Pandemonium broke loose. People were running helter-skelter, wailing. Those who could not wail were shouting. Commentaries upon commentaries were all over the media. The cyber cafes were flooded. Everybody wanted first-hand news. General Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu is dead. Nigeria and Nigerians stood still.He died early hours of November 26, 2011 at Hammersfield Hospital in London. His family and close associates confirmed this. He was ill about a year now and had been receiving treatment. His death has been unfolding many in the Pandora's Box. People like Generals Yakubu Gowon and Olusegun Obasanjo (rtd) have refused to briddle their tongues since Ojukwu died. They are now exhuming what was supposed to be left for history. Gowon, like Obasanjo, because they saw themselves in positions they never expected in life, by their prosecution of Ndi'Igbo in and after the 60s, they would not allow Ndi'Igbo to wipe away the tears on their (Ndi'Igbo) eyes, before they started to make derogatory statements against the dead. In his statement on his master, Ojukwu, all Obasanjo could recall was that he requested Ojukwu to apologise to the nation for coming up with the Biafran state, 'but that Ojukwu refused', while Gowon is blaming Ojukwu for leading Biafrans to war. It is a pity that Obasanjo has not realised that he had egocentric interest; never really cared about anybody, including his Yoruba race. While Ndi'Igbo are trying to stop taking Gowon serious, Obasanjo is goofing. Ndi'Igbo will never stop to remember Ojukwu for what he stood for, the sacrifice he made in the name of freedom for Ndi'Igbo and Nigeria in general. Gowon and Obasanjo have refused to remember those men and women who sacrificed so much in the name of Biafra and Nigeria. Maybe, the 'the Sword of Damocles' is now hanging on Gowon and Obasanjo's heads and they are making mentally subnormal utterances.Since Gowon and Obasanjo have refused to allow the sleeping dog to lie, one issue their statements have made Ndi'Igbo and Ngerians to recall is the issue of 'abandoned property.' This phraseology was given after the Nigeria/Biafra Civil War ' 1967-1970. Ndiigbo who are majority Biafrans left their property in the old Rivers State created in 1967, and fled for safety of their lives during this war. After the war, they came back to Rivers State to start up a new life but they were deprived of their property. Rivers men and women claimed Ndiigbo property worth millions of pounds unlawfully and characterised them 'abandoned property' with the connivance of the Nigerian State. The Nigeria/Biafra war didn't just come up. It was after the Northerners gruesomely murdered Ndiigbo, in what was called retaliation of some Northern elite, who were killed during the January 15, 1966 coup. This coup was adjudged as pointer that Ndiigbo wanted to "dominate" all spheres of life in Nigeria. But the fact was that the coupists never consulted any of the known prominent Igbo leaders. The North characterised it as 'Igbo-inspired coup.' Hence, they killed Ndiigbo in the North. Ndiigbo mutilated bodies were ferried down their land amidst tears. Ojukwu was among notable Igbo sons and daughters who stood up and cried and called the entire world to come and see the pogrom that was committed against Igbo. The Northerners wanted to break out of Nigeria. Hence, they saw anybody who was not from the North as an enemy.The Northerners circulated falsehood as necessary motivation for executing the civil war. They said that General JTU Aguiyi-Ironsi's military regime was tending towards unitary form and if not stopped, would be detrimental to the heterogeneous composition of Nigeria. As a result, some scholars have asked that if unitary government was against Nigeria's corporate interest between January 15, 1966 and July 28, 1966, how come after the July 29, 1966 revenge coup, unitary system of government was consolidated and perpetuated within Nigeria even till today' What changed after July 29, 1966' They have asked that could it be some sections of Nigeria were entitled to impose and operate a unitary form of government on other sections of Nigeria, while some other sections are not entitled to do the same. The scholars have further said that the Hausa-Fulani, while hiding their real intensions for the war, co-opted the Yoruba in the project. Both these groups set about poisoning the minds of some Eastern Nigeria minority groups especially the Ijaw with phantoms of Igbo 'oppression' and 'domination' so much so that both the Eyo Ita incident and Udo Udoma's COR movement issue became ready 'examples' adduced as representative of Igbo 'domination' of Eastern Region minorities with the potential to spread to other parts of Nigeria, if not checked by collective effort. The unsuspecting Ijaw, Efik, Ogoni amongst others, swallowed the bait hook, line, and sinker.To be continuedOnwumere wrote in from Rivers State via apoet_25@yahoo.com
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