Why I Fought On The Side Of Ojukwu, Biafra – Lt. Fola Oyewole
Retired
Lt. Fola Oyewole, 77, a Nigerian Military Officer of the Yoruba stock,
fought on the side of Biafra during the ncivil war. Before then, he was,
because of the first coup 50 years ago, imprisoned in Lagos and in the
Enugu but was released by Lt Col Ojukwu.
He wrote his own war account too, entitled “The Reluctant Rebel”,
which joined other civil war narratives like ‘The Biafra Story’ (1969)
by Frederick Forsyth, ‘Why We Struck’ (1981) by
Adewale Ademoyega, ‘Sunset In Biafra’ (1975) by Elechi Amadi, ‘The
Nigerian Revolution And the Biafran War’ (1980) by Alexander Madiebo
among others.
In this interview with Ademola Adegbamigbe and Femi Anjorin (Idowu
Ogunleye snapped the photos), the retired army officer narrated what
happened during the first coup, his participation in it and why he,
despite being Yoruba, fought on the side of Biafra like other non Igbo
officers like Lt Col. Victor Banjo, Major Wale Ademoyega and others.
Q: On January 15, it will be 50 years that the military struck, how
will you assess the journey so far? Because there is always this stock
phrase that the military spoilt Nigerian politics?
A: Well I don’t subscribe to that and maybe you will understand why I
said that. I do not think that the military really spoilt Nigeria. More
importantly, you will find out that right from Aguiyi Ironsi to the
time the military sort of ended its intervention, if they had ended it
at all, the military hadn’t any say in what is happening it is always
the civilians dictating the pace, advising the military.
Q: It was on the allegation that you were among the people that
planned that coup that you were detained by the federal government… we
want you to assess the situation then, that really prompted the military
to strike?
A: I was not one of the master planners of the coup. It will interest
you to know that by half past eleven on the night of Janaury 14th,
1966, I had no clue about the coup. No clue whatsoever.
Q: So why did they link you?
A: Precisely, I was friendly with Emmanuel Ifejuna who was the
brigade general and then after they had planned and done everything
possible as the saying goes, some of the people who agreed to what they
had agreed decided not to take part, it is a matter of getting anybody
who could help and by virtue of my position, I had a telephone in my
house which was the same thing that happened to most people there. The
original planners started telephoning. Where are you.. I want to see
you. It was an emergency period. I was second in command to the
Transport Brigade in Apapa and we were on 24-hour alert. (So, like they
will say something like this.. something is happening in Ogbomosho blah
blah blah, can you help out? We did get instructions 24 hours).
It didn’t come as a surprise, so that is what happened. They drove to
my house at about twenty five minutes to twelve and asked me to come to
Ifejuna’s house. I got there and I saw a lot of officers, sitting down
and they had even finished what they were talking about, and they said,
you stay and I will brief you.
Q: Were you effectively court martialled before you were detained?
A: No.. No.. No… there was no trial, no court-martial nothing. I tell
you, I got picked up before 8 o clock on Saturday morning and a group
of senior officers interviewed me. I told them what I know and they said
go and wait, that was the beginning of it all.
Q: There is a political tilt on how the coup was carried out and it
has been generating controversy till today. Critics said the coup was
lopsided. Ladoke Akintola was killed in the West, then Zik and Mike
Okpara “were not around”. The argument was that they got wind of what
was going to happen and left. There is this argument as to why were
leaders from other parts killed and the Igbo leaders allowed to escape?
What is your position?
A: I wouldn’t subscribe to that argument. They said Zik was ill, he
was going for treatment and then he left the country and at the time of
the coup, he wasn’t there, whether he got wind or he didn’t get wind of
it, I would not know. Those who planned the coup must have taken a
decision but it does appear that it was not in totality deliberate. I
give you a specific example, the signal commencing the action in Enugu
was delivered that morning and it did say: “Arrest, secure the key
points and wait for further instructions”. And if you are in doubt, that
was why Fani Kayode was arrested in Ibadan and brought down to Lagos,
they wanted to kill him but what stopped them from killing him in his
house in Ibadan was because of the instructions (waiting for further
instructions) and he was brought down to Lagos.
Q: This interview is meant for people that are under 50 because even
some people who witnessed what happened have forgotten. Tell us what
happened before and after the coup happened and the pogrom leading to
the Biafran war…
A:From that 15th of January, I was in prison, so it was all about they say, they say, they say.
Q: Looking at that time and now, have the factors that led to the coup and pogrom gone?
A: For me I wouldn’t think so. This question of quota system, being
fair to this side and outside, taking advantage is still there. It is
probably even worse. That’s the way I look at it. It is unfortunate,
otherwise the country should have moved forward better than we are now.
That’s the way I look at it.
Q: It was quite surprising that the people who really carried out the coup were not allowed to govern…
A: In planning the coup they had an idea, they know what they wanted
and went ahead and achieved it but they did not have the power. So what
can you do?
Q: Now let us come down to your book, Reluctant Rebel. What prompted you to write it?
A: When you find out that there is life in you. In the last two years
I have been trying to do some writings, I can’t do so, but in prison
there is nothing to do but eat, sleep. I wrote everything in prison.
Q: Were you not monitored?
A: Yes and No. You, find a way!
Q: What were the challenges that you faced in writing the book?
A: I faced none because the face that keeps reccurring or that I was
remembering, I document it. I didn’t need any reference book. I didn’t
need anything. The book is a narrative of a personal experience.
Q: Do you still feel the same perception about the coup? I mean this
is a coup that you do not know anything about, just because some people
backed out and you were now drafted in.
They said Zik was ill, he was going for treatment and then he left
the country and at the time of the coup, he wasn’t there, whether he got
wind or he didn’t get wind of it, I would not know. Those who planned
the coup must have taken a decision but it does appear that it was not
in totality deliberate. I give you a specific example, the signal
commencing the action in Enugu was delivered that morning and it did
say: “Arrest, secure the key points and wait for further instructions”.
And if you are in doubt, that was why Fani Kayode was arrested in Ibadan
and brought down to Lagos, they wanted to kill him but what stopped
them from killing him in his house in Ibadan was because of the
instructions (waiting for further instructions) and he was brought down
to Lagos.
A: I was not the only one. There are some other people who didn’t
know until that day. For instance on the night people were briefed, a
colleague was in the briefing and he told them, look I have to consult
my family. They looked at him and said ok, go and consult your family.
Just by the corridor, they told somebody: “Follow him maybe he will be
the first casualty of the coup”! Of course, what do you want him to
decide? So simple. That gentleman is still alive today.
Q: In what area did you take part in that coup?
A: Arrest, seize facility and others…
Q: In your book, you write that after the coup, you were detained in
Lagos and then transferred to the East but Ojukwu released you. We
wonder why you didn’t run away?
A: Where do you want to run to? In Nigeria I was absolutely persona
non grata, is it heaven you want to run to? Apart from that I and my
other Yoruba colleagues had the fortune of having a chat with Chief
Obafemi Awolowo when he came to the East. He and leaders of south east I
cant remember all of them. On behalf of Nigeria, they came to plead
with Ojukwu and we had the fortune of meeting him (Awo) because my late
uncle M A Oyewole was Awo’s friend. So when he was leaving Lagos, he
jokingly told him, you must come back with my son. So when he came to
the east, Awo started looking for me. Eventually he left a message where
I would meet him and I did. I told my colleagues and we all went and we
saw him and in the course of the discussion, we did ask if we could
come home and he said ‘not now, don’t try it’. So what do you do? And
the easterners were not chasing us, so why not stay where you are
accepted? So we stayed.
Q: You didn’t run away. But why did you decide to fight on the side of Biafra?
A: Now there was a trade I learnt- that is soildiering. What will I
be doing in Biafra if I did not fight? I only practiced my trade. It is
as simple as that. You could not just be walking around town doing
nothing.
Q: But Ojukwu asked people who wanted to leave to go to the federal side..
A: That is before the war. If you remember early 1966 before the war
till late 66 during the pogrom, by the time the war started, non
easterners were in the east, they had not gone.
Q: In the book you said you do not believe in secession.
A: Yes.
Q: Despite that, you have it in your book that Ojukwu had genuine
grievances, yet you fought on Biafran secessionist side, help us
reconcile those positions…
A: You might have your objections but the powers that be, this was
what they wanted, you have no choice. Mark you, I was not the only one
who, given the chance, didn’t believe in secession, more so because we
were not ready, we did not have enough arms. We had manpower, yes,
credible manpower was there, but manpower alone doesn’t do it.
Q: You were at a point, according to your book, with Captain Adeleke, another Yoruba soldier, who was he?
A: He was a colleague. He is the one who said he wanted to consult
the family and we were friends, we both worked in Apapa before the
crisis.
Q: I want you to describe what happened to other Yoruba people or non
Igbo who fought on the Biafran side – Lt Col. Victor Banjo, Major Wale
Ademoyega, then Major Kaduna Nzeogwu an Igbo from Opanam in Delta?
A: They were detained like myself, and Nzeogwu was detained, that was a common factor.
Q: In the book, you applaud Ojukwu’s performance in Aburi, explain to
us what actually happened because there is this argument that he
bamboozled Gowon.
A: If you listen to the Aburi accord or the proceedings as a whole,
you will duff your cap for Ojukwu whether he is a villain or whatever
you want to call him, call him. He really dictated the pace of the
discussion, he was prepared for it, he kind of put together all the
things and if you listen, the moment he started talking, others kept
quiet and when he finished, they will say ok ok ok. To give you a full
grasp of what the theme was, you need to read the comment of the super
perm sec who led us to were we are today.
Q: Was it Philip Asiodu?
A: The group – Asiodu, and the rest. Their recommendations, what they
brought back from Aburi was agreed to be implemented but when they came
here they tore it into pieces.
Q: Ok, was after the agreement was signed in Aburi? They came back to Nigeria….
A: To put it in whatsoever you can say political implementation. They
desired to analyse it, it was an agreement not suggestion, that’s where
our problem sort of started.
If you listen to the Aburi accord or the proceedings as a whole, you
will duff your cap for Ojukwu whether he is a villain or whatever you
want to call him, call him. He really dictated the pace of the
discussion, he was prepared for it, he kind of put together all the
things and if you listen, the moment he started talking, others kept
quiet and when he finished, they will say ok ok ok. To give you a full
grasp of what the theme was, you need to read the comment of the super
perm sec who led us to were we are today.
Q: Kindly let us into what the agreement was? Because there was this
talk of confederation, federation…And some critics said that was where
Ojukwu bamboozled Gowon…
A. At the conference, Ojukwu spoke his own views, and they were
entitled to theirs too, and fortunately or unfortunately they agreed. So
what do you bamboozle?
Q: Do you have any reason to disagree on the war accounts of people like Frederick Forsyth, Wale Ademuyoga, Elechi Amadi?
A: It is their opinion. I only sympathise with them, they were
writing after so many years after the event and in all modesty I will
say I wrote more accurately than many of them. I wrote immediately after
the war. I have nothing to refer to. I did not copy anybody and I
wasn’t getting wiser after the event. I only reported what I saw. They
have their own opinion, that’s how they see it.
Q: How will you describe the experience, in such traumatic detention
circumstance, it is difficult to have power of recollection, how did you
navigate?
A: That is the easiest thing to do, especially when I started writing
it. What really prompted it, was the account being given by a lot of
these igbo people- of what happened or what did not happen only to
exonerate themselves. What is all these story telling, rather than keep
quiet? That’s why I wrote. I wrote my book 1971-72 which wasn’t
published until 1975. I don’t think any soldier wrote before 1980.
Everything settled down. The difference is clear!
Q: Whats your view on the war accounts by Ojukwu himself and even Obasanjo?
A: I refuse to read, I don’t want to read. You cannot say Obasanjo
was not telling the truth or Ojukwu was not, but if you want to value or
know the value of Obasanjo’s book, go and read Alabi Isama, you find
the difference. I am proud to say nobody has come up to say anything
opposite in what I wrote. It was more or less reporting.
Q: Awolowo was accused of being behind the blocking of food supply to
the easterners which really affected the civilian populace, what is
your view on this?
A: Well he is the only one who has the view on it. I don’t have any view.
Q: Critics have been arguing about whether or not what he did was right…
A: Is any thing right in war?
Q: People who were in charge of Biafran propaganda said oh, the
federal side took the advice of Awolowo and stopped food to the East….
A: Awolowo said, hunger, is the legitimate instrument of war so what
else do you want to say? You want to be feeding your enemy so that he
can fight you? Anything you have, you use it.
Q: Awo defended himself . I want your reaction to that. He argued
that the Biafran soldiers (you were with them), were seizing food meant
for the civilian population, that’s why the civilians were having
kwashiorkor and soldiers were looking robust. How will you react to
that?
A: O ma se oo (It is a pity!). I didn’t look robust anyway. If
anything, civilians were donating food to the soldiers. It is not true.
It is the civilians. They know they have a stake, and they said, lets
maintain these soldiers so that they can fight for us. And where is the
food anyway? In Biafra, Ojukwu introduced what we called land army
because there was no food. So land army will say, yes we have this area
now, it will be good for cultivating corn-if it is corn, plant.
I wouldn’t subscribe to the argument that soldiers were taking food
from civilians, where is the food? The ones available it was like let us
share, for instance which was an argument I put up on fuel price, fuel
subsidy. I used to produce petrol for Biafra-I, Fola Oyewole. Yes. It is
like brewing ogogoro, put it in something, fire it, and it would
produce steam, pass it through cold water. So if you have a small river
around your camp, about one third of the crude you put is petrol, the
second third or there about is kerosene, without doing anything and the
next is diesel, because we didn’t know what to do, we threw away the
rest, but people who do know can tap it into something.
The point is the kerosene I got, I didn’t need. I gave to people of
Owerri Nkwo Orji, the village where my camp was. Then I was chief so to
say, I gave them anytime I boiled- petrol, kerosene, so everybody was
looking after everybody so to say. If you snatched food from civilian,
who do you want to control? Who do you want to command? It doesn’t make
sense.
