THE QUESTION IS, CAN HE STILL BOLDLY WRITE THE SAME ARTICLE
NOW OR ADVICE HIS PRINCIPAL ON WHAT HE WROTE?
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In December 2009, I was at Aburi, while holidaying in Ghana.
We Nigerians call it A-b-u-r-i, but the Ghanaians pronounce it as E-b-r-i. For
those who have read widely about the civil war that we fought between 1967 and
1970, Aburi is a significant place. This was what I wrote about Aburi, after
returning from that journey:
“Aburi. Beautiful, serene Aburi, set daintily atop a hill.
It is home to a botanical garden that is 119 years old. But for us in Nigeria,
Aburi goes beyond just nature and its preservation. It is the town where
General Yakubu Gowon and Odumegwu Ojukwu met, to try and avert the Nigerian
Civil War that lasted between 1967 and 1970. They came out with Aburi Accord,
which later broke down. And a shooting war started. You could see the
Presidential Lodge on a hill, where the Nigerian leaders had parleyed at the
behest of Ghanaian leaders. It all ended in futility.”
As one of the key parties to the Aburi Accord, Dim
Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, returns to mother earth today, it is also apposite
to return to Aburi, and look at the letter and the spirit of the accord once
again, an agreement that was violated by the Federal side, and which made a
bloody internecine war inevitable.
For most part of 1966, the northern part of Nigeria,
particularly, had been turned to killing fields. Non-natives, especially Igbos,
were killed in thousands. Many fled, many others were displaced. There was
complete anarchy in the land. The average Igbo looked up to Lt. Col Odumegwu
Ojukwu, military governor of the Eastern Region, to provide leadership and
direction. He did not fail. He picked the gauntlet and championed the cause of
his people.
By January 1967, the drums of war were loud and clear,
reverberating across the length and breadth of Nigeria. But there was a last
ditch effort to prevent what was imminent. There was a peace meeting hosted at
Aburi, in Ghana, by the then Ghanaian head of state, Gen J. A. Ankrah. At the
meeting were Gowon, Ojukwu, all the military governors of the regions, and some
top civil servants, both from the Federal side and the Eastern region. The
meeting held on January 4 and 5, 1967, and came out with what is popularly
known today as the Aburi Accord.
The agenda of the meeting consisted of three crucial issues:
(i) Reorganization of the Armed Forces (ii) Constitutional agreement (iii)
Issues of displaced persons within Nigeria.
The two-day meeting reached consensus that were acceptable
to both sides. Among others, it was resolved that legislative and executive
authority of the Federal Military Government was to remain in the Supreme
Military Council (SMC), to which any decision affecting the whole country shall
be referred for determination provided it is possible for a meeting to be held,
and the matter requiring determination must be referred to military governors
for their comment and concurrence. What does this mean in simple language? The
SMC would run the affairs of the country, but not without consulting the
regions as represented by the military governors. This was something akin to
federalism, even under a military government.
Other terms of the agreement include that appointments to
senior ranks in the police, diplomatic and consular services as well as
appointment to superscale posts in the federal civil service and the equivalent
posts in the statutory corporations must be approved by the SMC. What does this
mean again in simple language? Equity, fairness, true federalism.
Other matters like the holding of an ad hoc constitutional
conference, fate of soldiers involved in the January 15, 1966 coup,
rehabilitation of displaced persons, etc, were also amicably resolved, and the
conferees returned happily to Nigeria. Only for the Federal side to deliver a
blow to the solar plexus: the Aburi Accord, Gowon said, was unworkable, and he
reneged on all the agreements.
Using the Eastern Nigerian Broadcasting Service, Ojukwu
played the tape recording of the proceedings at Aburi repeatedly, to educate
the populace on who was playing Judas. Later, he made a broadcast in which he
said: “we in the East are anxious to see that our differences are resolved by
peaceful means and that Nigeria is preserved as a unit, but it is doubtful, and
the world must judge whether Lt. Col Gowon’s attitudes and other exhibitions of
his insincerity are something which can lead to a return of normalcy and
confidence in the country.
“I must warn all Easterners once again to remain vigilant.
The East will never be intimidated, nor will she acquiesce to any form of
dictation. It is not our intention to play the aggressor. Nonetheless, it is
not our intention to be slaughtered in our beds. We are ready to defend our
homeland.”
In a piece I did last December, shortly after Ojukwu passed
away, I said he was virtually pushed into war by the infidelity of the Federal
side to the Aburi Accord. I still stand by that position. Ojukwu was called
‘warlord’ for many decades, but he was by no means a warmonger. He only did what
he needed to do for his people–and for the country.
As his earthly remains are interred today, it is tragic that
Nigeria is still submerged in the morass that Ojukwu already identified about
45 years ago. Today, bombs go off like firecrackers in the country. There is
agitation for the review of the revenue allocation formula. There are strident
calls for the convocation of a sovereign national conference. Even some
component parts are threatening to pull out of the federation if anything
happened to their ‘son’ who is now in power. Didn’t Ojukwu warn of these
landmines ahead? Were all these issues not already settled at Aburi? Foremost
journalist and media administrator, Akogun Tola Adeniyi, in a recent media
interview, explained the Aburi Accord this way: “Let every region be
semi-autonomous and develop at its own level.” Yes, that was the spirit and
letter of Aburi, but which sadly became a road not taken. And is that not why
we are still suffering today, living in a rickety and decrepit country that can
burst at the seams any moment? I tell you, Ojukwu was a prophet, and like most
prophets, he had no honour in his own country. Pity. But whether we like it or
not, there’s no way we won’t return to Aburi. Willy-nilly. I only hope it will
be sooner than later, before Nigeria goes to grief. On Aburi I stand.
Federal Government was perfidious and duplicitous on Aburi.
It is still the same way today. That is why as Nigerians, we are most times
disillusioned, dismayed, dispirited, dejected and depressed. When will change
come to this land? Our hearts are getting weary.
Last December, I wrote that Ojukwu should be buried like a
hero. I’m glad at the rites of passage so far, culminating in the interment
today. Yes, bury him like a true hero. An icon, an avatar, deserves no less.
This generation will surely not see another like Ojukwu. He fought not only for
his own people, but for a true federation founded on justice, fair play, equity
and rectitude. Unfortunately, he did not see the Nigeria of his dreams. Will we?
Adieu the Ikemba, the Eze Igbo Gburugburu. May your soul rest in peace. Ka
nkpur’obi gi zue ike n’adukwa.
By Femi Adesina
Friday March 02, 2012
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