HE is a professor of English, a writer of repute and runs regular commentary on socio-political development of the country. Twice, he has been nominated to receive national honours, and twice, he turned down the offer. His books have always generated furore. When he published A man of the people just before the military coup of January 1966, it received critical review by a section of the public.
His latest work, due to be released in Nigeria soon, is a chronicle of the activities of the civil war. The publishers, Penguins, described it thus: “Now, years, in the making, comes the towering reckoning with one of the modern Africa’s most fateful experience, both as he lived it and he has now come to understand it.
Like or dislike him, Achebe cannot be ignored Things Fall Apart, his first book, has been variously rated as one of the 50 most influential books. He has also been described as one of the most influential Africans in the 21st Century.
Achebe, who was cultural ambassador for Biafra during the war, displayed deep-seated dislike for the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo and his people, the Yoruba.
Dismissing the argument that the Federal Government, involved in a war, had to do what it did to facilitate its victory, the writer said: “Supporters of the Federal Government position maintain that a war was being waged and the premise of all wars is for one side to emerge as the victor. Overly ambitious actors may have taken actions unbecoming of international conventions of human rights, but these things happen everywhere. This same group often cites findings, from organisations (sanctioned by the Federal Government) that sent observers during the crisis, that there was no clear intent on behalf of the Nigerian troops to wipe out the Igbo people … pointing out that over 30,000 Igbo still lived in Lagos, and half a million in the Mid-West.”But if the diabolical disregard for human life seen during the war was not due to the Northern military elite’s jihadist or genocidal obsession, then why were there more small arms used on Biafran soil than during the entire second world war? Why were there 100,000 casualties on the much larger Nigerian side compared with more than two million ‘mainly children’ Biafrans killed?”
He maintained that the pre-and post-war policies of the government were calculated to wipe out Ndigbo, Achebe said the same policy has kept his people out of the mainstream of the political configuration of the country 42 years after the war. This did not take into consideration that an Igbo, Dr. Alex Ekwueme, was Vice-President in the Second Republic. When there was a consensus that power had to shift to the South in 1999, Ekwueme slugged it out with Chief Olusegun Obasanjo for the ticket of the dominant political party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). However, given the prevailing mood in the country, the Yoruba had to be compensated for the annulment of the presidential election of 1993 won by the late Chief Moshood Abiola. The sentiments swayed victory for Obasanjo at the Jos National Convention. While Obasanjo, a Yoruba, won, Ekwueme, an Igbo, had a good run and could not be said to have been disgraced. Since then, he has been handed crucial assignments by the party since he was the pioneer Chairman of the PDP’s Board of Trustees.
A political activist and convener of the Coalition of Democrats for Electoral Reforms (CODER), Mr. Ayo Opadokun, took umbrage at the position of Achebe in the new book. He said: “The new write-up is another rehash of the perverted intellectual laziness which he had exhibited in the past in matters relating to Awo when Achebe described Awo as a Yoruba irredentist. What he expected was that Awo should fold his arms to allow the Igbo race led by Zik to preside over the affairs of the Yoruba nation. The fact that the Yoruba people in their wisdom, having found out that the NCNC through Zik and Okpara had established a government of their choice and then wanted to follow up with the appropriation of the Yorubaland as their catchment area. It is a demonstration of the contempt of Achebe and his ilk for the Yoruba nation.
He said: “The story of the emergence of Nigeria as a country as christened by the concubine of Lugard can’t be written sensibly without admitting one or two areas of flaws where founding leaders were not disposed to making a nation out of Nigeria.
The NCNC led by Zik and his people, in a terrific conspicuous collaboration, after having put Awo in jail, forced the creation of Midwest and the NCNC refused to allow the creation of another in their region. Perhaps the West had the smallest landmass of the three regions.
“Secondly, in the run-up and activities towards Nigerian nationalism, it was clear that the East and West were in contest for socio-economic and political power. The fact is that with what the NCNC, driven by Igbo nationalism to which Achebe subscribes, the Yoruba nation was being derided by the likes of Achebe who wanted to forcefully appropriate Yoruba territory. And because the Yoruba nation led by Awo would not accept that, they became enemies.
The political problem with the Igbo
stemmed from the ban on import
of stockfish and second hand clothing after the war. He felt that it was fundamental error for a group of Nigerians to live on stockfish that lacks nutritional value and that it was degrading for Nigeria to be importing second-hand clothing. Being an economist, a honest and forthright Nigerian who would not mortgage his conscience to win votes, he had to carry that cross all his life. Even after his death, Prof Achebe has written a new book, repeating the gaffe. It is another demonstration of how far inveterate enemies can go.
“I cannot believe that a scholar of Achebe’s stature could be so unforgiving. Mathew 6: 14 and 15 enjoins every Christian to forgive fellow human beings.
“Some have been trying to build a bridge between Igbo and Yoruba. I remember my colleagues like Rear Admiral Ndubuisi Kanu (Retd), a former governor of Lagos and Imo; Commodore Ebitu Ukiwe, a former Chief of General Staff who headed the Council for Understanding and Unity; Dr. Arthur Nwankwo; Alhaji Abdulaziz Ude and so many of them who are men of honour. Their efforts have not been devalued by the attitudes of people like Prof Achebe. Their efforts and ours led to the formation of CUU. It became so powerful that Dodan Barracks had to proscribe the organisation.
“Let our Igbo brothers be reminded that about three quarters of their assets not in the Eastern region are in Lagos. We have been very liberal and accommodating and have allowed them to live undisturbed. When there was civil war, it was only in Yoruba land that the estate of the Igbo was returned with the rent. Let no one think that the Yoruba were fools by being so accommodating.”
Chairman of the Afenifere Renewal Group (ARG), Wale Oshun wondered why some Igbo, especially Chinua Achebe “find it convenient to pick Awolowo as a scapegoat of all that happened to them during the war.”
He asked, “did awo start the war? He was just the Federal Commissioner for Finance with responsibility for coming up with appropriate fiscal and monetary policies. He was not at the battle field and could not therefore be fairly charged with genocide..”
The former Chief Whip of the House of Representatives also challenged anyone to come up with any publication where Awo said starvation should be regarded as a legitimate weapon of war. “Neither in any of the books written by him nor on him was any such thing said. It is the work of those who hated his guts. It is not factual. It must be remembered that even when he was not in the cabinet, he tried to prevent the war, but as soon as it broke out, it was between Nigeria and Biafra. He had to come up with policies that would end the war quickly. Those who are peddling this line have forgotten that Awo was in prison when the crisis started.”
Reacting to the suggestion that Awo was one of those who supplied the intellectual power that drove the policies that eventually and effectively ended the war, Oshun said, “if he was in Nigeria and Nigeria was fighting a war, was he supposed to supply intellectual power to Ojukwu? I regard it as a mere emotional statement.”
Oshun also found no merit in the contention that the late Leader of the Yoruba wanted power at all cost and saw the war as an opportunity to further that ambition.. He said: “If Awo wanted power, he would have stayed on in the cabinet after the war. But, rather, he left, saying it had become indefensible to be part of a military government in peace time. If he was scheming for power, he would have held on and used the same military to further his ambition. So, where is the evidence he did anything to project himself and the Yoruba?”
Awo’s official biographer, Prof Moses Makinde, who heads Awolowo Centre for Philosophy, Ideology and Good Governance, Osogbo, is the author of ‘Awo: The Last Conversation’. The other two are: ‘Awo as a Philosopher’ and ‘A Memoir of the Jewel’. He disagreed with Achebe, maintaining that the Ikenne-born statesman was a full-blooded nationalist.
His words: “I do not agree with Prof Achebe on the statement. It is not true that Awo’s civil war role smacked of even an iota of selfish political aggrandisement. I was his biographer and I can state authoritatively that, though he did not penetrate the North, he had a firm belief in the unity of Nigeria and that was why he wanted to govern the country as an indivisible entity. All the governors and other close associates of his would attest to the fact that he was a believer in the oneness of Nigeria which was why he wanted to govern the entire country for the overall benefit of her entire citizenry.
“He was a rare politician and a disciplinarian who believed in selfless service to his people in one whole entity called Nigeria. And that he always preached to all his lieutenants at any point in time. That, of course, accounts for why all his landmark achievements in the Western Region still speak for his patriotic and selfless inclination till today.”
The debate continues to rage. What is not in doubt is that the fight for a better Nigeria remains the preoccupation of true nationalists and patriots
