Very interesting revelation.

http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2009/oct/17/national-17-10-2009-001.htm

I doubt If the strategy worked.

If you remember, we were having a civil war when Odumegwu Ojukwu created the state of Biafra and the military didn’t believe in the division of this country. We believed that there should be one country, no matter the difference. So, when he heard that Ojukwu wanted to create Biafra and that the whole of the East, including Rivers State and Cross River State would be included in it, we acted. We felt that Ojukwu should be used as a catalyst.

We just used the opportunity to create more states. That is how we thought of creating states and we drew the carpet off Ojukwu’s feet. It was a masterstroke. By the time he announced the state of Biafra, the other states and parts of Biafra were no more with him. South East and Rivers states were created out of that area. They became autonomous states and we gave them money(they were bribed) from the centre to organise their states, though they couldn’t operate as states in time, because of the civil war. Ojukwu was just a catalyst in the creation of states.

And so what?

Aloy~Emeka:

And so what?

Help me ask am o

Abagworo:

It was a masterstroke. By the time he announced the state of Biafra, the other states and parts of Biafra were no more with him. South East and Rivers states were created out of that area. They became autonomous states and we gave them money(they were bribed) from the centre to organise their states, though they couldn’t operate as states in time, because of the civil war. Ojukwu was just a catalyst in the creation of states.

The money is their state allocation, if you create a state they must have access to funds to develop. See the way your mind works.

This Abagworo guy doesn't think normally. But thats the way of ignorant tribalists who have spent too much of their productive time in smelly shrines.

@beaf.dont get it.why?

Utter rubbish from a slowpoke.

Beaf, whats the problem? Ofcourse they were bribed, just like they continue to bribe NDs till today.

what i understood from the interview published by the sun newspaper is that mobolaji johnson sat on a roundtable with a few people and divided nigeria according to their will.rivers and southeast(cross river +akwaibom) was created without consulting the people just as a way of settling personal scores with ojukwu.this leaves a whole lot of questions unanswered.

Ironsi appointed me as administrator of Lagos in 1966. Don’t forget that he became head of state in January and I was brought back from Benin in February. He appointed me administrator of the Federal Capital. There used to be Minister for Lagos Affairs. The last Minister of the Federal Capital before my appointment was Musa Yar’Adua, the father of the incumbent President of Nigeria.


another interesting point.

If that was the situation, why did you create states in order to draw the carpet from Ojukwu’s feet, as you said earlier?

The states were created after the meeting, when we were informed that Ojukwu was going to create the state of Biafra. Gowon moved quickly to create states.

http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2009/oct/17/national-17-10-2009-001.htm

too much conspiracy!!!!!! Little information.

, and i hate having to redirect from another site to get the full information, you could have just pasted it here.

And please Abagworo, don't bring maps here! Please!

Abagworo:

@beaf.dont get it.why?

Please accept my sincere apologies. That was horrible.

For some reason, I keep mixing your id up with akigbemaru.

Beaf:

Please accept my sincere apologies. That was horrible.

For some reason, I keep mixing your id up with akigbemaru.

thanks bros.one love

Abagworo:

what i understood from the interview published by the sun newspaper is that mobolaji johnson sat on a roundtable with a few people and divided nigeria according to their will.rivers and southeast(cross river +akwaibom) was created without consulting the people just as a way of settling personal scores with ojukwu.this leaves a whole lot of questions unanswered.

To coin a phrase from the late Zik, these areas where 'eligible brides', the idea of a united eastern region was an illusion. It is not realistic to believe that izons, efik, kalbaris and others were happy with their position in the eastern region. Despite Boro already signalling his intent it was ignored. An astute negotiator would have capitalised on this opportunity and signed them up before the other side did.

Sapele
Ofcourse the other side was quick to get em on their side now how are the Izons, Efiks, and whole ND FAIRING? U can beat ur head against the wall about what and how Ojukwu could have done to get em on his side but you can never prove that Ojukwu or anyone was oppressing them. I don't think he needed to climb mount kilimanjaro to show them that there was danger but maybe many people in the region are too damn slow and too myopic to understand anything until shiit hits the fan. The problem with us is that we know how to hold every single grudge even for the tiniest offense and can't let go off it but when dealing with the real enemies the North and even West an ND guy will quickly lay in the same bed with the same Abacha that killed his whole village only to BE smacked silly one more time. We are all humans with intelligence and equal to each other so no one needs to baby-sitted when it suits him or her.

Keep up with the good work and continue wallowing in your eternal grudges against Igbo man after all if Igbos do bad you complain if Igbos do good you will complain and ask "why is he being good?" "there must be something he wants like our dearest OIL" like as if Igbo no get oil or oil is the solution to our problems.

chikena

udezue:

Sapele
Ofcourse the other side was quick to get em on their side now how are the Izons, Efiks, and whole ND FAIRING? U can beat your head against the wall about what and how Ojukwu could have done to get em on his side but you can never prove that Ojukwu or anyone was oppressing them. I don't think he needed to climb mount kilimanjaro to show them that there was danger but maybe many people in the region are too damn slow and too myopic to understand anything until shiit hits the fan. The problem with us is that we know how to hold every single grudge even for the tiniest offense and can't let go off it but when dealing with the real enemies the North and even West an ND guy will quickly lay in the same bed with the same Abacha that killed his whole village only to BE smacked silly one more time. We are all humans with intelligence and equal to each other so no one needs to baby-sitted when it suits him or her.

Keep up with the good work and continue wallowing in your eternal grudges against Igbo man after all if Igbos do bad you complain if Igbos do good you will complain and ask "why is he being good?" "there must be something he wants like our dearest OIL" like as if Igbo no get oil or oil is the solution to our problems.

chikena

Udezue - You have missed the point entirely. I don't need to prove oppression, that is not the issue, the issue is about cultivating strategic alliances.

It is amazing how people like you forget that mid westerners and water people as you called them then or traitors as you now choose to call them fought side by side with you but were later executed as 'sabo'.

Ojukwu climbed into this same bed with abacha who helped to kill millions of his own people but of course you will turn a blind eye to that.

ND are fairing as well or as bad as any other ethnicity. The difference is that they are not content with the status quo.

cool

Sapele,
Your epileptic attitude and relationship with Igbos makes it hard to even understand what you want and what Igbos have done to deserve so much deep seated hatred and mistrust. Seriously this issues needs proffessional help coz its baffling.

Oh so now Midwest and Ndi Mba mmiri people fought side by side with us but give u 1 week people like you will tell the world that Midwest and Mba mmiri people never ever fought along side Igbos / Biafra and never saw eye to eye or agreed to anything. I see how you admit and deny facts when it suits you. Quite epileptic.

Thanx for admitting that for at least today. I'm not sure what you will say the next time.

Wenne I've never regarded non Igbos of the East and Mid west as traitors. If they are then I and many of my relatives are too. I know about how they contributed their own quota to save our region and I always arguing on their behalf when it comes to that against the non Igbos who are hell bent on promoting division among our people and ignorant Igbos who say such nonsense. The last time I checked Efiong was Ibibio not Igbo.

"Mba mmiri" is just an Igbo way of saying Riverine or Rivers state people. Its not meant to be derogatory or hateful after all mba mmiri includes Igbo people too. Please don't take offense.

I don't see how Ojukwu laid with Abacha at all. Ojukwu did nothing to weaken the Ogoni struggle and all he did was stay the hell away from Saro Wiwa who came seeking help of the same Igbos he despised with a rabid passion. Most Igbos at that time preferred to let Wiwa battle his own demons that consumed him in the end coz as usual if they say "pim" the same Wiwa will accuse them of wanting to dominate his Ogoni people. Nobody has time for all that BS jare. Its either you are with us or you are not. Enough of all that epileptic mentality.

Abacha was smart enough to not target Igbos coz he already had his hands full with Ogoni and Yoruba people and the apprehensive Igbos had every reason to not want to get themselves involved even though they sympathized with the cause of the Ogoni. We watched video tapes of the Ogoni massacres back in Enugu.

Abagworo:

If you remember, we were having a civil war when Odumegwu Ojukwu created the state of Biafra and the military didn’t believe in the division of this country. We believed that there should be one country, no matter the difference. So, when he heard that Ojukwu wanted to create Biafra and that the whole of the East, including Rivers State and Cross River State would be included in it, we acted. We felt that Ojukwu should be used as a catalyst.

Was there any civil war when Biafra was created? Why this obvious lie?

Now, it is being claimed that the states were created because they got information that Ojukwu wanted to create Biafra. What sort of nonsense justification is this? That means I can kill a man and claim I learnt he was planning to kill me even without any evidence.

Lies and more lies. Shameless lies told out of desperation.

The good thing is that once you tell a lie you may need a thousand more to sustain it where as truth is constant.

udezue:

Sapele,
Your epileptic attitude and relationship with Igbos makes it hard to even understand what you want and what Igbos have done to deserve so much deep seated hatred and mistrust. Seriously this issues needs proffessional help coz its baffling.

This epileptic perception is caused by your schizophrenic grasp and misuse  of the facts. My observation that Ojukwu failed to win the hearts and minds of his neighbours or he should never have trusted in an unenforceableagreement is merely an observation  and not 'deep seated hatred and mistrust'.

Using your logic, i could argue that your criticism of Boro, Enahoro, Ejoor or Saro-Wiwa is proof of your hatred and mistrust of their respective ethnicities. Ojukwu is human he made mistakes, why do you think anybody who offers objective criticism is against Igbo. That is not a mature attitude, The war was not a black and white issue, when some of your colleagues write it is obvious their views are not balanced.
As I said before some of these mid west people sheltered you, some raised funds for you, some of them died for you and some of them fought against you. How can a blanket of abuse and hatred be appropriate.

Ojukwu was in bed with Abacha but that was the evolution of his raw political ambition. The biggest indictment of him for me was the fact that he draws an army pension, whilst his veterans are living on charity and have not been visited by him til today. The same can't be said of the man known as 'Air Raid'. Stating this doesn't mean hatred.

Sapele,
Did Ojukwu use starvation as a means to win a war against anyone? No Enahoro did.
Did he steal people's houses in PH in the name of abandoned property? No Wiwa did
Did he side with the same army that slaughtered people from his own region? No Ejoor did

Please don't compare him to those treacherous characters who after many years turned around to fight for the same issue they helped destroy in their hasty bid to frustrate the ambitions of the "domineering" Igbo man. Come back with better people jare.

You keep talking about Ojukwu not doing enough or that and how he could have won the minorities to his side like as minorities don't have enough common sense to see a situation analyze it and make a good decision. You expect the "oh so superior" Igbo leaders to do the impossible and show theSS "inferior" non Igbos there is danger, WHEN ITS CONVENIENT for you but I know when its not you will snap at anyone who even entertains the thought that Igbos should play  big brother / big husband when dealing with its neighbors. Like I said we are all equals, we are all humans with brains whether you 500,000 or 50 million. Ojukwu didn't have to get anyone on his side bcoz we were all victims to the massacres so it was our collective duty to save ourselves not just the Igbo

Its like me and you getting attacked by somebody and instead of defending urself against the attacker you wait for me to convince that you should join me to fight back against the attacker? WTH? It makes no sense but that is what you expected from Ojukwu.

Yes many Igbos whether mixed or full blooded were protected by non Igbos in the Midwest. Many Igbos were also masscred by the army and civilians in Benin areas so no one needs any medal. The North used divide and conquer tactics on us by making it seem like the war was only btwn them and the Igbo even though they sent thousands of non Igbos from midwest to their graves all over the North so the gullible ones thought siding with the North was a good idea and denying being Igbo became necessary. The same North killed Boro and Wiwa so we all should know by now that whether Ijo or Igbo or Ogoni is their main target now, we are collectively targetted by them and when they are done with one community they'll move to the next one. Have they not been doing so?

No need to cry more than the bereaved concerning Ojukwu or the veterans. Ojukwu did not do anything to sabotahe the Ogoni people and their struggles. So whether he was cool with Abacha or not should not be your problem after all many of you in that region feel like your future is not tied or related with that of the Igbo so why complain when Igbo leaders don't get themselves involved with you? U can't have your cake and eat it too.

It was a war for goodness sake. BOTH sides commited terrible attrocities.

If the mid west could extract themselves from the western region then the Kalabari's, Efiks and Izon would have followed suit under the 1st republic, and this was the real fear for both sides.

At times there is synergy in our objectives but never dependency.
There were and are no big brother relationships in the Nigerian arrangement, the tripartite gratefully accepted their colonial favours.

My only regret is the innocent lives that were wasted along the way for the greed of a few men. All in all these greedy soldiers were clueless and made things up as they went along. But why you continue to make heroes of these selfish and greedy men only god knows.

None of these guys, Mobolaji included can be trusted. He has told some truths and made severe economies with the truth by omission in this interview. Anybody who trusts these guys needs their head examined.

SapeleGuy:

None of these guys, Mobolaji included can be trusted. He has told some truths and made severe economies with the truth by omission in this interview. Anybody who trusts these guys needs their head examined.

what baffles me most is how carelessly our so-called leaders spit senseless statements on very sensitive issues.he should have either declined to comment on that or given us concrete reasons for state creation.for example he should have said that the states were created for even development.

^^^True talk.

@ Abagworo, did you just know through Mobolaji Johnson's interview in Sat Sun that Rivers State was created to pull the rug off Ojukwu's (Biafra's) feet?
M. Johnson called it a masterstroke, and that was what it was. It was a tactical move by Gowon govt to ensure that the whole of the old East Nig was not in support of Biafra. Such tactical moves are not criminal. There are some other examples in Nig:

1. Before 1963 the Midwest was part of Western Nig. It was carved out in 1963 to weaken the hold of Awolowo on that region.
2. Around 1992 there were rumours that IBB would rename UNN after Nnamdi Azikiwe and rename UniAbuja the University of Nig.  We the Lions and Lionesses were very angry at such an alleged move, given that IBB was known to be a Maradona. Dr Ezeife (Okwadike Igbo-ukwu, gov of Anambra, came up with a masterstroke: he named Asutech (Anambra State-owned uni) Nnamdi Azikiwe University. That destroyed any plan to rename UNN after Zik. Ezeife did not stop there: he later lamented to IBB in 1993 when he visited Anambra that of all the founding fathers of Nig, (Awo, Bello, Balewa, etc), only Zik was named after a state-owned uni. So IBB later made NAU a federal uni so as not to be seen as insulting Zik with a state-owned university. Ezeife, therefore, achieved two milestones by being intelligent, tactical and strategic.

So such moves are made to win your "opponent." But I have my reservations about some of M. Johnson's comments on Aburi, secession etc in that interview, but that may not be the thrust of this thread.

Before you start reading meanings into my comments, let it be clear that I am an Igbo man - born and bred, and proud of that heritage. Peace.

it does make a lot of sense for the university of nigeria to be located in Abuja.

[/quote][quote author=tpia. link=topic=339060.msg4765504#msg4765504 date=1255994591]
it does make a lot of sense for the university of nigeria to be located in Abuja.

Pls don't derail this thread. You can open a new thread on where the University of Nigeria should be located. But note that when Zik gave the university he founded University of Nigeria, he was laughed at by other Nigerians for showing too foolish love for Nigeria. Even Igbo people were not too happy. Other unis were named about the same time as University of Ibadan, University of Ile-Ife, University of Lagos, Univeristy of Zaria. Only the "foolish and patriotic" Zik (as most people thought) named his uni after Nig. (Even his bank was named after Africa - African Continental Bank, while others in the West and North reflected the regions). But years later the name University of Nig gave the impression that it was the only uni owned by Nig. That became a source of pride to the Easterners and envy to other regions, arising in the thinking that it be transfered to UniAbuja.

The founder of a university can name it whatever and locate wherever. You can found a uni in Nig and name it Uni of Washington or England or Mars, if that name is not yet in existence. But as I begged, pls don't derail this thread like is the practice in Nairaland. Thanks and my regards.