HE is a professor of English, a writer of repute and
runs regular commentary on socio-political development of the country.
Twice, he has been nominated to receive national honours, and twice, he
turned down the offer. His books have always generated furore. When he
published A man of the people just before the military coup of January
1966, it received critical review by a section of the public.
His latest work, due to be released in Nigeria soon, is a chronicle
of the activities of the civil war. The publishers, Penguins, described
it thus: “Now, years, in the making, comes the towering reckoning with
one of the modern Africa’s most fateful experience, both as he lived it
and he has now come to understand it.
Like or dislike him, Achebe cannot be ignored Things Fall Apart, his
first book, has been variously rated as one of the 50 most influential
books. He has also been described as one of the most influential
Africans in the 21st Century.
Achebe, who was cultural ambassador for Biafra during the war,
displayed deep-seated dislike for the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo and his
people, the Yoruba.
Dismissing the argument that the Federal Government, involved in a
war, had to do what it did to facilitate its victory, the writer said:
“Supporters of the Federal Government position maintain that a war was
being waged and the premise of all wars is for one side to emerge as the
victor. Overly ambitious actors may have taken actions unbecoming of
international conventions of human rights, but these things happen
everywhere. This same group often cites findings, from organisations
(sanctioned by the Federal Government) that sent observers during the
crisis, that there was no clear intent on behalf of the Nigerian troops
to wipe out the Igbo people … pointing out that over 30,000 Igbo still
lived in Lagos, and half a million in the Mid-West.”But if the
diabolical disregard for human life seen during the war was not due to
the Northern military elite’s jihadist or genocidal obsession, then why
were there more small arms used on Biafran soil than during the entire
second world war? Why were there 100,000 casualties on the much larger
Nigerian side compared with more than two million ‘mainly children’
Biafrans killed?”
He maintained that the pre-and post-war policies of the government
were calculated to wipe out Ndigbo, Achebe said the same policy has kept
his people out of the mainstream of the political configuration of the
country 42 years after the war. This did not take into consideration
that an Igbo, Dr. Alex Ekwueme, was Vice-President in the Second
Republic. When there was a consensus that power had to shift to the
South in 1999, Ekwueme slugged it out with Chief Olusegun Obasanjo for
the ticket of the dominant political party, the Peoples Democratic Party
(PDP). However, given the prevailing mood in the country, the Yoruba
had to be compensated for the annulment of the presidential election of
1993 won by the late Chief Moshood Abiola. The sentiments swayed victory
for Obasanjo at the Jos National Convention. While Obasanjo, a Yoruba,
won, Ekwueme, an Igbo, had a good run and could not be said to have been
disgraced. Since then, he has been handed crucial assignments by the
party since he was the pioneer Chairman of the PDP’s Board of Trustees.
A political activist and convener of the Coalition of Democrats for
Electoral Reforms (CODER), Mr. Ayo Opadokun, took umbrage at the
position of Achebe in the new book. He said: “The new write-up is
another rehash of the perverted intellectual laziness which he had
exhibited in the past in matters relating to Awo when Achebe described
Awo as a Yoruba irredentist. What he expected was that Awo should fold
his arms to allow the Igbo race led by Zik to preside over the affairs
of the Yoruba nation. The fact that the Yoruba people in their wisdom,
having found out that the NCNC through Zik and Okpara had established a
government of their choice and then wanted to follow up with the
appropriation of the Yorubaland as their catchment area. It is a
demonstration of the contempt of Achebe and his ilk for the Yoruba
nation.
He said: “The story of the emergence of Nigeria as a country as
christened by the concubine of Lugard can’t be written sensibly without
admitting one or two areas of flaws where founding leaders were not
disposed to making a nation out of Nigeria.
The NCNC led by Zik and his people, in a terrific conspicuous
collaboration, after having put Awo in jail, forced the creation of
Midwest and the NCNC refused to allow the creation of another in their
region. Perhaps the West had the smallest landmass of the three regions.
“Secondly, in the run-up and activities towards Nigerian nationalism,
it was clear that the East and West were in contest for socio-economic
and political power. The fact is that with what the NCNC, driven by Igbo
nationalism to which Achebe subscribes, the Yoruba nation was being
derided by the likes of Achebe who wanted to forcefully appropriate
Yoruba territory. And because the Yoruba nation led by Awo would not
accept that, they became enemies.
The political problem with the Igbo
stemmed from the ban on import
of stockfish and second hand clothing after the war. He felt that it
was fundamental error for a group of Nigerians to live on stockfish that
lacks nutritional value and that it was degrading for Nigeria to be
importing second-hand clothing. Being an economist, a honest and
forthright Nigerian who would not mortgage his conscience to win votes,
he had to carry that cross all his life. Even after his death, Prof
Achebe has written a new book, repeating the gaffe. It is another
demonstration of how far inveterate enemies can go.
“I cannot believe that a scholar of Achebe’s stature could be so
unforgiving. Mathew 6: 14 and 15 enjoins every Christian to forgive
fellow human beings.
“Some have been trying to build a bridge between Igbo and Yoruba. I
remember my colleagues like Rear Admiral Ndubuisi Kanu (Retd), a former
governor of Lagos and Imo; Commodore Ebitu Ukiwe, a former Chief of
General Staff who headed the Council for Understanding and Unity; Dr.
Arthur Nwankwo; Alhaji Abdulaziz Ude and so many of them who are men of
honour. Their efforts have not been devalued by the attitudes of people
like Prof Achebe. Their efforts and ours led to the formation of CUU. It
became so powerful that Dodan Barracks had to proscribe the
organisation.
“Let our Igbo brothers be reminded that about three quarters of their
assets not in the Eastern region are in Lagos. We have been very
liberal and accommodating and have allowed them to live undisturbed.
When there was civil war, it was only in Yoruba land that the estate of
the Igbo was returned with the rent. Let no one think that the Yoruba
were fools by being so accommodating.”
Chairman of the Afenifere Renewal Group (ARG), Wale Oshun wondered
why some Igbo, especially Chinua Achebe “find it convenient to pick
Awolowo as a scapegoat of all that happened to them during the war.”
He asked, “did awo start the war? He was just the Federal
Commissioner for Finance with responsibility for coming up with
appropriate fiscal and monetary policies. He was not at the battle field
and could not therefore be fairly charged with genocide..”
The former Chief Whip of the House of Representatives also challenged
anyone to come up with any publication where Awo said starvation should
be regarded as a legitimate weapon of war. “Neither in any of the books
written by him nor on him was any such thing said. It is the work of
those who hated his guts. It is not factual. It must be remembered that
even when he was not in the cabinet, he tried to prevent the war, but as
soon as it broke out, it was between Nigeria and Biafra. He had to come
up with policies that would end the war quickly. Those who are peddling
this line have forgotten that Awo was in prison when the crisis
started.”
Reacting to the suggestion that Awo was one of those who supplied the
intellectual power that drove the policies that eventually and
effectively ended the war, Oshun said, “if he was in Nigeria and Nigeria
was fighting a war, was he supposed to supply intellectual power to
Ojukwu? I regard it as a mere emotional statement.”
Oshun also found no merit in the contention that the late Leader of
the Yoruba wanted power at all cost and saw the war as an opportunity to
further that ambition.. He said: “If Awo wanted power, he would have
stayed on in the cabinet after the war. But, rather, he left, saying it
had become indefensible to be part of a military government in peace
time. If he was scheming for power, he would have held on and used the
same military to further his ambition. So, where is the evidence he did
anything to project himself and the Yoruba?”
Awo’s official biographer, Prof Moses Makinde, who heads Awolowo
Centre for Philosophy, Ideology and Good Governance, Osogbo, is the
author of ‘Awo: The Last Conversation’. The other two are: ‘Awo as a
Philosopher’ and ‘A Memoir of the Jewel’. He disagreed with Achebe,
maintaining that the Ikenne-born statesman was a full-blooded
nationalist.
His words: “I do not agree with Prof Achebe on the statement. It is
not true that Awo’s civil war role smacked of even an iota of selfish
political aggrandisement. I was his biographer and I can state
authoritatively that, though he did not penetrate the North, he had a
firm belief in the unity of Nigeria and that was why he wanted to govern
the country as an indivisible entity. All the governors and other close
associates of his would attest to the fact that he was a believer in
the oneness of Nigeria which was why he wanted to govern the entire
country for the overall benefit of her entire citizenry.
“He was a rare politician and a disciplinarian who believed in
selfless service to his people in one whole entity called Nigeria. And
that he always preached to all his lieutenants at any point in time.
That, of course, accounts for why all his landmark achievements in the
Western Region still speak for his patriotic and selfless inclination
till today.”
The debate continues to rage. What is not in doubt is that the fight
for a better Nigeria remains the preoccupation of true nationalists and
patriots
The Nation
