History of Niger Bridge Onitsha And Others

Where are my 

lovers of History? 

Let's discuss!

Topic: THE BLOWING OF THE NIGER BRIDGE: 
SUCCESS OR BLUNDER?

Synopsis: 3 months into the war, the gallant soldiers of Biafra embarked on the Midwest Invasion taking Benin and getting as far as Ore.

This invasion could have resulted in the Nigerian government to at the least reach a deal in favor of Igbo. However, a certain Yoruba officer stalled (in life, momentum is important) which resulted in forces led by Murtala Muhammad to push the Igbo back. The retreat resulted in blowing the Niger bridge so that they would not be pursued.

Unfortunately, there was no escape route for our brothers in Asaba. They were at the mercy of bastards who slaughtered many even when they greeted them to chants of "one Nigeria" (You cant blame them for that in MY OPINION).

MY THOUGHTS: Hindsight is 20/20. If we had known, MAYBE things would have went differently. If I was a retreating soldier, I would have supported blowing the bridge. The conflict was in its infancy. It could have ended very early on if the Nigerian soldiers were able to pursue.

The ugly truth in war is the idea of "acceptable losses". That includes both material and human life. When the US Army stormed the beaches of Normandy during World War 2, the generals and politicians knew casualties would be HIGH..

Still, taking Normandy allowed us to liberate France. When undertaking war, it's a collective effort that should include non combatants. I've seen interviews of those who were there in Asaba. May the dead rest in peace.

What's your stance?

HISTORY OF IBIBIO!

The Ibibio people occupy the palm belt in the southeast Nigeria, and are regarded as the most ancient of all the ethnic groups in Nigeria. According to Robert McKeon, the Ibibio are probably the indigenous natives from whom most small tribes of Qua Ibom and Calabar are descended. The early settlement of the Ibibio in the area led to the development of a number of sub-clans, notably the Anang, the Efik, and the Oron. Talbot suggests that by 7000 BC permanent settlement of some of the ethnic groups in Ibibio land had already begun and notes that the Ibibio language is probably the most ancient of all the semi Bantu languages.

The Ibibio tribe is the 4th largest ethnic set in Nigeria, and barely outnumbered by the Igbo our neighbor. However, Nigeria was ― and has been ever since ― classified by the Royal Niger Company in 1914 as having only 3 major ethnic groups namely: the Hausa, the Yoruba and the Igbo.

Available evidence indicates that the original homeland of Ibibio is at Usak Edet (Isangele) in the Cameroon. According to Ford and Jones, the Ibibio settlement of Isangele now forms a small tribe in the Kumba Division of Cameroon. Upon leaving the Cameroon territory, the Ibibio arrived at their present location following two major directions. Probably about 8000 BC one group reached Nigeria by an overland route and settled at Ibom (Arochuku) there they erected the famous shrine now known as the Long Juju of Arochuku. From Ibom some of the Ibibio people spread to Abak, Uyo, Ikot Ekpene, and other areas of what is known as the mainland of Cross River State. Other Ibibio came to the mainland by sea. These include the Uruan, Oron, Eket, and Ibeno people. The split of the sub-group (now called Efiks) from their kinfolk the (Uruan), seem to have started by about the sixteenth century. Talbot, who for many years conducted anthropological research among the Ibibio, suggested that the Efik started to claim a separate identity by about 1600 AD. He wrote: “Soon afterwards, a section of Ibibio, expelled either by the on-coming of Igbo or in consequence of a defeat at the hands of a town of their own tribe (Uruan) migrated to old Efik Town near Ikoneto.” Somewhat later the greater part of them moved again, some to Mbiabo and Adiabo and others to Creek Town. The final settlement of this branch of the Ibibio people seems to have occurred in 1670. At about this time some of the Ibibio chiefs from Creek Town who were cut off from their kin at Obutong by European traders, moved to a new site now called Duke Town. This is about four kilometers south of 0butong, at a strategic location just across the anchorage of the European trading ships.

SOCIAL SYSTEM

Ibibio society consists of villages, each of which belongs to a larger unit known as the “Clan.” The clan was often named after the founder of the first village in the area. Each Ibibio village is independent and equal in status. The villages consist of individual families comprising the husband, his wife/wives, children and grandparents. The society is mostly polygamous with formerly large families.

Nowadays the families are smaller due to excessive child mortality as well as the decreasing economic situation. In Ibibio land age is venerated. The respect extended to the elders comes from several cherished convictions. The oldest male of the family is often chosen as the head of the village unless he is incapacitated for any reason. A direct descendant of the village’s founder is preferred to inherit a vacant post. Similarly, one of the village heads is elected as head of the clan. The duties of a head include the settlement of disputes among members of the families, the villages or the clan. He is not only a true mediator but also performs sacrifices at the ancestors’ shrine for the well being of the families in the village. The family head chairs the meetings. He maintains regular consultation with the traditional Ruler’s Council that consists of all village heads of a clan. As custodians of legends, history and tradition, the elders play a significantly dominant role in Ibibio society. In the traditional setting those family meetings, village councils or Traditional Ruler’s Councils lay down laws and regulations for the governance of all units. For the enforcement of these laws each Ibibio village has its own Ekpo or Ekpe Society. This society is an ancient secret order that is used for determining the truth, and as a medium of communication with the ancestors. In some of the riverside Ibibio villages the Ekpe Society performs the functions of law enforcement. In such cases, the Ekpe Society is seen as the supreme authority.

OCCUPATION and SPORTS

The Ibibio largely engage in farming, fishing, and trading. While farming is the principal occupation of the Ibibio uplands, the river-side Ibibio traditionally work as fishermen at fishing ports commonly known as INE. Trading is done by middlemen who act as brokers between the producers of goods and the consumers. Outside the farming and fishing seasons the Ibibio traditionally spend their time with various recreational activities, with games and sports like wrestling, swimming, Oyo, and Ekara (marksmanship) and arrow shooting). Also moonlight plays like 0ffiong and Edop provide a good platform for social interaction particularly for the youths. Daytime plays include Ukwa, Ebre, Ibit-Abang, Ekong, and a host of others.

LANGUAGE

As observed by G.I. Jones and Darryl Ford the word Ibibio is both an ethnic and a linguistic term. All the Ibibio people speak and understand the same language: Ibibio. The dialectal differences among the various Ibibio groups can be attributed largely to the long period of territorial isolation between groups. These variations in the Ibibio language reflect adaptations to diverse contacts and social differences of various Ibibio groups. Linguistic homogeneity decreases with the rise in population and with the expansion of the occupied area. With reduced interaction, the speakers of Ibibio tend to form variants of their language. Thus the major dialects of the Ibibio language include the Uruan (now popularly referred to as Efik), the Anang, the Oron as well as the Ibeno and Eket dialects.

A Former Mercenary Who Fought 

On The Biafran Side During The Civil War

Gave The Following Account Of His Experience

"Nigeria's a typical West African mess of a country, only bigger and meaner. It's divided up the usual way: the coastal tribes are Christianized from sucking up to the European colonists. The further inland you go, the drier, hungrier and more Islamic it gets. The Brits grabbed the Nigerian coastline from the Portuguese when they realized there was money to be made, and turned the two big coastal tribes, the Ibo and the Yoruba, into their overseers on the Nigerian plantations. That left a lot of the inland Muslim tribes, the Hausa-Fulani people of the Sahel, permanently pissed off, sharpening their knives and biding their time.

"The Hausa-Fulani got their chance in 1963, when the last Brit in Nigeria hopped on a plane, yelling back to the Natives 'Congratulations, chaps! You're independent!' As soon as the Brits bugged out, the tribal massacres got going. Muslims in the north hacked to death every Ibo they could find. They hated these smartasses from the coast -- and now the Redcoats weren't there to stop them from taking revenge. 30,000 Ibos were killed in a few days.

"The massacres kind of soured the Ibo on the idea of Nigeria as one big happy inter-tribal family. In 1967 an Ibo General in the Nigerian Army declared that the Ibo region was now an independent country, 'Biafra.' The Nigerian Army, a big, sleazy outfit, begged to differ and invaded the Ibo region in SE Nigeria. The Army had 250,000 men. The Biafra/Ibo army had maybe a tenth that many, but they were brave and smart -- the Ibo had always been the brains of Nigeria.

"Every time it was a question of real battle on anything like equal terms, the Biafran rebels won. They stopped the government troops cold, then grabbed tactical surprise by staging a long-range raid into Western Nigeria.

"A risky advance like that by untrained civilian recruits (which is what most of the Ibo fighters were) is really impressive. But sad to say, courage doesn't count for much in West African warfare. It's ruthlessness that wins these wars, and the Nigerian junta had it.

"Instead of facing the Ibo army man to man, the Nigerian troops grabbed the coastline around the Niger River delta, this miserable maze of fever swamp was the supply route the Ibo needed. They stopped all food shipments heading for Ibo territory and sat back to let the Ibo starve.

"The Biafrans were still winning every battle and losing the war like Lee in 1865 -- starved out, strangled from behind. They realized they needed to open the supply route and decided to take back the Niger delta. And they got some help from outside.

"The best example, one of the few real heroes you'll get in this sleazy world, was a Swede, believe it or not. A Swedish aristocrat, no less. Count Carl Gustav von Rosen volunteered to do close air support for the Biafran army, hosing down government troops and raiding their bases, flying tiny civilian prop planes like little Swedish Cessnas.

"Is that glorious or what?

"The mismatch in the air war was total. The Nigerian AF had MiG-17 fighters and Il-28 bombers, DC 3 transports converted to bombers and a few choppers. Those Ilyushin and MiG designs were the high point of Soviet military aviation. Don't kid yourself -- the Soviets built some great planes. The Il-28 was a big, fast bomber with a bombload of 16,000 pounds and a three-man crew, including a tail gunner manning twin 23mm cannon. You wouldn't want to tailgate one of these.

"The MiG-17 was even better. It might have been the best fighter in the world when it went into service in 1953, and even in the mid-sixties it was good enough to win against our Phantom F-4s in dogfights over North Vietnam. US pilots were way more scared of the MiG-17 than the follow-on model, the MiG-21. The slick moves and big cannon of the MiG-17 were one big reason the USAF stopped thinking of fighters as manned SAMs -- all speed and no finesse -- and went back to planes with nose cannon, maneuverability and started teaching air combat at Top Gun schools.

"Up against all this big international hardware, the Biafrans had...nothing.

"Then this crazy Swede von Rosen came up with the kind of idea that would only work in Africa. Since he couldn't get the Biafrans any jet aircraft, he'd just buy some prop-driven trainers and refit them for combat. Von Rosen is such a great character he almost makes me reconsider hating Swedes. He was a throwback to when the Swedish pikemen turned the tide of the Thirty Years War.

"Von Rosen specialized in noble lost causes. Way back in 1938, when he was just a kid, he volunteered to fly for the Finns in their ultra-cool, hopeless fight against the Red Army. The Finns had no bombers so von Rosen just grabbed a civilian airliner, loaded it up with bombs and dropped them on the Reds from the passenger doors.

" 'Welcome, Comrade passengers! Coffee, tea or 500 pounds of HE?'

"Thirty years later, in August 1968, von Rosen was working as a civilian pilot delivering aircraft to Africa. He ran into some priests who were trying to find somebody brave enough to fly medical supplies past the blockade into Biafra. The mercs they'd hired called it off as too dangerous.

"Von Rosen volunteered to fly a DC 7 into Biafra with the supplies. The Biafrans were so grateful, and were fighting so bravely against all the odds, that von Rosen warmed to them like he had to the Finns. The Biafrans needed help to deal with the Nigerian AF, which was fighting a nasty war even by African standards. In the whole war, there's not one case of the Nigerian AF attacking a military target.

"That would've been dangerous -- and not nearly as much fun as bombing refugee camps, strafing hospitals, and napalming fleeing civilians.

"Von Rosen tried to find the Ibo some modern military jets, but nobody wanted to sell to the Biafrans for fear of upsetting the Nigerian government, a much bigger customer. So von Rosen started thinking about small prop-driven aircraft. There's a long history of using slow prop planes in bush warfare. Even the USAF, which has a major hard-on for afterburners and chrome, was forced to adopt a slow, armored CAS plane, the A-10. They hated it at first but it proved itself in both Gulf Wars, when fancy toys like the Army's dog of an AH, the Apache, left the field with its tail between its legs. In Nam, the classic jungle air war, we used two planes that were slow as molasses but did the job. One of the best and ugliest was the A-1 Skyraider, a chunky WW II style plugger. The USAF hated it and was always trying to twist combat reports to make the F-4 look good and the Skyraider look bad, but pilots agreed: you were better off going in low and slow in a Skyraider than zooming by in an F-4.

"Even the Skyraider was like an SR-71 compared to the little putt-putt plane von Rosen built his force around: the MFI-9, a tiny prop-driven Swedish trainer that looks like those ultralights people build in their garages. This plane could park in subcompact spaces at the Stockholm mall. It had a maximum payload of 500 pounds -- me plus a couple of medium sized dogs. Lucky those Swedes are so skinny.

"Von Rosen bought five of these little 'Fleas' down the coast in Gabon, slapped on a coat of green VW paint to make them look military, and installed wing pods for unguided 68mm unguided anti-armor rockets. Then he and his pilots -- three Swedes and three Ibo -- flew them back to Biafra and into combat.

"They blew the Hell out of the Nigerian AF and army. These little Fleas were impossible to bring down. Not a single one was knocked out of the sky, although they'd buzz home riddled with holes. They flew three missions a day and their list of targets destroyed included Nigerian airfields, power plants, and troop concentrations.

"The Fleas turned their weaknesses into advantages in true guerrilla style. They were so slow that they had to fly real low -- which made them almost impossible to hit in the jungle, since you never saw them till they were on top of you. The low speed made for better aim: almost half the 400 68mm rockets they fired hit their targets, which is an amazing score for unguided AS munitions. (There used to be a joke in the USAF that if it wasn't for the law of gravity, unguided AS rockets couldn't even hit the ground.)

"The Biafran AF managed to destroy three MiG-17s and an Il-28 on the ground. Killing enemy planes on the ground may not be as glorious as shooting them down in a dogfight, but they're just as destroyed. The Fleas also took out a couple of helicopters, an airport tower, a Canberra bomber and a half-dozen supply trucks. And they blew away at least 500 Nigerian troops. It was one of the few really glorious exploits you get in war these days. Why they haven't made a movie of it, I don't know. Guess they think we'd rather see tennis pros fall in love or some shit like that.

"Von Rosen's Fleas weren't enough to turn the tide of the war. The rest of the world turned their backs on the Ibo, let the Nigerians starve them into submission. The USSR sold the Nigerians every plane, tank and gun they could cram into their shopping cart, and the British loaned their pilots to fly as Nigerian AF mercs, bombing Biafran civvies and blowing up convoys bringing food and meds to the Ibo villages.

"The famine in Biafra was the first time we saw pictures of African kids with skeleton arms and legs and big balloon bellies looking up at the camera. It was easy to get shots like that in Biafra, because the whole country was starving.

"A year into the war, the Ibo had nothing left. No food, no ammo, not even fuel, which is ironic when they were sitting on the big Niger delta oilfields.

"Even the bravest troops can't fight when they're dying of starvation. So in 1969 the Nigerian Army sent 120,000 men pushing through the center of Biafra, dividing the Ibo zone in half. It was like Sherman's march to the sea -- it broke the Biafrans' backs. Early in 1970 Biafra surrendered. Nobody knows how many people died. The low guess is a million, the high ones maybe three millions. Almost all were Ibo civilians.

"The Nigerians punished the Ibo for their uppity behavior by freezing them out of the loot they got from oil revenues and other graft, the one industry in Nigeria. For 30 years the Ibo have been watching the oil pumped out of their land to buy more Mercedes for a bunch of sleazy generals and politicians. They've got a right to be pissed off -- but the Biafra war showed them that in Africa, right ain't got much to do with it. Like the greatest Swede of 'em all used to say, 'God is on the side of the big battalions.' "

The British-Igbo War That Lasted For 31 years

The Ekumeku Resistance

Written by: Libertywritersafrica

March 19, 2019

The resolutions of the Berlin conference of 1884-1885, gave European nations the rights to lay claim to lands and resources in Africa.

Britain, who had engaged in the trade with coastal cities before and during the 19th century, made bold their intentions to covet resources and rule over indigenous nations all over Africa.

They came with guns and preachers. Many Africans tribes resisted the British invaders, and this led to protracted wars. Many African tribes put up a great fight against the superior fire power of the suppressive British.

One of such tribes are the Igbo people of ancient Biafra, who are now one of the three major tribes in Nigeria.

The Ekuemeku Movement was the name of Igbo army, that held the British at bay and fought them for 31 years.

The Ekumeku movement consisted of a great number of attacks and uprising by the Anioma people of Biafra igboland, against the British, from 1893-1914.

The Ekumeku warriors were bound by a secrete oath, and meticulously utilized guerrilla tactics to attack the British Royal company, who were determined to penetrate Igbo land. The Ekumeku warriors were drawn from thousands of Anioma youth from all parts of Anioma land.

As the war rages on, the Ekumeku warriors defended their rights to live peacefully without foreign interjection, while the British used heavy armaments. They destroyed homes, farms, and roads, by bombardment.

The British invaded Ndoni in 1870 and bombarded Onicha-Ado (Onicha) on November 2nd, 1897, from River Niger. This set the tempo for the rest of the war. The Royal Niger Company was commanded by Major Festing. They engaged the Anioma people of Ibusa in 1898.

The battle was so severe in 0wa/Okwunzu, in 1904, that the commander W.E.B Crawford requested for more arms from the British headquarters to crush the Western Anioma communities. The people of Owa again in 1906 engaged the British in a gruesome battle that consumed the life of the British commander S. O. Crewe and more than five thousand British occupiers.

Ogwashi-Ukwu faced the British on the 2nd of November 1909, and dealt a heavy blow to the British, who sustained many casualties, with the death of H. C. Chapman.

The Ekumeku became a formidable force in Igbo land and was a great source of nationalism for the Anioma people. It also served as a uniting cord that held together various towns who were independent of each other in the past. The Igbo were a republican people and each town had a leadership that was drawn from its oldest of men and families.

The war would have lasted longer, and possibly ended in a British defeat, if the Anioma people had equivalent fire power, and had more allies from other great Igbo kingdoms and towns. But even at that point, other tribes were facing the British on their own.

After almost 20 years of battle, the British decided to strike with great force. And in December of 1902, they sent a powerful expedition to Anioma kingdom. A great number of towns were destroyed. Civilians and soldiers alike were killed. And their leaders were arrested and imprisoned.

After this, the British were sure that they had suppressed the Ekumeku military cult, and that victory was theirs. The British officers boasted: “the Ekumeku and other secret societies have been completely broken.”

To their greatest surprise, two years later, in 1904, the fearless Ekumeku rose again. The Igbo are a proud and egalitarian people. They don’t go down that easily.

When the Ekumeku started their renewed campaign, they changed tactics, and abandoned the guerrilla warfare style of 1889, for individual defense of each town.

The last battle began in 1909. There was a succession dispute in Ogwashi-ukwu, and the British tried to remove the rightful king and enthrone someone else. One of the heirs to the throne, Nzekwe, the son of the last Obi, sensed the plot of the British and went to war with them to fight for his inheritance.

On November 2nd 1909, the British sent an expedition to Ogwashi-ukwu to capture him, but they failed. No amount of fire power at that point could defeat or quench the sympathy and dedication of the people towards the Ekumeku. In Asaba, the sympathy for the Ekumeku was so high that the people had a disposition to throw off the already British government in certain parts.

At the time, the acting Lieutenant-governor of the Southern provinces sent an agitated telegram to Lagos. It read: “Whole country is above are… is the state of rebellion.”

After this, reinforcements were sent from Lokoja, for another confrontation at Akegbe. The war raged on, till 1914, when the Ekumeku movement was defeated. That was the same year, the Northern and Southern protectorates of Nigeria were joined as one country.

Some of the heroes of that 31-year war included Dunwku Isus of Onicha-Olona, Nwabuzo Iyogolo of Ogwashi-Ukwu, Awuno Ugbo, Obi of Akumazi, Aggbambu Oshue of Igbuzo, the Idabor of Issele-Ukwu, Ochei Aghaeze of Onicha-olona, Abuzu of Idumuje-Unor, Idegwu Otokpoike of Ubulu-Ukwu. These men are remembered in Anioma land till date.

The Ekumeku war remains one of most bravely fought wars and campaign against British rule and plundering. It later inspired other rebellions around Africa, such as the Mau Mau of Kenya.

The Ekumeku have long been defeated, and that kingdom is now part of the greater Igbo land, in today’s Nigeria. But no matter how far we travel in time, history always remembers that a brave tribe defended their ancestry, heritage and legacy against the tyranny of Wilberforce.

Till date, in Nigeria, the Igbo remains one of the few tribes that still resist British rule over them and their resources. It can be said that these sentiments were at play when the British supplied weapons to the Northern and Western part of Nigeria to fight the Igbo between 1967-1970. The same igbo Biafra indigenous people are still agitating today through self determination rights to exist out of Nigeria created by the British.

After 49years of the end of the genocidal war against #Biafra. It's Time for the world to Support #BiafraReferendum #BiafraSelfdetermination. If Nigeria can support Sahrawi freedom; it shows no law stops other countries to Support or #SaveBiafraChildren.

IGBO POLITICIANS AND NIGERIA

BIAFRA restoration campaign is a raging combination of tornado and tsunami.The Christian Holy Bible says"there's a time for everything done under the face of the Earth, it goes further to say, there is a time to be born and a time to die, a time of peace and a time of war, a time for sorrow and a time for joy ".

The existence of this Britannic business empire called Nigeria has naturally come to a halt. All the combined Britannic cum MAGREB demonic and voodoo forces holding Nigeria from supposed dissipation have gone sour. The entity is doomed to obey the timelines of her disintegration into organic boundaries.

People of foresight and clairvoyance are readying for the awaited ceremony.Soldiers of hindsight are already prepping for a camaraderie, visionary tycoons are already negotiating on the basis of international partnership, The world is fast coming to that very reality that balancing of diplomatic push would mean a lot in furtherance of relations with the striving Nationalities.

The masses are already agog and awoke , waiting for that glorious blast of the trumpet of freedom from institutionalized poverty, nepotism,lies,deceits, failure, bigotry, mercantile terrorism, frustration, destiny entrapment, institutionalized mediocrity, FULANISATION, Islamization, undeclared war, banditry and state sponsored kidnapping and brutal large sale of human organs which Nigeria represents.

Nigeria state is in massive storm,the boat is shaky and quaky. Nigeria is in a state of double jeopardy at the moment on the fate of Biafrans. The handlers have realized that a decision is incumbent, seeing the curiosity of the determination for emancipation by Biafrans. The recent violations of the principles of fairness in the sharing of the principal offices of the national Assembly further nailed the conspiracy.

Nigeria cannot afford to keep living in self-denial over BIAFRA.The northernization of appointments at the federal level have come to stay. The northern oligarchs have summoned the courage to go open against Igbo political interests. Igbo Politicians have been spat in the face, they have been asked to go home and quit the delusion of one Nigeria, seeing the propensity of determination shown by Biafrans.

Nigeria Politicians of Biafra origin, instead of embracing earlier enough, the surging campaign for self emancipation, chose rather to play self. The rate of embarrassment and humiliation the political class of BIAFRA extraction experienced recently, after several open confession of support for ONE Nigeria and brazen,brutal and disgusting betrayal of their kits and kin, is deserving of a place in the annals of time, for treachery and mischief.

Politicians of Biafra extraction have been reduced to the level of ridicule that we as a people can not but speak out. They have become so shamed, reduced to ragtag in Nigeria's corridors of power. I cannot begin to imagine that someone like Orji Uzor Kalu, despite working as a lobbying personnel of the ruling APC(ALL PROGRESSIVE CONGRESS), in the run up to the 2019 general elections, could not be offered a thing at the Senate!

They are now left as beggers for political offices! Heard they are begging for an Secretary to Government of the Federation, what a life? Hear Winston Churchill"An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile - hoping it will eat him last.

Could Sigmund Freud's phylosophical observation be their reason for being far from free? " Most people do not really want freedom, because freedom involves responsibility, and most people are frightened of responsibility." : Sigmund Freud

Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose.

By : Kris Kristofferson

Atimes, I just begin to wonder what and why these Politicians of Biafra origin chose crumbs for plenty!

What are their fears of a freed Nation? Why are they waiting until they are slapped at the chin before they learn their lessons? It shall be unfair to end this piece without reminding them that A STITCH IN TIME SAVES NINE!

Written by:

Comr. Chukwuemeka Alex Okeke

For:The Biafra Restoration Voice - TBRV

Edited by:

Mazi Nwabueze Nwagbo

For: The Biafra Restoration Voice - TBRV

Published by:

Chibuike Nebeokike

For: The Biafra Restoration Voice - TBRV

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TBRV | Biafra

We‘ll Resist Fulani Vigilantes In Igboland, 

Ohanaeze Tells Miyetti Allah

ON JUNE 21, 20191:52 AMIN HEADLINES, NEWSBY ADEKUNLECOMMENTS

By Henry Umoru & Dennis Agbo

•Ohanaeze ‘ll resist Fulani vigilantes in Igboland —Nwodo.

ENUGU — TO combat insecurity, the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria, MACBAN, has called for establishment of Fulani Youth Vigilante body in the South-East to complement those in their host communities’ and other constituted security apparatus in the State.

The cattle breeders made the request just as the South-East governors told them that nobody in the zone was against cattle rearing but that it was paramount for everyone to understand that there are rules of engagement in every relationship, including that of herders and farmers.

President-General of apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief John Nnia Nwodo said the group would resist Fulani vigilantes in Igboland, while the pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, described the proposal as a provocative agenda.

In the same vein, the Nigeria Police Service Commission, PSC, lampooned the yearly recruitment of 10,000 policemen, saying the number was a far cry from the number of personnel needed to police the country.

These came as the 36 state governors of the federation late Wednesday night raised a committee to hammer out a common position on the clamour for state police.

MACBAN and security stakeholders spoke, yesterday, during the South-East Security Summit organized by the South-East Chambers of Commerce, Mines and Agriculture, SECCIMA, in collaboration with South-East Governors Forum, SEGF, in

Speaking on how it affects herdsmen, National President of MACBAN, Alhaji Mohammadu Kirowa, regretted that once insecurity was mentioned in Nigeria, the first idea that came to mind was Fulani herdsmen.

Represented by the National Secretary, Alhaji Baba Usman Ngelzerma, MACBAN noted that South-East is a good host, which was the reason it condemned all forms of violence and criminality in the same manner patrons such as the Sultan of Sokoto, the Emir of Kano and the Lamido of Adamawa did.

The group, however, said it wanted establishment of Fulani Youth Vigilante group, noting that the youth body would work with security agencies, the neighbourhood watch or vigilante to ensure security in all communities, as was done in Enugu State.

“We will solicit your support and cooperation in adopting dialogue where problems exist as a means of brokering peace and to report cases against our members to either the Fulani Youth Vigilante Group, state or local branch of the association,” Kirowa said.

In his remarks, Chairman of South-East Governors Forum and governor of Ebonyi State, Engr. Dave Umahi, stated that the region would not engage in policy of exclusion to limit any farmer or herder, but stressed that rules of engagement should be observed in every relationship.

Umahi, was represented by his deputy, Dr. Kelechi Igwe, said: “We will continue to accommodate the Miyetti Allah but our plea to them is that as we are magnanimous to allow settlers, every community has a custom that needs not to be violated. It is the violation that breeds problem.

“I believe that at the end, resolutions will generate further national dialogue, promote agenda-setting and a solution to the lingering national insecurity. All we need is the good idea of one or two men to find direction and I believe this summit will do that.”

The Commissioner in charge of Human Rights in the Police Service Commission, Mr. Rommy Mom, lamented the inadequacy of Police personnel, noting that at present, Nigeria could only boasts of fewer than 350, 000 police officers.

“This translates to 1.6 police officers to every 100,000 Nigerian, which is a far cry from the world standard of 225 police officers to every 100,000 people. In some local governments, you have less than 10 police officers.

“Lack of data is a major challenge, to the extent that even the Inspector General of Police is not very sure of the exact number of police officers under his command. Electronic data is very important,” Mon said.

He also stated that it was high time Nigeria embraced the use of Information Communication Technology, ICT, and other equipment to police the country.

Ohanaeze ‘ll resist Fulani Vigilantes in Igboland – Nwodo

Reacting to MACBAN’s call, Ohanaeze Ndigbo leader, Chief Nnia Nwodo, said Ndigbo will resist the proposal for the establishment of Fulani Youths Vigilante in Igboland.

Accusing the herdsmen of violating Igbo women in their farms, among other crimes, Nwodo noted that if such request was granted the herdsmen, it will spell doom for Igboland.

Nwodo said: “Ohanaeze vehemently opposes any attempt by Miyetti Allah to establish any form of vigilante group in Igboland.

“These are people who have ravaged our farms, raped our women and slaughtered their husbands. As at today, they technically enjoy immunity from arrest and prosecution. They freely display AK-47 rifles not permitted to be used by civilians.

“Extending this measure to them will turn them into an army of occupation and invite unavoidable confrontations with our youths. We will resist such a policy with every might available to us.”

It’s a provocative agenda —Afenifere

Reacting to the Miyetti Allah proposal, the pan-Yoruba socio-political orgnisation, Afenifere, described it as a provocative agenda.

Afenifere’s National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Yinka Odumakin, who described the call as an insult, said: “It is a provocative agenda which shows that there is a clear agenda to provoke war.

“The South East has come under the siege of marauding herdsmen with authorities in the land shying away from enforcing law and order.

“The height of it all is now this insulting call by Miyetti Allah. They should be careful how they poke their wicked fingers into the eyes of the people. The gentility of a lion is never a sign of cowardice.”

We’ll make our position on state police known soon —Govs

Meanwhile, the 36 state governors, under the aegis of Nigeria Governors Forum, NGF, said they would make their position on state police known soon, and raised a committee to discuss the issue and come up with a position.

The governors on Wednesday night, held its first meeting after the election of the leadership of the forum, with issues of security topping the agenda

The meeting which started at past 8pm at its Secretariat, Lake Chad, Maitama, Abuja, ended in the early hours of yesterday.

At the end of the meeting, the governors “resolved to set up a security committee at the National Economic Council level, NEC.”

The NEC, which consists of the 36 state governors, and governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, is the highest economic advisory body in the land and is presided over by the Vice-President.

Addressing journalists at the end of the meeting, Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State, who is chairman of the NGF, disclosed that the forum will soon make known its stand on the issue of state police, stressing that security is an issue of concern to citizens and the governors as well.

According to Fayemi, the Forum will “retain security as a recurring item on its agenda for the foreseeable future.”

He said: “We know that state police is an issue of interest and concern to the citizens and governors themselves and we will review it and make our position as a forum known soon.”

Fayemi also disclosed that the Forum resolved to re-launch its flagship State Peer Review Mechanism programme designed to assist states foster good governance and accelerate the rate of development through periodic reviews of progress made by state governments.

According to him, the forum has also agreed to hold a one-day interactive session with the World Bank and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation on on-going development engagements across the states on June 26, 2019.

The governor added that the forum will also organise an IT retreat with the Joint Tax Board, JTB, and chairmen of internal revenue services of states.

Also on the agenda was update on Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit, NFIU, Guidelines on Local Government Funds.

It would be recalled that NFIU had issued a guideline which prevents state governments from making withdrawals from local governments’ funds.

The new guideline mandates financial institutions to distribute funds meant for local governments directly to them for development and not for other purposes, just as the guidelines also limit cash transactions in the accounts of local governments to a daily maximum of N500,000.

The meeting commenced at exactly 8.00pm with 22 states represented.

Present at the meeting were governors of Kano, Borno, Lagos, Kaduna, Sokoto, Ekiti,Kogi, Ogun, Plateau, Ondo, Jigawa, Kebbi, Ebonyi, Gombe, Bayelsa, Nasarawa, Niger and Oyo.

Others were deputy governors of Enugu, Zamfara, Cross River, Imo and Katsina.

FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE NIGERIAN BAR ASSOCIATION, 

NBA, AND HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST, OLISA AGBAKOBA (SAN), 

HAS TOLD PRESIDENT MUHAMMADU BUHARI 

TO DIVIDE THE COUNTRY INTO EIGHT REGIONAL STRUCTURES.

AGBAKOBA, ONE OF THE GREATEST HEROES OF DEMOCRACY IN NIGERIA, NOTED THAT THERE ARE SO MANY UNCLEAR ISSUES IN NIGERIA ABOUT HOW PEOPLE OF THE COUNTRY WANT TO ORGANIZE THEMSELVES AND HOW THEY WANT TO LIVE TOGETHER.

THE SENIOR LAWYER TOLD REPORTERS AT THE WEEKEND THAT INSECURITY AND OTHER SERIOUS ISSUES FACING THE COUNTRY “CAN’T [BE] FULLY ARRESTED,” IF THE CENTRAL GOVERNMENT REMAINS SO STRONG AS IT IS NOW.

HE ADDED THAT, “THIS IS BECAUSE COMMUNITY POLICING OR STATE POLICING IS A TACTICAL TOOL TO DEAL WITH THE PROBLEM, BUT THE STRATEGIC TOOL IS THE BIGGER QUESTION OF THE NATIONAL QUESTION.

“THERE ARE SO MANY UNCLEAR ISSUES IN NIGERIA ABOUT HOW WE WANT TO ORGANIZE OURSELVES, HOW WE WANT TO LIVE TOGETHER, THIS IS WHAT SOME PEOPLE HAVE CALLED THE RESTRUCTURING QUESTION, SOME CALL IT THE NATIONAL QUESTION, BUT I CALL IT DEVOLUTION OF POWERS QUESTION.

“WHATEVER IT’S CALLED THAT IS THE CENTRAL ISSUE THAT NEEDS RESOLUTION SO THAT EVEN IF YOU USE TACTICAL TOOLS LIKE COMMUNITY POLICING, BUT THE BIGGER ISSUE REMAINS THEN I DON’T KNOW IF WE CAN RESOLVE IT.

“WHAT NIGERIA NEEDS IS SPACE, THERE ARE DIVERSE ETHNICITIES AND THEY ARE LIVING IN SUCH CLOSE PROXIMITY THAT ONE ETHNIC COMMUNITY IS IN THE FACE OF THE OTHER WITH COUNTER-CULTURES, COUNTER-RELIGIOUS BELIEFS AND THAT IS NOT HEALTHY. EVEN IN AMERICA IN SPITE OF ALL THEIR ADVANCED DEMOCRACY, THEY TAKE CARE OF DIVERSITIES.

“SO, I THINK IF I WERE TO ADVISE THE PRESIDENT, FOR INSTANCE, THE FIRST THING TO DO IS CREATE SPACE…,IDENTIFY THE ETHNIC REGIONALITIES, CREATE EIGHT BIG BLOCS, EVEN THOUGH WE HAVE 6 TO MAKE IT 8.

“AND THEN I WILL GIVE THEM THE POWER TO DO THINGS AT THEIR OWN LOCAL LEVEL, IT’S CALLED THE PRINCIPLE OF SUBSIDIARITY; LET THEM WORK AT THEIR OWN LOCAL LEVEL. SUBSIDIARITY IS WHERE PEOPLE ENGAGE THEMSELVES AT THE LOCAL LEVEL SUCH THAT YOU FIND IN WALES, SCOTLAND, IRELAND AND ENGLAND.

“PART OF THE CHALLENGE THEY HAD WHEN THEY WERE LIVING CLOSELY WAS TO CREATE AN ACT OF SETTLEMENT OF 1705, THAT WAS WHEN PEACE BEGAN TO COME AND EACH OF THE REGIONS RECOGNIZED THEMSELVES.

“THEY ALL HAD THEIR OWN PRIME MINISTERS AND THEY CALL THEM FIRST MINISTERS, SO THE PRIME MINISTER OF THE UK IS THE ONE WE SEE INTERNATIONALLY, BUT ON LOCAL MATTERS LIKE SCHOOL, REFUSE COLLECTION, EDUCATION, AGRICULTURE, EMPLOYMENT, HEALTH ISSUES, IT’S LOCAL.

“SO, IMAGINE WHERE EIGHT OF THE REGIONAL STRUCTURES IN NIGERIA WERE FENDING FOR THEMSELVES AT THEIR LOCAL LEVEL AND NOT DEPENDING ON FEDERAL ALLOCATION FROM ABUJA, THINGS WILL BE DIFFERENT.

“IMMEDIATELY THEY WILL TAKE CONTROL OF WHAT IS AROUND THEM, THEY WILL CREATE STATE POLICE, THEY WILL CREATE THE RELEVANT SECURITY APPARATUS TO DEAL WITH ANY THREAT, THEREFORE, YOU DON’T NEED ONE CHIEF OF ARMY STAFF, AND THEY DON’T NEED ONE INSPECTOR GENERAL OF POLICE TO BE RUNNING AROUND ENTIRE NIGERIA.

“FOR INSTANCE…SAY IN THE SOUTH-SOUTH REGION, THEY WILL HAVE ALL THE RELEVANT APPARATUSES TO DEAL WITH WHATEVER SITUATION THAT THEY NEED TO SURVIVE AS A REGION.

“THEY COULD HAVE COURTS; THEY MIGHT LIKE TO HAVE A SUPREME COURT OF THE SOUTH-SOUTH WHERE CASES END IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE SOUTH-SOUTH, SO THEY DO NOT HAVE TO GO TO THE SUPREME COURT OF NIGERIA BECAUSE THE SUPREME COURT OF NIGERIA HAS NO BUSINESS DEALING WITH ISSUES ARISING FROM THERE.

“THAT IS THE KIND OF SPACE I THINK THAT SHOULD BE PARAMOUNT IN THE ISSUE CONCERNING WHERE NIGERIA IS HEADING TO.

“BECAUSE THAT DISCUSSION IS NOT ON THE TABLE, ALL THESE ETHNIC ISSUES FLARE UP AS MAJOR NATIONAL INSECURITY CHALLENGE. SO, THAT IS WHAT I WILL DO OR SUGGEST IF I HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO ADVISE ON IT. THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT IS TOO STRONG.

“THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT IS ACTUALLY NOT A FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, OURS IS A UNITARY GOVERNMENT BECAUSE THE STATES HAVE NO POWER ON THE LEGISLATIVE LIST SO THERE ARE 68 ITEMS ON THE EXCLUSIVE LIST AND AS THE NAME IMPLIES IN EXCLUSIVE LIST ONLY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT HANDLES IT.

“THERE IS 30 ON THE CONCURRENT LIST, CONCURRENT IS BETWEEN THE FEDERAL AND THE STATE TO LEGISLATE, BUT IF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT LEGISLATES THEN PURSUANT TO WHAT IS CALLED THE DOCTRINE OF COVERING THE FIELD THE STATE IS NOT ALLOWED TO DO ANYTHING. IN OTHER WORDS, THE STATES HAVE NO LEGISLATIVE AUTHORITY THAT CREATES A PROBLEM.

“WHY SHOULD THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT BE DEALING WITH UNIVERSAL BASIC EDUCATION FOR PRIMARY SCHOOLS? WHAT IS THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT RESPONSIBILITY WITH THAT? I DON’T UNDERSTAND.

“WHAT IS THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT RESPONSIBILITY WITH SETTING UP A JAMB PROCESS SO THAT YOU EQUALIZE EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES, BUT IF MY GRANDCHILD FROM ANAMBRA SCORES 282, BUT MY FRIEND’S GRANDSON FROM ZAMFARA SCORES 100, MY FRIEND’S GRANDSON GETS INTO THE UNIVERSITY, BUT MY OWN DOES NOT GET IN. WHY DON’T YOU SIMPLY SAY ….LOOK EACH REGION CAN JUST ORGANIZE ITSELF AND TAKE YOUR EXAMINATION?

“SO, IT IS THIS CENTRIFUGAL FEDERALISM THAT MEANS FEDERALISM THAT HAS A PYRAMID THAT HAS ONLY ONE LEADER THAT IS OUR PROBLEM.

“WE JUST HAVE TO BLAST THE STRUCTURES AND ALLOW REGIONAL LEADERS AS WE HAD UNDER THE 1960 CONSTITUTION. SO, WHEN YOU HAVE REGIONAL LEADERS YOU WILL HAVE PEOPLE WHO WILL LIKE TO PLAY REGIONAL POLITICS OR REGIONAL LAW.

“THERE IS NO REASON, FOR INSTANCE, IN MY OWN PROFESSION THE EIGHT REGIONS I PROPOSE SHOULD NOT BE AWARDING SAN TO THEIR BEST LAWYERS. WHY MUST IT ONLY BE ABUJA? IN THE UK, THE SAN IN ENGLAND IS DIFFERENT FROM THE SAN IN SCOTLAND.

“SO, THE FORMULA THAT WORKED FOR NIGERIA WAS TO RECOGNIZE THE DIFFERENCES AND I THINK THE BEST EXAMPLE OF THE AGREEMENTS THAT WE CAN APPLY IS THE ABURI ACCORD.

“THE ABURI ACCORD RECOGNIZED THAT NIGERIA’S PROBLEMS WERE AS A RESULT OF OUR DIVERSITY NOT BEING WELL MANAGED. WE NEED TO MANAGE OUR DIVERSITY THAT IS THE WAY WE CAN MOVE FORWARD

#THE_TRUTH

IF YOU REALLY WANT TO KNOW THE TRUTH ABOUT WHY NIGERIA REMAINED ONE NATION, WHO WAS BEHIND IT AND WHY, PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING.

I HAVE DONE MY RESEARCH AND I CAN CONFIRM THAT EVERYTHING THAT THE WRITER HAS WRITTEN IS FACTUAL AND HISTORICALLY ACCURATE. PLEASE READ, COPY AND SHARE:

"If you thought oil was discovered in Nigeria in 1959, you could pass your high school economics with that information. It was actually discovered 50 years earlier.

Did you know that Oil from the Territory was sold for almost 50 years before the approach of Independence in 1960 forced the disclosure of Oloibiri by Britain? Even at that, the quantities were concealed from the newly Independent Nigerian Governments, until the Counter Coup of July, 1966, when the North packed their baggage to head back North in the famous ARABA putsch.

The then British High Commissioner to Nigeria, of course on the promptings and direction of his home Government, zoomed in upon Gowon halfway, and prevailed on him to reverse the decision of moving the North out of Nigeria, at a time Gowon already hoisted the Arewa Flag in a temporary Capital, Ilorin.

In the hurry to announce this reversal, the Gowon’s speech that was originally designed to take out the North, was poorly edited, leaving a portion that should have been expunged and so distorting the concluding part from the body of the speech.

That unexpunged portion is the celebrated Gowonian faux pas in which he in one breathe declared that "Everything considered, the basis of Nigeria's Unity was no more", yet going ahead in the next breathe to proclaim that "To keep Nigeria One is a task that must be done".

It was in the heat of the ARABA (Northern Secession) move that the British whispered into the ears of the fledgeling Gowon Government, the huge quantities oil that Eastern Nigeria would have, if the North left, and so would become the poor neighbour of the South, particularly Eastern Region.

In a series of dubious underhanded exchanges that followed rapidly, the British practically took over the handling of the crises all the way to when it became War in July 1967, from the poor School Certificate-holder soldier, Yakubu Gowon (Gowon went for tertiary education only after he was overthrown in 1975 by his July 1966 comrade-in-crim

e, Murtala Mohammed).

In that dark period, Gowon signed off the entire oil/gas reserves of Eastern Nigeria to the British for 50 years, more or less, contracting the War to Britain.

The British which held those concessions via Shell, had to parcel out substantial blocs of their holdings to the other World Powers and Permanent Members of the UN Security Council.

Thus the entry of Gulf Oil and Mobil (US) Elf (France), Agip (Italy). Soviet Union had oil at home and so didnt need oil blocs. What Russia (USSR) got was an open order to supply the hardware for the War, including MIG Jet Fighters, Ilushyn Battle Tanks, AK 47 Riffles, all at double of prevailing market prices.

This oil blocs bribe was the basis of the cooperation of the then World Powers with Britain and its stooge, Northern Nigeria, to kill 3.5 million Easterners in a simple Self-determination disputate, substantially resolved in Aburi, January 1967.

Back to Willinks Commission.

Could it be because of the Special love the the British had for the Niger Delta that the Commission Recommended the preferential accelerated development of the Area. Dead no. So much had been taken.

The people would soon find out. The Development was an upfront bribe and containment Strategy to help calm would-be frayed nerves.

Unfortunately, the North-led Government that took over in 1960 from the British, abandoned that proactive scheme (partly because the whole truth as to the quantities of crude and money involved was not disclosed to them by the British departing arrangers).

Some of the findings of the LNC on reasons Isaac Boro and his Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force, (yes NDPVF did not begin with Asari) declared the Defunct Niger Delta Republic, had to do with this "detail" of British concealments, some of which are still in force.

Those who are still in doubt should find out whether Shell was not Headquartered in Owerri for 42 solid years up till 1960 in the place still called Shell Camp to date (now broken into several large premises' including the Government House, Rockview Hotel, Alvan Ikoku College of Education, the Federal Medical Center, the Mobile Police Camp and a number of other Governmental institutions).

It was Premier Michael Okpara who bought the large premises off Shell in 1961 on behalf of the the then Eastern Region, after Shell moved to Port Harcourt in the dawn of this grand pretence at a distinct Niger Delta that had nothing to do with Igbo, which has now been confirmed by Junaid Mohammed when he charged at Jonathan with the rebuke that the Niger Delta was a creation of the North to manage its interests in Eastern Nigeria!.

Those who wish to interrogate this claim of 50-years-oil-sale-before-Oloibiri should get on SPDC website so they can see for themselves that it was in 1936 that a certain Company called Shell D'Arcy (Shell's predecessor) came under Crown Regulation, to pay more to the Crown probably because of the impending Second World War.

Prior to that time, Shell D'Arcy had the same kind of Charter as the Royal Niger Company (later UAC, UNILEVER).

Those Charters were issued about same period at the turn of the 19th Century, before your Nigeria was created in 1914.

Do the arithmetic. Nigeria was purely a business venture of the British and everything that became our "Constitution" took their roots from that Main Object to date".

-- Olufemi Olu-Kayode