Posted by By CHRISTIAN OCHIAMA on
The nation's first military coup, led by Major Kaduna Nzeogwu, was actually plotted in the open, right in the officers' mess at Kaduna, says one of the plotters, Ben Gbulie.
The nation's first military coup, led by Major Kaduna Nzeogwu, was actually plotted in the open, right in the officers' mess at Kaduna, says one of the plotters, Ben Gbulie.
In this continuation of the interview with Daily Sun, the first part of which was published yesterday, Gbulie said Nzeogwu was a great man, who had nothing to hide.
'Even the coup was planned in the open, and that was why nobody even suspected that there was going to be one."
Gbulie speaks further:
Ojukwu has been reported generally as saying that he was forced to declare Biafra
You see, that is not fair. We are washing our dirty linens in the public and I don't like it. Anyway, Ojukwu was never forced by anybody to declare Biafra. Quote me, Ben Gbulie. He was never forced by anybody. He must have been forced by circumstances to declare Biafra yes. But not by any of our people. Nobody forced him. Again we could have delayed and worked things out on our own. I don't know if you have read Brigadier Benjamin Adekunle's book War Letters.
He wrote about his command of Third Marine Commando. If you have read it, you will see where he was saying something to the effect that we couldn't even defend Bonny Island even when our naval officers ran away from Nigeria with a ship, a Nigerian ship with which we could have blocked the Bonny channel. In other words, we had no time even to prepare for our defenses. You can't blame Adekunle for finding a place that was not at all defended. You blame us for not defending the place. But even then, you can't blame us either, we didn't have the time; everybody was in a hurry. Biafra was declared in a hurry. Period
Would you say the war was forced on Igbo?
Of course, the war was forced on us. If you are talking about the war being forced on us, Nigeria declared war. But one thing had led to another. Take it step by step. Ojukwu went to Aburi.
He made a good case at Aburi. Beautiful case. Eventually, Gowon didn't live by the terms of the agreement. It is as simple as that. Instead of abiding by the terms, Gowon created 12 states in Nigeria which was actually designed to emasculate Igbos to make us look impotent because it was the same Gowon who, I hear is now praying for forgiveness, instigated the minorities against Ndigbo-minorities who were asking for just COR (Calabar Ogoja and Rivers), state and created two states for them - Cross River and Rivers.
The people wanted a COR state from the East. There is nothing wrong with that, but Gowon created two to emasculate the East and gave Rivers even Port Harcourt which till today is the bone of contention because Port Harcourt is Igbo. Everybody, knows it. There are other places (like Eberiomma etc) Igbo areas given out to people of other ethnic groups. Can you imagine it? And to talk of one Nigeria. The man told us when he came to power that there was no basis for Nigerian unity and then he made a volte face and became the architect of the war of unity. Isn't that contradictory in terms? So, Nigeria has too many complexities to talk about.
You are emotionally attached to Nzeogwu
He was my colleague. He had the same views as I had. Well, I dedicated my book to him. He couldn't be any better. He was too good. He was a true Nigerian. He was a revolutionary and not a reactionary and so am I.
Till today?
Till tomorrow. And even those serving today know that I am a revolutionary.
What kind of person was Nzeogwu?
I have already said in my book, 'A tribute to a comrade, a dynamic stickler for order. Selfless never forlorn, a patriot irreplaceable by another, forthright, inspiring everyone. For Major Nzeogwu, the gallant soldier, appropriate words I have none". I dedicated the book to him. He was great. And the interesting thing about Nzeogwu was that he talked in the open. He had nothing to hide. Even the coup was planned in the open and that was why nobody even suspected that there was even going to be one. He spoke to me in the officers' mess, Kaduna. He said all sorts of things about people who are messing up this country being ripe for overthrowing. It is in the book.
Nzeogwu and the Biafra war effort
The trouble about lack of the dissemination of information is that people go about saying things, some of them mere soppy sentimentally. I do not believe that Nzeogwu was ever killed by our people. I know he was killed by Nigerians and Nigerians have said so. Even Obasanjo, the president, wrote it in his book 'My Command" where he was killed, why he was killed. I agree. I don't want to say more because I am doing a work on that issue. But I don't think that anybody planned his death. Let me say this, Nzeogwu was a fearless person just as I said in my dedication to him. He didn't give a damn, just like Chris Okigbo. He would go the whole hog to achieve his ends.
I 'll give you an illustration, when the war had broken out, and Enugwu-Ezike had fallen, we were in Zik's flat at Nsukka and then Nzeogwu arrived. The people there, and you can verify what I am saying, were Col. Eze, he is alive and well, Col Udeaja, he is alive and well and others. Eze happened to be the most senior in our midst. In fact, he was the acting Brigade Commander but, despite that, Nzeogwu, who came from nowhere, suddenly took over the command and was plotting on the chart on the wall where we must be operating the following morning; he even gave an assignment to Eze. Now you can see the type of character he was. He was a leader. He didn't just sit back and watch events unfold. He took action and that's why we always miss him.
Ohanaeze and sell-outs
Ohanaeze does not sell anybody out. It is some people within Ohanaeze who do it. There are also people in Afenifere who sell the Yorubas out. There are people in Arewa who sell the northerners out. There are black legs here and there. You cannot fault Ohanaeze on that score. I am its member.
If you remember Oputa Panel, I was one of the witnesses and I doff my hat for Ohanaeze because we did what Napoleon couldn't do. They made sure…. you know they assembled the lawyers, great lawyers, Mogbo, Umeadi, Enechi Onyia (SANs).
They assembled lawyers who are good thinkers and we went to prove a point. One, that the coup of January 1966 was not an Igbo affair. Two, that the Igbos were marginalized and we proved all that beyond reasonable doubt. It is for those in power to bring out the report. For that presentation, the Arewa assembled over 10 lawyers against ours and you know how we dealt with them? That shows you what Ohanaeze can do. All I want of Igbos is one, if you want your own splinter organization (there are so many organizations going by the name of Igbo today) go and register with Ohanaeze. So that you become part of Ohanaeze. Even if you are working for your own private ends try and register with Ohanaeze. Two, don't sell your brothers.
Ohanaeze leadership
I cannot say I am not satisfied with Ohanaeze leadership. But let me tell you this, because I know my own mind, I speak it at Ohanaeze meetings and so do others. People speak their own minds and that's the great idea of Ohanaeze. Ohanaeze is for everybody. Of course there may be some people who talk tongue-in cheek. But Ohanaeze can handle them including those who rush to Babangida for his money. Ndigbo have many who are intellectually superior to Babangida. Today, the same very man who had ruled this country for eight years wants to come back. He has not even given an account of his stewardship, particularly with regard to Gulf oil proceeds. The very same man is being paraded by some Igbos when we are aspiring for Igbo presidency in 2007. It is preposterous.
I have just seen in one of the papers today the picture of Babangida and President Obasanjo and some others. I pray and hope that Obasanjo will not make the mistake of selling Babangida to Nigerians. Nigerians are much too tired of mediocres. And who says military men have ever made good democrats? The truth is bitter. But it is only the truth that will make you free.
Igbo presidency
Anything is possible in Nigeria. I would ask Igbos who want to rule Nigeria to take things easy. That does not mean that they are not competent to rule the country. They are. Everyone of them is, by my own standards and by my reckoning. But they should take things easy in the sense that I would like them to talk to their fellow Igbos who also want to rule and by so doing they may amicably arrive at a consensus candidate. This is what we told them in 2003, but they foolishly went and paid N10million each, ignoring us. And when in the case of ANPP, they were told 'Bring us one person" they couldn't. Now if they were seven in ANPP, they lost N70million, just like that. That amount could have helped our people sitting on the road at Oji River begging for alms.
You see, this is where we should use our heads. Igbos are competent people. Nigeria needs Igbos to rule this country. Because, it is only Igbo man who will not gang up with his fellow Igbo. He won't start plotting with fellow Igbo for Igbos. In fact, he won't even speak Igbo in his office. He would want everybody to know what is being discussed. That is the Igbo man for you. And he is knowledgeable. He will do the job and do it well. He won't deregulate when he has nothing to deregulate. Put an Igbo man or woman there at Aso Rock. This is a challenge to all Nigerians. Put an Igbo man or woman there and you will find a rejuvenated, viable and vibrant Nigeria. An Igbo President will not ride roughshod on the constitution. You can be sure of that. For far too long we have been taken for a ride in this country and I am beginning not to enjoy it.
Census and the conditionality
First and foremost, there is need for a census. But isn't it a shame that Nigeria doesn't know its own population? The thing is, until we really trash out the issues of ethnicity, tribalism, political jingoism and corruption, everybody will only be working for himself. In other words, everyone for himself and God for us all.
In any census, you must have all the indices. How can you write about Ben Gbulie and you won't say what religion I profess? You won't say whether I am male or female, whether I am Igbo, Hausa or Yoruba. I mean, this is absurd. It just shows the type of reasoning some people engage in. Just make sure that those who say we won't include religion, we won't include ethnicity are not those who are being used by some others with an axe to grind, with a private end to serve. Those others may be here in Nigeria or abroad. They constitute the mind benders of our Nigerian polity and they do not mean well. Let me add that those who have lined themselves up to move to Aso Rock come 2007 should realize that their betters are around. It is about time the clear-sighted began leading the blind and not the other way round.
We must eschew double standards. Look at what is happening to the former Inspector General of Police. A man has committed felony, from what we hear, with so much in his account. The man was investigated, then the people investigating him said a lot of things and now he is just retired. If it is somebody else, the person will be facing ICPC or EFCC. I just hope and pray that this will be a litmus test by means of which we'll now determine whether the government of the day is serious or not about anti-corruption. There should be no sacred cows. Period.
When we were planning the coup of 1966, I was one of those talking about ombudsmen, people to fish out criminals without waiting in your office for people to come and tell you mister A is committing an offence and you respond as some people in ICPC are doing, saying, give us a report, bring evidence. Let me give you an idea of what I mean. The other day, I found a policeman taking N20 from a vehicle driver I was following. So, because I took exception to that, I stared at him, I wanted to say what the hell are you doing? He was a sergeant by rank. As he knew how I felt he came straight to me and said to my face 'look me well".
Do you understand what I mean? This is in an era when we are supposed to be fighting corruption. At another stage at New Haven, a suburb of Enugu, I found some policemen taking money, so I stopped, parked and went to a policeman, an Inspector, who was armed. I introduced myself and said, why are you people taking money from motorists? And he said 'Oga, it's for security" and I lost my temper, in spite of his being armed. Then he burst out 'Oga let me tell you I am also an Igboman, let me tell you, nobody amongst these policemen did not pay at least N50,000 to be employed as a policeman". Now can you see where we are going? Some people close their eyes. I don't close my eyes. I cannot close my eyes.
I say it, because I want to salve my conscience, if I die today, I will go to heaven. By the way, let me correct this, as I am not the one who apportions places in heaven or hell. But I will go to heaven because I have salved my conscience. I have seen things going bad in Nigeria and taken part in trying to stop them. I have seen things happening on the road in Nigeria after the war and I have tried my best to stop them. I mean I have suffered in this country. I have been in prison for six years without trial just because of Nigerian crises. So, which other hell can I go to? I am going to go to heaven of course.
Political philosophy
You see, let me tell you, political philosophy yes, partisan politics not in Nigeria as yet. Because we have charlatans and mediocres who play politics because of what they can grab from the country and yet President Kennedy of the United States told us, 'Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country". Today, there are too many people who are actually sponging on Nigeria. We have so much wealth so much human resources and yet… you know the bad guys as it were, those who are really running this country down. Check the appointments. Some of these people who are being given appointments are those who have been running businesses that have failed. I don't have to name names, they are there.
Those who are making laws for us, some of them did not even involve themselves in the electoral process. Their names didn't come up in the primaries. But they are in the house making laws for us Nigerians, isn't that a tragedy? And nobody sitting there is saying a word. And can you imagine, if I don't say this before ending this interview I will feel bad. Somebody going into the House, be it Senate or House of Representatives and he is given millions of naira as furniture allowance when the generality of Nigerians are suffering, they cannot afford three square meals a day. The thing is that political office in Nigeria is made so attractive that people are prepared to kill others to get there.
Why can't we make these offices unattractive? That is a word for those going for the national dialogue. If you are paying N10,000 to every Senator because actually, in other countries, a Senator is somebody who has made it in life, why are you paying him or her millions? If you are paying N10,000 flat to every Senator, you will find that many people will not aspire to be Senators. So, those who would have been killed for aspiring to be Senators will have their lives to live. There are other instances. We are making politics so attractive, the president will have a plane and he will buy another one, he will travel anytime he likes and he is not responsible to anybody. What kind of constitution? And those who would have queried him are his appointees, the good guys and the bad guys. I am not against Obasanjo. We are friends but the point is, Nzeogwu will turn in his grave seeing what is happening to Nigerians today. That is my final statement.
• Concluded