Nigeria And Ndi-Igbo Fifty Years After The Civil War

Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu and Yakubu Gowon meet in Aburi, Ghana for a peace conference on the Pogrom and Biafran War presided by Joseph Ankrah.

BY GOZIE IROGBOLI

It is difficult to believe that it is over fifty years since the end of Nigeria Civil War, what with the scars and the wounds that seem to fester and become more malignant and the ensuing cold war that has refused to abate. This is because at the end of the war in 1970, the Nigerian government rather than follow the part of genuine reconciliation had adopted crude punitive retribution and recrimination measures against the war-weary Ndi-Igbo thereby weakening the unity of the country in the process. In a very subtle and cruel manner the Igbo man has been attacked, ridiculed and demonized so much so that it is stigmatizing and burdensome to be called an Igbo man in Nigeria.

Although the war ended on a no-victor-no-vanquished note and a promise of reconstruction, rehabilitation and reconciliation as pronounced by the Gowon-led Federal Government, yet the real war continued in a more insidious and sinister manner. Apart from the initial punitive measures immediately after the war there has been series of obnoxious measures to stymie development in the South East inhabited by mostly ndi-Igbo. There is no visible Federal Government presence in Igbo heartland. Every successive government follows the same repressive pattern except for the brief periods when IBB and GEJ were in power. That is the main reason why the two pan-Nigerian leaders are hated by those who feel Nigeria belongs to them and that Igbo deserve no fair deal in the Nigeria project. A good government is the one that is revanchist and swingeing in its policies against ndi-Igbo. Those who persecute ndi-Igbo are profiled as heroes and achievers.

Thus, ndi-Igbo have continued to experience insufferable marginalization. Every geopolitical zone in the country has at least six states, only South East, the Igbo strong hold has five. The South East has the fewest number of local government areas and is least represented in the National Assembly and in the government. Over 70% of travelers and over 70% of importers in the country are Igbo yet the seaports in the East and the geographically contiguous South-South region are made not to function. There is no international airport in the East. The only one built by GEJ has been tactically closed down for almost one year now. They are made very vulnerable by their ubiquity in every city and every nook and cranny of the country; a clandestine design by those in power since the end of the war.

Apart from the government sphere, the war also continued in the most unusual place—in the press—that is supposed to be the bastion of truth. The Nigerian Press in particular has been most unfair to ndi-Igbo in its reportage, analysis and interpretation of events and in gate-keeping functions. Igbo are not in power yet they are blamed for all the woes of the nation. Hard work is mischievously misinterpreted to mean love for money. It is fashionable to attack the Igbo man and many revel in doing it. When you attack an Igbo man, it is normal, a fact, and the bitter truth but when he makes a riposte, it becomes hate speech. Some think Igbo has no right to complain about their pitiable situation and that they should be grateful to Nigerians. The press war is meant to brutalise the Igbo psyche; a little wonder some renegade Igbo men think that denigrating ndi-Igbo is a sure way to become relevant and be seen as a nationalist or a detribalized person and even the Igbo elite and the intelligentsia has been brow beaten into submission. They live like dependant characters out to mollify the feelings of others.

Ndi-Igbo have continued to live like endangered species in Nigeria. They bear the brunt of every religious and politically instigated disturbance in the country. It is disheartening that in the post civil war Nigeria ndi-Igbo have continued to lose thousands of its own through organized and systemic riots, sometimes for inane reasons like the February, 2006 attack over a cartoon about Mohammed in a Danish newspaper and the November, 2002 Kaduna riot over Miss World Beauty pageant in Abuja. And yet no one is arrested or tried for any of these.

At the risk of being termed an alarmist, I must state that the hatred for the Igbo man is ineffably worrisome, ingrained, baseless and asphyxiating. Some even among the Igbo believe it does not exist but it is a palpable reality. Nigerians are united in their hatred for the Igbo man as the vintage Achebe piquantly puts it in his book: There was a country. The hatred for the Igbo man is sustained by the press war and ignorant public that believe in stereotypes. The attack on ndi-Igbo is fueled by those who live in perpetual fear of the Igbo nation, the supplanters who feel the only way they can dominate and continue to parasite on the others is when the Igbo nation is subjugated or out of the way. Thus, fifty years after the end of the fratricidal war there is no respite for the Igbo man as he is oppressed and harangued from all fronts—the government, the press, the alimajiri, and the area boys among others.
The exact cause of the war has been misinterpreted and manipulated by the obscurantist and suppressionists to justify the pogrom, genocide and crime against humanity committed and to justify the continued obnoxious policies against ndi-Igbo in Nigeria. The popular opinion is that ndi-Igbo planned coup against Nigeria and took up arms against Nigeria. But the truth suppressed is that Ndi-Igbo did not fight Nigeria. They acted in self defence.

The coup of January 1966 was the misdemeanor of a few ideologically misguided young military officers who were goaded by false notion of patriotism. They were influenced by the ideology of the Eastern Bloc that was the rave of the 60s and incited by the Nigerian Press that were in sympathy with the Action Group (AG) and its leaders jailed for plotting to violently overthrow Tafawa Belewa government. They putschists confessed that their intention was to release Awolowo the leader of AG, whom they felt was wrongfully accused and jailed for treasonable felony in 1963 and whom they believed had ideological inclination towards the left, from prison and install him as head of state. It was a sympathy coup. This is the part of the coup narrative that has been willfully suppressed.

Although the bulk of the officers that planned the coup were of Igbo extraction, yet officers from other ethnic groups were also involved. The leader of the coup was Major Chukwuma Nzeogwu. He was born and bred in Kaduna. His middle name was Kaduna. He was more Hausa than Igbo. He came from Okpanam, a place he rarely visited when he was alive, in present day Delta State. How could it have been Igbo coup when the planners did not have the approval of ndi-Igbo and did not have Igbo agenda before embarking on their felo-de-se mission?

The obscurantist would not tell us that those who frustrated the-said Igbo coup were Igbo officers. General Ironsi quelled the mutiny in Lagos while Lt. Col. Ojukwu who was the garrison commander in Kano stopped the revolt in the North. Lt. Col. Arthur Unegbe an Igbo officer who was the Quartermaster-General of the Army then was killed by the mutineers for refusing to hand in the key to the armoury. Zik of Africa was out of the country on medical treatment as at the time of the coup and could not have been killed in absentia. The mutineers did not operate in Enugu because apparently they did not want create diplomatic row as Okpara was hosting the Prime Minister of Seychelles Island in Enugu. Akintola was killed because he resisted the coup plotters when they came for him. The same people that killed Akintola spared Remi Fani-Kayode, drove him to Lagos and released him.

The misinterpretation of the January 1966 Coup was what led to the counter coup of July, 1966 and the consequent pogrom and genocide in the North. As I have noted in another piece, the genocide of 1966 was organized with the insidious collaboration of the state; the army and the police, not just spontaneous street riot. The promises of protection from the government did not stop the pogrom. At four different occasions: in May 29th, July 29th, September 29th and October 29th, 1966, over fifty thousand Igbo were butchered and hundreds of thousands of others raped, maimed, robbed, displaced and dehumanized in the most horrendous circumstances and till date no person or group has been queried for that. It is also worthy to note that the organized attack on Igbo predates the January, 1966 coup. In 1945, there was attack on Ndi-Igbo in Jos and in May, 1953 there was attack on Igbo in Kano over a harmless motion for self rule moved by Enahoro on the floor of the Federal House.

Thus, the federal government refusal to protect ndi-Igbo during the genocide of 1966 and 1967 and the flagrant refusal to implement the Aburi Accord was what led the civil war.

Clearly, the effects of trying to marginalize the South East the abode of Ndigbo in Nigeria is unimaginable. The potentials of the Igbo nation known for their industry and hard work have not been properly harnessed due to the adverse socio-political climate in Nigeria. Nigeria has a lot to gain from the Igbo nation. The Igbo man believes that: ebe onye bi ka o na wachi: meaning that one should identify with one’s place of abode. The reason he feels at home any where he finds himself. He contributes actively to the development of any environment he finds himself. He is intelligent, creative, innovative, hardworking and liberal in his views. He is patriotic not clannish; he does not show senseless solidarity. He believes in equity, justice, fairness and meritocracy.

The problem of Nigeria today is poverty, corruption and bad leadership and none of these is the making of the Igbo man. Igbo man has not been at helm of affairs since 1966 to date and yet when their traducers want to pass blame they call the Igbo man. Why would Nigerians spare the buttocks that fart and give knock to the head that has done nothing wrong? Why are Nigerians venting their frustration on the hapless Igbo man when those who brought us to this sorry state of affairs are prancing around? Since the end of the war, they have not been in government meaning they are not the cause of the problem ravaging the land. In fact, among the few people that have acquitted themselves creditably in public office since the current democratic dispensation are people of Igbo extraction: Akunyili, Ezekwesili, Okonjo-Iweala, Soludo, Peter Obi…

Nigerians should know that the injustice that led to the civil war is still staring us menacingly in the face today, indicating that that those who claim to be leaders in this beleaguered nation are suffering from acute learning disorder. Fifty years after the Nigeria fratricidal war, there is no glimmer of hope of unity and national cohesion. There is no sense of nationhood.

When Martin Luther King (Jr.) said in his famous speech that he had a dream, there were discrimination, racism and white supremacists in America but he was optimistic because those who rule America were intelligent statesmen, nationalists and patriots. Nobody can say that in the present day Nigeria except hypocrites and those suffering from self-delusion. Those who rule Nigeria are kakistocrats and anarchists, people with unbridled bulimic tendencies. I am not a pessimist, in fact those who know me from close quarters know that I am an incurable optimist and a realist, but in Nigeria case it will take more than a millennium to attain nationhood except there is an upheaval. The leaders in Nigeria are people that would instead of empowering their people prefer to leave them perpetually blind as alimajiri and area boys so that they could continue to use and exploit them for their selfish political gains. Nigeria system is wicked, oppressive and superannuated and it is sustained by the violence and barbarism from a section, hypocrisy and arrogance from another, foolishness and ignorance of others and apathy of the greater majority. Nigeria will benefit more from integration yet the drones that control the state affairs want the status quo sustained for parochial reasons. Nigeria should restructure along the recommendations of the Aburi Accord or split peacefully. Other nations have done so in the past. Our so-called unity is not cast on stone. It is indeed negotiable!

SOURCE: OPINION NIGERIA

Imo Guber Verdict, Blame The System

BY LUKE ONYEKAKEYAH

The verdict by the Supreme Court on January 13, 2020, which nullified the election of Governor Emeka Ihedioha of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and declared Senator Hope Uzodinma of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), as winner of the March 9, 2019 governorship election has, expectedly, attracted much vituperations from different quarters.

By the INEC results in the 2019 guber election, Ihedioha polled 273,404 ahead of his closest rival and candidate of the Action Alliance, Uche Nwosu, who the electoral body said scored 190,364 votes. The candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Ifeanyi Ararume, came third with 114,676 while Senator Hope Uzodinma of the APC, polled 96,458. A total of 70 candidates representing various political parties took part in the election. People are asking how the Supreme Court declared Uzodinma who was 4th as winner of the election in place of the Ihedioha who was first.

There is shock and anger in many quarters. The overturning of the election was least expected. Legal pundits I spoke with expressed dismay saying they could not understand why the apex court reversed the decision of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) over the discounted votes from the contentious 388 polling units, as well as the decision of the Election tribunal and Court of Appeal. They argued that the Supreme Court hardly overturns the decision of the two subordinate courts except there is manifest injustice to the contrary.

Blames are being thrown to the right, left and centre. Protests have been staged in Owerri, Abia and Abuja against the Supreme Court decision. The Supreme Court that gave the verdict has been put on the front burner for blame. The PDP has asked the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Tanko Muhammad to resign, saying that the court under his watch is heavily compromised.

Some are blaming INEC for not countenancing the rejected votes from the controversial 388 polling units. INEC, reports say, rejected the votes because they were falsified. Others are blaming the ruling APC for being out to capture Imo State at all cost. There are still others who blame the legal team of Ihedioha for failing to file a counter motion to nullify the 388 polling units that are the bone of contention.

The role played by Rev. Fr. Ejike Mbaka of the Adoration Ministry, Enugu is not left out. Mbaka is blamed for making a contentious prophesy many thought was part of the plot to sack Ihedioha. Where do we stop in this blame game after the milk has been spilt? I don’t blame any of the above sub-entities for whatever they did that might have led to the verdict.

My blame goes, unequivocally, to the corrupt Nigerian system. Once the system is corrupt, all the sub-entities of it are affected. It is the corrupt system that gives leeway to individuals and entities to do whatever they like, whether good or bad, knowing that “nothing will happen” as is often expressed.

The judiciary of which the Supreme Court is part cannot afford not to be clean in a corrupt system. The pervasive systemic corruption affects every fabric of our society, indeed, every thread. That is the reality we face.

A Chinese adage says an honest mind needs honest time to survive. It is hard to be a lone honest man in the midst of corrupt people. Once the system is tainted, it permeates deep in such that there is little or nothing any individual or entity could do.

If, for whatever reason, you choose not to be corrupt, you are seen as a fool (mugu, mumu). The system, more or less, forces everybody, entities, to conform to the prevalent culture. Consequently, there is no part of the Nigerian system that is not tainted.

In an attempt to raise the bar, INEC, along the line, decided to engage university Vice Chancellors as returning officers to make a difference. It was as if to say that these men and women are saints from heaven. But the 2011 elections disproved the general perception after allegations of compromise by some of the Vice Chancellors rent the air. The integrity of the academics was put to question.

I have mentioned representatives of the academic system in part because of the involvement of some Vice Chancellors as returning officers. Whatever the Vice Chancellors did still boils down to the corrupt system. INEC as an institution manages the electoral subsystem. Nigeria’s flawed electoral system is to blame for whatever happens at the polls.

For instance, blame an electoral system that permits politicians to move from one political party to the other without sanction. Senator Hope Uzodimma, the new Governor of Imo State was a staunch member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and was indeed a member of the board of trustees of the party until he decamped to the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the wake of the 2019 general elections to contest for governorship under the party. His sudden switch over to the APC pitched him against Governor Rochas Okorocha, who wanted his son in-law, Uche Nwosu, to be the APC flag bearer in the election. Uzodinma snatched that position from Uche Nwosu and the rest is now history.

Blame the corrupt electoral system that cannot freely elect leaders at the poll except by the courts. If statistics were taken of governors, senators and lawmakers at the federal and state Houses of Assemblies, who are there based purely on electoral poll win, it would be discovered that more than 80 per cent of our leaders are there by judicial virdict. The courts have replaced the voice of the people. Even President Muhammadu Buhari is occupying the seat by Supreme Court judgment.

The courts would have no business in election matters if the system were good. Once the courts are involved, there is no guarantee, anymore, that the peoples’ will would be respected. The few judges use their power to decide the outcome the way they want. The will of millions of voters is thwarted. The wicked system deliberately created the gaps in the electoral system so that poll outcome could be manipulated to suite the whims and caprices of politicians.

Blame the corrupt electoral system that knows what to do to make things work but refused to do it. This system has refused to institute proper enumeration and voting system. Nobody knows how many eligible voters are there. An attempt to give Nigerians national ID cards that could serve as voters’ card has been frustrated by the system. An attempt to institute electronic voting that would completely remove thuggery, ballot box snatching, fictitious vote counting and other forms of electoral malpractices was overturned by President Buhari who refused to sign into law the 2018 revised electoral bill that could have saved us from these troubles.

Blame a corrupt electoral system that more or less recognises political thugs that perpetrate violence on Election Day, intimidate and harass voters, snatch ballot boxes, thumb-print ballot papers and write fictitious results to favour their paymasters. During the last elections, the offices of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in Kogi State were set ablaze by political thugs. Natasha Akpoti, the party’s governorship candidate was harassed and intimidates by the same thugs.

Blame the system that compromises security personnel – army, police, civil dense, etc, who are engaged on Election Day to maintain law and order. Allegations of army and police being compromised in many states abound. Governor Nysome Wike of Rivers State and Henry Dickson of Bayelsa State accused the army of being compromised in the election in their states.

Blame a system that accommodates greedy and selfish politicians who seek power by all means. Blame a system that makes elections a do or die affair instead of a civil contest to elect responsible leaders to govern the people.

Blame the wicked system that “captures” votes instead of wining them. This corrupt system has no place for the people. The elections merely throw up greedy political oppressors who lord it over the helpless masses. Unfortunately, the corrupt wicked system cannot be changed by those fueling and benefitting from it. They have no love for the father land. They are not patriots but political hit men and women.

President Buhari should, without further delay, sign the 2018 revised electoral bill into law to save the country’s democracy.

SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN

Catholic Church Annuls 30 Marriages Over Fake Birth Certificates, Deceits

Catholic Diocese of Orlu Pastoral Center, Imo State. Image: Image: Orlu Diocese

BY DAMIAN DURUIHEOMA

30 marriages allegedly contracted with fake certificates have been annulled in Imo.

The Catholic Diocese of Orlu in Imo State, which raised the alarm, lamented the rampant cases of people going into marriages with fake birth certificates.

The church said the certificates were responsible for the annulment.

Addressing the faithful during a Holy Mass at Our Lady of Lourdes Parish, Owerri-Ebiri in Orlu council area of the state, the Judicial Vicar of Orlu Catholic Diocese, Rev. Fr. Donsteve Nnagha, lamented most of the annulled marriages were on the grounds of deceits by spouses.

Fr. Nnagha, according to a Catholic newspaper, The Leader, added that deceits by spouse, which the other partner deems non-acceptable soon after wedding, had been a major cause of broken marriages in recent times.

The cleric listed other reasons behind annulment of marriages in recent times to include forgery in the birth certificate and other sensitive documents.

According to the priest, the acts, which had caused serious troubles in the family, were identified mostly with women.

“In this situation, the man has the legitimate right to file for annulment and this would a long way in bringing peace to both parties”, the Vicar is quoted as saying.

He added that birth certificate is equal to West Africa Examinations Council (WAEC) certificate, which cannot be altered, irrespective of the situation.

Nnagha also spoke on the importance of baptism, which he said Christ himself participated in, adding that is every baptism made in the Catholic Church, was always recorded and documented for future references.

He warned those involved in the acts of rewriting their age with a view of retaining their public offices to desist and retire from the civil service when they are due, so the younger could get jobs.

The priest described such acts as bad omen and injustice in the law of the church and society.

SOURCE: THE NATION

Before The War: A Personal Story

Okey Ikechukwu. Image: Twitter

BY OKEY IKECHUKWU

The expression “before the war” was a central marker for some of us in the 70s. It depicted the transition between eras. “That was before the war” could then be heard with a wry smile and mocking reference to people who dared talk about what they possessed in the past, but who became near-paupers after the war. Father lost many things, including his status as the overall representative of the printers and publishers of Practical Psychology in the country. He was required to contact some people, I think in Ibadan, if he wished to have anything to do with the publication “after the war.” As anyone who can still get archival copies of that renowned international publication today will admit, it still puts the academic drivel that passes for psychology in most institutions today to shame. But we are digressing.

Father was also not able to immediately reclaim his before-the-war status with many of his foreign partners. Though a printer of repute who serviced the entire old Bende and much of the old Owerri Province and much of the South-east before the war, most of his big printing machines went with the war. It took him years to buy new ones all over again, even though he knew where his machines were; and who had confiscated and was using them. Let us backtrack to 1967 and 1968.

There was a big reception for some very important people at our home in Umuahia. Most of the people came from out of town and their vehicles took over much of the street. Then, midway through the engagement, mother called father aside and into one of the rooms, where I was fiddling with the paper boat I was trying to make. Although they took no special notice of me, I made to step out in deference; as was proper. But mother, very uncharacteristically, gave me a look that meant I should continue what I was doing. Strange, but she did. And I remain deeply grateful for it to this day, because it took years for me to realize the value of this first hand encounter with a woman’s little acknowledged, but flawless, intuitive perception.

Standing there with father, she told him that she had an uneasy feeling about the reception and about some of these people being entertained. The man of the house became a bit pensive. Then he asked whether there was anything in particular she could pinpoint as grounds for her uneasiness. She answered in the negative, saying that she wished she could be more concrete. Then father asked whether any of the people present could be the possible cause of her discomfort. Again she spoke in general terms, adding that she feared that what had brought them together, and for which there was so much cheerful exchanges at the moment, may not bring father much joy in the end. “You are a good man,” she said, “but (in my own words) there is one particular man in the parlour from whom I get the impression that whatever you do with him will not end well for you.” Then she asked father whether he knew the man in question well enough. Father explained that the man was the leader of the group from Port Harcourt. He added that he honestly had not seen reason to doubt him.

It was now mother’s turn to look pensive. After what seemed to me a very long pause, she asked whether what they were planning to do together had been concluded. Father answered in the affirmative. Her brows deepened further. She said she felt that it would have been better if it had not been started at all, as the man was “not a good person.” Looking really sad, mother said (again) that the man was “a bad person.” Father, apparently knowing the woman he married, was in no hurry to end the conversation at all. He said that it would have been best to call off the deal, if he had not already signed all the papers. He explained the awkwardness of pulling back on everything they agreed upon almost within the hour. Mother agreed with him, but they both looked very unhappy and disturbed, as father said he wished he had not gotten carried away by the war effort. They both hoped he had not taken a step that might lead to something unpleasant in future.

The guests in question were part of a team that came to relocate some of the most sophisticated of father’s printing machines to Port Harcourt. The war-born Eastern Echo newspaper he was part of faced imminent danger of death, as the vulnerability of Umuahia grew by the day due to the shrinking living space in the South East occasioned by the loss of territory to federal forces. The wisdom of relocating the massive machines, as well as the concert of forces and persons involved in the “brilliant idea’ of letting go of machines he personally brought in from Germany apparently before I was born, seemed unimpeachable.

The sad news is that father did not recover the machines after the war. That was how the sweat of his youth fell under “abandoned property.” The very man mother complained about, whose intervention would have ended the debate over whether or not father should carry his machines, was the person who insisted that the only way father’s “claim” to the machines could be taken seriously was if he produced the original receipts with which he bought them. Interestingly, I was also around when father returned from that trip and I recall how calm he looked, as he narrated everything to mother and announced that he would not make any further contact with the people. He kept his word.

It was shortly after the machine business narrated above that father relocated us to a bungalow he procured in Ihiala. Umuahia was now experiencing more regular air raids and distant, but nevertheless disconcerting, booming sounds. We saw the planes and experienced the bombings alright, but the dreadful booming sounds were a mystery of unimaginable proportions to me in particular. But the immediate precipitating factor for our relocation from Umuahia was an incident in Amuzukwu, a suburb of Umuahia.

The regular airplane bombing of Umuahia town created a peculiar migration pattern, whereby town dwellers moved into the forest-covered surrounding villages every morning to escape the daylight air raids; and returned to their homes in the evenings. We participated in this migration, until one morning when the villagers surrounded the home of the head master where we normally took refuge. They wanted him to bring out the “saboteurs” he was habouring. Their reaction arose from the fact that the bombings were now extended to the villages, fuelling the suspicion that some of the “migrants” were conniving with enemy forces and telling them where to bomb. It was pathetic!

For such behaviour to come from people who all knew father, a man who even paid the school fees of some of their children, was something the head master could not understand. Everywhere was charged. Cudgels and odd implements clanged in front of the house. Unperturbed, and against the entreaties of the teacher who wanted to speak to the people, father stepped out. He just stood there until the noise died down. Then, calling some of the people by name, he said that he would take his family and leave, the way he had come. He explained that no one would blame them for now suspecting even their own shadows and that it was better for him to depart and remain their friend, than stay and risk being blamed for any misfortune in the place.

By the time he was done, the teacher was standing beside him, very angry and totally beside himself with indignation at the behavior of the people. But father calmed him down, as he asked us to enter the car. Some of the people then pleaded that we should stay, that it was the work of the devil, etc. But father was not a man of idle words. Less than two weeks after this incident, we were hurriedly relocated to Ihiala, because the bombings were now more frequent. The terrifying booming sounds were also sounding like they were coming from down the streets. The logic of our relocation was simple: it is easier for a man to secure his head while alone, than when he has his wife and children in tow.

Ihiala saw us temporarily in a refugee camp, where most of our relations (from the now-Anambra part of the east) had settled after their various towns and villages were overrun by federal troops. Families “owned” separate corners in different halls of the primary school. They already had little gardens and farms, as they had apparently been there for many months. There was incredible order and structure to everything, complete with adjudication without the involvement of the Biafran government. But people still fought occasionally over all sorts of things. Water was fetched from the stream, so I experienced that for the first time. It was in the process that I had one spectacular fall, spilt the water I had fetched and broke the “massive” bottle of Lucozade (the real thing of those days, with a wine-like cap) with which I fetched the water.

We left the camp just when I was beginning to enjoy it. Father joined us later with only his Mercedes Benz car and without bringing the fridge. My elder sister and I had asked him to bring it when he came to move us from the camp. When we returned to Umuahia after the war, father had to use my elder sister’s semi-adult bicycle for a while. This was a bicycle he would ordinarily not have looked upon at all “before the war.” As things stand today, 50 years after the civil war, we still nostalgically remember South-east before the War. Very sad indeed!

NEWSROOM: WIC Expresses Concern Over Nigeria’s Political Development

BY GABRIEL IDIEGE

The World Igbo Congress (WIC) has said it is watching with grave concern the political development in Nigeria, following the Supreme Court “judicial coup” that overturned the electoral mandate given to Rt Hon Emeka Ihedioha of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and handed victory to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), candidate, Hope Uzodinma, who came a distant fourth position.

In a statement by its Public Relations Officer, Hon. Basil Onwukwe, WIC said: “We call on all stakeholders in Igboland to remain vigilant with the utmost decorum in the face of these developments. We thank Ihedioha for taking a bold step, in his call for total submission to peace and unity of Imolites.

“The protection of life and property of our people is of great importance. We advise Hope Uzodima to ensure that peace and tranquility is maintained in our homeland.”

It maintained that any institution or individual that is being used by external incursions, aimed at destabilising the culture and traditions of the people will not be tolerated by WIC.

----------------THE GUARDIAN

CHRIS NGIGE INTERVIEW: I’ve Been Approached To Return As Anambra gov

Chris Ngige

BY TONY OKAFOR

The Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, tells TONY OKAFOR that the Igbo should produce the president of the country in 2023 based on principle of justice and equity. He also says he has been approached to return to the Government House in Anambra State as the governor

What stage is the 2nd Niger Bridge now?
Work is ongoing on the 2nd Niger Bridge. The contractor gave an undertaking to deliver the project before 2022 which is the appointed date, I believe him because they’re working day and night. Apart from the little hiccups occasioned by demands for compensation, they’re on schedule. The job is about 45 per cent complete and the fund for the construction is available. That is the good news for the people of the South-East. The cost of the bridge from the exit route of Delta and the South-East; South-South is about N336bn, and the money is available unlike the Obasanjo/Jonathan arrangement when they were trying to look for Private Public Partnership.

But now we’re building the bridge as one of the flagship projects of the Federal Government which are- Lagos/Ibadan, East-West Road, 2nd Niger Bridge, Abuja-Kaduna-Kano, and Mambilla. Work has started on all these projects because money is guaranteed. The 2nd Niger Bridge which concerns me and the people of the South-South, South-West, and North-Central is on course. It’s a very strategic bridge that links the North, South-East, South-South and the South-West. It’s a very cheery news because, during the time of The People Democratic Party, I opposed it on the floor of the Senate and I had a very serious altercation with the then Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, and the Ministry of Finance and then Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator Anyim Pius. I blasted them that they’ve not treated us well.

Is the 2nd Niger bridge is going to be toll-free?

It is toll-free for now. When we are going to toll, we’ll toll all the federal roads and bridges altogether. So, it’s not a question of tolling the bridge to recoup our money. No, we’re going to recoup all; because I’m one of those who believe that federal roads in Nigeria should be tolled.

A lot of roads they call federal roads, I don’t believe they are federal roads. The federal roads are the ones we call trunk A roads, that is the roads that lead to state capitals. The state government should face other roads in their domain and build them like we did when I was the governor in Anambra.

Why I’m going into all these details is because the people of the South-East always feel they’re being marginalised. When you ask them, they said they are not being appointed as SGF, Ngige is not made Minister of Works, Housing or Power, Health. But under the PDP administration, South-East people had ministers of power, aviation. They didn’t get all the appointments in the world, even the ones they gave them from that portfolios were abused. We also had the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of Economy, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iwealla, representing Abia.

I’m appealing to South easterners, my brothers that criticisms that are not constructive will not lead us to anywhere. Constructive criticisms are welcome by this government, this administration is not averse to such. When you criticize us, give us an alternative, your view, the solution to what you are suggesting and it will be done. It has been done many times by this government. The point I’m making is that the South-East is getting its fair deal, forget about appointments, people like big appointment, for ego sake – my brother is Chief of Defence Staff, what are you defending? For me, our people should play our politics well. This is the time for us to reengineer and join other Nigeria in believing that this country is ours and become more patriotic about it, and giving honour and accolades to who it is due and appreciate government or whoever that have done justice to you. We’ve got our fair share in the areas of infrastructure. I don’t want to delve into the area of flood and erosion control where the president ensured that the South-East gets more than other zones because it is believed and that it’s true that our soil is prone to gully erosion. So, the President recognises that and gives us a priority. You look at our roads they’re being done. The journey of five hours will now take you one and a half hours. Dangerous areas like Umunya and others have been done. These are projects undertaken in four years. But the PDP government that stayed 16 years didn’t do them.

What is going on about the Federal Government’s school feeding programme?

The NSIP is undergoing some rejigging. A new ministry has been created, the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management. A lot of people are in that programme and they’re civil servants drawn to pilot the affairs. So let’s give them up to the first quarter of 2020, the programme will be repackaged not to disrupt the ongoing one. But definitely, it’s being repackaged because some areas need to be retouched. The same goes for the N-Power programme under the same NSIP. They’re all being rejigged. I do not doubt that we’ll all benefit more at the end of the day. No system is very perfect. We’ll support the idea when it comes to the FEC.

There are claims in some quarters that you are coming back to Anambra State as governor and from there you will vie for the presidency in 2023. How true is that?

Who’s telling you that story? It’s not correct. I’ve not discussed the presidency with anybody. The president just assumed office for his 2nd term in May 2019. He should be allowed to do some work. I know the government I’m serving, that anyone talking about the presidency should talk about it rightfully. By May this year, it will be one year. So I’ve not discussed the presidency with anybody. I’m facing my work as minister. But I do know that if the South-East is interested in being the president of Nigeria, they should identify with the ruling party, which is APC which Mr President is the leader, the flag bearer and captain.

For him, he’s facing his work. For those who want to politick, it is too early. But if you want to, go ahead, God bless you, but you’re on your own. I keep telling the Igbo that they have to join the train that is moving on smoothly. For them to make an appreciable mark, that they should be ready to be counted; they must start with Anambra, because it’s the next election. Anambra State is the only state that will conduct an election in the South-East before the next general election. Igbo must believe in one Nigeria and one sure way of doing that is by voting massively for the APC in 2021 in the Anambra election knowing full well that the ruling party in the state, APGA, has performed abysmally and therefore no grounds to ask the people to give them another mandate. The people gave them mandate in 2012 for Peter Obi to do a second term and after that, he brought a successor, Willie Obiano. But the people of the state are now looking at those periods and comparing it with 33 months I held sway as governor. These people’s 12 years plus have not even got to the level of development I had in two years and nine months under my leadership as governor of Anambra State.

About coming back as governor, you’re right because people have been approaching me to have a look at contesting. They are saying if you are not interested in coming to rejig the place, give us somebody whom you think you have mentored or you can vouch for or guarantee that you can play this game and administer the state with the template you left. Give us that template that guarantees prompt payment of salaries. They said I was nonpartisan when I was here. I was a neutral religious person because I believe religion is in the mind depending on how you practise yours. I have work I’m doing for now. This is not the right time to talk about politics. I have a serious assignment given to me by Mr President who genuinely loves Nigerians and wants us to live some indelible footprints.

But is the search going on?
Yes, but I will search for a good person. They have said to me, if you don’t consider us as making sense to come and run, please don’t forsake us. Search and give us a credible person who will be industrious and adopt the same template you adopted. I, in turn, I’m telling them that they need to come into APC before making all the demands. You don’t stay outside the pitch to score goals. It’s not possible, it’s important they come in. But saying I want to secede, I’m a separatist, we want IPOB, if you continue with that, other Nigerians will be afraid of you because they will believe if they give you that power, you will use it to secede. Igbo must show to other Nigerians that they are our brothers. Once they do that, they will be surprised that others will say let us go to the South-East and pick a president of Igbo extraction. If not for anything else, I know of some northerners and westerners who say that whenever South-East is given the slot, they will lay permanently the ghost of the Nigeria civil war; it would have been buried for life. All the acrimony, bitterness, suspicion would have been buried once and for all and I believe that.

You mean the Igbo should drop the MASSOB and IPOB agitations?
I didn’t say so; They should lecture them like I was doing when I was the governor. I was lecturing them, giving them food, jobs for those who were not employed and they were happy and selling their currencies which I can’t stop them from doing. Even their flag is a memento, something they use to remember the past. This is my take on that. I’ll be criticized, but I don’t care as far as I’m saying the right thing we have to agree with Nigeria on the other side.

What is your take on zoning?

My take on zoning is very simple. If you go to the Nigeria Constitution, you will not see it. But if you go to the political parties, especially the big ones, you will see it. Sometimes, they call it power rotation along with the major ethnic groups, along the senatorial zones, they are all in the constitutions of some parties. There are even those who don’t have it in their constitutions but have unwritten agreements. When we started in the PDP, we didn’t put it in our constitution. But we have it unwritten between the North and the South. It was an agreement reached the caucus meeting and it reflected in the minutes. That was how President Olusegun Obasanjo and Alex Ekwueme came out. Abubakar Rimi that came out from the north was asked to drop his ambition by the party, and he did. But later the constitution talked about rotation. I was one of those who amended the PDP Constitution. Rotation is even a part of the constitution of the Federal Republic; but more explicitly said that in appointments and other things you must reflect the diverse nature of the country in terms of appointment or election, that’s indirectly insisting on balancing. If you come down to Anambra, we have three senatorial zones.

SOURCE: PUNCH

INTERVIEW: Onyinye Ibelegbu: Her Battle To Save Mother Tongue

Onyinye Ibelegbu

BY JOSEPHINE AGBONKHESE

Every fortnight, at least one indigenous language is estimated to vanish from the face of the earth. With even major languages in Nigeria slowly becoming scarce on the lips of natives, one could easily predict their fate. As Dare Babarinsa once wrote, when a language dies, the people literally perish. However, the CEO of NwaadaIgbo Language School, Onyinye Ibelegbu, is on a mission to save indigenous languages from eventual death, using the teaching of her mother tongue, Igbo language, as a model.

Ibelegbu holds a BSc in Food Science & Technology from Michael Opara University of Agriculture, Abia State, and an MBA from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife. 

What inspired this? 

I would say I have always been teaching. Even as an undergraduate in the university, my room off campus was a Mecca of some sorts to classmates who needed someone to explain certain topics to them. 

As an NYSC member serving in a school of nursing as nutrition lecturer, I also taught French and English languages outside the school because I had studied at a French School. Over the years, I’ve worked with Action Against Hunger, an international organisation in Yobe State, as a Nutrition Officer; the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC; International Medical Corps in Sokoto and ZINOX Technology Limited. 

What I was doing in the North was more of capacity building, so my first role at ZINOX was as a HR Executive in-charge of training. While working in the North, I also taught English Language to individuals. 

At what point did you decide it was pertinent to begin teaching your indigenous language? 

Teaching has always been my passion. At the time I left ZINOX, I had signed up on international teaching platforms. I also signed up on Tuterial as an Igbo Language teacher. I notice, however, that the demand for Igbo Language teaching was very high. 

Which means it was a niche because a lot of the clients I met on that platform told me they had been searching for an Igbo Language teacher for many years. This was in spite of the fact that many of them grew up in Lagos. So, I started wondering that if indigenes in Nigeria could not speak the Igbo Language, how would it be for those in the Diaspora, who had no exposure to the language at all? I decided to expand my reach via social media and soon began to attract clients from the Diaspora as well. 

How has it been in terms of the acceptance and progress? 

I started in April 2018 but my greatest growth was in 2019. More people signed up for my services that year. I now also run an Igbo Language Club in select private schools in Lagos. Also, I now have teachers in my employ who go to carry out the teachings where physical services are required. I have a bespoke curriculum and we carry out our services both offline and online, depending on age and preference. 

What opinion have you formed so far on the attitude of Nigerians towards their local languages? 

I remember that we got punished as students for speaking our mother tongue which was tagged ‘vernacular’ at school. That affected the growth of our indigenous languages greatly. I however think it starts from the home. Yes, our national language is English, but that doesn’t mean we won’t grow our indigenous languages. The Hausa Language is faring better. The average Hausa person will ask you why you cannot speak Hausa and will tell you that you’re supposed to speak her language since you are on her land. I learned the language while working there because they are a people who either do not care to speak English or who don’t know how to. And no matter how wealthy a Hausa man is, Hausa Language is always the language of communication in his home. 

Yoruba is facing almost the same problem but they are in few ways better than Igbo. You know, when you go online, you find Yoruba literature, fun clubs, Diaspora associations, etc. I was talking to someone in a university in Italy and he told me they have an ongoing vibrant Yoruba programme. I don’t know if it was the civil war that affected the Igbo language or the fact that the Igbos are business-minded and get easily acculturated the moment they begin to live in another land. In a few years, their children grow up and cannot speak the Igbo language because they probably communicate in English at home. So, it is not uncommon to see an Igbo person speak Hausa fluently but cannot speak Ibo. 

The general attitude to our indigenous languages is not impressive. I even believe Nigerians in the Diaspora are doing way better. I have groups that I work with outside the country, and from time to time, they organise Igbo classes as well as device various ways of growing cultural awareness. But for us in Nigeria, we do little or nothing of such. 

As a nation, we are currently faced with a plethora of challenges, majority of which stemmed from ethnic diversity. Do you think it is wise to strengthen that diversity further by promoting the learning of our individual mother tongues? 

Language is identity; it’s culture. There is no better time than now to promote our languages. The truth is, you must understand who you are before you can relate with others better. Diversity is the beauty of our nation and we should not try to eliminate that even as we strive for unity. 

What are the challenges faced running NwaadaIgbo Language School? 

The challenge is simply the fact that many who need this service cannot afford it. Another major challenge I have currently is the perception around Igbo language. For some people, it is such a thing of pride to say “I can’t speak Igbo”.

The Chinese take pride in communicating in their local languages; how can we take a cue from them and still maintain our national language? 

I seriously think we should do more for our local languages. I read in the news that the Imo State government has made the use of Igbo language compulsory in certain ways in school. The Lagos State Government too has made Yoruba compulsory. What parents too can do is encourage the compulsory use of our local languages as a means of communication in the home.

What gives you joy about what you do? 

The fact that, among other things, it has unearthed my creativity. I developed my curriculum myself and it has been highly effective. I find myself developing learner-centred curriculums that would suit individuals based on their different needs. Doing this successfully gives me satisfaction. The progress I see in learners, who, initially, could only say ‘bia’ in Igbo language, makes me really satisfied. 

Future plans? 

Literature written in our indigenous languages are phasing out. Many of them existed when I was growing up and we used them. I think they need to be converted into electronic forms so people can access them. I have clients in the Diaspora who are constantly in search of good books written in the Igbo language. I hope to make this service available to people at their finger tips.

SOURCE: VANGUARD

IMO STATE: The Charade Of A Judgment In Supreme Court Decision

BY AHANONU KINGSLEY

The feeling rife everywhere in Imo State currently is of rue; the dolour is palpable on almost everyone, as it concerns what many have described the biggest daylight fraud of the moment. That fraud and the basis of the feeling is the recent verdict of the Supreme Court ousting Emeka Ihedioha as governor.

That verdict by the Supreme Court is one that’s very remarkable, but hugely in a sense not impressive. Its remarkableness hinges on its judicial buffoonery; on its misapplication of justice by upturning the majority decision of the people of Imo State in what’s seen as the most frivolous and most ridiculous judgment so far.

The approval of conjured figures by the unanimous decision of the seven member panel that sat on the Imo governorship appeal was more frightening and so terrifying than the conjured figures themselves. What that unexplained branded figures, couched in no less a bag than the popular Ghana-must-go which notoriety in corrupt theatrics is well known, did was to push up the eventual numbers of votes cast far beyond the credible number of accredited voters.

What this action essentially means is the ultimate fleecing of credibility in the process that produced a democratically elected governor and the infliction of pains to the genuine Imo electorates, whose votes and whose values were rubbished just by the unanalysed consent of the learned justices to a fraudulent electoral concoction. It’s indeed smelling so strongly, the ooze of that manipulated concoction.

Following basic reasoning, of which all judicial processes ought to follow, an electoral process where there’s such discrepancy to the extent that the number of accredited voters is dwarfed by what becomes the total valid votes cast is not only legally untenable but one which should be dismissed as so shameful. It’s ordinary that whatever number of votes said to have been cast should come from those whose names appear on the register and who are accredited. So it becomes a shady area that requires not just clarification (because such cannot be clarified) but outright condemnation. And this is what the current situation calls for.

In the declaration of the 2019 gubernatorial election of Imo State, the returning officer, Prof Atunta, had given a view of what was the voting dynamics in the state, and which of course should guide the analysis here (as the statutory and credible source). It was given that while the number of accredited voters stood at 823,743, the total number of votes cast was 739,485. There are the invalid votes et al. We might not need bother with the other details, since the following analysis would rely on these principal statistics.

In the breakdown, Emeka Ihedioha/PDP was said to have polled 273,404 votes to win the contest, while their closest rival, Uche Nwosu/AA garnered 190,364 votes. It was said that Ifeanyi Araraume/APGA and Hope Uzodinma/APC scored 114,676 and 96,458 votes respectively to come third and fourth. In adding these numbers of votes to those of the remaining 66 candidates and their parties, the total valid votes tallies to 714,355.

A dissatisfied Hope Uzodinma, coming from the complaint of been denied some lawful votes headed to the tribunal and up to the Supreme Court to seek redress. And on January 14, 2020, the apex court (assumably, after studying the submissions before it), granted audience to the alleged excluded 338 polling units from Uzodinma/APC. The court not only consider the votes from those units as valid, it completely awarded them to the appellate and consequently declared him validly elected governor of Imo State.

That judgment struck like a thunderstorm. How come, everyone wondered? They can’t believe this arithmetic jiggery-pokery.

Let’s say we admit that the results of those 338 polling units, hauled into a Ghana-must-go bag were valid votes, should we be made to admit also without disbelief that those votes in their entirety belong to just a single candidate? How admissible could that be, and this is a question whose answer definitely would be as hard to grasp as the explanation of how the coconut couched water.

It’s highly unfortunate that the decisions of the two lower courts as it regards the credibility of the content in the Ghana-must-go claimed to be the votes from 338 polling units were jettisoned by the apex without a more verified reason and on such ludicrous and imbecilic stand that makes mockery not only of the basic grand norm of electoral conscientiousness but of simple statistics. Wasn’t the apex court supposed to review the judicial credibility of the lower courts and correct the errors where necessary? They failed woefully in the review process and instead foisted what can be considered as the most legal folly of the decade. It’s laughable as it’s painful how such could be procured by the highest temple of justice in the land.

Primarily, it is the duty of the court to interpret the constitution and its processes like the electoral process. But this power of the court to review election processes does not in any way include to delegate the function that it should review, to wit counting and allocation of votes. Given that it has the power to invalidate any perceived wrong in the electoral process (be it exclusion or inclusion of votes), the Supreme Court however, erred in taking upon itself the role to determine whose votes was higher even when such was not given credence by the authority responsible for that. INEC had excluded and never those units on the basis that it was contentious. And this obviously is the haze that the court should have cleared.

The court left it jurisdiction and took upon the power to count those votes, without considering its limitations to determine which and what votes were valid. And this would have necessitate the wholesome allocation of votes from the said 338 units to a single party. Indeed it was so, for the court had stated that by putting into consideration votes from these units, the hitherto 3rd runner up overjumped his leading rivals to secure the highest valid votes to be declared winner. But what were the votes? We were only told that, adding excess votes from the 388 units INEC never declared, Hope Uzodinma garnered an astronomic votes that saw him win the poll.

The thing that follows is the implications of this additional vote numbers to the entire votes statistics certified by the electoral umpire. As revealed by INEC, the total number of accredited voters was 823,743. Imperatively, whatever figure that falls above this is not only fictitious but sternly dubious. And this obviously becomes a burden that the Supreme Court judgment must prove, if indeed it must reliably rest as a fair, just and truly cogent verdict.

Without adducing the obvious possibility of amassing a greater amount of the votes in the 388 units through whatever means possible, it would be unimaginable to assume also that the entirety of the votes went to just one party. Hope Uzodinma’s anchor, ab initio, in his fight for perceived electoral justice has been on the reliance of what the 338 units produced. He held them so tightly because they defined what was his stronghold. And it’s obvious what stronghold entails in politics. He banked on this strength, and scooped everything that was to be scooped in the excess 103,887 votes, at least according to the Justice Tanko Mohammed-led panel.

But that decision of the Supreme Court to award the entirety of those votes to Uzodinma and thereby raising his total votes to an astronomic amount that wows even the total number of accredited 823,747 voters okayed by INEC, does it not taint and invalidate the entire process of that 2019 governorship poll and punch its verdict? (For, by that inclusion, pushed further the total accredited voters to 927,000).

One fact however, is drawn from the raging verdict of the seven man panel: that the learned justices never took into account serious dynamics in the election that should have led them making a clear judgment. They were hasty and so performed a poor surgery on the case they adjudicated. At best, they succeeded in upturning the mandate of the greater Imolites, and heavily so without taking recourse to the process through which they exercised that mandate. I think that would have been the most appropriate ground to do that (if indeed it was that necessary). For at the end, democracy was slain and justice robbed as far as the Imo people are concerned.

CHUKWUEMEKA IKE: NO MORE TOADS FOR SUPPER

Chukwuemeka Ike

BY OKECHUKWU UWAEZUOKE

Could something about his poise have elicited so much awe? When Indian-born Professor Kanchana Ugbabe described Vincent Chukwuemeka Ike as a “gentle giant”, she had intended the words to be understood not only metaphorically, but also literally. The University of Jos-based professor did indeed specifically allude to both the author’s impressive literary stature and his imposing physique as well as his calm, cool and collected mien. This was while she was delivering a keynote address at the Authors’ Forum, organised in 2015 by the University Press in Ibadan as one of the nationwide events commemorating the 50 years of the author’s literary odyssey since he wrote Toads for Supper. First, there was a literary fiesta, featuring drama, music and prose presentations at the Princess Alexandra Auditorium of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. Then, Learn Africa held a Jubilee Book Programme in his honour at the Nigerian International Book Fair, held at the University of Lagos.

Ugbabe had also in her address regaled the audience with the impression the Indian poet, novelist and short-story writer Lakshmi Kannan had of Professor Ike when the duo met at the International Writing Programme held in 1987 at the U. S. city of Iowa. Ike, she quoted Kannan as saying, “paraded with dignity, holding his head high unmindful of the petty goings-on in the jungle”, much like a “black panther”.

According to Ugbabe, Kannan had not only talked about Ike as “soft-spoken, his voice low and well-bred, his language bearing an unmistakable stamp of refinement and culture”, but also as “incredibly modest” and with “a natural inclination to respect the person he was speaking to.”

Perhaps, it was this placid disposition that helped Ike survive the emotional upheaval that assailed him when his only son, Osita, died towards the end of 2016. A little more than three years later, the first generation Nigerian novelist would also breathe his last a few months to his 89th birthday. This was on Thursday, January 8 at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital in the Anambra State industrial town Nnewi.

Expectedly, an outpouring of tributes from the literary community trailed his demise. For he was indeed a leading first-generation Nigerian writer, who Sentinel Literary Quarterly said had “produced more novels than many of his contemporaries.”

Yet, the publication of Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart in 1958 was the prodding he needed to become a novelist. It took another seven years for his first novel Toads for Supper to be published in 1965. This was after several rejections by publishers. He had since written other works like Toads Forever, The Naked Gods, The Potter’s Wheel, The Chicken Chasers, Sunset at Dawn, Conspiracy of Silence, The Search, The Bottled Leopard, Our Children Are Coming and Expo ’77. He had, besides, published an instructional book, titled How to Become a Published Writer and founded The Nigerian Book Foundation, in a bid to advance the cause of literature, creative writing and literacy in Nigeria. These latter endeavours attested to his interest in grooming young writers and fostering a book reading culture in the larger society.

Even before the publication of his first novel, Ike once told Sentinel Literary Quarterly of October 2008 that he wrote short stories because none of his contemporaries believed they could write novels. The novels they used to read in those days were written by British authors. Hence he said: “What actually made me feel that the time had come for me to attempt writing a novel was when my friend, Chinua Achebe, published hisThings Fall Apart in 1958. We were friends during our secondary school days, university days and even after graduation. The fact that he could do it encouraged me to start a novel. Things Fall Apart inspired me. And by 1962, I had completed a novel, which I titled, ‘ Toads for Supper.’ But it took some times of rejection before it was eventually published in 1965.”

The novel, Toads for Supper, which was published by Longman, is an engaging novel set in the fictitious University of Southern Nigeria. Laced with humour, it delves into the issues that confront lovers and couples from different ethnic backgrounds in Nigeria. Its plot is woven around the main characters: a first-year history student of the university, Amadi Chukwuka; his campus friend and second-year history student, Chima; a Yoruba-speaking female undergraduate of the same university, Aduke Olowu; a semi-educated Lagos street girl, Sweetie M. Akpore and Nwakaego Ikwuaju, a girl from his village Ezinkwo in the Igbo-speaking south-eastern Nigeria who was betrothed to him from childhood years.

Amadi’s desperate bid to woo Aduke’s love triggers off a series of events that spiral to a tragic conclusion of the novel’s comic storyline. Ironically, Ike was able to surmount the challenges of inter-ethnic relationships and marriages he described in the novel with his marriage to a Yoruba woman. “A perceptive reader of the novel might go away concluding that the author supports inter-ethnic marriage prohibition,” a Lagos-based cultural activist and brand management consultant Ernie Onwumere writes. “His personal marital life contradicts that assumption.”

Unresolved issues in Toads for Supper were later addressed in a sequel titled Toads Forever, published in 2008. “To resolve some of the issues, I have recently published a sequel to the novel,” he told Sentinel Literary Quarterly of October 2008. “People from Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya etc. have been pressurising me over the years, so I have now tried to resolve the issues. It is titled Toads Forever and published by Longman. You will find that the end is different. In the novel, I tried to stress the fact that ethnicity should not be allowed to ruin this country. There is nothing wrong with an Igbo person befriending a Hausa person or even marry each other, in case of the male-female relationship. That is the main message in the novel.” In response to the accusation that his novels are obsessed with the past rather than focus on the present social realities, he told the publication: “Some issues are timeless. But, I’ve also written novels that do not follow that pattern, novels that are written for the period in which they are published.” One of such novels, he explained was Conspiracy of Silence, which – published in 2001 – dwelt on the social consequences of estranged, illegitimate, fatherless children born out of wedlock and incest.

Then, there was also his only detective novel, Expo ’77, which was based on his experience as the head of the West African Examination Council (known by its acronym WAEC). He wanted, through the novel, to draw attention to the fact that the problem of examination malpractices was an environmental one rather than one that could be fought in isolation.

Perhaps, Sunset at Dawn, which documents his eyewitness experience of the horrors of the Nigerian Civil War and The Search – an exposé on the Nigerian society’s endless search for solutions to issues bordering on military coups, corruption, ineptitude, neo-colonialism and ethnicity – also qualified as novels, which focus on the present social realities.

The late patriarch of Nigerian literature, having served as the WAEC registrar, became the first Nigerian registrar of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. After the Nigerian Civil War, he concurrently served as both the pro-chancellor and then vice-chancellor as the chairman of the university’s management committee for 18 months. Later, after a stint as a professor of English Literature at the University of Jos, he also became the pro-chancellor and chairman of the Governing Council of the University of Benin.

Ike, who studied history, English and religious studies at the University of Ibadan and had a master’s degree from the Stanford University in the U.S., was also the traditional ruler of his native Ndikelionwu, which is an Aro settlement in Anambra State. He held the title Ikelionwu XI until his death.

In a condolence message to his family and the people of Ndikelionwu, the Anambra State Governor Willie Obiano described him as one of the state’s greatest assets and totems of excellence, adding the state “shall find strength and consolation in his examplary life and the legacies he left for mankind through his literary works and stellar contributions to the traditional institution in Anambra state.”
In a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina, in Abuja on Saturday, the President condoled with family, friends and associates of the traditional ruler.

Similarly, President Buhari said in a statement by his special adviser on media and publicity, Femi Adeshina, that the late author will always be remembered for his exceptional creativity in communicating wisdom in simple ways through his books.

SOURCE: THIS DAY LIVE

Blame INEC for Imo Supreme Court verdict, says Esele

BY GUARDIAN EDITOR

BENIN (THE GUARDIAN)--A Chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr. Peter Esele, yesterday, said the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) should take all the blames for the verdict of the Supreme Court on the Imo State governorship election.

Esele, a former president of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Benin, argued that Nigerians should look beyond the controversy of the judgment and appraise its foundation, saying the judgment underscored the inefficiency and ineptitude of INEC.

According to him, the results of the governorship election, held on March 9, last year, should not have been upheld in the first place, because so many irregularities were reported during the exercise.

He stated that in view of the reported irregularities, one would have expected INEC to have cancelled the election and have a proper exercise conducted, adding: “INEC did not do its job properly, that is why Supreme Court Justices are intervening.”

Esele stressed that for the Supreme Court to have a unanimous decision over a matter or election means that the election was badly conducted, noting: “So, what has happened in Imo State is enough for the INEC chairman to resign, if Nigeria is a sane clime where things are done properly.

“Whoever is aggrieved has to accept it, because the Supreme Court is the highest court in the land.”

NEWSROOM: CP Parades 2 Child Traffickers, Recovers 9 Children In Enugu

Police Command in Enugu State on Friday paraded two suspected child traffickers who specialize in moving children from Plateau State in North Central zone to River State in South-South zone.

Parading the suspects in Enugu, the state Commissioner of Police, Mr Ahmed Abdurrahman, said that the suspects were intercepted trafficking nine children on Jan. 4. 

He said the suspects and the children were in a luxury bus travelling from the Northern part of the country. 

Abdurrahman said that they were intercepted at Orba Check-point in Udenu council area of the state by the army troop “Operation Atilogwu Udo 1’’. 

He noted that the army authorities, however, handed over the victims and suspects to the command for further investigation. 

According to him, the nine children, including four girls and five boys aged between two year and 13 years, were recovered from the suspected child traffickers.

He said that one female suspect was moving with the children in the luxury bus before the interception. 

“We also have another suspect, who arranges the children being trafficked for Nwachi from Barkin Ladi council area in Plateau State,” he said. 

The commissioner, however, said that the police was still tracking the end receiver of the trafficked children, who allegedly runs an orphanage in Port Harcourt, River State.

“This is a type of organised crime where children are trafficked from the Northern part of the country to the South-East and South-South. This syndicate runs their illegal business using orphanage as a cover-up. 

“We have reached and contacted the parents of the trafficked children and some said that they gave their children to the (suspect) on condition that he will provide better welfare and education for them. 

“Some other parents said that they did not know when their children moved out of their homes and they have declared them missing for some time now. 

“While at the end receiver’s point, only God knows what these children are used for; some might be used as sacrificial lambs, child labour; and others subjected to a lot of criminal activities. 

“Parents especially people in Plateau State should be wary of the whereabout of their children. Parents should endeavour to take care of their children themselves,’’ he advised. 

The commissioner said that the children would be handed over to their parents after investigation. 

“I personally appreciate our sister security agencies especially the Nigerian Army that made this arrest possible,’’ he added. 

-----------------NAN

NEWSROOM: Police Wades Into Crises Rocking Gariki Cattle Market In Enugu

The Commissioner of Police in Enugu State, Ahmad Abdulrahman, has waded into the crisis rocking the Garriki Cattle market at Ugwuoba in Oji River Local Government Area of the state.

The move was aimed at restoring peace at the troubled market over the postponed election to elect accepted leaders at the multi-million naira cattle market.

The commissioner of Police met the two factions in the market – Amalgamated Cattle Dealers Association, ACDA, led by Aminu Iya and Amalgamated Foodstuff and Cattle Dealers Association, AFCDA, led by Buba Garba, at the State Police Headquarters in Enugu on Friday.

Speaking to newsmen before the meeting, the representative of Amalgamated Cattle Dealers Association, Mr Abdul’aziz Mohammed, accused members of the faction led by Garba of being responsible for the postponement of the Ugwuoba cattle market election.

Mohammed said the AFCDA members allegedly disrupted the election that was scheduled to hold in 2019 at the Oji River Local Government Secretariat by importing those he described as “thugs” to participate in the election.

He said that the action led to its postponement by the former Chairman of the local government, Mr Harrison Okeke.

On how the “thugs” got registered for the election, Mohammed alleged that Alhaji Buba photocopied the original registration card for them, which informed the decision to lock them out of the secretariat’s gate.

He said that the issue of election which had divided the market and caused revenue loss came to fore after the death of their leader, Mr Baba Malam in 2019.

He said that his faction was ready to participate in the election.

Meanwhile, Garba, the leader of Amalgamated Foodstuff and Cattle Dealers Association, has described the allegations against him and his members as `false and malicious’.

He said that the allegation that his members disrupted the earlier election was an attempt to ridicule him before the members of the public.

He said that his group would be ready to work with anybody who emerged as a leader in the market through the conduct of the free, fair and credible election in the market.

An indigene of Ugwuoba Community, Mr Jonathan Ikwumeleze however, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that only generally accepted election would restore peace, unity, accountability, and development in the cattle market.

NAN reports that the two factions, at the end of the closed-door meeting, agreed to sheath their swords for the sake of peace and also work together towards getting electing leaders in the market.

---------------NAN

IHEDIOHA: Senator Enyinnana Abaribe Warns Of Imminent Collapse Of Agencies Of Democracy If

Enyinnaya Abaribe. Image: Twitter

Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, Senate Minority Leader, has reacted to the Supreme Court ruling that sacked Emeka Ihedioha of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, as the Governor of Imo State.

He warned against an imminent weakening of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC and some critical agencies of democracy.

Abaribe pointed out that if the present trend like the Supreme Court ruling that removed Ihedioha continues, agencies of democracy would collapse.

The lawmaker and chieftain of the PDP said n a statement on Friday in Abuja signed by his Media Adviser, Uchenna Awom.

He called on the PDP not to despair over the court’s decision declared Senator Hope Uzodinma of the All Progressives Congress as the Governor of Imo State. .

He said, “What it means is that results from security agencies like Civil defense, Army, Navy and even community ones like Hisbah, JTF, et al, will be more sacrosanct and acceptable than the official INEC tabulation.

Abaribe said that the painful outcome of the legal process has again raised poignant questions that should ignite serious calls for total reforms of the electoral and governance structures in Nigeria said that the stark reality in the circumstance that the Supreme Court is the final arbiter and its decisions must be respected at all times.

The Abia-born lawmaker cried out that the contradictions in the final analysis, especially when the statistics of who-got-what in the State Assembly among the various political parties is put side by side in the result that was recorded the same day with the gubernatorial election.

Abaribe added, “How many House of Assembly members in Imo State did APC produce in the Election that was held on the same day as this governorship election in question? Can someone refresh us…?

“PDP won 13 seats, AA 8, APGA 6, and APC won 0 seats out of a total of 27 seats.

“And now by this Judgement, the APC that did not win any seat in the House of Assembly in the election that was held and collated the same day ..won the Imo State Governorship Election at the Supreme Court. APC should not gloat.

“These are times that make hearts and will falter. But as the Holy book says …this too shall pass away. For our friend and brother Emeka Ihedioha, courage is the name. This will also pass away.

“Your valedictory speech is heartwarming. It shows that there will be a rosy tomorrow from today’s despondency.

“For all of us in the PDP, this is not a time for blames. When men are bent on evil, they will not stop, but ultimately the will of the people shall prevail.”

SOURCE: THE NIGERIAN VOICE

BOOK REVIEW Apotheosis Of Ironsi

BY UZOR MAXIM UZOATU

Ironsi: The Army, Power And Politics
By Chuks Iloegbunam
Eminent Biographies,
Awka, Nigeria, 2019; 298pp

There is an almost general acknowledgment that “The Class of 1966”, that is, the northern revenge coup plotters that killed General JTU Aguiyi-Ironsi and ousted his regime, has somewhat superintended over the affairs of the country ever since. The vengeful class has its finger on the pulse of the country and only puts its minions in charge of affairs at the commanding heights. It is against this background that the story of Ironsi is hardly ever given a mention in the Nigerian scheme.

Chuks Iloegbunam is one courageous writer who has dared to right and write the forgotten history of Ironsi, in a sense ensuring that the first should not be put aside as the last. In 1999, Iloegbunam published Ironside – The Biography of General Aguiyi-Ironsi, Nigeria’s First Military Head of State. The irrepressible Iloegbunam has followed up with this new volume that expands the earlier version to include intervolving issues on Nigerian nationhood, the army, power and politics. The preface to the 1999 Ironside is included in the new book before a well-annotated “Preface To This Edition” that starts out with quotes from President Alvaro Uribe who ruled Colombia from 2002 to 2010, and General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida who served as the Military President of Nigeria from 1985 to 1993.

Babangida’s words deserve attention because he was among the Northern Nigerian soldiers who toppled the Ironsi regime. According to Babangida, “He (Ironsi) was killed for advocating for a unitary system of government in Decree No 34, ‘the unification Decree’. He meant well. In fact, the decree was promulgated for the preservation of Nigeria as an entity. Unfortunately, some Northerners interpreted it to be a means for Ndigbo, after the January 15, 1966 revolution, to further take over the entire affairs of the nation. General Aguiyi-Ironsi was a man who saw tomorrow; he wanted Nigeria united in accordance with the military command tradition and it was probably never intended to facilitate any form of domination. Interestingly, even today, we are still struggling to remain united as one.”

Ironsi rose at a time Nigeria was embroiled in eventful contradictions. He was a remarkable hero and leader in the Nigerian Army’s peace mission to the Congo. The divisions in the Nigerian military were such that Northern Nigerian soldiers had planned to stage a bloody coup tagged “Operation No Mercy” on January 17, 1966 only to be upstaged by the January 15, 1966 revolution of Majors Emmanuel Ifeajuna, Chukwuma Nzeogwu and others. Ironsi led the charge of quelling the January 15 coup though some Northern officers assert that he was somewhat part of the plot.

When the rump of the civilian regime as represented by the then President of the Senate and Acting President, Dr Abyssinia Akweke Nwafor-Orizu, ceded power to the soldiers led by Ironsi, there were frayed nerves all over the country. Ironsi’s response, following the advice of top civil servants like Chief Simeon Adebo, was the enactment of the Unification Decree, and the touring of the four regions of the country to preach peace.

It was at the Western Region wing of the tour that Ironsi was arrested in the company of his host, Col. Adekunle Fajuyi, by a junior officer who had accompanied Ironsi on the tour, to wit, Theophilus Yakubu Danjuma. It was akin to a “maiguard” undercutting his master! The horrendous torture and killing of Ironsi and Fajuyi make for heart-rending reading, but Danjuma claims he lost command only for the irate soldiers to lynch Ironsi and his host Fajuyi. Remarkably, Danjuma dismisses Ironsi as “absolutely useless desk-clerk Head of State.”

Against Danjuma’s dismissal of the slain Supreme Commander, here are Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu’s words on Ironsi: “In a military career studded with firsts – first Captain, first Major, first ADC to the Governor-General of Nigeria, first Equerry to the Queen, first Lieutenant Colonel, first Battalion Commander, first Brigadier, first psc, first IDC, first Military Attache to a Nigeria Diplomatic Mission, first Nigerian Commander to a UN Battalion, first Major-General – General Ironsi commanded the United Nations Force in the Congo with such distinction that he was awarded international honours by countries grateful for his superb command of their troops during the emergency.”

Like all heroes denied honour in the homeland, Ironsi represents the Nigerian tragedy writ large. Iloegunam does not buy the holier-than-thou role of General Yakubu Gowon as per the demise of Ironsi and cites current Nigeria reality as giving the lie to Gowon’s triumphalism that “The rising sun of Biafra has set forever.”

In dealing with the pogrom against the Igbo, Iloegbunam had to include excerpts of the 279-page, 14-chapter “Report of the Justice G.C.M Onyiuke Tribunal: Massacre of Ndigbo in 1966.” It’s as gory as they come!

Iloegbunam fittingly depicts Ironsi as “The Last Nigerian”. Given the nepotism and prebendalism that is the rule rather than the exception in the exercise of power in Nigeria of the here and now Ironsi indeed belonged to a different planet!

Ironsi – The Army, Power And Politics by Chuks Iloegbunam is without question a rare gem of a book. It teems with quotes from Christopher Okigbo’s poetry, requisite appendixes, references to cognate books and apt notes. The editing errors of mixing up the country Colombia as Columbia and putting the Babangida years as 2003-2011 can easily be fixed in future editions.

Iloegbunam has done great justice to Ironsi by addressing the multiform issues attending to the brutal mauling of an original Nigerian hero. Iloegbunam goes further afield by broadening the book Ironsi beyond the protagonist to address Nigeria’s anarchic democracy and its greedy gatekeepers and stakeholders. Iloegbunam does not end up just condemning but critically proffers germane solutions on how the country can conquer her woes through wide-ranging restructuring and authoring a fresh autochthonous constitution. Iloegbunam has earned lasting stripes as a leading thinker in Nigeria, and it is hoped that through his innovative publishing enterprise, Eminent Biographies, he would in due course put more distinguished lives up for deserving attention and recognition.

Tribute To HM Professor Vincent Chukwuemeka Ike

Chukwuemeka Ike.

BY EMEKA ANYAOKU

I am saddened by the news of the passing of HM Professor Vincent Chukwuemeka Ike. Vincent Ike was one of the creative writers celebrated all over the world.

After the publication of his first novel, Toads for Supper in 1965, and seven other successive works - The Naked Gods (1970); The Potter's Wheel (1973); Sunset at Dawn (1976); Expo '77 (1980); The Chicken Chasers (1980); The Bottled Leopard (1985); and Our Children Are Coming (1990) - Vincent Ike unquestionably entered into the African pantheon of literary fame.

I first met Vincent Ike at the then University College of Ibadan when I enrolled as a student in 1954. He was one of my seniors whose conduct I sought to emulate. His wife, Ugoeze (Prof) Adebimpe Ike was my contemporary in Ibadan. She is in her own right a distinguished literary figure having attained her professorship in library science. She now speaks Igbo more fluently than many Ndi Igbo.

Vincent Ike's life was much more than writing. He was a long-standing University Professor and administrator, and also served for many years as the Registrar of the West African Examination Council (WAEC).

He was a distinguished traditional ruler, HM The Ikelionwu XI of Ndikelionwu in Anambra State and until his death unflinchingly devoted to the sustenance of Igbo culture and history. The resuscitation of society through the vehicle of history and culture was one task that he as a traditional ruler never shied away from, a task that he uncompromisingly deployed his literary creativity to serve. His writings, I dare say, justify the theory that a people without definable culture has no identity.

Unfortunately, the efforts of our heroes like Vincent Ike appear now to be threatened by the increasing deterioration in the standard of teaching and education in our primary and secondary schools; and even also in our tertiary institutions. I refer here especially to the decline in the teaching of the English Language.

As is well known, English Language is now increasingly the universal means of communication. This is notwithstanding the fact that there are different versions and dictions of English - the American English, the Nigerian English, and other national versions of English. However, Vincent Ike and people of our generation were taught England's English; that is, the English language as written and spoken by the educated English men and women; his novels have attested to that. It is the English language as written by Vincent Ike that I urge our schools and colleges to learn.

On the issue of the decline in the quality of education in our nation, I continue to question the rationale that led to the stoppage of the teaching of history in a developing country like ours. We must insist on the full restoration of the teaching of history, especially Nigerian and African history, in all our secondary schools and colleges. As Cicero, the great Roman philosopher cum orator and statesman said, "to be ignorant of the past, is to remain always a child".

The importance of learning our own history from our own perspective is that it not only gives us confidence, it also makes real the concept of equality in our relations with other peoples. The perspective of Africa from Europe is essentially condescending which does not build a sense of equality, or make for mutual respect between African people and other peoples, especially those in the Eurocentric world.

I mourn HM Professor Vincent Chukwuemeka Ike, Ikelionwu X1, as an illustrious novelist and Africanist, a great lover of his people and country, and an exemplary patriot and public servant.

My wife and I convey our deepest condolence to his widow, Ugoeze Bimpe, his grandson Chukwuemeka, the family and the people of Ndikelionwu. We pray that his soul will rest in perfect peace.

KC, E-Money Relive Uli Airlift

Kcee (Kingsley Chinweike) and E Money (Chukwuemeka Okonkwo)

BY EMEKA OBASI

Uli came back to live just before 2019 petered out, thanks to two young men, Kingsley Chinweike [KC] and Chukwuemeka ‘E-Money’ Okonkwo, who took celebrities to the historic town.

In what they tagged ‘Uli Music Festival 2019’, the brothers also used the opportunity to open their country home in Amamputu village. The Okonkwos are into music and run the Five Star General label.

With Enugu Airport shut by the Aviation ministry, I am sure most of the celebrities flew in through Owerri, Asaba or Port Harcourt. It is also true that many of them did not know that Uli had the second busiest airport in Africa until 50 years ago.

In 1969, it would have been pretty impossible for stars like Phyno, Runtown, Oritsefemi, Zoro, Faze and Duncan Mighty to perform in Uli. Yaw could have been there as an officer of the Biafra Air Force. 

Comedian, Ayo Makun [AY] might have been part of the Red Cross while I Go Dye, a Warri boy, would need the help of Lt. Omene to escape Biafran custody. Uli only welcomed combatants, refugees and aid workers from across the globe. 

I commend KC and E- Money for taking their money home. Thanks for reminding us of Uli. We shall encourage them to take it beyond music. Uli has a lot to do with history. 

Today, the Enugu Airport has been closed and we understand repair work is on-going. It was because Biafra lost Enugu in 1967, and later Port Harcourt in 1968 that an airport was built in Uli by Biafran engineers. 

It did not take all the time like we see happening now. There was no need for Chinese or Russian contractors to make money off indigenous brains. With the likes of Frank Mbanefo, Chuba Agbim and Joel Onyemulekwe, impossible was a rare word in Biafra.

With all land and sea routes blockaded by Nigeria, Biafra had to survive. Before London could shout Emeka, three Airports were built. Obilagu came, Uga followed then Uli. 

As the famous quote of hunger being an instrument of war ruled the media space, Christian organizations in the United States, Canada and continental Europe worked hand in hand with the Red Cross to save Biafra from starvation. 

And Uli Airport became a mystery. The Nigerian government tried all it could to nip it in the bud. Biafra, almost choked to death, refused to give up. Brave hearts, determined dare devil pilots risked their lives to fly in food and relief materials. 

It was a risky venture that was carried out majorly at night. The aircraft had to carry enough fuel from their departure points in Sao Tome, Fernando Po and Gabon. 

Landing was another medal winning effort. There were no lights except on approach and when ready to land. The lights came on and were switched off in less than a minute. That was done to deceive Nigeria Air Force bombers hovering in the sky. 

The first flight to Uli was by seasoned fighter pilot, Count Carl Gustav Ericsson von Rosen, a Swede philanthropist who volunteered his services and aircraft. 

He landed in August 1968, from Sao Tome. His Douglas DC-7 carried food for starving Biafran children. That opened the way for other missions. Von Rosen could not stand the sight of malnourished babies. 

Born in 1909 to wealthy parents, the Swede knew so much about war. His uncle, Hermann Goering, was a German Field Marshal but he fought against the Nazis and was even captured and detained. 

Carl von Rosen was in the Congo when officers like Conrad Nwawo, Yakubu Gowon, Emeka Ojukwu, Benjamin Adekunle, Olusegun Obasanjo, Ogbugo Kalu and others served as United Nations Peace keepers. 

He was the pilot who took United Nations Secretary General, Dag Hammarskjold, round. Fortunately for him, the day the Norwegian died in an air crash, another pilot was on duty while the Swede suffered a bout of fever. 

Carl von Rosen joined the Biafra Air Force and brought five Malmo MFI-91 light aircraft which became known as ‘Biafran Babies.’ They were very effective as he used daring pilots like Austin Okpe, John Chukwu, Willy Murray Bruce, Elendu Ukeje, Jimmy Yates, Ibi Brown and Goddy Nnadi to destroy bigger MIG-17 and Ilyushin 11-28 bombers belonging to Nigeria. 

Following Von Rosen’s heroics, more foreign humanitarian pilots joined the Airlift. Lofto Johanssen came from Iceland. Vernon Polley joined from Australia. There was Frenchman, Commandant Morencey. 

The Joint Church Aid [JCA] played a huge role. The World Council of Churches [WCC] was not left out just like Caritas, Irish Catholic Fathers, Oxfam and Save the Children Fund. 

Biafrans began to feed from supplies brought in by Jesus Christ Airlines and Holy Ghost Airlines. There were about 15 to 20 flights every night from Sao Tome, Fernando Po, Gabon and Dahomey. 

The Uli Airlift turned out to be the largest Civilian Airlift after Berlin, 1948-1949. It involved 5,314 missions carrying 500 tonnes of supplies daily which amounted to 80, 000 tonnes of aid. 

Uli, better known as Airport Annabelle, also witnessed the absurd. In November 1968, Capt. Kjell Backstrom’s DC-6 was attacked, leaving five crew members dead. He took off in severe pains, with two damaged engines and got back safely to Sao Tome where he underwent surgery. 

On June 5, 1969, Captain Gbadamosi King, ordered a Red Cross plane piloted by an American, David Brown, to land in Port Harcourt. The flight was headed for Uli and Capt. Brown did not understand why a relief plane should be so intercepted. 

The aircraft was shot down around Opobo killing the pilot and his Swedish and Norwegian crew. Some thought Capt. Brown’s plane was downed by an Australian fighting for Nigeria. 

The United States also lost August Harvey Martin, first African American commercial pilot. He died with his wife as his plane, filled with food and other essentials hit thunderstorm while landing at Uli. 

Rethinking our world in the shadow of the powerful Uli died in 1970. Now Uli is back to life. KC and E-Money must always remember Annabelle as they Pull Over and dance Limpopo. The Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University does not offer history. I serve them this dish for free.