FRANK UKONGA LECTURE SERIES 6 THE NIGERIAN BIAFRA WAR, CHINUA ACHEBE’S MEMOIRS, & MATTERS ARISING.


FRANK UKONGA LECTURE SERIES 6
THE NIGERIAN BIAFRA WAR, CHINUA ACHEBE’S MEMOIRS, & MATTERS ARISING.
PREAMBLES: In January 1966 Major Sochukwuma Nzeogu a military officer of the Nigeria Army in company of company of five others of Major Banjo, Major Ifiajuna, Major Ademilegun and co truncated the democratic government of the Nigerian Federation through a bloody military coup de Etat which many historians view as a lopsided coup in its planning and execution in favor of a particular geo political and ethnic region of the polity. Despite this the rein of leadership fell on the hands of Major General Aguyi Ironsi who quickly unified the various colligating nations of Nigeria by introducing a unitary system of military government and ruled for some months until he was ousted by another coup de Etat that brought in General Yakubu Gowon as the new leader of the Nigerian Federation.
Colonel Odumegu Ojukwu was then the commandant of the Eastern flank of the Nigerian Army and to cut the long story short he opted out of Nigeria seceding the Eastern Region into what became popularly called the Biafra Nation through the infamous Ahiara declaration.
This affrontation against constituted authority of the federal Government was not acceptable to other colligating members of the polity and it led to a 3 year civil war in the Nigeria federation. On the Nigerian frontiers Gen. Murtala Mohammed led the Ist division that moved in to Biafra through the Mid West region, Brigadier Benjamin Adekunle , the black scorpion,led the infamous 3 ed Marine commando that closed in from the South -South flank, while Major Gen Mohammadu Shua led the last flank that closed in from the Benue Enugu axis. Other gallant military officers that participated actively from the Nigeria frontiers includes Major General Hassan Utsman Katsina, Major General Aremu Olusegun Obasanjo, Major General Maimaliari, Major General Abba Kyari, Major General Alao Akinrinade, Brigadier General Adekunle Shotomi, Major General Shehu Musa Yar Adua, Col Shitu Alao, Brigadier General Samuel Ogbemudia, Major General David Ejoor, etc
On the Biafra side we had Major General Achuzia, Major General Philip Effiong, Col Banjo, Major Sochukuma Uzeogu, Major General Alexander Madiebo, and Major Ifiajuna etal
In the war administrative set up of General Yakubu Gowon, he released chief Obafemi Awolowo from prison and appointed him Vice Chairman of the Supreme Military Council which translate to the post of Deputy Head of State/Prime Minister and he also made him the Minister of finance of the Federation and a special adviser and partner in keeping Nigeria one. Major General Yakubu Gowon exercised great wisdom in his great respect for Chief Obafemi Awolowo ,a great Social Democrats and this in return Chief Awolowo gave him General Yakubu Gowon his maximum cooperation to make him succeed in his noble ideals in keeping Nigeria one as he inherited it from his predecessors and handing it over as one Nation with one destiny to other generations of Nigerians. And of course these are the higher achievements in terms of leadership assessments in being able to keep the sovereignty you inherited in its geopolitical size, in its territorial integrity as one or perhaps expanding it. All other category of measure as economic prosperity, infrastructural development, education etal is subjective to the primacy and supremacy of the category of keeping the territorial integrity you inherited intact.
THE MEMOIRS OF CHINUA ACHEBE AND OTHER MATTERS ARISING
We must cognitize that war is war; be it civil, cold or international warfare and the end objective is for your side to win the battle. Of course there will be lots of alliances and horse trading addressed to same point of wining. And occasionally we must understand particularly esoteric minds that the question of war and winning successfully warfare be it civil arms struggle, secessionist wars, or political struggle is not a tea party. Whence warfare has become on a global basis a school of thought and there are various philosophical precepts and departments. Most Successful war Generals are those that study deeply the terrain of the war and map out stratagems of wining. But a rigorous research into all the various stratagems be it that of General Shaka De Zulu, that of General Sun Tsu, that of General Patton, that of Almilca Cabra of Cottage, Gbenkis Khan and all the Mongol  generals or even the methods of Alexandra the great as polished and guided by Aristotle, or that of General Napoleon Bonaparte or that of Pompey, or Octavus Caesar, or that of Queen Amina of Zaria, that of Shehu Idris Aloma of Bornu, Fulani Samanguru of Mali and Futa Toro  or that of Salim Salim, or Sulaimon the Magnificent of Byzantine and Ottoman civilizations or that of Winston Churchill, Stalin or Roosevelt, or that of the post modern strategists of Robert Green they all have a similar undertone of common underlying reality of the Machiavellian philosophy addressed to win at what ever cost. Though, this may be disguised in various shades and camouflages.
In the Chinua Achebe Memoirs it is alleged he blamed the duo of Chief Obafemi Awolowo and General Yakubu Gowon of leading a war strategy that staved Biafra of necessary essential supplies that lead to the death of many. Though this is not the first time that such a criticism has been raised but in this crucial stage of Nigerian nascent democratic dispensation and seething milieu it began to generate great controversies as to whether it was a willful intension or a brilliant strategy to win the war quickly and bring Nigeria together as one again. Of course many peoples involve in this diatribe will view it various ways depending on the side of the divide you are crested but objectively it would be important to study the general milieu of that era before a rational inference can be arrived at, as to whether to apportion blame or not to the stratagems employed by General Yakubu Gowon and Chief Awolowo  in the Biafra war..
And in the context of the aforementioned it is ingenious to posit the following observations:
1.       War lords and war Generalissimos are not from the same mould of the civilian stocks, in esoteric cases they are from the mould of Chiron the Centurion and most of them are well schooled in the methods of Chiron de Centurion and most of such teachings are mostly unsafe to be exposed to the ordinary civilian populace of a civil society and for that reason we shall not duel on them in this lecture series nor in any of my lecture series..But the philosophy is addressed to win in whatever thing you do.
2.       Applying the Socratic and Aristotelian methods of philosophical Reducio de Absurdum, a question will be posed to Prof. Chinua Achebe and all those in support of his dissertations and memoirs: “if you were in a position as head of state or adviser to a war lord and a strategy to quickly win a civil war and bring back your citizens back again as brothers and sisters in the no victor, no vanquished victory pops up, would you employ the stratagems or not.”
3.       The answer to the afformention question is obvious to even the mundane, so blaming General Yakubu Gowon or blaming His Excellency Plenipotentiary extra ordinary Chief Obafemi  Awolowo, in philosophical instances, of the applications of certain stratagems through commissions or omissions may have no basis in objective reality, save for chauvinistic irredentist sentimentality; which is an aphorism of wallowing in autokiness illusion of self pity and deep sense of guilt as in the simile of the Lilliputian delusion of grandiose.
4.       Haven answered the Achebe question there is the need to probe further and for once put the other questions on the table for rigorous discussions; often ascribed to Chief Obafemi Awolowo is the aspects of blaming him for inactions due to a statement credited to him as saying that : “ If by commission or omission the East is allowed to secede the West will follow suit”- This is a deep esoteric philosophical  normatic statement only discernable to esoteric minds and men of deep understanding and wisdom. Though I quit agree that it could be obfuscating to the uninitiated minds and could be sort of temptation to an over ambitious mind that may want to miss interpret the great philosophical statement as a subtle comradeship in conspiracy of secession. This obviously was not the true and real meaning of the words of the great sage… Just as Jesus Christ said in the lords Prayers that forgive us our sins as we forgive others… this is the core of the golden rules of philosophy but many peoples miss interpret this great conditional words of Jesus Christ… what the s simply means is that we shall be judged in accordance to how we judge others.. the precondition for forgiveness of sins is that you forgive others… the precondition to receive from God is that you give to others… you will receive back in tenfold what you do to others.. That is the meaning.. So like wise what Chief Obafemi Awolowo was saying is that on no condition must the Eat be allowed to secede as it will be disastrous to the making of a greater Nigeria. As the East and her great peoples are important to the continuous greatness and leadership of Sub Saharan Africa and the African continent… and the human race in generality… As the  great peoples of the East are imperative to the emergence of a greater Nigeria as a world supper power because of their industry and technology it will be suicidal to allow them to go… these are the logical interpretations of that great worlds of Chief Obafemi Awolowo… but the mundane minds interprets it conversely and begin to blame Chief Awolowo for not welcoming the impudence of Colonel Banjo who was sent to the West by General Ojukwu leading a trop to liberate the western Region … and Chief Obafemi Awolowo was instrumental to stopping Col Banjo at Ore and finally was returned back to the east and General Ojukwu executed him on trump up charges of planning coup d etat against him
5.       WHAT RIUNED BIAFRA AND WHAT SHOULD CONCENTRATE THE MINDS OF PROF. ACHEBE
6.       What ruined Biafra was the disunity among the Igbo people which they still continue to exhibit till today…  the peoples of Igbo can never be able to speak with one voice… subsequently Biafra failed out of implosion due to the politics of sabotage and self destructs played by some elite igbo peoples against the success of Biafra…and what should concentrate the minds of Prof Chinua Achebe is how to unite the Igbo peoples world wide under a new paradigm shift of becoming more relevant to the Nigerian Federation and Africa rather than waking up mundane sentiments of bygone realms

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