Reflections without Mirror—- Niyi Aborisade
Col Victor Adebukunola Banjo: A Genuine Revolutionary. Part 9
On 22 September 1967, while the war was raging on and the battle was so hot against the Biafra , General Odumegwu Ojukwu the Head of State and commander in chief of the Biafra Army was celebrating and gloating over his triumph against his perceived enemy. The lives of the people he led to war without adequate weapons were of no significant to him in as much as he held the power of life and death over his fellow human beings. As far as he was concerned, he had conquered his enemies. The alleged ‘ saboteurs’ were about to be shot.
The four condemned men, Banjo, Ifeajuana, Alale, and Agbam knew they were doomed, the trap of the enemy had caught them in the necks and there was no way to escape. Nevertheless, they acted bravely and unlike late General Abdul kareem Adisa who in 1998 was seen kneeling down begging Major Mustapha to spare his life when he was listed amongst those who planned to overthrow Abacha, they maintained their composure throughout the trial. They were real combatant soldiers, Soldiers of soldiers.
Major Ifeajuana through his conversation with Major Wale Ademoyega although hoped a ‘ Miracle’ to happen, the kind of miracle that Former President of Nigeria , General Olusegun Obasanjo , General Adisa and General Diya in 1998 enjoyed when their oppressor who had condemned them to death on the eve of the night when they were expected to be sent to the world beyond died in unusual circumstances and Obasanjo was elevated beyond his imagination. A man that had been looking at the gate of heaven wide opened but suddenly shut by an invisible power and lifted him up to become the president of the country, Ifeajuana hope was dashed.
That miracle never came for the quartet. Hope, Faith and Love, the greatest and the most abiding is love, Ifeajuana thought of his love, he had a woman and children in his life, he was married and so he considered the future of his wife and children after his demise. He knew they would suffer , whatever be the outcome of the war because as the saying goes, ‘ strike the shepered and the sheep will scatter’. Once the bread winner of the family is taken, the family would suffer greatly and particularly in Nigeria. He therefore committed his family into the hands of his trusted friend, Adewale Ademoyega. He hoped that Ademoyega would survive the prison and the war. Ademoyega indeed survived both. He was released in 1974 after people like late Dr.Tai Solarin and some University dons and students demanded for their release, having been kept in detention for almost four years. These human rights group staged many big demonstrations and threatened to march from Ibadan to Lagos to pressurise Gowon to release the detainees or, should I say, the prisoners of war . Gowon, a benevolent dictator, listened to the voice of the people and released the ‘ prisoners of war’ . If the boot had been on the other side, Ojukwu would have killed them.
The trial was conducted and concluded on 20 September 1967 and by that time 95 percent of the revolutionaries in the Liberation Army of Nigeria were in detention and the result of that unreasonable decision was that it was on that day that the newly created ‘Republic of Benin Fell into the hands of Col. Murtala Mohammed. Col Odumegwu Ojukwu by his recklessness of detaining the best fighters in the Liberation Army, allowed the Murtala led federal troops to take the advantage of the vaccum created by the abscence of the revolutionaries at the war front and forced their way into Benin. Late Sikiru Ayinde Barrister, the Founder of Fuji Music was amongst the young soldiers under Murtala Mohammed that fought in Benin. My uncle ‘ Oluokun Adeagbo’ was also amongst the soldiers that entered Benin with Murtala Mohammed. I later saw and read his letter to his mother ( My Grandmother) during the war, written in Yoruba Language ” Middle West l’a jade bayi o ija naa ko si ni pe pari’ meaning ‘ we have fought to the middle west and the war will soon be over. He never returned from the battle, neither did his mother see his corpse. No payment or gratuity was made to his family and to some of the family of those who died in the battle to keep Nigeria one. I almost said ‘ their death was in vain’.
From that day, the fortunes of Biafra as a sovereign country started dwindling, the righteous had been murdered by the leader of Biafra, the rod of the wicked appeared to have abided upon the righteous, the righteous had been sacrificed on the altar of falsehood but Biafra paid for it dearly. When the foundation be destroyed what can a righteous man do.
Banjo had wife and children and Ojukwu knew them very well, Ojukwu did not consider by way of mitigation that the family would be deprived of the bread winner, the wife would become a widow and the children fatherless. The callousness by which the execution was carried out was terrible.
The determination of Ojukwu to slaughter the quartet was the most important thing to him whilst he lived with his wife and children, enjoying the comfort of his home, smoking cigarettes and drinking whiskey as if there was no tomorrow.
The condemned men were shot on 22 September 1967 and were buried in unmarked grave . It was reported that Banjo was shot several times because he was shouting that he is not dead yet, which made the executioners to combine and directed all their firepower at him. They eventually silenced the great soldier, a great ideologist and the revolutionary that would have changed the history of Nigeria for better. He was just 37 years old, he was killed in the prime of his life not at the battle field but by a friend turned fiend.
Some of those who have been following this piece have been asking me privately that with all the attributes of Banjo that I have been mentioning in this piece ‘ and his achievement, why would Ojukwu even attempt to kill him?
The answers to that are in plain slight of this piece but for the sake of clarity , I will summarise it again.
1. Banjo refused to proceed to Lagos and withdrew his troops at Ore under heavy fire from the federal troops and there was no good answer to the fire from the Liberation Army of Nigeria because Ojukwu did not provide them with adequate weapons. Captain Gbulie a commander in the Biafran Army clearly stated in his book ‘ The Fall Of Biafra’ that if the Biafra had one tenth of the weapons in the hands of the federal troops, they would have won the war. Major General Phillip Effiong repeated the same in his book ‘ The Caged Bird Sang No More’. However, Ojukwu held Banjo and the other accused as ‘ saboteurs’ that deliberately withdrew from Ore.
2. Banjo asked for equal partnership. However, Ojukwu had reserved for himself the power to appoint the administrator of the Western Region and Lagos once Banjo captured the Western Region and Lagos. Ojukwu had intended to bring Yoruba under Biafra and appoint whosoever he likes to rule over them. Banjo was not happy with that arrangement.
3. Ojukwu needed a scapegoat to cover his failure and lack of adequate preparation for the war. Ojukwu confirmed that he started the war with 120 rifles , how he intended to face the Nigeria army with 120 rifles remain a mystery to many and yet he confirmed that the Biafran Army had the strongest army in black Africa. Good words and bravery are not the same as good weapons of war. Words alone cannot win battle. Biafra lost the war simply because they did not have adequate weapons and not that God hated them. Banjo was, therefore, used as a scapegoat by calling him a ‘saboteur’, and all eyes were on him and not on Ojukwu, who led his people to be slaughtered.
4. Banjo disagreed with Ojukwu in respect of the Adminstrator of Midwest, Banjo preferred non Ibo Mid westerner as an administrator, whereas Ojukwu preferred an Ibo officer to be the administrator. The will of Ojukwu prevailed at the end of course, but the prolonged argument between the two was one of the reasons why Banjo was marked for death. Banjo was the only one who was not afraid to speak his mind before Ojukwu, but power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely . Ojukwu had been intoxicated by his new power, he had become a dictator who would not tolerate any dissent voice. Declaration was made in May 1967 and by September 1967, he had been executing some of his officers. What kind of government would Ojukwu have run if Biafra was successful.
Col/ General Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu put all the above together and roped them as planning a coup to remove him from office.
Aftermath of the Killing:
In all these, Ojukwu still expected to win the war, He …… to be concluded next week.
Niyi Aborisade is a lawyer, a Human Rights Activist and a Historian .
