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I read your article on Gamji a web based new outfit also( OBJ, A ‘Democrat’ in Military Uniform).
Although your article did not make any good sense to me, I will not begrudge your opinion. It is a free world and you should be able to express your opinion. Just note that you could not do that during the Abacha regime.
My angst against you is the ease with which you insalt General Odumegwu Ojukwu and leaders in general. The reasons why you should avoid the cheap tendency to castigate leaders is that (1) you instantly alienate a section of people and they will not listen to anything you say even if you are God. Look at it this way, what sense would anybody make to you by first insalting your father or mother. Use you common sense. (2) When you insalt these leaders, you unwittingly insa lt all the people for whom the leaders represents their aspirations.
Please note carefully, that General Ojukwu is none of your current flight by night- money-make me self styled leaders. I am talking about avoiding insalts to leaders who have made personal sacrifices to their people. They deserve nothing but respect and honor. I am talking about people like your Ahmadu Bello, my Ojukwu, Ade's Awolowo, Ken Serowiwa and so many others. Such people live in our hearts. Of course one mans meet may be the other guys poison. So in as much as I never liked Murtalla or Awolowo for their various roles in trying to anahilate my people or keep us down, you will never catch me insalting them. So you do not have to like Chief Ojukwu but please have some respect. If we degenerate to insalts to each others endearing leaders, then we will not here each other.
For your information, in case you were too young to know. Chief Ojukwu defended and fought for our freedom and humanity in the east. He even stood for a united Nigeria several times against coupist like Generals Murtalla, Gowon and Major Nzeogwu (read some history). It was not Chief Ojukwu that first declared that there is no basis for one Nigeria (General Gowon did and backed by northern leaders). We here hold Ojukwu in the highest esteem. Calling him names like war lord and kirikiri nonesense does not endear you to any one, let alone listening to what you have to say. You have no historical basis infact for calling his excellency General Ojukwu a warlord. General Ojukwu stood between your murderous kinsmen and us poor hapless easterners. He stoutly defended our right to exist and be free.
May I remind you that at time when your people committed genocide (progrom) against m y people, Chief Ojukwu (blessed be his excellency) was the lone voice stoutly defending our freedom, our pride and right to exist. Infact your muderous generals were ready to pursue us to the sea (read Generals Murtalla's war time statements). Infact General Murtalla was going to make good on that promise as his troops entered cities burning, pillaging, looting and killing every living thing in sight. But for General Gowon's christain kindness in pulling General Murtalla out of the theatre, I might not be here my self.
Incase you are too young to understand the gap Chief Ojukwu filled in our lives. You have to know that nearly every family in the east suffered a death in their family as a result of the genocide in the north. My humble self in tears here will like to inform you that my beloved parternal uncle for whom I was named was butchered in the north and they danced in the s treet with his head according to eyewitnesses. My maternal uncle and many relatives came back with severe matchet cuts and they eventually sickened and died from those deep wounds. At this time in the east, the mood was sombre and our heart fell and our legs were weak. Then arose a leader amongst us. A voice from the widerness that said, pull your head out of the pillows and shame no more and fight for your live and freedom. Just as the Isrealites followed Moses, David and Solomon, we heard General Ojukwu's call and we rose from dejection and fought for our freedom. Yes I am a proud proud proud Biafran then and will be again if necessary.
Yes we lost the war. May I tell you, that I will gladly fight again and again if I have leaders such as Chief Ojukwu and the course is right. But for the fact that we fought and showed some will to resist, Nigeria would ha ve been a worst place for us today. That is if any one is left alife. It is bad for us now as a versale state of Nigeria, but it would have been worst if we folded our hands and buried our head in shame. At least we made it clear to all in no uncertain terms that it hurts to murdered en mass in cold blood. With all the riot all the time in the north though, Its a question as to whether people in the north have the learned anything from the war except to bask in empty victory.
You may not know this. Everytime you write insalting article on the person of General Ojukwu, you insalt all of us. If you took time to read true accounts of event that led to the civil war. You may find that General Ojukwu tried more than all the players to give peace a chance short of given up his head for their sharp knives. He trusted the Generals and politicians on the Nigerian side so much, that he encourage d his kinsmen to go back to their work locations after Aburi agreement. Just in time for your kinsmen to swoop down on them again killing innocent women and men with matchets and guns for a second wave of genocide. Women were raped and killed and pregnant ones were disembowelled. These murderers are still working the streets free, while the ghost of their victims cry out for justice. There children have learned well and thats why they riot all the time in the north with the sole purpose of murdering people of other religion or ethnic affiliation.
Infact, as I am writing, the police is having a hard time stopping these murderous no-good northerners from committing more mayhem and attrocities on innocent people. More worrisome to me is that our pepole in the south are beginning learn direspect for life in the name of retaliation. Our tradi tion abhors murder. People get banished for killing accidental or not.
One infact wonders how you find the strenght to cast aspersions on others when your community in the north is full of worst evil and ills. Your community does not respect life, is full of mass murderers working the street and can unleash a devilish genocidal tendency at the snap of a finger. They bragg about how many heads they chopped in this or the other riot. In my opinion Obasanjo's third term ambition or insalts to leaders should be the least of your problems Sir. Let politician take care of that.
I will like to persuade you and others to focus on how to curb the constant mayhem, genocidal murderings and riots that continue to be part of life in the north. What are the solutions? How can people help to teach respect for life. Respect for life is the begining of civilization. Again I am concerned because evil tends to spread easier than good. So people in the south are catching up fast. Something needs to be done about the constant ethnic targeting.
The genocide and ethnic targeting in the north led to the civil war. Yes the genocide led to the war irrespective of the lie told by the President that the war was about oil. Please indulge me while i digress to debunk the shameful lie by the President. First most Igbos and indeed Nigerians did not know much about rich oil reserves in the south and could not have been motivated to go to war on that account. (2) Any body that understands Igbo independence and free spirit very well will instantly know that most Igbos would not have voluntered to join the Biafran to protect oil that is not in his land. No no, we have too many independent opinion for one man to hoodwink us. (3) For Igbos to go to war, it takes hitting them hard in common. That is why the mutilated bodies and dead bodys streaming in from the north can and remains the only reason why an Igbo man got convinced that defending our self is inevitable. So when Nigeria attacked we new that it either you fight and die or die in your bedromm. (4) For those of you who are careful observers, the current Onitsha retaliation was propelled by the emotional scene of corpses of our brethren from the north. Enlarge that scenerio the the genocide in the 1960s and you have clear reason why we followed Ojukwu to war in Biafra. Any other insinuation is false and shamful lie (5) So, if he can, President Obasanjo owes the Igbos some apology for insinuating that the war was fought for oil. It is far fro truth. Unless ofcourse the President means that Nigeria went to war against us for the sake of oil. Come to think of it, it makes senses s ince the British who were Gowon's principal advisers discovered and new about our rich oil reserves. In that case the President may have said the truth. Therefore owes no body an apology.
Any body out there, if you are truly a Nigerian and not chop chop Nigerian, should recognize that this religous and ethnic targeting in the north is always reminding us of our differences instead of our commonalities. It is an ill wind that caused war and can cause one again. I will like to read from Mr Nura and others as to what the solution may be.
Finally, Mr Nura, you are human. So I know very well that casting insalts at your Ahmadu Bello, Murtalla, or Awolowo does not make you happy. God willing I will not stoop as low. Again stop the insalt on proven leaders. People like Ojukwu have gone through the crucible and emerged in o ur hearts. Spare us then. You can disagree with policy and opinion with out insalting the person.
Dean Akobuije
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