---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Enusi Udo_Umenwa <nzoiwu@yahoo.com>
Date: Mon, Oct 29, 2012 at 5:23 PM
From: Enusi Udo_Umenwa <nzoiwu@yahoo.com>
Date: Mon, Oct 29, 2012 at 5:23 PM
'Toyin:
This is perhaps one very relevant contribution, of all the comments (not reviews) I've read, emanating from the huge press and public reactions to Chinua Achebe's latest book, "There Was A Country" -- a personal perspective of an event in his life. No more, no less. Whether anyone likes or hates it is irrelevant. It's his story. Everyone's own story or version is welcome. We want to read it.
The contribution I referred to above is the beginning existence of a concerted, cross-ethnic collection and exchange of records and views on major events and issues in the nation's existence. The current forum discussions, emanating from Chinua Achebe's "There Was A Country," places the existence of this line of discourse in public domain once again, and in a continuos and relevant format, too. It can also help preserve the various, often conflicting narratives of the events for posterity. So, this may speak directly to why the Nigerian state must preserve, not only the Biafra Memory, but also the memories of all the key figures in that war, for good.
How about a fitting Civil War Museum? (In spite of of the country's zero maintenance culture.)
I had hoped that all efforts in this forum would serve purposes like enriching our knowledge of events and solving problems, rather than dissipate energy attacking every divergent views. We need voluminous compilations of variant views to events like Biafra, no matter how uncomfortable or disparate they may sometimes appear to be. 'Toyin has immesurably enlarged my sources of knowledge on Biafra, by his posting, above, with sources and links, personal views and interpretations. And for that I thank him very much. Such views expressed in our current forum discussions, of course, are not exempt from becoming part and parcel of any on-going archiving effort. That's progress.
My perspective on the phenomenon of Biafra is totally different and somewhat detatched, for a reason: I observed the tragedy of Biafra's physical and other realities on radio and television from outside Nigeria, but in real time. The emotional realities were quite numbing. Yes, most of my folks back home then lived throught it, fortunately in one of the safest corridors on the war map, some eight miles away from Emeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu's home. "Quarantined" in a foregn land, my friends and I were once able to identify in one television shot two of our young women, who had flown home to Biafra to provide a much needed medical assistance. We saw them scampering in the wild with barely any clothes on (beyond a simple wrapper over the top of their bodies), trying to duck the airstrikes. No doubt, they'd have a different story to tell about Biafra. We marched the streets of our host countries protesting the war endlessly; we fund-raised relentlessly; we sent home parcels of bicycle tires and tubes, clothes, edible salt; you name it, we did it. That's my own story angle.
Generally, the point of all this conversation is that everyone has a different story to tell about the war, a different interpretation of it, a different perspective to it, and certainly a different conclusion. That's why Achebe's story is just as important as any body else's, who's bold enough to tell his or her's. Many like me would much appreciate any story, all strories, from all angles, about Biafra and other national issues like it. I hope this forum fulfills this kind of objective for many of us.
Keep the conversation going, 'Toyin (and everyone, for that matter). You've done everything you warned me about in your previous and first communication on this forum: that I wouldn't always like everything you'd be saying. There have been some I didn't like; but I like this one.
Enusi Udo-Umenwa
Sent: Saturday, October 27, 2012 8:35 PMFrom: OLUWATOYIN ADEPOJU <toyinvincentadepoju@gmail.com>
To: Naija Politics <Naijapolitics@yahoogroups.com>; Naija Observer <naijaobserver@yahoogroups.com>; naijaintellects <naijaintellects@googlegroups.com>; "NaijaElections@yahoogroups.com" <naijaelections@yahoogroups.com>; naijapat@googlegroups.com; nigerianworldforum@yahoogroups.com; Nigerian IDENTITY <NigerianID@yahoogroups.com>; nigeria360@yahoogroups.com; talkhard@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Nigerian Patriots' Forum] BIAFRAN WAR CRIMES : HORROR IN THE MIDWEST : A PRESENTATION OF THE FINDINGS OF S.E OROBATOR
--BIAFRAN WAR CRIMES
HORROR IN THE MIDWEST
A PRESENTATION OF THE FINDINGS OF S.E OROBATOR
Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju
CompcrosComparative Cognitive Processes and Systems"Exploring Every Corner of the Cosmos in Search of Knowledge"When you are crying because you were hurt in a fight, it is meaningful to see what your opponent also suffered.
When you insist that you alone suffered, you might need to be informed you are not alone in suffering.
When you use your belief that you alone suffer to try to compel people to behave as you want, those other people need to go out of their way to educate you.
Propaganda driven by some Igbos who have not recovered from the defeat of Biafra wants to compel Nigeria into a position of sole or central responsibility for the horrors of the Nigerian Civil War of 1967 -1970.
This effort at compulsion is accompanied by threats of violence, vengeance and prophecies of doom for Nigeria.
One of these efforts at forcing others to behave as these people want is the loud cry that did not commit any war crimes.
Biafra is thus depicted as a saintly enterprise and Nigeria as the absolute villain.
I have made it my business to investigate and bring these war crimes to light.
I am collecting both published documents and eyewitness accounts from various sources.
As I discover them, I will make them available to the public and address any questions and challenges that arise.
All findings will also be posted at theAll findings will be distributed through the following platforms:1. Various African and Nigerian centred listservesI have already distributed two reports on Biafran war crimes, one from the Oputa Panel of Inquiry and another from an academic paper on rapes in Midwestern Nigeria during the war, the Midwest being a zone invaded by Biafra.I will respond to any critiques of these documents as soon as I am free.I present here a moving account on Biafran atrocities in the Midwest, by historian S.E Orobator.Orobator's essay is attached to this mail and posted at the Rethinking Biafra Scribd account and my Scribd account.Orobator was in Benin, the capital of the Midwest, at the time of the Biafran invasion, and describes himself as keenly aware of developments during the period . He later conducted research on the invasion and went on to become a professor of history, specializing in international relations.The essay is "The Biafran Crisis and the Midwest".
Published in African Affairs, Vol. 86, No. 344 (Jul., 1987), pp. 367-383.
Published by: Oxford University Press on behalf of The Royal African Society.
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/722748 .
The entire essay on the Biafran misadventure in the Midwest is moving in its analysis of what the Biafrans lost through the invasion in terms of goodwill as well as in creating a situation that united the Midwest with the Federal forces against Biafra in the subsequent events that marked the turning point of the war.
I will present Orobator's summation of the cost of the invasion to Biafra in another mail .
I post below an extract from the essay.
The most relevant sections on Biafran war crimes are highlighted:The relationship between the two sides deteriorated progressively and the Biafran efforts to secure the people's support failed.The battle front reports were equally unfavourable to the Biafrans who then resorted to extensive witch-hunting against suspected saboteurs.The Biafran forces, who were relatively calm during the first one month of the occupationperiod, became progressively edgy, tightening the various governmental gadgets of societal control.As the Biafran hostility developed to crisis proportions, the dusk to dawn curfew was further enforced, the Vigilance and Security Councils given additional powers, and the Biafran Army and Militia became more ruthless in their dealings with the civilians.The civilian collaborators doubled their spying activities to callous dimensions. [45]The situation drifted for the worse.Taking the MidWestern refusal to support the secessionist movement as a demonstration of an anti-Ibo and pro-Hausa stance, the Biafrans intensified their search for suspected saboteurs as every set-back on the battle front was invariably blamed on sabotage.Heavier reprisals followed.At Abudu, over 300 bodies, including those of children, were found in the Ossiomo river as the Biafrans withdrew. [46]Similarly, on 20 September 1967, 'there was a mass killing of non-Ibo MidWesterners at Boji-Boji Agbor', and on 23 September, 'non-Ibo speaking MidWesterners were apprehended by rebel soldiers at Asaba, Ibusa and Agbor and taken [in two lorries] to a rubber plantation along Uromi-Agbor road and massacred'.[47]The more minor cases of rape, extortion, seizure of properties, and other punishments featured abundantly.For instance, a Warri-based lawyer, E. K. Iseru, testified at the Tribunal that he was stripped naked and detained for three days without food for agitating for the Rivers State, and, when he complained of hunger, he was promptly told: 'there is no food for Hausa friends'. [48]45. Author's personal file. Also see Press Release No. MW 215 of 1/2/68, p. 5.46. This disclosure was made at the Tribunal[ Rebel Activities Tribunal of Inquiry (Ministry of Information, Benin City)] by Chief D. N. Oronsaye, formerly Principal of the Provincial Teacher Training College, Abudu. See also Press Release No. MW 157 24/1 /68, p. 4.47. Press Release No. MW 410 23/2/68, pp. 6-7.48. Press Release No. MW 157 of 24/1/68, pp. 2-3.Saturday, 27 October 2012 22: 30Also posted atRethinking Biafra blogRethinking Biafra Scribd account (PDF)
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CompcrosComparative Cognitive Processes and Systems"Exploring Every Corner of the Cosmos in Search of Knowledge"
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"Exploring Every Corner of the Cosmos in Search of Knowledge"
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