Word: ojukwu
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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...members of the Hausa tribe, overthrew a federal government led by Ibo officers. Thus, when in September between thirty and forty thousand Ibos were killed in massive anti-Ibo riots in Hausa territory, the association between the massacres and government policy seemed obvious to leaders among the Ibo. Odumegwu Ojukwu, then the Governor of East Central State, which is Ibo, issued a call for all his tribesmen to return to the safety of their Eastern homeland, deported all non-Ibos, and seceded...
Whatever the reason, the compromise candidate could not hold Nigeria together. He tried. After the Ibo massacres, he offered concessions, but whatever he did was interpreted by Governor Ojukwu as one more sign of duplicity and hatred. On the one hand, it seemed, Gowon offered friendship, while on the other, the people he governed murdered Ibos. Gow- on was caught. Only punishing the Hausa mobs involved in the riots would have placated Ojukwu, but to punish Hausas when the bulk of the army was Hausa would have been political suicide...
Government printing centers publish enormous amounts of propaganda, most of it directed against Ojukwu, but a recent broadside from the Ministry of Information in a northern city attacked the pretentious inellectuals of southern groups (Yoruba...
...everywhere there is a feeling of indignation and surprise that the Ibos had actually seceded and started a dirty civil war. It was irrational. It must have been the work of a madman, many Nigerians feel, and they blame Ojukwu. The press often compares him to Hitler...
...officials really believe this version of events is impossible to tell. However, it is a very dangerous line of thinking, for it implies that all evil will disappear once the devil is gone. With that idea, the army presses on, and people look to the surrender or death of Ojukwu as the end of Nigeria's troubles...