Whoever is denying that starvation was used against the Igbo is living in denial – Col. Achuzia (rtd)

Col Achuzia (rtd)

Col. Joseph Achuzia was not only a participant in the Nigerian civil war (1967-1970) but one of the top Biafran war commanders and a very intimate associate of the late Biafran warlord, Dim Odimegwu Ojukwu. In this interview with Assistant Editor, LINUS OBOGO, the British-trained Aeronautic engineer and one-time Secretary-General of the apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, took issue with those who accused Prof. Chinua Achebe of distorting history in his book, There Was a Country, where the celebrated story teller alleged genocide and the deployment of starvation as a weapon of war against the then Federal Government. Excerpts:

Agenda for second term: ‘No more shall our people travel to our capital city to see civilisation’

By LINUS OBOGO, Assiatant Editor

The banner at the capacity-filled Dr. Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium fluttered with buoyancy and optimism. It bore such assuring declaration as “Edo is in safe hands: Welcome to the future”.
As early as 8.am, students from different primary and secondary schools, crowd of party faithful, military and Para-military personnel and cultural ensembles, in their thousands, surged and fought their way to be part of the future that was being ushered in with the swearing-in for the second term of the new light of Edo politics, Governor Adams Aliyu Oshiomhole.

It’s either Achebe twisting the facts interpreting the to serve his own —Ex-Arewa chair IBM Haruna

By Linus Obogo, Assistant Editor

IBM Haruna

 

Maj-Gen. Ibrahim Bata Malgwi (IBM) Haruna was two-time Federal Commissioner for Communication and Information during the military era. He was also the General Officer Commanding (GOC) Two Division of the Nigerian Army during the civil war. He was also Principal Officer to Gen. Yakubu Gowon. After a glittering military career, he was appointed Chairman of the Governing body of the Nigerian Institute Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) in Kuru, Jos, Plateau State, from 1985 to 1993.

In this no holds-barred interview, Gen. Haruna lamented the gruesome murder of Gen. Muhammadu Shuwa, whom he described as his bosom friend and contemporary in the Army, insisting that the only way for his memory to be preserved is for the Federal Government to fish out his killers and bring them to justice. He also admonished those he said are still parochially clinging on to the concept of North as a political entity to wake up to the reality that it is long dead as a political grouping. He speaks more on sundry issues with the ASSISTANT EDITOR, LINUS OBOGO. Excerpts:

It’s a shame that I ensured peace in Liberia, Angola, Sierra Leone, yet no peace in my home state – Sen. John Shagaya

After a glittering military career spanning over 30 years, Gen. John Shagaya (rtd) made his foray into politics as a senator representing Plateau Central Senatorial District of Plateau State from 2007 to 2011. A one-time ECOMOG Commander, and variously head of peace keeping operations in troubled parts of Africa and Asia, Gen. Shagaya ensured that peace was restored in war-torn Liberia, Sierra Leone, Angola, among others. An emblematic trouble-shooter that he was in his days as a soldier, his home state of Plateau is encased in intractable crises of bleeding proportion with none able to guarantee peace. Senator Shagaya speaks about the trouble in Plateau, the collapse of the ‘monolithic North, his botched attempt to return to the Senate, among other issues, in an interview with the Assistant Editor, LINUS OBOGO. Excerpts:

Why NYSC should not be scrapped- Ex-Governing Board Chair, Chief Linus Okom

 

A few months away from now, the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) will be 40 years. Established by Decree 24 of May 22, 1973, the scheme has gone through a purple patch, socially and culturally. In this interview with Assistant Editor, Linus Obogo, immediate-past Chairman of the Governing Board, Chief Linus Emonse Okom (OON), lauds the idea behind the scheme, just as he flays those calling for its scrapping. Excerpts:

FESTAC: Town in need of moral salvation -Written By Linus Obogo, Assistant Editor

Welcome to FESTAC Town. This was the landmark at the First Gate that clearly offered a hint of where Nigeria’s Festival of Arts and Culture village was situated. That was 35 years ago.

Today, the landmark has not only disappeared, but the very gate that once welcomed its residents and visitors alike has been ripped bare of any directional compass, having progressively transformed into a garage for commercial motorcyclists, popularly called ‘Okada’. 

The once posh and highbrow estate was built by the government in 1977, during the country’s first oil boom, to quarter tens of thousands of participants in the Second World Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture. After the festival, it was to later serve as a satellite for the country’s middle class. This was so until the late 1980s.

With the death or rather, the disappearance of Nigeria’s middle class, FESTAC Town also suffered vicariously and in turn, lost its plum and upscale status. Like a similar fate that has befallen the country, FESTAC has weathered corresponding socio-economic vagaries and sadly, morphed into a juvenile, ramshackle colony of social and economic vermin.

Why I couldn’t make it back to the Senate –Folashade Bent

By Linus Obogo, Assistant Editor

Doctor Folashade Grace-Bent is a politician and former senator who represented Adamawa South Senatorial Constituency of Adamawa State from 2007 to 2011. In this interview with Linus Obogo, the former Senate Committee Chairman on Environment opens up on the forces that conspired against her return to the senate, the overbearing influence of the governors on parties’ affairs, as well as her regrets in bringing about the current leadership in the state. Excerpts: