ONLY A TRULY FEDERAL CONSTITUTION CAN UNITE NIGERIA Speech made by Chief Obafemi Awolowo at the first press conference he held at Ikenne on 4th August 1966, after his release from prison The political crisis which started in Western Nigeria in May 1962 has acted on the entire Republic of Nigeria like a fairly big stone dropped in a big calm lake. It has produced a series of ever-widening circles of ripples. In the event, the violence and killings which commenced in the West had extended their infernal and poignant visitations to all parts of the Federation. We have nothing to be ashamed of in all that has happened, as our detractors would wish. But we do need to have remorse in and demonstrate our shock at what had happened as well as express our profound grief and sympathy for the dead, the maimed and dispossessed, in all parts of Nigeria, and to whatever political camps they previously belonged. Those who may be tempted to rejoice at the awful fate that has befallen some of our countrymen, especially during the past nine months, should be reminded of this dreadful warning of Jesus Christ: 'At that very time there were some people present who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. He answered them: "Do you imagine that, because these Galileans suffered this fate, they must have been greater sinners than anyone else in Galilee? I tell you they were not; but unless you repent, you will all of you come to the same end. Or the eighteen people who were killed when the tower fell on them at Siloam - do you imagine they were more guilty than all the other people living in Jerusalem? I tell you they were not; but unless you repent, you will all of you come to the same end"' My conscientious appeal to all Nigerians is that instead of mocking the dead and fallen; instead of scheming vengeance against those who had wronged or harmed us, we should strive to see what lessons we can usefully learn from the historic, though calamitous and tragic, events of the past four years. As far as I am concerned, it is to the future— a future which we can make great and glorious by our united action, and invincible benevolence towards one another — that I have dedicated the rest of my life. Under no circumstances will I be drawn into any sterile recriminations about the past which, in any case is gone, irretrievable and irremediable. During the past two years I have devoted my full time in gaol to an earnest search for solutions to Nigeria's multitudinous and tantalising problems. One of my books entitled 'Thoughts On Nigerian Constitution', which is devoted to a consideration of our constitutional problems will be published by the Oxford University Press during the first week of October. In approaching our constitutional problems, I had taken pains to study and analyse the constitutional evolution of every country in the world. I make bold to say — and this will be substantiated by the contents of the book when pubIished — that I did embark on my research with complete scientific objectivity. At the end of it, I was surprised — though pleasantly because of my previous stand in the matter — to be faced with the rationally and scientifically unassailable conclusion that only a truly federal constitution can unite Nigeria and generate harmony amongst its diverse racial and linguistic groups. Unfortunately, it is not, recognised by the bulk of our people, including the intelligentsia and even some intellectuals, that the making of a constitution is applied political science. At this adolescent stage in the evolution of homo sapiens, it is no longer necessary for political scientists or enlightened constitutional lawyers to grope in the dark in the search of a constitutional formula suitable for our country — or any country for that matter, or apply the rule of thumb to the making of a constitution. My own study and analysis have led me to the enunciation of certain laws or principles which must be observed in drawing up the constitution of any given country. I express the laws in the following terms: I) If a country is unilingual and uni-national, the constitution must be unitary. 2) If a country is unilingual or bilingual or multilingual, and also consists of communities which, over a period of years, have developed divergent nationalities, the constitution must be federal, and the constituent states must be organised on the dual basis of language and nationality. 3) If a country is bilingual or multilingual, the constitution must be federal, and the constituent states must be organised on linguistic basis. 4) Any experiment with a unitary constitution in a bilingual or multilingual or multinational country must fail, in the long run. I readily, concede that the former constitution had many defects. But federalism is certainly not one of them. It follows, therefore, that a step in the right direction is first of all to recognise the exact ailments of our nation. Once this is done, it should not be too difficult for us to devise appropriate remedies for them. But we must realise above all things else that in approaching our problems, at this juncture in our history, we must eschew any kind of partisanship — be it political or ethnical, and allow our thinking and reasoning to be guided by complete objectivity and rationality. Our hearts too must be ruled by unconquerable goodwill and irrepressible earnestness for Nigeria's continued oneness. And our aspirations must be unflinchingly directed towards normative social objectives which are scientifically orientated. In concrete terms, it is my firm belief that until we provide: (1) employment, (2) free education from primary to university level, and (3) health services, for all our citizens, the problem of unity will continue to plague us. And in this connection I hasten to predict that the breaking up of Nigeria into a number of sovereign states will not only do permanent damage to the reputation of contemporary Nigerian leaders, but will usher in terrible disasters which will bedevil us and many generations to come. Fortunately, with truly scientific and illuminated planning, all these social objectives can be ours in the immediate future. My appeal in this connection, therefore, is for unity and scientific planning. |
Dear Nkechi,General Afis may or may not agree with me on this one, but Chief Obafemi Awolowo, as President of Nigeria, would have made TRUE FEDERALISM a reality. That would naturally have included fiscal federalism. At the very base level, he would have located strategic grazing grounds all over Nigeria for the Bororo Fulani herds of cows so that there would not be conflicts between the itinerant herders and the local farmers. At the top level, the federating units would have commanded their resources to meet the needs of their peoples, while paying requisite taxes to the Federal Government for common services.Adeniran AdeboyeOn Nov 4, 2012, at 9:52 AM, aauwnycpres@aol.com wrote:General Afis
If the "best President Nigeria never had" - Chief Obafemi Awolowo had become President of Nigeria, what do you think he would have done to see the reality of his vision for One Nigeria with a literate and educated citizenry come true?
How should this vision be promoted to use your own words in "Odua country, by the new grass-roots community leaders like yourself?
You might want to consult with brother IBK for his thoughts and ideas before responding.
Best
Nkechi
aauwnycpres@aol.comSent via BlackBerry by AT&TFrom: aauwnycpres@aol.comDate: Sun, 4 Nov 2012 14:26:53 +0000To: <odidere2001@yahoo.com>; elewuoye@gmail com<elewuoye@gmail.com>ReplyTo: aauwnycpres@aol.comCc: nigerianid@yahoogroups com<nigerianid@yahoogroups.com>; Yinka Odumakin<yod2011@hotmail.com>; Adeniran Adeboye<aadeboye@mac.com>; idowubobo@yahoo com<idowubobo@yahoo.com>; Dododawa<dododawa@yahoo.com>; Pius Adesanmi<piusadesanmi@yahoo.com>; rexmarinus@hotmail com<rexmarinus@hotmail.com>; kcprinceasagwara@shaw.ca<KCPrinceAsagwara@shaw.ca>; Igirigi<igirigiachusim@aol.com>; ozodiosuji@yahoo ca<ozodiosuji@yahoo.ca>; topcrestt@yahoo com<topcrestt@yahoo.com>; Adeniba Adepoyigi<adenibaadepoyigi@yahoo.com.au>; udeamauche@yahoo com<udeamauche@yahoo.com>; Anthony Momah<azkk@yahoo.com>; Emeka Ugwuonye<emekaugwuonye@aol.com>; ogban ulisa@yahoo com<ogban_ulisa@yahoo.com>; Ola Kassim<olakassimmd@aol.com>; Olushola Fashedemi<ofashedemi@yahoo.com>; Pius Adesanmi<piusadesanmi@gmail.com>; Prince Dickson<pcdbooks@yahoo.com>; Rufus Orindare<batokkinc@att.net>; Salihu Mustafa<salihumustafa@gmail.com>; enugbua@aol com<enugbua@aol.com>; sujikolawole@gmail com<sujikolawole@gmail.com>; sylvester idehen<idehen559@hotmail.com>; Tajudeen Raji<traji@aol.com>; wale ojo lanre<waleojolanre@yahoo.com>; yakubu usman@yahoo. com<yakubu.usman@yahoo.com>; Ode-Besilu's Group<naijaobserver@yahoogroups.com>; nigeria360@yahoogroups com<nigeria360@yahoogroups.com>; Odua<omoodua@yahoogroups.com>Subject: Re: ACHEBE AGAIN By F.OGeneral Afis
You have skillfully evaded answering the most significant question I asked you.
I re-iterate:
"What, when, where and how did the vision of Chief Obafemi Awolowo for One Nigeria fail the children of Nigeria like yourself?"
I await your response and the response of those who preach "visiting, refugee and deportation" within our One Nigeria on Nigerians.
If a wrong deed is happening before you, should you part-take in it because the spoils are good for you or should you attempt to stop it and risk yourself as collateral in the process or do you remain silent and pretend to be blind?
Best
Nkechi
aauwnycpres@aol.comSent via BlackBerry by AT&TFrom: afis <odidere2001@yahoo.com>Date: Sun, 4 Nov 2012 06:04:10 -0800 (PST)To: elewuoye@gmail com<elewuoye@gmail.com>; aauwnycpres@aol.com<aauwnycpres@aol.com>; Me<odidere2001@yahoo.com>ReplyTo: odidere2001@yahoo.comCc: nigerianid@yahoogroups com<nigerianid@yahoogroups.com>; Yinka Odumakin<yod2011@hotmail.com>; Adeniran Adeboye<aadeboye@mac.com>; idowubobo@yahoo com<idowubobo@yahoo.com>; Dododawa<dododawa@yahoo.com>; Pius Adesanmi<piusadesanmi@yahoo.com>; rexmarinus@hotmail com<rexmarinus@hotmail.com>; kcprinceasagwara@shaw.ca<KCPrinceAsagwara@shaw.ca>; Igirigi<igirigiachusim@aol.com>; ozodiosuji@yahoo ca<ozodiosuji@yahoo.ca>; topcrestt@yahoo com<topcrestt@yahoo.com>; Adeniba Adepoyigi<adenibaadepoyigi@yahoo.com.au>; udeamauche@yahoo com<udeamauche@yahoo.com>; Anthony Momah<azkk@yahoo.com>; Emeka Ugwuonye<emekaugwuonye@aol.com>; ogban ulisa@yahoo com<ogban_ulisa@yahoo.com>; Ola Kassim<olakassimmd@aol.com>; Olushola Fashedemi<ofashedemi@yahoo.com>; Pius Adesanmi<piusadesanmi@gmail.com>; Prince Dickson<pcdbooks@yahoo.com>; Rufus Orindare<batokkinc@att.net>; Salihu Mustafa<salihumustafa@gmail.com>; enugbua@aol com<enugbua@aol.com>; sujikolawole@gmail com<sujikolawole@gmail.com>; sylvester idehen<idehen559@hotmail.com>; Tajudeen Raji<traji@aol.com>; wale ojo lanre<waleojolanre@yahoo.com>; yakubu usman@yahoo. com<yakubu.usman@yahoo.com>; Ode-Besilu's Group<naijaobserver@yahoogroups.com>; nigeria360@yahoogroups com<nigeria360@yahoogroups.com>; Odua<omoodua@yahoogroups.com>Subject: Re: ACHEBE AGAIN By F.O
Dear Lady Nkechi :
You are looking at this our Curse in isolation.
Igbos and some Yoruba had already been deported from the North.
That is the reality on ground.Igbos were removed, fired, terminated and let go in Akwa Ibom ministries.
That is the reality on ground.
So what are we Yoruba waiting for? Igbos hate Yoruba people. Igbos think Yoruba kicked their butts during the war and they would have won if Yoruba played dead and let them invade Yorubaland and capture Lagos.Now, a little nudge out of Yoruba territories would be the icing on the cake.
Shikena,
afis
Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android
From: aauwnycpres@aol.com <aauwnycpres@aol.com>;
To: Afis <odidere2001@yahoo.com>; Valentine Ojo <elewuoye@gmail.com>;
Cc: Nigerian ID <nigerianid@yahoogroups.com>; Yinka Odumakin <yod2011@hotmail.com>; Adeniran Adeboye <aadeboye@mac.com>; Idowu <idowubobo@yahoo.com>; Dododawa <dododawa@yahoo.com>; Pius Adesanmi <piusadesanmi@yahoo.com>; Rex Marinus <rexmarinus@hotmail.com>; Dr. KC Prince Asagwara <KCPrinceAsagwara@shaw.ca>; Ezeana Igirigi Achusim <igirigiachusim@aol.com>; Ozodi Osuji <ozodiosuji@yahoo.ca>; Joe Attueyi <topcrestt@yahoo.com>; Adeniba Adepoyigi <adenibaadepoyigi@yahoo.com.au>; Amauche Ude <udeamauche@yahoo.com>; Anthony Momah <azkk@yahoo.com>; Emeka Ugwuonye <emekaugwuonye@aol.com>; Iyalaje <ogban_ulisa@yahoo.com>; Ola Kassim <olakassimmd@aol.com>; Olushola Fashedemi <ofashedemi@yahoo.com>; Pius Adesanmi <piusadesanmi@gmail.com>; Prince Dickson <pcdbooks@yahoo.com>; Rufus Orindare <batokkinc@att.net>; Salihu Mustafa <salihumustafa@gmail.com>; Samuel Ayodele <enugbua@aol.com>; Suji Kolawole <sujikolawole@gmail.com>; Sylvester Idehen <idehen559@hotmail.com>; Tajudeen Raji <traji@aol.com>; wale ojo lanre <waleojolanre@yahoo.com>; Yakubu Usman <yakubu.usman@yahoo.com>; Ode-Besilu's Group <naijaobserver@yahoogroups.com>; nigeria360@yahoogroups.com <nigeria360@yahoogroups.com>; Odua <omoodua@yahoogroups.com>;
Subject: Re: ACHEBE AGAIN By F.O
Sent: Sun, Nov 4, 2012 1:10:10 PM
General Afis
"Odua country" "Refugees on Yoruba land" "Deportation en masse" - What are you preaching here?
Are we not living in One Nigeria viciously fought for in the civil war of 1967-1970?
How can any Nigerian be a refugee in One Nigeria?
How can any Nigerian be deported from one part of Nigeria to another part of Nigeria in One Nigeria?
It appears you are preaching to dis-mantle the very contraption of One Nigeria that was viciously fought to keep in place. Was the vision of Chief Obafemi Awolowo for One Nigeria wrong? What, where, how and when did this vision fail the children of Nigeria like yourself?
Best
Nkechi
aauwnycpres@aol.comSent via BlackBerry by AT&TFrom: Afis <odidere2001@yahoo.com>Date: Sun, 4 Nov 2012 07:54:26 -0500To: Valentine Ojo<elewuoye@gmail.com>Cc: Nigerian ID<nigerianid@yahoogroups.com>; Yinka Odumakin<yod2011@hotmail.com>; Adeniran Adeboye<aadeboye@mac.com>; Idowu<idowubobo@yahoo.com>; Dododawa<dododawa@yahoo.com>; Pius Adesanmi<piusadesanmi@yahoo.com>; Rex Marinus<rexmarinus@hotmail.com>; Dr. KC Prince Asagwara<KCPrinceAsagwara@shaw.ca>; Ezeana Igirigi Achusim<igirigiachusim@aol.com>; Nkechi<aauwnycpres@aol.com>; Ozodi Osuji<ozodiosuji@yahoo.ca>; Joe Attueyi<topcrestt@yahoo.com>; Adeniba Adepoyigi<adenibaadepoyigi@yahoo.com.au>; Amauche Ude<udeamauche@yahoo.com>; Anthony Momah<azkk@yahoo.com>; Emeka Ugwuonye<emekaugwuonye@aol.com>; Iyalaje<ogban_ulisa@yahoo.com>; Ola Kassim<olakassimmd@aol.com>; Olushola Fashedemi<ofashedemi@yahoo.com>; Pius Adesanmi<piusadesanmi@gmail.com>; Prince Dickson<pcdbooks@yahoo.com>; Rufus Orindare<batokkinc@att.net>; Salihu Mustafa<salihumustafa@gmail.com>; Samuel Ayodele<enugbua@aol.com>; Suji Kolawole<sujikolawole@gmail.com>; Sylvester Idehen<idehen559@hotmail.com>; Tajudeen Raji<traji@aol.com>; wale ojo lanre<waleojolanre@yahoo.com>; Yakubu Usman<yakubu.usman@yahoo.com>; Ode-Besilu's Group<naijaobserver@yahoogroups.com>; nigeria360@yahoogroups.com<nigeria360@yahoogroups.com>; Odua<omoodua@yahoogroups.com>; TalkNigeria@yahoogroups.com<TalkNigeria@yahoogroups.com>; odidere2001@yahoo.com<odidere2001@yahoo.com>; Mr. Seyi Olu Awofeso<awofeso@mwebafrica.com>Subject: Re: ACHEBE AGAIN By F.OThis is what I am talking about. Nailing a coffin of an ingrate called Achebe.......thanks ojare Alagba Ojo for bringing the below essay to my doorstep, this is the first time I saw it.........this is the best straight talk I have read on this House of Lies that Achebe built.It goes well, but better written, with my thoughts already expressed.Achebe declared war on Yoruba and Awo. Any Yoruba fool should try to realize.I have said it that the Igbos are foolish people. If you pick a fight with your superiors the first time around and you lost, why come after the superior during a time of relative peace between the two of you? Knowing fully well all your properties are within reach and you could lose all in a second if push becomes nasty shove?Yoruba has nothing to lose if igbos are deported en masse. There are many human resources to take over. It is Odua country we are talking about.But igbos will lose it all. They are refugees on Yorubaland. Knowing the igbos, they might think they could fight Yoruba on Yorubaland. Well, Rwanda here I come!I suggest to Igbos to read below. I know they are foolish enough not to see the long term effect.Shikena,Afis@@@@@@@@@On Oct 13, 2012, at 5:46 PM, Yinka Odumakin wrote:ACHEBE AGAIN!
HISTORY AND FICTION
I shall not stray in the direction of the factual and historical structures holding Achebe's autobiography together. The sacred facts of the actions and intentions in the hands and hearts of men leading to the brutalities and fatalities of war will not come under this proboscope today. History is a rigorous subject and does not enjoy the latitude that creativity affords fiction. Chinua Achebe one of the best fiction writers in the World is no historian. His "autobiography" therefore cannot be expected to flourish in the absence of fiction. The man was directly in the line of fire during the war, an active participant, a mono perspective analyst; he was affected by its cruelty, infected with the sentiments and deliberate rumours convenient for the sustenance of war. Achebe was surely a creative mind in the propagation of these fictitious talks. I am fascinated by Katherine Paterson in a sense of detachment, even amusement by Achebe's current work. Paterson it was who said:
"Thus in a real sense, I am constantly writing autobiography,
But I have to turn it to fiction in order to give it credibility."
-Katherine Paterson
May be I should add "In order to sell more books." This book will surely be a best seller, going by the intended controversy designed into its market strategy."
The summary of this book shows that Achebe is angry that the prosecutors of the war did everything to win. That the Supreme Military Council appears to have consulted Ernest Hemingway:
Once we have a war there is only one thing to do it must be won.
For defeat brings worse things than any that can ever happen in war.
-Ernest Hemmingway
Was it not a matter of deep regret that Achebe, Ojukwu and all the military Generals came out of that war looking fresh and robust while the ordinary masses dragged into war without any choice suffered starvation and death?
A MAN OF THE WORLD
Chinua Achebe is a lucky man buckling under a massive burden of grudge. A bitterness of close to fifty years, with Awolowo, Soyinka and the entire race of the Oduduwa Empire etched like a mosaic of graffiti in the deep walls of his heart. A wound bleeding like one fresh injury all these years. Now eighty, with this deliverance hopefully final, this exorcist prose must liberate our hero, a World icon. Once and for all.
ACHEBE'S BITTERNESS
Achebe's bitterness is long and deep. Of all the comments on this issue so far, it is that of Dr Omololu Olunloyo, no disciple of Chief Awolowo, I find most interesting, pointed and unemotional. Olunloyo, in the character of his genius has narrowed the scope of Achebe's discomfort to two
1. Envy of the Yoruba, as scapegoated through their icons Awolowo and Soyinka
2. Denial and living a lie about the role of the Igbo in the destiny of Ndigbo
He reminds Achebe the war was the brainchild of the Igbo who killed Hausa Fulani and Yoruba leaders and Generals sparing their own. Ironsi, he adds, did not set Awolowo free until Gowon performed that duty. What he deliberately left out, and you must understand the Ibadan man and diplomacy were critical issues better left unsaid to the Igbo who always appear to live in denial.
Where was the great Zik hiding out before and during the war?
How did he suddenly surface to give support to Gowon just before the end of the war?
Why was no political or military Igbo leader killed by the Igbo coupists?
Why were Igbo elites exited by the Unitary Government imposed by Ironsi to completely dominate Nigeria then, and from which we suffer today?
Why did it take an Igbo politician, Nwafor Orizu to surrendered constituted power voluntarily to Aguiyi Ironsi, another Igbo man, General?
Two very important points are that Nnamdi Azikiwe was conveniently indisposed and escaped to London to clear the way for those killer coupists who struck, killed other leaders and left out their own.
ENVY HAS NO CURE
Soyinka's Nobel Prize, Olunloyo adds is a sin that Achebe is yet to forgive the Yoruba. And Achebe did not hide his resentment as President of Association of Nigerian Authors in November 1986; this is what Achebe said about Wole Soyinka's Nobel Prize for literature at the annual conference:
This is the year of Wole Soyinka's Nobel Prize. We rejoice with him on his magnificent achievement. A lot has already been said or written about it and no doubt more will be said. For me what matters is that after the oriki and the celebrations we should say to ourselves: One of us has proved that we can beat the white man at his own game. That is wonderful for us and for the white man. But now we must turn away and play our own game.
It was pin drop silence that greeted this public demonstration of envy in 1986. Consigning this epochal achievement in the domain of games and tricks was far from the expectation of the literary minds that came to celebrate the honour of Africa's first Nobel laureate. Achebe at eighty is still hoping for his own game.
Few men have the natural strength to honour a friend's success without envy
- Aeschylus
Achebe is no such man. What a pity.
ACHEBE'S FORTUNES IN YORUBALAND
Yoruba land, Ibadan provided the contributory matrix for the flowering of the genius that attracts the World's attention today. When he escaped fortuitously, from the limitations of rural and ancestor worshiping Ogidi village, in his youth, avoiding the rigours of unproductive subsistence farming and cruel and aggressive competition for pagan titles, little could he have dreamt of World acclaim at Ibadan the political capital of the Yoruba Empire. Unlike today's indentured Igbo youth at Alaba market, hawking for a successful container importer and harassing buyers of electronics for "market," our hero enjoyed the "hands of God" and was admitted into the academic community of the University of Ibadan. Gods wonderful blending and natures magical wonders where laid bare for the perfection of supernatural mysteries. And thus was Achebe absorbed into the permeable cultural accommodation of Youbaland. From this lucky circumstance, his talents flowered at a very early period and everything exploded in excellence around him. The Yoruba gave him accommodation and assimilation. I am sure he would not dare today to wander around Nsukka or Owerri, his beloved ancestral towns, without the risk of beholding kidnappers in their natural elements seeking a few leaves of Naira for some lousy seeds of Indian hemp.
But where he beheld light he saw darkness, offered the beauty of a majestic landscape, he chose to suffer the sight of squalor, where he should appreciate greatness he denied its existence, where he enjoyed a community's organisation around a commodious plurality he dwelt in pettiness. To a people that gave its opportunities freely to a young Ogidi boy the grown man sought to pollute the fertility that continues the generosity of its offering to more Ogidi youth.
Many believe it was the frustration of an Igbo ambition to conquer that land of opportunity and fertility which they found in Yoruba land but cannot suffer the labour to build at home. Hear Achebe:
'As a student in Ibadan, "I was an eye-witness to that momentous occasion when Chief Obafemi Awolowo stole the leadership of Western Nigeria from Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe in broad daylight on the floor of the Western House of Assembly and sent the great Zik scampering back to the Niger whence he came'.
That perhaps set the background to his eternal hatred of Obafemi Awolowo. Achebe probably could not control his emotions to which he perpetually became enslaved. The emotion which compels this hounding of Awo even to the grave twenty five years after his death.
Bernth Lindfors in his CONVERSATIONS WITH CHINUA ACHEBE, University Press Mississippi Jackson, 1997, pp199 Comments on that distorted incidence thus:
Tribalism supposedly existed only in the Western Region where, even as Azikiwe's West African Pilot reported it, Azikiwe's party did not win at the polls. The truth is that Azikiwe's party merely lost in the cannibalisation of the seats won by independent candidates who had 33% of the seats. This was the position before the inaugural meeting of the Western House of Assembly where the carpet-crossing was supposed to have taken place. Incidentally, the Hansard shows that only three people crossed carpet on the floor of the Western House of Assembly in January 1952. None of them was Yoruba.
But the most interesting point which Achebe would not mention was tribalism as demonstrated for history by Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe when he ousted Eyo ITA, the minority Governor of Eastern Region and installed himself Premier. Lindfors comments further
The biographer glossed over the fact that Azikiwe then ousted the premier of the Eastern Region Eyo Ita who happened to come from a minority ethnic group in order to become the premier.
WISDOM NOT INTELLECT
Achebe confuses me. Very old, very experienced, having been through so much, seeing so much and knowing even more, and please pardon this, looking so wise, it is assumed that to whom much is given, much would be expected.
We all have our due portion of emotions, the passions generated is natural, diplomacy is that mask to wear on emotions to cover up the nakedness of our sentiments in engagement with others. Wisdom determines the thickness of this convenient mask.
To be judged among the special people most deserving of God's favours and various human honours from across the vast boundless space of this planet must, understandably, come with enormous pressures. But a wise man will understand that these pressures must be accompanied by a huge sense of responsibility. A man with a big voice must not talk too loud, lest he be called a noisemaker.
WHAT IS HIS STRATEGY
While the launch of this controversy will sell many books, make lots of noise, and make even lots more money for Achebe, the potential suffering of the Igbo people and the uncomfortable position this puts their relationship with others are issues sensitive to discuss. Particularly at this moment of National tension and nationality consciousness. They live in their temporary accommodation with their landlords which they intend to make permanent all over the Yoruba speaking region. One wonders the calculations hovering in Achebe's mind. If he believes that Biafra must be avenged, how does he plan to punish the Yoruba for a failure he cannot live down? Because accommodated in Achebe and his co-conspirators mind somewhere must be expectation of some reaction in the large Yoruba family that has offered his people its generosity, accommodation, friendship and tolerance.
Has he considered the fate that a possible emotional reaction can trigger for the ordinary hard working Igbo trader chased away from Kano and now trying to establish a new life in Lagos? That the Western States are the only stable destination of choice for every Igbo man running away from crime, decay and confusion at home or from the killings in the North? How comfortable does he expect the employees working in the service of Western State to feel now when it is realised that those they have extended such generosity to hate them? Last year, Abia State sacked 1800 Anambra indigenes from their service. This is an October report from the Sun Newspaper:
Umuahia — MORE than 1,800 workers of Anambra State origin, who were disengaged from the Abia State public, took their plight to Governor Peter Obi at Government House, Awka, Thursday, October 27, to see if their current state of despair could be salvaged. Giving reasons why Abia government adopted the drastic policy, Ubani said it was to make room for the absorption of Abians displaced from parts of the Boko Haram-troubled North and for the state to be able to shoulder the financial implications of the N18, 000 new minimum wages.
Has any State in Western Nigeria sacked any Igbo worker to make room for fleeing Yoruba from Jos? No Yoruba Government has that inclination in their intention. Perhaps, it is time for these politicians to begin to think beyond the next election. Because Igbos in their transitional accommodation are already flexing muscles beyond their rights. Instead of demonstrating humility, maturity, appreciation, gratitude and friendship some have been flexing their muscles, threatening our Governments and blackmailing them to create room for them to Govern Yoruba land. See this report again from the Sun:
Speaking after an emergency general meeting of the association yesterday in Lagos, the President, Chief Oliver Akubueze said after due consultations with other Igbo socio-cultural organizations, market associations and town unions, they came to an agreement that Fashola should appreciate the contributions Igbos are making towards the development of the state and should reciprocate it by carrying them along in the scheme of things in the state. According to the president, it was agreed that more Igbos should be appointed commissioners in his cabinet as well as into boards of parastatals and agencies in the state.
I want to know the name of such a Yoruba Commissioner or Parastatal chief in Imo, Anambra, Abia or any such Igbo State. Does Achebe believe that the Yoruba man can get a market stall in the Onitsha market not to even dream of a Commissioner appointment in any State in Igboland? Does Achebe understand that the Commissioner of Igbo extraction in a Western State may now be put under undeserved attention because of the racial bigotry that can be read into his latest work?
MY WARNING TO LAGOS PARTICULARLY AND THE SOUTH WEST IN GENERAL
Achebe and Ndigbo have spoken. And to the Yoruba,
Abo oro l'a nso f'omo 'luabi
Bo ba de'nu re, a d'o ndidi
Proverbs are not intended as long speechmaking, they are abbreviations suggested for interpretation.
Achebe has spoken, and the entire Ndigbo community on the blog are reacting. Lagos must be careful that they do not open our Nationality up for slaughter
Sent from my iPadWOOSH INDEED!!!'Achebe and Ndigbo have spoken.And to the Yoruba, Abo oro l'a nso f'omo 'luabi Bo ba de'nu re, a d'o ndidi'...Yinka Odumakin wroteUhm!On Thu, Nov 1, 2012 at 11:20 PM, Adeniran Adeboye <aadeboye@mac.com> wrote:
WOOSH!!!Na u sabi o!Adeniran AdeboyeOn Oct 13, 2012, at 5:46 PM, Yinka Odumakin wrote:ACHEBE AGAIN!
HISTORY AND FICTION
I shall not stray in the direction of the factual and historical structures holding Achebe's autobiography together. The sacred facts of the actions and intentions in the hands and hearts of men leading to the brutalities and fatalities of war will not come under this proboscope today. History is a rigorous subject and does not enjoy the latitude that creativity affords fiction. Chinua Achebe one of the best fiction writers in the World is no historian. His "autobiography" therefore cannot be expected to flourish in the absence of fiction. The man was directly in the line of fire during the war, an active participant, a mono perspective analyst; he was affected by its cruelty, infected with the sentiments and deliberate rumours convenient for the sustenance of war. Achebe was surely a creative mind in the propagation of these fictitious talks. I am fascinated by Katherine Paterson in a sense of detachment, even amusement by Achebe's current work. Paterson it was who said:
"Thus in a real sense, I am constantly writing autobiography,
But I have to turn it to fiction in order to give it credibility."
-Katherine Paterson
May be I should add "In order to sell more books." This book will surely be a best seller, going by the intended controversy designed into its market strategy."
The summary of this book shows that Achebe is angry that the prosecutors of the war did everything to win. That the Supreme Military Council appears to have consulted Ernest Hemingway:
Once we have a war there is only one thing to do it must be won.
For defeat brings worse things than any that can ever happen in war.
-Ernest Hemmingway
Was it not a matter of deep regret that Achebe, Ojukwu and all the military Generals came out of that war looking fresh and robust while the ordinary masses dragged into war without any choice suffered starvation and death?
A MAN OF THE WORLD
Chinua Achebe is a lucky man buckling under a massive burden of grudge. A bitterness of close to fifty years, with Awolowo, Soyinka and the entire race of the Oduduwa Empire etched like a mosaic of graffiti in the deep walls of his heart. A wound bleeding like one fresh injury all these years. Now eighty, with this deliverance hopefully final, this exorcist prose must liberate our hero, a World icon. Once and for all.
ACHEBE'S BITTERNESS
Achebe's bitterness is long and deep. Of all the comments on this issue so far, it is that of Dr Omololu Olunloyo, no disciple of Chief Awolowo, I find most interesting, pointed and unemotional. Olunloyo, in the character of his genius has narrowed the scope of Achebe's discomfort to two
1. Envy of the Yoruba, as scapegoated through their icons Awolowo and Soyinka
2. Denial and living a lie about the role of the Igbo in the destiny of Ndigbo
He reminds Achebe the war was the brainchild of the Igbo who killed Hausa Fulani and Yoruba leaders and Generals sparing their own. Ironsi, he adds, did not set Awolowo free until Gowon performed that duty. What he deliberately left out, and you must understand the Ibadan man and diplomacy were critical issues better left unsaid to the Igbo who always appear to live in denial.
Where was the great Zik hiding out before and during the war?
How did he suddenly surface to give support to Gowon just before the end of the war?
Why was no political or military Igbo leader killed by the Igbo coupists?
Why were Igbo elites exited by the Unitary Government imposed by Ironsi to completely dominate Nigeria then, and from which we suffer today?
Why did it take an Igbo politician, Nwafor Orizu to surrendered constituted power voluntarily to Aguiyi Ironsi, another Igbo man, General?
Two very important points are that Nnamdi Azikiwe was conveniently indisposed and escaped to London to clear the way for those killer coupists who struck, killed other leaders and left out their own.
ENVY HAS NO CURE
Soyinka's Nobel Prize, Olunloyo adds is a sin that Achebe is yet to forgive the Yoruba. And Achebe did not hide his resentment as President of Association of Nigerian Authors in November 1986; this is what Achebe said about Wole Soyinka's Nobel Prize for literature at the annual conference:
This is the year of Wole Soyinka's Nobel Prize. We rejoice with him on his magnificent achievement. A lot has already been said or written about it and no doubt more will be said. For me what matters is that after the oriki and the celebrations we should say to ourselves: One of us has proved that we can beat the white man at his own game. That is wonderful for us and for the white man. But now we must turn away and play our own game.
It was pin drop silence that greeted this public demonstration of envy in 1986. Consigning this epochal achievement in the domain of games and tricks was far from the expectation of the literary minds that came to celebrate the honour of Africa's first Nobel laureate. Achebe at eighty is still hoping for his own game.
Few men have the natural strength to honour a friend's success without envy
- Aeschylus
Achebe is no such man. What a pity.
ACHEBE'S FORTUNES IN YORUBALAND
Yoruba land, Ibadan provided the contributory matrix for the flowering of the genius that attracts the World's attention today. When he escaped fortuitously, from the limitations of rural and ancestor worshiping Ogidi village, in his youth, avoiding the rigours of unproductive subsistence farming and cruel and aggressive competition for pagan titles, little could he have dreamt of World acclaim at Ibadan the political capital of the Yoruba Empire. Unlike today's indentured Igbo youth at Alaba market, hawking for a successful container importer and harassing buyers of electronics for "market," our hero enjoyed the "hands of God" and was admitted into the academic community of the University of Ibadan. Gods wonderful blending and natures magical wonders where laid bare for the perfection of supernatural mysteries. And thus was Achebe absorbed into the permeable cultural accommodation of Youbaland. From this lucky circumstance, his talents flowered at a very early period and everything exploded in excellence around him. The Yoruba gave him accommodation and assimilation. I am sure he would not dare today to wander around Nsukka or Owerri, his beloved ancestral towns, without the risk of beholding kidnappers in their natural elements seeking a few leaves of Naira for some lousy seeds of Indian hemp.
But where he beheld light he saw darkness, offered the beauty of a majestic landscape, he chose to suffer the sight of squalor, where he should appreciate greatness he denied its existence, where he enjoyed a community's organisation around a commodious plurality he dwelt in pettiness. To a people that gave its opportunities freely to a young Ogidi boy the grown man sought to pollute the fertility that continues the generosity of its offering to more Ogidi youth.
Many believe it was the frustration of an Igbo ambition to conquer that land of opportunity and fertility which they found in Yoruba land but cannot suffer the labour to build at home. Hear Achebe:
'As a student in Ibadan, "I was an eye-witness to that momentous occasion when Chief Obafemi Awolowo stole the leadership of Western Nigeria from Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe in broad daylight on the floor of the Western House of Assembly and sent the great Zik scampering back to the Niger whence he came'.
That perhaps set the background to his eternal hatred of Obafemi Awolowo. Achebe probably could not control his emotions to which he perpetually became enslaved. The emotion which compels this hounding of Awo even to the grave twenty five years after his death.
Bernth Lindfors in his CONVERSATIONS WITH CHINUA ACHEBE, University Press Mississippi Jackson, 1997, pp199 Comments on that distorted incidence thus:
Tribalism supposedly existed only in the Western Region where, even as Azikiwe's West African Pilot reported it, Azikiwe's party did not win at the polls. The truth is that Azikiwe's party merely lost in the cannibalisation of the seats won by independent candidates who had 33% of the seats. This was the position before the inaugural meeting of the Western House of Assembly where the carpet-crossing was supposed to have taken place. Incidentally, the Hansard shows that only three people crossed carpet on the floor of the Western House of Assembly in January 1952. None of them was Yoruba.
But the most interesting point which Achebe would not mention was tribalism as demonstrated for history by Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe when he ousted Eyo ITA, the minority Governor of Eastern Region and installed himself Premier. Lindfors comments further
The biographer glossed over the fact that Azikiwe then ousted the premier of the Eastern Region Eyo Ita who happened to come from a minority ethnic group in order to become the premier.
WISDOM NOT INTELLECT
Achebe confuses me. Very old, very experienced, having been through so much, seeing so much and knowing even more, and please pardon this, looking so wise, it is assumed that to whom much is given, much would be expected.
We all have our due portion of emotions, the passions generated is natural, diplomacy is that mask to wear on emotions to cover up the nakedness of our sentiments in engagement with others. Wisdom determines the thickness of this convenient mask.
To be judged among the special people most deserving of God's favours and various human honours from across the vast boundless space of this planet must, understandably, come with enormous pressures. But a wise man will understand that these pressures must be accompanied by a huge sense of responsibility. A man with a big voice must not talk too loud, lest he be called a noisemaker.
WHAT IS HIS STRATEGY
While the launch of this controversy will sell many books, make lots of noise, and make even lots more money for Achebe, the potential suffering of the Igbo people and the uncomfortable position this puts their relationship with others are issues sensitive to discuss. Particularly at this moment of National tension and nationality consciousness. They live in their temporary accommodation with their landlords which they intend to make permanent all over the Yoruba speaking region. One wonders the calculations hovering in Achebe's mind. If he believes that Biafra must be avenged, how does he plan to punish the Yoruba for a failure he cannot live down? Because accommodated in Achebe and his co-conspirators mind somewhere must be expectation of some reaction in the large Yoruba family that has offered his people its generosity, accommodation, friendship and tolerance.
Has he considered the fate that a possible emotional reaction can trigger for the ordinary hard working Igbo trader chased away from Kano and now trying to establish a new life in Lagos? That the Western States are the only stable destination of choice for every Igbo man running away from crime, decay and confusion at home or from the killings in the North? How comfortable does he expect the employees working in the service of Western State to feel now when it is realised that those they have extended such generosity to hate them? Last year, Abia State sacked 1800 Anambra indigenes from their service. This is an October report from the Sun Newspaper:
Umuahia — MORE than 1,800 workers of Anambra State origin, who were disengaged from the Abia State public, took their plight to Governor Peter Obi at Government House, Awka, Thursday, October 27, to see if their current state of despair could be salvaged. Giving reasons why Abia government adopted the drastic policy, Ubani said it was to make room for the absorption of Abians displaced from parts of the Boko Haram-troubled North and for the state to be able to shoulder the financial implications of the N18, 000 new minimum wages.
Has any State in Western Nigeria sacked any Igbo worker to make room for fleeing Yoruba from Jos? No Yoruba Government has that inclination in their intention. Perhaps, it is time for these politicians to begin to think beyond the next election. Because Igbos in their transitional accommodation are already flexing muscles beyond their rights. Instead of demonstrating humility, maturity, appreciation, gratitude and friendship some have been flexing their muscles, threatening our Governments and blackmailing them to create room for them to Govern Yoruba land. See this report again from the Sun:
Speaking after an emergency general meeting of the association yesterday in Lagos, the President, Chief Oliver Akubueze said after due consultations with other Igbo socio-cultural organizations, market associations and town unions, they came to an agreement that Fashola should appreciate the contributions Igbos are making towards the development of the state and should reciprocate it by carrying them along in the scheme of things in the state. According to the president, it was agreed that more Igbos should be appointed commissioners in his cabinet as well as into boards of parastatals and agencies in the state.
I want to know the name of such a Yoruba Commissioner or Parastatal chief in Imo, Anambra, Abia or any such Igbo State. Does Achebe believe that the Yoruba man can get a market stall in the Onitsha market not to even dream of a Commissioner appointment in any State in Igboland? Does Achebe understand that the Commissioner of Igbo extraction in a Western State may now be put under undeserved attention because of the racial bigotry that can be read into his latest work?
MY WARNING TO LAGOS PARTICULARLY AND THE SOUTH WEST IN GENERAL
Achebe and Ndigbo have spoken. And to the Yoruba,
Abo oro l'a nso f'omo 'luabi
Bo ba de'nu re, a d'o ndidi
Proverbs are not intended as long speechmaking, they are abbreviations suggested for interpretation.
Achebe has spoken, and the entire Ndigbo community on the blog are reacting. Lagos must be careful that they do not open our Nationality up for slaughter
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