BIAFRA : Shall We Talk about the Civil War?

Former Head of State, Yakubu Gowon in a handshake with leader of Biafra, Odimegwu Ojukwu in Aburi, Ghana, for an accord that changed the fate of Nigeria for good

Fifty years after, it’s about time the nation moved on from the pains of the civil war but not without addressing the injustices of the time, writes Ojo Maduekwe

Successive governments had suppressed every chance to have a conversation around the Nigerian civil war, meaning that for 50 years after the war ended, emotions were still bottled up.

Time after time, the emotions had been seen to spill out into tiny conflicts across the country, which the federal government continues to quell a lot of the time with the use of force. It didn’t help that the government, in keeping to the tradition of silence, scrapped the study of history from the Nigerian schools.

The refusal to have a national conversation around the war and learn from it has created a bouquet of discordant and biased narratives that continues to fuel tribal sentiments.

For example, in telling the story of the killings during the war, people only talk of the 3 million Igbos that were killed by federal forces, including children that starved to death. Mention is hardly made of the deaths recorded by the federal side, and the atrocities committed by the Biafran army. For proper perspective, a balanced narrative of the war must be encouraged.

It is this refusal to question the invisibility of the contraption called Nigeria that has seen this renewed tribal sentiments in recent years, from secessionist groups such as the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB).

Made up of Igbo from the Southeast extraction, and with membership in countries all over the world, IPOB clamours for a breakaway from Nigeria and form its own country to be known as the Republic of Biafra.
Typical of previous governments at the center, and more than the presidents before him, the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari has refused to entertain any talk about the war; and worsening the situation by labeling IPOB – an armless group – a terrorist organisation.

Force and proscription had failed to address the perceived injustices that keep fueling the Biafra agitation, and many other ethnic clamours across Nigeria. Nicknamed by Nigerians as the “Divider-in-Chief”, President Buhari, through policies and appointments that are considered biased and in favour of his Fulani ethnic group, and Muslims from the northern region, continues to tilt the scale of public opinion in IPOB’s favour.

Aside the Igbo, there are Nigerians from the Southwest, South-south and North Central sub region of the country, who share the sentiments of IPOB, and feel that the administration of Buhari has widened Nigeria’s division, thus pushing for either a restructuring of the country or complete breakup of the federating units that make up Nigeria.

Calls for restructuring have assumed a much louder frequency today, and there’s never been a more potent action for it than the recent creation of the operation Amotekun, a Western Nigeria Security Network by the states of Lagos, Oyo, Osun, Ekiti, Ondo and Ogun, to complement the security efforts of the Nigeria Police Force in checking crimes in the Southwest region.
That Amotekun was launched around the 50th anniversary of the civil war can be described as coincidental, however, it does not come as a surprise that federating states will take measures to secure themselves from the failures of a federal government that remains indisposed to having progressive conversations that could move Nigeria forward.

We’re All Biafrans
‘Let’s talk about the Civil War’ is more than a headline; it’s a call to action, one that many elder statesmen across Nigeria’s regions were once reluctant and unwilling to have, but have been clamouring for it in recent years.

In his 2016 highly acclaimed book, ‘We Are All Biafrans: A Participant Observer’s Intervention in a Country Sleepwalking to Disaster’, author Chido Onumah compiles this call to action into different questions bordering on “What is Nigeria?”, “Who is a Nigerian?”, “If Nigeria is a federal republic, what constitutes or should constitute the federating units?”

The failure of the Buhari government to reprimand AK-47 wielding Fulani herdsmen for encroaching into farmlands in the Southwest; as well as the killings, raping and kidnapping of indigenes of the region by the herdsmen, deepened the doubts of the Yoruba people concerning their position in Nigeria, and was a major factor that instigated the Amotekun initiative.

Gradually, thoughts are beginning to align, conversations are taking place, and handshakes are happening across the Niger between the Igbo and Yoruba on the need to restructure the country to address a lopsided political structure that’s skewed in favour of the North, and has held Nigeria back since the civil war ended.

There are those, who feel that the federal government should be proactive by being the one to lead any conversation on the national question, but the reaction of the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice to the launch of Amotekun, shows the government is uninterested in having and leading the conversation.

The lack of interest is not surprising, as countless number of times President Buhari has ruled out any debate on Nigeria’s indivisibility; closing any chance for a national conversation around the aftermath of the civil war, while heightening clamours for secession and restructuring.

Since coming into power in 2015, the Buhari administration had focused on ways to curtail the rights of Nigerians to civil protest, and the questioning of government policies and actions. Individuals, activists as well as journalists have been put in prison by government’s security agencies for asking legitimate questions on issues of governance.

Fifty years and still counting, a thoughtful government would have understood that force has never and cannot quell injustice, and should instead begin to put measures in place for a conversation around the civil war. Such steps would bring closure to millions of grieving hearts that for five decades still feel wronged and want a way out of a union they feel has not been fair to them.

BIAFRA : Remembering Nigeria’s Biafra war that many prefer to forget

The deaths of more than a million people in Nigeria as a result of the brutal civil war which ended exactly 50 years ago are a scar on the nation’s history.

For most Nigerians, the war over the breakaway state of Biafra is generally regarded as an unfortunate episode best forgotten, but for the Igbo people who fought for secession, it remains a life-defining event.

In 1967, following two coups and turmoil which led to about a million Igbos returning to the south-east of Nigeria, the Republic of Biafra seceded with 33-year-old military officer Emeka Odumegwu Ojukwu at the helm.

The Nigerian government declared war and after 30 months of fighting, Biafra surrendered. On 15 January 1970, the conflict officially ended.

The government’s policy of “no victor, no vanquished” may have led to a lack of official reflection, but many Nigerians of Igbo origin grew up on stories from people who lived through the war.

Three of those who were involved in the secessionist campaign have been sharing their memories.

‘We thought we were magicians’
Christopher Ejike Ago, soldier

He had just finished grammar school and started training as a veterinary assistant at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), in south-eastern Nigeria, when the civil war began.

Almost every student he knew became part of the war effort.

He joined the Biafran army and was assigned to the signal unit, whose responsibilities included “active intelligence and eavesdropping on the Nigerian military”.

Christopher Ejike Ago
Soldier in the Biafran war

‘

‘The Nigerians who were pursuing us were trained soldiers… We were drafted into the war, given two days’ training.”

“We thought we were magicians,” said 76-year-old Mr Ago.

“The Nigerians who were pursuing us were trained soldiers. We were not. We were drafted into the war, given two days’ training.

“Plus the fact that we were hungry. Some of us, our skin was getting rotten. Nobody can fight a war like that.”

In January 1966, some senior Nigerian army officers, mostly of the Igbo ethnic group, assassinated key politicians during a coup in the West African state.

Those killed included Ahmadu Bello, a revered leader in the north.

This led to months of massacres against the Igbo living in the north. Tens of thousands were killed while about a million fled to what was then known as the Eastern Region.

Emeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, pictured here in June 1968, was a charismatic figure

These events sparked the decision to secede, spearheaded by Ojukwu, who was then the military governor of the Eastern Region.

In the months preceding the war, Ojukwu often visited UNN, the only university in south-eastern Nigeria at the time, to meet with students and prepare them for secession.

Mr Ago looked forward to these visits, and joined the crowd who gathered at the university’s Freedom Square.

“Once his helicopter touched down, everybody went there and, practically, school shut down.

“He had this incredible sense of humour. He spiked everybody up and we formed songs and were singing and enjoying ourselves.”

In the first year of the war, the Nigerian government captured the coastal city of Port Harcourt and imposed a blockade, which cut food supplies to Biafra.

Nigerian troops seen in one of Biafra’s main cities, Port Harcourt, in 1968 after fierce fighting

Mr Ago remembers the overpowering hunger that often forced Biafran soldiers to catch and eat mice. He also remembers the last year of the war when his unit was continuously on the move, fleeing the advancing Nigerian army.

“Somewhere in the middle of the war,” he said, “the Biafrans made some dramatic successes that gave us hope that we might hold the Nigerians until at least some help from outside came.”

By late 1969, all hope was lost.

Biafra timeline

• January 1966 – Nigerian government overthrown in what was seen as an “Igbo coup” led by junior army officers
• January 1966 – Lt Col Odumegwu-Ojukwu appointed military governor of Eastern Region
• July 1966 – Second coup masterminded by Murtala Muhammed, Lt Col Yakubu Gowon becomes head of state
• June to October 1966 – Riots in northern Nigeria targeted at Igbos, killing many and forcing up to a million to return to south-eastern Nigeria
• May 1967 – Ojukwu declares independence of the Republic of Biafra
• July 1967 – War begins
• October 1967 – Biafran capital Enugu falls
• May 1968 – Nigeria captures oil-rich Port Harcourt
• April 1969 – Umuahia, new Biafran capital falls to Nigerian forces
• January 1970 – Ojukwu flees Nigeria
• January 1970 – Biafra surrenders

Mr Ago left the army and went in search of his family, whom he had not heard from in more than two years.

He collected his portion from an allocation of raw rice to his unit, then set off towards the village of a relative, where he suspected his parents and siblings would be holed up.

“I had to carry the rice while starving myself, carrying it across rivers and forests until I found them,” he said.

Hunger caused the deaths of many people during the conflict

Many of his friends and classmates had died at the battlefront. But his family was delighted to see that the son and brother they assumed dead was alive. And they were glad that he had turned up with food.

Hunger killed more Biafrans than bullets and bombs.

When the university was reopened a few months after the war ended, Mr Ago returned to UNN, eventually graduating with a degree in plant and soil science.

“I think we would have done better if we had handled it with a little bit more intelligence,” said Mr Ago. “I think now that Ojukwu… thought he was Jesus Christ.

“He thought he could do magic. If he had slowed down and allowed some people who were with him to advise him properly, we would have come out better than we did.”

‘They only had knives and cutlasses’
Felix Nwankwo Oragwu, scientist

He was a physics lecturer at UNN when the civil war began.

For the next 30 months, he headed the Research and Production (RAP) group comprising Igbo scientists from various fields.

Its primary responsibility was to provide technological support to the Biafran army, which was poorly equipped.

”When the war started, there was not a single weapon… anywhere throughout Biafra. No gun, no bomb, no nothing.”

Felix Nwankwo Oragwu
Weapons developer for Biafra.

Felix Nwankwo Oragwu

The RAP’s most notable product was the “ogbunigwe”, a weapons launcher of remarkable and devastating effect which influenced the outcome of many battles in Biafra’s favour, according to historical reports.

“Without us, the war would have lasted only about 30 hours,” said the 85-year-old.

“When the war started, there was not a single weapon either in a store or anywhere throughout Biafra. They only had knives and cutlasses. No gun, no bomb, no nothing.”

In the aftermath of the war, the Nigerian government did not want to impose any form of collective punishment.

Nevertheless, the Igbo faced some devastating consequences, particularly economically as the Biafran currency that people had accumulated became worthless.

Many Igbo still feel sidelined in Nigerian politics, as since the civil war no-one from the ethnic group has become president.

Increasing cries of marginalisation have led in recent years to the emergence of Igbo groups agitating once again for secession, particularly the Indigenous People of Biafra (Ipob), formed by UK-based British-Nigerian Nnamdi Kanu.

Mr Oragwu wishes that the Igbo had paid less attention to the scramble for power at the centre, and instead distinguished their region by advancing the technological gains of the war.

“Biafra would have been a technological nation and would have been able to compete with anybody,” he said, anger in his voice.

“That is what makes me sad. By this time, we would have been competing with at least South Korea.”

The scientist’s wartime accomplishments had caught the attention of the Nigerian authorities and he was invited by the government to pioneer a special science and technology programme for the country.

IPOB’s Nnamdi Kanu Reveals Nigeria’s ‘Worst Enemy’

The leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and Director of Radio Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, says the British Government is the worst enemy of Nigeria and not those agitating for the Republic of Biafra.

Naija News reports that Kanu made this comment during his recent live broadcast on Radio Biafra, where he alleged that the British government and some people in Aso Rock, Nigeria’s Presidential Villa are supporting terrorism in Nigeria.

Kanu, who is on exile, claimed that the British government sees “evil in Nigeria happening, see Satan and Lucifer in Aso Rock and keep quiet because it is in the interest of their neocolonialism act of empowering the Almajiris they manipulate.”

“The greatest enemy of Nigeria is British government and some of its nationals, they are the ones perpetrating, support and financing terrorism with the people occupying Aso Rock and deceiving Nigerians that they mean well for them,” Kanu said.

Kanu alleged that all the actions and projects of the ruling All Progress Congress (APC) government in Nigeria are geared towards the promotion of Islam.

The IPOB leader alleged that APC projects are designed to make all the Nigeria States embrace Sharia law and empower the Fulani ethnic group.

His words: “When the Jihadist in Abuja wanted Sharia law they did not go to the National Assembly or call for referendum to bote to get it, rather the twelve Sharia States went outside the Constitution of Nigeria and agreed and introduced Sharia Law, but today they are asking us why we are agitating for Biafra and telling us to go through the appropriate channel when they did not go through appropriate channel to get Sharia they are practicing today.

“Who in Nigeria today voted for Sharia Law to be practiced in Nigerian Northern states today, is Sharia in Nigerian Constitution, they willingly subverted the Constitution of Nigeria and imposed Sharia on the Northern Nigerians.

“If they believe in the Constitution of Nigeria, they would not have introduced Sharia Law within Nigeria where the Constitution exist, so when they tell us not to agitate for Biafra, what is their moral right and justification for telling us that, Biafrans should ask them how they got Sharia being practiced in Nigeria Northern States anytime they kick against Biafra agitation.

“We should ask them which channel did they use to introduce and get Sharia Law being practiced in the twelve Northern States. You cannot tell us that one law operate for people in the North while another operates for the people in the South under one country that you said operate a Constitution.”

Meanwhile, Nnamdi Kanu is leading a group (IPOB) seeking secession from Nigeria. The group has since been proscribed by the Federal Government of Nigeria led by President Muhammadu Buhari.

Third World War: What Would Happen To Nigeria – Nnamdi Kanu

 Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB’s Leader has today reacted to the murder of an Iranian General, Qassem Soleimani by a United States, US, airstrike.

Soleimani is the Revolutionary Guard General and head of the elite Quds Force, and had died in the airstrike targeted at Baghdad International Airport.

Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the deputy commander of the Iran-backed militias in Iraq the Popular Mobilization Forces, which recently stormed the US embassy in Baghdad, was also killed in the strike.

Reacting, Kanu said Nigeria would suffer from the actions of the US

Kanu who made his opinion known in a tweet wrote: “What they failed to add to their banner is “Death to Biafra” because Judeo-Christians, especially Biafrans in Arewa core north of the British created contraption ‘Nigeria’ will bear the brunt of this US strike in Iraq as always. Britain must stop shielding terrorists in Nigeria.”

Meanwhile, the US President, Donald Trump had given insight into why Soleimani was killed by an airstrike.

Trump said Soleimani was killed because he had plans to kill lots of American citizens but was caught in the process.

BIAFRA : ‘Biafra To Get International Recognition, Nnamdi Kanu Will Wax Strong’ – Prophet Iginla Releases Strong Prophecy

Prophet Joshua Iginla, the General Overseer of Champions Royal Assembly, an interdenominational church in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, has his prophecies on Biafra for the year 2020.

Naija News reports that other Nigerian pastors released their prophecies for the year 2020 during the cross over service but Prophet Iginla did not release his prophecies.

Prophet Iginla said in his 2020 prophecies which are 44 in numbers, that the agitation for the Republic of Biafra, will gain international recognition this year.

The clergyman stressed that if Biafra agitation if not handled justly, it will cause huge international embarrassment for the Nigerian government led by President Muhammadu Buhari.

“I’m not a prophet of doom but I must tell you the truth we have not seen the end of the Biafra agitation. This year it will take another turn and continue to grow like that,” he predicted.

Prophet Iginla added that the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, who is championing the agitation, will wax strong, noting that the agitation will get more international recognition this year.

“The young man at the center of this thing will wax strong with international presence,” the clergyman said.

Read Prophet Joshua Iginla’s 2020 Prophecies on Biafra below…

10a) I am not a prophet of doom but I must tell you the truth we have not seen the end of the Biafra agitation. This year it will take another turn and continue to grow like that.

10b) Still on the Biafra movement. It would not die. Between 2020.2021 and 2022 we will see a dimension that will be very strategic. A lot of you will ask me why is he always talking about Biafra. It’s because of what am seeing. It won’t die at all. This battle will carry another dimension internationally and not locally. And the young man at the center of this thing will wax strong with international presence. And I see other people putting hands on his shoulder.  If we don’t pray and do the needful with our Igbo brothers, there is going to be a time that things will fall apart.  The only way to solve this is to do justice. I see a strong strategic battle so that a nation will not come out of a nation.  I saw a wild lion and so many lions with the same features around him. Those in government here should pray very well. There is going to be a lot of international embarrassment for Governors, Ministers, Senators, and others. Some clothes will be torn and some beaten. It’s going to be bad.  Let’s just pray and do the needful.

11) I see a nation coming out of a nation. I don’t know when and I don’t know-how. We have to pray for the unity of this country.

Governor Umahi Blasts IPOB’s Nnamdi Kanu, Says He’s A Deceiver

Umahi Carpets IPOB’s Nnamdi Kanu

The Governor of Ebonyi State, David Umahi has accused Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) of defrauding gullible Igbo people.

The Governor said Kanu is hiding under the deceit of IPOB to promote his personal issues while using social media to gain cheap popularity.

Umahi further accused the IPOB leader of promoting fraudulent activities in the name of IPOB while promising Igbo people a sovereign Biafra.

He said, “Our people are being deceived to spend huge among of money to finance what they know nothing about while Nnamdi Kanu spend it on his personal issues.”

Naija News understands the Governor’s stand may be a response to Nnamdi Kanu who had earlier accused Umahi and the Miyetti Allah of causing the death of Biafrans in Ebonyi.

Kanu had back in November said on Twitter that: “The brutalization of our people in Ebonyi state will surely be AVENGED.

“This is a formal notice to all, including Miyetti Allah and Dave Umahi that sooner than later, they will account for every injury, torture, and death of every Biafran.”

“How, when and where is left for us to determine.”

IPOB Reacts To The Creation Of Amotekun For South-west

The proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has praised South-West governor for the establishing a security outfit, South West Security Network also known as Operation Amotekun.

Naija News recalls that the governors of the regions have constituted the outfit to tackle challenges of insecurity including kidnapping and banditry in the region.

Reacting in a statement by its spokesperson, Emma Powerful, IPOB described the establishment of Amotekun was a courageous move to protect people of the South West region.

The statement reads: “We the global family of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) ably led by our great and indomitable leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu commend South-West governors, elders, stakeholders and politicians for their doggedness and courage to protect their people and their region from the evil hands of Fulani terrorists herdsmen and Nigeria government jihadi soldiers- the systematic strategy and effort of the ruling Fulani cabal to continually provide financial and logistical support to Fulani terrorists and Islamic extremists in military and police uniforms to rampage and kill innocent citizens at will.

“This is not the first time in recent weeks that our leader’s position and approach has been vindicated by events and utterances from other ethnic groups within Nigeria. The inescapable truth remains that Bishop Kukah’s commendable utterances about the Jihadi intent of the present regime in Nigeria and formation of a Yoruba vigilante by OPC are all lines of reasoning and event consistently canvassed and championed by IPOB in the past. The fact remains that Nigeria as presently constituted is the greatest threat to life and peace.

“The Yoruba decision and effort to launch Operation Amotekun security outfit just like our leader launched BSS in 2017 is most commendable.

“What we find horribly appalling however is that those who were at the forefront of misrepresenting and condemning our leader for having the vision and foresightedness to challenge Fulani terrorism in Nigeria are today praise-singing the introduction of Amotekun.

“Even the shamelessly treacherous Ohaneze Ndigbo and South-East Governors Forum that actively connived with their Fulani masters to launch a deadly military invasion of Biafraland on the back of the launch of BSS are today openly praising Yoruba leaders for backing OPC’s Amotekun project when they themselves heartlessly sold out IPOB for a pot of porridge.

“Notwithstanding the barefaced envy and jealousy directed towards IPOB by some political class and sections of uninformed talking heads, we IPOB are delighted that we continue to set the pace of radical thinking and social change within and outside Nigeria.

“IPOB wholeheartedly welcome Amotekun and say good morning to those who out of ignorance, poor sense of vision, lack of reasoning and self-consuming jealousy fought against the formation BSS. They should cover their faces in shame if they have any face left after this.

“It is about time people acknowledged openly and without shame that Mazi Nnamdi Kanu is always right.”