Civil war "Owambe"
Thomas A.Nwodoh
> There is no reason to hope. After
> almost 30 years, some sections of the country are using the civil war
> against Alex Ekwueme. Even Obasanjo, in his campaign stumps in the
> North gladly reminds everyone that he is still nursing a bullet wound
> from that war. Apparently no victor no vanquished was all nonsense.
Kasirim:
Thanks for your comment above.
I must say that a lot of Yorubas are still dancing the "Owambe" they were
dancing during the war. Why not? They benefited immensely from that war.
Their "competitors" are out of the economy and civil service. They do not
want to let go the Owambe. Too good to let go. Obasanjo enjoys it. Diya
likes it. Same with a of lot naijanet chickens.
Before someone accuses me of some phobia, let us look at these MY
real-life observations:
a). At the end of the war as a little boy Sergeant X (can't quite remember
his name now) was friendly with my family.
He got friendly with us from the night he came to our house with some
soldiers from the barracks in my town, apparently to search for weapons.
My father refused to open the door for them thinking they were robbers.
Sergeant X, who was leading the operation, kept begging my father to open
the door saying they were only searching for weapons. After the exchange
with my father Sergeant X became friendly with us. I used to visit him in
the barracks before the barracks was removed from my town. He gave me all
those then sweet scarce things. He always came to our family almost
apologizing for all that we had to go through. He kept touch with us until
maybe 1976. He is from Plateau Sate.
b). Take another case. We call him "Abrogate", a Staff Sergeant. One of
those soldiers sent to secondary schools sometime in 70s. Abrogate used to
hang out with us that time in school. Abrogate always spoke about how
bad he feels that the innocent had to go through what we went through.
Abrogate is from Benue State. The feel the "healing" when you are with
Abrogate.
c). Consider Nigerian HOS since the civil war. Obviously, Shagari has no
problem giving an Igbo a vice-presidential position. I believe, he could
have also accepted an Ekwueme presidency in 1987. Shagari is from Sokoto
State. IBB has no problem with an Igbo CGS. He only fell out with Ukiwe
because of some internal politics within their ranks. Also, before the
Orka coup, IBB could trust a lot of Igbos to man his personal security.
IBB is from Niger State. In the early 90's IBB went for surgery for the
bullet he received during the civil war. IBB never used that against
the Igbos in public the way Obasanjo is now using it. Consider, Abacha.
If what David Mark said is anything to go by, Abacha was said to have
considered having an Igbo "vice-president". Abacha is from Kano State.
d). Now, lets go westward. Okadigbo was reported to have said that he was
surprised that he was the one that made it possible to have the first
Igbo "cook" in Dordan Barracks when he was a presidential adviser
in 1979. To Obasango's Dordan Barracks, no Igbo should even
become a "cook". Obasanjo is a Yoruba. For Diya, an Igbo "vice president"
is too much. Too much reward for the civil war. Diya is a Yoruba.
e). Down to naijanet and the Yoruba press. We know, the much Bolaji can
give the Igbo is Defense Minister. The presidency is too much! They have
to heal first, maybe after thy kingdom comes. Same with a lot
of others (ALL OF THEM YORUBAS). They are the only people with the power
of analyses. They have all figured out that "the Hausa man cannot vote
for an Igbo president because of the civil war". Only Yorubas are
knowledgeable enough to make that analysis. Northerners don't see it
that way. Only Yorubas can interpret what a northerner will do.
Kai, these people sabi a lot o!
While I hate to agree with a military apologist like Author Nzeribe, I
must say that he was right on the mark when he made some statements
about the Yorubas. Just take out the sections were he said he would
never campaign for a Yoruba and other unnecessary generalizations and you
see that his observation are absolutely correct. Yet we are talking of
southern solidarity so that the likes of "June 12" will not recur.
Let the Owambe continue.
---Tom.
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Ebony...@nigerpress.demon.co.uk
Your remarks highlights once again, the need to take seriously some of the
Igbo issues that are constantly flagged up in this forum. Some of us have
take time off the pursuit of "ordinary business of life" to engage in these
exchanges, not because we want to hear our own voices but because of a
genuinine desire to improve the welfare of Ndiigbo. Perharps with a little
more proactive and lateral thinking we could confront some of the issues that
plague us well before they assume unmanageable proportions. Ndiigbo cannot
continue to act in ad-hoc, reactive manner to the antics of well entrenched
intrests that seek to keep us perpertually down.
What am I talking about? Well, at the very inception of the Abubakar regime
and following the release of Obasanjo, we, having observed the nature and
character of the emerging political formations, drew the attention of Ndiigbo
in this forum to what we saw as the reconstitution of the anti-Igbo alliances
and the potential consequences. We noted that the release of Obasanjo
signalled intention of the regime to re-assemble the reactionary
Youruba-Hausa civil and military alliance that defeated Biafra and held
Nigeria to ransom between 1967 and 1994 when the alliance was blasted apart
by Gen. Abacha. Not a few brothers took umbrage at this interpretation of
events judging by the reaction we received. As a result, no further thought
was given to the analysis of the options offered by this unwholesome outcome.
Now a couple of months down the line, the full scenario is unfurled before us.
Obasanjo is in the north stirring anti-Igbo sentiments, his mates in the army
are queued behind him threatening fire and brimestone if he is not made
president of Nigeria. Some Yorubas with whom our folks held Igbo-Yoruba
meetings only yesterday now turn around and tell us to our faces that an Igbo
cannot be president (a defence minister maybe). By a bizzare plot that is
uniquely Nigerian, we may yet get a transition from military rule to military
rule in a country said to be fed up with the military in governance. If this
happens, then Ndiigbo are back to January 15 1970 or worse still the mid-70s
when it was considered dangerous even to ask why none of the steel rolling
mills were located in Igboland. What the heck is going on?
I re-post the piece "The reconstitution of anti Igbo Alliances". If only we
could think more laterally and act proactively. If only...
Ani
The Reconstitution of Anti-Igbo Alliances.
No long ago when there was a prolferation of Igbo-Yoruba Meetings among
Nigerians abroad, we raised the question: Why is it that each time
Yorubas are pushed to the wall in the Nigerian power matrix, they start
seeking for an Igbo-Yoruba rapproachment, but when they are bailed out,
they turn against us?
Recent events in Nigeria have confirmed our worst fears about the
purpose pf those meetings and compelled us to alert Ndigbo to the
present attempts to reconstitue old anti-Igbo alliances in the name of
"national reconciliation".
It is a known fact that during Gen Abacha's regime, the reactionary
civil-military alliance binding Northerners and South-Westerners against
Ndiigbo came under intense pressure and collapsed, leading to the
incaceration of key players such as Obasanjo, Bola Uge, Diya, Adisa etc.
During this period, the main concern of South-Western strategists was to
reonstitute their alliance with the northerners, an arrangement in which
they served as the Juior partner while Ndigbo were marginalised. Many
schemes were hatched by south-westerners to achieve these aim. The best
known of these was the demand for the release of Abiola to head a
government of "national Unity". However, towards the end Abacha's rule
when it became clear that he (Abacha) had been adopted as sole candidate
for the presidential election, the South-Western strategists completely
changed their tactics and started to advocate clandestinely for what
they called "the devil's alternative" i.e. the Abiola-Abacha
presidential ticket! (Details of this treacherous plot have
comprehensively discussed in the Lagos "Guardian" newspaper, April and
May 1998 editions).
Two issues are clear from the above: (a) behind the clamour for the
validation of the annulled June 12 1993 presidential election laid the
desire to reconstitute the anti-Igbo axis. (b) all the schemes hatched
by the South-Western strategists including government of "national
unity", Abacha-Abiola presidential ticket and even the Diya coup were
carefully crafted to exclude Ndigbo.
Given this background, we can assert that the emerging character of the
Abubakar's regime points to the re-emergence of the old anti-Igbo axis
in the name of "national reconciliation". This assertion is supported by
the recent appointments in the military by the regime. In this unique or
even bizzare version of "national reconciliation", Abubakar appointed
some southern elements including some Yorubas into top positions, e.g.
Oladayo Popoola as the commander of the "Nigeran" 2nd Division in Enugu
and Ayinla to head the Navy. No Igbo person was appointed to any
position whatsoever. Given the so-called "southern solidarity" that was
often referred to during the Abacha's regime, one would have expected
Popoola, Ayinla and other South-westerners recently appointed by
Abubakar to reject such appointments and refuse to assume these
positions until Ndigbo (a substantial portion of the "south") is also
represented. Have they not gleefully accepted their positions and
forgotten about "southern solidarity"? Will this farce stand?
The second evidence of the reconstuitution of the anti-Igbo axis is the
re-emergence of Obasanjo and other key players in the anti-Igbo axis in
the current Nigerian political scene. Using Obasanjor as an examplar, it
is clear that those who harbour intense anti-Igbo agenda are again on
the prowl in Nigeria. According to Igbonekwu Ogazimora of the "Post
Express", it was Obasanjo (irked by his inability to capture Owerri
during the war) who instigated the plot to exclude Ndigbo from any
positions of athourity in the Nigerian army. He was reported to have
recommended to his Northern allies that Ndigbo should never again be put
in a position to "threaten national security". In simple, uncoded
language, this means that no Igboman should be allowed into the top
echeleon of the army. It has also been revealed by one Onukaba Ojo in a
biography of Obasanjo, that he (Obasanjo) was responsible for not only
the humiliation of the Igbo leadership who negotiated the end of Biafra
in 1970 but also ensured that Ndigbo got nothing from the surrender by
recommending to his Northern allies that those defeated in a war could
not give conditions. Before Obasanjo's hardline stand, Igbo leaders were
insisting on the renegotiation of the 12-state structure in which Ndigbo
were not initially consulted. Obasanjo's treacherous stand put paid to
that and ensured that Ndigbo were treated as defeated people.
The re-emergence of the key players in the South-Western/Northern alliance
suggests that this reactionary alliance is about to be
reconstituted. This assertion is also evident in the pattern of
"consultations" and meetings being conducted by the regime in which Igbo
representation is basically non-existent on both the government's and
"opposition" sides. Ndigbo should keep this scenario in mind as we
observe the Abubakar's regime.
With this analysis in mind, the question arises: what became of the
those Igbo-Yoruba meetings? Why do we no longer hear about Igbo-Yoruba
meetings now that the pressures are off the Yorubas? Why do the Yorubas
always seek meetings with Ndigbo when their position in the Nigerian
power structure is threatened only to turn coat when their power
position is restored? Have Ndigbo not been conned yet again?
Kevin Ani
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