Obi Nwakanma
CC: USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
From: eonwudiwe20@yahoo.com
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Fwd: NigerianID | Re: ATTACK ON AWO: Achebe is frustrated •Olaniwun Ajayi, Olunloyo, Babatope, PDP, Itsekiri leader, others slam him
Date: Mon, 8 Oct 2012 07:34:05 +0100
To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
Sent from my iPad
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From: Mobolaji Aluko <alukome@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, Oct 7, 2012 at 3:08 AM
Subject: Re: NigerianID | Re: ATTACK ON AWO: Achebe is frustrated •Olaniwun Ajayi, Olunloyo, Babatope, PDP, Itsekiri leader, others slam him
To: Folu Ogundimu <ogundimu3@gmail.com>Folu:Bawo ni o?I "recirculate and regurgitate this arrant nonsense" - your opinion - so that the world can know that there is not a single story - Achebe's story, for example - about the Man called Awolowo. I am not a "Yoruba tribal chieftain", but for long time now ANY critique or criticism of the Biafra War pre-, war- and postwar is quickly described - including now by you - as "frothing, unintelligble, foaming hatred of Achebe and the Igbo." , yet any reaction to the criticism of Awo,if it generates reaction that asserts ""frothing, unintelligble, foaming hatred of Awolowo and the Yoruba" is shot down as lacking basis. I, for example, have been described as an "Igbo hater" - and I am POSITIVE that I am not - but it is repeated so often by "Biafran Internet warriors" as episodic blackmail into silence that I am now indifferent to it.I am sure that Prof. Achebe your father-in-law is "none of the hopeless unredeemed tribal caricature [my] so-called Yoruba leaders paint for their gullible publics in a jaundiced Nigerian press". I do not believe so, hence I have attended his annual colloquium at Brown University TWICE now, and been proud to chair one of the sessions. He is a very mild-mannered gentleman, but he is also a writer whose forte is his Igbo culture, who first made his name as a simple fictional chronicler of his Igbo culture's interface with the colonial West, a writer who writes to elicit reaction.He probably enjoys all the reactions so far - and more to come..And there you have it - have a good Sunday and week.Bolaji AlukoPS: Here you are, a Yoruba fellow - and not just yourself, even though Achebe's son-in-law - condemning so-called Yoruba leaders paint for their gullible publics in a jaundiced Nigerian press" for criticising Achebe for criticizing Awo. I am waiting for the day when any other ethnic groups will criticize their own "chieftains" for criticizing somebody who critized an icon of their own chieftaincy.On Sun, Oct 7, 2012 at 3:58 AM, Folu Ogundimu <ogundimu3@gmail.com> wrote:My brother,Why do you recirculate and regurgitate this arrant nonsense by so-called tribal chieftains of the Yoruba? They are all discredited, vacuous, corrupt politicians who dance like mad men in a public square simply because of their perceived insults to their idol. Was Awolowo not mortal? Is Achebe not deserving of his right to an accounting of history as he sees fit? Have they read the book by which they howl like crazed dogs? It is a pity that lazy Nigerian journalists run to these shallow megaphones so as to pollute the public space with their frothing, unintelligible, foaming hatred of Achebe and the Igbo.Wake up people. Those of us who lived through the war, who saw the events of 1965 -1970 unfold, who experienced the horrors and deprivations of that war know that none of the protagonists of that conflict on both sides is blameless. The murder, pogrom, and genocide of more than 3 million of our compatriots in that war is an indelible blemish on our collective conscience. We all ought be ashamed of this shameful history, more so because we have failed to make a full reckoning of it. It is sad that 40 years after that war, we still don't teach the history in our schools, we have not fully acknowledged and come to terms with the many wrongs of that war and its preceding events, and we have not as a nation publicly cleansed our souls, erect monuments to the victims of war, and ask for forgiveness for our collective sin for crimes against humanity. Instead, we have a bunch of Neanderthals publicly thrashing about wildly in spasms of ethnic hatred just because of a perceived insult of Achebe to Awolowo and the Yoruba. It is no wonder that everyone in Nigeria uses the metaphor of war in a state of extreme ethnic jingoism as we careen precipitously from one crisis to another, moving ever so dangerously close to that unwanted war of all wars.I am Yoruba. And I am a son-in-law of Achebe. I spoke with the man earlier today. The father I know is none of the hopeless unredeemed tribal caricature your so-called Yoruba leaders paint for their gullible publics in a jaundiced Nigerian press. God save Nigeria.Folu
Sent from my iPadDear All:As far as I am concerned, Prof. Chinua Achebe has a right to his own opinions, just as others have rights to theirs. In any case, many of his opinions, particularly on Awo and Zik (both of whose selflessness he questioned), have been previously expressed in his treatise "The Trouble with Nigeria" many years ago (1983), as noted below by Chief Ebenezer Babatope. For example, the apparent underlying rationale - per Prof. Achebe - for the treatment of the Igbo in Nigeria will be found in this quotation:QUOTEThe origin of the national resentment of the Igbo is as old as Nigeria and quite as complicated. But it can be summarized thus: The Igbo culture being receptive to change, individualistic and highly competitive, gave the Igbo man an unquestioned advantage over his compatriots in securing credentials for advancement in Nigerian colonial society. Unlike the Hausa/Fulani he was unhindered by a wary religion and unlike the Yoruba unhampered by traditional hierarchies. This kind of creature, fearing nor God nor man, was custom-made to grasp the opportunities, such as they were, of the white man's dispensation. And the Igbo did so with both hands. Although the Yoruba had a huge historical and geographical head-start the Igbo wiped out their handicap in one fantastic burst of energy in the twenty years between 1930 and 1950UNQUOTEWhen we all get to read the book "There was another country" - not just excerpts - then the facts therein that need to be contended upon should be contended upon vigorously. Until then, we should hold our horses: too much frenzy is not worth it, even if the Prof. knew to expect such from Awo's community of prideful association with respect to his latest writing.And there you have it.Bolaji AlukoATTACK ON AWO: Achebe is frustrated •Olaniwun Ajayi, Olunloyo, Babatope, PDP, Itsekiri leader, others slam him
ShareSOME attributed his outburt to his physical and intellectual frustration, others described it as sheer bitterness, yet others simply said he should be pitied for his undisguised hatred for the Yoruba race and its leader, Chief Obafemi Awolowo.
The above is the summation of reactions of Nigerians across social and political divides to the latest attacks on the person of the sage, Chief Awolowo and the Yoruba nation by Professor Chinua Achebe, in a recently published memoir.
Opinion and political leaders, who reacted on Friday to Achebe's charge of genocide against Chief Awolowo, easily pointed at the failed efforts of Achebe to clinch the Nobel Prize in Literature over the years as well as the enduring intellectual leadership of the Nigerian nation by the Yoruba.
Achebe had in his civil war memoirs just made public entitled, There was a Country, blamed the casualties recorded during the three-year civil war to "the blatant callous and unnecessary policies enacted by the leaders of the Federal Government of Nigeria."
Sir Olaniwun Ajayi
A visibly enraged chieftain of the pan-Yoruba organisation, Afenifere, Sir Olaniwun Ajayi said it was a pity that a renowned writer like Professor Achebe could fall into what he called a great error."It is a great error, he never said anything about what Awolowo did to prevent the civil war," he declared.
Sir Ajayi said as part of efforts of Chief Awolowo to prevent the war, he led a delegation from the South-West to prevail on Chukwuemeka Ojukwu, but only for the late warlord to renege on his promise to Awolowo to avert the war.
He maintained that even when the Igbo ran away during the war, leaving their properties in the South-West and old Rivers state, those left in Rivers were treated as abandoned properties while Chief Awolowo made arrangements with estate managers, who managed the properties left for the fleeing Ndigbo.
Besides, he said the arrangement ensured that the owners of such properties were paid rent when they returned and the properties equally handed over to them after the war, unlike those left in Rivers state which he said were treated as abandoned properties, even till date.
He maintained that after the war, the Igbo were fully reintegrated in the South-West and enjoyed fair treatment up till today.
He said it was a matter for regret that Achebe was silent on such gestures, describing his outburst as most unfortunate, outrageous and very bad."
In his reaction, a former governor of old Oyo State, Dr Omololu Olunloyo, said that it was unfortunate that people would still be dwelling on an event that occurred over 40 years ago.
Speaking with Saturday Tribune, Olunloyo said he suspected that Professor Achebe had a personal hatred for the sage,because of the nomination of Professor Wole Soyinka, a Yoruba man for Nobel award and his eventual emergence as the first African Nobel Laureate.
"The way the country is going, everybody cannot be happy but Achebe is bitter. He is not pleased that he didn't receive the Nobel prize. Though a brilliant man, a good essayist and a man of culture, Achebe cannot be in the same fold with Soyinka.
"While Achebe writes only prose which can be extremely prosaic, Soyinka is into prose, poetry and drama. The richness and versatility of Soyinka's works cannot be compared with that of Achebe.
"It is unfortunate that Professor Achebe could label Chief Awolowo as a tribalist. Both Awo and Zik were members of the Nigerian Youth Movement.
"He cannot begin now to blame Awolowo for the war. Awolowo did not start the war; rather, he pleaded against it. The only thing that he said then was that if, by any error, the Igbo were allowed to leave the federation, Yoruba would also leave.
"The civil war was started by the Igbo. The Igbo, in the course of the war, killed many Yoruba and Hausa/Fulani leaders, including Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, Alhaji Ahmadu Bello, Chief Ladoke Akintola, Festus Okotie-Eboh and many officers, including Ademulegun, Maimalari, leaving out their own, like Micheal Okpara.
"Even while they were in government, (Ironsi's government), the Igbo spared no thought of freeing Awolowo who was then in prison. So, why should the man be now labeled a tribalist?", he said.
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)
Also reacting, the publicity secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), South-West, Honourable Kayode Babade, described as unfortunate the statement credited to Achebe on Awolowo.Babade, speaking on telephone with Saturday Tribune said: "Though I am yet to get a copy of the book but anybody who says anything negative or cast aspersions on the integrity of our revered sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, is an enemy of the Yoruba race. If the statement credited to Achebe is true, then he has just declared himself as an enemy of the race.
Babatope
A former Transport and Aviation Minister, Chief Ebenezer Babatope condemned Achebe over the publication of total falsehood and disturtion of facts against Chief Awolowo, describing him as a ''pathological liar."In a statement made available to newsmen in Abuja entitled, Chinua Achebe and his outbursts on late papa Obafemi Awolowo, Chief Babatope, who was the National Director of Organisation of the defunct Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) of Papa Awolowo, lamented that it was disheartening and amazing for Achebe to have claimed in his book that the sage was involved in the murder of many Igbo during the Biafran war.
Chief Babatope, who expressed dismay that many Nigerian newspapers in the last 24 hours had published excepts from the new book disclosed that Achebe made a similar false publication against Papa Awolowo 30 years ago in his book titled,The trouble with Nigeria.
According to him, "while Achebe is free to write on any topic that suits his fancy, he has no right whatsoever to irresponsibly murder history by his recklessly attacking a great leader like Papa Awolowo."
While urging all well-meaning people to disregard the latest false publication in all its ramifications, he assured that ''Nigerians should expect detailed, honest, factual and objective replies to Achebe's nonsence after we have copies of the book in our hands.'
Speaking in the same vein, the secretary General of Yoruba Council of Elders (YCE), Chief Idowu Sofola (SAN) said he would required further clarification on the statement of Achebe because he was not aware of any policy of Chief Awolowo that led to the killing of the Igbo.
On his part, the president and founder of the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC), Dr. Fredrick Fasehun said Achebe's outburst was borne of the fact that "he did not know the personality of Chief Obafemi Awolowo."
According to Fasehun, Achebe only saw the sage from a distance without appreciating his principle, ideas and other outstanding ideals the elder states man stood for.
Odumakin
Also reacting, Mr Yinka Odumakin, said, "It is unfortunate that a great man of letters of Achebe's status has descended to the arena of Biafran propagandists who are always ready to sacrifice the truth to achieve emotional blackmail."He has betrayed his intellectual calling by joining in the circulation of low quality rumours against Awo. I had looked forward to read the book, but now I doubt if I would pick up a copy even if dropped at my gate."
Chief Ayo Fasanmi
Another senior citizen, Chief Ayo Fasanmi described as unfortunate, the comment of Achebe on Chief Awolowo.Fasanmi said it was unfortunate that such a statement came from an octogenarian that ought to appreciate the enviable role Chief Awolowo played to guarantee national unity.
"It is sad that a highly revered novelist could descend to this level, especially now that the nation is trying to lay a foundation for the unity. It is an abomination. Nigeria would have been run aground, if not for the efforts of Chief Awolowo. Achebe has demonstrated his level of understanding of Nigeria politics. What Awolowo did was to save the country from the impending doom. He worked,fought and died for the unity of Nigeria.
Prof. Tony Afejukwu, an Itsekiri leader
"I find the foremost novelist lambasting of our iconic politician and impeccable leader, Chief Awolowo utterly strange. But why should we really be surprised? Even in death, Awo, our Awo, is still the issue. This being said, we must dismiss the illustrious novelist who must sell his autobiography! He needs to attack Awo for the book to make appreciable sale, an inroad in western Nigeria of solidly educated and civilized denizens. But his tactic will backfire if truly that was an intention of Achebe, our respected, Achebe, who with this unforgettable grudge of decades will lose a huge chunk of respect of, and from discerning minds."Now we must ask: Did he expect Awo to device a strategy for Biafra to defeat Nigeria? In any case, Achebe ought to promote peace, understanding reconciliation and love as a foremost novelist of Nigeria, Afric and theworld. he ought to be exemplary," he said
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