Many years ago, the General, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu spoke about the “Biafra of the mind.” Only a few, I think, understood him. Well, they say, only the deep speak to the deep. But let me attempt here to tease out Dim Ojukwu’s prescription: the greatest proof of Igbo survival and aspiration must be to model, wherever Onye-Igbo stands, the ethos of innovation, excellence, ingenuity, and ability that marked the Igbo endeavor in Biafra. We must...
WAP brings under one domain, a four-part documentary of the very hostile Nigeria’s Civil War by Hector-Roosevelt Udunna Ukegbu, PhD. Ukegbu, is a graduate of the University of Lagos, where he was a student leader; he also graduated from the University of Rochester, Rochester, New York; St. Gregory’s College, Ikoyi, Lagos, and the Owerri Grammar School, Imerienwe. He is also a columnist with the WAP. Igbos and Folly of Biafra (Part I) Pilotnews May...
Fruitless Peace Negotiations. The End of Biafra. Today—Which Way Forward? Once we have a war there is only one thing to do. It must be won. For defeat brings worse things than any that can ever happen in war — Ernest Hemingway On September 7, 1968, as renowned Biafran diplomat Raph Uwechue recounts, some anxious senior Igbos held a meeting in the Algerian capital Algiers where an OAU summit which would tackle the imbroglio of...
With the pattern of duplicity and cruelty that conjures the Donald Trump’s policy actions against the people of color, tell me how these ethically malnourished oppressors can educate any organization about good character and accountability? For clarity, the African Development Bank (AfDB) is not like Chase. Nope, it is not the traditional bank where folks drive through a narrow pathway to use the ATM. It is a bilateral development finance institution facilitating sustainable economic and...
As I write, the wild beasts are in the house, our house, your House; according to their kinsman, to ‘do business’. How could a race of people known for their resolute prowess of Africa’s wildest outposts, people who beg for a living, have the wherewithal to do business? Dear God: I hope you will find the time to read this. I have been wanting to write you over these years, but the story about your...
While Rome Burns, Emperor Nero Fiddles The Roman Emperor Nero is considered by many religious scholars to be the Antichrist, the beast code marked 666, who ordered the execution of his own mother, persecuted and brutally executed many early Christians (including the apostles Peter and Paul), a group he falsely blamed for the fire that consumed most of Rome in 64 AD. Legend has it that as Nero watched the six-day conflagration, he somberly played...
What the federal government owes these badly governed states is tough love. It should make it very clear that henceforth, it will no longer bailout any state that receives the FAAC allocation. This because some governors have become addicts, hooked on Abuja manna. It is, therefore, appropriate for the federal government to enforce constraints on them… Many analysts argue ad nauseam, that before the 1966 coup in Nigeria, the true practice of federalism was responsible for the great...
The current spate of the pandemic ravaging the global community has kept world leaders and organizations on edge to find a possible cure. Meanwhile, as a precautionary measure, schools, religious places of worship, markets and other places of gathering were shut down so as to curb the transmission and spread of the virus. According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, UNESCO, records, 191 countries implemented countrywide closure of educational institutions and over...
Dear lockdown folks, this is the Phoenix. Yes, that enigmatic bird of legends, the one that goes by what it can do not what muted dreams conjure up. Phoenix is my name! ”Lockdown folks, why are you so depressed?” Have you been watching the press briefings –yes, the ones created by DT. The ones that buck at reason; the ones that proclaim darkness even if the sky is bright and sunny? The daily news updates...
Gowon welcomed people who had expert advice; Ojukwu shunned them Prior to the unsuccessful Enugu peace meeting between Ojukwu and Awolowo, Col. Gowon had been showering honors on Awolowo. For instance, when Awolowo first arrived at the Lagos Airport from Enugu, upon his release from the Calabar Prison in early August 1966, Gowon welcomed him with an honor guard. In the days following the May 1967 meeting in Enugu, after it became clear that Ojukwu...
