|
Brigadier Banjo's Broadcast to Mid-West
NOTE: "Brigadier" Banjo was the Commander of the Biafran Invasion
Force. He made this broadcast over Radio Nigeria, Benin on August 14, 1967 at 20.00 GMT. Ojukwu was very upset about it and it was used as one of the reasons he was eventually
shot on Septenber 25, 1967 at Enugu.
Fellow Nigerians and Biafrans, I am sure I do not need to introduce
myself either to you nor perhaps to many people outside our country.
You have already had ample opportunity to hear of my name in January
1966 when this political crisis started in our country. Unfortunately
at that time I also only heard about the circumstances under which my
name was being publicized at a time when I was in no position to do
anything about it. I was then accused of having attempted the life of
the late Supreme Commander, Maj-Gen. J.T.U. Aguiyi-Ironsi, and that
for the attempt I have been arrested and detained.
Fellow Nigerians, nothing could be further from the truth. The Army
mutiny which started the revolution in January 1966 was as such of a
surprise to myself as it was to some of my colleagues. I spent all
of my time (words indistinct) of the events in ascertaining the true
state of affairs in the country. My colleague, then Lt.-Col. Yakubu
Gowon, was the first officer who gave me precise information about
the state of affairs. It then appeared to me that sufficient had
taken place to ensure the removal of several Governments of the
Federation and that the sum total of the trend of events could be
regarded as the beginning of a national revolution. I then
considered it my duty to ensure that no further military action took
place which might have the effect of totally destroying the stability
of the nation.
I felt that the young officers who had started the
action were only anxious to destroy what had become a most corrupt
and discredited Government. As such, I spent a considerable time in
an effort to urge the late Major General to assume responsibility for
the State with the support of the Army from national collapse. It
was then my view that any attempt to use the Nigerian Army for any
military action within Nigeria would only have the effect of breaking
the Army into its tribal components of which the Northern component
would represent the lion's share. This Northern component,
effectively under the control of the Northern feudalists, would then
inevitably be employed to impose on the rest of Nigeria the most
repressive feudal domination. I was one of the senior officers of the
Nigerian Army who took the decision to accept responsibility for
Nigeria. In fact, on that occasion I was the chief spokesman for
that decision. I therefore considered it my duty to remain with the
General as closely as possible, rather than accept the office of the
Military Governor of the West which he then proposed to me and which
I declined in favor of the late Lt.-Col. Adekunle Fajuyi. On the day
after the General had assumed full responsibility for the State, I
was arrested by a few of my colleagues while waiting to see the
General. I was never given a reason for my arrest, nor given an
opportunity to defend myself against any charges that could be
raised. I went to prison for 14 months under a false accusation, the
details of which I only found out from the press and radio after I
got to prison. I have since had the opportunity of speaking to the
so-called actors in that drama of my arrest, and I now appreciate
that the action was an act of hatred motivated primarily by fear and
suspicion. I spent a considerable part of my time in prison sending
warnings to the late Major-General and my colleagues about the
policies that would appear to represent a continuation of the
policies of the Balewa Government, which could have the effect of
encouraging counter-attempts, which might not only destroy the
Nigerian Army but would also, by the extent of the bloodshed and the
tribal selectiveness of the (word indistinct), destroy the Nigerian
nation as well.
The inevitable has now happened, which would seem to
confirm that my fears were well founded. There is now an army at the
disposal of the feudal North, an army that has lost all the
traditions, discipline and standards of a responsible army. There is
now a Government of the Federation that is sustained by violence and
is therefore tied to the ambitions of the Northern Feudalists. There
has been a considerable amount of bloodshed, chaos and tribal
bitterness among such people. Such tribal rivalry, as used to be
exploited by our previous political parties for the harnessing of the
opinion of the North and its people, is now translating itself into a
most extreme form of brutality and of despicable savagery.
Finally, the dismemberment of our nation has commenced in the breakaway of
Biafra. In August 1966, I wrote to my colleagues form prison to
inform them that I did not consider that we, military leaders of this
country, had the right to carry out such action as the proclamation
of the dismemberment of presiding over the dismemberment of Nigeria.
I still do not think that we have the right to destroy a nation that
was handed over to us to save at a moment of crisis. The 29th July
1966 Federal Military Government came into being as a result of a
mutiny in which the primary action was directed at the elimination of
a particular ethnic group and the supremacy of another ethnic group
in Nigeria. This has had the effect of destroying the basic mutual
trust and confidence among the people of Nigeria and has crated the
decentralization of the Nigerian people into tribal groups. This
action, more than any other event that has occurred throughout the
history of Nigeria, has had the greatest effect on the dismemberment
of Nigeria. The Federal Military Government cannot claim to represent
the Government of the people of Nigeria and to flight for the unity
of Nigeria while constantly rejecting fundamental human rights for
all people forming parts of Nigeria. The Federal Military Government
cannot claim to be seeking a peaceful solution to the problems for
achieving Nigerian unity, while at the same time contemptuously
ignoring the wishes of the people of the Mid-West and the West in
their previous demands for the removal of the unruly troops of the
North from their territories in order to allow the unfettered
discussion of the present political crisis.
The Federal Military Government cannot claim to be genuinely interested in the progress
and welfare of the Nigerian people while at the same time inflicting
the most bloody warfare on the people of Nigeria and employing
unscrupulous foreign mercenaries in a total war that really destroys
hundreds of our people and the economy of our nation.. The people of
Biafra have a right to fight a Government that has constantly treated
its people to the most savage forms of brutality and persists in
denying these people its fundamental human rights while claiming to
represent other interests. It is my view that the people of Biafra
were prepared to remain part of the nation into which they have for
so many years invested their resources of manpower and material and
with which they had the closest social ties. Provided the people of
Biafra could live within such a nation under a Government that truly
represents all sections of its people and truly tries to pursue such
measures as are designed to promote the welfare of all Nigerians
irrespective of tribe or religion (sentence as broadcast). It is the
remnants of the old Nigerian Army that broke away in July that now
threatens the Nigerian nation. This Northern army is now under the
power and control of a group of Northern feudalists who have as their
aim the total conquest of Nigeria. The Federal Military Government,
having been brought to power and control by that army, is playing to
that end. Hence policies are inevitably directed towards achieving
the objectives of the Northern feudalists who control that army . . .
. It is my idea that the peaceful settlement of the Nigerian problem
will be readily achieved when that fragment of the Nigerian Army now
at the disposal of the Northern feudalists has been completely
disarmed. Towards this end, the Liberation Army is irrevocably
committed. It is not at all an invasion, and it is not intended to
promote the domination of any group of the Nigerian people by any
other group through the presence of the Liberation Army. I wish to
stress once again what I said during the press conference and
previously on the radio that the movement of this Army into the
Mid-West is not a conquest. It is also not an invasion. It is to
enable the people of the Mid-West to see the Nigerian problem in its
proper perspective. I firmly believe that the people of the Mid-West
would prefer to be able to declare their stand in the conflict that
has arisen in Nigeria free from any (pressure) either from the North
or from anywhere. I believe that the people of the Mid-West would
like to be given an opportunity to state their case, free from the
coercive influences due to the presence of Northern troops. It is my
view that the political future of Nigeria rests with all the people
of Nigeria. It has become a matter of great concern to me, however,
to be informed that certain ethnic groups are jubilating as a result
of the presence of the Liberation Army in this Region. As a
consequence, I also understand that certain other ethnic groups are
feeling depressed and frustrated. I wish to assure all ethnic groups
in the Mid-West that the achievement of the Liberation Army does not
give any ethnic group an advantage over any other. I wish also to
appeal to all ethnic groups to exercise restraint and humility and
not to indulge in acts which may result in confusion, bringing
distress to a large number of our people. Any misbehavior on the
part of any group of persons will give rise to a chain of unpleasant
reactions . . . . I am informed that since the Liberation Army came
into the Mid-West a number of civil servants have become so
frightened that they have either refused to come to their places of
work or reported only for a few hours and then left before the
closing time. I wish to take this opportunity to appeal to all civil
servants to return to work not later than 15th August 1967, and to
assure them of their safety. Those, however, who fail to report on
this day will be in danger of permanently losing their jobs . . . .
While on the question of co-operation among the various ethnic groups
in the Mid-West, I would like to stress that all tribal meetings
should stop, as such meetings are not conducive to peace and mutual
understanding. In order to foster co-operation among the people of
the Mid-West, I propose within the next few days to invite a
cross-section of the people of the Mid-West to a meeting to explain
to them the present situation and objectives of the Liberation Army,
and I believe this will go a long way to giving them the true picture
of the situation and instill confidence in the future of the
Mid-West. I understand that anxiety is being expressed in some
quarters about the safety of the Military Governor of the Mid-West,
Brig. David Ejoor. I wish to inform you that I have personally held
discussions with Brig. Ejoor and to assure you that he is in good
health and is not under detention . . . . I have, therefore, today
promulgated a decree setting up an interim administration in the
Mid-Western Nigeria. This decree has suspended the operation in
Mid-Western Nigeria of the Constitution of the Federation of Nigeria,
the Constitution of Mid-Western Nigeria, and other constitutional
provisions applicable in Mid-Western Nigeria, except those
constitutional provisions absolutely necessary for the efficient
functioning of the machinery of State. All legislative and executive
powers have been vested in me during the period of interim
administration. In order to assist me in the task of administering
Mid-Western Nigeria during the interim period I propose to appoint a
military administrator and an administrative council. I have also
established a Mid-Western Nigerian Army and A Mid-Western Nigerian
Police Force, which will for the moment remain independent of the
Nigerian Army, the Nigerian Police Force, the Biafran Army or the
Biafran Police Force. The Mid-Western Nigerian Army shall, however,
during this interim period be part of the Liberation Army. All
courts in Mid-Western Nigeria shall continue to function as usual and
it may be necessary to establish a court of appeal until it becomes
possible to resume (words indistinct) the Supreme Court of Nigeria.
As soon as it is practicable I propose to hand over the
administration of Mid-Western Nigeria in order to proceed to the war
front and to complete the liberation of Nigeria.
Good Night.
Compiled by NOWAMAGBE AUSTIN OMOIGUI, MD
|
