I, having critically examined the various roles played by all the major actors of the Nigeria/Biafra civil war and the avoidable circumstances that lead to the war; it js imperative to note the following that bothered on our nationhood:
1:) Firstly, the political intent of some of the major actors were founded on greed, ethnic paranoia, security negligence on critical issues that bothered on the live wire of our internal security and nationhood; such as tribal and religious killings by those who were privileged to handled the affairs of the nation.
2:) The Supreme military council headed by General Gowon and chief Obafemi Awolowo as vice chairman and as a commissioner for finance committed a homicide error against humanity for the food blockade policy and the eventual cowardice act of the Nigerian army that used jet bombers to massacre innocent women and children on market squares of Ibo communities.
3:) The renown Ibo professor, Chinua Achebe in his war memoir; “THERE WAS A COUNTRY” labeled the decisions and policies taken by the Supreme military council headed by General Gowon and chief Obafemi Awolowo as vice chairman and as a commissioner for finance during the war to have been based on ill political motive of the sage, chief Obafemi Awolowo on personal political ambition are rather personal, maligned, prejudiced, baseless and belittled of the renowned writer. As a child born and raised in the Creeks of the Niger Delta of Nigeria I know what it means to feel the ills of an instrument of government oppression on a people; but without mixing issues that does not mean that we are to allow sentiments to distort sound moral judgment. One, the food blockade, the economic policy such as change of pounds currency and the jet bombers on innocent citizens of Biafrans were recourse actions and policies taken to expedite an immediate end to the 3years prolonged war. Two, if Chief Obafemi Awolo’s ill perceived political ambition was to wipe out the Biafran civil populace was just to be a president why did he not have started the Ibo massacre in the north that was the major cause of the secession in his western region? And thirdly, the war was not started with food and economic policies but it started in a peaceful police arrest operation called; “Operational Code of Conduct”. Extracts for the DIRECTIVE TO ALL OFFICERS AND MEN OF THE ARMED FORCES OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA ON CONDUCT OF MILITARY OPERATIONS on July 1967 is as follows:
As your Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic
of Nigeria, I demand form all officers and men the two most important
qualities of a fighting soldier- loyalty and discipline. Nigerian
Armed Forces, especially the Army, have established a very high
international reputation for high discipline and fighting efficiency
since their establishment until the events of 15th January, 1966
spoilt that reputation. Since then it has become most necessary to
demand the highest sense of discipline and patriotism amongst all
ranks of the Armed Forces. Success in battle depends to a large
extent on this - discipline and loyalty of the officers and men and
their sense of patriotism. 2. You are all aware of the rebellion of
Lt.-Col. C. Odumegwu-Ojukwu of the East Central State and his clique
against the Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. In view of
this defiance of authority, it has become inescapable to use the force
necessary to crush this rebellion. The hardcore of the rebels are
Ibos. The officers and men of the minority areas (Calabar, Ogoja and
Rivers and even some Ibos) do not support the rebellious acts of
Lt.-Col. C. Odumegqu-Ojukwu. During the operations of Federal
Government troops against the rebel troops many soldiers and civilians
will surrender. You should treat them fairly and decently in
accordance with these instructions. 3. You must all bear in mind at
all times that other nations in Africa and the rest of the world are
looking at us to see how well we can perform this task which the
nation demands of us. You must also remember that you are not
fighting a war with a foreign enemy. Nor are you fighting a religious
war or Jihad. You are only subduing the rebellion that will endanger
the future unity of the country. We are in honor bound to observe the
rules of the Geneva Convention in whatever action you will be taking
against the rebel Lt.-Col. Odumegqu-Ojukwu and his clique. 4. I direct
all officers and men to observe strictly the following rules during
operations. (These instructions must be read in conjunction with the
Geneva Convention): a. Under no circumstances should pregnant women be
ill-treated or killed. b. Children must not be molested or killed.
They will be protected and cared for. c. Youths and school children
must not be attacked unless they are engaged in open hostility against
Federal Government Forces. They should be given all protection and
care. d. Hospitals, hospital staff and patients should not be tampered
with or molested. e. Soldiers who surrender will not be killed. They
are to be disarmed and treated as prisoners of war. They are entitled
in all circumstances to humane treatment and respect for their person
and their honor. f. No property, building, etc. will be destroyed
maliciously. g. Churches and Mosques must not be desecrated. h. No
looting of any kind. (A good soldier will never loot). i. Women will
be protected against any attack on their person, honor and in
particular against rape or any form of indecent assault. j. Male
civilians who are hostile to the Federal Forces are to be dealt with
firmly but fairly. They must be humanely treated. k. All military and
civilians wounded will be given necessary medical attention and care.
They must be respected and protected in all circumstances. l. Foreign
nationals on legitimate business will not be molested, but mercenaries
will not be spared: they are the worst of enemies. 5. To be
successful in our tasks as soldiers these rules must be carefully
observed. I will not be proud of any member of the Armed Forces under
my command who fails to observe them. He does not deserve any
sympathy or mercy and will be dealt with ruthlessly. You will fight a
clean fight, and honorable fight in defense of the territorial
integrity of your nation - Nigeria. 6. You must remember that some of
the soldiers Lt.-Col. Ojukwu has now forced to oppose you were once
your old comrades at arms and would like to remain so. You must
therefore treat them with respect and dignity except any one who is
hostile to you. Good Luck.
Major-General Yakubu Gowon,
Head of the Federal Military Government,
Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces
Of the Federal Republic of Nigeria
Note - To be read and fully explained to every member of the Armed
Forces. Sufficient copies will be made available to all members of
the Armed Forces and Police. It will be carried by all troops at all
times.
,(4) the objective of the economic and other draconian policies expedited towards the end of the war were achieved based on the urgent necessity to end the war as soon as possible as it was and (5) The presumed ill political motive of Chief Obafemi Awolowo as was the reasons behind the draconian policies as claimed by professor Chinue Achebe in his personal war memoir “There was a country” is absurd, baseless and diversionary from implicative effects of those innocent children and women among over three million people that lost their lives which assumed it to an act against humanity and it was on this imperative that raised concerns from the international communities during the war and that is why some of us on the stand of humanity always believe that if the Nigeria/Biafra civil war would have been present day circumstances several acts applied on the civil war would have been investigated and prosecuted as war crimes in international court.
4:) Gross national prejudice on the Nigeria military that pretended to intervened for the Nigeria nation just to end up succeeded on intervening for their various ethnic nationalities only
5:) The January 15, 1966 revolutionary coup lead by Major Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu could had been avoided if not naivety and immaturity on the side of the Nigeria military; resorting to arm to solve national issues such as corruption and political nepotism was a premature ill wind that blew no good to the existence of our nationhood not to talk of a baby nation of 5years and some few days or so. If the Nigeria military thought then that the best form of solving national issues was by taking arm then they would have taking arm to wrestle power from our colonial masters or the Queen after all the had already been existence then they would not have allowed the founding fathers of the likes the great Zik of Africa, the erudite lawyer and great economics chief Obafemi Awolowo the sage, Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto and Ahalji Tafawa Balewa to have bothered to use their brilliant pen.
6:) The January 15, 1966 coup which has always been used as the intriguing cause of the civil war was just a mere covered up for the ethnic venom that existed among the Nigerian military and the Nigerian civil populace against their own nation. No one really care much about the existence of the Nigeria nation and that is the greatest crime of all time committed by the British colonial masters, all that the average Nigerian care for even as to this moment of our nation’s history is whose ethnic nationality controls the affairs of the largest vast tropical region of west Africa , christened Nigeria by Marry Shaw, wife of Lord Lugard and proudly called the giant of Africa; anything less than that then “let’s destroy the mother nation-Nigeria and let everybody go back to where we come from”. And the irony of our sympathetic origin is that no nation of mankind is truly one even down from the very 1st day of mankind’s creation man is always multi-dialectical until the very moment of acceptance of the universal human believe that all mankind are one; one womb, one God, one believe, one faith, one religion, same food, same colour, same race, same people and one united peaceful nation or not he continues to live in the illusion of an independent sovereign nation of himself which is a falsehood.
7:) The breached and collapsed of our internal national security in the north that lead to the massacre of the Ibos in the northern part of the country due to the January 15, 1966 revolutionary coup which was claimed that it was because it was lead by an Ibo man was an ethnic prejudice which would have been crunched in time by the military government without resulting to such a colossal loss on any ethnic segment of the baby nation.
8:) Having review the statement of Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe released from London on 16 JANUARY 1966 immediately after the January 15, 1966 revolutionary coup often and often, I have come to reasoned that the founding fathers of Ibo origin among the likes of Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe whom along their counterpart from other regions labored together for the birth of this nation-Nigeria never believed in the secessionist republic of Biafra but a higher percentage of Ibo man who watched the creation of the nation-Nigeria from the stands passionately believed.
“Violence has never been an instrument used by us, as founding fathers
of the Nigerian Republic, to solve political problems. In the British
tradition, we talked the Colonial Office into accepting our challenges
for a tête-À-tête, the demerits and merits of our case for
self-government.
After six constitutional conferences in 1953, 1954, 1957, 1958, 1959,
and 1960, Great Britain conceded to us the right to assert our
political independence as from October 1, 1960. None of the Nigerian
political parties ever adopted violent means to gain our political
freedom and we are happy to claim that not a drop of British or
Nigerian blood was shed in course of our national struggle for the
place in the sun. This historical fact enabled me to state publicly
in Nigeria that Her Majesty's Government has presented
self-government to us on a platter of gold. Of course, my
contemporaries scorned at me, but the facts of history are
irrefutable. I consider it most unfortunate that our 'Young Turks'
decided to introduce the element of violent revolution into Nigerian
politics. No matter how they and our general public might have been
provoked by obstinate and perhaps grasping politicians, it is an
unwise policy. I have contacted General Aguiyi-Ironsi, General
Officer Commanding the Nigerian Armed Forces, who I understand, has
now assumed the reins of the Federal Government. I offered my
services for any peace overtures to stop further bloodshed, to
placate the mutinous officers, and to restore law and order. As soon
as I hear from him, I shall make arrangements to return home. As far
as I am concerned, I regard the killings of our political and
military leaders as a national calamity”
statement of Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe released from London on 16 JANUARY 1966 immediately after the January 15, 1966 revolutionary coup
9:) :) The Supreme military council headed by General Gowon and chief Obafemi Awolowo as vice chairman and as a commissioner for finance underestimated Ojuku and the strength of the secessionist Biafra army and it was for this embarrassing reason when the war had dragged longer than expected they resorted on the draconian policies that could been seen as an error on not just on the Ibo race but against humanity just to end the war at soonest possible time.
“The aim of a leader should be the welfare of the people whom he leads. I
have used 'welfare' to denote the physical, mental and spiritual
well-being of the people. With this aim fixed unflinchingly and
unchangeably before my eyes I consider it my duty to Yoruba people in
particular and to Nigerians in general, to place four imperatives before
you this morning. Two of them are categorical and two are conditional.
Only a peaceful solution must be found to arrest the present worsening
stalemate and restore normalcy. The Eastern Region must be encouraged to
remain part of the Federation. If the Eastern Region is allowed by acts
of omission or commission to secede from or opt out of Nigeria, then the
Western Region and Lagos must also stay out of the Federation. The people
of Western Nigeria and Lagos should participate in the ad hoc committee or
any similar body only on the basis of absolute equality with the other
regions of the Federation.
I would like to comment briefly on these four imperatives. There
has, of late, been a good deal of sabre rattling in some parts of the
country. Those who advocate the use force for the settlement of our
present problems should stop a little and reflect. I can see no vital and
abiding principle involved in any war between the North and the East. If
the East attacked the North, it would be for purpose of revenge pure and
simple. Any claim to the contrary would be untenable. If it is claimed
that such a war is being waged for the purpose of recovering the real and
personal properties left behind in the North by Easterners two insuperable
points are obvious. Firstly, the personal effects left behind by
Easterners have been wholly looted or destroyed, and can no longer be
physically recovered. Secondly, since the real properties are immovable in
case of recovery of them can only be by means of forcible military
occupation of those parts of the North in which these properties are
situated. On the other hand, if the North attacked the East, it could only
be for the purpose of further strengthening and entrenching its position
of dominance in the country.
If it is claimed that an attack on the East is going to be
launched by the Federal Government and not by the North as such and that
it is designed to ensure the unity and integrity of the Federation, two
other insuperable points also become obvious. First, if a war against the
East becomes a necessity it must be agreed to unanimously by the remaining
units of the Federation. In this connection, the West, Mid- West and Lagos
have declared their implacable opposition to the use of force in solving
the present problem. In the face of such declarations by three out of
remaining four territories of Nigeria, a war against the East could only
be a war favoured by the North alone. Second, if the true purpose of such
a war is to preserve the unity and integrity of the Federation, then these
ends can be achieved by the very simple devices of implementing the
recommendation of the committee which met on August 9 1966, as reaffirmed
by a decision of the military leaders at Aburi on January 5 1967 as well
as by accepting such of the demands of the East, West, Mid-West and Lagos
as are manifestly reasonable, and essential for assuring harmonious
relationships and peaceful co-existence between them and their brothers
and sisters in the North.
Some knowledgeable persons have likened an attack on the East to
Lincoln's war against the southern states in America. Two vital factors
distinguish Lincoln's campaign from the one now being contemplated in
Nigeria. The first is that the American civil war was aimed at the
abolition of slavery - that is the liberation of millions of Negroes who
were then still being used as chattels and worse than domestic animals.
The second factor is that Lincoln and others in the northern states were
English-speaking people waging a war of good conscience and humanity
against their fellow nationals who were also English speaking. A war
against the East in which Northern soldiers are predominant, will only
unite the Easterners or the Ibos against their attackers, strengthen them
in their belief that they are not wanted by the majority of their
fellow-Nigerians, and finally push them out of the Federation.
We have been told that an act of secession on the part of the East
would be a signal, in the first instance, for the creation of the COR
state by decree, which would be backed, if need be, by the use of force.
With great respect, I have some dissenting observations to make on this
declaration. There are 11 national or linguistic groups in the COR areas
with a total population of 5.3 millions. These national groups are as
distinct from one another as the Ibos are distinct from them or from the
Yorubas or Hausas. Of the 11, the Efik/Ibibio/Annang national group are
3.2 million strong as against the Ijaws who are only about 700,000 strong.
Ostensibly, the remaining nine national group number 1.4 millions But
when you have subtracted the Ibo inhabitants from among them, what is left
ranges from the Ngennis who number only 8,000 to the Ogonis who are
220,000 strong. A decree creating a COR state without a plebiscite to
ascertain the wishes of the peoples in the area, would only amount to
subordinating the minority national groups in the state to the dominance
of the Efik/Ibibio/Annang national group. It would be perfectly in order
to create a Calabar state or a Rivers state by decree, and without a
plebiscite. Each is a homogeneous national unit. But before you lump
distinct and diverse national units together in one state, the consent of
each of them is indispensable. Otherwise, the seed of social disquilibrium
in the new state would have been sown.
On the other hand, if the COR State is created by decree after the
Eastern Region shall have made its severance from Nigeria effective, we
should then be waging an unjust war against a foreign state. It would be
an unjust war, because the purpose of it would be to remove 10 minorities
in the East from the dominance of the Ibos only to subordinate them to the
dominance of the Efik/Ibibio/Annang national group. I think I have said
enough to demonstrate that any war against the East, or vice versa, on any
count whatsoever, would be an unholy crusade, for which it would be most
unjustifiable to shed a drop of Nigerian blood. Therefore, only a peaceful
solution must be found, and quickly too to arrest the present rapidly
deteriorating stalemate and restore normalcy.
With regard to the second categorical imperative, it is my
considered view that whilst some of the demands of the East are excessive
within the context of a Nigerian union, most of such demands are not only
wellfounded, but are designed for smooth and steady association amongst
the various national units of Nigeria.
The dependence of the Federal Government on financial
contributions from the regions? These and other such like demands I do not
support. Demands such as these, if accepted, will lead surely to the
complete disintegration of the Federation which is not in the interest of
our people. But I wholeheartedly support the following demands among
others, which we consider reasonable and most of which are already
embodied in our memoranda to the Ad Hoc Committee....
That revenue should be allocated strictly on the basis of
derivation; that is to say after the Federal Government has deducted its
own share for its own services the rest should be allocated to the regions
to which they are attributable.
That the existing public debt of the Federation should become the
responsibility of the regions on the basis of the location of the projects
in respect of each debt whether internal or external
That each region should have and control its own
militia and police force.
That, with immediate effect, all military personnel should be
posted to their regions of origin....
If we are to live in harmony one with another as Nigerians it is
imperative that these demands and others which are not related, should be
met without further delay by those who have hitherto resisted them. To
those who may argue that the acceptance of these demands will amount to
transforming Nigeria into a federation with a weak central government, my
comment is that any link however tenuous, which keeps the East in the
Nigerian union, is better in my view than no link at all.
Before the Western delegates went to Lagos to attend the meetings
of the ad hoc committee, they were given a clear mandate that if any
region should opt out of the Federation of Nigeria, then the Federation
should be considered to be at an end, and that the Western Region and
Lagos should also opt out of it. It would then be up to Western Nigeria
and Lagos as an independent sovereign state to enter into association with
any of the Nigerian units of its own choosing, and on terms mutually
acceptable to them. I see no reason for departing from this mandate. If
any region in Nigeria considers itself strong enough to compel us to enter
into association with it on its own terms, I would only wish such a region
luck. But such luck, I must warn, will, in the long run be no better than
that which has attended the doings of all colonial powers down the ages.
This much I must say in addition, on this point. We have neither military
might nor the overwhelming advantage of numbers here in Western Nigeria
and Lagos. But we have justice of a noble and imperishable cause on our
side, namely: the right of a people to unfettered self-determination. If
this is so, then God is on our side, and if God is with us then we have
nothing whatsoever in this world to fear.
The fourth imperative, and the second conditional one has been
fully dealt with in my recent letter to the Military Governor of Western
Nigeria, Col. Robert Adebayo, and in the representation which your
deputation made last year to the head of the Federal Military Government,
Lt. Col. Yakubu Gowon. As a matter of fact, as far back as November last
year a smaller meeting of leaders of thought in this Region decided that
unless certain things were done, we would no longer participate in the
meeting of the ad hoc committee. But since then, not even one of our
legitimate requests has been granted. I will, therefore, take no more of
your time in making further comments on a point with which you are well
familiar. As soon as our humble and earnest requests are met, I shall be
ready to take my place on the ad hoc committee. But certainly, not before
In closing, I have this piece of advice to give. In order to resolve
amiably and in the best interests of all Nigerians certain attributes are
required on the part of Nigerian leaders, military as well as non-military
leaders alike, namely: vision, realism and unselfishness. But above all
what will keep Nigerian leaders in the North and East unwaveringly in the
path of wisdom, realism and moderation is courage and steadfastness on the
part of Yoruba people in the course of what they sincerely believe to be
right, equitable and just. In the past five years we in the West and Lagos
have shown that we possess these qualities in a large measure. If we
demonstrate them again as we did in the past, calmly and heroically, we
will save Nigeria from further bloodshed and imminent wreck and, at the
same time, preserve our freedom and self-respect into the bargain.
May God rule and guide our deliberations here, and endow all the
Nigerian leaders with the vision, realism, and unselfishness as well as
courage and steadfastness in the course of truth, which the present
circumstances demand.” ***********quote from: Chief Awolowo's Speech to Western leaders of thought
IN IBADAN, MAY 1 1967
(Culled from Daily Times, 2 May 1967) and quoted in "Crisis and Conflict in Nigeria (Volume 1), January 1966-July 1971" by A.H. M. Kirk-Greene)
10:) MY FEARS for Nigeria nation are those same imbalances of our mental thoughts aforementioned above such as the greed, ethnic paranoia, and negligence on national security by those who were privileged to handled the affairs of the nation which caused us over three million lives on unnecessary civil war that ought to have been averted; have not yet not change. The average Nigerians have not yet believe in the foresight philosophy of one united Nigeria which the British colonial masters used by bringing us together from our various independent nations under their two protectorates; the northern and the southern protectorates which were over seen from Lagos as their colony and finally amalgamated together as the most powerful one united nation in Africa by Sir Lord Frederick Lugard in 1914 and christened Nigeria after the River Niger by his wife Marry Shaw and until that covenant union is abided to in principles of one love, one people, one great nation and cherished as such by all Nigerians, Nigeria is still sitting on a keg of a gun powder.
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