The Nation Newspaper

Category: Weekend Treat

  • ‘I ate human flesh at Obubra’

    ‘I ate human flesh at Obubra’

    The other question I want to ask has to do with the fact that IBM Haruna said that he killed the Igbos in cold blood because there was a pogrom in Asaba

    Did he use the word pogrom?

    No, that is my language. Okay, he revenged because there was a pogrom of the Hausas in Asaba. You were in Asaba at that time, then made reference to the pogrom that happened. Now, does that now lend weight to the argument that the killings were on both sides?

     Let me tell you what I know. First the officers of the coup were considered as Nigerian army officers, but as the dust settled, they too started to read meaning to it.

    Who started reading meaning into it?

    The Igbo officers were fleeing. This thing is sectional oh! We have killed Saurdana, we’ve killed all the Hausa senior officers, they started sending their families home.  It was not to fight but to flee, I wrote in the book. Because if they waited to fight, they would have all gone to the armoury, it would have been one for one. Now the Igbo officers left, in the police, in the navy, everywhere they left.

    But they didn’t take confidently …(cuts in)

    They had the opportunities. So they left the Igbo traders undefended. They left the civilians undefended at the mercy of whoever had the gun. Ironsi, himself, as one of the blunderers took, as if to make you a governor was a compensation for a job well done… who wanted to be a governor? I wanted to command the Nigerian army. We wanted to be generals. We wanted our white gorgets as cadets to be red. He removed him from 5th battalion to Enugu as governor and he put a Hausa man there. He removed Ojukwu from 5th Battalion at Kano to Enugu. Having done that …

    Ojukwu was not one of the coup plotters?

    He was one of those who made the coup to fail in the north and Ironsi made the coup to fail in the south. As if making him a governor was compensation, why did he remove him as commander? So he put a Hausa man there, who was Shuwa, with guns in his hands. They were ready and that was what happened.

    But the officers were transferred…

    We didn’t transfer ourselves there! It just fell in place that they were Yorubas. So if you use the word that the Yorubas ended the war, that may be true. And that whether the north started the killings and so on, well it may be because you killed their people first. So when they got to Asaba, the Biafrans also killed the Hausas there. So when the federal troops now had the upper hand and got the initiative, they had their day. But in spite of that, the Igbos have always aligned with the Hausas even till today.

    You forgot the minorities, the Anangs and Itsekiris

    Why I use that word is because the whole east was considered Igbo in my time. In your time you now have Bayelsa. I never heard of Bayelsa before. So when I use the word east, I mean the whole east. When I use the word north, I mean the whole north and the whole west. And I am telling you today that that same west is still not part of PDP. So who is complaining? Who is ruling the country? Let us face this fact for once; I am saying that the strange destiny that put us together, let us understand it. That is why kolanut is grown in the west, it is eaten in the north and worshipped in the east because when we give you kola we give you life. In my father’s village, anytime I go to visit them, I come back with a lot of kolanuts in my pocket. That is life! You think God made a mistake by putting us together? Anybody who wants to fight, let him stand up to fight now, which is called revolution. And if we are going to sit down to talk, it is called resolution, let’s sit down and talk. I am not a Yoruba man, I am a minority in Ilorin; we are at the backyard of the north. I am a minority in the Igbo area; I am at the backyard of the Igbo. But I am telling you who is marginalised, it is the Yoruba. Where are they in the scheme of things? But the complaints since independence, Igbos and Hausas have been complaining that the country is not good.

    The point I want to make about what you have said is that, before the war, the Hausas planned the coup. With what happened after the coup, I was a small boy in Lagos, we ran away at night because our lives were in danger. In the north it was massacre..

    They started looking for Igbos when they got to Ore, where they started bombing.

    The point I was coming to is that, if that had to happened, what should the Igbos have done under the circumstance. That kind of pogrom, should it have happened? Officers were killed in a coup, pregnant women and children were being killed everywhere, was that called for?

    You still don’t get it. I told you about the feudal system; you killed his benefactor and he does not have a reason to live anymore. Live for what? They don’t know how to work, they have no job, you have killed our leaders who fed us. I told you not that we did not eat enough, we did not eat at all.

    Are you justifying it or you are explaining it?

    I’m explaining it that, you are saying pogrom, these people are not looking at it that way, I gave you the example about that in those days, everywhere that you found an Igbo man.

    Was that also part of the reason why, ‘okay, this people we have been targeting them, this is the opportunity to go and get them. Let’s kill them, let’s take all their properties. Even those in the civil service, others everywhere, let’s chase them away so we can occupy the place?’

    You are misinterpreting it. That’s not the point. The point was if you had killed the leaders, am sure if they had killed the Hausa and left the leaders, nothing would have happened. It’s like when they killed Ademulegun, they killed Ademulegun with his wife on the bed. They killed Sodeinde with a pregnant wife; what are we talking about here? If you look at it as an Igbo man, then you look at it as an Igbo man, I am talking to you as a Nigerian that what happened then, they could have carried on to the end. They would have done the same in the east. They would just handle the leaders and if you couldn’t get them, what you need to do was to jail them, put them in jail and lock them up even if it was only for one day. You killed a general in the room with the wife on the bed! These are people you ate with and drank together in the officers’ mess. I’m explaining this point for you to understand why they were vicious. A lot of us were happy about the coup. You will read my second book, don’t worry. But the point is again, when Biafrans got to Asaba, you must have read the book Blood on the Niger by Emma Okocha. When they got to Asaba, they killed all the Hausas in Ogbe Hausa, at Ikebu point. No one was allowed to escape. They wiped all of them out.

    After the pogrom?

    What pogrom?

    This is like a counter pogrom. (Laughter)

    You see, after you had killed the leaders, whether you called it pogrom or not, you had killed all of them.

    Now you are talking about the psychology of the feudal society…

    That is what I am telling you now, if you don’t know I know it because I was a beggar. I was just five years old. I carried plates to go to the street to beg until my mother came on the eighth day and took me, that was when I started going to school. I wrote it in my book. The Emir of Ilorin made me to go to school, the father of the current Emir.

    The image of the begging bowl throws up the question of money. In your other interview, you spoke of Adekunle, his terrible state now and you said that, am quoting you now. You said ‘if he (Adekunle) had made the kind of money that the rest of them made, he would be rich.’ That struck me and I began to wonder: in a war situation, do people make money?

    Do they?

    That’s what you said

    But you haven’t been to my house to see…

    Hold on, I am not saying you are among them?

    It is possible, I am not an angel. May be I didn’t steal enough.

    You said if he had made the kind of money the rest of the people had, he would be rich. Who are these people?

    I think somebody called me yesterday to say that there was an interview by Akin Aduwo when he said Adekunle told him to go and take 9 million pounds or something.

    My question is, who are these ‘rest of them’? Could you be more specific, or maybe how did they make this money from what was going on?

    Let me put it this way. Many of us in the army inherited this or that. For instance, my mother bought a place in Surulere, one bungalow, and I said Alhaja, you mean a general should live in a bungalow, lo ta ile o, (go sell your house), I don’t want to live in  a bungalow. My wife said ‘oh I will use if for hair dressing.’ Today, that house is being sold for N50 million. Many of us inherited one thing or the other. But again let me tell you, you have seen how officers live. Let me repeat myself, you have seen how officers live. You’ve been to some of them. Let us total their salaries from when they were in the army, was that what they spent in building those houses? Are you saying that Adekunle, if he stole that kind of 9 million pounds, you will see him unable to pay his medical bills?

    I’m interested in the rest of them, if you could be more concrete, and how was it possible at the war front to get rich?

    It was possible because when Obasanjo said they should pay all the soldiers, if a soldier was killed the other soldiers would pick up the money. It’s a free world now, so many of them could have done that.

    Other possibilities?

    I don’t know. Maybe they told them to go and buy weapon or supplies, but army officers in Marine Commando… for instance, Obasanjo wrote in his book, that they were buying cow for N60 and somebody was buying meat for N90 and when he came he negotiated N60 and they approved. Which Hausa man brought cow to Marine Commando?  Who was he talking to? He said he now discussed with cow dealers and they accepted N60 instead of N90. So which Hausa man brought the cow to the war front? I was Chief of Staff of Marine Commando. I didn’t have meat in my food until we got to Obubra and which meat did I eat? human flesh. It was human flesh and I used palm wine to wash it down, and I did not know until I  saw Capt Akinyanju in charge of supply and transport, and I said to him, well done you arrived so quickly you must have been following the attack. He said, ‘Oga, we never leave Calabar o, we’ve been eating meat since.’ I asked him, how come? He said, ‘I no know, make we go find out.’  The natives came and told us there were so many Biafrans on the streets and they put them in their houses. When we went and opened their freezers or something we found them, they’ve roasted them and I ate and I did not even vomit.

    I read Adekunle asked you how did human flesh taste?

    Adekunle said I heard you ate human flesh. I said, well, that’s what they told me that it was human flesh, not bush meat. He said how was it? I must have eaten the wrong part of the steak. And I said it was tender o. An officer, Utuk, at Owerri, when he saw me, he started crying. He said ‘the thing wey make me cry sir: the day I peed in my cup and put some garri to drink and as soon as I finished that garri, rain fell.’ What do you make of this? We had terrible experiences. What we went through was not a joke. Today you are talking about Nigeria and that’s why it pains people like me to see Adekunle in such condition.

    That brings us to the question of money generally as a value of exchange. There was this story sometime ago that Muritala Mohammed broke a bank and looted the bank. Was it true? Secondly, were there other cases of looting on the federal side?

    Let me tell you, I don’t have a reservoir of knowledge on these things we are discussing. I only know my side of the story and that is why in my book I said this is my story. Whoever is going to say it’s not correct must be there with me. Okay, first of all, I was not in Benin but it was Biafra that first entered Benin. The Biafrans did not take the money so they left it for Murtala to come around and take? Somebody must be lying. If you read Blood on The Niger, they took some money from the Central Bank to Asaba because they made Asaba their new headquarters.

     Adekunle emerged at the beginning of your story as not only a very good leader but also a genial person. You were also calling him egbon mi, then things changed. There are a number of stories that have been told about Adekunle that we don’t see in your story. One, we know that he wasn’t really in the battle front, the myth about him was that he was a man with the disappearing act. Two, that he was just a brave man in front of the battle carrying gun and killing Biafrans. From the story we know, that he did not even have contact with a lot of Igbos. So how did it come that Adekunle had become demystified in your book?

    The first thing was that Adekunle commanded the troop that captured Bonny, today adjudged as the best free-landing in Africa. He landed his troops at Calabar, again adjudged as one of the best free-landing because those were difficult operations then. Anywhere at all, free-landing, river-crossing, those were difficult operations. He successfully did that. Then I became his chief of staff; he had somebody to discuss with. We were friends before the war. He would say we were going to capture Obubra, what do you think? We would sit down and debate, and I mean the word debate. When he had to give his orders there was no doubt who was the commander but the debate helped both of us. We did not operate in Igbo areas, we were in Calabar, Port Harcourt, Eket, Ikot Ekpene, Obubra, Ntigidi, Opobo, Bori, Okrika, Bonnny, etc.

     But every time he went to Lagos, Adekunle would say all Igbos must die or something like that. I would ask him, Oga mi, this is the headline, did you say that? He would say he didn’t say that, and that the publisher had to sell its paper but that he boasted anyway. So Lagos did a lot of things to this man. And that was what happened. It was just unfortunate. He would come back with a newspaper saying I will kill anything that is moving, Adekunle was not there to kill anybody. He gave me authority to feed the people. I couldn’t have opened hospital for women and children without him giving me the authority. All I needed to do was ask. These people wanted to take school certificate, this is the school I have opened, he would come and see. One of the pictures was when he came to see the Biafrans that were captured, we kitted them, we gave them the numbers and documented them, he was there. But when he got back after he had captured Port Harcourt, something changed, he had told the press in Lagos, they said now that you have captured Port Harcourt, where next do you want to capture? he said ‘I want to capture Aba and Umuahia for the  commander’s birthday or independence.’ ‘Oga mi, you are not going to send me to Umuahia, nobody will send me there until my troops are ready for it.’ He said, okay, don’t worry. Shande, you are promoted lieutenant colonel, you go to Umuahia. Utuk, you are promoted lieutenant colonel, you go to Owerri. Akinrinade warned him that we could not go to Owerri, because left and right, Owerri to Umuahia is a distance to Aba and Owerri to Port Harcourt. With that there was a gap in between, how many troops did we have to cover these gaps?

    So it was okay to capture Aba because it was part of the movement. Remember, from Calabar to Port Harcourt, we were advancing like this with our right flank to the Igbo area. That’s Ikpot Ekpene, Aba, Omoku, Owerri, that’s to our right.  Therefore to be able to look after those areas, we needed reserve. If there was an attack for any side, we didn’t have to stop the troops advancing, the reserve would move in there. That was what happened in Ikot Ekpene and we didn’t realise that the Biafrans themselves, the officers were not too fast forward enough. I wrote it in my book there because every town a captain is not there, that’s why we didn’t attack Arochukwu. Uwakwe was my classmate, they shot him and the bullet came out of his mouth and broke all his teeth. He just died on the 15th of January this year. It was because of him I did not attack Urochukwu I sent him a note. He still had the note. He came to my house in Surulere and we discussed the note. And I said well, you didn’t attack, so we didn’t attack. That’s why there was no war in Arochukwu; there was no battle fought in Arochukwu.

    But Obasanjo went an Israelite journey to Arochukwu (laughter)?

    Obasanjo, God bless him. He sent Inih to Arochukwu. Here is what happened, let me put it this way, I don’t know how much of Baghdad war that you all know. The British were in Basra, Americans were going to Baghdad. Then for an American commander to send his troop to Baghdad so that they could pass through the British, we don’t operate in infantry like that. Because the man in Basra already knew the position of the enemy, how many they were, he already had his data. All he had to be told was attack this place, he got his data. You now send somebody coming from somewhere to go to Basra and do what?

    So Adekunle became paranoid?

    Adekunle, now because he had boasted to the press in Lagos that, “oh when I get there, I will spend the weekend in Port Harcourt, we will capture Port Harcourt on the 18th of May 1968. Well anybody who doesn’t like federal troops should just go through Owerri because I have closed Aba road.” You know what we agreed was that he should please announce that we would start artillery fire and anybody who didn’t like federal troops should go through  Owerri, don’t come to Aba because we had blocked Obigbo  and he started to boast in Lagos. What we are saying is that the mistake Adekunle made was the fact that he had boasted and when Owerri, Aba, Umuahia failed, he failed with it. Oga don’t let us do it this way, it was like the German officer telling Hitler don’t go to Barbarossa, don’t let us go to Barbarossa, he would say laye . He’ll say fall out, you are promoted to Field Marshall, that one quickly surrendered. He said Field Marshall will never surrender, he said well this will be the first Field Marshall to surrender.

    You didn’t say much about Adaka Boro in your book in the sense that he was the man who wanted his revolt, he was a very political person. You didn’t say much about his politics. He couldn’t have been even for Nigeria, we would have expected that he would have been for Nigeria because of the revolt against Nigeria?

    I agree with you but we never discussed politics. I was a 27-year-old boy. What wiould I know in politics. I just wanted to be a commander and I had my opportunity and when I got stuck I didn’t know what to do and he said, ‘Oga no be so I go do am, na so and I agree with them.’ You see that’s the difference about commanders you know, we are two different types. I could have said shut up, I’m the commander here. And I would have gotten stuck with what the others did. But in this case that’s the point you were asking me, but in this case I said if you say ‘no be so I go do am’, tell me how I go do am show me, and he showed me and that is why even right here, I wrote in this book here, look, I said ‘Isaac Boro left and Alabi Isama’s surmounting terrain challenges were difficult without Isaac Boro.’ That’s Isaac Boro, that’s myself, he was teaching me what to do, I was his commander but I didn’t know enough.

    And you have the picture of the person who killed Isaac Boro, can you just simply.. a kind of?

    Well, the strategy, scorpion strategy, here is what is called scorpion strategy. That’s how Adekunle got the name. What happened was that all of us were to converge in phase one at Opobo, in phase two at Aletu Eleme with Okrika on the other side, Akinrinade was not to attack Port Harcourt, Obasanjo said he attacked Port Harcourt and he failed. No, it’s not to attack PH, he didn’t know and he didn’t ask. Why was Akinrinade there? Akinrinade was to divert the attention coming from the left and when they saw that Akinrinade’s troop ran away from One, they reinforced One. The more they reinforced One, the more opened their plans. It was a tactic between myself and Akinrinade. You have read many mails Akinrinade Alabi, Akinrinade Alabi, that’s my part. We did that, you know that was how Adekunle got his scorpion name. and like I was telling you, you see Alabi Nsama advancing with the troops here, this is Alabi Nsama and before they would start opening fire and I said, ‘okay, all of you now make una continue o, I will  go look for ammunition and come back, would that be right?’

    This was Adekunle’s idea?

    No, no  I drew this.

    But he got the name scorpion through it?

    I called it scorpion strategy.  His sting is in the tail, he just got that name from Winston Churchill. Winston Churchill and Kola Animashaun was a journalist. I think they had a quarrel with what Winston said was that at age of 32 or something you are the commander here, the divisional commander, Adekunle said your father was 26 when he was a member of parliament, why would you think an African will not do, so they quarreled from there. Then he said look, just send him to Alabi because he was asking how did we cross Opobo River without the crossing equipment. And I said we crossed with canoe and I started showing him these things. Look at 500 canoes, one canoe carries six men with kits, 35 men were to cross the river, then we built burton. We built two burtons like Alexander The Great, 332 BC to cross to our fighting positions. 35, 000 troops, 1600 bags of garri, 1200 bags of rice, 600 bags of beans, 20 bags of salt, armoured cars, cases of ammunition, artillery, weapons, vehicles and more crossed in 48 hours, all day all night. He was the one that consummated the battles after which Obasanjo took the glory for the surrender of Biafra, he was the one that protected him after the Dimka coup and aided his becoming head. Why is it that in spite of all Akinrinade had done for Obasanjo, Obasanjo does not like him?

    Despite all that Jesus did for everybody, what became of Him? That’s what happens. People like that, you know I told Kunle Ajibade when they came here, you know in life my dear brother, there is this phenomenon of history. These things do happen that people thought of in rare situations like Ghengis Khan, Ataturk, Hitler, their destiny would take life and blood and people like Mandela would be there. Gowon, despite the Geneva Convention, he also set up another to say this is my code of conduct, don’t kill Igbo, don’t do this, don’t do that. There are people like that. Alexander Dumas in France, that man won all the battles; he was a black man his mother was a slave. He won battles, he commanded the French troops, they sent him to the coldest points and he won battles there. When Napoleon came, in order to get credibility for his scheme, he said everybody was a slave. Alexander Dumas died penniless. You see, this phenomenon happens in life with mankind. What Hitler wanted with bullets, today Germany got with ballots. Is it not better today without killing anybody?

    They are taking over the whole of Europe?

    Today is there any country in Europe that would not respect Germany. Now, that’s what Hitler wanted but he did it his own way. That was the level of his IQ.

    Let me take you to the political terrain sir. At the point when Ojukwu and Gowon went to Aburi, if Nigeria had accepted Aburi, don’t you think things would have been better today?

    You see that is politics and I don’t like politics. But I have started liking politics, you know why, when politicians launched their books, all politicians were there, army is going to launch book it was difficult to find army men around. My colleagues were too old, many of them suffer from arthritis, in fact, today I was told to go and check myself for blood sugar level. They told me to go and check it today because I told them I had headache yesterday and my hands were shaking. Actually I didn’t eat, we were busy here. They said okay go check your blood sugar. We are all old people. Many of my old friends you will see with walking stick and limping. So, Alabi-Isama is different. My brother, You are talking to me about politics. When they went to Aburi, what was Ojukwu looking for? He was not looking for how his people will be secured and safe, he wanted Biafra. If he was talking of security, he would sit down there with his people and debate. Okay, we would be back in Nigeria on these conditions, they didn’t do that. I am a strategist not a politician. That’s what I would have done. Because you don’t get what you want, you get what you negotiate. He didn’t do that. He wanted Biafra, not security of his people. Are Igbo people not secure now?

    But some people are clamouring for regions now?

    Yes

    The South West for instance, the same route Aburi was enlisting!

    Aburi was looking for confederation. We are not looking for confederation, we are looking for one Nigeria. See the kolanut has put us together and we don’t know why. Let us face facts between us here today, are we not better off Nigerians than Biafrans or than Oduduwas Hausas? Today, we have broken the back of the middle class. Can we move this country forward without the middle class? Who finished them? You will read it in my book.

    You said Biafra had numerous talented officers; was it Ojukwu’s fault as a general not to be able to deploy them well?

    You are very right. I wrote a bit about that in my book where Njoku could have been the commander. Ojukwu would have been a PR person full stop. Zik you go do politics, Njoku you go do military duties. He would have distributed them. What I am telling you is that when we put the Biafrans back in the army after we captured them, they were pleased, they fought against Biafra, so that shows you that they were not looking for slogans. These people were looking for food, for security and they got them on our side and words go out fast. They told the rest and the rest came back. Biafra almost had nobody left at a point. The women and all the children that were starving came back and they got food. Nobody gave me the food to go and give Biafra it was my initiative. I did that so they could come back to the Nigerian side and I went on an attack with them, they did well. So what I am saying is that Ojukwu did not deploy his men properly. You need to read Ben Gbulie’s book on Biafra, how they went and even furnished their houses because we are talking about head of state house, they went to furnish their houses when people could not eat.

    You rated Njoku above Ojukwu?

    Because he was senior to Ojukwu.

    Beyond that you seems to … (cuts in)

    Yes, because I went on an operation with Njoku and Njoku saw what I did, he praised me for it. He was the Biafran commander. I am very sure he would have said I knew Alabi-Isama was not going to sit down there for you to get him, let’s do it this way. I also know Madiebo well, Madiebo just did wonders. How he was able to keep the army for three years, I don’t know. But believe me I will give him credit here because they said they had no weapons. That could not have been his fault, that was where the government failed and the army failed, well that was well said.

    You are talking of this second book, a sequel; does it mean this book has not exhausted what you want to say about the war and why not?

    Why not, I read a newspaper, I think it was The Nation, December 10 last year where (Walter) Ofonagoro was addressing Igbo youths and he said the first coup was not Igbo coup, I agree with that. Then he said 75 percent of Nigerians were ruled by Igbo people, I agreed with him but he missed the point when he was now talking about Bakassi. He was talking about pogrom and he was taking about genocide. That genocide, I need to address the issue. You slapped me and I broke your head, then you went and reported to the elders, am I guilty? These are the issues we are talking about. Let me tell you here whether on record or off record, the Igbo will rule this country in the near future, only if they stop trading and start manufacturing what they are selling. Where is Peugeot Automobile of Nigeria (PAN) today? Obasanjo went and bought foreign vehicles, that was how PAN collapsed. Now Awolowo warned in Aba that we should have stopped this second hand clothing. He went into the Aba Textile Mill and he saw it was not doing well and he said ‘don’t worry, by the grace of God when I become president I will stop this second hand clothing and the textile people would start booming’. Today we don’t have any textile mill in the whole country. Look at what you have here with you, which one is manufactured here? Everything including biro and paper and your slippers which one is manufactured here? We are just selling what people produced. What am trying to tell you is that in my second book, I have not finished talking, why is this quarrel necessary when the Igbo and Hausa are ruling the country from independence till today yet we cannot stop complaining. That’s my point about the second book.

    As a follow up to this, I understand your views on pogroms, genocide and the blockade and all that but, the way the Igbo see it is that they were unfairly treated by the Nigerian nation. It was like a gang up to exterminate the Igbo. That is how the Igbo are seeing it. Even till today, there is no memorial anywhere to say that we fought a war? At least a million people died from both sides because it is about the Igbo people just want to sweep it under a carpet and forget about it. All over the world it is not done like that, then on a lighter side, I notice that you were wearing a beard as a soldier all through the war were you allowed to wear a beard? Then the last one, I am interested in knowing who were you classmates?

    It’s in the book: Danjuma, Ogbemudia, Adamu, Apollo, Bamgboye,

    What about in Secondary School?

    Secondary school is also here, I was captain of Ibadan Boys High School. The story is there. There are pictures there. We were the Western champion in football, we beat everybody.

    The bushy beard ?

    As you can see, am still not smooth because I have this acne when I got to England I had too many of it and they told me don’t worry it will all go when you are married. You will have many children, I have many children but it still didn’t go. Any time we were at the sea side, remember we were at the Atlantic shore and there was salty water and when it touches it formed rashes. And because of that I asked and got the authority’s permission. It happened to Ariyo, it happened to Akinrinade, it happened to me so we were given authority to keep our beards and I kept mine.

    The Igbo question. No memorial…

    If I were Igbo, I would feel exactly like that but I have been detribalised so my thinking is straight and I will tell you where the Igbo were right and where they were wrong and where the Hausa and Yoruba were right and wrong. The thing about genocide, when the Hausa leaders were killed and some Yoruba also were killed and we now found out that there were Igbo people that were not touched, what will you think? Whether they think it was right or wrong, that was what happened. The Hausa were leaderless. Look at what happened during Miss World. I was in Houston, many of those girls came back to the US, their parents were talking in the Golf Club and they said, you are going to Nigeria to do business, you better not go to the northern part of it and people now don’t want to go there because their children went for Miss World and there was rioting and about 100 people died. Out of these 100 how many would you say were Igbo, perhaps more than 50 percent. And what caused the riot, because some people were in bikini. You see, the Igbo have the right to think so. But I asked you the same question, you slapped me and in fighting back I broke your head, you went and reported to the elders, am I guilty? You killed people in Kaduna; they should let you go, I hear you. If my father had been there or my mother, I will level the entire neighbourhood o. You went to Asaba, killed all the Hausa at night, the Hausa came back in the midnight and revenged. You know those who really lost in this war, not just the Igbo people. Children of 3, 4, 5 years of age who saw their father and mother shot dead in front of them and they couldn’t do anything, they would live with it forever. These are the people I am addressing in my book that this should never happen again. You know I was telling you a while ago that the Igbo would still rule this country whether people like it or not. Just like the Germans, the day they now have this petroleum industries, many of these things we are using are petroleum based. All these you are holding are petroleum based, we are selling these things (as crude oil), the day they stop selling them and we start manufacturing with them or assembling them, just like the Germans, you will see what would happen in this country. But my brother, they have the right to think that Nigeria didn’t like them. But let me tell you, who will do what Gowon did? Apart from Geneva Convention, he insisted that we must do this, we must do that, even my own mother told me that I should never kill anybody looking at me in the face. Which civil war, in American civil war; there is war going on in Darfur, in the Congo, which did their leaders say don’t do this, don’t do that to the ‘enemy? We should be worshiping Gowon and am telling you why we all have come to this stage of hating or believing that the Igbo have been hurt is because Gowon did not try them (for war crimes). If he was one of those hawks from the north, one of those officers, they will try everybody, line them up and shoot them. And I don’t see what would have happened because they would try them properly; they carried weapons against the federal government of Nigeria and the national flag. I am telling you that we have nobody like Gowon in any part of the world that did what Gowon did. Yet he was discredited, the Igbo were given opportunities to talk because if people like Obasanjo did operation pincer one , there would be less than one thousand Igbo in Nigeria after the war. That’s what he did in Odi and Zaki Biam. As I wrote in my book, Gowon was not the hawk, he declared “no victor, no vanquished”. And for the Igbo to say they were starved when they already starved themselves. They killed the Italian oil workers forgetting that most of their relief supplies were coming from Rome, they captured 18 of them and even tried them and shot them.

    Why were they killed?

    They said they were passing information to the Nigerians; they were working in the oil fields.

    It reflects the Biafran propaganda?

    Completely and everybody ran away from them. That’s why Goldstein left, that’s why the Caritas left, that’s why the Pope left, that’s why the entire Europe left and now they supported Nigerians and said look go finish this war and lets us go rest. That’s what happened!

  • Is it possible to fall in love with someone you have never met?

    Laura: Good morning ma. I have a problem with my relationship.

    Adeola Agoro II:  Go on, let’s share it.

    Laura: There is a guy whom I love so much. He is in Sweden and we have dated for six months. I havn’t seen him before but he has seen me when I was small before he travelled.

    Adeola Agoro II: Yes… I’ reading, go on.

    Laura: I got to know him through my sister and we dated for six months

    Adeola Agoro II:  What is the problem with the relationship?

    Laura:  He asked me to go to his family for them to know me, which I did. He broke up with me for no good reason. He blocked me on FB and stopped my number from calling him.

    His family loves me so much they have talked to him but he gave them a deaf ear.

    The cause of the problem is we were chatting one day when he told me that he wanted us to be chatting once a month. I asked him why and he told me that’s the way he wants it.  But he used his brother’s name to chat with me on FB.

    I told him while I was chatting with him online that he said we should chat once a month and he was using his brother’s name to chat with.

    Adeola Agoro II: You want to hear the truth?

    Laura: Yes ma

    Adeola Agoro II: It is certain he could be married and doesn’t want this online relationship to spoil what he has. Why on earth would he be hiding you or hiding to chat with you under another name if not that he is trying to protect a more serious relationship?

    Laura: That’s true.

    He told me he has a son with a white woman but they are not married and they don’t live together.

    Adeola Agoro II:  You’re a very fine girl, so I will advise you not to waste your time chasing shadows. Most of these people abroad may not have valid residence papers except they marry citizens. At this point in his life, he is most likely to be trying to face the most important thing he’s abroad for – making a living. You may mean a lot to him emotionally, but he has to use his head in order to stay aboard poverty in a foreign land.

    Laura: I’m madly in love with him ma, I don’t know what to do. There was a time he told me that he would like his parents to go and pay my dowry, I said no, that I haven’t seen him, that we should wait till he comes back.

    Adeola Agoro II:  So many of our men abroad would really love to marry our girls, but I just explained to you the difficulties some of them experience to you. His intentions may be noble, but when reality comes knocking, they must follow it. On your part, yes, it is normal to fall in love with that man who professes love. For a young girl like you, it is even sweeter that he’s abroad and you may be thinking about the opportunities before you should he invite you to join him, but you have to face the reality on ground – he has constraints that may mar his chances abroad if he gives in to passion instead of proper reasoning and financial reality.

    Laura: Ok i just have to move on with my life.

    Adeola Agoro II: I guess so. Read me in The Nation this coming Saturday and get more hints for your concern. Please read some feedback below:

    1.      Yes it’s extremely possible to love someone you have never met. My boyfriend and I met online, and we did not meet for 5 months. I was totally in love with him long before we ever met. Now we have lived together over 3 years and we are extremely happy together. The heart knows no boundaries, no state lines, and no distance. You can love across the street or across the country it doesn’t make a difference. What you need to do is tell this person how you feel about them, so that they know how you feel, and find out if they feel the same way about you.

    2.      Don’t expect it to be easy though, relationships are harder than anything you see in the movies and long distance relationships are harder still. Your Mr. Right may not even be the one in Sweden, he could be living on the other side of town right now. But yes, it does happen, and it is entirely possible that it could happen to you.

    3.      Maybe one of you doesn’t want to feed the relationship with just skype and emails for years until maybe you can move. I’d say the chances are higher if you’re living in the same country with hi long term.

    4.      After you weigh up the logistics the expense and the sheer hassle you’ll soon find the notion of romance wears off. Ok…you fantasize about meeting and falling in love with someone from another country but why does he have to be Irish? It shouldn’t matter to you where the person is from and long distance relationships are hard and frustrating (especially when neither of you can move to live together).

    5.      Men in Sweden men are no better than men living in Nigerian. A lot of those abroad are disrespectful, sleazey, fat and ugly and very broke. Honestly I wouldn’t advise you to waste your life and time on him. Trust me.

     

  • I want to be a columnist, what does it entail?

    Ifeoluwa Adewuyi Tosin: Aunty A2, please ma, I want to be a columnist, what does it entails? I wish to b one.I love writing but I wouldn’t knw if its gud enof.

    Please help me out.

    Adeola Agoro: ‘What does it entail?’, you meant to write, I’m sure, not ‘what does it entails?’.

    First of all Ifeoluwa, you have to be very proficient in the language you’re using to express yourself. Then you must find an area of interest that will also interest other people.

    Are you looking at writing on crimes, society, gossips, religions, health, tourism or what? You must decide which area you are very good at and begin to write. To convince any editor about your ability to write, you would be expected to submit up to 10 articles of the piece you’re going to be writing on.

    The next step would be to take your articles to media houses of your choice and talk to editors. If you’re good enough and there is space for you in the paper, you wouldn’t need to worry – you’d be added to their list of columnists faster than you could ever imagine.

    In all, I wish you the best.

  • Obasanjo was a blundering general –Alabi-Isama

    Obasanjo was a blundering general –Alabi-Isama

    Wars end but the memories last forever. This is the object lesson to be gleaned from a new war memoir, The Tragedy of Victory, by Brigadier-General Godwin Alabi-Isama. This is an on-the-spot-account of the Nigeria-Biafra war as fought from the Atlantic front. Alabi-Isama, then a colonel, was the chief of staff of the 3rd Marine Commando Division (3MCDO) of the Nigeria Army which was led at various times by Generals Benjamin Adekunle, Alani Akinrinade and Olusegun Obasanjo. Only 27, energetic and full of derring-do, Alabi-Isama was the tactician, footman and engine room of the 3MCDO which was pivotal to the eventual conquest of Biafra in 1970.
    The Tragedy of Victory is significant and different from previous books on the same subject for numerous reasons. First, it is the first major account of the war from a foot soldier. It is a 670-page tome with over 300 war photographs which will be presented to the public in Lagos, July 18. Coming 43 years after the end of the war, it is expected to have taken into account and corrected the mistakes and misconceptions in earlier books especially My Command, authored by Olusegun Obasanjo. It is indeed, a rich trove of history of the Nigerian Civil War and attendant crises of nationhood. Alabi-Isama rose to the rank of a Brigadier-General in the Nigerian Army upon his retirement in 1977. In this interview with SAM OMATSEYE, STEVE OSUJI and FEMI MACAULAY, chairman and members respectively, of The Nation’s Editorial Board, Alabi-Isama was particularly unsparing of his former commander, Olusegun Obasanjo whom he considers clueless about war tactics, blundering and cowardly. He also spoke about the Black Scorpion, Benjamin Adekunle, Alani Akinrinade, the then Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon and the blunders made by both sides of the divide, among other issues. Excerpts:

    The war ended in 1970. This is 2013, how come it took you this long to write this book?

    First of all, I didn’t know I had what it takes to write a book. And secondly, I did not really want to write the book. As soon as I left the military in 1977, I went to the United States where I lived for 35 years. I came home for my 70th birthday, General Alani Akinrinade (rtd) was there and we got talking about the war and I said well this (Olusegun) Obasanjo’s book My Command; he said if you read it, you will have stomach trouble. It is not worth reading. I said well let me just read the book, he brought me two copies. And with those two copies, I tell you even till today when I read it, I get sick. First of all, the pictures in the book are wrong. Then the maps in the book are also wrong. He drew the map of places he didn’t know and had never been, he didn’t ask questions. If he had asked questions, he would have learnt. He didn’t do that. Luckily for me, because I was renovating my mother’s house in Ilorin, I saw a big box and I opened the box thinking my mother left me some money. I opened the box to find my old uniforms, my cane, and plenty of war pictures. She didn’t arrange the pictures, she just poured them into a bed sheet, you know how these old women tie things, and she poured them into the bed sheet, tied the bed sheet, put it in a box and covered that box with a cello tape. Except for two pictures, everything else is still crisp clear.

    How did I get around taking the pictures? We were looking for a crossing point at a place called Eki, in Anang area, we wanted to cross into the main land and I went on patrol with the troop, it is not normal for a chief of staff to go on patrol with the men but I wanted to see it myself, so when we got there we found there were no (enemy) troops there; we didn’t see anybody so we decided: well let’s move forward. So we moved forward. We didn’t know that we were surrounded. By the time they opened fire everybody ran and so I ran. At school I used to run 100 and 200 meters; that day I ran 26 miles. I sat down under a tree and I was panting, then I saw my orderly, Effiong, “You made it!” I exclaimed. “Yes,” he said, “I made it sir.” And I said to him that I wish somebody would see us now and see how we are suffering, we could even take the pictures and go show them in Lagos how we are suffering. He said, “Oga, am a photographer but because of the blockade, I had no film, I was out of business, but I have a studio and I have the chemicals and everything but no films.” I told him to write the specification of the film his camera uses. He wrote it and I sent it to my mother in Lagos. My mother went to Kingsway and bought large quantities of Kodak films and sent to me at the war front. I told Effiong, If I stand, take my photo, if I sit take my photo, if I cough, take my photo, fortunately he was a professional photographer. He took professional pictures. He took the terrain, the bridges, in fact, all the movement, the strategies; as a matter of fact I just discovered some pictures that he took of my war room. Since I had warned him never to enter my war room, I think he took them from the key hole.

    Then they transferred this young man (pointing to an elderly photographer in the room), and he said he was also a photographer. You are a photographer too, o ti ya! (jolly good, join the show!) So this man also took part of the pictures that you are seeing here today. I was lucky. They took over a 1000 pictures. I never thought they were anything, just one of those albums. My mother didn’t like where you see dead bodies, she would throw the picture somewhere here and there. But after reading that Obasanjo’s book, it would have been my words versus his words but for these pictures. The pictures told the story. I have 650 pages of scripts here with 450 pictures, 35 war maps and 19 documents. It has not been equalled anywhere. Many of the civil war books were written by Biafran officers and men. The Nigerian ones, I think only Obasanjo wrote; the rest didn’t write about tactics or strategies of war. Even now, the book by (Adewale) Ademoyega wrote about the problem of genocide but he was in jail so how would he know where the genocide happened. Anyway, I got this pictures, I started writing. By looking at one picture, I knew where it was taken and what happened there.

    Talking about books, you must have read other Biafran war books. Which of them do you think was a little bit close to what happened: Madiebo, Ademoyega, etc?

    Only two of them, (Alexander) Madiebo’s is correct, absolutely correct. And I mean the word absolutely correct. The other one was by Achike Udenwa, I understand he was a governor somewhere. In the book, he wrote why there was starvation. Moving people away from their villages; they left their goats, they left their cows, they left their chickens and everything and we were eating the chickens….and they were starving. How far will you go, and what will you carry? How many cows will you be dragging along? You know, so Achike Udenwa and Madiebo, I think those two books are very reliable accounts.

    But they are books that take it from the Biafran perspective? Yours is viewed as the first major book that tells it from the federal side?

    True

    Now having been as you related, you served in two of the divisions. At the beginning you were supposed to be with Murtala Muhammed and then you also served under Benjamin Adekunle. What would you say were the blunders or mistakes of Biafra?

    First of all, starting from August 8th 1967, Biafra should not have gone to the Mid-West at all. Their going there shocked even the federal government. Because (David) Ejoor at that time wanted the place to be neutral because more than half of the Mid-West was Igbo speaking people, the other half is non-Igbo speaking people. But all of them together were killed in the north. Be it Yoruba or Ibibio, you were dead! Now, there was that neutrality in the Mid-west. Breaking that neutrality was like Hitler in ‘Operation Barbarossa’ when he went to Russia. Now, what clearly happened to them was that they got to the Mid-west, they looked at Ore, it’s a large expanse of land and they were defeated by the large empty space. Like the Germans who saw endless land but wondered what are we going to do here? That was even enough to have finished them. And when Nigeria counter-attacked at Ore, they, Nigerians had to run away, the Nigerian troops ran way. And that’s why you have Oleku ija Ore. Ha, this one wahala dey o…everybody scattered. But you see, from there on, when Nigeria re-organized and they started counter-attacking, why was Nigeria successful? It was because the Biafran troops had gone too far. They were now exhausted, they have had a battle, how many people did they put on the road? Let’s say for instance they had about 10 vehicles, what happens if there was a puncture with one vehicle. It means the troops inside that vehicle would cease to advance. Or for whatever reason they had a fan belt problem. It was a complete blunder. It shouldn’t have happened at all, but it happened. And when Nigerians had the upper hand the Biafrans were tired and they were now running back. It gave the Nigerians the confidence that when we attack these people they would keep running, so they kept chasing them. That was what happened. Not that Nigerians were better, no! The Biafrans were exhausted, they had seen large expanse of land, how far could they go to the right or left or forward? There were few of them. There was no back up, there was no reserve, there was no planning. And then plus the situation where they said Banjo had deceived them. Look this type of situation had always happened in military history. If you look at 281 BC, there was this General Pyrrhus, that’s why you have what is called Pyrrhic victory, he exhausted himself. And that was what happened to Biafra. The strategy was wrong, the tactics applied were wrong.

    What route should they have taken if they didn’t go through Midwest?

    Alright, if I were in their shoes, what I would have done was to ask: what was the aim. It was important to know what the aim was, let me give you’re an example of what I mean. Many people always miss it. In military you can’t afford to miss it. Let’s say we are going to attack Lagos, what is the aim, when we get to Lagos what are we there for? You say to collect tax, if you are advancing from Ibadan and you got to Victoria Island, you really have not got to Lagos because your aim is to collect tax. You must stop the people from going away, the people you are going to collect tax from. If your aim was to get to the sea and say yes I have captured Lagos, you will miss that aim. Your troops will go to the border to make sure nobody will run away, then you’ll make sure that you pamper people so that they will understand why you are there. If you kill them, who do you collect tax from? So it is your tactics and strategies now, your aim will dictate the tactics and the strategies applied.

    Why were they (Biafrans) going to Lagos? What was the aim? If it was to scare them, if it was to capture Lagos, whatever you are trying to achieve, get the aim and then you will know the tactics. How many vehicles do they have coming to the Midwest? The Midwest officers, the Igbo officers they depended on ran away, they didn’t stay with them. Nwajei was not there, Okwechime was not there, those that were there were like Oche, Eziche, they were junior officers so they told those ones to carry on and they stayed back. We are still talking about the blunders. When Biafra entered the Midwest, I was commander at Asaba guarding the Asaba Niger Bridge. They first went to Ogbe Hausa at the cable point like Sabongari. They killed all the Hausa there and I mean all, children, women, everybody. Those that escaped swam across into Onitsha, and they were killed. It’s in Madiebo’s book; it is in Emma Okocha’s book. Emma Okocha is from Asaba and he wrote this story. I was lucky, not that I was clever when they attacked me, I had grenades ready. Because I was staying at the Nkeffi Guest House which today is Grand Hotel; it was a glass door, they had shattered the glass. Through that, I threw the grenade, it landed well. So the fact that I was able to overpower 20 people was not because I was clever, I was lucky. It’s like David and Goliath. When David shot his slings it went the right way. It is God that directed it for us to meet today.

    So that’s one blunder. At that time, you don’t need more than 15 people to capture Lagos. There was no GSM, five people will go to the border, five people will stay at the airport and five people would wait at Dodan Barracks. You could do that at that time because there was still movement. People where still moving, there was no restriction because of the neutrality of the Mid-west, so he could have just infiltrated into the place and then once he has taken over the airport, control towers, and you stopped all planes coming in you simply commandeer all the planes to Enugu to bring in your troops, depending on what aim you want to achieve. You know what, their blunders were too many and then they alienated the natives, the natives of Anang, the Efik, the Ibibios, remember this story, that war story did not start during the war. Eyo Ita was supposed to be the Premier of the Eastern Region. They didn’t let him, he had that in mind I have his picture. These people where actually waiting for a day like that day and they supported the federal troops. The Biafrans did not recruit these people into their army and those who went into their army did not like to be with Biafra. Udenwa wrote about that in his book. We recruited the natives because they could swim. Without Isaac Boro we wouldn’t have got Port Harcourt, that’s a fact. He taught me (I was his commander) how to walk on the marshy area. He would say ‘ Oga make you use your toes as if you are dancing ballet.’ And then I will use my toes and he would say Oga, you are not moving well and I will say oh shut up! But he taught me and we were successful. I am giving him the credit because that is what he deserves. I kept asking the same question, were the people Biafra or was Biafra the people in the book? If Biafra is for all of you and you have that calibre of politicians in the place, you have that calibre of engineers you had, you needed to have all hands on the deck. Whether you are from Bayelsa or anywhere, you all suffered during that killing in the north, during the unrest. All you needed to do was call back your key politicians and tell them to go and campaign. Zik and all of them; but Ojukwu put Okpara in jail. He jailed Okpara, he wanted Zik himself to fail, all his businesses were taken from him, and so they already had been defeated before the war started.

    The issue of believability is central to this account because it is a historical work and from the federal side, apart from Obasanjo’s book this is supposed to be another major work, why should we believe your own narrative? Two, you spoke of Obasanjo’s wrong pictures and wrong maps. I don’t know what you mean by wrong pictures. Three, you seem to have relied more on the power of memory in your recollection of events; there was no diary, why should we trust your account?

    You don’t have to trust me. I have 450 pictures in the place. For instance, Obasanjo said we had an Officers’ Mess, his picture is in the book, eating with bare hands without fork and knife and cracking chicken bone and there is no dining table. I am talking about facts and figures. If somebody is talking about your village for instance and he is telling you that there is a statue of Gowon in your village, you who own the village will say Na lie, na there them born me, na leg I take walk around pass this place and there is no statue like that. You will be talking facts and figures. I, Alabi-Isama commanded the troops that captured Obubra, the entire Cross River of today. I captured the entire Akwa Ibom of today, I led the troops that captured the Rivers State of today. I led the troops that captured the Bayelsa of today. I was there with my feet, the soldiers asked Oga, we go go again? I said we dey go. Eh I get blisters, I will remove my shoes, look at my own blisters and we were there together. My pictures are there in the book.

    They say pictures don’t lie, you said Obasanjo had wrong pictures?

    Yes the wrong pictures, for instance in his book he said I was at Itu and he was talking about Ikot Ekpene; he said that he was at Ikot Ekpene and he had a masterly briefing, the picture was Obeya at Itu, it was not Ikot Ekpene. And then there was another picture at Uli Airstrip where he said alright, all soldiers move out and he took the picture alone at the centre of Uli Airstrip. When Adekunle came to the war front after we had captured Port Harcourt, he said he would like to advance five miles with us. We showed him the map, we showed him where we were going, we showed him where we were and the type of enemy we would meet. He advanced with us and when we came back he announced, “everybody come, photographer, Alabi photographer come and take this picture.” There was a bit difference and I am saying so. I was there, he wasn’t there. He could not be writing about where he was not.

    This photographer was there with you?

    He was there. His picture is there in the book. So when I say a map is wrong, for instance, we went to close a border. Cameroon border at a place called Nsakpa. I can mention the name because I was there. And then he drew the map to show that we went through a road. We didn’t go there. I infiltrated 7000 troops and came out behind them when they were on the road. I told them I didn’t need casualties. I didn’t need dead bodies; I needed to capture the place. If I had followed the route, we would be fighting Biafran soldiers. I would have had casualties. How did you think we would have captured Port Harcourt in 30 days advancing from Calabar, 480 kilometres? We did not enter any town.

    So you are implying sir that Obasanjo’s work was a huge misrepresentation of what happened?

    What work did he do?

    The book

    Every part of the book.

    Hold on sir

    This is the book

    Was a huge misrepresentation of what happened?

    Yes.

    Apart from your centrality to the event, I am sure there are other senior people like yourself who perhaps for the sake of this question, who perhaps had the same idea of what happened contrary to what Obasanjo published. How come they had not come out before your own book to tell the federal story?

    They don’t have the pictures; it will be your word versus my word. Obasanjo was the president of the country he was the head of state of the country. Alabi was nobody; you never fight anybody standing when you are lying down.

    So the strength of your book lies in the pictures?

    That’s it. That’s all. Otherwise it would be my words versus his words.

    Still on the blunders, you also said that the Biafran troops spread themselves unnecessarily in the Midwest so they wasted troops?

    They did the same thing even in the main war itself because you see in the world war the Japanese were all over Mariana Island in the Pacific and the Americans would just touch a hole. I love General Paton. From Obubra, (I wished there is a black board here,) I would have drawn this map, I know the whole place, I was there. From Obubra to Port Harcourt is over 1000 kilometres, how many people will you put in every inch of the kilometre? Between one kilometre and the other, there is a gap. So let us say that they put 10, 10,000 you would have had more than a million in the army, they didn’t have it. Let’s assume for the purpose of this discussion that they had a thousand or 10, 000 in one point. I went to Port Harcourt with 35, 000, blew through the place. We knew the style, we went to the same military school and during those strategy discussions with Adekunle, he would be Biafran today, I will be Nigerian. If you do this, how will you do this? And invariably, all we discussed came to pass. For instance Biafra came to counter attack in Ikot Ekpene. They went as far as to a place called Ikpe junction. They had no more reserves. I had not even attacked them. They just saw an open place. Ikpe junction was a killing ground. They didn’t do all that and then, you know why we didn’t eat bush meat? If a soldier would kill bush meat he would have to shoot, the others, maybe Nigerians themselves would kill him because from the direction of shot we would open fire. We never ate bush meat and the soldiers know that. And so when our troops would fire somewhere, Biafrans would fire to the place. Ha! Now we know where they are. We had no intelligence report of where they were. We used to send ladies to go along with refugees and the ladies would tell us what they saw, how many they saw, which building they were staying in and so on.

    There is a question about logistics am worried about, 35 000 men is a large number so how were you able to manage and move that number?

    I am happy you asked that question because I was 27 years old. How much of it did I know? But one thing I was taught was that if your logistics is wrong you will lose the war. General Alexander Madiebo told me that central cooking was not possible for them after the first two, three months of the war. So they lived on the land. So the logistics was out of this world. I wrote about that as part of our challenges. First of all, you had to cook for 35,000 men, how did I do it? I divided them into sections of tens and they would go and cook. You’ll come to the central bulk breaking point, you collect your garri or your yam or whatever and you will go and cook for your 10 men. It was easy to manage 10 men and that means there are about 3,500 cooking places. Where was the firewood or where was the gas or where was the electricity to cook? We depended on the marine commando ladies we recruited. Many of them died of landmines looking for firewood, so you can see that even those ones on intelligence on radio and all that were not as important as those ones supplying us fire woods for cooking. The logistic was enormous. In the mangrove forest, in the water logged areas, it was enormous. For instance, we built pontoons to cross Opobo River. It’s all in the book.

    Certainly the logistical challenges must have influenced the duration of the war, what other things do you think contributed to making the war last as long as it did?

    Well, definitely not from Adekunle’s side. He wanted me to capture Obubra in 30 days, everybody running kitikiti, today if you start walking from Calabar to Port Harcourt, I don’t know whether you will make it in 30 days. Then we were fighting, we were advancing, we were moving and even Gen Madiebo in his book said that within one hour or so, we had captured about 50 miles. How was that possible, he asked? It was the tactics and the strategy. It worked; if it didn’t work we would have been drinking water at the Atlantic Ocean. Our backs to the Atlantic our chest to the Biafran bullets; we had nowhere to run to and if the logistics went wrong, the soldiers would starve, they will not be able to move. If the ammunitions were not enough, they will not be able to fight. If their shoes had blisters and no socks and no foot powder, they will not be able to advance. So many things were involved. The morale of the troops depended on the morale of the officer himself. The officer himself must be seen with the troops. The Biafrans didn’t do that.

    About how many men do you think you lost, just an estimate on your own side?

    In 3rd Marine Commando, I lost eight from Calabar to Port Harcourt.

    All through the war?

    I did not lose any single one in Obubra. Two officers – Captain Fashola at Bori and Isaac Boro at Okrika and I have records.

    I don’t think you have sufficiently addressed the question of why the war lasted that long?

    It lasted that long because Biafrans themselves did not just give up, it was their tactics and strategies that were wrong and they believed they were doing well. The amount of ammunitions and weapons with which they went to the Mid-west could have been used in defending Biafra. In this case the Biafrans put in

  • The tycoon’s son (2)

    Lexie dropped out of the university in his second year. Though brilliant, he was lazy and could not be bothered with studying or even attending lectures. So after consistently failing nearly all his papers after each exam, he was ‘advised to withdraw’ from school. His despairing mother wanted him to continue his studies in another school but Lexie was not keen. He told his mother, who had by then married another man and had other children, that he was sick of school. All Lexie wanted was to ‘hustle’ and ‘make lots of money.’

    Over the years, he drifted from one dubious business venture to another and ended up with plenty of debt instead of money. His stepfather tried to get him a job several times but he turned down the offer. He still believed he would make it big one day through one of his ‘deals’. A job would only distract him.

    Lexie’s deals never made money and he was often broke. Though in his 30s, he still lived at home with his mother and had no plans to get married and ‘settle down’. He had not had much contact with his father Chief Agbah for several years. Chief had all but disowned him, calling him a ‘worthless layabout and a drop-out.’ The feeling was mutual as Lexie saw his father as a ‘useless, heartless’ man who had abandoned him as a child. He hardly played his role as a father to him and never gave him much money whenever he asked though he was stupendously rich.

    Lexie met Selina at a burial ceremony in Igen. It was the funeral of Madam Yero, one of the prominent women in the community and a good friend of his grandmother. He had gone to visit his aged grandma that weekend and had attended the party with some friends. The first time he saw Selina, Lexie could not keep his eyes off her. Most men reacted that way to her. With her milky chocolate-brown skin that glowed as if rubbed with oil, dark-brown sparkling eyes, perfect set of white teeth and a figure to die for, she was really stunning.

    She made it clear to him though, that she was not interested when he approached her. Her attitude however changed and she became friendlier when she heard his last name.

    “Agbah? Are you related to Chief Agbah, the business tycoon?” she quickly asked.

    “Yes. I’m his first son,” he disclosed. Her eyes registered surprise, then admiration.

    He was always amused by most people’s reaction to that info. Some would look at him in wonder while others found it hard to believe that the slim looking, casually dressed guy who was often seen in jeans and T-shirts could be related in any way to Chief Agbah, one of the richest men in the state whose business empire spread far and wide.

    After Selina confirmed he was truly Chief’s son from the friend she attended the party with, she stuck to his side for the rest of the night. By the end of the party, they had become friends. They exchanged phone numbers before parting, with Lexie promising to call as soon he returned from a ‘business trip to Port-Harcourt’ as he put it.

    Selina waited for a week for his call and when she did not hear from him, she decided to make the first move if he did not call her. Though with a good degree from a top university, Selina had not worked for a single day since she left school several years before. It wasn’t that there were no job offers. She was just not interested.

    “Why stress myself working for peanuts when I can make more money through hustling,” she used to say whenever any of her school mates, some of whom were working in different organisations, wondered why she was still jobless.

    She believed that her passport to the ‘good life’ lay in her looks and she was determined to get whatever she wanted in life with her youth and beauty. So she dated mostly rich men who had the means to give her what she wanted like a posh car, nicely furnished apartment, trips abroad for holidays and shopping and a fat bank account.

    But like a bottomless pit, Selina wanted more. Her dream was to marry well, preferably into a wealthy family so she could be financially secure for life. Through Lexie, she believed that she could get her heart’s desire. Lexie would be her ‘jackpot’, the road to the good, easy life she craved.

     

    ***

    Lexie could not believe his luck at meeting Selina. ‘Just perfect!’ he kept repeating to himself after they parted. Because of the strong attraction he felt for her, he initially thought of dating her but he changed his mind later. ‘She will be more useful as my secret weapon,’ he told himself about a week after they met. The following day, he contacted Selina and invited her for lunch.

    He took her to a nice restaurant at Ikeja. That day, Selina looked even prettier than she did at the party and he (with some of the men around) just kept staring at her.

    “You look hot enough to eat,” he said teasingly as she sat down opposite him. She smiled coyly at him.

    “Well, I’m starving so can we order? Maybe you can have me for dessert later,” she stated. She put it like a joke but the look in her eyes said she meant it.

    After the meal, Lexie got down to business.

    He spoke earnestly while she listened. But as he continued talking about what he wanted from her, her look changed to one of surprise then disbelief.

    “Are you really sure about this, or you are just kidding me?” she asked with raised brows.

    He shook his head, pointing out that he had never been more serious in his life.

    “But what’s the reason? Why do you want to do that to your own father?” she asked again.

    He then told her about his birth, childhood and being abandoned by the man he could barely bring himself to call father. “I’m his first child but he doesn’t even acknowledge me or do anything for me, despite being so wealthy,” he grumbled bitterly.

    Selina sympathized with him, but was his grudge against his father enough justification for what he planned doing? According to him, he wanted Selina to ‘seduce’ Chief Agbah, make him fall so madly in love with her that he would want to do anything for her.

    “It’s then I will come in and we will be able to extract a very large sum of money from him. Others might call it stealing. But to me, I’m getting my inheritance in advance. I doubt if I’m in his will anyway,” he stated.

    Selina was still sceptical.

    “But what makes you think I could seduce your father so easily?” she enquired, frowning.

    He gave her an assessing look.

    “You could seduce even a priest with little effort with your looks,” he said reassuringly, adding: “Don’t worry. I know my father very well. He’s a womaniser with an eye for pretty, young ladies like you. It will be like dangling a piece of juicy bone before a hungry dog!”

    Selina thought about the plan for days before making up her mind. It was a very tempting offer. If the ‘job’ succeeded, Lexie promised she would get 30 percent of the amount they would make from Chief Agbah. From her calculations, that was a very large amount of money. She could do a lot with that; even retire from ‘hustling’ and maybe relocate abroad and live well for a long time without having to do any work. She was already thirty years old and she knew she could not live off her beauty for ever. With age, even the greatest beauty loses her looks as her mother often pointed out whenever the issue of marriage cropped up.

    But Selina was not keen on marriage, at least not just yet. She wanted to enjoy her life first before being saddled with a husband and kids. She had had so many suitors in her life and broken so many hearts, she had lost count. But she didn’t care. All she wanted was to make money, lots of it so she could live in luxury for life.

    Later, she called Lexie and agreed to do the ‘job’.

    “Wise decision. You won’t regret it,” he stated happily.

    They met up the following day at the same restaurant to work out a good plan on how she would meet his father so their ‘operation’ could begin…

     

    •What happened when Selina eventually met Chief Agbah? Will their plan succeed? Details next Saturday!

     

    •Names have been changed to protect the identities of the individuals in the story.

    •Send comments/suggestions to 08023201831(sms only) or psaduwa@yahoo.com. We love to hear from you!

  • Celebrities and their strange baby names

    celebrities are a special breed of people who seem to live in a world of their own. And an odd world it must be especially considering the outlandish names they give their offsprings. First it was music couple Beyonce and her husband Jay Z who named their little one, Blue Ivy. What were they thinking naming their child after a colour and a plant in a combo that sounds like a name of a stripper at a club like some people wondered?

    Now we have North West, the name reality TV star Kim Kardashian and her boyfriend Kanye gave their new baby girl. The name sounds more like a direction or a location on a map than a name for a child. Some Nigerians have also wondered why she chose to name her baby after a geo-political zone in the country. The name has generated controversy on the internet with posters poking fun at such a moniker.

    These are a few samples:

    ‘North West? Did Kim give birth to a baby or a compass?’

    ‘We need to successfully abolish bullying before North West gets to 4th grade.’

    North’s name follows in the tradition of celebrities giving crazy and often bizarre names to their offsprings; names that make one wonder; what were they thinking? Some of the really crazy and unusual ones include:

    Audio Science (daughter of actress Shannyn Sossamon)

    Pilot Inspector (son of actor Jason Lee)

    Harper Seven (footballer David and Victoria Beckham’s daughter)

    Moxie Crime fighter (daughter of U.S comedian Penn Jillette)

    Egypt (Alicia Keys’ son)

    Denim and Diezel (sons of singer Toni Braxton and Keri Lewis)

    Ocean and True (son and daughter respectively of Forrest Whitaker of the last King of Scotland fame)

    We might laugh at these names and think these celebrities are mad, drunk or simply stupid for giving their babies such crazy names. But what about the names we bear in this country as well? Where I come from (the Niger-Delta) must hold the record for having some of the wackiest names in the country. I have an elderly relative for instance who named four of her children: Nigeria, Independence, Tough, Lagos respectively (no explanation needed as they are self-explanatory enough).

    Then there are children named after alcoholic beverages: Brandy, Whiskey (as in Ovie-Whiskey), Heineken, Johnny (Walker), Chelsea etc. Those not from the region, hear these names and laugh. They conclude that we drink a lot that’s why we love these names. My people will argue that it’s because of the weather which can get pretty cold especially in the rural areas of the region during the rainy season. They need these drinks and the popular ogogoro to keep warm, they claim. Whatever.

    We also love colours particularly in Rivers State. So we have names like White, Green, Blue, Brown, Yellowe, Purple and others; these are stylishly combined with other names to get such monikers like Karibi-Whyte, Blue-Jack, Tom-Yellowe, Allwell-Brown etc. I had a primary school mate in Port-Harcourt in those days named Ebite Green. Whenever we wanted to make her angry, we would call her any other colour except her name like Ebite Blue, Ebite Yellow etc. This used to make her really mad and fights often broke out as a result.

    Top personalities, famous people and places are among favorite names people give their children in the region. The most popular are Gowon, Awolowo, Queen (Elizabeth), Chamberlain, Biafra and even the infamous Hitler. Other unusual names from the zone include Government (the most famous being the retired militant Tompolo), Conference, Manager, Limejuice, Taiga, Lawyer, Baby (if you come to my village, don’t be surprised to see an 80 year-old woman bearing Baby), Vote (named for babies born during elections like one of my sisters), Blacky (for babies who are as dark as the back of a pot), Annulment (perhaps when Babangida annulled the June 12 elections?), Odji (which in Urhobo translates to thief), Erhurhu (Dustbin), Obukoenyuvwevwi (Backyard) Okpikebe (Big backside) and so on.

    Seriously, the parents who gave their children some of these names must have been under the influence of ogogoro during the naming ceremony or what do you think?

     

  • He told me to get married, that he will not advise me not to wait

    Aunty Adeola, what will I do? I am a young lady of 28. A friend of 7years suddenly quits the relationship just like that after much commitment from both sides and at the point where things were getting into place. He told me to get married that he’s going abroad for his masters after his service (which he is doing now) that he will not advise me not to wait.

    Whether it was your fault or not, a relationship breakup doesn’t have to break up your life. I know it is a painful experience, especially when you invest so much emotion, time and effort into the relationship. Sometimes it is hard to recover from the hurt, the disappointment and the thought of living your life without that partner. You can cry about it if it makes you feel better, and skip a few meals if you can’t help it, but don’t allow yourself to be stuck in that condition of self-pity and depression. Stop blaming yourself or your ex-partner. Don’t waste time over silly egoistic regrets. Shake off your disappointments, put that chapter of your life behind you and consider it a lesson well-learned. It now belongs to your past; and as you know you can’t change your past. Pick yourself up, move on with hope, and try again. It is only when you try again that you can find a truly happy and stable relationship.

    How do you recover from all this pain and heartbreak?

    1. Try to see the breakup in a positive light:

    This may seem like a crazy idea especially in the first few days of the breakup when the pain is so fresh and you feel so depressed. It is difficult to see anything positive about living the rest of your life without someone you could have sworn was your soul-mate. When you think of all the fun you had together, and how all youar friends and family who knew about your relationship will judge the breakup, it probably makes more sense to you to just concentrate on the pain instead of trying to see anything positive about the breakup. But think of it this way, you wouldn’t have broken up if you were soul-mates. I also expect that “true” family members and friends will rather be supportive of you than try to judge or tease you about your breakup. So, it is ok to breakup sometimes. Maybe it wasn’t meant to be. Perhaps you are being prepared for someone better suited to your needs. Take consolation in the saying that sometimes “Rejection is God’s protection.” You never know what negative outcomes could have been in your future if it hadn’t ended this way.

    No matter how good your ex was, he wasn’t perfect. It is sometimes helpful to think of all the bad things he did that once made you mad. Ask yourself if he really valued your love. A better partner is on the way. Your star will shine brighter if you wait patiently for it.

    Have a positive mind. Consider yourself better off without your ex. You can now do all the things you wanted to do for yourself, that your ex didn’t allow you to do; either because she was being controlling, wanted you to postpone it, or just didn’t like it. You can now easily buy that expensive home theatre system your ex didn’t want you to buy without any interference. You can now hang out with your friends for longer hours, stay late at the club or billiards, talk on the phone with anyone you want for any length of time, etc. without anyone cursing at you or fighting with you. Enjoy your newly found freedom and take control of your life.

    2. Stay close to people you love and people who love and care about you: These could be your relatives or very good friends who have a genuine interest in your well-being. They can help you fill the void of companionship that your ex may have left in your life. Their company will help to keep your mind off your ex and thus reduce the pain of the breakup.

    Avoid being alone for prolonged periods of time. This solitude can keep you fretting over your ex and failed relationship and translate into a feeling of loneliness, failure, and disappointment. Being around people you like can keep you energized and inspired.

    3. Stay in shape, stay active and participate in fun activities you love:

    Just because you broke up with your partner doesn’t mean you should now dress down, overeat to mask the pain, and stop going to the gym. No! It is now time to look your best. Don’t allow people to think you are now a miserable wretch because you lost your partner; as if your whole life depended on her. Engage in activities you love and enjoy. Go to the gym and get a good dose of exercise every day. Find creative ways of entertaining yourself. These keep your mind occupied and less likely to grieve over your breakup. Because grieving over your breakup will only keep you stressed and depressed. Worst still, as you continually waste time crying and mourning over “spilt milk”, your blood pressure rises making you susceptible to hypertension and other heart diseases. So why lose your life over a lost partner? Forget about her and move on into something more productive.

    Exercise also keeps your mind active, and helps you to stay in shape; so you can be noticed by other eligible partners. Eat healthy meals and dress elegantly to boost your image and confidence.

    4. Pursue your life goals and dreams like never before:

    This is the time to challenge yourself that you can achieve anything or any goal without your ex’s support. Empower yourself with this belief and pursue your dreams and work hard like you are trying to prove to your ex and all your skeptics that you can do it on your own. You can now enroll in that academic program this year. Let them see you succeed and wish they had you. Let this mindset challenge you to be your best. And when you are preoccupied with being your best, you wouldn’t even have time to think about the breakup.

    5. Free your mind and hold nothing against your ex:

    Free your mind and harbor no ill feelings against your ex as that will only keep anger lingering in your heart, and thus poison everything you think and do. Holding resentments against your ex and the breakup could also affect your ability to stay open to new relationships and enjoy life to its fullest.

    Approach the breakup with a positive attitude. Even if you think you were treated unfairly, try to forgive and move on. Choose ease (or peace of mind) over anxiety. Relax and have a clear mind so that you will know the right action to take. If you like, you can remain a friend to your ex. But, if you can’t, then you should just avoid her entirely without harboring any ill feelings.

    6. Move on and stay open to new relationships:

    Finally, move on and stay open to new relationships. There is a saying that “just because you have been choked by food before doesn’t mean you shouldn’t eat again.” It should only serve as a lesson as to what to eat, and how not to eat next time. This can also be applied to relationships and breakups. Just because you tried it once and it didn’t work doesn’t mean it will never work. Don’t let the fear of another breakup stop you from starting a new relationship. Just as all fingers are not the same, all women are not the same. So purge your mind of the “they-are-all-the-same” mentality and move on with hope. Stay open to new relationships and make a fresh start after a reasonable period of recovery. Don’t jump right into another relationship unless you’re really sure about what you’re doing. Your judgment may be clouded by your depressed emotional state. During your time of loneliness after a breakup, a lot of women will come along with adequate attention and care. Most of these women will try to take advantage of your situation to rush you into another relationship. So you have to be careful. Get over your pain first. Analyze yourself and your needs. Don’t just give in to anyone who comes along; that gives the impression of being desperate. And, unfortunately, many like to take advantage of desperate people. So rationalize in choosing your next partner. Utilize the lessons you learned from your previous relationship, and do your part to make your new relationship work.

    But even if it doesn’t work, you should understand that finding the right partner is like digging for gold. Sometimes in order to find the right partner, you have to encounter and overcome a lot of challenges, disappointments and obstacles; similar to the rocks, stones, clay and sand, that have to be encountered and eliminated in order to get to the gold underneath. Only those who don’t give up to these obstacles can bring home the gold. So don’t give up; go for the gold!

  • Since I lost my pretty wife I’ve been scared of ladies

    Adeola, I’ve been following your Hearts column right from my days in Lagos until my recent relocation to Uyo.I have a problem which I need your urgent advice on.I lost my pretty wife almost 3years ago and since then I’ve been scared of ladies because I’m afraid if I could ever find a replacement.

    Dear Uyo man, it’s usually hard for people to start afresh after losing a very nice partner. The truth however is that you must move on in life and accept the fact that no two people are exactly the same. You may or may not meet a woman who is as good as the one you lost. You may even be lucky to find somebody who is so good you would be happy you have a second chance at love.

    Life does not always give us the best options; we have to learn to mould what we have into what can make us happy. Yes, dating again after the death of a spouse can be an awkward experience. It can bring out feelings of confusion and concern from friends, family, and those who were close to the deceased spouse.  You’ve lost a spouse and are looking to date again, here are 10 tips to make sure you’re able to successfully navigate the dating waters.

    1. When you decide to date again is up to you: There’s no specific time period that one should wait before dating again. Grieving and the process of moving on is something that’s unique to each person. Some people take years, others weeks, and then there are those who choose never to date again. Whatever you do, don’t let others tell you you’re moving too fast or waiting too long. Make sure it’s something you’re really ready to try before taking that step.

    2. Make sure you’re dating for the right reasons: If you feel like dating again, take some time to understand why you want to date again. It’s not wrong to date because you’re lonely or desire some company. Single people date for those reasons too. However, if you’re dating because you think it going to somehow fill the void or heal the pain that comes from losing a spouse, it’s not going to happen. However, dating does give you the opportunity to open your heart to another person and chance to experience the unique and exquisite joy that comes with falling in love again.

    3. Feeling guilty is natural – at first: As you date, feelings of guilt should subside over time – especially when you find that special someone you might want to spend the rest of your life with. If the guilt’s not subsiding, you might not be ready to date again. Give dating a break and try dating again when you might be more up to the task.

    4. It’s okay to talk about the deceased spouse – just don’t overdo it: Unless you’re good friends or have known your date previously, he or she is going to be naturally curious about your spouse and previous marriage. And it’s OK to talk about the spouse when you’re first dating someone. Answer questions he or she may have about your marriage but don’t spend all your time talking about the dead or how happy you were. After all your date is the one that’s here now. And who knows, he or she might make you incredibly happy for years to come. Constantly talking about the past, may make it seem like you’re not ready to move on and start a new relationship. Showing that you care enough to get to know them can help reassure your date that you’re ready to start a new life with someone else.

    5. Remember: your date is not a therapist: Would you like going out with someone who constantly talked about issues she was having in her life? Dating isn’t a therapy session – it’s an opportunity to spend time with someone else and enjoy their company. If you find yourself dating just to talk about the pain in your heart, how much you miss your spouse, or tough times you’re going though, seek professional help. Your date will have a more memorable night if it’s about him or her then about everything you’re going through.

    6. It’s okay to make mistakes when you’re finding your dating legs : If you find yourself forgetting simple dating etiquette, don’t worry about it. Most dates would understand if they knew it had been awhile since you dated. But don’t make the same mistake over and over. Learn from them and continue moving forward. You’ll be surprised how fast your dating legs return.

    7. Defend your date: You may discover when once the family and friends learn you’re dating again they may not treat this new woman or man in your life very well. The treatment may come in the form of a cold shoulder at family activities or constantly talking about the deceased wife in front of the date. If you have family and friends who are doing this, they need to be told privately, but in a loving manner, that this behavior is not acceptable. If you wouldn’t let family or friends treat your spouse that way, why would you tolerate that behavior toward someone else – especially when your date could become your future spouse? Don’t be afraid to defend your date. If you can’t do that, then you have no business dating again.

    8. Realize that not everyone will understand why you’re dating again : There will always be someone who will not understand why you’ve chosen to date again. They may give you a hard time for dating again or have some silly romantic notion that widows and widowers shouldn’t fall in love again. Their options do not matter. All that matters is that you’re ready to date again. You don’t need to justify your actions to them or anyone else.

    9. Take things slow: The death of a spouse means losing the intimate physical contact. After a while we miss the kisses, having someone’s head resting on our shoulder, or the warm body next to us in bed. This lack of physical and emotional intimacy is enough to drive a lot of people into the dating scene. Don’t feel bad if you find yourself missing these things. It’s completely normal.

    In the dating world wanting something that was part of our lives for years can become a ticking time bomb. It can force us into a serious relationship before we’re ready. The result: lots of broken hearts and emotional baggage.

    If you find that you’re on a date and it’s going well, don’t be afraid to take things slow. This isn’t always easy. Sometimes it’s hard not to throw ourselves at our date if things are going good because we want to be close to someone again. We want that warm body next to ours and have the words “I love you” whispered in our ears. But it can save you and your date a lot of emotional heartache if you wait to make sure what you’re doing is because you love the other person and not because you miss the intimacy that came with your late husband or wife.

    10. Make your date feel like the center of the universe : It’s a basic dating rule but it’s often forgotten by widows and widowers. Because we already have someone special in our lives, sometimes we forget to make our date feel special too. Treat your date in such a way that he or she feels like she’s the center of your universe. He or she shouldn’t have to compete against a ghost – even if you only have one date with that person. As long you’re out together, he or she should be the center of your universe.

    Even though dating can be awkward and difficult at times, it can also be a lot of fun. There’s no reason being a widow or widower should hold you back from enjoying a night out. Part of the reason we’re here is to live and enjoy life. And dating is a great way to start living again.

  • Importance of exercise

    Importance of exercise

    Exercise and healthy weight loss not only help your heart, they also trim the threat of developing diabetes by up to 58 percent and cut your risk of cancer.

    Whether you prefer to walk, run, swim, or pump metal, it’s important to add aerobic and muscle-strengthening activities to your daily routine. Even moderate levels of physical activity can improve sleep, sharpen your mind, and decrease your odds of developing heart disease, stroke, and diabetes.

    Exercise is good for the body due to the following reasons:

    First, it helps you cut weight. When you exercise like jog or run you burn the fats in your body. This happens because the body undergoes respiration to yield energy needed for the exercise. The extra carbohydrates in the body are respired in presence of oxygen to give energy. Consequently, this burns away the fats that would otherwise have been stored as fats hence cutting weight.

    Second, it slows the rate at which gets old working out eliminate the inflation which comes along with aging. Moreover, some exercises like yoga minimize production of stress hormones which hasten aging. In-addition the stretching assists in smoothing lines which make you look aged.

    Third, it improves your physical appearance. Bodybuilding exercises burn fats and increase lean muscles. Cardiovascular exercises increases metabolic rate which removes toxins in form of sweat from the skin. This rejuvenates the skin and makes you look presentable.

    Fourth, it reduces stress through the release of endorphin hormone. The hormone works with various organs in the body like the brain and other receptors to ease how you view pain. When exercising instance playing football, you forget the pain and the stress as you only pay attention to your movements.

    Fifth, it boosts self-esteem as well as physical appearance. The proper blood circulation ensures that nutrients reach the scalp hence healthy hair and less gray hair. The lean muscles obtained during bodybuilding exercises improve the physique in men as they gain six packs and shoulder muscles.

    Sixth, it is used to relax and derive some fun. Some exercises like swimming and cycling have become hobbies. This is because the endorphin hormone released initiates motivation.

    Lastly, is the health benefit . Cycling increases metabolism hence reducing chances of stroke. The functioning of the brain is improved through adequate supply of air and nutrients to the brain that occurs during exercise. Obesity is controlled through burning of excess fats. Weight lifting strengthens cardiovascular muscles and reduces blood pressure which combats heart diseases.

     

  • Bitterleaf healing power

    Bitterleaf healing power

    Bitterleaf is one of the widely use cooking vegetable in Africa and it can grow in any part of the world

    Very few people are aware that this vegetable is highly medicinal and can be used to cure diseases as well as help to keep our body in good health condition. The important thing this leaf does is to clean the blood, hence prevent sickness. This made by squeezing the fresh leaves to get the juice. Drink about a glass of the juice 3 times a day.

    •Bitter leaf also cleans the lymphatic system as well.

    •For smokers or those that are been exposed to secondary smoke, bitter leaf is useful by protecting the body against pollutants that come from cigarette smoke and some dangerous gas.

    •The juice prevents malaria sickness due to the presence of Natural Quinine. Regular intake of this bitter leaf juice will prevent malaria sickness

    •It also yield the healing power of Sexually Transmitted Diseases(STD). The drinking of the bitter leaf juice daily and also squeeze the leaves and paste it on the patches and warts that appear on the skin will vanish in course of days.

    •It is useful for treating of ringworm, eczema and other diseases, just squeeze and paste it regularly, drink the fresh bitter leaf juice, this will clear them off in no time.

    •It is useful in curing loss of memory. It could be a symptom of diabetes or a sickness on its own. Whatever the nature, bitter leaf is very good for treating this ailment.

    •If you often feel weak and tired or you lack vitality and vigour, squeeze the bitter leaf in water, take a glass 3 times daily.

    It is good in treating stroke, strengthens the muscle and cleanses the system.

    •In treating pneumonia, squeeze the fresh leafs of the plant in water. Take a glass full thrice daily. Warm the solution on fire each time before you drink.

    •Insomnia is an inability to sleep well, take 2 glasses of bitter leaf juice every night. You may add a little honey if you wish.

    •It prevent Arthritis or rheumatism in patients. It soothes swollen joints and eradicates the pain.

    •Chew the tender stem and swallowing the juices is a well known remedy for stomach aches. Alternatively, pound the fresh leaves in a mortar to extract the juice, add a pinch of salt to three tablespoons of the undiluted juice and drink. This version is reported to bring immediate relief.