Former presidential aide and Minister of Health, Prof. Alphonsus Nwosu, has added his voice to the controversy generated by Prof Chinua Achebe’s book - There Was A Country.
Question: Chinua Achebe’s new book on the Nigerian/Biafra civil war has stirred up controversies. What’s your view on it?
Answer: I will make two points. First, there is no controversy; a fact was presented about the starvation of the innocent children of Biafra. A very well-known fact is that Chief Obafemi Awolowo defended this policy of famine when he said starvation was a legitimate weapon of war. It is a fact that Awolowo himself gave reasons why he defended it. Achebe simply stated the facts. And for us, Ndigbo, we are angry that Awolowo who we thought was our uncle and ally was the one who was saying we deserved to suffer. We felt disappointed.
Many people have said worse things about what Awolowo said. There is Dan Jacobs, in the ‘Brutality of Nations,’ there is Federick Foreseth and numerous others. Achebe said the same thing in 1983. In the present book, worst things were said by Achebe regarding the abuse, breach of code of conduct and irresponsible utterances of Brigadier Benjamin Adekunle, he is also Yoruba. Why is nobody attacking him?
Many people have said worse things about what Awolowo said. There is Dan Jacobs, in the ‘Brutality of Nations,’ there is Federick Foreseth and numerous others. Achebe said the same thing in 1983. In the present book, worst things were said by Achebe regarding the abuse, breach of code of conduct and irresponsible utterances of Brigadier Benjamin Adekunle, he is also Yoruba. Why is nobody attacking him?
We wonder why nobody is attacking Achebe for what he said about Adekunle which the international community was outraged at. Achebe also said late Anthony Enahoro and Permanent Secretary, Allison Aida, said the same things about starvation being a legitimate instrument of the war. They are repeated in Achebe’s book, why is nobody attacking Achebe for maligning Tony Enahoro or Aida?
What Achebe tried to do was to draw attention to things that are not done in a nation and refusing to accept that certain people can be sacred cows and not be blamed if they cross the line. The minuscule of his book is about Biafra, how the lessons of Biafra can forge a brighter future for us as a nation, those who cannot see this from Achebe’s book are not being fair to the book.
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