50 years after: Deaths, famine could have been avoided with better communication – Lekwot

January 15, 2020 was the 50th anniversary of the end of the fratricidal war in Nigeria known as the Nigerian Civil War. It was a war fought between the government of Nigeria and the secessionist state of Biafra from July 6, 1967 to January15, 1970. Biafra represented nationalist aspirations of the people of Biafra whose leaders felt they could no longer coexist with an alleged northern-dominated Federal Government.

Reportedly, the immediate causes of the war in 1966 included ethno-religious riots in northern Nigeria, a military coup, a counter-coup and alleged persecution of Igbo living in the North. Control over the lucrative oil production in the Niger Delta played a vital strategic role.

The Federal Government troops were said to have surrounded Biafra after more than one year of fierce fighting, capturing coastal oil facilities and the city of Port Harcourt. The blockade imposed during the ensuing war led to mass starvation. And during the nearly three years of the war, no fewer than 100,000 overall military casualties were recorded, while nearly two million Biafran civilians died of starvation. A former Military Governor of Rivers State, Maj. Gen. Zamani Lekwot (retd.), one of the soldiers who fought during the war, though as a junior officer then, tells SIMON UTEBOR about the war and how Nigeria came out of it

As one of those who witnessed the Nigerian Civil War, which ended in January 1970, how would you describe it?

Civil wars are wars fought by brothers – the Biafrans and Nigerians were brothers. We all attended the same military school; some of us were very good friends which means we knew the same strategies and tactics. Fighting a brother is very difficult but since political disagreements led to it, we had to take up the gauntlet. Having to face our brothers in battle was a very difficult situation but soldiers obey orders.

Nevertheless, that was why Gen. Yakubu Gowon (now retired), the then Head of State, declared it as a police action. So, we carried out our duties; it was unfortunate that many innocent people died on both sides. But the good thing today is that Nigeria is one and for the first time in history, there was no treason trial after the war. Some of the Biafran officers and other ranks were absolved into the system.

What was your experience in the war?

My experience is not different from other people’s experience. Seizing people and trying to defend yourself and all of that was a terrible experience but we are happy it ended. Some of us have bullet scars, some lost limbs, and some lost their lives. I cannot give you more details because it is against our convention to start putting experience in writing until at least over 100 years; that is the rule.

Do you think the war was necessary or should it have been avoided?

It could have been avoided if communication had not broken down. I was a junior officer then but we learnt that a meeting was called in Benin, the fourth area command. The Army had area commands; Benin was the fourth area command. If Chief Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu (leader of the breakaway Republic of Biafra between 1967 and 1970) had attended that meeting, I think the war would not have broken out. Why? I learnt that northern political leaders were ready to go for confederation but Ojukwu did not attend, so the meeting did not take place, until a decision was taken to meet in Ghana in Aburi. Nigerians must have read what happened there.

It was believed that Gowon did not abide by the Aburi Accord that was why the civil war broke out, do you agree with that assertion?

Well, I can’t speak for Gen. Gowon (retd.). People can find out from him what the details are. As I said earlier, I was a junior officer then. But I read an interview in which Philip Asiodu said the late Alison Ayida and himself as alumni of King’s College went to Enugu to see Ojukwu and begged him to reconsider because going to war or seceding would not solve any problem and according to that interview, Ojukwu refused and told them that the regions would be dissolved.

The run-up to the war also contributed to it. The way the first coup was carried out with the killing of innocent people, followed by the reactions that led to more killings, poisoned the atmosphere; but if communication had not broken down and the benefit of the doubt was given, I think the war could have been avoided.

After the war, Gowon instituted the policy of 3Rs – reconciliation, reconstruction and rehabilitation – as part of the measures to heal the wounds inflicted by the war, but the people of South-East extraction, particularly the Igbo, feel that they are marginalised in Nigeria. Is the allegation of marginalisation justified?

I cannot answer that question because I have not discussed with any of my friends there. We are running a democracy in which there is freedom of expression, so if they are marginalised, we have to define the marginalisation because I know that some Igbo officers were reabsorbed into the military. Some of them were my friends and colleagues and there is no dichotomy between us, we meet and talk. Second, in my village, there are some Igbo traders buying and selling. Some of them marry our daughters, which is proper. This is the type of Nigeria we are aspiring to. As for the type of the marginalisation, is it political, is it economic, I don’t know, so I am not in a position to address the question properly and it should be channelled to the relevant quarters.

It is believed that some of the issues that propelled the civil war are still with us today. Do you agree with that?

Yes, the killings are across the board by bandits and that is an offshoot of keeping our borders open to all manner of people to come in. Somebody stated that the fall of Libyan strongman, Muammar Gaddafi, unleashed the mayhem we are seeing. The kidnapping, the killings are done by bandits who stay in the bush, attack villages, destroy them, loot whatever they can and kill people. It is a failure of our security system. If things were working the way they should, through intelligence, we should be able to know or have an idea of when a strike is about to take place so that preemptive measures could be taken. I am happy that the government has started doing something positive about it. For example, the closure of the borders is in order because our country has become a dumping ground for all manner of goods and shady characters and since the borders were closed, the killings and banditry appear to have gone down, so we have to rise to the occasion properly and jointly. If you step into any of our neighbouring countries, you will know they have law and order– security people will interview you, but here it looks as it’s free entry for all. So, getting our acts together is what we need in order to remove these unsavoury activities that are making life unsafe.

What in your view do you think were the immediate and remote causes of the civil war?

It is a political question. Ask the politicians. I have not given it a thought.

You have a strong military background and it is argued that Nigeria’s problems, including the war began with the first military coup and subsequent military interventions, do you agree with that argument?

The answer is yes and no. Yes, because of the way and manner the first coup was staged. The first coup was staged by some alumni of the University of Ibadan. Major Adewale Ademoyega (retd.) stated in his book, ‘Why we struck’, that the plan to stage the coup was hatched in UI when they were undergraduates. Since they wanted to stage a revolution, they decided to the use the military as the vehicle. So, when  Major Chukwuma Nzeogwu, Major Emmanuel Ifeajuna, Ademoyega and a few others staged their coup, they killed many innocent people, senior politicians, senior military officers and that disrupted the synergy and espirit de corps in the military. Before that time, we were one family. The British left us a very good legacy. Given the nature of our training, officer cadets or civilians drilling the military as ordinary soldiers came from all the provinces in order to reflect national character. Our training imposed on us the need to guard the whole country as our constituencies – no tribal differences, no religious differences – we regarded ourselves as one.

Of course, team work is the hallmark of the military profession.  So, that being the case, we were one family but when that coup took place, with the way and manner the killing happened, it disrupted the espirit de corps up to a point.

Two, the coup culminated in dissolving the regions, so the first coup dissolved the region. To the people who say the military started what is haunting us, I say yes, but subsequent military regimes made very serious efforts to restructure the country. For instance, the creation of states gave a sense of belonging to people in the nooks and crannies of the country. The local government reform was introduced by the military in order to create a third tier of the government and then the aim was to make sure resources were sent to them in order to have even development, but unfortunately, some governors are not doing justice to that philosophy, making local governments to be starved of funds.

This January makes it 50 years after the war do you think Nigerians learnt any lessons from the war?

Well, we have a few misguided persons making careless statements. Nevertheless, I believe that we have learnt some lessons. Those of us who took part in the war know what war is. No person in his senses can do anything without putting that into consideration, so I cannot speak for others, but I think some lessons have been learnt. Some good things have been done but what we have to accept jointly and severally is that God created us to cooperate with one another and respect the feelings of one another.

But it looks as if some selfish people put tribalism and religion as the primary things. Yes, these two things are very important, but we must have a platform from which we operate and that is one united and stable country.

Fifty years after the war, there is a general feeling that the Middle Belt and the Southern Nigeria are being reduced to the status of conquered peoples of Nigeria, how do you react to that?

We have a law in respect of federal character and there is a commission in charge. Nigeria is a very complex federation. Everyone cannot get everything they want. What people complaining are saying is that an attempt must be made to ensure equity and justice in everything we say and do and that is the responsibility of the people in power – if what has been happening that culminated in what is being said is because they are not aware. The time has come for the proper thing to be done in order to reduce the grumblings. Everyone likes to be respected and given their dues because life is short, therefore, equity and justice are required.

Japan and Germany bounced back from World War II to become economic giants, what do you think is really wrong with Nigeria?

Well, what is wrong with Nigeria is partly because of lack of vision; lack of objectivity. We have a large pool of educated and talented people and a serious effort must be made to put such people in a position of authority in order to bring about the correct vision and objectivity. There is no reason why what is happening in the country should happen the way it is happening, like insecurity. We have lived together for many years and we know what is right. What is required is the courage of our conviction to stand and do it. So, failure to do that is what has culminated in what people are talking about. We need dialogue and sincerity of purpose; I don’t mean just expressions but purposeful dialogue.

Are you recommending that Nigeria should engage in dialogue to resolve the issues affecting the country?

Yes. The people in authority must listen to what citizens crying out are saying. And that dialogue has already started. Over the years, we have had national conferences. The last one was in 2014 during which the recommendations of all previous reports were compiled and forwarded, and decisions were taken. Unfortunately, the current government has not done anything about it and the problems of the nation are growing from bad to worse. We are a divided country; many people are grumbling. Yes of course, no government can satisfy the needs of everybody but what is required is a concerted effort to do what is right. The best point of departure is devolution of power. As I have said the first coup dissolved the regions and everything was centralised.

Nigeria is a very large and complex country; if power is devolved in order to share between the federal, state and local governments, I believe a sense of belonging will be infused. When everybody participates, ideas will come from all directions and I believe the credible way forward will be found.

What do you think about decentralisation of power considering how much power the Federal Government has?

Look at security, for instance. We have a police force that is well trained but the problem is that they are too few on the ground given the size of Nigeria. Two, the tools they need for effective jobs are a far cry from what should be the case. Crime has gone digital, so fighting crime should also go digital. For instance, we hear that the bandits are well armed. If the people fighting banditry are not equal to the task, then there can be no solution.

The same national conference I was talking about recommended the creation of state police so that such police force can implement the state laws and organise the community police under the auspices of the governors who are the chief security officers because every nook and cranny has peculiar problems which people in Abuja cannot see. Of course, this state police creation recommendation is without prejudice to the Nigeria Police’s mandate to cover the whole country. So, state police, community police can gather information, intelligence and give to the police headquarters in Abuja. In neighbouring countries where they have law and order, that is what they do. If you step into their country, the gendarmes will be the first to get in contact with you to ask you questions. Since the Nigeria Police Force is adequately equipped, involving the state government at that level will make sense because the governors are the chief security officers in their states.

Whatever they do will complement what the Nigeria Police and other security agencies are doing. I have always maintained that traditional rulers must be brought in because they are the people in charge of the rural areas. Once we all work together, I believe that will go a long way to stem the current security threats facing the country.

There are fears that the state governors will manipulate state and community police. Do you believe so?

That will be neutralised with appropriate legislation. The rule of law is what makes things tick anywhere in the world because no human being, irrespective of their status, is above the law. So, once an appropriate legislation is enacted guiding everyone on how to behave, we will get over it.

What do you think about Operation Amotekun launched by South-West governors recently?

As far as I am concerned, it is a good idea because I read somewhere that it is meant to check the current banditry going on. The bandits hide in the forest and they strike wherever they like. I think their primary function is to gather intelligence through surveillance, so when something is going on, they report and the security apparatus at high level can now map a strategy to step in through preemptive action before damage is done. So coordination, monitoring and cohesion are required.

In other states, they have vigilantes. In the North-East, the hunters join hands with the security people in order to salvage the situation. So, I see nothing wrong with it because as I heard, the governors of the South-West put their heads together. I saw the launch on the television, the calibre of vehicles I have seen and the enthusiasm demonstrated by the people means a sign of good things to come.

But the FG has described it as illegal, what do you think about that?

Well, I am not a lawyer. I don’t know what “illegal” means. Is it that no law was enacted before they were inaugurated or what? The fact that they put their heads together to do what they are doing shows that they are filling a vacuum. If the federal might had spread to the area to know what was happening, then there would have been no need for Operation Amotekun. In other communities, they have vigilantes. So, whatever they are doing is to support the police and other security agencies, if nothing else, with information.

It is argued that during the regional system of government, Nigeria fared better than what it has become since that governmental structure was jettisoned. Do you think the regional structure is better?

That is correct because when we were schoolchildren, we saw an effective Native Authority Police. They were people that operated in the rural areas. No young person there misbehaved. The traditional rulers were very powerful – the peasants respected them. Each region had regional house of chiefs where the chiefs used to meet once in a while to extend views and advise the government. There was keen competition and economic scout between the regions. So, there was no fear of domination as we know today; a sense of belonging was infused to every nook and cranny. Of course, the regions then were not perfect – this issue of minorities was still there, which was why the Willinks Commission was published in 1958.

What do you think Nigerian can do to bounce back to reckoning and be respected by the comity of nations as one of Africa’s superpowers?

I believe in restructuring – restructuring means taking a second look at the structure in order to dot the i’s and cross the t’s. The 2014 national conference made some very fine recommendations because those recommendations were based on the recommendations of many other previous reports. So, what the government in power needs to do is to check the report and choose the ones they can implement. Devolution of power, for instance, is a good idea. For revenue allocation, the Federal Government takes the lion’s share whereas the local governments in particular are being starved of funds because some governors do not release their dues to them completely.

The creation of local government areas as the third tier in our governance structure was to bring government down to the grass roots. Another good thing about the conference report is that it recommended five per cent of revenue should be saved to develop minerals and there are minerals all over the country. Once that is done, job opportunities will be created, among other recommendations.

If the recommendations of the conference are adopted, they will seriously address all the problems facing us. Once we do that, the economy will pick up. The current embarrassing importation of things we can produce here like food items is what we should discourage. We are one of the largest oil producing countries in the world but we import the fuel we use. Our refineries are not functioning properly.

Do you think Nigeria is practising federalism?

I don’t think so. There is all manner of crises in the political parties; no internal democracy. Our elections have remained controversial – that should not be so. Voters should vote for whoever they want. Winner-takes-all syndrome cannot help us. Election is a mandate given to people elected by the electorate. When you lose an election, that is not the end of the world. Go home and re-plan but some people think that if they don’t win, hell will follow. That is not proper. Of course, part of the problem is the ignorance of the electorate. Our people are docile. Only they can make the politicians to behave. If the politicians misbehave, they should deal with him by using their signatures.

How I survived Asaba massacre –Archbishop Chukwuma

The Archbishop, Enugu Anglican Province and Bishop of Enugu Diocese, Most Rev. Emmanuel Olisa Chukwuma is one of the very few that came face to face with death during the civil war but was miraculously saved by God during the Asaba massacre.

In this exclusive interview with Saturday Sun, Archbishop Chukwuma whose 66th birthday coincided with the 50th anniversary of the end of the Nigeria/Biafra civil war on Wednesday, January 15, narrated how his speaking of Yoruba language saved him from being wasted by the bullets of the Nigerian soldiers.

He regretted that the civil war seemed not to have taught Nigeria any lesson and warned the leadership of the country to look carefully and see that those things that caused the war over five decades ago are still much around in the country now. He spoke to GEOFFREY ANYANWU.

May we start by saying happy birthday to you Sir, how old are you and how do you feel today?

I thank God today, I am celebrating my 66 years sojourn on earth, incidentally it falls on the 15th of January, the date we celebrate this year, the end of the Biafra civil war. I feel very much emotional about it but thankful to God that we are alive after 50 years of the Nigerian-Biafra civil war, that we are at peace and at this my 66th  year of birth, I am also an Archbishop in the vineyard of God and alive, having suffered even the civil war and God brought me out to be what I am today.

Can you share with us your experiences during the civil war?

Well, that civil war started and no one could say initially what was the problem because we found that the whole thing started from the north where many of our Igbo people were killed, either that they hung their heads or have their legs chopped off and they were bringing them down to the east. We never knew it will grow from there because after the coup that took place in Ibadan, Lagos and other places and the disagreement between Odumegwu Ojukwu and others and Biafra was born and there was battle up to Ore and that of Ore was serious, we never knew it was going to come down and it was like the whole Nigeria against the South East, the Biafra people.

My own experience was that I was stuck in Asaba where I was born and by the grace of God experienced the war, we knew how the Biafra people were chased, when they passed through Asaba, they broke the Niger Bridge; [so] it was difficult for the Nigerian troop to pass and they were more or less caught up in Asaba.

My experience was that when they asked us to come out to sing One Nigeria, we came out and were singing opposite the present day Grand Hotel; that was where we were gathered and after that we were led to a place called Ogbesowe where they now separated the women from the men. I was among the men, that time I was about 13 years old or so and they thought that all of us were Biafra soldiers. The first thing they did was turning it into genocide in which many of our men were shot  and killed. By the grace of God I was able to escape by falling down and corpses falling on me. While that was on, I was crawling out in the night when one of them said “who goes there” and I was speaking Yoruba because I understood Yoruba and luckily the officer was a Yoruba man and he took me out and rescued me to the women side, from there in the night we were asked to pass through those people that were lying dead and we escaped into the village at Ibuzo side, specifically at Achalla and from there by the grace of God I was able to find my way back to my father’s official residence in Akure where he was praying that if God will deliver me from the civil war, he will offer me to the ministry of the church.

But I will say that it was a very fearful thing because many a times when we were in the bush, we saw the shelling falling down many places, our houses were destroyed, burnt, many property stolen and a lot of things were done. We found out that most of those people that really dealt with us were from Gongola, from Benue and that is why sometimes I feel that the blood of the innocent are dealing with the people in the North East and Benue because of the blood of the innocent that were shed at that time. So, it was a very terrible experience, we saw our brothers slaughtered for no reason, it was genocide and we will never forget that experience. So, I think the effect of the civil war for those of us who experienced it is still part of us and that’s why sometimes some of us get very much aggressive about what is happening today in Nigeria when you say to keep Nigeria one is a task that has to be done and blood were shed, people died and a lot of property destroyed. We never knew we could come back to what we are today and still finding things the way they are today with marginalization, with inequity and injustices going on. We just feel that probably that war has not taught us any lesson and I feel so bad about it.

When the war ended 50 years ago, it was said that there was no victor, no vanquished, but looking at what is happening in Nigeria today, is that a reality?

No, with the bitterness that is going on right now, I don’t think that there’s anything like that because if the present government led by President Muhammadu Buhari knew, while talking about reconciliation, reconstruction and all that, they should be able to talk about how to really pacify those who suffered during the civil war. We have not seen anybody pacify us now because you find out that in the South East, in Asaba, there is no federal presence there. There is no federal university in Asaba; there is nothing at all to say you compensate people or probably to mourn and say sorry for those who were killed at that time.

What we see today is marginalization, inequity, bitterness and segregation, so one is not happy with what’s happening now, one feels that if we are going to be one Nigeria then there shall be equity and justice and people should feel at home wherever they are in Nigeria and know that wherever you are you are a Nigerian and you must feel free to exist there, there must be no discrimination at all. So that is what I feel today and with what is happening with our democracy, although for 20 years now, we have enjoyed free and peaceful democracy, but you can see that there is a lot of squandering and a lot of resources being wasted, there is no judicious use of our resources and that is why we have not got much even development rather you find much of hardship. People are suffering these days, since after the civil war people remain unemployed, morality is on the decline, and crime is on the increase.

Some issues brought about disagreement that culminated into the civil war; looking at the present day Nigeria, do you have fears that those things are still with us and might cause another trouble if care is not taken?

Yes, you see the way things are going with insecurity going on now and irresponsibility of leadership; now the President said our borders should be open for foreigners, [that] is another way of opening our country to danger. And with all these herdsmen, with violence here and there, Boko Haram and the killings here and there, can cause war. That is why we feel that Nigeria as it is now needs peace if we are going to progress and succeed.

Fifty years after the civil war, what is the way forward?

Nigeria has enjoyed peace again after 50 years of the Nigerian civil war but there is still internal war here and there. The communal clashes are still there, what I think Nigeria should do now is that government should look into a serious strategy of providing security for the lives of people and not exposing them to danger. Take for example, the herdsmen, although it’s going down a bit now, the President ought to have declared them as terrorists but they left them to commit a lot of harm and there is still a lot of kidnapping going on, a lot of wars going on, people killing people and Boko Haram festering.

Unemployment is also creating problems, people graduate without jobs, the youths are getting restless and again you are bringing too much tax on industries and places, when there is no avenue to employ people, then there is problem, so government should also look into a way of improving entrepreneurship, many universities are being approved but nobody is talking about the workforce; how would they be employed and when they are not employed they are frustrated. Then the minimum wage, again the civil servants have to be encouraged, because many of them are frustrated. Right now the cost of living is high, the income is less than the expenditure, these are things the government should look into. Most of them in government and politics are very comfortable, nobody is talking about the poor people, they should be serious and sensitivity to the needs of the poor people and if that is addressed, poverty in our land will be eradicated. Hunger is too much; this again should be looked into.

BIAFRA : Biafra: Day Ojukwu shed tears –Onubogu, Ex-ADC

Obi Udezue Onubogu was a young police officer when hostilities broke out leading to the declaration of Republic of Biafra by the then Governor of Eastern region, Col. Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu. He became security officer to the defunct Biafra head of state until the few days to the end of the war when he joined Ojukwu in the flight to exile in Ivory Coast.

Now, archbishop at the Rock Family Church, Rock Cathedral, Enugu, Onubogu, who recently turned 80, in this detailed interview with MAGNUS EZE in Enugu, speaks on the war, life in exile, most trying moments, his relationship with Ojukwu and how to avoid another civil war.

What was it like when you heard that the war had ended?

You know my position was a very special position; I was the security officer and working with the ADCs, police, army, naval ADCs. We were the closely packaged people around the head of state. Around that time, a lot of meetings were going on. We were at Nnewi having withdrawn from Umuahia, from Etiti, from those places we used as camps and gone home to his private house. We had lived in elementary schools towards the ending of the war but at this time we moved to Nnewi,  a busy commercial town of Biafra and because of the war, it did shrink the land so to say, a crowd of people gathered around Nnewi. So, people were coming in and consulting; military officers, politician were coming in, groups of people were coming in and we were bothered with security; just security. And many of us didn’t know what the situation as regards the war at that time was.

I happened to be one of the privileged people that got to know eventually at the last minute. So, it wasn’t a general thing, many people didn’t know that the fronts had broken down and the end war fast approaching. It wasn’t announced but what happened to us was that we were told that we had to leave. I was called in as a security officer and told that the end was in sight and that we had to leave and next sentence, which the Biafra Head of State said directly to me was, ‘will you come with me?’

I was shocked because I immediately thought about my parents, my siblings. I knew where they were hiding but how could I leave my parents being the first son? So, I said to him yes, I would come with you to go on with what I believed I was raised to do, but I had to go and know what was happening to my family and parents; my father was just about 10 km away from Nnewi. And he said ok; besides, I was already engaged to his first cousin. I told him that I will come on two conditions: I’ll let my father know what was happening and the decision I was taking and ask for his permission; that’s if he says no, I’ll try to prevail on him to let me go. Number two condition I said was that I have someone I’m engaged to; could she come with me if I decide to come with you? Then he had a big laugh and said to me ‘Who’re you engaged to, are you not engaged to my cousin, do you think you have more control over her than me? Alright, go and see your parents and come back.’

So, I rushed and saw my father; my mother was in another location. My father said “Wow! It’s better that you go, at least we’ll be sure of one survivor. We don’t know what will befall us in this place.’ He tried to know more, and I said I can’t tell you more other than things are really bad; we want to remove ourselves; the leader wants to remove himself so that he won’t cause destruction of our people, that if the Nigerian authority hear that he’s no more there, they’ll not come to Nnewi to try to say they’re looking for him. My dad said Ok and good, he didn’t pray for me as such but he just released me to go. I quickly came back to the base and then I told the head of state that my father had released me and he said ok; action, let’s get things done. I went into action again, briefed my fiancée and took instruction and began to pack his very sensitive materials, his personal property, even down to his camera and things like his essential private documents. We packed all that and it was about 6:30 in the evening and more commanders began to arrive and it happened around this period that we knew that something serious had really happened. We were not in the meeting. We were out there receiving and ushering them in; it was no more go see him, come out and another person would go in. This time, they were all staying together. Of course, there were little talks and gossips around us the security people. The thing went out that the end of the struggle was very close and so we packed up and at about one hour later, by 8:00 pm, it was dark already, the signal came that we had to pack up. Most of the escorts, they didn’t know what was happening, even the domestic staff. We packed up and headed to Uga; you know that there were two airstrips in Biafra, in Uga and Uli. Uga wasn’t very far, maybe about 30 minutes or so. On the road, we saw people moving; some moving in the opposite direction, there wasn’t really an organized movement; you’d be wondering what are these people doing, where are they going? Some were going forward, some were going backward and so on. But we got to Uga and parked and stayed for nearly 10 minutes and then we received another signal that location for the landing of the plane had been changed. We were called to return back to Uli. Uli was again like coming back to Nnewi. We did that and when we got there; it was quite interesting; the plane was already there and field commanders, about five of them were there when we arrived.

So, they immediately took the General to one corner and they were in deep conversation. We also tried to load what we packed. Some of the striking things that happened were that we found out the box we packed was too wide to enter through the aircraft. So, we had to open the box and physically bring the items out one by one into smaller containers inside. They were still talking and it turned out that the guards around already had a wind of the actual situation. I think I mentioned that in my book; some of them had entered the aircraft and sat at the rear with their guns. We were packing; they left us and one of the attendants came to tell me and the rest of the security that armed men were seated in the aircraft and it was dangerous; do you know their mission, you don’t know who they were, no identification.  I went there and called them; they knew me by name, they called me Obi; what are you people doing, do you think you can run away and leave us in this place?  We’re going to blow this aircraft here as soon as all of you enter and we’ll all die here. So, I told them not to do that; I said who’s the target, is it me or the head of state? Hasn’t he sacrificed enough for you; what is the meaning of this; I began to speak to them in Igbo. I told them that nobody was running away, that the head of state was going to broker peace and dialogue not for him to remain for everybody to be killed. Then, we talked and talked and talked and they were adamant. Someone said to me, go and report them to the General, but I said no, I wouldn’t report to avoid escalating the situation. Eventually, I said to them: “Tell me what I’ll do for you; what you want, I’ll do. Ask me.” They said, “you know when you fly out, we would start suffering. So, we need money and food to sustain ourselves.” I told them that I couldn’t give money because we hadn’t money, “but if it was food, we’ll give you the food store––stockfish, milk, garri and others, all in abundance there.” That I would just give them note and they would have enough. They said, ‘Obi, you know we know you; if it doesn’t work we won’t be happy.” I said no problem. We signed the thing and they left. I came back and announced that we were ready, the aircraft was ready for boarding. We came up, very few people, himself, his wife Njideka, and few officers; myself, my wife to be and one or two assistants. No seat in the aircraft; everybody sat on the floor, the door closed, we taxied and we took-off. We flew to Abidjan. We flew through Lagos; when we were flying over Lagos, the pilot announced that we were flying over the city and that everything was ok.

So, where did the flight come from?

It was a regular flight that brought relief materials; a regular flight that carried luggage, stockfish, food and stuff, it’s a cargo flight but we went to Abidjan. We were met at the airport and given VIP treatment; cars quickly took us to a special area called Kokodi, it’s like Victoria Island of Lagos, that’s where we were. That’s our first leg of movement.

What was life in exile like?

That place we landed was the capital city; we didn’t see it. It was huge, it had buildings, tall skyscrapers and had the presence of white people that live there; you see them in the streets, you see them on motorbikes but a few days later; we moved to the so-called village of the President of Ivory Coast, Houphouet-Boigny in Yamoussoukro and we were given three villas; they called them villas, huge building. Our leader stayed in one; one was a general place, and another was a small place where three of us lived. Asking about what life in exile was, I had never been on exile; I never lived outside Nigeria except visiting UK, US in the early days of my life. But this time, to be in a foreign country where you didn’t understand the language, everybody was foreign to you, it was something else. They treated us so well that we got bored receiving good things from them; the bedding was good, all air-conditioned; meals came from the kitchen of the president. We had kitchen but we never cooked; every meal from breakfast to dinner was ferried over from the presidential palace opposite our villa to us. Breakfast was brought set, lunch was brought set and dinner was every day with extra things. Each one of us was entitled to two bottles of whisky a week; four bottles of champagne a week and four bottles of red wine and four bottles of white wine. They taught us that when you’re eating fish, you drank white wine but if you’re eating meat, you eat that with red wine. So, we were learning new culture; we were learning to speak French we picked on the street. Then I learnt French through international method of learning foreign languages by repetition; get the cassette playing every 24hours as long as I’m awake.

After a while, I was able to go to town––I was the first among us to be able to communicate with the people––go to market, pick a taxi and all that. The food was so good that all we suffered there was constipation; before you could need another set of food, it’s arrived, apples a few hours from France, apple harvested the same day and flown down to us, the same day grapes and such fruits.

So, you settled down and started receiving visitors?

It wasn’t that early. We settled down. Some people came early; people that came to express their regrets about what happened from Nigeria, old friends of Ikemba, I didn’t know them. I met them at airport and brought them a long way from the airport to Yamoussoukro, but how they greeted themselves, they were from the north, all of them old friends. And other people came; Ndigbo from Gabon, London, New York, they came to know how he was taken care of and that was it. Personally, my relatives were calling; they wanted to know if they’d come, I said no. We just talked on the phone and life was ordered by quietness; a time of reflection, discussion and spiced with games, playing table tennis and lawn tennis with the locals and some French people who were working in construction firms there.

It was a long period in Ivory Coast. What other things did you do?

Yes, I got married, wedded my wife in Ivory Coast. It’s a unique wedding; no guests, nobody; only two of us. I dressed her, I combed her hair; I styled her hair. I still have the pictures. We went to the registry and we came back to the house. The president had sent food thinking that people were coming. Nobody came. We ate and returned the rest. Of course, we had relatives in close-by town called Boaki and they later came. But as time went on, there was need for us to be engaged in something. We’re Igbo, you know Igbo people, they struggle. I felt that we couldn’t be receiving food and drinks; we must be doing something to earn money. So I told Ikemba, and he floated a transport company; it’s not very well known by our people but since his father was in that thing, it came up to him. They registered a company called Le Phoenix Africaine and I became the Acting General Manager. We had four trailers to start with and we were hauling cements from Abidjan to up north, the construction firms where they were building housing estates. We were doing that until a British man was employed to be the General Manager. We built locally constructed quarries where we produced granites and washed gravels and sold. It expanded; I think we made money and he took loans to increase the fleet. My duties essentially were of general purpose, running round and taking care of security, visited Abidjan and collected mails; interacted with government officials and see to their wellbeing. Already, in front of our house was about three large lakes and these lakes contained very large and wild crocodiles and one of the pastimes of Houphouet-Boigny was to invite a head of state to the bank of one of the large lakes and call out one of the biggest crocodiles to come and they would obey him. He normally joked and said; ‘Greet a great man from the nation of Biafra’ and the crocodiles would rise from the water; we’d witness how they were feeding the crocodiles with live chickens. It was spectacular. You wouldn’t see anything until you throw the live chicken up across the lake and the crocodiles would rise by force.

As one who was around Ojukwu, what actually happened about the Aburi Accord?

No, I can’t tell you much, I was just observing. I didn’t go to the intellectual exercise.  That day, I was just a security man standing and securing. I know that at Aburi, a lot of people were involved, they were there, it was a large crowd and that was it for me.

Was there anything private that Ojukwu told you?

Of course, when he was in very good mood or sad mood, he said certain things, which were unique. For example, he said that one day our people will understand what sacrifices he made for them. There were certain things that he personally decided to do for our people even for which people did not fully appreciate.

The number one of course, that he spent his family money. I don’t know how many millions of pounds but when I was discussing with one foreigner, he said to me, even if he spent 10 million pounds, that it’s nothing in war. Then I said to him, it’s not up to 10 million but it’s a huge amount of money for an African businessman. He spent a fortune and that fortune belonged to the family. One of the things that he often said when we had a unique time of staying together, is that  “problems have solution time; don’t force the solution on any problem.”

He wasn’t speaking as a Christian but he was speaking some very basic things. He said, “I’ve a zip on the left side of my chest––you have it too. When you’ve a problem confronting you, if you don’t have any answer, zip down, throw it there and zip up; face whatever is next. If whatever is next is also a problem you can’t solve, get it into that pocket, put it there and go on with the one you can solve. One day, you’ll have an idea.” That’s what he called it, how to solve those problems––you zip down and bring them out.

Were there occasions that he talked about betrayals and things like that?

No, he never talked about such things; he may have talked to the generals or those who were very close to him but for us, our own was just on a lighter mood. For example, if he wanted to amuse us, he cracked very big jokes without smiles but if you think of it, you’d laugh and laugh. He was greeting a commander once; they finished talking in the office and he  came out––at least outside his office, there might usually be about 10 people, security officers––he came out, you know he was a man that liked to attract attention at what he does (he can get attention by what he says, that’s why people like Babangida called him a wordsmith; he can manoeuvre English words, and that came from Oxford that he attended) so, he was speaking to this man for us to hear. He said: “I’ve told you what you have to do in this circumstance, there’s nothing we can do from here. And I hope you remember what I told you.” And he was saying for us all to hear. He said, “For this, you’ll either beg, borrow or steal, but have the job done.” The man saluted him and he left. So, that’s a principle which he passed unto us––when it’s so hard you can’t get help from where you’re expecting, from authorities, you beg, borrow or steal, but have the job done.

On your own side, do you have any regrets about the war?

No! In fact, now I call myself, a man of destiny and the subtitle of my book is ‘A man helped by God’. I could have died during the war. God kept me alive, no regrets whatsoever. In fact, I had a very good friend, he’s dead now, he’s from the north, I think he’s from Sokoto, because we attended Police Training College together. He was my friend, he was the son of an emir.

When I came back and I contacted him, he said, “Obi, if any people did to my people what was done to your people, I’d do exactly what your people did and even more.” That’s the word he used in welcoming me and I looked at it, I have no regrets. I served my people honestly. I was on duty in my post and my transfer came as a police officer to report at the Biafra Government House; I reported there and the war broke out. I couldn’t desert; I stayed there. I was there for three years of the war and I continued and served in exile and I love the ideals of Biafra; to build a society where everybody has a right to belong, nobody is marginalized; to build a society where there is respect for the views of the people.

Fifty years after the war, have Nigerians learnt any lessons?

Yes, we should have learnt some lessons; don’t neglect the components of your being, every ethnic nationality belongs somewhere and they generally form a unit. It’s like an arm or head or leg, if you severe it, if you crush it yourself, you’ll lose that leg; and you’ll be one legged, you’ll not be complete. I think that this nation would have learnt a lesson on how to treat every component part of Nigeria. I don’t think we’ve a learnt a lesson; I don’t think so because if we had, then the healing will come faster. The healing is so slow because the policy of ‘No victor, no vanquished’ was not implemented. It looked as if there’s victor and people are defeated, they’ve no right to participation, they lost some rights, they lost their property, influence. Have we learnt a lesson? Yes, war does not do anybody any good; it’s painful. What you lost, you can’t easily recover. If you lost a house, you can’t easily recover, but if you lost a limb, son, or wife, you can’t recover. War is very expensive.

What’s your most striking war experience, positive or negative?

One of the issues I remember very well which was issue of rare incidence, it taught me a big lesson. What happened was that there was a compromise between the Nigerian and Biafra troops; they decided to be friends and avoid killing each other. Their reason was that Ojukwu and Gowon were in bunkers, quite safe and they were out there fighting, trying to kill one another. Why should they be killing themselves? That was what we learnt later. So, they dug a massive hole, vowed, made a pledge that any arms supplied, they’d bury them there and get on with their friendship. It was sealed with parties. They came over to the Biafra side to party and our people went to their side to party and our people supplied dancers, women, they supplied drinks and cigarettes and everything during the party. So, in one of the parties, our people suddenly took gun and arrested them; they said they were up to about 200.  They rented trucks and brought them to Umuahia and put them on parade. It was one of the rare incidences, which I remember, and it really struck me. They brought them to receive orders to execute them that they were war prisoners. When we received them and lined them up, we went to tell the Biafra leader and he said it’s impossible. He said “I’d investigate this, this is impossible. I’m a commander. As a military officer, I know that there’s something in this.” And he prepared and came and inspected the guard of honour. He went there but his fist was so tensed; after that he came out and began to cry.

“You thought I’m so bloodthirsty; you didn’t execute them; you never executed them at the front, you brought them here for me to execute. Now take them away from here; camp them in your base and make sure you feed them till the end of the war.” That was highly emotional. Some of the people that were there can’t remember. They would all have thought he would have said “take them away and execute them” but he wouldn’t do that. But the fact is that Nigerian soldiers, authorities and commanders, would not believe that he did it, because some of them were ruthless in their actions against our people.

BIAFRA : Remembering Whose Biafra?

Yes, there was indeed a country, a nation birthed on the blood and sufferings of a people whose passions rose so high they demanded secession at any price. Biafra was thus born on the footsteps of the temple of justice and like Carthage in the Third Punic War, she had a cause.

So no matter how it is put, even with the end of the war, Nigerians as we are, whether of the Igbo outlook or other ethnic groups that make up this behemoth of Africa, must come to terms with the fact that the civil war was never a one man rebellion as it is often wrongly cited, neither was it an attempt by the Igbo people to carve out a sphere of influence for ourselves, No! Rather, it was the flag stand for the survival of a people, both the Igbo and the minorities then in biafra. That we lost the war after putting up a much vaunting stand for victory as well as survival does not deny the just nature of our cause then, the world does not operate that way, otherwise Carthage would have defeated Rome and South Vietnam would have been an independent nation this day.

So, I have decided to dedicate this week and the next of my writings to the remembrance of the war, its actors as well as the sufferings and finally legacies of a war that was fought by brothers. I write this as a Nigerian and as an Igbo lacing this piece with a futuristic warning that we as a people must avoid repeating the same mistakes that led to the war. A second war, should it be fought, God forbid, will not be restricted to the east and contingent parts as was witnessed in the first, modern warfare has certainly buoyed man’s capacity for destruction, another war would see mutual destruction, that we cannot have.

So, who’s biafra do I want to remember? Should I start from the heroics or should I first examine the gory moments? Do I recount the feel-good moments of the war and then proceed to distasteful or vice versa?

Let me first punt on the heroics, and I will do that on all sides. I will recall the sheer brilliance of the biafran army and her people; her ingenuity as well as her resilience in the three years of fighting against such odds leaves her a worthy place in the annals of chivalry and warfare.

I cannot forget the nations that recognised us, Nyerere’s Tanzania, Kaunda’s Zambia, Boigny’s Cotedivoire, Omar Bongo’s Gabon and Papa Doc’s Haiti, nations that saw the genuiness of the biafran ordeal and thought that a diplomatic form of recognition was its own way of attaining justice for us.

To the aid groups that provided help and assistance of food and relief in the war, such as Catholic Relief Services, Cannairelief, Caritas International,World Council of Churches, Holy Ghost Fathers and a number of other groups airlifted food and supplies following the blockade of Biafra in order to save millions of children who were starving.

To the mercenaries, who came to fight for biafra, history will be kind to your memory. I single out Count Von Rossen, the Devil Pilot who fought for biafra for free! I hope to some day visit Sweden and lay a wreath at your graveside.

To the academia, the press and the intellectual movement within and outside biafra, that drew the attention of the world to the struggle of a people for freedom, giants like Uche Chukwumerije, Cyprian Ekwensi, Chinua Achebe, Christopher Okigbo, Ezekwe, Modebe and Frederick Forsythe. Forsyth, a former BBC journalist resisted efforts by the BBC to do a news management of the war, staying back to report the news from the biafran perspective, though his recent revelations that he had also spied for the MI6 calls into question the credibility of his support for the breakaway republic.

The biafran scientists and administrators who gave the new republic then, technological miracles, building weapons such as battle tanks, rockets and guns deserve celebration. Even, with the fall of Bonny and Port Harcourt which delivered a crushing blow to our fuel needs, biafra still refined fuel to meet the nation’s war needs. A shame that the Nigerian nation nor the nine states that made up the old Eastern Region and the defunct biafra has not been able to leverage upon!

Obviously, they are a number of untold struggles and localised heroics that never saw the light of day, they may not have been on the war front, but they too contributed immensely to shaping the war, we remember them, whoever they are and wherever they may be.