- Femi Fani-Kayode @Fafaa, not so my dear brother. We agree on the fact of genocide but we do not agree on who caused it. He claims that Awo and Gowon caused it but I said that Ojukwu's intransigence was the cause. My charge is that he not only refused to ameliorate the suffering of his own people by allowing the corridor but that he also purposely prolonged the suffering of his own people in order to gain the sympathy of the internatoonal community. Therein lied the difference between he and I. Thanks bro.. Great to see u here. We have missed u.
- Femi Fani-Kayode @ifeanyi, I don't need to write a book. All I need to do is to respond to those, like Achebe, who seek to distort history. It is up to u what u believe but I will take issue with anyone that tells a lie about our past. That is what being educated is all about.
- Maureen Fischer INTERESTING.......I CONCUR....EXCELLENT PIECE............THANK YOU...........THOROUGHLY ENJOYED IT...............OXOX♥
- 35 minutes ago · Like
- Ifelajulo Fasina Uncle Femi Fani-Kayode even though i have not read Prof. Chineau Achebe's book,i read a preface on the back page of todays the nation newspaper,i do think there is a lot of politics involved in his accusing Chief. Obafemi Awolowo,i do not support tribal sentiments but i do think Achebe is seeking for empathy for a particular peoples,i also do think a rebuffer book should be presented to them to boost our intelectuallism,i also do think it is time to live above tribal sentiments.
- Doghudje Doghudje @ FFK: Someone said Awo was wrong, you come out to say 'he is right'. Now, what is enlightening about that? Take it or leave it, Awo was a Man and he must have been right to an ext...See More
- Chuky D'angelo Eneanya abeg sum1 should write his own book and tell his side of the story. Sumtin more like d Hart-Fuller debate. Even d holy writ has two accounts of creation....
- Prince Wole Omoluabi One fact remains untold................. Some people wanted DIVISION..........while some wanted UNITY.Why apportioning blames?There must have been a reason(s) for each and everyone's actions and reactions..........I could remember vividly what Emeka Ojukwu said when Obafemi Awolowo died and I quote '' the best President Nigeria never had ''. This goes a long way to show the extent of respect and adoration Ojukwu had for the late sage..... Awolowo. Chinua Achebe is a man I so much respected and I read most of his books while in the secondary school and thereafter. The timing of this book is totally wrong .Does he want to create hatred or start another World war? As an elder in igbo land,he should have found a way of '' allowing the sleeping dog lie'' instead of sprouting another fracas in the presence of already troubled Nigeria at the verge of disintegration. An elderly person do not apportion blames,they rather settle matters amicably.Look at the case Solomon settled in the Bible between two women that woke up with two children(one dead,one alive) Okay,what does he want to gain by saying all these..........another nobel award ? We do not need all these at this time in our country,rather,all we need is to employ UNITY at all cost .......just like Awolowo did."We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools" Martin Luther King Jr.
No comments:
Post a Comment