20/11/2024
Biafrans Express Outrage at Zik's Move
Sunday, August 31, 1969
Biafrans have reacted with shock and outrage to the news that Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, one of their past political heroes, had criticized their fight for independence. "Fool!" "Scoundrel!" was the cry in the palm wine bars in this provisional Biafra capital of Owerri. Soldiers hitchhiking along the market roads expressed bewilderment at Dr. Azikiwe's view, which was also denounced by the Biafran Government.
Zik's pronouncements, made known in Biafra by outside radio stations, were severely critical of the Biafran government, which is led by Gen. Ojukwu. The Government replied with a statement broadcast over Radio Biafra and sent to Biafran representative abroad. It said "Dr. Azikiwe had been taking money from British oil men and that he always ends a crisis by sacrificing the people's interests once he has found a personal accommodation."
It recalled that Dr. Azikiwe had previously been an adviser to Gen. Ojukwu and a Biafran spokesman abroad, and had even composed the Biafran national anthem, which begins: "Land of the rising sun we love and cherish; Beloved home, land of brave heroes; We must defend our lives or we shall perish." The Biafran Government repeated past statements that Dr. Azikiwe had acted on his own, not at Biafra's behest, in meeting recently with Maj. Gen. Gowon, Nigerian Head of State. The civil servants and other middle-class Biafrans who were most vociferous in their denunciations of Dr. Azikiwe contended that the Nigerian army would indeed commit slaughter if it gained the upper hand. They said the malnutrition and starvation in Biafra was the fault of the blockading Nigerians and of British businessmen and officials who gave them support. Dr. Azikiwe attributed starvation to faulty planning by Gen. Ojukwu and his staff.
Some of Dr. Azikiwe's admirers said he was out of touch with the situation since he had been living in London in recent months. And some said regretfully that by appearing to side with the Nigerian authorities, he would no longer be qualified to serve as a mediator between Biafra and Lagos. Dr. Azikiwe had incensed Biafrans by expressing admiration for Gen. Gowon.
Though esteemed earlier for his political courage, he was widely accused in Biafra this week of making a cowardly surrender to Nigerian interests. Bitterly, Biafran officials recited the lines Dr. Azikiwe had included in the national anthem: "But if the price (of independence) is death for all we hold dear, then let us die without a shred of fear."
(New York Times)
Note:
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