Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, the Ahajiegamba Ndigbo, is the President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo. In this interview, he spoke on the civil war, reconciliation efforts, among others.
Fifty four years after the civil war, how far has Nigeria fared?
I want to say that in 1960, when Nigeria got her independence, we all welcomed and celebrated it. When the Union Jack was lowered, the Green White Green was raised, everyone celebrated; we all celebrated it. That flag was a uniting flag for Nigeria. Igbos, in their normal sense, accepted it. In those days, there were three regions; the Northern Region, Western Region and Eastern Region. In the North, the Sardauna of Sokoto was the political leader, and Obafemi Awolowo was the leader of the Western Region, while Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe was that of the Eastern Region. It was clear to all Nigerians that Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe played a major role in shaping the independence of Nigeria.
We were united as a country. Even when we had the opportunity for the two regions in the South to form governments and have independence in 1957, Dr Azikiwe stepped out and waited until the North was ready for independence in 1960. So, the independence brought expectations and, of course, Igbos in their normal way, believed in Nigeria as their country. Igbos moved out to all parts of Nigeria. Later on, the fourth region, the Mid-West Region was created. Igbos were everywhere and wherever they went, they worked very hard to contribute in developing the place. They built schools, hospitals, and markets. They built economic structures everywhere and contributed enormously to the (internally generated revenues) IGR of those places.
Unfortunately, there was the coup of 1966, which was not caused by the Igbos. It was an entirely military affair and it is clear from the list of the coup participants that other tribes were there. That particular government that was toppled was very good to the Igbos and they had no interest to topple it. Fake news stated that Igbos carried out that coup. However, there was one point that was not noted and that is the fact that the coup did not succeed because of General Aguiyi Ironsi, who was then the commander of the army and was an Igboman. From what we heard, the government at the time was disorganised and they handed over to him to stabilise the country as he was good enough to quell the coup and hold power, hoping that when things calmed down the civilians would take it. Thereafter, unprecedented hostility in the history of mankind was unleashed on Igbos. Igbos were killed in thousands everywhere.
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When Ironsi became the Head of State, Odumegwu Ojukwu was appointed governor of the Eastern Region and he told Igbos to go back. They went back and more hostilities were unleashed and many more Igbos were killed. It was a harrowing experience. We had millions of people who had no homes and schools were converted to hostels for them.
The killings continued and at the end of the day, the Aburi Conference was set up. In Aburi, the discussion was not Biafra, it was secession. It was to make it easier for Igbos who were very badly battered at the time to live without the fear of being killed.
At Aburi, Ojukwu, who led the Eastern Nigerian delegation and Yakubu Gowon, who was then Head of State, led the Nigerian group. After the discussions, they both shook hands and the meeting ended. From what we heard, when Gowon came to Nigeria, some advisers warned him not to accept the agreement. And that was the beginning of the problem we have today. That was when the Igbos started asking for secession because they didn’t feel safe.
As a young man, I was in my early 20s, I remember there were vests distributed then to everyone with the inscription, “On Aburi We Stand.” That didn’t mean we wanted secession. It meant we wanted to be in a restructured Nigeria, where we could have peace and happiness to conduct our activities without fear of being killed or our properties being confiscated. So, that was what happened and, of course, at the end of the day, there was the civil war. The war came to the Igbos at a time when they didn’t have anything.
Take us to the end of the war. What was the nature of the post-war agreement?
The final negotiation, to the best of my knowledge, was initiated by Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, General Yakubu Gowon and President William Tubman of Liberia. Nigeria was fighting then to capture Uli Airport, because if they had captured the airport, the war would have ended abruptly, but they could not. Then they went to the negotiation and the terms were acceptable to both parties – Biafra and Nigeria. At that time, the commander of Marine Commandoes, who launched the last part of the war, was Colonel Olusegun Obasanjo.
For posterity, I want to commend great leaders of Nigeria like General Gowon, General Olusegun Obasanjo and the leader of the Biafran side, General Philip Effiong, for the efforts they made to ensure the war ended peacefully.
When the war ended in January 1970, there were peace terms agreed to. I must say that Nigeria fulfilled most of these conditions. For example, they said that people would go back to their work and that Ojukwu would not be prosecuted and he would be allowed to continue his life as a Nigerian. And I want to say that Ojukwu was never tried for anything; he continued his life and even ran for the office of president of Nigeria; he was a free person until he died.
But there is a part of this agreement that worries us terribly. That is the Three Rs – Reconstruction, Rehabilitation and Reconciliation. Not much was achieved in this area. The one that worries us so much is the reconciliation part of the agreement in 1970. In one of the states in Nigeria, a law on abandoned property was promulgated and Igbo properties were confiscated. These were properties Igbos had worked hard for and built with their money. The truth is that there was no need to seize those properties, but they seized them. And this state is in Eastern Nigeria. In other parts, like Northern Nigeria, and western Nigeria, it did not happen. In the North, most of the northerners were so good that they collected rent for the three years of the war on behalf of Igbo residents and at the end of the war, they handed some over to them. That is to show you the amount of love Nigeria had at the time. In Western Nigeria, Lagos, especially, they also collected the rent and gave to the Igbos, so no Igbos lost their properties in other parts of Nigeria. But the point about it is that there was a central government which signed an agreement to protect Igbo properties all over the country and it was their duty to ensure that Igbos didn’t lose their properties everywhere. So, that policy was a major smear on the end of the war’s Three Rs agreement because many Igbo owners died out of frustration.
How feasible is true reconciliation in Nigeria, as many say the country remains divided?
It requires honesty on the part of the leadership of the country. For instance, we have six geopolitical zones in the country, allowing the presidency to rotate among the six geopolitical zones. There is no geopolitical zone that cannot produce presidential material. So, in the restructuring we are demanding, we are seeking the rotation of the presidency among the six geopolitical zones, not based on North and South. When you say North and South, two states in the North would decide who gets the ticket. If this government can do that, Tinubu would have used the golden opportunity to make himself a hero of democracy as a former NADECO man. If today, he releases Nnamdi Kanu, if he can look at giving Igbos more slots in his government and one additional state in the South-east, we will say there is justice. Without truth and justice, there must be crisis.
Even the call for Biafra is a protest against injustice. If you watch in Nigeria, Isaac Boro once demanded secession for the Niger Delta in 1966; in the North in 1953, they asked for Arewa Araba, in the South-west, there are calls for Oduduwa nation. All these are signs that there is a need to restructure the country. These are signs that all is not well with the federation and that is why we are asking for restructuring of the country so that things will start going very well. Some of these issues don’t require IMF, World Bank or UN intervention, but sincere leadership.
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