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Wumione@AOL.com New York, NY, USA

''ANOTHER POST MORTEM ON BIAFRA''
COMPARING THE TWO BIAFRAN WAR LEADERS AND THEIR POST WAR BEHAVIOR AND ACTIVITIES IN NIGERIA.

eaders come in a different shapes and forms. Some are born, some are made, and some have leadership entrusted on them by destiny or events that are totally beyond their control. Some leaders are very principled, and unflappable and there are lines of decency and principle they simply will not cross, regardless of the temptation or the pressures put on them by followers or admirers to do certain things, if those things go against their own sense of conviction, decency and conscience. We saw a little bit of that in Tony Blair's decision to go along with America over the war on Iraq, even when he knew that British public opinion was clearly against the move, and the apathy could possibly cost him the next election.

Some leaders are rigid, some are nothing but a weather cock whose position on any issue is determined by the direction of the wind. Some are habitual compromisers who will do anything just to remain in power and in control, because they hate rocking the boat, or trying something new. Some lack consistency in what they say and what they do, and because very little is documented in our society, they think no one will remember their past or their previous position on fundamental issues. They can be blowing hot today and blowing cold tomorrow, as long as their personal survival or is not threatened. They always trust on their judgment or ability to be able to defend whatever position they take at any given point, regardless of the cost to them or the people they profess to lead. To them, the end justifies the means, and all other collateral damages arising out of their decision or indecision are to be ignored or simply set aside as irrelevant. Nigeria has more than her fair share of this kind of leaders, hence our multiple problems as a nation. If we begin to admit that we truly have these problems and are determined to do something about it, that may well be the beginning of progress. Why? Because the closest any man or any nation can ever get to perfection is to admit his or her mistakes. And awareness is therefore the very first step in that endeavor. That precisely is what this article is all about.

My central focus in this post mortem is directed to the two most senior "Generals" of the Biafran Military. I am talking of the one that led the insurrection from the beginning to the end, and the one that was handpicked to stand in for his boss and to carry out the surrender formalities with Nigeria. Like I once said in my review of "Surviving in Biafra" the latest book on the war written by my good friend, Alfred Obiora Uzokwe of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, I continue to believe there are vital lessons for Nigerians and the world at large to learn from the 30 month civil war that had devastated our country, killing over a million people on the Biafran side alone, not to talk of the losses on the Federal side which our Government has always been silent about, as if those deaths do not count. There was also the issue of collateral damages in materials and equipments that both sides of the isle which is often ignored because we are not always a grateful nation. Nobody knows till tomorrow, and nobody cares to know how many of our compatriots had died in ECOMOG or the War in Sierra Leone or which of the ECOMOG commander’s action or inaction could have been responsible for those deaths. It's good to observe and document these events because of the lessons we all and our Government could learn from it. It was often said the village of Odi in Bayelsa State was raised to the ground. Nobody knows till today even in rough estimate how many people were killed or how the properties destroyed were worth in Naira and Kobo

That was why I could not, for the life of me, understand why anyone in his right senses, could still find fault with great Alfred for bending over backward to find time to do his book in spite of the very high demand on his time as one of the best architects in Pennsylvania State. Alfred was only six years old when the war had started, and only nine, when it had ended. Alfred who had lived through the entire war in Nnewi the home base of the war lord, definitely, had a first hand information to share with all of us who were so far removed from the war front. Alfred has had the uncommon sense to preserve for the reading public his own noncombatant account of the war from the prism of a little boy who had grown up to be one of the most respectable Nigerian professionals in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Why would the war not be important and traumatic for the young man who had both his grand parents in Asaba murdered the same day along with several members of their household? Alfred had come to this great land of opportunity, not to be a cab driver for life, or to push drugs or worse still to engage in credit card frauds like few of us are notorious for, in this country. Alfred, in his habitual decency and restraint, has described the critics of his book simply as E-mail tigers. I call them shameless nincompoops who should have served themselves better by just keeping their mouth shut, if they don’t understand how to react to a genuinely decent effort of a hardworking Nigerian who has proved himself to be a worthy ambassador of our country. I attended the launching of the book at Harrisburg, PA, and I witnessed the caliber of people that attended the ceremony from the Government circle in Harrisburg, and what they had to say about Alfred Uzokwe.I don’t care what those critics say, Nigeria needs more of Alfred in our country, and we are praying to have more of him as role models for our young ones coming to this country.

I am therefore embarking on the comparison of Ikemba/Ezeigbo - Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu and Phillip Effiong, to see if we can learn something from their activities and behavior around the time the war ended, and how both have conducted themselves after the very generous clemency granted them in particular, and the other surviving veterans of the Biafran War. I like to begin my comparison by quoting from the valedictory speech by "General" Odumegwu Ojukwu shortly before he fled to the Ivory Coast. It was a prerecorded final speech that was relayed on Radio Biafra on Sunday, January 11, 1970. In it the rebel leader had said a lot, but I am only interested in this quote for the purpose of my submission here:

"I know that your prayers go with me as I go in search of peace, and that God willing
I shall soon be back among you"

That was the Ezeigbo Ojukwu taking leave of the people he had led into a bloody thirty months war that nearly tore Nigeria apart. Did he really escape to seek peace as he claimed? The answer is a definite "No" I think he had fled to save his own neck because he probably understood better than most of his foot soldiers that had no where to go because they were never as privileged as him. The only rationalization the war lord could offer at the time is the famous English adage that "he who fights and runs away, lives to do another fight." That would probably be the best correct answer to give, as his activities on returning from exile after six years, would appear to have lent so much credence to that kind of rationalization. Certainly Ojukwu did not flee the country to seek peace. What peace? He had escaped to avoid being tried for treason and being made to face the firing squad just like his regime had done to Emmanuel Ifeajuna and Victor Banjo whose main offense was because they were suspected of wanting to change their mind and to escape.

The question I raise here is what would have happened had Philip Effiong decided to do the same thing that his boss had done. Of course they were both guilty of the same offense, and could possibly have faced the same firing squad, if caught while the war was still raging. Effiong was ready to stay to do the dirty and humiliating work of surrendering to the victorious side at a time, the "no victor, no vanquished pledge" made by General Gowon could not have been totally taken seriously by anyone who knew that everything was fair in War, and that the pledge made by Gowon could possibly have turned out to be a trap. It was a leap of faith, and a courageous one for that matter, for Philip Effiong to, wholeheartedly, believe at the time that Gowon was definitely going to deliver on his pledge. But he still chose to stay to confront the situation as best he could. I don’t know what you call that. I call it courage and the hallmark of leadership in the peak of adversity when you put his leap of faith side by side with the obituary statement that the same Philip Effiong had made in proclaiming an end to the 30 month of bloody strife which was also announced on radio on Monday, January 12th, 1970, barely 24 hours after the big boss had disappeared into the cloud in a hurriedly arranged "get away" plane that had to take off in total darkness to avoid detection by Federal troops who had totally surrounded the Nnewi axis of the War: Philip Effiong had said and I quote:

"I am convinced now that a stop must be put to the bloodshed which is going on
as a result of war. I am also convinced that the suffering of our people must be
brought to an immediate end. Our people are now disillusioned and those
elements of the old Government regime who have made negotiations and
reconciliation impossible have voluntarily removed themselves from our midst"

I cannot help but wonder who exactly do "those elements" refer to in the mindset of Colonel Effiong. Could it have been to the same leader (Ojukwu) who had announced the previous day in a valedictory statement, he was going in search of peace? Your guess is as good as mine. The real point I want to underscore here, for whatever it is worth, is the character of both leaders. Philip Effiong as a Cross River State man, from his name, could easily have vamoosed when it had dawned on him that the Federal troops were closing in on the remaining part of the Republic yet to be liberated, and could easily have been welcomed home by his hometown boys in the Rivers and Cross River states who had all initially argued that they were actually railroaded into joining Biafra in her effort to break away from Nigeria. It was those sentiments expressed by so many citizens of those two states that had forced General Gowon to quickly introduce the twelve state structure in Nigeria that finally convinced the Rivers and Cross River segments of Biafra that taking part in the rebellion was a huge mistake on their part. They could get home rule now without the need to fight for one. They had believed they had more to gain by remaining within the Nigerian Federation, and having their own states, than going ahead with a rebellion they all knew was going to fail, given the enormity of the problems faced by Biafra and its rag tag army.

The backbone of the rebellion was actually broken by that single stroke by the Federal Government, and the changing of the Nigerian currency and the refusal of the Federal Government to allow a free flow of Food and fresh supplies through the Red Cross and CARITAS literarily nailed the coffin of the still born Republic. A good leader should have seen the hand writing on the wall, and should have acted sooner to end the carnage just like Philip Effiong had openly done in his January 12th statement. Some could argue that the statement issued in Effiong’s name were really not his own, but a collective decision of the then Biafran regime. I understand that, but the point I am making is that the burden of leadership and how individuals may choose to view or respond to that burden, at any given point, is what makes the difference between a good and a bad leader. Philip Effiong, in my judgment, had shown more courage and character than his boss, all things considered, You may not agree with me, and you don’t have to. What I am stating here is a value judgment which I believe I am entitled to make. Philip Effiong had shown greater character than his boss in that instance. The same trend has continued after the war, and even now, as I would show in the remaining part of this article.

Yeah, the Ikemba had flown out of Uli Ihiala Air strip in total darkness and in total secrecy to avoid detection and the possibility of being shot down by Federal Forces. Flying away at night was smart, and courageous, but the real hero had to be the person flying that plane not any of his passengers who were desperately seeking to escape and couldn't care less how it was done. Their ultimate goal was not to get caught by Federal troops who were closing in on them, and could strike at any moment, rounding up the rebels and killing them.

My next interest is what had happened to the Ikemba while in exile and after. We understood he had kept himself busy doing some business on the sideline while waiting for the most auspicious time to negotiate his return back to Nigeria. He knew his return was totally inconceivable as long as the military still remained in power. He had therefore waited patiently for a return to civil rule when there was a change of baton between the Northerners in uniform and jackboots and the other group of Northerners in babariga and tajia caps. What difference does it make? The Northerners were in leadership position when the Ikemba had started his revolt. The same Northerners were still in power wearing the toga of the NPN when the Ikemba secretly negotiated his return back to Nigeria. But the Ikemba would appear to have totally forgotten all his indictment and condemnation of the North and his leaders in what Alfred Uzokwe had described as "okotoko" Nigeria in his Book, meaning the big for nothing Nigeria. The Nigeria that the Ikemba had returned to from exile was only slightly different from the one the Ikemba had fled six years earlier. What was important was the fact that the Ikemba was returning, so to speak, to his vomit by going hook, line and sinker for the NPN and all that the party had stood for in Nigeria at the time? The Ikemba had forgotten all the abuses he had heaped on the same Hausa/ Fulani oligarchy he had vehemently denounced while announcing the birth of the new Biafra Republic. He had forgotten all of those unprintable things that Okonkon Ndem used to say about the Hausa /Fulani in order to justify the rebellion. As far as he was concerned, all those things were propaganda. Everything was fine, once he had been assured of his state pardon and a tumultuous welcome back to Nigeria as a war hero.

It was simply unbelievable that the Ikemba would have rushed back into politics without allowing a moment for reflection. He had shunned the Igbo led and Igbo dominated NPP led by the great Nnamdi Azikiwe, only to go team up with the NPN of all Parties at the time, without giving himself some time to seriously consult. He saw his return as a window of opportunity to send Zik into the turkey farm, and assume the leadership of the Igbos which he believed that destiny had conferred on him by reason of his role in the Biafran war which he had lost. He had counted so much on the move of the NPN which had given him his freedom in the hope he would deliver the Igbo block vote to the NPN thus returning the country again to the "status quo ante bellum." That was shock number one. The shock number two was that the Ikemba, the ex-while General and Commander-in-Chief of the Biafran Armed Forces had chosen to descend from his Olympian heights, only to start running for the position of a Senator under the platform of the same NPN. He was soundly defeated by an unknown soldier and humiliated in his own kingdom. But that did not teach him a lesson. He had thrown himself head and shoulder into partisan politics in a party dominated by his newly found friends, the same Hausa/Fulani Oligarchy he had described as no good, only a few short years before. One would have thought that the civil war was going to lead to a major realignment of political forces in Nigeria. That never happened. I am not saying there is anything wrong with the Ikemba joining a political party of his choice like anyone else. But because of his track record, and all the previous positions he had canvassed pre and post the Biafran War, one would have hoped he would have done a much better job than he finally did. Just getting power by all means seemed to be his first order of priority. It was only the end result that mattered to the Ikemba, the process was not that important. He was much less concerned where that power may be coming from, and how that power is obtained. Good leaders don‘t behave that way. They are not impulsive, and they don‘t always put their own selfish interest over and above that of the people they are chosen to lead. Mahatma Ghandhi did not do that and neither did Nelson Mandela who had given away 27 years of his life to fight for a cause that was designed to free his people, and not himself as an individual. Again this conclusion is my own judgment and I know the E-mail tigers are waiting to jump all over me for expressing this opinion. I did not see the Ikemba in the same mold with the few great leaders I have mentioned here, based on the points I have made here. I could be wrong, but that is my candid view.

I was personally disappointed in many of the decisions the Ikemba had taken ever since he came back from exile. I think the only decision he would appear to have gotten right, by default, anyway, was the willingness of Bianca, the beauty queen to get herself married to a cradle snatcher like him who is old enough to be her father. I give the Ezeigbo credit, for knowing how to go about persuading Bianca to believe so much in him as to want to live the rest of her life with a man like that. Bianca was probably star-struck like the rest of us who had believed that the Ikemba could do no wrong, once upon a time, as an Oxford graduate with the legendary gift of the garb that has become the hallmark of most alumni of that great University. I was a great fan of the Ikemba when he left Oxford to become one of the first graduates to be commissioned into the Nigerian Military. I was rooting for him when he went out to Aburi to dazzle General Ankrah of Ghana and the Nigerian delegation led by General Yakubu Gowon, and when he initially decided to call the bluff of the Federal Government for oppressing and marginalizing the Igbos as a group. The Ikemba has a few things going for him as a young military officer and as an orator. But as a leader, he is still a long way from being the best in my judgment. Having been repudiated and rejected so many times by the Igbos he claims to lead, I think he ought to start a rethinking his strategy, and ought to quit the stage when the ovation was loudest. He may have reached his peak, and should consider doing something else than seeking the political leadership of Nigeria. The young Governor Orji Uzor Kalu of Abia State, and a few others like him would make a better national leader, and he, Uzor Kalu, definitely, has a chance to lead the country when it is the turn of the South East to lead Nigeria again. That time will come because the Igbos are definitely a force to reckon with in Nigeria. I don‘t care what anyone may say to the contrary...

The last straw that broke the camel’s back for me with Emeka Ojukwu were his activities in the last Election when he had floated APGA probably as a replacement for the old NCNC led by the great Nnamdi Azikiwe. He has so far failed to get the Igbos, he claims to lead, to follow his lead and to come on board in thousands like they had responded in the past to Azikiwe’s leadership. Ndigbo as a group presenting as many as five to six presidential candidates for President to run along with the Ikemba and the Ezeigbo as a candidate, was nothing short of an embarrassment to Ojukwu, and a disaster to Ndigbo as a political force in Nigeria. It is true that the Election may have been massively rigged by the PDP as alleged, but the poor performance of the other parties and candidates flies in the face of the great victory of Tinubu and the AD in Lagos. If Tinubu was able to match the PDP, naira for naira, and wit for wit, in Lagos State, the question can be asked, how come the other candidates and parties in much of the South could not do the same? The question can also be asked how come the ANPP under Buhari was still able to win in as many states as seven in the North? What the hell had happened to the PDP massive rigging formula in those few places in the North? It is a legitimate question that I believe the Election Tribunals should also be asking when the rubber meets the road. I am not disputing the fact that the PDP had done something unusual to sweep the whole country. That was pretty obvious. My question is what were the other parties and candidates doing? It could be an unfair question to be asking, at this point in time. But it is a legitimate question to ask.

The Ezeigbo would appear once again, in my judgment to have sold himself short. What is worse is his pronouncement after the Election that he was going to declare himself the winner and to swear himself in as President? That was somebody who had narrowly escaped being tried for treason some 33 years earlier for attempting to break the country apart. He is now threatening the country again, and he thinks the peoples’ memory is so short. Does the Ezeigbo have any sense of shame at all, is the question I keep asking myself? Finally, his decision to collude with Buhari and Okadigbo to start threatening fire and brimstone and by jointly issuing a communique with the duo, stating that Obasanjo’s new Government would not be recognized after May 29th, was the height of foolhardiness, in my opinion if not a joke carried too far. If you compare Ojukwu’s behavior with that of Philip Effiong since the Biafran War had ended, you cannot but see a clear difference. Philip Effiong had not bothered throwing himself into partisan politics or wanting to contest for any position in his State. He has been lying low, ever since, quietly asking if his pensions or substantive rank as a Lieutenant Colonel before the War could be restored to him, under the general amnesty granted to all surviving veterans of the Biafran war. He was a gentle man indeed, and a real decent officer with some sense of shame, all of which he had displayed even when he was thrown into the lion's den, so to speak, by becoming the officer to finally end the war and to conclude the surrender formalities with the Federal Forces. He had made a confession that only honorable officers like him could make in the peak of the personal humiliation he had faced as an Efik or Ibibio man fighting under the flag of the Biafran army. Here was Philip Effiong broadcasting his statement of surrender in 1970 with this quotation:

"We have always believed that the differences with Nigeria should be settled by peaceful
Negotiations. A delegation of our people is therefore ready to meet representatives of
Nigeria Federal Government anywhere to negotiate a peaceful settlement on the basis of
OAU resolution The delegation will consist of the Chief Justice, Sir Louis Mbanefo as
Leader, Professor Eni Njokwu, Mr J.I. Emembolu, Chief A.E. Bassey and Mr E. Aguma.
The delegation will have full authority to negotiate on our behalf.

Philip Effiong’s role was a most difficult challenge that any human being could face. But he rose to the challenge in order to assure an orderly surrender and to keep the heads of the defeated troops high in the face of a terrible humiliation and carnage never before witnessed in our country. I am giving kudos to him because he could easily have chosen to escape like his boss. But he chose to stay on and to surrender like a good and diligent officer should have done. I also give kudos to the late Justice Mbanefo and others in the delegation who have become part of the History of Nigeria for ever. The other missing link I would not leave out in this write-up is the role of Sir Francis Akanu Ibiam of blessed memory, one of the greatest men of principle who had voluntarily surrendered his insignia of office as a Knight of the British Empire in the following words in a personal letter addressed to Her Royal Majesty, Queen Elizabeth !! of England. Sir Francis Ibiam was a man of courage and principle, the type the young ones among us must learn to emulate.

"Your Majesty, I no longer wish to wear the garb of the British Knighthood.
British fairplay, British justice and the Englishman’s word of honor
which Biafra loved so much and cherished have become meaningless to
Biafrans in general and to me in particular. Christian Britain has shamelessly let down Christian Biafra"

The likes of Francis Ibiam and Philip Effiong have become endangered species in our country. Our nation needs more of their type, if we are ever going to be a great nation that we hope and deserve to be. It is time for us to begin to honor the memories of people like that in our country.

I rest my case.