LETTER FROM LT. COL. OJUKWU TO LT. COL. BANJO

LETTER FROM LT.COL. OJUKWU TO LT. COL.BANJO
22nd AUGUST 1967
From: The Military Governor,
Republic of Biafra Enugu,
22nd August, 1967.
My dear Victor,


1. For some time now, you and I have been discussing the circumstances that have led to the current and inevitable disintegration of what was the Federation of Nigeria. We have been fully convinced that the aim of the Hausa/Fulani complex has ever been, and will ever remain, the total domination of every other part of what was known as the Federation of Nigeria. It is impossible to forget that the crisis which led to the army take over in January 1966, the coup of the Northern soldiers led by Gowon in July 1966, the wholesale and indiscriminate massacre of the people of what is now Biafra- and, to a less degree, the people of the Mid-West and West, including the Yorubas, were all the direct result of Hausa/Fulani attempt to subjugate and use as tools, the gallant people of Western Nigeria namely the Yorubas. We do not need to remind ourselves of the heavy losses in life and property suffered by the Yoruba people in their fight for justice and freedom during 1965.


2. Sharing.our belief that the people of Yorubaland have a right to live a life of equality and self-respect and justice free of domination and dictatorship from any quarter, you have both identified with the cause of the Biafra struggle for survival and expressed your determination to see the people of Yorubaland freed from Hausa/Fulani domination.
We, the people of Biafra, for our part are willing and have decided to give you and the people of Yorubaland every assistance to achieve your aim.


3. After clearing the whole question with my Executive Council, I, as the Commander in Chief of the Biafran Armed Forces, have decided to place at your disposal Biafran forces, for the liberation of
Yorubaland on the following clear conditions:-
(i) You will have nothing to do with the Military Administrator in the Mid-West Territory during your sojourn there prior to your move to the West.


(ii) The willingness and preparedness of Biafra to assist any part of the former Federation of Nigeria wishing and willing to liberate itself from the Hausa/Fulani domination, does not in anyway whatever
imply any inclination on her part to compromise her sovereignty or preserve what remains of the defunct Federation of Nigeria. In other words, our sovereignty and break with Nigeria is irrevocable. Nothing must, therefore be said or done by you or any member of the Liberation Army to give a contrary impression.
(iii) Biafra is determined to maintain and safeguard her sovereignty and ensure that her integrity and safety are never again threatened.


(iv) Biafran troops will, after the liberation of the Yorubaland, remain in that territory only for as long as we in Biafra consider it necessary for the Yorubas to consolidate their position and sovereignty against any external threat.
(v) On the liberation of the Yorubaland, you will be appointed as the Military Governor of that territory.
(vi) The liberation of Western Nigeria will be a prelude to the liberation of all Yorubas up to the River Niger and the severance of all connections between the West and the North at Jebba.


(vii) During the period of Biafrans troops’ presence in your territory, all political measures, statements or decrees shall be subject to the approval, in writing by myself or on my authority.
(viii) Should our troops arrive and liberate Lagos, the government of the Republic of Biafra reserves the right to appoint a Military administrator for the territory. Such an Administrator will remain in office until a merger of that territory with Yorubaland is effected by Biafran troops.


(ix) As soon as possible after your appointment as the Military Governor of Western Nigeria and separation of that territory from Nigeria, you and I must meet to discuss:
(a) the duration of stay of Biafran troops in your territory;
(b) the areas and subjects of cooperation between the liberated sovereign states of Western Nigeria, or by what name it may call itself, and Biafra.


4. I do not need to remind you that Biafra regards all Yoruba as friends. As such everything should be done, to ensure the minimum force and loss of life are involved in achieving the objective of liberation.
5. It is essential, in order to avoid misunderstanding or confusion, that all subsequent requests for support be formally made to me by you in writing.


6. Will you please signify in writing, your acceptance of the above conditions so that you may leave for Western Nigeria and lead the army of liberation.

Yours very sincerely,
signed Lt. Col. Odumegwu Ojukwu,
Military Governor and Commander in Chief of Biafran Armed Forces.
culled from " A Break in the Silence : Lt. Col. Victor Adebukunola Banjo, pp.66-68, by F. Adetowun Ogunsheye.

After the Biafra war, comes the law of karma and the Parable of the Country

After the Biafra war, comes the law of karma and the Parable of the Country.

And when the war ended, the victors (North and West of Nigeria) sat down to share the spoils. One region The North got the oil wells and the other region the West got the foreign companies.

The vanquished region got two sets of gifts. While the Igbos got £20 each, South-South got to keep the houses in their own part of the vanquished region belongings to those who got £20.

After six years, those who got £20 started to build multi-storey houses in their part of the vanquished region. One town in the region cornered the pharmaceutical industry, another transportation and automotive spare parts, another town took the electronics and electrical market, yet another took the textiles market and another the building materials market. Now the vanquished control all these markets in the entire continental sub-region and beyond. God indeed blessed his own people and they prospered.

Those who got oil wells and the foreign companies accused those who lost their houses and got £20 of being ritualists. As for those who got the houses belonging to those who got £20, one Ken Sarowiwa from the South-South, thought his people were cheated and protested vehemently and he was hanged by those who got the oil wells, as most of the oil wells are in that region of the vanquished who got the houses belonging to the vanquished who got £20.

Those who got the oil wells also got to keep power and government, inviting those who got the foreign companies to share the privileges and appurtenances thereof from time to time. They shared the revenue from the oil wells to the exclusion of those who got £20 and those who got the houses belonging to those who got £20.

Because the victors got the government and power, they also created all forms of schemes and devices to enrich themselves and slow the growth and development of the vanquished. They even made these schemes provisions in the constitution.

However, the vanquished who got only £20 still continued to prosper, producing many billionaires, authors, artists, scientists, sportspeople, distinguished professors, erudite jurists, medical professionals, lawyers and stubborn agitators like HRM, Mazi NNamdi Kanu the leader of IPOB and Radio Biafra. Whatsoever those who got £20 touched prospered. Like the Hebrews in Egypt, the vanquished are like the Army of Locusts.

Now, those who got £20 want to leave the country and have their own country Biafra. Even the agitation has prospered in its vehemence. But those who got the oil wells and the foreign companies are opposing them.

Remember that the victors have the oil wells and the foreign companies. The victors also got the government and power. The vanquished got only £20 and lost their houses.

Now, what does the victors want? Probably human blood. They drank from over 2 million bodies of the vanquished before the war ended, and they have been drinking periodically even since. They recently drank from over 150 IPOB member of the vanquished.

And this is the Parable of a Country.