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Ikwerre Is Igbo

The Ngwa are Igbos. The Ikwerre are Igbos. They are offsprings of the same father.
Agreed, Wike has the right to hold any view so far as it is within the ambit of the law and not counter-productive. He can define himself in any manner he deems fit.
But he is not in anyway speaking for us (Ikwerre people).
It is important to state for record purposes that historically Ikwerres fully identified themselves as Igbos without suffering harms.
Chief Joseph Wobo, member of the Council of Chiefs of Eastern Nigeria, clearly stated he was an Igbo. Nobody can dismiss him as he defended Ikwerreland in colonial Nigeria.
Read 33 tweets
In the following address given eleven years before Nigerian independence, Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe calls for self-determination for the Ibo as they along with other ethnic groups march toward an inevitably free Nigeria.
This address was delivered at the Ibo State Assembly held at Aba, Nigeria, on Saturday, June 25, 1949.
Harbingers of a new day for the Ibo nation, having selected me to preside over the deliberations of this assembly of the Ibo nation, I am conscious of the fact that you have not done so because of any extraordinary attributes in me.
Read 44 tweets
Grace to Grass: The Untold Story of S. T Oredein, a Political Godfather Who Became a Robbery Kingpin.

There was no one in Western Nigeria who did not know S. T. Oredein. If there was such a person, he must have just arrived from Planet Jupiter. Chief Samuel Taiwo Oredein...
was not just a politician. He was politics personified. He was a kingmaker. He was a godfather. In fact, he was the Big Boss.
Oredein belonged to the exclusive club of the seven people who partnered with Chief Obafemi Awolowo to establish the Action Group which became the party that produced the first premier of the region. You don’t know the other founders? I will tell you.
Read 73 tweets
Where are they now – The history making 1976 shooting stars squad?

2018 must be the ‘fastest’ year in history. It has gone like a breeze. I can’t believe it is November already.
Was it not yesterday that we had the New Year celebrations, and were looking far ahead as if December was a lifetime to go?
Here we are, the first midnight of 2019 already knocking on the door. Where did the whole of the year, from January till now go to?
Come to think of it, was it not also ‘yesterday’ that I was a young man, freshly minted at the Polytechnic, travelling immediately after my final exams to Europe for 1st time in my life, on my way to go to my first Olympic Games that summer in Montreal, Canada, as a Youth Corper?
Read 30 tweets
On the 50th anniversary of the end of the Biafran war, the world’s worst humanitarian crisis in the late 1960s, declassified British files show that Harold Wilson’s government secretly armed and backed Nigeria’s aggression against the secessionist region.
The then Labour government secretly provided large quantities of arms to the Nigerian federal government which, by early 1970, had crushed an attempt by the country’s eastern region of #Biafra to gain independence, which it had declared in May 1967.
During the three years of war, up to three million people died, as #Nigeria enforced a blockade on Biafra, causing widespread starvation amid considerable international opposition to the conflict.
Read 86 tweets
THE STORY OF JESUS OF OYINBO (JESU OYINBO) THE SELF-ACCLAIMED CHRIST.
Thread.

Read the fascinating story of Jesus of Oyingbo, a self-acclaimed saviour, his empire and how he died in 1988.
- A self-acclaimed Jesus, Jesu Oyingbo, made history in Lagos between the 1970s and 1980s
- He acquired converts to his church, wealth and wives, some of whom he acquired very unlawfully
- He claimed he was the coming Christ, drew a lot of people to himself but died miserably
- Following his death, his ministry, family and all that called his name were scattered and abandoned
“I am He. I am Jesus Christ, the very one whose second coming was foretold in the New Testament. I have come, and those who believe in me will have an everlasting life and joy.
Read 44 tweets
MERCENARIES AND THE ULI AIRSTRIP

THE AIRLIFT TO BIAFRA

The Uli Airstrip was the most important link between Biafra and the outside world during the Nigerian civil war. Most of the major airfields in Biafra were captured by government forces early in the war.
Had the Nigerian government destroyed the Uli Airstrip, the war and the humanitarian catastrophe that accompanied it probably would have ended very quickly. Unfortunately, the government was dependent on mercenary pilots who were skilled enough to target the airport at night.
When mercenaries working for the government refused to destroy the airport, Biafra was able to continue its resistance (De St. Jorre 1972, 318).

Why were the mercenary pilots unwilling to strike an obvious military target? There are two basic reasons.
Read 18 tweets
How Nigeria under Buhari kidnapped an ex-minister in London and bundled him into a crate bound for Lagos:

Nigeria’s Umaru Dikko was the minister of transport in the civilian government run by Shehu Shagari from 1979 until the end of 1983 when the country’s army overthrew the...
administration and installed Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari as the head of state. The new military government under Buhari jailed scores of government ministers under Shagari’s administration for corruption.
Dikko, who criticized the military regime under Buhari, managed to flee to London reportedly dressed as a priest.
While in London, he continued to be an outspoken critic of the military government, which also accused him of corruption and of stealing millions of dollars...
Read 26 tweets
NNAMDI AZIKIWE, 1953 SPEECH ON PROPOSED NORTHERN NIGERIA SECESSION:

In 1953 when Northern Nigerians were beginning to consider secession from the Nigerian colony that would soon be a nation, Nnamdi Azikiwe gave a speech before the caucus of his political party,...
the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC) in Yaba, Nigeria on May 12, 1953. That speech, while not disallowing secession, suggested that there would be grave consequences if the Northern region became an independent nation.
Ironically, fourteen years later, Azikiwe led his Eastern Region out of Nigeria and created Biafra, a move that prompted a bloody three year civil war. Azikiwe’s 1953 speech appears below._
Read 26 tweets
WILLINK REPORT 1958 THE FOLLOWING ARE EXCERPTS FROM A THE REPORT OF THE COMMISSION APPOINTED TO “ENQUIRE INTO THE FEARS OF MINORITIES AND THE MEANS OF ALLAYING THEM”, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS “THE WILLINK COMMISSION REPORT OF JULY 1958”
THE HISTORICAL AND POLITICAL BACKGROUND.
1. “More than 98% of people who inhabit this area (the ‘Ibo Plateau’ of the Eastern region) are Ibo and speak one language, though of course with certain differences of dialect. There are nearly five million of them and they are too many for the soil to support:
they are vigorous and intelligent and have pushed outward in every direction, seeking a livelihood by trade or in service in the surrounding areas of the Eastern Region, in the Western Region, in the North and outside Nigeria.
Read 49 tweets
Riot or Rebellion? The Women's Market Rebellion of 1929.

"In Nigeria there occurred what colonial historians have called the Aba Women’s riots of 1929, but it should be termed the Aba Women’s rebellion.
This was touched off by the imposition of direct taxation and the introduction of new local courts and especially of warrant chiefs." [A. Adu Boahen, African Perspectives on Colonialism (Baltimore, 1987), p. 79.
Here is one account of this rebellion by a person who called the episode a riot in her 1937 book, Native Administration in Nigeria (London, 1937).
Read 48 tweets
Listen to Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu in this 2001 interview in Washington DC USA, state the reason for the socalled 'Igbo Coup' of 15th January 1966.
Watch.
#NigerianHistory
His views on the Igbo pogroms and eventual genocide of 1967 in the north and some parts of western Nigeria.
Continuation.
Read 3 tweets
In retrospect
THIS SEASON IN HISTORY
22ND APRIL, 1990
GIDEON ORKAR'S COUP SPEECH

Fellow Nigerian Citizens,
On behalf of the patriotic and well-meaning peoples of the Middle Belt and the southern parts of this country, I , Major Gideon Orkar, wish to happily...
inform you of the successful ousting of the dictatorial, corrupt, drug baronish, evil man, deceitful, homo-sexually-centered, prodigalistic, un-patriotic administration of General Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida.
We have equally commenced their trials for unabated corruption, mismanagement of national economy, the murders of Dele Giwa, Major-General Mamman Vasta, with other officers as there was no attempted coup but mere intentions that were yet to materialize and other human...
Read 43 tweets
Here is an official photograph of the first 30 Nigerian officers in Nigeria's military.

Date: June, 1959

Left to right sitting: Captain Robert Adeyinka Adebayo, Captain Philip Effiong, Captain Umeh Ogere Imo, Major Samuel Adesoji Ademulegun, Major Wellington Bassey,...
Major General Norman Forster (GOC, Nigerian Army), Major Aguiyi Ironsi, Major Ralph Adetunji Shodeinde, Captain Zakaria Maimalari, Captain Conrad Nwawo, Captain David Akpode Ejoor.
2nd Row Standing: Lt Igboba, Lt George Remunoiyowun Kurubo, (non Nigerian standing next to Kurubo), Lt J Akahan Akaga, Lt Patrick Awunah, Lt Louis Ogbonnia, Lt Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, Lt Eyo Ekpo, Lt Author Unegbe, Lt Abogo Largema.
Read 6 tweets
MAITATSINE: The Story of a FOREIGNER who laid the foundation for modern day "BOKO HARAM" in Nigeria.
Thread.
This article is written in honour of innocent and defenceless Nigerians who lost their lives to senseless religious killings.
It is my hopeful prayer that their deaths won't be in vain and that supernatural justice find these religious extremists and let them all be buried in the same earth that drank the blood of the innocents and be consumed by the same worms that know no race or religion.
INTRODUCTION
Mohammed Marwa (1927-1980), nicknamed "Maitatsine", was a controversial Islamic preacher in Nigeria who died in 1980 at the age of 53.
His nickname "Maitatsine" in Hausa means "the one who curses" and refers to the curses he lays during his public speeches against...
Read 72 tweets
Some people saw through President Muhammadu Buhari way back in 2014 by examining his days as Chairman of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) under the government of Gen Sani Abacha. While others were shouting 'Change', these eggheads warned Nigerians of the dangers in electing him.
I went through my archival library and saw this beautiful post on Nairaland.com on the days of Buhari as PTF Chairman and a write-up warning Nigerians that he wasn't as puritan as the agents of CHANGE made him out to be.
Come with me on this journey of rediscovery. This article is point blank and so prophetic. If only Nigerians believed this...
Read 44 tweets
How Abacha almost became a civilian president.

The late Nigerian military president and strongman, General Sanni Abacha is remembered as a military dictator who unleashed terror on political dissenters. He died on Sunday, June 8, 1998.

#learnwithsigmoment
However, if he had lived a few months more, do you know he would have become a civilian president? Military leaders transforming into civilian presidents were quite common during the period. People like Jerry Rawlings of Ghana, Muhammad Gaddafi of Libya, Museveni of Uganda,
Omar Bashir of Sudan and many others. So Abacha’s transformation would not have been strange.
In 1996, Abacha announced his intention to leave power and initiated a transition process. Even though the winner of the 1993 presidential election, Chief MKO Abiola had been kept in
Read 14 tweets
Editorial on #Nigeria
(62 years ago)
The Time Magazine 10th November 1958.

INDEPENDENCE WITHOUT DIFFICULTIES IS A DREAM OF UTOPIA.
For one month, delighted Londoners watched the 80 ceremonially dressed Nigerians—some with necklaces of animal teeth, others with...
feathered straw hats, at least one with a jeweled crown—parade into Lancaster House for their historic conference.
Everything possible had been done to make them feel at home.
For the Colonial Office's big reception at the Tate Gallery, all nude statues were carefully screened so as not to offend Moslems. The Lord Mayor served up a banquet of stewed peanuts, and one paramount Chief—His Highness James Okosi II of Onitsha —fulfilled a lifelong ambition:
Read 17 tweets
Usman dan Fodio
Fulani leader

Alternative Titles: ʿUthmān ibn Fūdī, Usuman dan Fodio, Uthman dan Fodio
Usman dan Fodio, Usman also spelled Uthman or Usuman, Arabic ʿUthmān Ibn Fūdī, (born December 1754, Maratta, Gobir, Hausaland [now in Nigeria]—died 1817, Sokoto, Fulani...
empire), Fulani mystic, philosopher, and revolutionary reformer who, in a jihad (holy war) between 1804 and 1808, created a new Muslim state, the Fulani empire, in what is now northern Nigeria.
Early Years
Usman was born in the Hausa state of Gobir, in what is now northwestern Nigeria. His father, Muhammad Fodiye, was a scholar from the Toronkawa clan, which had emigrated from Futa-Toro in Senegal about the 15th century.
Read 33 tweets
The story of Aare Ona Kakanfo Afonja, and the fall of the great Oyo Empire is absorbing. If you're interested in this beautiful history of pre-colonial south western Nigeria, keep a date with me later tonight. 🙏🏾
The Kakanfo and fall of Oyo Empire.
Thread.
Of the 14 Kakanfos so far, the tenures of three of them who were military commanders considerably impacted the history of, first, the Old Oyo Empire, and by extension, the rest of Yorubaland.
The three Kakanfos were Afonja of Ilorin, Kurunmi of Ijaye, and Obadoke Latoosa of Ibadan. The last two of the 14, who were civilians and honorary holders of the title nevertheless impacted the history of Yorubaland, and also the entire Nigerian nation.
Read 23 tweets
We shall talk about an exciting piece of history I recently stumbled upon, later today or tomorrow. It was centered around the Benin Empire at about the time of it's decline, precisely during the British punitive expedition of 1897. Catch you then. 🙏🏾
Agho Obaseki

Background:
Chief Agho Ogbedeoyo the Obaseki Of Benin, acted as the Oba of Benin during the interregnum, 1897-1914 As Head of Administration when Oba Ovonramwen was exiled. Agho was the last of his father, Ogbeide's children.
Ogbeide held the Bini Ine title under Oba Adolo. He was originally from Agbor. The Ine was the head of the palace society of Ibiwe and was responsible for raising the heir apparent and princes.
Read 21 tweets
#TheAburiAccord
Prologue:
Existence of Nigeria as a singular entity has been fraught with a myriad of delicate fault lines since her amalgamation in 1914.
Each side managed their differences for more than half a century - albeit under watchful eyes of Britain’s political games.
But 1960, independence and the distribution of power along regional lines created a fertile ground for age-long resentment to fester.
The 1966 coup and the July counter-coup unearthed this bag of aggressive, power-hungry worms, so much that for the first time since 1914, the...
unity of Nigeria became subject to public debate and the power plays of the uniformed men who now held power.
The North on one side was certain that the Easterners had their eyes set on dominating everything - as Sir Ahmadu Bello, Premier of the Northern Region, so eloquently...
Read 46 tweets
Biafra: The Horrors of War, A Review.
Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.
© George Santayana (1863 – 1952).

Let’s take you on a journey down memory lane. Imagine a youngster, born in Kano but whose parents are from the Eastern part of the country.
Brought up as a Northern Nigerian kid, he had come to regard Kano as his home. His parents lived and worked in Kano. He started school in Kano and made a lot of friends there. For these young happy Nigerian kids, Kano was home.
They spoke fluent Hausa and there was no difference between them and any Kano ‘indigene’. Our subject would join his parents to visit their village, Awka, once in a year during the Yuletide and return to Kano as soon as the ceremonies were over.
Read 53 tweets
1995 ‘coup’: How Obasanjo, Yar’Adua, Gwadabe were maltreated — Ex-EFCC chairman.
A former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mrs. Farida Waziri has given a fresh insight into the 1995 alleged coup during the Gen. Sani Abacha regime.
Ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo, the late General Shehu Musa Yar’Adua, Col. Lawan Gwadabe and Senator Chris Anyanwu were all tried and ended up in jail on the strength of the allegations against them.
Yar’Adua died in the Abakaliki Prisons while serving his term.
Mrs. Waziri believes there was something dubious about the alleged coup and the caliber of names linked with the plot made it questionable.
The former EFCC boss in her newly released memoir Farida Waziri: One Step Ahead recalls how she and a former Chief of Staff,...
Read 64 tweets

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