United States Government Memo on Biafra

[DeepThought]

Originally Posted by maxsiollun

Deepthought, the memo is posted on the US State Dept's website. Surely an agency of the US federal government would not post fake inauthentic material on its website?

Absolutely Max.
In fact, Jesus works there. Mohammad was seen using the toilet there last week and the Buddha has declared Nirvana to be found up Madam Pant suit's ar@s

[felix]

What are some people afraid of? Why is it that an avalanche of scare tactics is being deployed left and right on this thread? Why cant the subject of the "memo" be discussed and the bitter truth laid bare once again??? Is that a taboo? All you guys want is for everybody to be quiet, close his/her eyes and sing kumbaya as fake unity is proclaimed while murderous characters rip the dirty benefits of their "oil war"? Taking into consideration the political realities in Nigeria today, can we fault the conclusions made in the said memo? If not , why the desperate attempts to stiffle the discussion of the said memo? Or are we going to stop discussing facts because somehow, such discussions may flare up the ethnic tempers of some clever "heritage defenders"? That memo is for Awoist and those who ceaselessly defend the likes of Gowon. It shows how a state was recreated with/on hate. Hate and Progress seldom work together! Any surprises here? Now you know why Nigeria has always been a convulsing amalgam ever since!? It is also a food for thought for those Igbos who think that somehow under the present arrangement the best potentials of the Igbo youth can be maximised.

[Mikky jaga]

II. Hausa-Fulani and Yoruba Intentions Toward the Ibos
4. There is of course no love lost between the Hausa-
Fulanis and the Ibos, and even before the first military
coup in January 1966 there was much pent-up anti-Ibo senti-
ment in the north. Over a million Ibos lived in the former
Northern Region, and because of their education and ambition,
they held the best jobs. The Hausa-Fulanis regarded the
Ibos as pushy, arrogant, treacherous, greedy, and of course
pagan. The depth of the anti-Ibo sentiment was demonstrated
during the September-October 1966 riots in the Northern
Region during which at least 7,000 and possibly twice that
many Ibos were killed.

5. These anti-Ibo feelings have probably become more
intense since the war, and especially as it has become
more and more difficult to explain the federal government's
inability to win a military victory. Left to themselves,
many, perhaps most, Hausa-Fulanis would probably punish
the Ibos severely for the secession, and given the means,
many northerners might well undertake a bloodbath of major
proportions. Senior Hausa-Fulani officers would probably
try to avoid this, however, and Gowon and the army leaders
from the minority tribes would probably be able to contain
the northern troops who would come into contact with the
Ibos in the event of a federal victory. It is probably
worthwhile to note that thus far in the war there have
been no examples of what would happen if northern troops
gained control of areas of heavy Ibo population, because
the Ibos have evacuated their towns in the face of advancing
federal troops.

6. The Yorubas are also basically anti-Ibo. The
Westerners see the Ibos as rivals for the better jobs and
as cultural inferiors. Most Yorubas, however, probably
feel much closer to the Ibos in education and background
than to their northern brothers, and probably quite a few
Yorubas sympathize with the Ibo attempt at self-determina-
tion. We do not believe the Yorubas would engage in any
significant amount of atrocities against the Ibos.

The above, I believe is the main thrust of the memo. Why some people will leave the lot of the passage that dealt with the roles of the Hausa Fulani/Middle Belters in the report and concentrated on a non existent conflict between Igbos and Yorubas baffles me.

The report, apart from mentioning the normal rivalry between the equally educated neighbours even went ahead to state that "the Yorubas would (not) engage in any significant amount of atrocities against the Ibos".

People just like to read what is in their prejudiced minds int threads.

[FSU]

6. The Yorubas are also basically anti-Ibo. The
Westerners see the Ibos as rivals for the better jobs and
as cultural inferiors. Most Yorubas, however, probably
feel much closer to the Ibos in education and background
than to their northern brothers, and probably quite a few
Yorubas sympathize with the Ibo attempt at self-determina-
tion. We do not believe the Yorubas would engage in any
significant amount of atrocities against the Ibos.

Mikky did your eyes miss those? What word could be stronger than being 'anti'' anything?
How did Igbo culture become inferior to Yoruba? How can anyone compare two things dissimilar in many ways? It's like saying German language is inferior to English

[Mikky jaga]

Originally Posted by FSU

6. The Yorubas are also basically anti-Ibo. The
Westerners see the Ibos as rivals for the better jobs and
as cultural inferiors. Most Yorubas, however, probably
feel much closer to the Ibos in education and background
than to their northern brothers, and probably quite a few
Yorubas sympathize with the Ibo attempt at self-determina-
tion. We do not believe the Yorubas would engage in any
significant amount of atrocities against the Ibos.

Mikky did your eyes miss those? What word could be stronger than being 'anti'' anything?
How did Igbo culture become inferior to Yoruba? How can anyone compare two things dissimilar in many ways? It's like saying German language is inferior to English

Your fixation on Yorubas is akin to a man that leaves leprosy to fester while treating ringworm. You conveniently left out the people that killed 7,000 Ibos or maybe double that figure for seeing them as superior to them while you are after Yorubas that percieved Ibos as inferior but did nothing about it. You cannot query people's perception, but you can condemn their actions.

The day the southerners realize we have common enemy (the internal colonizers) that will be the day we will begin to direct ourselves aright to fight for a common cause.

FSU, Yorubas are your rivals, not your enemies.

[RAHIM]

Originally Posted by Mikky jaga

Your fixation on Yorubas is akin to a man that leaves leprosy to fester while treating ringworm. You conveniently left out the people that killed 7,000 Ibos or maybe double that figure for seeing them as superior to them while you are after Yorubas that percieved Ibos as inferior but did nothing about it. You cannot query people's perception, but you can condemn their actions.

The day the southerners realize we have common enemy (the internal colonizers) that will be the day we will begin to direct ourselves aright to fight for a common cause.

FSU, Yorubas are your rivals, not your enemies.

The implication of the above is that I, as simply 'cause of my tribe is the enemy of FSU whom I've never met but since MJ has said it then it must be true. Very sad indeed!!!

MJ, you were asked a question in post 43 the lest you could have done was to answer but to go on about the North and how ''we'' as Southerners need to to stick together is simply not the way to go about it or even answer a question.

All these ethnic baiting and tagging of the North as common enemies is not going to take away the pain of the injustice suffered by the citizens of Nigeria (both in the North and South) irrespective of tribe because poverty and hardship does not discriminate, and, all these brought about by inept and corrupt leadership perpetuated mostly by people of Northern region(fair enough) but which is the norm all over the country.

[Exponent]

I think the only thing the Igbo's are guilty for is being Arrogant and Distant.

When the British met them they were running around virtually naked and had some real primitive behaviors and customs.

Then the British Educated them and brought them their WHITE religion (christianity).

The Igbo's began gallivanting around Nigeria with a superior air. The other tribes HATED it.

The Igbo's thought they could count on the Yorba's to their detriment.

[felix]

Originally Posted by Exponent

I think the only thing the Igbo's are guilty for is being Arrogant and Distant.

When the British met them they were running around virtually naked and had some real primitive behaviors and customs.

Then the British Educated them and brought them their WHITE religion (christianity).

The Igbo's began gallivanting around Nigeria with a superior air. The other tribes HATED it.

The Igbo's thought they could count on the Yorba's to their detriment.

You make it look like the meeting between the British and your part of Nigeria was organised at the last floor of your village World Trade Center with competing skyscrappers blocking a good ocean view! What is the meaning of "primitivity" here when it is the same British that "educated" you are brought you your "white" Nigeria??

[FSU]

Originally Posted by Exponent

I think the only thing the Igbo's are guilty for is being Arrogant and Distant.

When the British met them they were running around virtually naked and had some real primitive behaviors and customs.

Then the British Educated them and brought them their WHITE religion (christianity).

The Igbo's began gallivanting around Nigeria with a superior air. The other tribes HATED it.

The Igbo's thought they could count on the Yorba's to their detriment.

Fish poop logic!!! Waste of papa's ''milky thing''

[ojemba]

Now had this memo being about Ojukwu and his purported misleading of the Igbo's a shrine would have been built for it around here. I am not surprised some doubt it's authenticity and that others would rather attack the originator of the thread who had nothing to do with the composition of the said memo. It only goes to show how short the legs of lies are.

We are making progress here at least in the last few years the Southern minorities have been made to come to terms with their short sightedness has even the luquacious E.K.Clark not been disowned by his children? Today the Americans have made the truth available online and we can no more claim not to be knowledgeable about facts. It then behoves the discerning to come to a conclusion about the British birthed contraption called Nigeria and it's future. I expect more agony for the truth deniars as more facts are unravelled.

[ojemba]

Originally Posted by Exponent

I think the only thing the Igbo's are guilty for is being Arrogant and Distant.

When the British met them they were running around virtually naked and had some real primitive behaviors and customs.

Then the British Educated them and brought them their WHITE religion (christianity).

The Igbo's began gallivanting around Nigeria with a superior air. The other tribes HATED it.

The Igbo's thought they could count on the Yorba's to their detriment.

So I take it the British found the rest of the lot unteachable and settled for the primitive Igbo's. Perhaps the clothed Yorubas and Hausas could have sought that same knowledge for themselves as opposed to letting the primitive Igbo's opress them with this new white religion!!

I have seen monkeys better articulate themselves than what I read in this post.

[Mikky jaga]

Originally Posted by RAHIM

The implication of the above is that I, as simply 'cause of my tribe is the enemy of FSU whom I've never met but since MJ has said it then it must be true. Very sad indeed!!!

MJ, you were asked a question in post 43 the lest you could have done was to answer but to go on about the North and how ''we'' as Southerners need to to stick together is simply not the way to go about it or even answer a question.

All these ethnic baiting and tagging of the North as common enemies is not going to take away the pain of the injustice suffered by the citizens of Nigeria (both in the North and South) irrespective of tribe because poverty and hardship does not discriminate, and, all these brought about by inept and corrupt leadership perpetuated mostly by people of Northern region(fair enough) but which is the norm all over the country.

I am doing no ethnic baiting but asking us to look at the other side of the coin. We had discussed the roles of Yoruba vis a vis the Biafran question on other threads while leaving out the roles of other groups as if the Biafran war was a Yoruba issue. This memo, that focussed mainly on the roles of the North and Middle belt, i believe should have afforded us the opportunity to examine the roles of other groups within Nigeria in the internecine conflict. But some are bent on turning the thread to Ibo Yoruba thing again, which was what informed my position on this thread.

That we all have common enemy is evident whether northerners or southerners. We are all colonized. Our votes do not count. That should not stop us from discussing what roles the North/Middle Belt played in the Ibo/Biafra saga.

[Ewuro]

Originally Posted by ojemba

Now had this memo being about Ojukwu and his purported misleading of the Igbo's a shrine would have been built for it around here. I am not surprised some doubt it's authenticity and that others would rather attack the originator of the thread who had nothing to do with the composition of the said memo. It only goes to show how short the legs of lies are.

We are making progress here at least in the last few years the Southern minorities have been made to come to terms with their short sightedness has even the luquacious E.K.Clark not been disowned by his children? Today the Americans have made the truth available online and we can no more claim not to be knowledgeable about facts. It then behoves the discerning to come to a conclusion about the British birthed contraption called Nigeria and it's future. I expect more agony for the truth deniars as more facts are unravelled.

Ojemba,
It is obvious that you are the one in agony. There is nothing new you are saying about the Biafra war except repeating yourself over and over. Is there anyone shifting as a result of your boring repetitions? No.

Those who had first class knowledge on both sides have had their say and are now maintaining dignified silence. It is people like you who have no idea about the implications and consequences of causing disaffection that are making all the noise. And to what purpose? Has this memo said something we knew nothing about? Do you thinK by your endless repetitions people would change their opinions? You must be living in a fools' paradise.