More than 50 years after the civil war, two retired Army Generals, Lt. Gen. Alani Akinrinade and Maj. Gen. Ike Nwachukwu, have denied the allegation making round that they were part of the federal troops who carried out the bloody execution that took place in Asaba. The Asaba massacre occurred in early October, 1967 during the civil war, fought over the secession of Biafra. Asaba, the Delta State capital, was ethnically and linguistically Igbo, but was never part of Biafra. Akinrinade and Nwachukwu both harped on the need to restructure the country especially, away from the unitary system to a federal system of government where states would be allowed to control their resources and contributes to the Federal Government. When states are allowed to manage their resources, they opined, governors can determine how much they will be able to afford to pay civil workers in their respective states and salaries would not be owed as in the case of some governors presently. For instance, Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello, is owing some workers in the state more than one year salary while those workers who are paid could get as low as 20 percent of their minimum wage. The retired Generals spoke at a book launch titled: “Hubris: A Brief Political History of the Nigerian Army”, authored by Dr. Akintunde Akinkunmi, a Maj. General in the Army, held at the weekend at Metropolitan Club, Kofo Abayomi, Victoria Island, Lagos. The panel of discussant at the event included former Chief of Army Staff (COAS) and later Chief of Defence Staff, Lt. Gen. Alani Akinrinade (rtd), who also represented the Chairman of the occasion, the Alake of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Gbadebo; former Chief of Naval Staff, Vice-Admiral Ganiyu Adekeye (rtd); former Chief of Air Staff, Air-Vice Marshal (rtd); Abdullahi Bello and Maj. Gen Ike Nwachukwu (rtd). They blamed politicians for being afraid to restructure the country, advising them that they should take a cue from the Army, which, notwithstanding its enormous challenges was able to restructure itself into eight divisions, four in the South and four in the North. Also, in admitting that their generation has failed the country, the speakers challenged the youths to wrestle power so as to instal a government that would give everyone a sense of belonging. Prof Akinjide Osuntokun, who reviewed the book, noted that “since 1999 to the present, two former heads of military government have held the post of civilian presidents. This can only be explained either as a failure of politicians to organise themselves in order to be in power or the power of the military to draw Nigerians to themselves. What is obvious to this reviewer, he said, is that politicians have neither been all devils nor the military been all saints. He added: “But in reading this book, Gowon, Obasanjo and Buhari in that order stand out to have positively impacted the country. In total, the military has lost out in the wastage of highly trained officers either in war, coups and premature retirement. Nigerians have also paid dearly with the loss of lives in the civil war and the ethnic cleansing in the North in 1966. “This is a book on the incursion of the military into Nigerian politics and the repercussions on the military institutions and the Nigerian state. It is clear from the book that the author feels that the military is both a beneficiary and a victim of its promenade into politics. He also says the country has suffered from the double jeopardy of lack of development and tyranny even though he points out that the military left a few physical infrastructure like roads, bridges as well as some institutions and reforms that are of lasting importance like adopting the metric system and driving on the right hand side of the road put in place by General Yakubu Gowon. “Creation of states which made sense with Gowon’s 12 states structure was bastardized by successor regimes. With the exception of Buhari and the Abdulsalami Abubakar, all the other military administrations saw further splitting of existing states interminably as a strategy for seeking support and placating opponents until we got to our present states structure of unviable states unable to pay public servant for a whole year or carry out any developmental projects. “The military has imposed on the constitutional development of Nigeria its command structure of centralization giving no room for regional and cultural differences in the name of uniform administrations and imposing unity of direction thereby destroying innovation variety and competitive but cooperative federalism in the land. “General Akinkunmi’s book is divided into 16 chapters and the chapter titles such as in the beginning, the political background, the first military and its overt entry into politics, the second military government and the civil war years and the post war years, the third military government and return to civil rule, the brief civilian interregnum, the fourth military government and war against indiscipline, the fifth military government: enter Maradona. The fifth military government shaken and stirred, the sixth military government, descent into abyss, the seventh military government and partial redemption and finally the legacy of Hubris.”
Read more at: https://dailytimes.ng/civil-war-not-involved-asaba-massacre-generals-akinrinade-nwachukwu/
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