Word: nigerias
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...Enugu, capital of the Ibos' Eastern Region, Military Governor Lieut. Colonel Odumegwu Ojukwu barricaded himself inside police headquarters, declared his opposition to the new regime and called in Ibo political leaders to line up their support. "After these cruel and bloody atrocities," he charged, "can the people of Nigeria ever live together as members of the same nation...
...West, they were persuaded that the backward, semiarid North would be hard put to go it alone without the natural resources of the South and the skills of the Southerners. Agreeing to one more try at nationhood, they named a 31-year-old lieutenant colonel, Yakubu Gowon, as Nigeria's new supreme commander...
...fact that Nigeria's future as a nation is now very much in doubt was evident in Gowon's first broadcast to his people. "The basis for confidence in our system of government has not been able to stand the test of time," he said. "The basis for unity is not there. I therefore feel that we should review our national standing and see if we can help stop the country from drifting into utter destruction...
Gowon apparently hopes to turn the government over to civilians "as soon as it can be arranged," and one of his first acts in office was to release from detention one of Nigeria's most respected-and controversial-political leaders, Yoruba Chief Obafemi Awolowo, the deposed premier of the Western Region. "We need you for your wealth of experience," he told Awolowo. His release was greeted by mobs of jubilant Westerners. In Lagos, Yoruba motorists drove through the streets shouting "Awo! Awo!" and a traffic jam seven miles long converged on Awolowo's home town of Ikenne...
...Okpara was also released from detention. But it was open to question whether either man would be much help in restoring national unity. Before they were jailed, both had been outspokenly anti-North. And at one time or another, both went on record as favoring the division of Nigeria into its component regional parts...