RE: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Danjuma and that Ojukwu comment.

Ojukwu's Ahiara Declaration actually supported Danjuma's statement that if Ojukwu had conceded defeat the way President Jonathan did ... the nation would have been saved from one year of  bloodshed. The Nigerian civil war officially began on the 6th of July 1967 and Ojukwu's Ahiara Declaration was signed and published on June 1, 1969. Six months later, 9 January 1970, Ojukwu deserted his Army and abandoned Biafra to seek asylum in Ivory Coast. Just on 7 September 1968, Ojukwu had dispatched Nnamdi Azikiwe, Michael Okpara, Kenneth Dike and Francis Nwokedi, among others, to Paris to negotiate with the French Government for increased military weapons to Biafra. The French government realized that no amount of  arms support could reverse the military misfortune of Biafra and therefore decided to maintain the same level of support. Aba had just fallen and Owerri was then under siege. What remained of Biafra was a land corridor around Owerri. Azikiwe and his fellows in Paris forwarded a cable to Ojukwu to explain that time was ripe to seek a peaceful negotiation with Nigeria. Ojukwu rejected their peace proposal and ordered them to return to Biafra immediately. Azikiwe defected and absconded to Britain while Biafra Ambassador in Paris, Raph Uwechue resigned. In reality, Biafra was dead in September 1968 but the sufferings and death of people continued because of political bickering. By 17 August 1969, Nnamdi Azikiwe visited Nigeria and he accompanied Gowon to the OAU annual summit in Addis Ababa in September 1969.
 

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Date: Thu, 23 Apr 2015 13:27:00 -0600
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Danjuma and that Ojukwu comment.
From: jmbaku@weber.edu
To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com

Reading Ojukwu's Ahiara Declaration might also be relevant here. You do not have to be a supporter of Biafra or of Ojukwu, but reading this speech can shed some light on the continuing discussion about the struggle for national integration and nation building in Nigeria. The speech is quite instructive, even for non-Nigerians. Here, it is. 

On Thu, Apr 23, 2015 at 1:19 PM, Salimonu Kadiri <ogunlakaiye@hotmail.com> wrote:

I am neither a supporter of Biafra nor favourer of the Federal troops/government. Simply, I am a Nigerian. In answering your question, why Majors Ifeajuna, Nzeogwu and others staged the January 1966 coup, I will like to refer you to the broadcast of Major Patrick Chukwuma Nzeogwu, on Radio Kaduna, at 12:30:00 hours, on the 15th of January 1966. "In the name of the name of the Supreme Council of the Revolution of the Nigerian Armed Forces," Nzeogwu said. He continued, "The constitution is suspended and the regional government and elected assembly are hereby dissolved. The aim of the Revolutionary Council is to establish a strong, united and prosperous nation FREE FROM CORRUPTION AND INTERNAL STRIFE..... Our enemies are the POLITICAL PROFITEERS, THE SWINDLERS, THE MEN IN HIGH AND LOW PLACES THAT SEEK BRIBES AND DEMAND TEN PER CENT, THOSE THAT SEEK TO KEEP THE COUNTRY DIVIDED PERMANENTLY...... THE TRIBALISTS, THE NEPOTISTS..." Amongst offences Nzeogwu listed that carried death sentences were embezzlement, bribery and corruption.
 
Who were the political profiteers, swindlers, bribe seekers, ten per cent demanders, tribalists and nepotists referred to by Nzeogwu? They were to be found in the Federal coalition government of NPC /NCNC, Nigeria, from January 1960 to 15 January 1966. The NCNC had gone into coalition government with the NPC on the belief that Igbos educational superiority over the Hausa/Fulani would make them dominate the government and subsidiary institutions in Nigeria. Achebe confirmed the domination thus, "Igbo .. led the nation in virtually every sector - politics, education commerce and arts (p.66, There Was a Country)." And on p. 233 Achebe referred to the Igbos as the dominant tribe in the corrupt Federal government of Nigeria at that time.

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Date: Wed, 22 Apr 2015 23:09:48 -0400
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Danjuma and that Ojukwu comment.
From: william.bangura17@gmail.com
To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com

My question to those who supported Biafra and those who favored the Federal troops/government is why did Majors Ifeajuna and Nzeogwu orchestrate the January 1966 coup?

William Bangura 

On Tue, Apr 21, 2015 at 12:37 PM, Salimonu Kadiri <ogunlakaiye@hotmail.com> wrote:

Ogugua Anunoby wrote, "Danjuma approves of Jonathan's concession. Does he disapprove of Buhari's three times no-concession?"
 
What Ogugua Anunoby should know is that Buhari's three times no-concession were pervaded by multiple voting, irregular voting (registered in one unit and voted in another unit) and voting allocations (agents and electoral officials simply allocated agreed number of votes to political parties without necessarily casting any votes). Thanks to the introduction of PVCs and CRs, those anomalies were eliminated in the last elections, except in the Southeast and South-south where the application of those technologies were sabotaged and manual accreditations were deployed to carry out elections there. Jonathan and his surrogates did everything possible (including suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/06/2015 in which a Federal High Court in Abuja was asked to restrain INEC from using PVC & CR for elections and prayed to the court to order INEC to use only Temporary Voter Cards) to prevent the use of PVC and CR for the elections but failed. In fact, there is nothing spectacular about Jonathan's concession when he was confronted with PVC/CR numerical realities.
 
Ogugua Anunoby wrote further, "He (Danjuma) brings Ojukwu into a conversation that had nothing to do with him. He did this in full knowledge that Ojukwu is no longer with us and is therefore in no position to speak for himself."
 
What did Danjuma say to cause Ogugua Anunoby to be irate? Hear Danjuma, "If Ojukwu had conceded defeat the way President Goodluck Jonathan did after the March 28 presidential elections, the nation would have been saved from one year of bloodshed." Whether anyone likes it or not, Ojukwu's is an indelible component in the history of Nigeria and his name will always be mentioned in one way or the other. Militarily speaking, the then capital of Biafra, Enugu, was captured on October 4, 1967, by the Federal forces and when Adekunle linked up with the 1st Division at Ikom, a key town on Biafra's eastern border with Cameroon, after capturing Calabar on October 18, 1967, the remainder of Biafra was completely surrounded. Militarily, Ojukwu should have negotiated for peace or surrendered. Instead, he prolonged the war for over two years, wasting lives in a war that he was sure of losing. It is in that regard that Danjuma was correct in saying that many lives would have been saved if Ojukwu had conceded defeat after the fall of Enugu and the encirclement of the rest of Biafra in October 1967. For the mere fact that Ojukwu is no longer alive should not prevent anyone from stating that fact when there is need. Awolowo died in 1985, and as late as last year, Ogugua Anunoby and others believed they had cause to accuse him of genocide in the Biafra war, even though he was not alive to defend himself. The accusation of genocide against Awolowo is very unjust compared to the factual statement of Danjuma about Ojukwu because at a press conference on 28 August 1969, Dr Benjamin Nnamdi Azikiwe said, "Knowing that the accusation of genocide is palpably false, but bearing in mind the widespread killing of 1966, which must always hunt our memories, why should some people continue to fool our people to believe that they are slated for slaughter, when we know that they suffer mental anguish and physical agony as a result of their being homeless and their places of abode having been desolated by war and their lives rendered helpless?" (see p. 255, NIGERIA&BIAFRA; MY STORY by PHILIP EFIONG). Apart from other sources such as International Observer Team, here Azikiwe is telling the world that THE ACCUSATION OF GENOCIDE WAS PALPABLY FALSE.

 
Ikhide Ikheloa wrote supposedly, "If T. Y. Danjuma and his band of cowardly murderers had not carried out a revenge 'counter-coup' perhaps we would not have had a civil war, we would be where Singapore is today." The counter coup of 29 July 1966, happened in the day time unlike January 15, 1966 coup that happened in the middle of the night and those killed were pulled out of their bed sheets under deep sleep. Therefore, the executors of July 29, 1966 coup could not be described as cowards. However, an impartial and honest Ikhide Ikheloa should have supposed more ifs of which I will now help him to bring to light. If the Five Majors in the January 1966 coup, had not been infiltrated by tribalists who turned pacifists and refused to kill their tribe's men, both civil and military, murders in the January 1966 coup, would not have been tribally lopsided. If Majors John Obienu, and Don Okafor, as well as Captain Ogbo Oji had not leaked the coup plan to Major General Johnson Thompson Umunnakwe Aguiyi Ironsi, he would not have survived to hijack and steal the coup of the five Majors. If Major General Ironsi had listened to the pleadings of Aminu Kano and Joseph Tarka to release all political prisoners thrown into prison by the previous NPC regime in the North, the second coup would not have occurred. Had Awolowo, Enahoro, Ikoku and others, jailed by the previous regime, been released by Major General Ironsi, the second coup would not have happened. If Ironsi had not promulgated Decree No. 34 of 24 May 1966 that amounted to implementation of the NCNC manifesto of unitary form of government for Nigeria, there would not have been second coup. If the attitude of the Igbo living in the North had not been abusive and provocative, against Northerners, after the January 1966 coup (see p. 76, 88 and 332 of Philip Efiong's book: Nigeria & Biafra -my story) riots in the North that finally culminated in the second coup would not have happened. If Ojukwu had accepted Decree No. 8 of March 1967, that incorporated all Aburi agreements except that the Supreme Military Council could declare emergency in any part of the Federation provided three regional Governors supported it, there would not have been war. Let us be objective and honest in judging one another so as to correct past mistakes and avoid their repetitions.

 
  

 

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From: AnunobyO@lincolnu.edu
To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
Date: Sun, 19 Apr 2015 19:24:14 -0500
Subject: RE: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Danjuma and that Ojukwu comment.

Danjuma approves of Jonathan's concession. Does he disapprove of Buhari's three times no-concession? He brings Ojukwu into a conversation that had nothing to do with him. He did this in full knowledge that Ojukwu is no longer with us and is therefore in no position to speak for himself. Ojukwu would have torn danjuma to shreds if he was still with us.
Danjuma committed many unjust murders. The guilt of his crimes continue to eat him up. Ojukwu made the definitive statement on Danjuma's smallness. Ojukwu said that Danjuma's signature accomplishment- the hallmark of his military career, was his (Danjuma's) murder of his supreme commander and his innocent host- both superior officers to him. It is a sad testament to Nigeria's history and situation that people like Danjuma not only got away with many murders and treason, but actually continue to profit from his crimes.
Danjuma murdered Lt. Col. Fajuyi even though he (Fajuyi) was innocent and was reportedly not the man he was determine to take his life. I am told that Danjuma's eyes turned red after he murdered the innocent men and they remain so. He has innocent men's blood on his hands. Ill-gotten wealth will not stop the drip-drip.
Only in Nigeria would a man like Danjuma not be a welcome and despicable irrelevance, if he was not under lock and key as he deserves to be, to say the least.  
Thank you Ikhide for reminding us of what Nigeria might have been if Danjuma and others like him, had not been born in Nigeria.
 
oa
 

From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com [mailto:usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com]
Sent: Friday, April 10, 2015 4:13 PM
To: USAAfrica Dialogue
Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Danjuma and that Ojukwu comment.

 

"Danjuma said if Ojukwu had conceded defeat, the way President Goodluck Jonathan did after the March 28 presidential elections, the nation would have been saved from one year of bloodshed."

 

Well, if TY Danjuma and his band of cowardly murderers had not carried out a revenge "counter-coup" perhaps we would not have had a civil war, we would be where Singapore is today. Nigeria has become a scary place. I saw a picture of our "change agents" the other day; Obasanjo, Danjuma, Buhari, and Atiku, all in one place, all those that have brought Nigeria to her knees today are Nigeria's change agents. Go and listen to Fela's Army Arrangement for a bit of truth and history. These are the people that now lecture us daily from within stolen bullet-proof mansions. We deserve them jor. Nonsense.

 

http://dailypost.ng/2015/04/10/ty-danjuma-under-fire-over-ojukwu-comment/

 

- Ikhide

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JOHN MUKUM MBAKU, ESQ.
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