FEATURE ARTICLE


N. H. IbangaMonday, January 20, 2003
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Nigerian Publius


MY SIDE OF THE STORY


n January 2001, Mazi Afulezi pondered out aloud (https://nigeriaworld.com/feature/publication/afulezi/0130001.html) about what went wrong with the relationship between the Igbo and their neighbors in Eastern Nigeria. He reminisced about his days at Eastern Nigeria Broadcasting/Television Corporation (ENBC/ENTV) where he worked side by side with Easterners who were not Igbo. Evidently the workers there got along as colleagues. He went on to site appointments held by non-Igbo in the government of Eastern Nigeria as well as other institutions like Government College, Umuahia. Then he "put in its proper perspective" the story of how Zik "quacked out Prof. Eyo Ita from the position of Leader of Govt. Business". He correctly posited that when shove comes to push, those who delight in drinking the blood of Eastern Nigerians do not distinguish the non-Igbo from the Igbo. Here I remember Major Ekandem who was the first to be killed on Carter Bridge like the Americans remember Crispus Attucks.

Mazi Afulezi's final conclusion was that Easterners (including the Igbo in Delta State) should learn to get along. This was a very laudable admonition. Then he committed that faux paux again in his last sentence. Hear him, "Any way as we say in Igbo: 'When a woman marries twice, she then knows which is the better husband.'" One assumes that by 'woman' he meant the one that ran away and not the one that stood up to face the enemy.

Objective of this article

I thought of writing a rejoinder at that time but somehow did not get to it. I am glad that I didn't because since then, a lot has happened and much has been written that shed more light on how these groups feel about each other. If you visit the message board of Biafranigeria.com you will get a taste of what I mean. The ICJ decision on Bakassi has brought things to a head. There are those who are beside themselves with pleasure because the people of what used to be called South Eastern State have been dealt a blow by the world court. They say it serves us right for "not supporting" Biafra when we had the chance. Really?

It is important that both young Igbo and non-Igbo (born after the war) children hear this story from another perspective. So far, only the Igbo version has been loudly broadcast. That is not ALL the story.

I liked the fact that Afulezi averred to tell the truth in his write up because in the end, it is the only thing that will not change. I vow to do the same. Let us review this Biafran project, how it came about, how it was conducted and how it ended. Then we must look back at pre-Biafra events and relationships between the groups. Perhaps, we may offer suggestions on how to repair the damage if the two sides truly want to get along.

Like Afulezi, I too am lucky enough to say that I saw the First Republic. Because of my father's job, we moved a lot in southern Nigeria. I got to live in Eket, Calabar, Port Harcourt, Abonema, Warri, Lagos etc. We never lived in northern Nigeria. However, my wife grew up in the north, so I have some knowledge of what life was like there then. I have narrated my family's movements only to show that I have first hand experience living and going to school with the Igbo.

Biafra Declared

I was in my first year at Government College, Umuahia when Biafra was declared. I lived in Fisher House. There were two Ibibio students in Fisher House. One afternoon after lunch, we were talking about the expected greatness of the new country. At that time, I had narrowed down to two, the professions that I thought I might make my living. One was to be a pilot, the other an Engineer. In my excitement about the prospect of actually making it to flight school, I blurted out that my ambition was to be the commander of the Biafran Air Force. There had to have been an invisible (to me only) Maestro who choreographed everyone else in the room to simultaneously say "For where? Who told you that you could become a commander in the Biafran Air Force" Note that my dorm mates were from different parts of Igbo land and there was no prior plan that we were going to discuss Biafra after lunch that day. I needed no other prophet to let me know that Biafra was an Igbo project. If we got lucky, non-Igbo people might just be tolerated in Biafra, to be seen but not heard from. You can draw your own conclusions. I have told you of mine. At that time, not one town in Eastern Nigeria had fallen into Nigerian hands. The euphoria was very high in Umuahia. The Cadet Unit there began training volunteers from the town every afternoon. If I am not mistaken, I was the first student to leave the campus. I am glad that I did because tales coming out of the Midwest show that having been school mates with Biafran soldiers did not save non-Igbo during the Biafran invasion of the Region.

Conduct of the war

When some Igbo people blame non Igbo of Eastern Nigeria for the defeat of Biafra, I wonder what evidence they use to draw that conclusion. If the dates I give here are not exactly correct, the sequence definitely is. Nigerian troops took Nsukka on July 15, 1967, Enugu on October 4, 1967, Calabar on October 19, 1967, Onitsha on February 22, 1968, Oron on March 9, 1968, Uyo on March 11, 1968 and Port Harcourt on May 19, 1968.

When you look at these dates, one has to ask the question, did the non-Igbo cause the capture of Nsukka, Enugu and Onitsha? Enugu fell less than two months after Nsukka and Onitsha followed Enugu by four months. Oron is on the other side of the estuary of the Cross River from Calabar. It took five months before Oron fell following the capture of Calabar! It would appear that an objective mind would find no basis in the charge and would also look for other reasons why Biafra did not stand. For example, the complete lack of seeking the support of the masses and a thorough explanation of the real reasons for the war, both in the non-Igbo as well as Igbo parts of Eastern Nigeria.

Then as is the case today, there were no armories in Eastern Nigeria (except perhaps in Enugu). When training of the populace for the project started in Umuahia, there were no such efforts in other parts of the region. Pray tell, were these people expected to fight guns with machetes and without training? How many troops were stationed to defend these territories? Or did the Biafran authorities turn tail and abandoned the people to the mercy of the advancing Nigerian Troops just as they eventually did at the conclusion of the war? What were the feelings of the people at the time?

During the war, Biafran Troops began a systematic arrest, detention and sometimes elimination of prominent people in what is today Akwa Ibom and Cross River States. Let me name one, who was a father to one of my school mates, Mr. Obot of (Lutheran High School) Obotidim. I cannot speak for what happened in other areas because I was not there. Every surviving Ibibio family has a story to tell. I will stick to personal and close to home experiences. Then we heard that the Igbo stated that they will deal with us after the war as a husband deals with his wife. Many a wise person gave them the benefit of the doubt because war time propaganda was rampant at the time. We heard that our cities had been given new names to take effect at successful conclusion of the war. For example, Calabar was to become New Onitsha. Are these the type of utterances that would endear a population to a cause?

Rumor confirmed as truth

Thirty-one years after the war, none other than the former leader of Biafra, the Ikemba Nnewi, repeated the husband/wife statement in an interview regarding the relationship between the Igbo and Akwa Ibom people. It was then that those who had believed the original "rumor" turned around to tell those of us who were skeptical during the war, "we told you so". It was then easy to believe that had Biafra succeeded, there would be no Calabar today but New Onitsha. Will any Igbo person tell me that if the situation was reversed and Onitsha was to be renamed New Calabar after the war, they would have given 100% support to the effort to eradicate their culture? Be honest to yourself!

We have not complained since the war ended. At this time one must ask, who will compensate us for suffering and loses we sustained from a war we did not start? Are you going to compensate us for these losses and all the children that Kwashiokor killed? Our neck of the woods had been under benign neglect before the war. I remember Okpara refusing to repair a bridge in Ekpene Ukpa despite being given seven cows by the people there. That same bridge could have collapsed under the weight of his entourage and he would have perished. After the war, till today, that same bridge is still in disrepair. Whatever the war destroyed has not been fixed in our area. When will these be fixed? We need our war reparations now.

The reason for the war

Why was the war fought? At the time most people thought that the pogrom in Northern Nigeria was the reason. Today, we know that the OIL in the Niger Delta was THE REASON for the war. It was not fought to keep Nigeria one, nor to escape the insecurity of sharing a country with bloodthirsty Northerners. It was fought so that the British could continue to rule Nigeria by proxy through the Sokoto Caliphate and siphon our wealth to Europe while keeping our people perpetually impoverished.

Post Mortem of the war and its causes

The following questions must be asked and answered:

In order to understand the need for convincing the generality of the public about the importance of a given event, read "The Story of Ibibio Union" by Dr. Udo Udoma and see how the Union went about convincing the people on the need to go out and vote as well as the need to vote for reputable candidates. After reading this, you will come to the conclusion that Ojukwu did not do this. So why did Biafra fail? Monday morning quarterbacking suggests the following:

v Ojukwu (as far as I know) did not consult Almighty God. If he did, he did not wait for the answer or did not like the answer he got and went ahead with the project on his own wisdom. v Ojukwu hid the real reason of the war from most Eastern Nigerians, including the majority of rank and file Igbo people. v He did not persuade non-Igbo people that they were truly part owners of the Biafra project. Contrast this with his brilliant performance at Aburi! v The British put their considerable influence on the side of the Caliphate. v Etc. etc. etc.

As an example of the need to consult the Almighty God, I cite the example of Akwa Ibom people in 2002 after the Supreme Court ruling on the Awolowo introduced On- Shore/Offshore dichotomy. Many people, including well wishers, expected our people to go on a rampage and kill non indigenes in our area. We did no such thing. No innocent soul lost his/her life. We leave such tactics to Northern Nigerians! Our Governor simply urged the people to fast and pray for God to mete out justice and mercy. Even though Obasanjo is playing politics with the issue, it must be noted that the Legislature UNANIMOUSLY abrogated the dichotomy. Ah, hold your peace before telling me that the President did not sign the Bill. We are still praying and the fat lady has not sung yet.

The First Republic

Let us now look back to the pre-Biafra relationships. Afulezi claimed to have put in its proper perspective why Zik just HAD TO undemocratically wrest power from Professor Eyo Eta. He called it "quacking out" of Eyo Eta. Recently, Oyeyemi ( https://nigeriaworld.com/columnist/oyeyemi/121602.html ) has given us a different perspective to the same event. From this (Oyeyemi's) account, one then understands that using your newspaper to falsely rubbish your opponent is what Afulezi termed "quacking out" of Eyo Ita by Zik. He (Afulezi) justified this by conferring on Zik the right to be in a position of strength during negotiations for Nigeria's independence. The only position of strength, one supposes, was to undemocratically remove someone else from the position of Leader of Government business. The color of the glasses he wore to view this event totally prevented him from seeing the deficiency (we all have at least one) in Zik's character that caused him to take this low road. Zik was unable to persuade Ibadan Peoples Party Delegates to switch to NCNC. Awo did this and ended up pulling a victory out of the jaws of defeat. It is easy to postulate today that had Zik stayed in the West to provide visionary opposition to the AG government, some of the issues we are facing today, like anyone from whatever ethnic group running for the Governorship of Lagos would not have arisen.

Let us briefly visit another betrayal of non-Igbo by the Igbo in the First Republic. Zik was alleged to have used the public funds of Eastern Nigeria to open his own bank, the African Continental Bank. Party members thought that this was reprehensible. The matter was discussed in a committee meeting and Eyo of Uyo was nominated to bring up the matter in a general meeting. When Eyo did as planned, not one Igbo person from that committee neither supported him nor even acted as if they knew what he was talking about. Eyo crossed carpets to Action Group. NCNC became mad and had it in for Eyo. Later on Okpara had Eyo arrested for some infraction of government rules. Today, I wonder what Igbo people are going to do to Okadigbo who decamped the PDP to snag the VP spot in ANPP? Or is it OK now to cross carpets when aggrieved?

Reasons for distrust

The foregoing illustrates the total lack of principles when the Igbo deal with his neighbors in the East. There is no steadfastness of purpose, just opportunistic use (and discarding) of others. No honoring of one's word. Those who honor their words are deemed stupid. Let your Yes be Yes and your NO be NO. Anything else is embellishment (apologies to MOE).

Proverbs 18:19 says, "A brother offended is harder to be won than a strong city; and their contentions are like the bars of a castle".

Allow me a brief aside. Has anyone else ever pondered the probable course of Nigerian history if Zik, who came from a people with no Eze (King), had gone to England to study and Awo, who came from a people with Obas (Kings), had gone to America to study? Would America's successful rejection of Monarchies have made Awolowo more nationalistic?

The situation today

Now let us fast forward to today. What the general Nigerian public did not know about the reasons for the war has come to light. Part of the strategy to win that war was the creation of States which Ibibio Union had long ago canvassed to no avail. Subsequent divide and conquer tactics led to the abuse of the process with the proliferation of economically unviable states. The unitary Federal Government even has seen fit to concern itself with such local and mundane things as the creation of Local Government Areas. The sole purpose being the creation of more Local Councils in the arid less populous north than in the south so that the bulk of the oil money from the Niger Delta could be "legally" funneled to the north. There has been an awakening among the different nationalities that occupy the geographical space called Nigeria.

I can state with 98% certainty that there are no "abandoned property" issues in Akwa Ibom and Cross River States. The Igbo came back and reclaimed their properties or sold such after the war. Yet, today as can be gleaned from the Message Boards of several web sites, you will find Igbo people who wish the Atlantic Ocean to claim the land of the minorities so they would be forced to seek shelter in Igbo land. If one were to descend to the level of these types of people, one would tell them that when the Atlantic takes over the Delta, the people would move inland to a land long abandoned by the original inhabitants who always saw the grass as greener on other peoples land. You will find Igbo people who plan to march into the Delta and drive the inhabitants to the sea because they believe we will not fight for our land. This sounds like a repeat of the Japanese mistake during the Second World War. The Japanese thought that Americans would not unite to fight because, unlike themselves, Americans were a mixture of different peoples from all nooks and crannies of the world. Besides, if they succeeded to push us into the ocean, we would become Mammywaters. Every ship loaded with the inferior goods that they would import we would send to Davy Jones locker. Every ship loaded with export (if there ever came such a time) we would also send to Davy Jones locker. Who would be the loser then, the living or the dead?

Suggestion for reconciliation

It is clear that descending to this level of interaction is a fruitless exercise at best, and can bear odious or sour fruit at worst. What fair minded people ought to do is to examine the relationship, find out previous mistakes, promise not to repeat those mistakes or create new ones, reconcile and take a win - win approach to issues that affect the region. To his credit, Afulezi started this exercise and stated things the way he saw them. I have joined the issue and stated things the way I see them. A parasitic relationship is not good. A symbiotic one is desirable. With all the boasting going on now about Igbo prowess, the roads in Aba or Owerri are as bad as the ones in Etinan, Uyo or Oron. The disdain you have for us because 'far from the madding crowd's ignoble strife, in our cool sequestered vale of life, we have kept the noiseless tenor of our ways' is not warranted. Before and after the advent of the European, neither one of us depended on the other for their daily bread. You have your style and we have ours - different from yours.

I share the recently expressed opinion by an Igbo that what Zik and Awo did or did not do cannot be undone and should henceforth not hold back the much needed unity of Southern Nigerians. How else would we answer the challenge that illiterates in the North have been ruling over the educated from the South? So how do we begin the reconciliation process? I suggest that it will start with Ojukwu. He has to come to Uyo and Calabar and publicly apologize for the utterance during and after the war regarding husbands and wives. Absent that, you can come up with another suggestion but I can assure you it will be an uphill task.