The Burden of an Inherited War. [07-Jun-2017]

Before Ojukwu leveraged on a supposed breach of the Aburi accord by Gowon to declare a seceded nation of Biafra in May 1967, they had been severe violence and murders in some parts of Northern Nigeria which accounted for the deaths of very many Easterners especially those of the Igbo tribe.

Ojukwu ordered all Non-Easterners to depart the region just as Easterners gravitated towards their hometowns based on assurances of safety. The infantile nation was convulsing and about to burst a major artery such that the details of the events of January and July 1966 were thought to be too high-octane to flood the public space with.

Gowon, Ojukwu, Wey, Katsina, Johnson, Ejoor, Adebayo, Selem and Omo-Bare all trooped to Aburi Ghana on January 4, 1966 at the invitation of General Ankrah to resolve the impasse that had existed since July 1966. It is documented that the talks were about the coups, the pogroms, the structure of the Federal military government, government appointments and the handling of matters affecting displaced Easterners especially. Talks were reported to be generally peaceful but a move to restore Nigeria to a similar system operated before the January 66 coup generated controversy following the talks.

It is believed that an agreement which highlighted the regions over the centre caused the Federal leader to reconsider the issues he had accented to in Ghana. Ojukwu didn't turn up for a follow-up meeting held on March 9 and 10, 1966 at Benin-city and by April of the same year, the Eastern government had taken over Federal assets and ordered remittance of revenue meant for the FMG into the Eastern government's account.

The Federal side opposed these moves and declared them unconstitutional and thereafter imposed sanctions, suspending flights and blocking ports. This lasted till May 1967 when notable personalities were deployed to help resolve the dispute. Gowon lifted the sanctions while Ojukwu empowered by a resolution of a consultative assembly he put together at Enugu declared an independent state, the Republic of Biafra.

By 9pm, a state of emergency was declared by Gowon throughout the country and a subsequent decree which divided Nigeria into twelve states. The rest is history.

One of those who had visited Ojukwu was the late Obafemi Awolowo who later served as a key member of Gowon's government. Awolowo had been a very strong proponent for the restructuring of Nigeria. It was glaring, the imbalanced condition of Nigeria and as the leader of the opposition, he fought vehemently to break the hold of the old Northern region and what he must have perceived as the hypocrisy of the two parties in control of the centre at that time.

The major dispute was the creation of the Mid-West from the Western region. Awo supported and opposed this move at the same time. He was angered that constitutional provisions were not followed and the Prime Minister was totally opposed to creating any more states. Balewa and the NPC did not want anything carved out of the old Northern region to preserve the region's hold of the country while the NCNC did not want any football pitch cut out of the old Eastern region. The NPC and NCNC both wanted the Mid-West for political reasons and seemingly to weaken the Action Group while maintaining status quo in their respective strongholds. Awo had proposed in 1961 a federation composed of about eleven regions based on ethnicity and/or linguistics:

*Mid West- Benin and Delta provinces 
*Western
*North East- Bornu and Sardauna provinces
*Central- Ilorin, Niger and Kabba provinces
*Middle Belt- Adamawa, Bauchi, Plateau, Southern Zaria provinces
*North Kano- Northern Zaria, Kaduna capital territory
*North West- Sokoto and Katsina 
*East- Old Owerri and Old Onitsha provinces
*Calabar- Old Calabar province
*Rivers- Old Rivers and western Ijaw
*Ogoja- Old Ogoja province

Awo's proposal would have effectively seen the Old Northern region split into five parts which would have been easier and more efficient to administer. Education and development could have perfused these regions faster but democracy was soon undermined and Nigeria went into a free fall.

Awo got charged and sentenced to prison on account of treason, trouble broke out in the Western region, Akintola moved in with a part of the NCNC and ultimately with the NPC and the next election in 1963 was boycotted in many areas. The NCNC fell out with the NPC but because the NPC had the numbers, Azikiwe could do nothing but ask Balewa to form the government. Issues like this coupled with the deployment of soldiers to halt revolts in the western region and TIV land especially must have given our young men in the army the excuse to take the law into their hands and lives as well.

As much as individuals such as Ademoyega are mentioned in the January coup to counter the much widely believed narrative that that coup was an Igbo coup, the facts cannot just be dismissed especially by those who are deeply sentimental and without patience to study the literature about those days. We cannot and should not separate the events of 1966 from the abyss Nigeria descended into subsequently. All the crime and evil from all parties concerned contributed to our fall. If we say that the coup of January 66 should not have been used to label the entire Igbo race then one can effectively argue that the July 66 coup should not be used to brand the Hausa-Fulani tribe considering that men from present day Taraba (Danjuma), Ilorin (Ibrahim Taiwo) and Plateau (Dimka et al) were active participants. This carried over animosity is the root of enmity which aggravated the civil war and still promotes calls for division till date.

Many of those who are hellbent on secession may be confusing the right to self determination to a right to secede. They look for heroes in all the wrong places and are soon swept off their feet by vile and hateful rhetoric masked by eloquence and bravado. Those who insist that Rabbi/ Director/ Commander Nnamdi Kanu is right in his approach of protracted hate speech broadcast, and soliciting for funding from Igbos in diaspora to purchase guns and bullets to exterminate the inhabitants of the "Zoo" his children and wife don't reside within also supported the call to free him from custody. Some of these individuals are now demanding that the nation's security operatives pick up those Arewa bandits who issued a statement threatening an entire race. I'm baffled at how they now accurately recognize hate speech and possibly treason. I predict that when these folks are picked up, we would have protests and social media '##hashtags' demanding for their release as is our usual practice in Nigeria.

The constant abuse especially from Biafran agitators has contributed a great deal to this current mess. Past injustices have not helped the situation as well, and the roles played by terrible leadership, greed and docile citizenship cannot be overemphasized. The words and statements of the recent treasonable bunch should not be dismissed with a wave even though it may be argued that they are bluffing considering that the 19 states they plan to fumigate are not homogeneous or malleable to manipulation like it happened in the 60s. We don't want opportunists hiding under this cover to wreck havoc and then blame it on unknown gunmen or Fulani herdsmen with ghost cattle.

We have made progress since the old regions of the late 50s and early 60s. It is almost certain that riding on either Northern or Southern support cannot win the nation's presidency, Presidents Buhari and Jonathan can testify to that. The North central zone is more or less regarded as the swing zone and this is because part of what Awo proposed was achieved. The states have democratically elected governors but don't control the Federal police the way they would have loved. However, there's a degree of freedom to administer the states even if it means consuming bail out funds meant for salaries and pensions on luxuries and hotels.

The Southwest was seen as the big loser since 1999 and only gained prominence after aligning with a strong Northern candidate in 2015. The Southeast and South-South had before then been the co-pilots until they opted to ride alone. The voices of agitators are now loudest in the streets with claims of marginalisation and oppression. I think some of us need to look at ourselves in the mirror and try a little honesty. Liberation from Nigeria which some people seek won't come from constantly abusing and disrespecting other groups in the Union irrespective of how justified we feel the struggle is. Nigerians take pride in being adaptable to any part of the world, in the desert or Antarctica you will find us there doing business and what have you. Why has this immensely fertile and ridiculously blessed West African nation become so toxic to us?