Complexity of Biafra

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Gloria Emeagwali

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Sep 30, 2020, 9:21:35 AM9/30/20
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“Biafra was waging a war against genocide .“

This is a simplistic, unidimensional view of events, Biko. This was also a war against secession and the machinations of foreign powers who had their eyes on oil and resources. It intersected with panafricanism, anti-colonialism, Anglo-French rivalry, the military industrial complex of arms dealers and gun runners, federalism, Ojukwu-ism, personality conflicts, regional power blocs, intraregional and geopolitical power struggles, and a hundred more issues.


Gloria Emeagwali



Biko Agozino

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Sep 30, 2020, 4:08:27 PM9/30/20
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Gloria,

Genocide is always complicated. Read Achebe again on There Was a Country. Read Ekwe-Ekwe on Biafra Revisited. Read Daniel Jacobs, The Brutality of Nations. Read almost everything Soyinka has written in all genres. Read also Walter Rodney on HEUA. Then let us have the discussion about the complexity of genocide. 

I am always be against genocide no matter who is targeted. Anyone who is in support of genocide or denies it because it is targeted at the Igbo has explanations to offer. There is never a justification for genocide.

Biko

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Harrow, Kenneth

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Sep 30, 2020, 4:09:00 PM9/30/20
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i agree w gloria, but there was a bottom line. it was an attempt at secession. the ugliness of war followed, with all the consequences gloria mentioned, but they were not the issue. it was the secession.
achebe had one take on it.
others condemned it because it foolishly put too many lives at risk. it is hard to imagine a secession that is worth the blood of so many people.
imagine it in different terms, but which came to hundreds of thousands of lives as well: the american civil war.

in fact, it is almost impossible to think of real wars that were "worth" it.
ken

kenneth harrow

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dept of english

michigan state university

517 803-8839

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From: usaafric...@googlegroups.com <usaafric...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Gloria Emeagwali <gloria.e...@gmail.com>
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To: usaafric...@googlegroups.com <usaafric...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Complexity of Biafra
 


“Biafra was waging a war against genocide .“

This is a simplistic, unidimensional view of events, Biko. This was also a war against secession and the machinations of foreign powers who had their eyes on oil  and resources. It intersected with panafricanism, anti-colonialism, Anglo-French rivalry, the  military industrial complex of arms dealers and gun runners, federalism, Ojukwu-ism, personality conflicts, regional power blocs, intraregional and geopolitical power struggles, and a hundred more issues.


Gloria Emeagwali



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Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju

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Sep 30, 2020, 4:09:00 PM9/30/20
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but may the the genocide not be seen as one of the key  sparks that lit the flame?

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OLAYINKA AGBETUYI

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Sep 30, 2020, 4:37:21 PM9/30/20
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There were clearly genocidal tendencies against Igbo in the North following the January 1966 coups and it is undeniable.  Danjuma has explained why:  they saw some Igbo jubilating in the streets at the senseless murders of the Sardauna and other northern leaders.  

Also word went round that  most Igbo leaders were untouched by the coupists.  These are undeniable facts.  In psychoanalysis we call that the reign of mass hysteria.  The first casualty is loss of reason and common sense.  Its as though, to perpetrators, war had been declared unofficially against the North.

This explanation does not justify the genocidal tendencies  it only demonstrates how people going through collective mourning and mass hysteria are prone to behaviour far below human standards.

I have also used this to explain how this same feeling propelled a person with lofty academic credentials as Mailafia to give the potentially explosive interview on the imminent invasion of the South by Boko Haram and Fulani Herdsmen, and false accounts of plane loads of arms already shipped to the South.


OAA




Mr. President you swore an oath to rule according to the Constitution.  Where are the schools to promote the teaching of the country's lingua francas?



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Chielozona Eze

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Sep 30, 2020, 6:32:13 PM9/30/20
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“Biafra was waging a war against genocide.“


Gloria is spot on.

It’s not just simplistic to claim that the war was fought to stop genocide; it is a dangerous self-deception. I, too, survived that war. I, too, grew up consuming the Igbo leaders’ version of the war. But then I read books. I asked questions. I’m still searching for answers. But I’m now sure of one thing: that war could have easily been avoided. It only needed a wiser cadre of leaders. I don’t easily blame the past, but if I were to do so, I’d begin with those who herded me and my family into a war that was totally avoidable. It’s good to read books that seem to affirm our beliefs; it’s also good to interrogate them.

Chielozona



Chielozona Eze
Bernard J. Brommel Distinguished Research Professor
Professor, Africana Studies, Northeastern Illinois University; Extraordinary Professor, Stellenbosch University, South Africa.Fellow - Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Studies, South Africa
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Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju

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Oct 1, 2020, 6:24:41 AM10/1/20
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Eze,

Could you summarize your view of how the war could have been avoided?

I'm struck by the absolute conviction in your stating it could EASILY have been avoided.

Thanks.

Toyin

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Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju

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Oct 1, 2020, 6:24:53 AM10/1/20
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Echoes of Mailafia 

Armed group planning to attack Ekiti soon, Police warn

By Ojo Adelugba

Armed groups are infiltrating Ekiti State with the hope of attacking the communities, the Ekiti State Police Command said in a Wednesday statement made available to Irohonoodua.


What scenario from recent Nigerian history does this scenario from the report above suggest-


''It said that intelligence gathered has it that the first set of the armed and criminally minded hoodlums will arrive the State with the pretence of settling peacefully with their host Communities while the other set will come later to lunch an attack and cause havoc.''

Vigilance is the price of liberty.


toyin







On Wed, 30 Sep 2020 at 22:58, Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju <toyin....@gmail.com> wrote:
Edited

helpful analysis, till you had to slip in your APC politics-

''I have also used this to explain how this same feeling propelled a person with lofty academic credentials as Mailafia to give the potentially explosive interview on the imminent invasion of the South by Boko Haram and Fulani Herdsmen, and false accounts of plane loads of arms already shipped to the South.''
OAA

  the evidence   suggests the invasion is already underway and the arms have already arrived.

years before Mailafia, Soyinka made a similar claim of arms being dropped on Fulani cattle routes, well before the explosion of the Fulani herdsmen militia on Buhari's 2015 ascension, the massacre by them in Nimbo in the SE, their taking over forests in the SW and engaging in kidnapping and robbery, leading to monarchs in the SW to cry out, and the founding of a SW self defense unit, Amotekun, all after the regular rivers of blood Fulani herdsmen militia  unleashed in the Middle Belt.

Within all this no one is so much as  arrested as Miyetti Allah, representing the Fulani herdsmen militia and led by Nigeria's most elite Fulani,  justifies massacres of Nigerians.

Mailafia is simply specifying details of the Fulanisation and Islamisation vision of the present govt that OBJ and Danjuma have pointed out.

So, sir, dont isolate Mailafia as if he is alone amidst actors from various contexts saying similar things and as if his utterances are not reinforced by evidence in plain sight.

The DSS is not deceiving Nigerians by harassing Mailafia. The same DSS that behaves as if it is not aware that Miyetti Allah is the equivalent of a terrorist group and that the Fulani militia have been rightly  described by international terrorist watch agencies  as one of the world's three deadliest terror groups. 

toyin

On Wed, 30 Sep 2020 at 22:57, Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju <toyin....@gmail.com> wrote:
helpful analysis, till you had to slip in your APC politics-

''I have also used this to explain how this same feeling propelled a person with lofty academic credentials as Mailafia to give the potentially explosive interview on the imminent invasion of the South by Boko Haram and Fulani Herdsmen, and false accounts of plane loads of arms already shipped to the South.''
OAA

  the evidence   suggests the invasion is already underway and the arms have already arrived.

years before Mailafia, Soyinka made a similar claim of arms being dropped on Fulani cattle routes, well before the explosion of the Fulani herdsmen militia on Buhari's 2015 ascension, the massacre by them in Nimbo in the SE, their taking over forests in the SW and engaging in kidnapping and robbery, leading to monarchs in the SW to cry out, and the founding of a SW self defense unit, Amotekun, all after the regular rivers of blood Fulani herdsmen militia  unleashed in the Middle Belt.

Within all this no one is so much as  arrested as Miyetti Allah, representing the Fulani herdsmen militia and led by Nigeria's most elite Fulani,  justifies massacres of Nigerians.

Mailafia is simply specifying details of the Fulanisation and Islamisation vision of the present govt that OBJK and Danjuma have pointed out.

So, sir, dont isolate Mailafia as if he is alone amidst actors from various contexts saying similar things and as if his utterances are not reinforced by evidence in plain sight.

The DSS is not deceiving Nigerians by harassing Mailafia. The same DSS that behaves as if it is not aware that Miyetti Allah is the equivalent of a terrorist group and that the Fulani militia have been rightly  described by international terrorist watch agencies  as one of the world's three deadliest terror groups. 

toyin


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Salimonu Kadiri

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Oct 1, 2020, 8:14:18 AM10/1/20
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OOA, 
        In support of paragraph 1 of your submission I hereby recite the words of Lieutenant Colonel Philip Effiong, the second in command to Lieutenant Colonel Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu the Biafran leader (both were Generals in Biafra).
''In the course of my duties as Principal Staff Officer at General Ironsi's SQH (Supreme Head Quarters), I received a number of intelligence reports about the arrogant and sometimes abusive attitude of Igbos in the North and the suppressed anger of many Northerners, including our Northern Army officers (p.76, Nigeria And Biafra: My Story by Philip Effiong)." 

"It must be added that the attitude of the Igbos in the North, as reported in some papers at the time of the first coup, was particularly provocative and contributed to the violent eruption of emotions, giving some encouragement and reason for action (p.88, Nigeria and Biafra: My Story by Philip Effiong)."

The riot in the North that erupted on 29 May 1966, was in protest against decree No. 34 of 24 May 1966 abolishing regions and replacing them with unitary government. The killing of the Igbo in the North escalated in September 1966, in reaction to a broadcast from radio Cotonou alleging killings of Northerners in Eastern region which was relayed by Radio Kaduna.
S. Kadiri 

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Subject: RE: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Complexity of Biafra
 

Okechukwu Ukaga

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Oct 1, 2020, 11:41:11 AM10/1/20
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I agree with Eze, the war was totally avoidable. A series of miscalculations and unfortunate events culminated in the war. And there is enough blame to go around. From the “fighters” led by Awolowo on one side and Akintoila on the other side in the western region political conflict that lit the fire; to the federal government led by  Prime Minister Belewa that mismanaged effort to take political advantage of the situation; to mutinous Nigeria soldiers led by Nzeogwu and Ifeajuna that naively thought they could wrestle power from the corrupt federal government and hand it over to a better leader (Awolowo) and Nigeria will live happily ever after; to the army led by Ironsi that successfully ended the coup but did not hand power back to civilians immediately and punish the coup plotters as they should have; to the counter-coup or the so-called "July Rematch" masterminded by Murtala Muhammed with Danjuma, Babangida, Buhari and others involved; to  Ojukwu insisting (among other things) that Gen Babafemi Ogundipe the most senior officer at the time after Ironsi should be in-charge and not Gowon  (who Okukwu actually liked as a person); to Ojukwu outwitting Gowon at the peace conference to get all he wanted, to Awolowo and others advising Gowon to not follow-through with the agreement; to Gowon reneging  on Aburi agreement reached with Ojukwu in Ghana that would have resolved everything peacefully, to Ojukwu stubbornly refusing to give Gowon the space he asked for (in private) to maneuver and come around to the same end; to Ojukwu further refusing to take other exit ramps available including especially wise advise his friend Prof Sam Aluko gave him repeatedly; to both Ojukwu and Gowon taking further actions (such as creation of state by Gowon and declaration of Biafra by Ojukwu) that changed the status quo and made civil war almost inevitable.

The point is that no single person or event was responsible for the war, but each built on the other and ultimately culminated in the civil war. And today, we still seem to have not learnt the lessons as political leaders and operate with both impunity and insensitivity and those who think they have upper hand at any given time refuse to accommodate or compromise. 

As someone who has been involved in this unhelpful game from the second coup (the remarch) till date, Buhari should know better than to ignore recent advice from Obasanjo, Sonyika, Danjuma, and other to make Nigeria work for all.  He seems to be a captive of the rematch mindset. Such mindset must be replaced with one that sees and treats all Nigerians as true brothers and sisters (that they are) and the country as belonging to all. Aftercall as both individual and groups, our fates are linked to those of other Nigerians. 

To avoid future civil war, those in power should focus more on what is in the best interest of the whole (not just themselves or their group) when making political decisions.

-Okey


Okechukwu Ukaga, MBA, PhD
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University of Minnesota Extension

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University of Minnesota

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Chielozona Eze

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Oct 1, 2020, 11:41:21 AM10/1/20
to 'Ayotunde Bewaji' via USA Africa Dialogue Series

Sure, bro.

The notion that the Biafran war was waged against the genocide of the Igbo is not true. The killings ended around September 1966 while the war began in July 1967. Between these months there were negotiations, conferences, and accords which were not kept. War broke out because the East wanted to secede from the rest of the country. It is only logical that secession by a group would be seen as “treasonous” (Zik) by the federal government, which would do everything within its power to keep the nation united, especially given the prize to be won.

 

I’m not being original in stating that the war was not inevitable. Soyinka’s The Man Died offers a glimpse of the abovementioned negotiations and the moral justification to sue for peace.

 

I fully understand the trauma my people suffered when truckloads of corpses arrived from the North in the months of September, 1966. I don’t know how I would have reacted if I had been of age then. I cannot condemn those who called for secession. But a dispassionate look at the events that precipitated it all should also take into account the feelings of those whose leaders were killed during the 1966 coup.

 

On a more practical level, and this is where the adverb "easily" applies and why I invoked “wiser leaders”: You don’t go to war without a standing army and without allies. You don’t go to war in the belief that God is on your side. One famous Rabbi once said: “Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won’t he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? (Luke 14:31). It wouldn’t surprise me if he was quoting Sun Tsu who lived about 300 years before him, and who said: “Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win” - The Art of War.

 

Again, it is easy for me to judge the past from the comfort of my present. But that’s why we go to school. That’s why we strive to be intellectuals. That's why we ought to subject every aspect of the past to ruthless examination in order to avoid its repeat.

To be sure, some wars are unavoidable, the most notorious example being the Second World War. Most can be avoided by the application of good diplomacy. War is absolute evil. I've scars to bear witness.


Eze




Chielozona Eze
Bernard J. Brommel Distinguished Research Professor
Professor, Africana Studies, Northeastern Illinois University; Extraordinary Professor, Stellenbosch University, South Africa.Fellow - Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Studies, South Africa
https://neiu.academia.edu/ChielozonaEze



On Thu, Oct 1, 2020 at 5:24 AM Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju <toyin....@gmail.com> wrote:
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Harrow, Kenneth

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Oct 1, 2020, 7:02:36 PM10/1/20
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beautifully put.
it is a judgment that should be applied everywhere, and not in all cases is a solution easy. for example, vietnam.... thinking here of the just war pursued by ho chi minh, which i supported. but which cost 1-2 million vietnamese lives; a stupid war from the american side. they killed all those people for nothing, to stop "communism," which in the end has become historically meaningless.
ken

kenneth harrow

professor emeritus

dept of english

michigan state university

517 803-8839

har...@msu.edu

From: usaafric...@googlegroups.com <usaafric...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Chielozona Eze <chi...@gmail.com>
Sent: Thursday, October 1, 2020 11:22 AM
To: 'Ayotunde Bewaji' via USA Africa Dialogue Series <usaafric...@googlegroups.com>

Salimonu Kadiri

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Oct 1, 2020, 7:03:24 PM10/1/20
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​My dear professor Okechukwu Ukaga, for the sake of the present and future generations of Nigeria, we should always endeavour to give correct accounts of the Nigerian civil war and events that led to it. You averred, "A series of miscalculations and unfortunate events culminated in the war. ...//...; to Ojukwu insisting (among other things) that Gen. Babafemi Ogundipe the most senior officer at the time after Ironsi should be in charge and not Gowon (who Ojukwu actually liked as a person); to Gowon reneging on Aburi agreement reached with Ojukwu in Ghana that have resolved everything peacefully;" Although Babafemi Ogundipe was the most senior army officer after Ironsi in July 1966, his actual rank was a Brigadier and not a General. In a military coup where a Captain and a sub-Lieutenant arrested a General and a Lieutenant Colonel, it was obvious that seniority in rank was no longer a deciding factor on who should lead the army but whose command the majority of infantry soldiers were prepared to obey. Gowon was the most senior Northern army officer at that time and 95% of infantry soldiers at the 2nd Battalion, Ikeja, that were the main core of the coup in Lagos were from Middle Belt just like Gowon. The infantry soldiers insisted that they could only obey the command of Gowon and there was nothing Ojukwu could do about it. If seniority were to be the determining factor for leadership, Ojukwu should not have been appointed Governor of the then Eastern region since by dates of promotion to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, Wellington Umoh Bassey, Ume Ogere Imo, George Kurubo, Philip Effiong and Hillary Njoku were all senior to Ojukwu. He ought to have resigned as Governor of the East after 29 July 1967 coup to allow, for instance, Wellington Umoh Bassey, who was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel on the same date as Ironsi and Ademulegun in April 1963 or any of the other four Lieutenant Colonels that were senior to him by dates of promotion to that rank. So, Ojukwu was only playing to the gallery when he demanded that Ogundipe should take command after Ironsi was eliminated. 

As for Gowon reneging on Aburi agreement with Ojukwu, that cannot be true since Decree No.8 promulgated on 17 March 1967, embodied everything agreed to in Aburi, Ghana, except for an addition that granted the Supreme Council power to declare a state of emergency in any region, provided it is supported by three out of the four existing regions then. Incidentally, three of the four regions were situated in the south and declaration of emergency in a State would not have been easy to obtain. Decree No. 8 was nothing but a loose federation which could have afforded the regions to prepare to opt out of the federation eventually but Ojukwu was too much in a hurry. Decree No. 8 was abrogated on 27 May 1967, when Gowon split the country into 12 states simultaneously as Ojukwu's Consultative Assembly urged him to declare a Sovereign State of Biafra. The rest is history.
S. Kadiri 

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Sent: 01 October 2020 17:21
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OLAYINKA AGBETUYI

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Oct 1, 2020, 7:55:09 PM10/1/20
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Again there is the error that Murtala masterminded the coup.  He did not.  The coup masterminded by Murtala was the coup of 1975 which overturned the hegemony of the Middle Belt officers since the July 1966 coup.

We must remember the American intelligence shared on this forum in 2017 which revealed that both Ojukwu and Gowon had been nursing the idea of a coup before January 1966 because both from westernised Christian background resented  the fact that by dint of population the Muslim North was in charge of the country.

The only thing was that majority of the coup plotters in January 1966 were from the East and they refused to spare the Christian politicians and  Middle Belt officers among the casualties while most Igbo military and political leaders were untouched.  This revealed the ethnic cleansing motive of the January officers to the Christian Middle Belt officers and that was why they swore revenge.  And that answer's Biko's Agozino's question why it was that Christian Middle Belt officers led the coup that killed Ironsi.

The reason Gowon postponed the handover date was because he realised a handover to civilians might imply handing over power back to the Muslim North, which he resented.

Murtala Mohammed saw through the smokescreen overthrew him  with a program to hand over power back to the civilians.


OAA.



Mr. President you swore an oath to rule according to the Constitution.  Where are the schools to promote the teaching of the country's lingua francas?






Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.



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Date: 02/10/2020 00:06 (GMT+00:00)
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Complexity of Biafra

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​My dear professor Okechukwu Ukaga, for the sake of the present and future generations of Nigeria, we should always endeavour to give correct accounts of the Nigerian civil war and events that led to it. You averred, "A series of miscalculations and unfortunate events culminated in the war. ...//...; to Ojukwu insisting (among other things) that Gen. Babafemi Ogundipe the most senior officer at the time after Ironsi should be in charge and not Gowon (who Ojukwu actually liked as a person); to Gowon reneging on Aburi agreement reached with Ojukwu in Ghana that have resolved everything peacefully;" Although Babafemi Ogundipe was the most senior army officer after Ironsi in July 1966, his actual rank was a Brigadier and not a General. In a military coup where a Captain and a sub-Lieutenant arrested a General and a Lieutenant Colonel, it was obvious that seniority in rank was no longer a deciding factor on who should lead the army but whose command the majority of infantry soldiers were prepared to obey. Gowon was the most senior Northern army officer at that time and 95% of infantry soldiers at the 2nd Battalion, Ikeja, that were the main core of the coup in Lagos were from Middle Belt just like Gowon. The infantry soldiers insisted that they could only obey the command of Gowon and there was nothing Ojukwu could do about it. If seniority were to be the determining factor for leadership, Ojukwu should not have been appointed Governor of the then Eastern region since by dates of promotion to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, Wellington Umoh Bassey, Ume Ogere Imo, George Kurubo, Philip Effiong and Hillary Njoku were all senior to Ojukwu. He ought to have resigned as Governor of the East after 29 July 1967 coup to allow, for instance, Wellington Umoh Bassey, who was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel on the same date as Ironsi and Ademulegun in April 1963 or any of the other four Lieutenant Colonels that were senior to him by dates of promotion to that rank. So, Ojukwu was only playing to the gallery when he demanded that Ogundipe should take command after Ironsi was eliminated. 

As for Gowon reneging on Aburi agreement with Ojukwu, that cannot be true since Decree No.8 promulgated on 17 March 1967, embodied everything agreed to in Aburi, Ghana, except for an addition that granted the Supreme Council power to declare a state of emergency in any region, provided it is supported by three out of the four existing regions then. Incidentally, three of the four regions were situated in the south and declaration of emergency in a State would not have been easy to obtain. Decree No. 8 was nothing but a loose federation which could have afforded the regions to prepare to opt out of the federation eventually but Ojukwu was too much in a hurry. Decree No. 8 was abrogated on 27 May 1967, when Gowon split the country into 12 states simultaneously as Ojukwu's Consultative Assembly urged him to declare a Sovereign State of Biafra. The rest is history.
S. Kadiri 
From: 'Okechukwu Ukaga' via USA Africa Dialogue Series <usaafric...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: 01 October 2020 17:21

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Okechukwu Ukaga

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Kadiri, thanks for your feedback, but a brigadier is in fact short for brigadier general aka one star general and thus a general nonetheless. 

Yinka, please do more research and you will find that Murtala was the leader of the coup that killed and overthrew Ironsi (with Danjuma and Adamu) The 1975 coup was not his first coup. In essence, he put Gowon in power with his first coup and later sacked Gowon with his second coup. Unfortunately, Murtala who lived by coup also died by coup. 

Regards,
OU

Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju

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Oct 1, 2020, 11:35:42 PM10/1/20
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Great thanks to all.

I thank particularly Igbo people on this group who are arguing for a more nuanced reading of the war and thanks to Gloria who initiated these questions.

''Igbo'' is the correct identification rather than the perhaps more politically correct SE, since the ideological drive and casualty burden of that war and its subsequent effects to date, as in the ongoing struggles of IPOB are fundamentally Igbo. This assertion needs to be refined but I could do that later.

The larger international framing by Ken  of the stupidity that is war  is particularly poignant, highlighting  the huge irony that the Vietnam War has become, even more striking given the massive historical image of that war-

''it is a judgment that should be applied everywhere, and not in all cases is a solution easy. for example, vietnam.... thinking here of the just war pursued by ho chi minh, which i supported. but which cost 1-2 million vietnamese lives; a stupid war from the american side. they killed all those people for nothing, to stop "communism," which in the end has become historically meaningless.''

The US also suffered greatly from war, but nowhere near the scale of the Vietnamese people who suffered hugely at the level of civilians, military and infrastructure while the war did not reach the US homeland.

On the argument that Gowon reneged on the Aburi Accords which Salimonu argues was not the case,  referencing the State of Emergency clause as the only change made by Gowon in the accord, Max Siollun makes a similar case in his book that covers the events leading up to the war, Nigeria's Civil War Culture, if I recall correctly. 

But we should ask-what was the reason for the inclusion of that clause and for making that inclusion unliterally after the comprehensive agreement reached at Aburi?

Could such actions be described as innocent and taken purely in good faith?

In the light of the massacres suffered particularly by Igbos in waves of killing in the North, massacres in which the Northern wing of the  Nigerian army were central agents and instigators, the same wing that now controlled both army and govt and would dominate the country for years to come, may such a move not be seen as suspicious?

I wonder what OAA's source is for the effort to remove Murtala Muhammed from central  responsibility for the July 1966 coup.

That claim is not supported by any account of the coup.

All accounts, to the best of my knowledge, place Murtala Muhammed and Danjuma at the heart of it, both in gaining control of  Lagos  and the killing of Aguyi Ironsi.

As for the claim that the July 1966 coup was the outcome of the hidden wishes of Gowon and Ojukwu, no factual evidence from the unfolding of the coup bears that out.

According to the accounts I have read, neither Gowon nor Ojukwu played any significant logistical or military role in the July 1966 coup, but may best be described as either reacting to the coup-Ojukwu- or beneficiaries of the coup-Gowon, Gowon's role emerging after the military actors such as Murtala Muhammed had secured control.

None of us was present at those events, talk less being participants. A good number of us, if we had been born at the time,  most likely were not even informed about the unfolding events bcs of limited information flow and not being adults at the time.

Even the civil war historians are engaging in reconstruction of the events and interpreting  them.

So, I suggest caution with authoritative  statements suggesting one has the last word on the issue.

On the question of ethnicity within the dynamics of public discourse in Nigeria, it is not out of place for me to be bold enough to map the unfolding of this discussion on this group along such lines and draw certain observations, make conclusions and ask questions.

Igbo scholars from the SE have made an input. Yoruba scholars from the SW have made an input. My observation on this group and other Nigerian centred groups I belong to is that people from the Muslim North, general public and scholars,  often do not participate in debates on Nigeria in fora in which their nos are not in the majority.

To read their views, you will often need to go to such Yahoo groups as Raariga and Yan Arewa. Or to such Facebook groups as Sentinel or to their Facebook walls, although the Facebook situation might be more nuanced given the significant presence of people from the Muslim North in the pan Nigerian Spaces for Change Facebook group led by Victoria Ibezim, if I recall her name correctly, that was significant in mobilizing support agst the GEJ govt in the run up to the 2015 elections that replaced him with Buhari, in the face of a consistent struggle between pro govt and agst govt groups from different ethnicities, the anti-GEJ govt alliance being pan-ethnic and the current anti-Buhari critique increasingly becoming so, although Buhari may be seen as a passing though signicant factor in larger ethnic and pan-Nigerian class interests. 

It is also true that a good no of the social media groups seem to be  founded and dominated by people from the South and that these people are not particularly active on the Northern Muslim dominated groups.

In a broader compass, this group is clearly a Nigerian dominated group in its contributors and topics discussed even though it also addresses Africa wide and US centered issues.

It should be possible to provide an interpretation to these observations and examine their implications for mutual understanding between Nigerians and between Africans but that could come later.

thanks

toyin















burden 



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OLAYINKA AGBETUYI

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The reason Danjuma gave was that the Muslim officers were growing restless and that was why he led the coup because if he did not they too would be victims of the counter coup because as Christian Middle Belt officers they would be seen as sympathetic to Ironsi.  But it was only half truth

Useni was the one who said they dragged Murtala into the 1975 coup against his initial reluctance to be involved.  This was to camouflage the fact that Murtala was the master mind.  We must remember that Useni gave the interview much later after the Middle Belt Dimkar group struck as payback for Murtala removing their godfather ( Gowon)  from power and assassinated him.  It 
meant Murtala split the ranks of the Middle Belters.  The Useni group were for him and felt Gowon was dishonouring the military.  The Dimkar group did not care about military honour they just wanted the Middle Belt to be in control.


OAA.




Mr President you swore an oath to rule according to the Constitution.  Where are the schools to promote the teaching of the country's lingua francas?



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-------- Original message --------
From: 'Okechukwu Ukaga' via USA Africa Dialogue Series <usaafric...@googlegroups.com>
Date: 02/10/2020 04:38 (GMT+00:00)
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Complexity of Biafra

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Kadiri, thanks for your feedback, but a brigadier is in fact short for brigadier general aka one star general and thus a general nonetheless. 

Yinka, please do more research and you will find that Murtala was the leader of the coup that killed and overthrew Ironsi (with Danjuma and Adamu) The 1975 coup was not his first coup. In essence, he put Gowon in power with his first coup and later sacked Gowon with his second coup. Unfortunately, Murtala who lived by coup also died by coup. 

Regards,
OU

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OLAYINKA AGBETUYI

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Oct 2, 2020, 10:58:05 AM10/2/20
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Toyin.

My sources are books and interviews by key participants in both 1966 coups: Theophilus Danjuma and Jeremiah Useni.  The latter actually participated in ALL coups until military rule was terminated under Abacha.


In fact he is prime suspect No 1 for the source of the poisoned tablet that got rid of Abacha.  Only someone close to him from their younger days, about the same age  and is about the top 3 to have unqualified access to Abacha and is  totally trusted  could pull that off.

Jeremiah Useni fits the bill. He was experienced in how to surreptitiously plan the removal of sit tight rulers as he did in conjunction with Joe Garba to remove Gowon. He could not repeat the Gowon treatment with Abacha because the latter knowing how deeply unpopular he was did not step out into the country he governed let alone go abroad.  So it had to be done in his house exploiting his weakness and need to recoup failing manly vigour.  

I still think Gowon was the non operational mastermind of the July 66 coup as Murtala was to the 75 coup.  Useni said Murtala after storming out of the first meeting was persuaded to relax his hostility at a second meeting and the only commitment he gave was if things went wrong he would do all he could at the Supreme Military Council to make sure they did not go to the gallows.


OAA.





Mr President you swore an oath to rule according to the Constitution.  Where are the schools to promote the teaching of the country's lingua francas.?







Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.



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From: Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju <toyin....@gmail.com>
Date: 02/10/2020 04:38 (GMT+00:00)
To: usaafricadialogue <usaafric...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Complexity of Biafra

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Okechukwu Ukaga

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“A series of miscalculations and unfortunate events culminated in the war... to Gowon reneging on Aburi agreement reached with Ojukwu in Ghana that have resolved everything peacefully;" – Okey Ukaga

“As for Gowon reneging on Aburi agreement with Ojukwu, that cannot be true since Decree No.8 promulgated on 17 March 1967, embodied everything agreed to in Aburi, Ghana, except for an addition that granted the Supreme Council power to declare a state of emergency in any region, provided it is supported by three out of the four existing regions then. Incidentally, three of the four regions were situated in the south and declaration of emergency in a State would not have been easy to obtain. Decree No. 8 was nothing but a loose federation which could have afforded the regions to prepare to opt out of the federation eventually but Ojukwu was too much in a hurry. Decree No. 8 was abrogated on 27 May 1967, when Gowon split the country into 12 states simultaneously as Ojukwu's Consultative Assembly urged him to declare a Sovereign State of Biafra. The rest is history.+ -S. Kadiri 

 “For the sake of the present and future generations of Nigeria, we should always endeavour to give correct accounts of the Nigerian civil war and events that led to it.” – S. Kadiri 

Yes, we should always give correct accounts, so let's be clear about implementation or non-implementation of agreement. If Decree No.8 promulgated on 17 March 1967 embodied ALL OF AND NOTHING ELSE but what was agreed to in Aburi, then we can honestly say Gowon did in fact implement the agreement. But as you, Kadri, acknowledge here, that was not the case. More importantly, the most reliable source, Gowon himself acknowledged as much and gave reasons why he could not and did not completely honor the agreement. He also indicated that he had asked Ojukwu to give him space and time as he was balancing Ojukwu’s demand for full implementation of the Aburi agreement and pressure from others for him not to do so. I remember reading somewhere where Gowon talked about being sick with malaria after returning from Aburi and trying to figure out how to move forward by balancing the pull from different sides, and all he was getting from Ojukwu is “on Aburi we stand” and finally he (Gowon) out of frustration, he gave up and said to himself: well, “on Aburi he (Ojukwu) would fall”.  I believe Gowon. So your notion that the agreement was implement is NOT true. We can quibble about why and how much, but we cannot honestly say it was implemented. As Toyin Adepoju rightly noted, when two parties make an agreement, no party has the right to unilaterally amend that agreement or to implement most and not all parts of the agreement or to add something else not mutually agreed to. Doing any of that amounts to breach of agreement, which is act of breaking the terms set out in a contract. And that is what Gowon did with degree 8 of 17 March 1967 and again when he split the country into 12 states on 27 May 1967. We need to accurately document and share our history "for the sake of the present and future generations of Nigeria." And there you have it.

OU




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OLAYINKA AGBETUYI

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Oct 2, 2020, 12:27:37 PM10/2/20
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OU:

We must accept that Gowon was a minority inexperienced leader negotiating on behalf of a majority population.

Contrary to what Baba Kadiri said Decree No 8 was necessitated by possible intelligence report after the Aburi accord that without a caveat Ojukwu could easily legally walk away with the East. 

 As the Head of State of the Nigerian military government Gowon could not allow that to happen and hence the situation can only be swiftly curtailed by triggering Decree No. 8.


If Decree No. 8 is ultra vires to the Aburi Accord then that is a breach of the Accord as you rightly noted.  But Ojukwu was first to breach the Constitution without which the Accord is meaningless because the Accord was binding on sections of Nigeria and not an agreement between two sovereign states.   Ojukwu tore the Aburi Acvord to shreds by declaring the Sovereign State of Biafra.  It made Nigeria revert to status quo ante Aburi Accord and Gowon as the leader of that sovereign state.  This paved the way for his  creation of twelve states by fiat as a military leader, a move that was not binding on Biafra if it survived the war.  But it meant new administrators had to be appointed to the new states and their jurisdictions enforced within Biafra by the Nigerian authorities.  So the stage was set for the show of force and Ojukwu made that first move which made nonsense of the whole Aburi Accord.
.

Decree No. 8 was meant to pre-empt secession which will be meaningful if the two other regions in the South plus the North did not want secession.  It meant no region can unilaterally secede and this only reinforces the constitutional provision that Nigeria is an indivisible entity.


So Ojukwu violated both the Aburi Accord which is an intra- national agreement( an agreement NOT between two sovereign states) and the Nigerian Constitution by declaration of the Sovereign State of Biafra.

It is the same thing going on between Nigeria and Boko Haram today.


OAA




Mr. President you swore an oath to rule according to the Constitution   Where are the schools to promote the teaching of the country's lingua francas?



Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.



-------- Original message --------
From: 'Okechukwu Ukaga' via USA Africa Dialogue Series <usaafric...@googlegroups.com>
Date: 02/10/2020 16:10 (GMT+00:00)
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Complexity of Biafra

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“A series of miscalculations and unfortunate events culminated in the war... to Gowon reneging on Aburi agreement reached with Ojukwu in Ghana that have resolved everything peacefully;" – Okey Ukaga

“As for Gowon reneging on Aburi agreement with Ojukwu, that cannot be true since Decree No.8 promulgated on 17 March 1967, embodied everything agreed to in Aburi, Ghana, except for an addition that granted the Supreme Council power to declare a state of emergency in any region, provided it is supported by three out of the four existing regions then. Incidentally, three of the four regions were situated in the south and declaration of emergency in a State would not have been easy to obtain. Decree No. 8 was nothing but a loose federation which could have afforded the regions to prepare to opt out of the federation eventually but Ojukwu was too much in a hurry. Decree No. 8 was abrogated on 27 May 1967, when Gowon split the country into 12 states simultaneously as Ojukwu's Consultative Assembly urged him to declare a Sovereign State of Biafra. The rest is history.+ -S. Kadiri 

 “For the sake of the present and future generations of Nigeria, we should always endeavour to give correct accounts of the Nigerian civil war and events that led to it.” – S. Kadiri 

Yes, we should always give correct accounts, so let's be clear about implementation or non-implementation of agreement. If Decree No.8 promulgated on 17 March 1967 embodied ALL OF AND NOTHING ELSE but what was agreed to in Aburi, then we can honestly say Gowon did in fact implement the agreement. But as you, Kadri, acknowledge here, that was not the case. More importantly, the most reliable source, Gowon himself acknowledged as much and gave reasons why he could not and did not completely honor the agreement. He also indicated that he had asked Ojukwu to give him space and time as he was balancing Ojukwu’s demand for full implementation of the Aburi agreement and pressure from others for him not to do so. I remember reading somewhere where Gowon talked about being sick with malaria after returning from Aburi and trying to figure out how to move forward by balancing the pull from different sides, and all he was getting from Ojukwu is “on Aburi we stand” and finally he (Gowon) out of frustration, he gave up and said to himself: well, “on Aburi he (Ojukwu) would fall”.  I believe Gowon. So your notion that the agreement was implement is NOT true. We can quibble about why and how much, but we cannot honestly say it was implemented. As Toyin Adepoju rightly noted, when two parties make an agreement, no party has the right to unilaterally amend that agreement or to implement most and not all parts of the agreement or to add something else not mutually agreed to. Doing any of that amounts to breach of agreement, which is act of breaking the terms set out in a contract. And that is what Gowon did with degree 8 of 17 March 1967 and again when he split the country into 12 states on 27 May 1967. We need to accurately document and share our history "for the sake of the present and future generations of Nigeria." And there you have it.

OU




On Fri, Oct 2, 2020 at 4:29 AM OLAYINKA AGBETUYI <yagb...@hotmail.com> wrote:

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Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju

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Oct 2, 2020, 1:11:58 PM10/2/20
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Intelligence report about what Ojukwu could do-intelligence based on what-speculation, whispers from his confidants, his own declarations? 

we have paid and are still paying a high price for the decision to modify that Accord



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OLAYINKA AGBETUYI

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My brother:

As you read from. Baba Kadiri there was not much modification in the Accord that could not be ironed out by frank discussions rather than secession.

Also as the American intelligence shared on this forum which I alluded to showed Ojukwu was only attending Aburi as a smokescreen to cover for his preparations for war consequent on his proclamation.  This was what I meant by intelligence report which may have filtered to the SMC which made Gowon promulgate Decree No. 8 which was only a military regime's version of the constitutional provision on secession ( since military governments always suspend constitutions when they hijack power and then promulgate aspects of the Constitution they need as  decrees as they go along.)


Except that Ojukwu wanted things done quickly as Baba Kadiri suggests what he should have done was present the resolve of the Eastern Consultative Assembly to Gowon.  According to Decree 8 all the three remaining sections would vote on it if they all agree with him to relinquish that part of Nigeria to Biafra then it is a done deed;  until they all agree it cannot be done by force. (except, that is, if Biafra had superior forces e.g. atomic bomb capability.)


Meanwhile the federal government would be going on with series of appeasement programs with the aim of making the Eastern Consultative Assembly change its mind.  The process either way will take a long time to conclude.

Spain has been undergoing the same process with its separatist group Eta for decades.


OAA




Mr.  President you swore an oath to rule according to the Constitution.    Where are the schools to promote the teaching of the country's lingua francas?



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-------- Original message --------
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Salimonu Kadiri

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Oct 3, 2020, 9:56:54 AM10/3/20
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​OAA, 
Aburi meeting took place between 4th and 5th of January 1967 and it must be unwise for anybody to think that what were agreed to within two days' conference would be perfect. The implementation of what was agreed upon in a hurry in Abuja required detailed interpretations. Thus, a meeting of military officers was convened in Benin, then capital of Midwest region, in February 1967. The delegation from the Eastern Region was composed of Lieutenant Colonels Philip Effiong (leader of the delegate), Patrick Anwunah and Christian C. Ude. The military officers from the East could not agree with their colleagues from the rest of the country on interpretation of item 1b in the Aburi accord saying : There will be a Military Headquarters on which the Regions will be equally represented and which will be headed by a Chief of Staff. The Eastern delegate said Military Headquarters mentioned in the Aburi agreement included the Army, the Navy and the Airforce, while other region's delegates insisted that Military Headquarters referred only to the Army. The Eastern delegate left the meeting to consult with the Governor of Midwest Region, Lieutenant Colonel David Ejoor, who was at Aburi meeting, to clarify the interpretation in dispute. When they returned to the meeting, they claimed that the Governor approved their own version of what Military Headquarters entailed. Delegates from other regions reacted by going to Governor Ejoor to hear his view directly on the disputed term. They too returned to claim that the Governor approved their own meaning of the disputed term. Thereafter, the two sides agreed to summon Governor Ejoor to the meeting for face to face clarification. When Ejoor arrived, he told them that he was not certain if the Navy and the Airforce were included in the term Military Headquarters in the Aburi accord. The meeting adjourned with the request that the federal government's representative at the meeting, Lieutenant Colonel Eyo Ekpo(an Ibibio from Eastern Region on Federal side), should obtain the correct interpretation from Gowon before the next meeting, which never took place because Ojukwu had already started recruiting only Igbo soldiers in the East to the exclusion of the minorities in the region. Phillip Effiong remarked on Aburi agreement's flop, ".... we had the initiative and could have driven a hard bargain to retain some (if not most) of the Aburi gains. In the event, it was Ojukwu's stand to have all or nothing that made the East to lose all it gained at Aburi." The rest is history. 
S. Kadiri

From: usaafric...@googlegroups.com <usaafric...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of OLAYINKA AGBETUYI <yagb...@hotmail.com>
Sent: 02 October 2020 19:45
To: usaafric...@googlegroups.com <usaafric...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: RE: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Complexity of Biafra
 

Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju

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Oct 3, 2020, 10:59:00 AM10/3/20
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If that was Effiong's stand and Ojukwu was recruiting only Igbo soldiers, how come, he Effiong became Ojuwku's second in command, a person who fought with Ojukwu to the very end and represented Biafra at the surrender at war's end?

What was Victor Banjo doing in an all Igbo army, so much so that he led Biafra's Midwest invasion and its efforts to control the SW?

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OLAYINKA AGBETUYI

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Oct 4, 2020, 3:36:13 PM10/4/20
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And how many Victor Banjo were in the Biafran army? So there is no Igbo blood in Victor Banjo?  Next we are going to be told Vincent Oluwatoyin Adepoju has taken an overly studious interest in Igbo affairs precisely because he has no Igbo links!

And what became of Victor Banjo  in the end when he sought a leadership change because he felt Ojukwu's leadership had led to avoidable excessive bloodshed?


OAA




Mr President you swore an oath to rule according to the Constitution.  Where are the schools to promote the teaching of the country's lingua francas?



Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.



-------- Original message --------
From: Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju <toyin....@gmail.com>
Date: 03/10/2020 16:13 (GMT+00:00)
To: usaafricadialogue <usaafric...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Complexity of Biafra

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If that was Effiong's stand and Ojukwu was recruiting only Igbo soldiers, how come, he Effiong became Ojuwku's second in command, a person who fought with Ojukwu to the very end and represented Biafra at the surrender at war's end?

What was Victor Banjo doing in an all Igbo army, so much so that he led Biafra's Midwest invasion and its efforts to control the SW?

On Sat, 3 Oct 2020 at 14:56, Salimonu Kadiri <ogunl...@hotmail.com> wrote:

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Salimonu Kadiri

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​As I previously stated, Lt. Colonel Phillip Effiong was by date of promotion to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel senior to Ojukwu. As at July 29, 1966, the most senior Lt. Colonel in Nigeria was Wellington Umoh Bassey and in the then Eastern Region, Lt. Colonels Ume Ogere Imo, George Kurubo, Phillip Effiong and Hillary Njoku were all senior to Ojukwu by dates of promotion to that rank. It was Ironsi tribalism that made him appoint Ojukwu as Governor of Eastern Region above three seniors of Ojukwu from the minority area of the then Eastern Region. Effiong already was an officer and he fled the North, like many Easterners after 29 July 1966 coup, to the East. He was not Ojukwu's recruit. And if Effiong had the chance he would have fled from Biafra to the federal side as George Kurubo did. Effiong realised that he was being used to give false impression that Biafra was not an Igbo republic.

As for your second question Victor Banjo was a Lieutenant Colonel in October 1964. It was he who, on 17 January 1966, had summoned soldiers at Ordnance Depot, Yaba, including Lt. Col. Phillip Effiong, to inform them about the coup, the casualties, and his desire that officers from Lt. Colonels and above should resign to allow the Majors to rule. He was arrested the same day and detained in the East by Ironsi. If he had been detained outside Eastern region, there was likelihood that he would have been set free during the second coup since he did not take part in the first coup. However, Banjo was released together with other participants in the January 15, 1966, coup by Ojukwu after the 29 July 1966 coup. Major Ademoyega who refused to be enlisted in Biafran Army was kept in detention till the end of the war. Banjo has been projected as leading an all Igbo soldiers to invade Midwest On August 9, 1967 but he thought he could use that opportunity for a revolutionary war with Emmanuel Ifeajuna, one of the main executors of the coup in Lagos in January 1966. In fact, the 2nd in command to Banjo in the invasion of the Midwest was Lt. Col. Festus Akagha and they instructed to move through Benin, Ore, and Ijebu-Ode to seize Lagos. So, he was under the surveillance of an Igbo Lt. Col. The 1st Battalion led by Lt. Col. Mike Ivenso was assigned to Northern Sector to move to Owo through Akure to seize Ibadan, while the 3rd Battalion led by Lt. Col. Humphrey Iwuchukwu Chukwuka was assigned to the South and to move through Sapele, Warri to advance along the coast to launch a two-pronged attack on Lagos. Ojukwu appointed Albert Nwaozu Okonkwo as military governor of Midwest State but after the ejection of Biafran forces, the Benis led by Major Samuel Ogbemudia took their pound of flesh from the Igbo in Asaba which was blamed on Murtala Mohammed. On 29 September 1967, Ojukwu ordered the execution of Banjo, Ifeajuna, Phillip Alale and Sam Agbam because of their anti-secession stance.
S. Kadiri

From: usaafric...@googlegroups.com <usaafric...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju <toyin....@gmail.com>
Sent: 03 October 2020 16:51

Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju

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Oct 5, 2020, 6:36:04 AM10/5/20
to usaafricadialogue
thanks, Salimonu, for the blend of interpretation, detailed history, and, in my view, speculation.

How do we distinguish speculation from fact in such striking arguments as those that claim -

 that Effiong was second in command to Ojukwu against his will and he would have fled Biafra if given the chance.

in the Midwest invasion, Banjo's second in command was actually placed there partly to place him under surveillance.

Banjo had in mind a revolutionary war within the Biafra context

OAA on the possibility of a level of Igbo blood in Victor Banjo that might be enough to make him Igbo.

Thanks, too, Salimonu, for the description of why Banjo and the others were executed.

I also seem to have read somewhere that Ojukwu accused them of trying to remove him.

I am particularly moved by those cautious assessments on the war in this thread.

Perhaps one may juxtapose the results from Googling  ''oluwatoyin vincent adepoju biafra'' or ''oluwatoyin vincent adepoju pro- biafra fanaticism'', with


''Next we are going to be told Vincent Oluwatoyin Adepoju has taken an overly studious interest in Igbo affairs precisely because he has no Igbo links! ''
OAA

even though i don't understand the logic of the argument in that line.

I am now better informed, since those contributions the Google links lead to were composed, about various shades of opinion on  Civil War Biafra among Igbos, this thread being significant  for me in that journey of learning.

The Adepoju who composed those statements in those references  and this Adepoju are not exactly the same person. 

This Adepoju would not proceed with such unequivocal assurance in examining the motives of various actors and of assessing blame in relation to that war.

thanks

toyin












To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/usaafricadialogue/DBAP192MB10024AFED9013A59913CA1A7AE0E0%40DBAP192MB1002.EURP192.PROD.OUTLOOK.COM.

Uyilawa Usuanlele

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Oct 5, 2020, 3:29:29 PM10/5/20
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Salimonu,
                You wrote :
                                " the Benis led by Major Samuel Ogbemudia took their pound of flesh from
                            the Igbo in Asaba which was blamed on Murtala Mohammed."

Must you always pepper your writings with lies? Where is the evidence that Major Samuel Ogbemudia's involvement in the war and killings in Asaba? Where is the evidence that the Benis led and were involved in the killings in Asaba? You must have something against the Benins that drives you into such lies.
Major Ogbemudia did not take part in any combat after he was appointed Administrator of Midwest state in early October 1967. Benin's were neither the commanders of the Federal Army nor the majority of the soldiers who participated in Asaba occupation and killings. The documentation of the Asaba killings by various authors and eyewitnesses in Asaba shows that the soldiers were of mixed Nigerian origins including indigenes of Asaba. Enough of these lies and stop making yourself a laughingstock.   
Uyi
From: usaafric...@googlegroups.com <usaafric...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Salimonu Kadiri <ogunl...@hotmail.com>
Sent: Saturday, October 3, 2020 3:36 PM

Salimonu Kadiri

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Oct 6, 2020, 5:46:44 PM10/6/20
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​Uyilawa, 
You must think logically when you write. Bringing you to the path of logical reasoning, you must be able to point out what I stand to gain by what you regard as my telling lies against the Benis. The Benis are contained in the present Edo State which is an amalgamation of various ethnic languages representing 18 local government areas. The local government areas are, Igueben, Esan North-East, Esan Central, Ikpoba Okha, Uhunmwonde, Egor, Owan-East, Owan West, Ovia North East, Etsako West, Esan South East Oredo, Esan West, Akoko Edo, Etsako East Etsako Central, Orhionmwon and Ovia South-West. Out of the aforementioned Local Government Areas, seven belong to the Benis which are Oredo, Egor, Ikpoba-Okha, Ovia South West, Ovia North-East, Uhunmwonde and Orhionmwon. This means that the Benin in Edo state are in minority against the rest 11 combined Local government areas. That proves that even in Edo, Benin is a frog which you inflate into an elephant and you think I am deflating. That is what real history has exposed us to. You cannot start changing and rewriting history to suit your specific taste. Having said that I want you to answer the following questions : Who was Lt. Col. Conrad Nwawo? What order did he give to Major Samuel Osaigbovo Ogbemudia on 7 August 1967? When was Midwest invaded by the Biafrans? When did Asaba massacre happen? When was Biafra liberated, completely, from the Biafrans and what was Ogbemudia's role in the liberation war? When was he appointed military Governor of Midwest? If you fail or refuse to answer the above questions then you must be a rascal street urchin for calling me a liar and projecting me as a hater of the Benis.
S. Kadiri  

From: usaafric...@googlegroups.com <usaafric...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Uyilawa Usuanlele <big...@hotmail.com>
Sent: 05 October 2020 18:48

Uyilawa Usuanlele

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Oct 7, 2020, 7:04:55 AM10/7/20
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Salimonu,
                I owe you no answer as long as you do not provide the evidence of your claims that Ogbemudia led the Benis to commit the killings in Asaba. I repeat that you lied and will not degenerate to the gutter with you. Good day.
Uyi

Sent: Tuesday, October 6, 2020 5:05 PM

OLAYINKA AGBETUYI

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Oct 7, 2020, 12:22:20 PM10/7/20
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Ah!  


Uyi, you dont want to descend  in the gutter, but where exactly are you if you publicly accuse someone of lying just because you disagree with them?  And what if he then produces the evidence?


Academics owe it a duty to use only academic phrases when debating in public.  It would not have hurt you if you said' I am not aware of the facts you stated. These are my own facts and these are the sources. '  

Then your interlocutor will produce their evidence and the public and readers decide whose evidence is more compelling.


You stated that Baba Kadiri must have hated Benin people.  So if Baba Kadiri criticises Obasanjo and Adenuga on oil deals as he tangentially did in ' Arise V', that must mean he hates the Yoruba or he hates himself for being Yoruba!



OAA




Mr. President you took an oath to rule according to the Constitution.

Where are the schools to promote the teaching of the country's lingua francas?



Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.

-------- Original message --------
From: Uyilawa Usuanlele <big...@hotmail.com>
Date: 07/10/2020 12:06 (GMT+00:00)
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Complexity of Biafra

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Salimonu,
                I owe you no answer as long as you do not provide the evidence of your claims that Ogbemudia led the Benis to commit the killings in Asaba. I repeat that you lied and will not degenerate to the gutter with you. Good day.
Uyi

Sent: Tuesday, October 6, 2020 5:05 PM

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Salimonu Kadiri

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Oct 7, 2020, 2:41:09 PM10/7/20
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​Well Uyilawa, this is a forum for brains and not brawns. You are not under compulsion to answer my interrogative questions to you concerning your fellow Igodomigodo pal, Samuel Osaigbovo Ogbemudia. However, anyone with brain will detect without problem that the evidence you requested of me are baked into the questions I pedagogically posed to you. If those questions seem to you to belong to the gutter, it must be as a result of your birth and upbringing in the swamp among crocodiles which naturally are beset with big jaws, no ears, very small brain, very lazy and very opportunistic. I am not prepared to satisfy your mental laziness, that is why I posed those questions to you so that, even if you don't know, you can go to any public library in the US to borrow some, out of scores of, books on Nigeria's past to read. Some weeks ago, when a fellow Nigerian on this forum complained about you and me writing history as if we were eyewitnesses of those events, you replied with crocodile instinct that you were not writing academic papers and as such you were not obliged to supply the source of your information. Now, you are requesting me to spoon-feed you with historical facts about the Nigerian civil war because you are mentally lazy. Please, small boy Uyilawa of Igodomigodo, go and read books, and thereafter you can come back to the forum for brains, and not coconut-head brawns, to answer my questions. If you follow my advice to read books, I wish you comprehensive understandings of whatever you read on the subject now under discussion here. 
S. Kadiri ​


Sent: 07 October 2020 04:38
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