WHY THE TWELVE STATES WERE CREATED IN 1967 . 27TH MAY

Lt Col Ojukwu  & Lt Col Gowon 

 EASTERN REGION CONSULTATIVE ASSEMBLY 27th MAY 1967.

We, the chiefs, elders, and representatives of Eastern Nigeria on this day' 27th may 1967 now wish to make the following declarations.
We hereby mandate the governor of the Eastern region Col. Emeka "Odumegwu Ojukwu" to' in no distance time' declare Eastern Nigeria an independent sovereign state with the name/title REPUBLIC OF BIAFRA.
On that same day' Col Yakubu Gowon hurriedly invoked decree( dividing the four regions into 12 states.
You would recall that initially the 12 states Gowon created had no governors' it was on the 28th of May 1967 (24hrs later) that Governors were appointed to govern the various states, making it very obvious that it was clearly a plot to divide and rule the people of the East region.

The sole aim of state creation was to dispossess the Igbo of significant territories' and cause them to be landlocked.
How did Gowon got to know that the Eastern region had finally agreed to declare secession? (BIAFRA)
The traitors from the Eastern region are the reason why the Sultan of Sokoto has 23 oil blocks today while Anyanabos from the region have none.
~~Comr Tamuno-Belema Daniels

MY GALLANT BIAFRANS (history)

 A FORMER MERCENARY WHO FOUGHT ON THE BIAFRAN SIDE DURING THE CIVIL WAR GAVE THE FOLLOWING ACCOUNT OF HIS EXPERIENCE: 


"Nigeria's a typical West African mess of a country, only bigger and meaner. It's divided up the usual way: the coastal tribes are Christianized from sucking up to the European colonists. The further inland you go, the drier, hungrier and more Islamic it gets. The Brits grabbed the Nigerian coastline from the Portuguese when they realized there was money to be made, and turned the two big coastal tribes, the Ibo and the Yoruba, into their overseers on the Nigerian plantations. That left a lot of the inland Muslim tribes, the Hausa-Fulani people of the Sahel, permanently pissed off, sharpening their knives and biding their time.

"The Hausa-Fulani got their chance in 1963, when the last Brit in Nigeria hopped on a plane, yelling back to the Natives 'Congratulations, chaps! You're independent!' As soon as the Brits bugged out, the tribal massacres got going. Muslims in the north hacked to death every Ibo they could find. They hated these smartasses from the coast -- and now the Redcoats weren't there to stop them from taking revenge. 30,000 Ibos were killed in a few days. 

"The massacres kind of soured the Ibo on the idea of Nigeria as one big happy inter-tribal family. In 1967 an Ibo General in the Nigerian Army declared that the Ibo region was now an independent country, 'Biafra.' The Nigerian Army, a big, sleazy outfit, begged to differ and invaded the Ibo region in SE Nigeria. The Army had 250,000 men. The Biafra/Ibo army had maybe a tenth that many, but they were brave and smart -- the Ibo had always been the brains of Nigeria. 
"Every time it was a question of real battle on anything like equal terms, the Biafran rebels won. They stopped the government troops cold, then grabbed tactical surprise by staging a long-range raid into Western Nigeria. 
"A risky advance like that by untrained civilian recruits (which is what most of the Ibo fighters were) is really impressive. But sad to say, courage doesn't count for much in West African warfare. It's ruthlessness that wins these wars, and the Nigerian junta had it. 

"Instead of facing the Ibo army man to man, the Nigerian troops grabbed the coastline around the Niger River delta, this miserable maze of fever swamp was the supply route the Ibo needed. They stopped all food shipments heading for Ibo territory and sat back to let the Ibo starve. 

"The Biafrans were still winning every battle and losing the war like Lee in 1865 -- starved out, strangled from behind. They realized they needed to open the supply route and decided to take back the Niger delta. And they got some help from outside. 

"The best example, one of the few real heroes you'll get in this sleazy world, was a Swede, believe it or not. A Swedish aristocrat, no less. Count Carl Gustav von Rosen volunteered to do close air support for the Biafran army, hosing down government troops and raiding their bases, flying tiny civilian prop planes like little Swedish Cessnas. 

"Is that glorious or what? 

"The mismatch in the air war was total. The Nigerian AF had MiG-17 fighters and Il-28 bombers, DC 3 transports converted to bombers and a few choppers. Those Ilyushin and MiG designs were the high point of Soviet military aviation. Don't kid yourself -- the Soviets built some great planes. The Il-28 was a big, fast bomber with a bombload of 16,000 pounds and a three-man crew, including a tail gunner manning twin 23mm cannon. You wouldn't want to tailgate one of these. 

"The MiG-17 was even better. It might have been the best fighter in the world when it went into service in 1953, and even in the mid-sixties it was good enough to win against our Phantom F-4s in dogfights over North Vietnam. US pilots were way more scared of the MiG-17 than the follow-on model, the MiG-21. The slick moves and big cannon of the MiG-17 were one big reason the USAF stopped thinking of fighters as manned SAMs -- all speed and no finesse -- and went back to planes with nose cannon, maneuverability and started teaching air combat at Top Gun schools. 

"Up against all this big international hardware, the Biafrans had...nothing. 

"Then this crazy Swede von Rosen came up with the kind of idea that would only work in Africa. Since he couldn't get the Biafrans any jet aircraft, he'd just buy some prop-driven trainers and refit them for combat. Von Rosen is such a great character he almost makes me reconsider hating Swedes. He was a throwback to when the Swedish pikemen turned the tide of the Thirty Years War. 

"Von Rosen specialized in noble lost causes. Way back in 1938, when he was just a kid, he volunteered to fly for the Finns in their ultra-cool, hopeless fight against the Red Army. The Finns had no bombers so von Rosen just grabbed a civilian airliner, loaded it up with bombs and dropped them on the Reds from the passenger doors. 

 " 'Welcome, Comrade passengers! Coffee, tea or 500 pounds of HE?' 
"Thirty years later, in August 1968, von Rosen was working as a civilian pilot delivering aircraft to Africa. He ran into some priests who were trying to find somebody brave enough to fly medical supplies past the blockade into Biafra. The mercs they'd hired called it off as too dangerous. 

"Von Rosen volunteered to fly a DC 7 into Biafra with the supplies. The Biafrans were so grateful, and were fighting so bravely against all the odds, that von Rosen warmed to them like he had to the Finns. The Biafrans needed help to deal with the Nigerian AF, which was fighting a nasty war even by African standards. In the whole war, there's not one case of the Nigerian AF attacking a military target. 

"That would've been dangerous -- and not nearly as much fun as bombing refugee camps, strafing hospitals, and napalming fleeing civilians. 

"Von Rosen tried to find the Ibo some modern military jets, but nobody wanted to sell to the Biafrans for fear of upsetting the Nigerian government, a much bigger customer. So von Rosen started thinking about small prop-driven aircraft. There's a long history of using slow prop planes in bush warfare. Even the USAF, which has a major hard-on for afterburners and chrome, was forced to adopt a slow, armored CAS plane, the A-10. They hated it at first but it proved itself in both Gulf Wars, when fancy toys like the Army's dog of an AH, the Apache, left the field with its tail between its legs. In Nam, the classic jungle air war, we used two planes that were slow as molasses but did the job. One of the best and ugliest was the A-1 Skyraider, a chunky WW II style plugger. The USAF hated it and was always trying to twist combat reports to make the F-4 look good and the Skyraider look bad, but pilots agreed: you were better off going in low and slow in a Skyraider than zooming by in an F-4. 

"Even the Skyraider was like an SR-71 compared to the little putt-putt plane von Rosen built his force around: the MFI-9, a tiny prop-driven Swedish trainer that looks like those ultralights people build in their garages. This plane could park in subcompact spaces at the Stockholm mall. It had a maximum payload of 500 pounds -- me plus a couple of medium sized dogs. Lucky those Swedes are so skinny. 

"Von Rosen bought five of these little 'Fleas' down the coast in Gabon, slapped on a coat of green VW paint to make them look military, and installed wing pods for unguided 68mm unguided anti-armor rockets. Then he and his pilots -- three Swedes and three Ibo -- flew them back to Biafra and into combat. 

"They blew the Hell out of the Nigerian AF and army. These little Fleas were impossible to bring down. Not a single one was knocked out of the sky, although they'd buzz home riddled with holes. They flew three missions a day and their list of targets destroyed included Nigerian airfields, power plants, and troop concentrations. 

"The Fleas turned their weaknesses into advantages in true guerrilla style. They were so slow that they had to fly real low -- which made them almost impossible to hit in the jungle, since you never saw them till they were on top of you. The low speed made for better aim: almost half the 400 68mm rockets they fired hit their targets, which is an amazing score for unguided AS munitions. (There used to be a joke in the USAF that if it wasn't for the law of gravity, unguided AS rockets couldn't even hit the ground.) 

"The Biafran AF managed to destroy three MiG-17s and an Il-28 on the ground. Killing enemy planes on the ground may not be as glorious as shooting them down in a dogfight, but they're just as destroyed. The Fleas also took out a couple of helicopters, an airport tower, a Canberra bomber and a half-dozen supply trucks. And they blew away at least 500 Nigerian troops. It was one of the few really glorious exploits you get in war these days. Why they haven't made a movie of it, I don't know. Guess they think we'd rather see tennis pros fall in love or some shit like that. 

"Von Rosen's Fleas weren't enough to turn the tide of the war. The rest of the world turned their backs on the Ibo, let the Nigerians starve them into submission. The USSR sold the Nigerians every plane, tank and gun they could cram into their shopping cart, and the British loaned their pilots to fly as Nigerian AF mercs, bombing Biafran civvies and blowing up convoys bringing food and meds to the Ibo villages. 

"The famine in Biafra was the first time we saw pictures of African kids with skeleton arms and legs and big balloon bellies looking up at the camera. It was easy to get shots like that in Biafra, because the whole country was starving. 

"A year into the war, the Ibo had nothing left. No food, no ammo, not even fuel, which is ironic when they were sitting on the big Niger delta oilfields. 

"Even the bravest troops can't fight when they're dying of starvation. So in 1969 the Nigerian Army sent 120,000 men pushing through the center of Biafra, dividing the Ibo zone in half. It was like Sherman's march to the sea -- it broke the Biafrans' backs. Early in 1970 Biafra surrendered. Nobody knows how many people died. The low guess is a million, the high ones maybe three millions. Almost all were Ibo civilians. 

"The Nigerians punished the Ibo for their uppity behavior by freezing them out of the loot they got from oil revenues and other graft, the one industry in Nigeria. For 30 years the Ibo have been watching the oil pumped out of their land to buy more Mercedes for a bunch of sleazy generals and politicians. They've got a right to be pissed off -- but the Biafra war showed them that in Africa, right ain't got much to do with it. Like the greatest Swede of 'em all used to say, 'God is on the side of the big battalions.' "

SOURCE

THEY CAME,SAW, DESTROYED AND LEARNT NOTHING

BOOK RECOMMENDATION: 
HOW  TO BUILD  2 STANDARD INTERNATIONAL  AIRPORTS IN  ONE MONTH AND MAINTAIN THEM AFTER DAILY BOMBINGS:   Authors : BIAFRAN ENGINEERS. 1967-1970

Every 3 years  we  hear  of  the closure of  Abuja airport, poor  and dangerous position of  the airport etc . I believe  the Nigerian engineers should read this  old book from the  rubble of  war. 

BOOK RECOMMENDATION: 

• HOW  TO BUILD  2 STANDARD INTERNATIONAL  AIRPORTS IN  ONE MONTH AND MAINTAIN THEM AFTER DAILY BOMBINGS:   Authors : BIAFRAN ENGINEERS. 1967-1970
  

 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 The Nigerian soldiers came saw,destroyed and LEARNT NOTHING.

Photo of  General Obasanjo (Nigerian Army Engineer) Jan 1970:  posing  for  a remembrance picture and jubilating   at their first sight of the  (one of the airstrips) ULI airport fully constructed and maintained  by the Biafran Army Engineer corps throughout the war.
The Nigerian  destroyed  without learning NOTHING till now.

Ignore preaching break-up of Nigeria, Buhari urges religious leaders

 ON MAY 9, 2016
 President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday in Katsina urged traditional rulers to spearhead the campaign for peaceful and harmonious co-existence among the diverse socio-political groups in the country. The president made the call when he visited the Emir of Katsina, Alhaji Abdulmumini Kabiru Usman, at his palace in Katsina, Katsina state. He said the call had become imperative in view of the activities of some groups who had been preaching hatred, disunity and divisive tendencies among Nigerians for their selfish motives. He, therefore, enjoined all Nigerians to always ignore those individuals and groups calling for the break-up of Nigeria. President Buhari, who narrated the role he played during the civil war in Nigeria, said over two million lives were lost during the war. The president, who expressed concern over the prevailing harsh economic realities across the country, called on the traditional rulers to assist in educating their subjects on the need to be patient and to always exercise restraints while commenting on state of the nation. He also called on community leaders across the country to introduce monthly or quarterly meeting in their respective communities to address issues concerning their welfare. According to him, such meeting will provide solutions to some challenges facing the people rather than awaiting government intervention to resolve such problems. President Buhari enjoined leaders to always be honest and straightforward while dealing with the people in order to ensure good upbringing of the younger ones in the society. On the current economic hardship being experienced in the country, the president attributed such hardship to dwindling oil revenue occasioned by the unstable global oil price. He, therefore, called on Nigerians to diversify their means of livelihood by engaging in agricultural activities to alleviate their sufferings. The president, who reiterated the determination of his administration to recover Nigeria’s stolen funds, reassured that the ongoing war against corruption was not selective but aimed at ensuring financial and economic discipline in the country. In his remarks, the Emir of Katsina, Alhaji Abdulmumini Kabiru Usman, called on the Federal Government to fulfill its promises of completing the dredging of River Niger as well as the Katsina state water and dam projects to boost irrigation farming in the state. The Emir also called for the federal government’s intervention in reviving teacher training colleges to uplift the quality of education in the country. He enjoined Nigerians, particularly the elite, to support and show more understanding to the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration by offering special prayers for the success of the government. Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari has paid similar visit to the Emir of Daura, Alhaji Umar Farouk Umar, where he reassured Nigerians that his administration would continue to promote programmes and policies that would ensure unity, stability and development of the country. According to him, the 2016 Budget of Change, just signed into law, represents a major step in delivering a new opportunity for Nigeria. He said despite the challenges, his administration has the will, resourcefulness and commitment to not only secure Nigeria and rebuild the economy but also deliver prosperity to the people. President Buhari, however, solicited the support of traditional rulers, religious leaders and well meaning Nigerians to mobilise the citizenry toward serving the interest of the country, at all times. In his remarks, the Emir commended the president for the steps so far taken by his administration to give a new vista of hope on the future of the country. Special prayers were offered for the nation and its leaders at the palaces of the two Emirs in Katsina and Daura. 

Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/05/ignore-preaching-break-nigeria-buhari-urges-religious-leaders/

44years after, Igbo demand N2.6trn reparation over civil war

44years after, Igbo demand N2.6trn reparation 

over civil war

on July 15, 2014  

BY HENRY UMORU, LEVINUS NWABUGHIOGU & JOSEPH ERUNKE

FORTY- Four years after, the Civil War ,  Igbo delegates asked for N2. 6 trillion as reparation and compensation for the devastation Igbo land experienced during the 1967 to 1970 war.

In an amendment to the proposed National Intervention Fund, the South East delegates said the former Eastern region and part of the former Mid-West region which are now in South-East and South-South zones were centres of war, with high level of devastation that brought untold hardship to their citizens.

In a document titled: “Atrocities and Injustices against Ndigbo: Ohaneze demand for Reparation” which was circulated with the amendment to the proposed National Intervention Fund, the delegates said it was incalculable to put a price on the death of millions of Igbo who were killed in the civil war and other occasions.

They said: “The case of the South-East, which bore the full brunt of the civil war for 30 months, is particularly tragic. Most of it remained a wasteland, despite General (Yakubu) Gowon’s declaration of the three ‘Rs’, Reconstruction, Rahabilitation and Reconciliation.

“The federal government should pay N400 billion each to the five states of the South East as compensation to those who lost loved ones and properties and those still suffering dislocation today in Nigeria. The same amount should also be paid to the government of Delta State for the benefit of Anioma area of the state.”

The motion was sponsored by former Minister of Foreign Affairs and a delegate on the platform of Elder Statesmen, Gen. Ike Nwachukwu, and 14 others. The Igbo stressed that the demand became imperative following the “atrocities and injustices committed against Ndigbo in Nigeria over a long period.

They argued:  “All fair minded citizens of this country are wont to agree that the former Eastern Region and part of former Mid West Region, which encompass the present day South- East and South- South zones of Nigeria were theatres of the civil war which devastated the two regions and brought untold hardships to their citizens.
The case of the South-East, which bore the full brunt of the civil war for thirty months, is particularly tragic. Most of it has remained a wasteland, despite General Gowon’s declaration of the three “R”, Reconstruction, Rehabilitation and Rehabilitation.

Issue of reparation
“Boko  Haram insurgency in parts of the country, and especially in the North East Zone, has brought up the issue of reparation and reconstruction in whatever guise, to the fore and the National Conference through its Committee on Devolution of Power has tackled it headlong.

Since what is good for the goose is good for the gander, the Conference cannot afford to ignore the yearnings of our people to rehabilitate and reconstruct the war divested South-South and South-East zones through the proposed National Intervention Fund or through any other integrated platform or plan available to the Federal Government.

“Several panels set up by the Federal Government including the Oputa Panel, had approved reparation for war damages, but till date, this has not been addressed.”

In their prayers they said, “that Since the proposed National Intervention Fund is to address the vexed issues of devastation and upheavals caused by an act of war or by outright war itself, that the South East and the South-South zones be adequately taken care of by the fund in terms of the physical infrastructure, rehabilitation, development and other losses resulting from the civil war. That the Federal Government sets up a body to work out agreed reparation to settle the civil war issue once and for all.

The Igbo who lamented that several panels set up by the federal government, including the Oputa Panel, had approved reparation for war damages but till date this has not been addressed.

In their prayers the South East delegates demanded that “Since the proposed National Intervention Fund is to address the vexed issues of devastation and upheavals caused by an act of war or by outright war itself, that the South-East and South-South be adequately taken care of by the fund in terms of the physical infrastructure, rehabilitation, development and other losses resulting from the civil war.”

- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/07/44years-igbo-demand-n2-6tn-reparation-civil-war/#sthash.8uZvaroe.dpuf
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/07/44years-igbo-demand-n2-6tn-reparation-civil-war/

Re-inventing Igbo politics in Nigeria

on March 04, 2014   /   in Femi Aribisala 1:22 am 

AMONG the different ethnic groups in Nigeria, the Igbo are without a doubt, one of the most remarkable.  So remarkable, indeed, that some have even traced their ancestry to biblical Israel, as the far-flung descendants of Jacob, the Jewish patriarch.  Gad, Jacob’s seventh son, is said to have had three sons who settled in South-eastern Nigeria.

These sons; Eri, Arodi and Areli, are believed to have fathered clans in Igbo-land and to have founded such Igbo towns as Aguleri, Arochukwu, Owerri and Umuleri.

Igbo genius

Even the bitterest adversaries of the Igbo cannot but admit that, as a people, they are very resourceful and ingenious.  Indeed, this has often been the cause of their envy and dislike by others.  However, more enlightened non-Igbo Nigerians see this as a cause for celebration.  While today, the centre-point of Nigeria’s manufacturing is situated in the Lagos/Ogun axis, there is no doubt that the real locomotive of Nigeria’s indigenous industrialization lies farther afield in Aba and in the mushrooming cottage-industries of the Igbo heartland.

In one of the paradoxes of Nigerian history, the terrible civil war provoked homespun industrialization in the South-East.  Military blockade left the Igbo with little alternative than to be inventive in a hurry.  While Nigeria as a nation failed woefully to harness this profitably after the war, it has nevertheless ensured that the Igbo are at the forefront of Nigeria’s economic development today.

Indeed, the way we disregard “made in Aba” today is the same way we disregarded “made in Japan” yesterday.  For those of us who believe against the odds that Nigeria is the China of tomorrow, we equally recognize that the ingenuity of the Igbo is an indelible part of the actualization of that manifest destiny.

Hall of fame

The Igbo have been a great credit to Nigeria.  They have given us a great number of our favourite sons, including international statesman Nnamdi Azikiwe; military leader Odumegwu Ojukwu; regional leader Michael Okpara; vice-president Alex Ekwueme; mathematical genius Chike Obi; literary icon Chinua Achebe; world-class economist Pius Okigbo; world boxing champion Dick Tiger; international statesman Emeka Anyaoku; and world-class artist Ben Enwonwu.  Permit me to include in this illustrious list even some of my very good Igbo friends: Pat Utomi, Ojo Madueke, Olisa Agbakoba, Joy Ogwu, and Stanley Macebuh.

Let us get one thing straight: Nigeria would be a much poorer country without the Igbo.  Indeed, Nigeria would not be Nigeria without them.  Can you imagine the Super Eagles without the Igbo?  Not likely!  Who can forget Nwankwo Kanu, Jay Kay Okocha and our very own Emmanuel Amuneke?

Can you imagine Nollywood without the Igbo?  Impossible!  Just think of Stella Damascus-Aboderin; Rita Dominic and Mike Ezuruonye.  And then there are the diaspora Igbo who many are unaware are of Igbo descent, including concert singer and actor Paul Robeson; Oscar award-winner Forest Whitaker; mega-pastor T.D. Jakes; Olympic champion Christine Ohuruogu; and BAFTA actor award-winner Chiwetel Ejiofor.

You may well wonder why I have found it necessary to present this small litany of Igbo who-is-who.  I think it is important to emphasise how the Igbo have been very vital to the Nigerian project.  They have more than represented Nigeria creditably in virtually all walks of life.  This makes it all the more absurd that this same people have been consistently denied the position of executive president of the country in all but six months of Nigeria’s 54 year history.

Civil-war legacy

Of course, a major reason for this was the 1967-1970 civil-war which had the Igbo on the losing side.  But that was over 40 years ago.  If there is really to be “no victor, no vanquished” in anything more than mere rhetoric, then the rehabilitation of the Igbo back into post civil-war Nigeria will not be complete until an Igbo man finally becomes president of the country.

That imperative should be of interest to every Nigerian nationalist, committed to the creation of one Nigeria where everyone has a deep sense of belonging.  The problem, however, is that the Igbo themselves seem to be their own worst enemies in this regard.  They appear to be doing their very best to ensure that this inevitable eventuality continues to be denied and delayed.

The Igbo need to forgive Nigerians.  No one who lived through the horrors that precipitated the secession of Biafra and led to the civil-war cannot but admit that the Igbo were abused and maltreated in one of the worst pogroms ever.  It was not just that they were senselessly massacred in their own country; it was that they were butchered.

I remember vividly gory pictures of scores and scores of the Igbo with hands chopped up and with legs amputated.  And then there were the ravages of the three-year civil-war itself, resulting in the death of millions of Igbo; many through starvation and attrition.

The end of the war brought no respite, as the Igbo were pauperized by fiscal decrees that wiped out their savings and their properties were blatantly sequestered by opportunists.  All this is more than enough to destroy the spirit of any group of people.  But God has been on the side of the Igbo.

It is a testament to their resilience that, in spite of this terrible affliction, they have survived, bounced back and have even triumphed in Nigeria.  Forty years have now gone by.  The Igbo may never forget what happened to them and, indeed, should never forget.  But it is past time for them to forgive.

We are sorry

This is one voice in the Nigerian wilderness saying to the Igbo from the depth of his heart: we are sorry.  We are sorry for the way we mistreated you.  We are sorry for the way we abused you.  We are sorry for starving your children to death.  We are sorry for killing your loved ones.  We are sorry for stealing your properties.

We are sorry for making you feel unwanted in your own country.  Please forgive us.  It is time to forgive us.  It is way past time for the Igbo to forgive Nigerians.  We beg you in the name of God.

There was a civil war in the United States, but the defeated South rose from the ashes.  Five of the last nine presidents of the United States have been from the South, including Jimmy Carter from Georgia, George Bush from Texas and Bill Clinton from Arkansas.  The time is overdue for an Igbo president of Nigeria, but it is not going to happen as long as the Igbo continue to hold a grudge against Nigeria and Nigerians.

There is no question about it: the Igbos cannot elect a president of Nigeria on their own.  To do so, they have to join forces with others.   They have to form alliances with people from other parts of Nigeria.  That is not going to happen as long as the Igbo continue to bear a grudge against practically everybody else.

The Igbo have a gripe against virtually all the people they need.  They have this tendency to antagonise their possible alliance partners.  They keep dredging up the past, refusing to let sleeping dogs lie.  Until they drop these gripes, they are not likely to realise their dreams.

Demonising Yorubas

For example, the Igbo have this tendency to demonise the Yorubas.  It is alarming when reading the Vanguard blogs today to see the animosity often expressed between Igbo and Yoruba contributors.  The hatred is most unhealthy.  Insults are traded with abandon.  What is the point of this?  For how long will the Igbo demand emotional retribution from every Yoruba for the betrayal of Awolowo?  Most of the contributors were not even born when the civil-war took place more than a generation ago.

There is now even transferred aggression against Babatunde Fashola, who made the blunder of repatriating some destitute Igbo from Lagos back to their home-states.  The man has apologised for the infraction.  He should be forgiven.  Blunders are not the exclusive preserve of the non-Igbo.  The Igbo have made more than a few themselves and will yet make others.

Paradoxically, the redemption of the Igbos to prominent national office moved apace under President Obasanjo; a Yoruba man.  Recognising that Igbos are some of the most seasoned, competent and experienced public-servants, Obasanjo relied heavily on their expertise.

Thanks to him, we got Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala at Finance, Charles Soludo at Central Bank, Obiageli Ezekwesili at Education, Ndidi Okereke at the Stock Exchange, and Dora Akunyili at NAFDAC.  Indeed, Igbo statesmen came into more prominence under Obasanjo than did Yoruba statesmen.  But for some strange reason, this does not seem to have succeeded in assuaging the ill-feeling of the Igbos toward the Yorubas.

Bad politicians

Within the framework of Nigerian politics, the Igbo also have a fundamental problem.  Out of the three major ethnic groups in Nigeria, the Igbo have by far the worst politicians.  They have no recognizable leaders, and have no discernible strategy as to how to negotiate power at the centre.  As a result, the Igbo have tended to be short-changed at the federal level.  Traditionally, the inconsequential ministries, such as the Ministry of Information, have been zoned to them.

The Igbo need to work out a plan that will take them to Aso Rock.  First, they need to choose and groom a de-tribalised leader of the Azikiwe mould who can be sold to non-Igbos.  Then, they need to give him undiluted support.  At the moment the internal politics of the Igbo militates against this.  The Igbo seem to hate themselves as much as they hate others.  They seem to fight themselves with as much venom as they fight others.  Every potential Igbo leader seems to have more enemies within than without.  This must not be allowed to continue.

The Igbo need to help themselves in order that their friends can help them.  In this centenary of Nigeria’s amalgamation, as we embark on the arduous process of crafting our future through a National Conference, we salute the Igbo for their fortitude and implore them to stake their claim in Nigeria.  Nigeria cannot survive without the Igbo.

- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/03/re-inventing-igbo-politics-in-nigeria/#sthash.W2xRGlQH.dpuf