pazienza:


What source are you looking for? Nigeria ran a regional system of government, each region developed her resources and pay loyalty to the FG. That's the whole essence of regionalism.

That was how the East ran her Coal industry. And the North her tin ore.

Is Crude oil no longer a natural resource?

If Awo and Gowon are seeking for a quasi confederation where the Eastern region oil wealth be turned to free for all, rather than the normal 50-50 derivation formula between the region and the centre, what does it say about they stupid Decree 8?

And so what if tin, coal and iron ore were run in a different way?

Did you even read the beginning of the article I quoted??!

It said: "Lieutenant Colonel Odumegwu Ojukwu, Biafran leader, had ordered all oil companies to start paying all royalties to Enugu because they were operating in a new country, or risk heavy penalties."

Why would Ojukwu have had the need to order the oil companies to START paying royalties to him, if the eastern government had been the standard recipient, in the past??!

Ojukwu did not accept the Decree 8 which would have given him a confederation, so how would it have been implemented?? Why do you keep clutching at straws and arguing blindly??!

laudate:


and so what if tin and iron ore were run in a different way?

Did you even read the beginning of the article I quoted??!

It said: "Lieutenant Colonel Odumegwu Ojukwu, Biafran leader, had ordered all oil companies to start paying all royalties to Enugu because they were operating in a new country, or risk heavy penalties."

Why would Ojukwu have had the need to order the oil companies to START paying royalties to him, if the eastern government had been the standard recipient, in the past??!

Ojukwu did not accept the Decree 8 which would have given him a confedeartion, so how was it going to be implemented?? Why do you keep clutching at straws and arguing blindly??!

Because the regional arrangements were destroyed by Nzeogwu coup, and so the central government controlled everything from then upward.

That's my understanding.

pazienza:


Because the regional arrangements were destroyed by Nzeogwu coup, and so the central government controlled everything from then upward.

That's my understanding.

Your understanding is wrong. Goodnight.

First of all read each the following documents: Oil Pipelines Act 1956 (amended in 1965); Mineral Oils (Safety) Regulations (1963); Oil in Navigable Waters acts (1968)

ThisDay: During the First Republic, much of the resources derived from agriculture were shared between the Federal Government and the regions from where such were derived, on 50 per cent per cent basis.

Then the major sources of revenue were groundnuts, cocoa cotton, palm produce and timber. At that time, the groundnuts and cocoa farmers sold their produce to their regional governments, and the regional governments in turn exported the produce. Thus, the regional governments received 50 per cent derivation from the sale of the cash crops. The cocoa farmers in the Western region were able to send their children to schools from the money made from the sale of their produce.

But during the Nigerian civil war, the military government headed by General Yakubu Gowon (rtd) abolished the 50 per cent derivation formula and put all resources under the control of the Federal Government in order to prosecute the war. The civil war had ended long ago, but it was not reversed to the old order...... http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/the-trouble-with-crude-oil/114838/

Gowon, Awolowo as well as service chiefs and other cabinet members constituted the Federal Military Government of Nigeria. They were not representing regions. Revenue from oil was shared 50/50 between the federal govt and regional govt.

So your argument about "why then were Awo and Gowon seeking direct control of Eastern oil wealth, rather than wait for the East to pay them loyalties?" does not hold water. Also, revenue sharing from oil under the the regional arrangements was NOT destroyed by Nzeogwu coup. 1969 Petroleum Decree was what changed the revenue sharing formula.

Read the article again very slowly. Maybe it would then make sense to you, and help you to stop arguing blindly. Am done.

"Unfortunately, I was down with serious malaria that I could not make my broadcast but Ojukwu went on air as soon as he got back and claimed that we agreed to a Confederation to which I had always strongly objected. 'That and other actions taken by him and his government made us to carefully review the Aburi Agreement. I got the Secretary to the Government and some Nigerian Senior Civil Servants to review it. They did and pointed out some serious ramifications of it"
http://ansu.edu.ng/blog/2015/04/02/gen-dr-yakubu-gowons-convocation-lecture/

Decree 8 was not an agreement to confederation, it didn't offer confederation, even Gowon testifies to this, why exactly we are having this argument is what I don't know.

And oh, you were right, Gowon abolished the 50-50 derivation formula in 1969.

laudate:


Please listen to other people's perspective on that civil war.

Ojukwu did not contribute a penny to the drilling of oil in the Eastern region by Shell.

In fact, despite the existence of signed, sealed contracts between the Nigerian govt and Shell, he wanted to corner all the money from the oil fields for himself. That was when Gowon quickly instituted the police action against the Eastern region, hoping Ojukwu would have a re-think. Instead he became recalcitrant.

Secondly, whose fault was it that Ojukwu did not strategise appropriately and lacked enough weapons to go to war? Was it the fault of the Nigerian govt that he declared war against? How many people go to war without counting the cost?? How could he NOT have anticipated that there would be a blockade??! In war, you strategise and prepare for every eventuality. Does he think the Nigerian govt would have left the sea port open for him to receive arms and ammunition to defeat them? Compare what happened in Biafra with the Falklands war. There was also a blockade.

Decree 8 was promulgated which gave Ojukwu more than 80% of what was agreed at Aburi but he turned it down! For goodness sake, if he had taken that option he would have prevented the carnage that occurred in Biafra, and lives that were lost would have been spared!!

[b] I really hate it when people say "Ojukwu went to war" as if Ojukwu actually started the war. Ojukwu may have declared Biafra, but at no time did he declare war on any body. This write up of yours is just smacks of someone who is talking with the benefit of hindsight. If you were Ojukwu, I'm sure your thinking mode would be different after watching 50,000 Easterners massacred. Ojukwu did anticipate a 'possible' blockade, there is video of him on YouTube talking of this a few weeks before the war started in which he said that he hoped that Britain would remain neutral if hostilities broke out. Sometimes in life, we fight not because we are well prepared or in the best of shape. Sometimes we fight because the alternative to not fighting is slavery. Even Fidel Castro started his war against the Batista Government of Cuba with less than a hundred men. You said that Ojukwu got over 80% of what he asked for at Aburi, this is true. But what you have to ask your self is what was the immediate reason why Ojukwu declared Biafra when he could have done so much sooner? It was because Gowon broke the most important rule of the Aburi accord, that the four regions which made up Nigeria must be run as a confederation. The Aburi agreement clearly stated that Gowon could not make far reaching decisions on the future of Nigeria without the concurance of all 4 Governors. It should be noted that as at the time of the Aburi accord, three of four Governors were all senior to Gowon (Ojukwu, Adebayor and Ejoor were all senior to Gowon). The dismantling of the regions and the creation of states by Gowon without due process made a complete mockery of the Aburi agreement. It was the start of 'divide and rule' and Ojukwu was not going to accept it. The truth about all this is that the war was all about Oil, nothing more. It had nothing to do with the unity of Nigeria because I can assure you that if it had been the North that had Oil, they would have seceded long before Ojukwu did. We Igbos are proud of Ojukwu for fighting even in the face overwhelming odds and great loss. You can't put a price on freedom and dignity [/b]