| The Guns and Aftermath of Biafra: No Victor, All Vanquished |
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| Written by Lawrence Chinedu Nwobu | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wednesday, 19 September 2007 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Let me begin by paying tribute to the martyred victims of the pogrom, the 2 million dead martyrs and the Biafrans in general who put up a historic and heroic resistance against overwhelming odds. The guns of Biafra officially opened up about 40 years ago on the 6th of July 1967.The occasion of the remembrance of the 40th anniversary of the Biafra war, necessitated Dim Ojukwu’s comments on the deteriorating situation in Nigeria, and his preference given the prevailing injustices for Biafra. For 4 decades running, many personalities, journalists, and commentators including those who were nowhere near the theatre of war, and who would not even recognise the sound of a gunshot, or exploding shell, have attempted to pass definite judgements on the war and the circumstances that led to it. Most of them ended up with revisionisms coloured by their ethnic bias, ignorance and attempts to mask a gnawing guilt. Some in recent times have even resorted to pedestrian Ojukwu bashing. In doing this, they continue to play the ostrich by ignoring the fundamental reasons, many of which remain with us to date, that led to the war. The commentators and their paymasters have remained remorseless and unrepentant over the pogrom and the attendant horrific bestialities that consumed the lives of 50,000 innocent women and children just because they happen to share the same ethnic group with Major Chukwuma Nzeogwu.They show no sympathy for the 2 million mostly women and children war dead. They continue to justify the collective guilt that made every Igbo guilty of a coup executed by a few officers who acted entirely on their own. Even as events in present day Nigeria continues to vindicate Ojukwu, and as Nigeria sinks and continues her trajectory of progressive decline in all facets of national life, they remain in denial. Had Nigeria become an Eldora do, a bastion of peace, human rights, ethnic harmony, equality and prosperity after the so called “Ojukwu instigated war,” perhaps all including even the Igbo would have had cause to spite Ojukwu for seeking to deny us all of a blissful harmonious Nigeria . But alas, what we have in the aftermath of Ojukwu’s Biafra is a nation that has remained at war with itself. A nation of unbelievable injustice, nepotism, inequality, ethno- religious strife, cancellation of June 12 elections, grinding poverty, hordes of disgruntled ethnic militia’s, an ongoing Niger-Delta insurgency, and Major Gideon Orkar‘s 1990 failed secessionist coup bid etc. Nigeria has thus continued to totter and stumble from crisis to crisis. But the thinking or mentality of Nigerians is not a surprise. Nigeria is a nation where conscience does not exist. A nation of monumental injustice, an outpost of blood curdling evil. It is a nation expert in the oppression, deprivation and killing of her own people. Worse than Apartheid South Africa and comparable to Hitler’s Nazi Germany. Nigeria has indeed broken all records in bestiality, barbarity and genocidal intentions displayed in the massacre of her own people. Rather than being reflective in confronting the Nigerian quagmire, public commentators characteristically choose the easy escape route by hanging all the blame on a certain Dim Ojukwu. Dim Ojukwu is perhaps also responsible for the un-ending ethno-religious clashes in certain parts of the country? Maybe Dim Ojukwu was also responsible for the cancellation of the June 12 elections, or the proliferation of ethnic militia groups? This absence of serious soul searching by a large section of the Nigerian elite on the “realities of Nigeria” has ensured that we collectively continue to fail as a nation. None can deny that the Jan. 1966 coup whatever their ideals was wrong, but so also was the July 1966 counter-coup which overstepped its immediate political aims and spearheaded an overreaction that ensued in a pogrom on innocent civilians which inflamed emotions and gave Dim Ojukwu the support that made the war possible. Had there been no pogrom targeted at innocent civilians, it would have been impossible for Dim Ojukwu to get the public support he needed to prosecute the war, even if it was his original aim to carve out his own republic as many propagandists are ever too eager to claim. No logic on earth can justify the victimisation of innocent civilians for a political adventure by young “Turks” in the army. Undeniably, the wanton massacre of ordinary civilians in an orgy of bestialities surpassing the barbarities of Nazi Germany played a most critical role in fomenting and sustaining the war. It is only natural that a people who have lost all sense of security would seek self preservation and determination. Several attempts including the Aburi accord which was initially accepted by all, including General Gowon himself was made to prevent the war. It is today a historical fact that Gen Gowon and not Dim Ojukwu reneged on the exact terms of Aburi accord as originally agreed in Ghana. War itself is a constant throughout history, and the end of every war, more so a civil-war brings an opportunity for introspection and nation building. The very act of war diminishes humanity, and it is doubtful if any war has ever produced a victor in the real sense. The lack of introspection and refusal of successive governments in Nigeria to engage in genuine reconstruction, reconciliation, and nation building has contributed most significantly in inciting and sustaining the many crises which continue to plague the nation and threaten her very existence. Post-war Marginalization, oppression, injustices has therefore given rise to groups like MEND, MASSOB and OPC.All Nigerians have been thus vanquished by unending crisis, massive poverty, police and army brutality, inequality, dysfunctional and decaying infrastructure, rigged elections etc. Perhaps the greatest vindication of Dim Ojukwu comes in the continuing deafening agitation for a “sovereign national conference” and the PRONACO constitutional reforms initiative spearheaded by no less a person than Chief Anthony Enahoro, whose PRONACO organisation recently produced a prototype constitution which is technically a reproduction of the Aburi accord in letter and spirit. The Paradox of Biafra It was claimed the coup and pogrom was incited by Aguiyi Ironsi’s Unitary decree, yet paradoxically the Northern coupists and establishment has refused to relinquish the Unitary system to date. After the gruesome slaughter of over 50,000 Easterners in cold blood in a Northern secessionist coup (Araba) they again paradoxically turned around on the prompting of the British to insist on “one Nigeria” with the same people they had so unconscionably slaughtered. The prosecution of the war itself is further proof of the hatred that was the true driving spirit of the war. Shocking killings and war crimes were rampant. The war was a display of extreme hatred that in itself justified Biafra . Biafran Military Superiority Even in defeat Biafrans proved themselves heroes and superior soldiers in a full scale, high intensity frontal war that was a de-facto war with Great Britain . It was a war fought practically without guns, against an enemy that was brimming with an endless stream of sophisticated weapons supplied by Great Britain, the Soviet Union et all. Given the abundant arms and armour available to the Nigerian army and the presence of British military experts and consultants who were involved in all stages of planning in Nigerian army headquarters as against a largely unarmed rag-tag Biafran army, the war should have ended in 1 week, 1 month or at most 2 months, but the superiority, determination and doggedness of the Biafran forces held Nigerian forces down in deadly conflict over every inch of ground for close to 3 years. In comparism with other battles, where the Americans defeated Iraq in gulf war 1 and 2 in less than 2 weeks. The Japanese conquest of most of Asia in less than 3 months during World War 2, the German defeat of Dutch and Belgian forces in 3 days, the defeat of French forces in spite of the famous “Maginot line” and a well armed national army in only 6 weeks and the whole of Continental Europe in less than 3 months, the Israeli defeat of the whole Arab armies (Yom Kippur war) in only 7 days etc the Biafran war is perhaps the greatest frontal, full scale epic battle of resistance against all odds to date in human history. Igbo phobia And The Continued Detention of Uwazuruike
It is quite telling that the government is more afraid of Ralph Uwazuruike even though unarmed than they ever were of other armed ethnic militants. The longer he stays in jail, the more a hero and a martyr he becomes and the closer the freedom of the Igbo nation. The Logic For Peaceful Disintegration When a marriage has failed, commonsense and logic demands you sue for a divorce rather than continue tearing yourselves apart. The Nigerian quagmire is no different. European colonialists disregarded ethnic and religious boundaries in carving out African nations. That has been the bane of much of Africa’s strife, conflict and general retrogression reflected in Nigeria‘s genocidal war, Rwanda‘s genocide and the ongoing genocide in Sudan amongst others. It is therefore inescapable that for genuine progress in Africa, the borders have to depart from the European imposition and be redrawn by the Africans to reflect relative ethno-religious homogeneity as the erstwhile Soviet union and most of Eastern Europe has done in recent times. Nigerians need to face up to the reality of our increasingly failing pseudo nation plagued by unending crisis. The myriad ethnic contradictions has simply made it impossible to make any progress even with abundant human and material resources. As we can presently see in the unfolding Patricia Olubunmi Etteh saga , corruption and other vices can never be fought successfully because of ethnic considerations as each ethnic group will rush to protect their own irrespective of his or her crime. The Yoruba is currently protective of Olubunmi Etteh, the North is pleading with Atiku and Buhari to withdraw their petitions against Yar,Adua in spite of the colossally flawed elections on ethnic grounds, the Ijaw is protective of the convicted Alameyesigha etc under such circumstances where each and every group protects his own on ethnic grounds it is impossible to make any meaningful progress. It is impossible for the North to appreciate the ingenuity of Igbo made goods, and in the same vein impossible for the Igbo to appreciate the administrative skills of the Yoruba because of ethnic hatred, distrust and rivalry. In the end like a polygamous marriage we are held down in a state of anomie induced by the many conflicts and contradictions of our union. Contrary to the popular deceit of the now proven fake Nigerian unity, disintegration will be beneficial to all Nigerian ethnic groups. The Yoruba will be free to rise and fall together, maximise their potentials, hold their leaders accountable without sentiments, fight crime without emotions, enthrone the best amongst them to lead etc in the same vein the Igbo will be free to rise and fall together, maximise their potentials, hold their leaders accountable without sentiments, fight crime without emotions, enthrone the best amongst them to lead. This scenario will be replicated for the North, the Edo, the Urhobo, the Efik etc unchaining the hitherto arrested development and becoming an example and catalyst for much of Africa. Nigeria does not exist because of love. Indeed Nigeria is a metaphor for hatred manifested at every opportunity since independence in the Tiv riots, the pogrom, Biafra and recently in Odi, Zaki biam and the continuing religious violence in Northern Nigeria. Does it make sense to be trapped in an unworkable nation of so much hatred where the contradictions allow no progress and where the hatred leads to a cycle of violence amongst ourselves? What sense does it make to seek a united nation where there would be neither brotherhood nor love? Wouldn’t it be better to separate peacefully as civilised folks and relate with respect as African neighbours, rather than ending up becoming hostile African neighbours after conflict? We didn’t have to fight a war to gain independence, why do we need to fight to remain together in an unworkable hate union? Can any Nigerian honestly say Nigeria has served any purpose? Why be slaves, when we can be free? I believe God is giving us a great opportunity to separate and survive, rather than stay together and perish. Nigeria’s break-up is ultimately inevitable, therefore Keeping her would only have succeeded in postponing the evil day. Let us do the right thing now by tearing up peacefully, this epitome of retrogression, slavery and evil before we are consumed in another potentially more devastating genocidal orgy of ethnic violence. A word is enough for the wise. Comrade Lawrence Chinedu Nwobu
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Posted by Robot| 19.09.2007 13:54