(C) Also came, the notorious Berlin Conference 1883-85. And Great Britain pinned its eyes on the Niger Delta. From here they began to move northwards in a way that was not planned. They began their conquest of the “pirates “of the Niger Delta one by one. First to be conquered was Bonny and its "Recalcitrant trader Jaja of Opobo” The British consul, John Beecroft, tricked Jaja and his entourage to dinner on board a Frigate. As Jaja was enjoying the delicious foods, the Consul was cleverly craned down to a waiting speed boat below. Jaja' entourage noticed this and began to panic. No amount of shouting by Jaja and his entourage helped Jaja. His men were removed from him and sent to town. Then the boat sailed away. Jaja's new destination was Jamaica where he was banished to. In a very cowardly community, what followed was that every big man in the Niger Delta got frightened. They queued up to sign documents of British over lordship over them. That was sufficient for the rest of the European signatories of the Berlin Conference to recognise British sovereignty over all in the Niger Delta. In 1896 territory was proclaimed Oil Rivers Protectorate.
Most importantly, the discovery by the Landers had improved the situation in the Niger Delta to the British Merchants. Now proper boats with engine could ply the area. Yet the Niger Delta was not quite totally subdued until the greatest warrior Kingdom of Benin had been dealt with. An attempt to subdue Benin was not easy. Armed with weapons provided to them by Portugal, the King of Benin Oba Ovonramnem had sent his troops to Sapele forty miles south of Benin , to stop the British advance to Benin in December 1886. In the battle the British lost several frontline General including General Phillips. Where in a total war against Benin, the King Oba Ovonramnem was captured and banished to Calabar. That ended the anti - colonial struggle in the Niger Delta, the whole of which became a British colony. With capital; first in Bonny, but later moved to Calabar. It was the OIL RIVERS PROTECTORATE. Oil referred to palm oil.
(D) Now the Niger Delta having been proclaimed a colony, several more Europeans flocked in for business. But the British Royal Niger Company which had been trading all along in the area became the most popular. The company soon introduced river transport provided by the Scottish McGregor Laird Shipping Line which had become out of business since the abolition of the Slave trade. Now the McGregor's maritime officers quickly got themselves ready for Africa in the Niger Delta. And the area soon became develop as the Missionaries opened schools, colleges and hospitals. Well organised administration began to function. And the traders fearlessly moved into the hinterland. Here on the North-East of the Niger Delta was the large Ibo territory that was full of the merchandise including Palm products that were marketed exclusively by Niger Delta merchants as middle-men. Now European traders, having got to the source of the merchandise, that is, the PALM product, reduced their need for the Delta people. They also began to venture about to the north -east in Ibo land, and the North -west to Yoruba areas north of Lagos on the Atlantic. Earlier, Lagos which situates four hundred miles from Bonny in the Niger Delta had already become a British colony, having been acquired from the Portuguese for the settlement of freed slaves by the middle of the nineteenth century. Unlike the Ibos, the Yorubas had experienced many bloody conflicts with Moslem Jihadists descended on them from the Sahara. The famous Yoruba war leader, Afonja, had driven the Moslem Jihadists far north beyond the river Niger at Ilorin which still remains one of the large Yoruba cities. In 1906, the British expanded their possessions in the area by amalgamating all these areas by merging together the Niger Delta with Ibo territories and Yoruba territories including Lagos These territories they gave the name Niger Coast Protectorate. Calabar got lost in the expansion and Lagos became the capital of the newly merged territories.
(E) The whole of the Niger Coast Protectorate was now politically organised. Modern settlements, townships, roads and other paraphernalia quickly sprang up every where. Branches of government were introduced as education became wide spread with millions attending Christian Mission schools. The first batch of public servants that assisted British colonial administrators was imported from Freetown in Sierra Leone and from the Gold Coast. There were also West Indians. Within a decade or so the whole of the Niger Coast Protectorate was flourishing as a brand new country. The English has always been introduced as the lingua franca. The number of different local languages was thought to be as many as eighty. The structure of the Niger Delta due to the absence of communication among the islanders had contributed in creating several different languages; albeit, a careful study of these languages may show their close similarity as dialects. This is much possible when the people become independent. However, all of the different communities having been converted to Christianity live peacefully together. Now, their common Christian value influences their lives and their custom. The Royal Niger Company remained the only dominant business organisation. Their dominance enabled them to adventure farther northwards towards the Sahara miles into the desert.
(F) North of the Niger Delta, the land hunters of the Royal Niger Company, led by their never tiring leader George Goldie, probably, the first nationalised Germans in the United Kingdom soon collected several communities including Moslem areas of the lower Sahara. But they soon got in serious conflicts with the French colonial hunters in the area. Goldie decided to establish a military presence in the area. For this purpose he invited one young British military officer who was partly free lance. He was Frederick Lugard, born in India by British Missionaries; he chose the military in East Africa in the region of Zanzibar. That provided him with the credential of understanding Moslem temperament which Goldie considered necessary in dealing with his newly conquered Africans. And so Captain Lugard came to West Africa in the service of the Royal Niger Company in 1888. That was the time when Great Britain was fighting one of its African colonial wars. It was to subdue the Ashantis, a powerful kingdom north of Accra in the Gold Coast which had not been completely subdued for colonial purposes. Lugard saw the Hausa communities deeply religious by the effort of Arab refugees from the Ottoman Empire who ruled them under strong feudal system. Even before he had settled the conflicts with the French, Lugard quickly raised an Army of Hausas to fight in Ashanti. For that, he became well known in the corridor of power in Whitehall. Later the British Government intervened and settled the African conflict between the Royal Niger Company and the French colonial adventurers in the area south of Sudan. By the settlement, the British Government took over the territories from Sokoto to Bornu and southwards to the borders with the newly proclaimed Niger Coast Protectorate of which Lagos is capital. The French now own a massive territory that stretched nearly all through the Sahara region, outside the strong Arab interests. The British Government paid the Royal Niger Company handsomely for taking over its territories which were called NIGER TERRITORIES. By this tune, the twentieth century had begun.
(G) Now Great Britain had two protectorates in the area. They are adjacent to each other. No one of the African communities in the one knew, any one in the other. None of the areas had any concrete building. None of them made or manufactured any object which Adam and Eve did not make. The Arab controlled areas of the Niger Territories were void of any form of modern education. The European controlled area which is the Niger Coast Protectorate had begun to develop great interest in education. More educated Africans from other colonies such as the Gold Coast, now Ghana, Sierra Leone (Freetown) and even from the West Indies had been pouring into the Niger Coast Protectorate. From the civilised and highly developed world, it was much easier to get to the Niger Coast Protectorate than to get to the Niger minorities. The peoples of the Niger Coast saw the beginning of a brand new world. It was much different in the Niger Territories.There, to begin with, the Africans that were conquered from Arab feudal rules had been highly motivated adherents in their acquired religion of Islam. They are much more dominated by religion than the people on the Coast. They had resisted colonial rule much more vehemently than the coastal people, most of who had already been subdued by the slave trade, long before the advent of European colonialism. Yet the people of the Niger Territories were known to be more loyal to Colonial Administrators than the people of the Coast. But what seemed to be more important to the Imperial Power, was how to rule these two separate and diverse communities by generating revenue locally.
(H) The problem of how to administer two large communities with diametrically opposing religion and cultures. The facts that they are both very primitive and backward make the task a bit simple. They cannot unite against their rulers. But they cannot be administered in a simple way. More importantly, the one on the coast generated revenue very easily. The Niger Coast had more palm oil and other palm products generally than any other part of the world. Timber of diverse kind including mahogany and teak are plentiful in the Niger Coast Protectorate. Access from Europe is exceedingly. By 1849, Macgregor Laird had introduced the African Steamship Company that provided regular voyages from England to the West Coast of Africa including Lagos in the Niger Coast Protectorate. But it was difficult to get to the Niger Territories except through the Sahara. So The Niger Coast created an easement for the enjoyment of the Niger Territories. Even if goods could be found in the Niger Territories, such goods required railways and roads to convey them to the coast. More seriously important, the Niger Territories did not generate any revenue. While palm oil products and timber flourished in the Niger Coast Protectorate, there was nothing that generated revenue in the Niger Territories which much larger than the Niger Coast. The whole area of the amalgamated territories was 332,400 square miles. Of this the Niger Coast was 78,00 square miles, while the Niger Territories was 255,738 square miles of not much productive lands on the fringes of the Sahara desert. It did not yield revenue; and the British tax payers had to subsidise its administration.
(I) these problems occupied the minds of the British Government. Finally they came to the conclusion of merging the two colonies together.. So they set to do exactly that. Lugard was the leading advocate of the merging together. And he was commissioned to effect the merging. He was appointed Governor General for the two territories. By 1910, everything had been done to merge the two territories. Several names were considered. In the end the name suggested by Miss Flora Shaw, at the time a journalist, in Cairo, Egypt, was accepted. The name was NIGERIA. No one in the two territories took part in any of the consideration to merge the two groups together. No African knew about the name. More than ninety percent of the peoples in both sections knew the name before, probably 1970. Even today, less than forty percent know the content of its peoples. To the colonial administration, the African need know nothing.. In 1912, Lugard was appointed governor of both territories. The Order given to him was to merge the two together. In political language, it is AMALGAMATION. January 1st, 1914 and the British tax payers ended their burden in financing the Niger Territories .
(J) Of the Amalgamation, Michael Crowther, a Cambridge historian wrote: "When Lugard amalgamated Southern Nigeria and Northern Nigeria, it must have seemed to him that he was fusing into the same administration, groups of incompatible communities" Faber and Faber 1944. But Lugard only know the Islamic North whom he liked immensely because " They are full of respect for the white man; and they prostrate in salutation, while the trouser wearing Negroes of the coast, ( Southern Nigerians ) do not even bother to salute anyone " Elizabeth Isichei: History of Nigeria , Longmans London 1983. By virtue of the Amalgamation the Niger Coast Protectorate became known as Christian Southern Nigeria with its capital in Lagos; and the Niger Territories became known as Moslem Northern Nigeria with its capital in Kaduna. Lugard even as Governor General preferred Kaduna as his major Residence.
Part 2: the Colonial Period 1914 to 1960
(A) The period of colonial Administration began in 1914 for both sections. However, the two groups were separately administered. The North rejected Christian education; so they did not have educated people. A few noisy groups of children could be seen here and there reciting Koranic verses noisily. Otherwise there were no schools as one knows them. Consequently, all through the colonial era, Southerners assisted colonial administrators in the administration of the North as well as the South. But Southerners did not live with Northerners in a mixed way. Next to every Northern town or city that had administration in the North, a new town, called Sabon Geri, was built for Southerners and other non Moslem Africans. Europeans, most of them colonial administrators, always lived separately from Africans in “European Quarters “always guided by Northern Guards. In the South also, European administrative officers lived separately from Africans in provincial and local head quarter towns. European traders, like Christian Missionaries always lived with Africans. The privileges of Europeans administrators in both North and South ended a few years before Independence in 1960 by the effort of Southerners.
(B) During the colonial period, Northerners knew very little of the country; that is their own Nigeria. They also knew absolutely nothing beyond the religious activities of the Moslem world. The absence of aeroplane at the time contributed to their limited knowledge of the world before 1960. And they were not active at all in any matter, not even in sport Only Southerners formed political parties. These included the Nigerian Youth Movement, The National Council of Nigerian Citizens and Action Group. All of them were open to Northerners to join. But they did not. They feared it was anti establishment of the Indirect Rule. Only a total of less than forty ever joined political parties. These were considered radicals; and were not admitted in the body Moslem establishment. They included Mallam Aminu Kano and a few others. However, after 1947, when Nkrumah next door in Ghana, introduced anti colonial struggle for freedom, the hand writing on the wall indicated that Nigeria might follow suit.
(C) Then came 1947 the Nkrumah era that was the beginning of colonial freedom fighting. The Islamic North did not take part at all. Really the freedom fighting movement was really hatched in London towards the end of the Second World War. By 1944 Hitler had been weakened. The Allies, led by Great Britain, the United States France and the other Western European Powers were still cooperating with the Communist Soviet Union, seen as very mighty. Many in England carried the banner of Communism. A daily news paper the “Daily Worker “was the most popular among colonial students. Southern Nigerians comprised more than three quarters of them. Many of them sold the Daily Worker at Underground stations. Communism was referred to as the New Religion. The Labour Party too was seen as the most liberal political movement in England. Notwithstanding pockets of .haters of Africans, by and large the English people were not seen to hate people. Many West Africans and West Indians saw the United Kingdom as Mother Land. It was a condition which enabled young West African students in London to unite and begin the struggle for freedom. No organisation in Englandwas vehemently opposed to colonial freedom. In fact several British people contributed towards the acquisition of the hostel for West African Students in Camden Town. It was the hot bed of anti colonialism supported by Pan Africanism of Marcus Garvey. By 1946 Nkrumah had been elected Vice President of the West African Students Union; and the hostel provided the meeting place for radical Africans that comprised all the British colonies in West Africa. But with respect to Nigeria, only Southerners which included Obafemi Awolowo, Denis Osadebe, Samuel Akintola and Michael Okpara.
(D) Many West African students attended the famous Fifth Pan African Conference held in Manchester in 1945. It was here that Nkrumah's cravings for colonial struggle for freedom became apparent. He was elected a leader of the Conference. Earlier he had been Vice President of the West African Students Union. Still he remained a student until 1947. The Colonial Office in London did not engage itself in witch hunting on colonial students until late in 1947. At that time the Cold War had begun and the fear that colonial students would carry communism to their respective homes on their return, began to worry many leaders of British politics including the Labour Party. But lucky Nkrumah he had made several important friends before he decided to accept a job to organise apolitical party in Accra. It was a party of the elite. He soon changed it to one for the workers. Now by 1947, many ex-service soldiers from the Hitler's war front had return home having realised the colonial content of the war in which Hitler had conquered and ruled some European countries, just as , Britain, France and Belgium had done to Africans. General Jan Smuts of Africa had earlier warned the British Government against using colonial troops. Many politicians in Great Britain began to think that Christian Africans were more easily prone to favour Communism than Moslem Africans. The Moslem world at the time was dead against Communism. Almost all the political leaders in Southern Nigeria had been contemporaries of Nkrumah. And they were in communication with him as he led Ghana towards Communism. Nkrumah's flirtation with the Soviet Union., and with Nasser of Egypt who had forcibly nationalised the Suez Canal which was constructed by Great Britain and France, was hurting many in Great Britain. But Awolowo, Zik and almost all others in Southern Nigeria were admiring Nkrumah. The Moslem North was still dead asleep, happy with Lugard's Indirect Rule. They did not know what was going on.
(E) All of a sudden, in 1947, the Governor Sir Arthur Richard announced that he would introduce a Constitution for the country. And so he did immediately. By the constitution, he provided a pattern for the country to be administered under a federal system. At that time the most thought of federation was the United States and Switzerland in which the component states were self governing but only certain matters such as Finance, Foreign Affairs and Defence were under the federal Government; others wise each state administered itself and controlled its finance. Of course in those countries each of the federating states agreed by referendum to be part of the country. In Nigeria, many in the South thought that, at Independence the country would organise a referendum in each community to determine the federation. No one knew that that would not be possible although if there had been a referendum, more than ninety percent in the South would have accepted to remain in Nigeria hoping always that the Islamic North would continue to be docile or at least be understanding and be respectful to the feelings of others. Instead of a referendum, the colonial Administrators urged the North to form their own political party instead of joining those formed by Southerners. And so, The Northerners were assisted to form their own political party. They called it "Northern Peoples Congress." Besides its inaugural meeting in 1947, no other meeting was held before it disappeared following the military coup of 15th January 1966.
(F) The Richard's Constitution created three states each of which was called a Region. The whole colony of Nigeria was of this, the Moslem North formerly the Niger Territories was. The South, formerly Niger Coast Protectorate was By the Constitution the huge Moslem North remained one unit. It was called Northern Region. The smaller South was split to two regions, namely Eastern Region and Western Region, Their dividing line was the river Niger that flows between Onitsha in the East and Asabi in the West. The Niger Delta was split to two. One east of Onitsha and including Onitsha, formed part of the Eastern Region. The other West of Asaba and including Asaba formed part of the Western Region. In the South people called the arrangement “Katakata Country " It means Bloody Conflict ridden country. Now, while in the rest of Africa excluding South Africa, every colony was engaged in freedom fighting, to end the colonial system, in Nigeria, we were engaged in inter- tribal feud. And the colonial Authority keep local soldiers busily engaged in killing and suppressing one tribe against another as the years went on. And the elected Assembly in each region functioned in the midst of strife in every region. In the effort to restore calmness, the Imperial Government decided that a conference attended by representatives of every region would calm the unrest.
(G) And so began Constitutional Conferences in 1954 and 1956. The people of the Niger Delta, now called minorities , a section in the Eastern Region and a section in the Western region mobilised themselves to struggle for separate regions each. The non speaking Hausa Fulani communities in the North also wanted a separate region of their own. The Imperial Authority did not want to interfere. It was not in their interest to create separate regions for any one. Provided that Nigeria dies not go the way of the Gold Coast, later becoming Ghana, every thing was alright. Among the Nigerians themselves, the North wants a separate region for the minority group in the Western Region and in the Eastern Region; but not in the Northern Region. Similarly, the Eastern Region supported separate region for the minorities in the Northern Region and in the Eastern Region but not in the Western Region. Also in the Eastern Region, the leaders supported a separate Region for the minorities in the Northern Region and the Western Region but not in the Eastern Region. These were the thoughts of the first generation of Africans hatching out of the colonial system. They all believed that force can work and maintain the status quo whether in peace or conflict provided that they would get what they want. The colonial Authority was worst.. They accepted that in lieu of creating any more regions, it was sufficient to provide clauses of Fundamental Human Rights entrenched in the Constitution And that that would be sufficient to safeguard any suppression or cheating by the larger tribes over the smaller ones. The arrangement kept Nigeria away from taking part in the freedom fighting that was going on in almost every colony in Africa.
(H) Uncared for, helpless and suppressed, the peoples of the Niger Delta, east and west of the river Niger; wept in vain helplessly. They seem now to understand that the colonial system was not intended for human advancement but for the benefit of its perpetrators. Any advantage to the inhabitants of the colony was a bonus. Our people did not get any particular benefit from the colonial system; now, the colonial Government itself has traded us to please the people of the hinterland. The colonialists were wise enough to know what the consequences of their actions would be even in the short term. Some Godly and sympathetic Englishmen arguing the case for the Niger Delta, reminded the Colonial Government how Adolf Hitler, despite entrenching Fundamental Human Rights in the Weimer Constitution , repealed the provisions, and established the Nazi Party as the sole political party of Germany in 1935. But all the arguments fell on deaf ears. The very little changes that were made to the Richards constitution despite all the conferences were the provisions in the Constitution that the Moslem North should allow women to attend political rallies and also vote at elections. But these were not serious matter, because after Independence, no one could go to the Islamic North to enforce such provisions. It was this time that the colonial government announced the discovery of petroleum in the Niger Delta. Notwithstanding this, the colonial government did not on this account prolong its stay in the country.
Part 3 Independence and the bloody conflicts continued
(A) The British Government granted Independence to Nigeria by handing over power to the orther Peoples Congress. The date was 1st October 1960. To many it was a sad day; and it has been so remembered every year. Yet, Azikiwe, popularly known as Zik, had welcomed the situation when he addressed a rally in Enugu, capital of the Eastern Region and said, "We Nigerians have got Independence on a platter of Gold " The Prime Minister who was then the deputy leader of the N.P.C. was a village school teacher. In fact up to that time the North had very few schools and not proper secondary school of the type that flourished under Christian Missionaries in the South. Also at the time, the Northern Nigerians comprised less than four percent of the public services. The public services included the railways, the Post office and telephones, Electricity and power services and other utility and quangoes created by the Federal Government. To boost the Prime Minister up, the Colonial Power bestowed honours on him as well as several of the Islamic leaders. They included the leader of the N.P.C., Ahmadu Bello, and the Premier of the Northern Region and several of them. They all accepted Christian honours with gladness as, at that time, every obnoxious culture, including Moslem cultures and practices remained dormant. So Southerners were surprised that Moslem leaders happily accepted such Knighthood that glorified great Christian Saints, St. Michael and St. George. More than two dozen Northern Moslems were so knighted.
(B) To understand the mentality of our different peoples in Nigeria, one need to know that we were at Independence only about fifty years from the age of Adam and Eve. For example we could not understand that Nigeria as it is composed would be in perpetual bloody conflicts which will retard its growth and frustrate most hard working people. Many Younger Southern Nigerians wonder why the leaders of the Big tribes in the South did not produced such great jurists and philosophers like Mohammed Jinah of India. On the eve of the Independence of India, Jinah had insisted that Moslems and Hindus could not live in peace together in an Independent India. This notwithstanding that, the sub-continent of India was not created by the colonial system; India had existed as long as any country in Europe. On the insistence of Jinah and his fellow Moslem leaders, Pakistan was created as a separate country out of India . However at that time, no one in Nigeria knew much of the world. Less than fifty Nigerians had ever travelled to countries besides the United Kingdom. Due to our background, we were abjectly ignorant of the world. Up to the time of Independence, less than two hundred Nigerians had ever travelled to countries abroad besides the United Kingdom where Ocean Liners made frequent voyages to and fro. Air travels have changed all that; but comparatively, only very recently. Even so, we do not have good and reliable sources of information such as news papers, radio and television. On top of all that, not a great many of us use the official language English daily in order to be quite conversant and think deeply in it. In Europe today, more than sixty percent of young men are vast in the computer which report and discuss information in the respective language of each nation. That not being so , in Nigeria, we suffer handicap.
(C) The first parliament at Independence comprised a coalition of N.P.C. and N.C.N.C. That means the Northern Region and the Eastern Region. In other words, the Hausas and their state elites, and the Igbos and their state elites, this was eastern Niger Delta. The Yorubas and their own state elites, and the West Niger Delta remained in the cold; as the two groups commandeered all the juicy jobs, both local and foreign leaving nothing to others in the very primitive setting. Awolowo did not mind the situation; he still thought that policy would count in an election; and that his turn would come. Akintola was practical, as many typical Nigerians would say. “What is important is today; and not tomorrow." perseverance is not the nature of backward people. In the end there was a serious feud between the two leaders. Akintola moved closer and closer to the N.P.C. Then the clash between him and Awolowo came to the open. By June 1962 the clash had become too wide and too open, and then followed fighting even right inside the Western Region Assembly at Ibadan. The Federal government declared Emergency and sacked the Assembly and the government. In its stead, they appointed an Administrator. And as the heavy hand continued, the Federal government charged Awolowo and his close associates with Treasonable Felony. As many as twenty eight of them including Awolowo were convicted on the ground that they had gone to Ghana, met Nkrumah whom Balewa hated immensely, and obtained training in order to over throw the Federal Government of Nigeria. And the bloody conflicts continue. Soon Akintola, a sharp operator, elbowed the N.C.N.C out of the coalition in the Federal government. That means the Igbos had now joined the jobless crowd. And as the bloody conflicts continues in progression and intrigue, on the 15th of January 1966, a group of young military officers comprising Ibos and Yorubas staged a coup and ousted the Balewa's government, wiping out many of the Moslems in government, as well as some Southerners, said to be their collaborators. In the coup, Balewa the Prime Minister, and his boss Ahmadu Bello leader of the N.P.C. who was also the Premier of the massive Northern region were killed. Akintola was killed also. That day the country remained terribly frightening. There were corpses of troops and politicians all over Lagos, Kaduna and other big towns. Many realised that it was only the consequence of the incautious manner in which these poor tribes, that did not know one another, were forcible merged together to become a nation. A few still said “It will be better”
(D) All through out the South, almost to the last man, Nzeogu's coup was welcomed as something to end the arrogance of the new found power of the Moslem North. The Northerners themselves know that. They are more discipline and self control than any community in the South. At this time they exercised caution silently; while they brood over the situation. On the third day after the killing, it came to be known that the coup was not successful. The head of the Military, General Agui-Ironsi, the only General in the Nigerian Army, and an Igbo from the Eastern Region; did not support it. He felt that it would never succeed, because of the powerful backing of the Moslem world, which the Moslem North enjoys. He attempted to neutralise the effect of the coup. But the Moslem Northern troops did not support him readily. Nzeogu and others of them saw his interference dangerous. So the great mutiny in the military began. In the end Ironsi succeeded. However, this was not with the Moslem troops of the North. But several troops were killed in the encounter.
(E) On the nineteenth of January, Ironsi announced himself as the head of state under a military regime. It was the first Military regime in the country. He appointed a military officer, who was a member of the Northern region to be governor of the Region. A Yoruba Officer was appointed governor of the Western Region. And Major Odumegwu Ojukwu, an Igbo became the governor of the Eastern Region. But the Northerners, military and civilians, continued their opposition to him. They wanted him to produce Nzeogu and the other coup makers for trial. He knew he could not do so without alienating the whole of the South. But still afraid of the North and the Moslem world, Ironsi set to travel abroad to the Moslem World in order to explain to them, that the coup was not intended against Moslems. Unfortunately for him, the Moslems in Nigeria and those abroad did not believe him. Frightened all the time, he converted a frigate on the Lagos lagoon to be his bedroom. Each night he changed places, some times sleeping in the Barracks among Southerners, and at other times sleeping with friends outside the capital Lagos. That made him a subject for gossip in the South. While he did so, he also continued his effort to calm the Moslems down. By this time they had probably found how timid a man he was. By the middle of February, Northern troops began to harass Southern civilians living in the North. In March they began killing Southerners in several places. Ironsi could not stop them, as he himself lived in fear of them. He travelled widely in the North with plenty of brown money bags. As he visited the Emirs whom he thought to be influential, he gave to them large money bags full of currency. Yet the Northern Military continued to hunt Southerners in the North for kill. Yoruba officers were also apprehensive. Of the Southern Military only one, Major Olusegun Obasanjo, was known to be in complete acceptance by the Northern officers. He knew all the coup makers, and he was very friendly to some of them, but he refused to join them. That impressed the Northern military immensely. The situation was so bad that all Eastern troops were sent back to the Eastern Region by the dead of night. And they travelled without their military uniforms and equipments. By nature we Africans are not brave people. A situation like this easily made the whole country fearful and life became dull and slow and made many that was also a subject of gossip among fearful Southerners. He was a friend of all the coup makers; yet he was not one of them. This fact impressed the Northern Military immensely.
(F) By April 1966, that was nearly four months after he had assumed power, many in the South, began to realise that Ironsi was a timid officer, working hard to please the Islamic North.. Earlier, on defeating Nzeogu's group of Coup makers, he had appointed a governor for each region.. Major Odumegwu Ojukwu became the governor of the Eastern Region. Colonel Katsina, a Hausa officer was appointed Governor of the Northern Region. And an Igbo officer Major Odumegwu was appointed Governor of the Eastern region. For the Western Region who appointed a Yoruba, he appointed Adekunle Fajuyi. Many had thought that he would not play to the tribal sentiment in his appointment of Governors; particularly as he vehemently condemned tribalism. But it was his timidity in trying to woe the Moslem at home and abroad that reduced the high estimation originally acceded to him by non Igbos in the South. Ironsi tried disparately to please the Moslem North despite that fact that they gave him no support whatsoever. Instead, their troops led Jihad warriors everywhere in the North to kill Southerners , later when they could realise that Nzeogu and the rest of the coup makers , except one, were from the Eastern Region same as Irons, they concentration on killing Easterners everywhere in the North. Because, the Northerners themselves were not educated and they were unemployable, more than ninety percent of the African workers in European businesses were from the South.
(G) From April 1966 to the third week of May, the killing of the people of the Eastern Region reached a pick. Genocide was the term used by several foreign observers to describe it. Islamic Northern troops led their civilian supporters on killing rampage every where and every day for several days throughout the North. There were non able to stop them. Not even passengers on planes arriving at Kano International airport or at Kaduna local airports were safe for our people. They marched to railway stations, major roads, offices; work shops even of European firms and called out Easterners for killing. At Kano International Air port aeroplanes from Europe were stopped; and Easterners lined out for killing. Stack illiterate troops, armed to the teeth would stop any one and ask "Wey yor nation, which side you kom from in pigeon English?”. They wanted to know the tribe you belong to in the South. If the answer was not “Yoruba "; you could be killed.
(H) The killing continued through to early May when people realised that the pogrom had arrived. Ironsi hurriedly convened a conference of all the Emirs, which are Moslem leaders throughout the Islamic North. The conference was held at Ibadan, capital of the Western Region It began on the 24th of July. Ironsi attended the conference by living with the governor of the Region. Major Fajuyi with whom Ironsi had served in the British Army in India. The Governor's residence called The Governor's Lodge was a heavily guarded building. Its guards numbering thirty well armed troops included Moslem troops. The idea of including Moslem troops among the guards was to demonstrate that, no animosity against Moslems existed in Ironsi's policy. So both Ironsi and Fajuyi felt quite safe. However, on the 25th of July, a contingent of heavily armed troops, all of the Northerners, speeded from a nearby Barracks to The Governors Lodge Ibadan. The time was about 8pm. Fajuyi was entertaining his guest, General Agui-Ironsi. The troops easily got access to the sitting room. Without being announced, they forced themselves into the sitting room. They knew their victims. Without any ceremony, they ordered General Ironsi to stand up and be searched. With no struggle from Ironsi, he obeyed. One of them began to handcuff Ironsi. Fajuyi could not comprehend what was happening. "You can't do that” he bellowed. "Why? You keep away “The most senior officer of the troops ordered Fajuyi. “He is my guest, and you can't do that to him right in my house” "We've come to take him away” Responded one of the officers. "Take him away to where?” "That's none of your business; you keep away and sit down”, ordered the most senior of the rebel officers. But Fajuyi continued " I am a Yoruba; and we Yorubas do not allow gangsters to kidnap our guests from our home I can't let you hurt him “Fajuyi insisted. “Very well; Yoruba man; we'll teach you a lesson. We'll take both of you, “said the senior officer as he administered a hard blow on the face of Fajuyi. Then the troops pushed him and Ironsi into a waiting Land Rover.
(J) Both men were then driven to a nearby bush and shot. The time was only nine o’clock. But Ibadan was like a ghost city in darkness. There were very few or no night life. Fear still gripped every one in the South. The end of Ironsi and Fajuyi was never published for a very long time, more than two months. Only gossips prevailed all over the country. Many the South cursed poor “Frederick Lugard, the Imperialist, who created this monster and call it Nigeria ." Some made lamentable songs of it. During the first three days after the abduction and murder of Ironsi, only rumour floated. There was no tangible news at all. The most pleasant news was that the Northerners having killed Ironsi and Fajuyi were planning to secede. The news brought jubilation to almost every one in the South. Later the rumour that the Northerners were going to secede was qualified. They had sent some one to the British government in London to seek the opinion of the British government on secession. However, three days after the abduction and murder, Major Gowon, a Northern Officer, appeared on the television. He spoke on behalf of the Northern Military, and stated hat it had not been possible to hold the country together, but the Northern Military had taken over the administration. Even after that announcement by Gowon, a large majority still thought that the North would secede. The whole of the South was jubilant. Later when Gowon began to name his cabinet, it dawned on the public that the North would not secede. Then rumour supplied the reason for that. It was that the British government had advised them to remain in Nigeria, particularly as they had recaptured power; and also because of the discovery of petroleum in the Niger Delta, it would be foolish if they seceded. The horrible rumour spread and sadness enveloped the whole of the South. No one openly rejoiced.
(k) Major Odumegwu Ojukwu, the governor of Ironsi's own Easter Region or state, showed most concern over the “mysterious" disappearance of Ironsi. No one bothered about Fajuyi. Ojukwu's contention was that, if it was true that Ironsi had been killed, or disappeared, then the Northern Military that had taken over the government, must announce this to the country. He also contended that, if Ironsi was out of the way, then the next most senior officer, Brigadier Ogunddipe, a Yoruba, should take over.
However, later it was known that, Brigadier Ogundipe, on hearing the fate of Ironsi and Fajuyi, had escaped, leaving Nigeria for hiding in the United Kingdom. The Yorubas themselves were notoriously silent on the matter. The loss of Awolowo who was still in jail at the time subdued them. Then also, the Akintola's faction was mourning the death of their leader, now killed along as a collaborator with the Northern leaders.
(L) In this situation, the South had Ojukwu alone to face the mighty North which was seen to
enjoy the support of the Moslems world.- wide. Ojukwu stood for Ironsi, and on that, he refused to compromise. And so the killings of Easterners by Islamic Northerners wherever they were found continued. Northerners and their troops continued to kill Easterners. To weaken support for Ojukwu among the Yorubas, Gowon suddenly released the entire Awolowo group from jail. This gladdened a large faction of Yorubas. It was this faction that had been vocal in the anti - Muslim North for jailing Awolowo. The other section of the Yorubas, the Akintola section, had always supported the North. The battle was now between Major Ojukwu and Major Gowon, one for the Easterners, the other for the powerful Northerners. The Yorubas had been compromised. Both Ojukwu and Gowon were of equal ranks in the Army; but Ojukwu became a major before Gowon; and he, Ojukwu argued that seniority must be considered in filling the position of Ironsi. Some observers described the situation as a Serious Military Mutiny. Because the army was in power, the situation very seriously affected the whole country. Like the communities, the Army too, was tribally divided, and loyalty was on tribal basis. The impasse and the never ending bloody conflicts now in greater progression, continued to a civil war from July 1967 to January 1970.
(M) In view of the rhetoric and accusations by each side to the other, it became commonly guessed that a civil war would follow. During the constitutional conferences in London, the most popular demands was the separation of the smaller ethnic communities from each of the larger groups being Hausas in the North , Igbos in the Eastern Region and Yorubas in the Western Region. Each of the large tribe had at that time refused to create any state or region for the smaller ones in its Region, but supported such creation in the other two regions. Now, the issue on these demands continued into Independence, so that that when the Igbos were elbowed out of the Coalition in the Federal Government, Akintola's faction of the Yorubas, as members in the Coalition, agreed with the Northerners to create a region in the Western Region.. This was spite to Awolowo then in jail. They called the new Region Mid-West Region. Its capital was Asaba on the Niger directly opposite Onitsha in the Eastern Region. Now, in 1966, Gowon thought that, if new regions or states for every community, was created, there would be peace. He therefore arbitrarily cancelled all the regions and in their stead, he created twelve states. These were six in the South, and six in the North. So the Eastern Region was cancelled; and in its stead, three states were created, one for the Igbos and two stats for the non Igbos, Rivers state and South- Eastern State. In effect, the Niger Delta had been separated from the large Ibo ethnic group, and every one in the two new states rejoiced. The Igbos did not. In the Western Region the Mid-West which comprised the western part of the Niger Delta remained one state or region.
(N) Without greater detail as to the power of each state, every one except the Igbos of the Eastern Region was pleased. The Igbos rejected the states carved for the non Igbos from the Eastern Region in which they were dominant. Ojukwu began to be partly isolated. He called the states created from the Eastern Region, "paper states” Their slogan in this respect was” What we have, we hold” It was a phrase said to emanate from Winston Churchill in rejecting the Independence of India in 1947. But in this way, Ojukwu and the Igbos alienated the non Igbos against them. That meant that the Eastern region was divided. He did not provide an alternative. Every one supported the creation of states, and thought that each of the states would function like the autonomous states of the United States of America. Much later it was seen that each of the Gowon created states was like the provinces during the colonial era. In practice, they were like counties in the United Kingdom. However, temporarily, they impressed those new states that were created. The conflicts and the war on words between Ojukwu and Gowon continued. Ojukwu began to act in furtherance of secession by not cooperating with Gowon. Then tension developed fast. A settlement of the issues between the two at a conference in Aburi, Ghana brokered by the leader of Ghana in December 1966 failed. There was now a stage of no return from bloody conflicts. It is to be, the first major civil war in Africa , more serious than Lumumba’s Congo Civil war of 1959.
(O) By the beginning of 1967 Gowon had tried to improve his image as the leader of the murdering Islamic North. In the Eastern Region Ojukwu would not allow the new states to begin functioning. But he began to act in furtherance of secession. In this respect, he seized planes belonging to the Nigerian Airways and ships of the Nigeria Shipping Line; and many others. He sent away from the Eastern Region, all federal workers and civil servants. And he was understood for placing diplomats in the capitals of some African countries. Later in June 1967, he proclaimed the Eastern Region as Biafra. At the proclamation, its flag was hoisted; and its Anthem was sung. A brand new nation, not created by the colonial system, was born in Africa. For all that, it was worth jubilation. And there was jubilation all over the Igbo areas of the new nation. Fear of what may come next from both the Igbos and the Federal government enveloped all the peoples of the eastern Niger Delta. In the fear some supported Biafra, while many supported the federal government.
(P) The real problem laid in the fact that the Igbos could not separate alone because they have no external boundaries. In their south is the Niger Delta, hi their North is the Benue state which is the beginning of the Islamic North. In their west was the Mid-West region that formed part of Nigeria. And in the east is part of the South-Eastern Region and part of the Niger Delta created as a state by Gowon. It was a condition in which Ojukwu needed more diplomacy than force. Diplomacy might have enabled the whole of the South to secede because every one had begun to realise what a monster of a country Nigeria is. Created by Great Britain as a monster, it has progressed in that monstrous form all along. It can never become a loving nation to all its peoples. No other colony was created in the way that Nigeria was created, by forcibly merging together more than 250 disparate communities in which a great many did not know, even the very existence of, many of the others, and in which a very large number are Christians, and a much larger number are fundamental Moslems. Besides, Sudan, there is no other country like that in the whole world. It is indeed a human misfortune. Unfortunately too, Great Britain which created Nigeria as a monster, argue that it would not support Ojukwu because in Nigeria Gowon was the head of a legal government. At that time, there was no Iraq to show that a legal government could be invaded if need be. But Estonia and Latvia in the Soviet Union were being morally supported to secede. And in 2006 moral support was being given against the legal government of Mugabe of Zimbabwe. These facts seem necessary for the study of Nigeria.
(Q) In July 1967, without declaring war, Gowon's troops marched into Biafra from the Ogoja area of the Eastern Region. They attack Biafra from the north eastern sector. But as they were progressing inwards, Ojukwu's troops meandered into the Mid-west where the governor had rejected Gowon's direction to be involved in the war. But all of a sudden, Ojukwu army of Biafra had invaded it. They thereby committed its people against Biafra. Every sympathiser of Biafra was disappointed. Now Gowon's Moslem troops decided that, they had a good reason to use the Mid West at Asaba By September, Gowon's troops, made up of sixty percent mercenaries and jihad warriors unknown to the peoples of Southern Nigeria, marched their forces into Biafra. This was at a time when the secret ambition and agenda of the Islamic North was still unknown to any one in the South. Also, no one hi the South knew the extent of support given to the Islamic North by the Moslem world. However, as the war progressed, by October 1967, hordes of troops in Moslem outfit, believed to be jihadists from the Sahara, had assembled at Asaba. Later, larger contingents of troops joined them. The bridge at Asaba that connected the Mid-West and Biafra, having been destroyed by Biafran troops, the hordes of mercenaries waited for the dry season when the volume of water in the Niger would be very low. Then they could easily cross by light boats to the Holy city of Onitsha in Biafra. Even so thousands of the Moslem troops got drowned as they tried to cross in dug out canoes. At Asaba, before they began the crossing, these gangs of soldiers strayed about private homes robbing families and raping women. They caused terrible panic all over the city.
(R) Only about two thirds of the troops numbering about 25,000 got to Onitsha. The rest got drowned. Of the successful ones, more than half were slaughtered by Biafran troops. However, like bees others flocked into poor Onitsha. In the shooting and fist fighting, the few Biafran troops could not hold them back. The Moslem troops then went mad, killing every object alive. According to rumour at the time, they must have killed more than forty thousand. With no tents available to them, the Moslem troops occupied vacant homes, school halls, Churches and every building they found. Though most of the troops were Moslem troops from outside the country, a good number of them wore federal Nigerian military uniforms. They occupied Onitsha for more than five months. The troops made Onitsha as their base. At Onitsha several other troops from far away places including Somali on the North African coast, joined them. It was this contingent from Somali that could swim and got to the Niger Delta. There, they killed several thousands more; and they committed rape, robbery and murder. All over the Eastern Region, by the beginning of 1968, an estimated more than one million had been killed by Moslem troops from several parts of the Moslem world. In many cases the foreign troops were recognised by their human features to be from far away places including North Africa. A few who were caught confessed that they had come from as far away as Libya, Sudan and Somali. Moslem Northerners seemed proud of the mercenaries. They compared them to the Gukkas who fought side by side with British troops in several battles in Europe and Asia. Onitsha was not alone. Many other parts of the Eastern Region suffered in a similar way.
(S) In January 1966, after his coup, General Ironsi had travelled abroad to pacify the Moslem world and assure them that the coup was not against Moslems. He did that also in April that year. The Moslem North and their leaders did not attempt to do the same thing in respect of their attack on Christians in Southern Nigeria. Early in 1969, the Pope sent two Apostolic delegates to Nigeria and then to the war torn Biafra . The Moslem leaders he met were extremely rude to the Papal delegates. Some observers taught that they the troops would shout the delegates. But these Bishops sent by the Pope saw the extent to which Islamic troops murdered several thousands of Biafrans. "These Moslem troops probably think they are fighting the crusade of the 12th century" Commented a foreign reporter. All the roads and foot paths in Biafra were littered with piles of bodies noted several foreign visitors permitted to the area. As many as five hundred bodies could be seen in one building, Every Church and school was full of bodies ridden with bullet shots. “Strong genocidal overtone was apparent everywhere in Biafra “Reported the Papal delegates in April 1968. One of the foremost English reporters was Frederick Forsyth. He visited war ravaged Biafra about this time and reported that “Onitsha was under siege from the federal troops, the 300 strong congregation of the Apostolic Church decided to stay on while others fled, and to pray for deliverance. The Second Division of Federal troops found them hi the Church, dragged them out, tied their hands behind their backs and executed all of them. "In all more than four million were killed in this way by Moslem troops. The whole of Biafra, from Enugu to Bonny, Akasa; Abonnema, Ogoni, Calabar and Ogoja and every where was like a huge grave yard. Even before the war actually started business had disappeared throughout Biafra. All foreign businesses closed even before the shooting started.
(T) For more than five years after the war, no foreign company operated in the East. Most of the cities were ghost towns. Now, how did people eat? One may ask. They eke out anything from the soil and Moslem world wide is concerned. Examples are the Iraq war and the Danish Journalist writing on the Holy Prophet. On each occasion, they killed our people in demonstration. For example, in the case of the Danish Journalist, they caught a Catholic priest. Then they rapped raffia all over him and set him on fire. As he burnt to death, the morbid onlookers danced around him; and they urinated on the ashes. In other cases, it is a common thing for them to behead our people. And on this occasion of the Danish Journalist, after killing the Catholic priest, hordes of them tried to get to the Niger Delta; but the Igbos caught them and slaughtered a lot of them; and so saved our people.
(U) God has blessed us and kept us alive so far from the effects of such calamities like hurricane and other disaster. If that happen to us, then we are finished; because we are not in control of our territories, having been made into a colony by the Moslem Northerners. The Moslem Rulers have recently created a Niger Delta Minister to supervise our Niger Delta and report to the Hausa Ruler of the Islamic Nigeria. That is our status today. Our immemorial neighbours, the Igbos and the Yorubas are not helping us in this subdued situation. Our fore fathers in their graves could not have contemplated that we could go so low, and be treated like colonial subjects to the extent that, a Hausa man has appointed a body to supervise our Niger Delta , and to report to him. We must blame the Judas; Jonathan Goodluck for all these. . The Moslem North continues to terrorise our people right inside our own land as never before. We must learn from the failure of Biafra. It was borne out of a military mutiny. The world of those days is different from that of today. This means that, diplomatic method is far better than military method, but it requires much thinking and diplomacy. We require real unity among ourselves. Sudan is under Arab influence and Europeans have not done much there. Europeans created all the modern nations of Africa. For this, we Africans owe them immense gratitude. But they are too slow to understand that, in some cases, the colonies they created cannot 1414 work for free peoples at Independence, because of its complicated human composition. If they want to help us to freedom, then, they should think of separating us as desired; instead of talking unity and democracy. In some countries in Africa, Democracy is anathema. It enables the large and powerful tribes to boss over the small tribes and live on them like parasites. Finally, we assure our patrons that more of these discourses and messages will be published in this website from time to time. We hope that through them we can explain our tribulations to the liberal world and gain their moral support for Independence without bloodshed we study the map of the world, and we see no country in which, a large number of Christian communities, and a large number of Moslem communities, ever live in peace and harmony that enhance development. Instead, in the continent of Europe, as in the continent of America, Asia and the Middle East, every country comprises communities of like minded peoples whose cultures and religion influence their politics. In Europe, the European Powers realised that fact; and they helped Yugoslavia to break up. Why can't they understand that in Africa? That is the question many ordinary Africans ask. We in the Niger Delta want nothing from Nigeria, only our freedom. ~ Freedom for the Blessed Niger Delta. We are fighting a cause, not an enemy.
N.D.R.M ~ website: APPENDIX TO THE PREFACE
1. " The tribal divisions in Africa mare so great that they cannot be overlooked. The new unity (of merging the tribes together) is something built above them from outside by foreigners (that is Europeans). These drew lines on a map and called the areas with the great collection of independent tribes which happened to be inside those lines, by a convenient new name like Nigeria. They then set up a single twentieth century foreign government over all these tribes " Margery Perham: Africans and British Rule: Oxford University Press 1941.
2." When Lugard amalgamated Southern Nigeria and Northern Nigeria in 1914, it might have seemed to him that he was lumping together under the same administration groups of mutually-incompatible peoples " Michael Crowder: The Story of Nigeria, Faber and Faber 1966.
3. Lugard had no stomach for Southern Nigerians. About them he ranted "After the 'civilised ' trouser wearing - Negro of the Atlantic coast, who takes no stock of the white man, and seldom raises his hat to a white man, not even to the Governor, it was refreshing to see this far finer race of men with their respective salutation prostrating themselves on their faces before the Governor " Elizabeth Isichei: A History of Nigeria: Longman: London 1983. That was how Lugard complimented the Moslem Northerners.
4. "Northern leaders looked at the Post Office, Railways Stations and workshops, the clerical services, public works, yards and commercial stores, hospitals and professional men's offices, all full of Southern workers, and many of them using no Northern employees at all; and it caused frustrations to Northerners “By Trevor Clark: A Right Honourable Gentleman: Abubakar Balewa, A Biography published by Edward Arnold, London 1991 the following is an explanation. Before the Amalgamation 1914, as narrated earlier, the Moslem North was called " Niger Territories” and its Africans in the fringes of the Sahara, were earlier ruled under feudalism, by Arab refugees from the Ottoman Empire. Their Arab rulers, who ruled them during more than three centuries, gave them the highly motivated and disciplined religion of Islam. But they did not give them education. On being conquered by Great Britain, and merged together with the Niger Coast Protectorate, ( Southern Nigeria), the people demanded that there should be no European Christian evangelists at all in their area; that is, Northern Nigeria. Their demand was respected by the Colonial Administration all through the colonial period. Because of this, Southerners who were plentifully educated by Christian Missionary schools and colleges assisted British Administrators, even all through the Moslem North, until Independence in 1960. The work shops and clerical services in the Islamic North that required educated staff, had to employ Southerners to the absolute exclusion of stack illiterate and unemployable Northerners.
5. "The creation of Nigeria involved forcing several different ethnic, cultural and religious groups into one political structure. In retrospect of forty years, it is clear that this was a grave mistake which has cost many lives and will probably continue to do so" Sir Peter Smithers a former British Cabinet Minister in the Colonial Office wrote in the London Times July 15th 1998.
6. " Suffice to say, putting all considerations to test, political, economic as well as social, the basis for unity in Nigeria is not there, or it has been so badly shaken not once but several times " Yakubu Gowon the Military ruler appointed by the Moslem troops after the coup that killed Ironsi and Fajuyi in July 1966.
7. " It is difficult to govern a country like Nigeria. It is artificially created, divided into Moslem North and Christian and pagan South “wrote Lady. M. Thatcher (a former Conservative Prime Minister of Great Britain whose ancestors created Nigerian) See: The Downing Street Years. H. Collins London 1998.
8. General Babangida, the Islamic Ruler of Nigeria in 1986, arbitrarily proclaimed Nigeria a member of the Organisation Of Islamic Conference. In the riots that followed, the South was beaten. Then he arbitrarily and arrogantly introduced Sharia, Fatwa and other Moslem practices with fanfare of killing Southerners in their areas. Since 1990, more than six million Southern Nigerians have left the country and become legal or illegal immigrants in Europe, America and Southern Africa. Each of the three groups in Southern Nigeria, that is, the Niger Delta, the Igbos and the Yorubas, have large elements seeking separation from Nigeria. Unlike the Moslem North's AREWA, supported by the O.I.C., we do not have any external support. We seek nothing whatsoever from Islamic Nigeria. We want Independence in order to rule ourselves. We think that we can rule ourselves better than other people can rule us. And this seems to be the reason why highly civilised and supremely developed European colonialists left their African colonies in response to their Christian virtues. And they left Nigeria without a fight. We pray for God's Mercy. ~ AE
The End
