Civil War: We’ve no cause | yorubareligion-1

Civil War: We’ve no cause to regret what we did – Gowon. Vanguard.

Lagos. Nigeria. 13.10.12

Nigerian Head of State, who prosecuted the civil war, General Yakubu Gowon, has absolved his regime and late Chief Obafemi Awolowo of accusations by Professor Chinua Achebe, in his new book, “There was a country,” that they pursued sub-human policies that killed Biafrans especially children during the war, which has been described as pogrom and genocide against the Igbo.
Speaking from his London home in a telephone chat with Vanguard, Gowon said he prayerfully took the decisions he took during the war and had no cause to regret his actions because “If there was no secession, there wouldn’t have been the war that we had, which was a very unfortunate situation in the life of Nigeria.” Excerpts:
What is your comment on Professor Achebe’s latest book?
Let me read it first. I’m not in the country now.
In the book, he said you and Chief Obafemi Awolowo implemented some policies aimed at killing the Igbos such as starvation and preventing food from getting to Biafran children during the war. What is your take on that?
Let him check himself and of course on our part, we know that, that was not what we were. That was how we were portrayed but, on our part, we know that was not what we were in our actions and all that.
But would you please go and ask historians about the beginning of the war rather than for you to ask me to comment about whether Awolowo and I actually had hands in what he is talking about? Go and find out from historians?
One would think that, as the then Head of states, you have direct and undiluted truth about the issue?
The historians will tell you the correct story. I am not in Nigeria presently and honestly this is a question that I have had to answer several times. You would have asked them if there was a controversy or whoever did what. Let them do their own interpretation of what happened.
But you are a key factor in getting to the root of the newly generated controversy…
(Cuts in) If there was no secession, we wouldn’t have the civil war. Awolowo was not the cause of the secession. Why then are they bringing him into this controversy?
If there was no secession, there wouldn’t have been the war that we had, which was a very unfortunate situation in the life of Nigeria. That is the answer that I would give to you about this.
What is your take on the opinion that your ‘no victor no vanquished’ resolution and failure to try the secessionists for treason account for some of the brewing controversies?
You can be rest assured that as far as we are concerned, we did everything that was possible. And we have no cause to regret what we did.
So, I think whoever is saying what I am now hearing that they are saying, the question is; why are they saying what they are saying now? For what reason are they saying it at this time?

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Museum devoted to music icon Fela Kuti inaugurated in Lagos.

Vanguard. Lagos. Nigeria. 15.10.12

LAGOS (AFP) – The family of the late musical icon Fela Kuti on Monday inaugurated a museum dedicated to his life at the site of his last house in Lagos as part of events celebrating what would have been his 74th birthday.
The museum is not yet complete, but his family wanted to use the date — October 15 was Kuti’s birthday — to raise awareness of it. An annual range of events and concerts labeled “Felabration” is being held over the coming days.
“The museum is not finished, but we had to make the opening today,” Kuti’s musician son Femi said at the inauguration amidst a party atmosphere, with a crowd of supporters gathering at the house where the musician is also buried.
The launch “symbolises his birthday and his struggle,” he said.
Kuti’s family has been seeking to promote the afrobeat musician’s legacy more than 15 years after he died aged 58 from an HIV-related illness.
A recent Broadway musical about his life that drew rave reviews has also raised his stature internationally.
Kuti’s outsized personality and social activism made him a hero to many while he was still alive, and his funeral in the giant economic capital of Lagos drew massive crowds into the streets.
The saxophone player was a harsh critic of Nigeria’s corrupt elite, lashing out in songs like “Coffin for Head of State,” “International Thief Thief” and “Zombie,” but with irresistible grooves that combined jazz, traditional music and other sounds.
His songs repeatedly landed him in trouble with the authorities, including arrests and the burning, allegedly by soldiers, of his compound, which he had christened the Kalakuta Republic and declared independent.
His original Shrine club where he regularly performed was shut after his death, but his family later opened the New Afrika Shrine at another location. Femi Kuti and his half-brother Seun regularly perform at the club.
Kuti was also known for marrying 27 women on the same day, most of them his dancers, and had a well-documented love of marijuana.
One of his wives at Monday’s launch, Olaide, was moved by being back at the house.
“This house — it’s a lot of memories,” she said. “I spent almost 30 years with Fela. I love what Fela’s children are doing.”