The General’s Orderly
An Autobiography of a Biafran Child Soldier
by
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This second alliance between the North and South-West, like the first one during the civil war was entered into during the 2015 general election in what was described as “political master struck” by the Jagagban Ahmed Bola Tinubu with the collapsing of the major Yoruba Party, the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) into the major northern party, the All Nigerian Peoples’ Party (ANPP) to form the All Progressives Congress (APC). With this alliance, the South-East zone that was mostly in the PDP lost out, as they blindly supported the candidate of the PDP, President Goodluck Jonathan without taking into account their 5% vote. Even the attempt at mustering a bloc vote that will include Igbos in other political parties like APGA, and UPP, obviously these Igbo parties could not make any impact during the general election.
Like in the first alliance between Gowon and Awolowo, the main objective of the second alliance between Buhari and Tinubu, remained the continued marginalization and political exclusion of Ndigbo in Nigeria’s governance. For instance, like in the first alliance, which saw Awolowo from the West as Minister of Finance and the Vice Chairman of the Federal Executive Council headed by Gowon, the present government has a Yoruba as the Vice President and another as the Minister of Finance, with Buhari as President. It is an open secret that but for the need to balance the religious equation, Tinubu would have been made the VP. Other key appointments are at present shared between the North and the West, with some sprinkles of the minorities in the cabinet. For the first time in Nigeria, there is no Igbo as member in the National Security Council, just as it was during the civil war. This was on the mischievous “fatherly” advice from the Foreign Office of Her Majesty Britain, in continuation of the age-long hatred of Ndigbo from the time of anti-colonial struggle championed by an Igbo, Nnamdi Azikiwe. It is simply a continued visitation of the sins of our fore fathers.
The unholy alliance between the Hausa-Fulani and Yoruba has been made effective by the impact of the weakening of the constituent parts of former Biafra by removing the minority ethnic groups in former Biafra through the creation of states of their own. Any talk of Biafra now must first address the issue of the former minorities in the present 4 states of Cross River, Akwa Ibom, Rivers and Bayelsa. These states, having tasted freedom from the Igbo will think twice before choosing to join in the struggle for a new Biafra.
Another factor that may stand in the way of Biafra now is the changed psyche of the Igbo. Since after the civil war, Ndigbo have undergone some form of cultural and formative transformation from what they were before the war. From a people whose core value depended on hard work as a virtue, Ndigbo have imbibed from other Nigerians negative values which tend to regard the acquisition of wealth as an end that justifies the means and not the other way round. One of the results of this change is that Ndigbo have abandoned their culture of hard work as a way of life to join other Nigerians “in the vain pursuit of luxury and gaiety without work”. This is in response to the dictum, “if you can’t beat them, join them”. For example, it is widely known that in crimes like advance fee fraud ‘419’, drug pushing and of recent cyber frauds, the Igbo are known to be late entrants, after other major ethnic groups had long made them as sure ways or short cuts to wealth. The end result of Ndigbo joining in this rat race, is the myriad of landed properties they own in choice areas of Lagos and Abuja, with the draw back effect of lacking the decision in joining the new struggle for Biafra. Recently, the father of the leader of IPOB admonished Ndigbo for abandoning his son Nnamdi Kanu who has been incarcerated by the federal government for his stance on Biafra. HRH Kanu reminded such Ndigbo that they will not carry their property to their graves at the end of the day. When it comes to fighting for Biafra, such Igbo is like the spirit of a materialistic man whose soul at death is weighed down by gross matter. Such a soul can hardly fly back to its maker. It will need the assistance of the boom of cannons to shake off the taunting of incubus, in order to soar to high heavens.
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About the Book
Arua Okereke shares his personal account of the Nigeria-Biafra civil war, which ended in 1970, in this inspirational and informative autobiography.
While there have been numerous accounts of the war, they have largely been written by governmental participants, military leaders, or academic historians, but this autobiography explains what the war did to everyday men and women.
As a private in the Biafran Army and later an orderly to the second-in-command in the Biafran Army, a glorified military name for a servant, the author was involved in the war directly and indirectly.
As a fresh child recruit with no battle experience, Okereke had no way of knowing the danger he would face. He did not realize how much he needed to prepare for battle emotionally, psychologically, and physically or how the war would continue to affect him long after it ended.
Devastated with the outcome of the war, the author had to cope with the dashed hope of a free Biafra as well as the desertion of his hero, the People’s General, Odumegwu Ojukwu. Find out how he picked up the pieces of a broken life in The General’s Orderly.
About the Author
Arua Okereke is a construction engineer and a professor of construction technology and management. He earned a doctorate degree in engineering sciences and a master of science in civil engineering from the Higher Institute of Architecture and Civil Engineering in Sofia, Bulgaria. The General’s Orderly is his seventh book.