His Excellency: This a very important day and I would like to be a
little bit formal. I think the first thing is to congratulate you, sir, for
your good health. Since your release we have not really had the opportunity to
meet although I have been looking forward to it for a long time. I would also
like to thank Chief Mariere and Chief Onyia for this trip. And, of course, I
will not forget to thank my old friend, Professor Sam Aluko. It is a pleasure
to have you all with us today.
Having said that, I would like to introduce the people who are with me here
(And he introduced Lt. Col. Imo, Lt. Col. Effiong, Lt. Col Kurubo, Mr. C.O
Majekwu, Mr. N.U Akpan, Professor Eni Njoku, Dr. Nwakanma Okoro, Dr. P.N.C
Okigbo, Mr. C.A Onyegbale, and Mr. Ndem).
When I heard you were coming on this delegation, as usual, I halted everything
and then started to think. I thought of it the whole of yesterday up to this
morning trying to see really how to conduct this discussion. You all realise
the difficulty in which we are placed in the East. We have been virtually
isolated since July so that we do not know what is happening very much on the
other side. Indeed every day makes us more isolated. So, we do not really
understand the platform and the reason for this type of Committee. I,
therefore, finally decided that the answer would be to leave you, sirs, the
visitors, to let me know perhaps in more detail the reasons or the points which
you want us to discuss. It is only after that , that perhaps we would be in a
position to really join in the discussions. At this stage, I would like to
welcome you once again. We are very happy indeed to have you with us.
Chief Awolowo: We thank you very much indeed for the cordial way in which you
have received us. Four of us here were invited to a meeting of what was later
described as the National conciliation Committee and before we went to the
meeting we were made clearly to understand that the purpose was to try and find
ways and means of bringing an end to the present impasse in the country. At the
meeting we tried to get the purpose properly defined but we did not go very far
even with that because the East was not represented or may I qualify that a
little bit, because there were two natives of the Eastern Region at that
meeting, but we felt they could not properly represent the East because they
have not been here for quite a long time...
I had a number of matters in my mind in addition to what the convener had
stated but we felt that if we proceeded with the points raised at the meeting
we might fail because we were not properly represented. We felt that the East
must be present and so we decided not to proceed further with the meeting until
we have succeeded in getting the Eastern Region representatives at the meeting.
The purpose of this visit, therefore, is not to go onto another detail as to
what your grievances are because these are political issues and the solution
must be political. Of course, I agree with my friend Chief Mariere, that there
are also human problems and there must be human approach to them. Instead of
going into the grievances we felt it would be easier to have a list of what
each Region would like to see done in order to resolve the friction and fears
of the past and then work together in some form of harmony. Our main concern is
to ensure that Nigeria does not disintegrate, and at this stage I have to
project my own person further, and I did say that I would like to see Nigeria
bound together by any bond because it is better than breaking the whole place
up because I think each unit will be the loser for it. The economy of the
country is so integrated that I think it is too late in the day to try and
sever them without risking the death of one or both of them.. So, we have come,
therefore, to appeal to you to let Eastern representatives attend the meeting
of the committee.
2-contd:You are in no way committed and, if my word is worth anything at all, I
would like to assure you that you are in no way committed to any particular
course of action. Whoever represents the Easter Region will let us know on what
terms Eastern Region would like to participate in future Nigeria. Of course,
each Region would have to state its own terms and then it would be the duty of
the Committee to know that these are the lines we propose to pursue and to
assemble those lines and then move from Region to Region.... If we consider any
of these terms to be excessive the we shall come here to see if we can reduce
it to a minimum and try to see how to reconcile all the demands, and in the end
it is our wish that it should be possible for the Military Leaders to meet here
in Nigeria and say, this is that, I can understand your feelings in the matter.
I don’t not know what reasons you have to insist that Heads of African States
should be present at the future meeting of the Military Governors, but when our
Military Governor of the West visited you at Onitsha and told me what
transpired between you, I told him that if I were you I would hesitate to meet
with the Military Council without making sure of a guarantee of my safety, but to
invite African Heads of State is entirely a different matter.
I think that now that we have started this, and with your co-operation in the
early stage, I feel that the Supreme Military Council can meet in Nigeria
without the presence of any African Head of State.
At the moment, what we have come for is to appeal to you to attend the next
meeting of the National Reconciliation Committee and to assure you that if
anything is done at the Committee which tends to compromise your stand or
commit your people of this Region, there are some of us who will have the
courage to get out of the Committee before it is too late. So, these are there
reasons for our visit.
........................
His Excellency: It does appear to me that there are two main issues in this
matter. The first one is the matter of our Eastern representatives going to the
Reconciliation Committee; then, of course the main thing is the problem of
Nigeria.
If I may, I would like to deal first with the question of our representatives
going to this meeting. This point really, by virtue of the term, does not arise
because they are not representing us. They cannot in any way be our
representatives, and one starts wondering how the names were arrived at. I say
this knowing full we that this Nigerian problem started ever since we conceived
Independence and was only held up in the past year, and certainly have been
boiling since July till now. I find it difficult to consider any Nigerian not
involved. Certainly I feel every Easterner is involved. I feel too that for any
objective consideration to be given to this, one really needs completely new
areas because, as you said, the Eastern stand is well known and the Western
stand have been made quite clear, indeed, in a very classic manner. The
Mid-West stand, I am not quite sure of since the latest developments. The
Northern stand has been made crystal clear.
Now, in this situation as I was saying, there is nobody that is a Nigerian who
can say he can be dispassionate. And, therefore, to discuss the future of
Nigeria, it would appear to me that those who should discuss must have the
mandate of the people.
The second point arises from your introduction of the membership of the
committee; the way and manner the people were elected, and who they were show
that again there was a design to make it impossible for Easterner to attend.
A point which we feel very strongly about here in the East is the point about
the judiciary. Here we feel really that the judiciary is sacrosanct. We have
made a point about this and we do not feel the Chief Justice of the East
(indeed he finds it difficult) should go into this thing. As the Justice he
just does not play, and I think you are aware too that the difficulties Nigeria
is suffering now come through two justices getting involved in politics and
trying to solve the Nigeria problem. They have tried twice and failed.
I think the other invitee to the Committee was Sir Francis, my Adviser. Now, I
am the Military Governor. As you see, I am a young man and Sir Francis is my
Adviser. I do what he advices me. If I steal, you can be sure that he advised
me to steal, so I don't see how he can fit into this' circumstances make it
impossible for him to be associated with this......
3-The first thing that occurred to me through this afternoon is, with all due
respects, that we are getting ourselves again involved in platitudes. Men of
goodwill, forgive and forget, those sort of terms do not mean anything in this
crisis.....
You talk about free movement, children moving from one place to other. I am
told that Nigerians move in and out of Western Germany without visas, so that,
really, that is not the point at issue. There are arrangements in which you can
still move from one place to another without a visa.
After my deadline of 31st of March, came April; I took certain actions. The
American Ambassador and the British High Commissioner Cabled back (one good
thing about the East is that we have ears) for further instruction from their
home Governments. Britain thought that the solution to the problem lay in
immediate parity between the North and the East. The U.S.A cabled back that the
solution would lie, in order to protect their investments, in checks and
balances so as to continue the exploitation of our oil. After this, the British
High Commissioner and the Ambassador met and they kept together for a period of
some four hours after which the American Ambassador started taking the
initiative. What they decided was that the country was on the point of
disintegration and that the only way to deal with this thing is to delay so
much as possible the East from any further action that might completely
disintegrate Nigeria. It was as result of that and the posture of Britain that
it was decided that the initiative must be taken by Messrs Omo-Bare, Fabunmi
and Yesufu who started meeting some individuals and tried getting some
individuals to meet together, having cleared that with Gowon. So that when we
discuss the Conciliation Committee, the child of that conspiracy, you must
realise that our interests are not really being considered; the interests being
considered are America and British interests.
I started off this struggle in July with 120 rifles to defend the entirety of
the East. I took my stand knowing full well that by doing so, whilst carving my
name in history, I was signing also my death warrant. But I took it because I
believed that this stand was vital to the survival of the South. I appealed for
settlement quietly because I understood that his was a naked struggle for power
and that the only time we can sit down and decide the future of Nigeria on
basis of equality will always be equality of arms. Quietly I build up. If you
do not know it, I am proud, and my officers are proud, that here in the East we
possess the biggest army in Black Africa. I am no longer speaking as an
underdog; I am speaking from a position of power. We have really go to find a
solution to our problem. It is not my intention to unleash the destruction
which my army can unleash. It is not my intention to fight unless I am
attacked. If I am attacked I will take good care of the aggressor. That is why
i really believe that our future must be for the people of the South to halt a
while and think, so that whilst we are catching up something which is already
written to the core, that is association with the North, we do not lose more of
the things that keep us in the South together....
I went to Aburi as a Nigerian (I am glad that there is complete record of our
meeting). I did not ask for compensation; I asked for a solution to the
Nigerian problem. What I asked for in Aburi was share of power in Nigeria. It
is significant that you said that five months ago we started getting popularity
May I add to that, that what is happening today in this country is precisely
five months late...
I noticed today that the main difficulties precluding the participation of the
East have not been touched. I said that we were being strangulated; anybody
would then expect that the first thing to do is to take hands of this people's
throat before anything else.
4-Chief Awolowo; You are speaking figuratively.
His Excellency: Do I have to enumerate all the things, the economic
strangulations and all, that is being imposed on us by Gowon.
Chief Awolowo We cannot go there and be the advocates of the East I was
selected to represent the West, and therefore, it will not be right for me to
go there and advocate for the East.
I refused to be on this delegation because I was accused of speaking to you on
telephone every day. Gowon himself told me that I visited the East several
times and on one occasion you threw a cocktail party in my honour.
I do not want to put myself in a position where I will be treated as an
advocate of the Eastern cause. Let the Eastern delegates go there, make their
case and then as a member of the Committee I will get up and say I support this
entirely. But for me to go there and say that this is the grievance of the East
is wrong. I enumerated to you what I have in mind. I have a lot of things in
mind.
May I make a correction here, please? I do not indulge in platitudes. I am sure
that when it comes to demonstrating our sincerity we shall certainly not fail.
This is different from what happened last year when your delegates came to
Lagos; this time we are faced as it were, with reality and we have to face them
or be swallowed up and time is running against us because you said you were
being strangulated and I know what you mean. If we get back to that meeting and
your people are represented, I know what ought to be done immediately to ease
the situation on all sides and I have made my views known about certain Regions
of the Country.
Many years before this crisis started in 1962, if only some of my
contemporaries had united with me in attitude, I suppose all this would never
have happened; but we are making history and we can count ourselves as lucky
for having the opportunity of making history. Since we are meeting tomorrow I
think it is good to sleep over this.
You have spoken of some irrevocable stands that you have taken. Has the East
taken an irrevocable stand not to have anything at all to do with the North? Is
this stand of the East (because it will be good for us to know the stand of the
East), not to have anything to do with the North revocable or not? Can we have
circumstances or conditions under which the East can deal with the North? I
believe if you still want an association among all the units of Nigeria, that
will satisfy the yearnings of the South including the East. I would like to
know whether it is your view that the East will secede from the rest of
Nigeria. I would like to know if these so that we will be in a position to make
constructive contributions.
His Excellency: On the specific question of whether there is a possibility of
contract with the North, the answer is at the battle field. On the question of
secession, it will never come from me that we wish to secede from the rest of
the country, that is, I am really thinking of the South.
I believe very strongly that there is a great deal we can do together and
believe me, Sirs, if we have to opt out then it will be because we cannot get
together in the South, that is, opting out of the remaining of the South.
The Second day session of the meeting held at State House, Enugu on Sunday 7th
May. 1967. It started at about 11.50 am and adjourned at about 2.15pm.
5-His Excellency (Ojukwu): I think we may start now. We had a very good meeting
yesterday and certainly the sum total gave us plenty to think about and indeed,
those of us who do not take supper actually did have quite a lot of food for
thought. I think if we can go on from where we left off and that is again
having cleared our minds of various attitudes, to think about this question of
the peace committee.
It was established yesterday that the Peace Committee as composed was not
desirable, that is from the Eastern point of view. It was neither desirable nor
had it any chance of success. We said that there was need to discuss but we did
not establish what and who should discuss and I think that actually would be
the starting point for today.
We talked very sketchily about relative positions of the various regions and we
projected a possibility of an understanding between the Southern Regions of
Nigeria. The last two questions on which we closed were, first, the Eastern
attitude to the North which I said was one where there could only be a meeting
on the battle field. The second question was the Eastern attitude towards
future association. Here again, I said that; the East does not intend to secede
but if pushed would not hesitate to take the challenge knowing full well that
the East is in position militarily and politically within itself to take this
decision and not be pushed or helped. I think on that really the meeting came
to a close and we thought that today we would go on.
I talked a great deal yesterday and did lot of thinking too. I think it would
only be fair if I again leave the floor open for your respected delegates to
put up suggestions for this Peace Committee.
Chief Awolowo: Thank you very much; I have two or three submissions to make.
First, of all, I think that there is no doubt that the Regions south of the
country have always been working together and have shared common ideals by and
large, and that the only thing that has bedeviled Southern Solidarity in the
past was individual ambition. But individually we can bring that solidarity
about by working together in the same bodies and meetings. How do we bring
about the solidarity if the East and ourselves have no chance of meeting?
There is a good deal of suspicion right now, and we want to avoid it as much as
possible, that some of us are in conspiracy with you and you know that is not
true. I have been accused of talking to you on the telephone but I think the
last time I spoke to you on the telephone was in October last year, and this is
my first visit to the Region since my release in August last year. Not that one
is afraid of being accused falsely, but certainly I do not want to put myself
in a difficult position where I could not exert some influence to bring about a
final settlement to the present stalemate. That is why I want to avoid anything
that will make people suspect me of being in conspiracy. But here we have a
chance of meeting. Chief Mariere and I have not had chance of meeting since my
release. We met casually at Ado Ekiti when we went for the funeral of Lt. Col.
Fajuyi, but since this meeting we have talked together several times and this
morning we had preliminary discussions and exchanged views on what happened
yesterday and it surprised me that the areas of agreement between the West and
the Mid-West are very wide. What brought this about? It is the Peace Committee
meeting. If I did not attend the meeting of this Committee I would have been
accused of conspiracy, of being against either the North, the Mid-West or the
East. But this Peace Committee gives us a chance of meeting and talking
together. I have no doubt that if your delegates come to the meeting, after the
meeting, it does not matter who were at the meeting, we can then say, 'what
about meeting at such and such a place tomorrow morning' and then sit down and
see how we can bring about Southern solidarity.
I said to Chief Mariere and Professor Aluko last night that if we can afford to
go to this meeting and say this is what we want for a new Nigeria whether
temporarily or permanently, and the North says 'no, we are not going to have
it', I will go out and address a World Press Conference and send our case to
that body and say this is what we have done and the North has turned it down. I
will then take any step that is necessary to bring into effect what we want.
But certainly this cannot be done if only the Mid-West and West and Lagos are
represented at that meeting. It will be plain case of conspiracy.
Not that I take some of these newspaper comments seriously, but a lot of things
are written in the 'Post' which is a Government sponsored paper. When I said
that I have not been to the East they said; 'What about Professor Aluko, what
about a school teacher who goes regularly to represent you?' These are the sort
of things said but the thing is that we want to have a chance of meeting and we
want you to give us that facility. We want you to allow the East to make its
own case before that body.
6-You said yesterday, that nobody, is being sponsored by the Americans and the
British. I do not trust that. If I have something to do in this country today.
I will take Nigeria out of the Commonwealth within 40 hours, I do not want to
go to reasons now. I will have nothing to do with the British. They are full of
prejudices and they have not learned from history, and having nothing to teach
anybody I recently refused to talk to the British High Commissioner. You have
the patience to talk to them. The other day he sent a message through that he
wanted to come and see me and I told him that there was no chance because we
have no common interests. As for the Americans we know that wherever they sink
their dollars their interests lie. They have no principle in their activities.
But let them be behind convening this meeting. They did that with Alhaji Tafawa
Balewa before; where is he now? They did also with Chief Akintola; where is he
now?
I have no doubt that truth will prevail no matter what you do, the side of
truth will be equally vigilant. Once that is the case, one shall never lose. IF
YOU ARE ON THE SIDE OF TRUTH AND YOU ARE CARELESS AND UNINTELLIGENT OR LAZY,
THEN YOU LOOSE BY DEFAULT. (capital emphasis mine). So that is my first appeal.
I have no doubt that you believe in Southern solidarity, but we cannot bring it
about if the East cannot associate with the West. So, forget about Sir
Adetokunbo Ademola and other members of the Committee; we dislike them more
than you do, but the thing is that this meeting will provide a forum for regular
contact between your people and our people.
The second observation I want to make is this. I notice that you feel very
strongly about the presence of Sir Adetokunbo in that meeting. I think we all
appreciate your position. We certainly will take that back but from what I
noticed of him in that meeting I am inclined to think that if we get back and
say, ' You are not wanted in this meeting', he will fade out especially if we
say. 'Here are Eastern delegates, and here we are from the West and Mid-West
and we think that you should fade away in this meeting. (We do not need to put
it in the paper that you are here) otherwise, we will not be able to go on with
this meeting', he will fade out.
If you also insist, that is the third point, that we should have this meeting
in Benin, it will only depend on how soon. If Sir Francis is one of your
delegates, he is welcome anywhere in this country: if it is Professor Njoku who
was member of the Ad Hoc Committee (because you made that point yesterday about
the delegates who were members of the Ad Hoc Committee); Professor Njoku is
welcome anywhere in this country. No harm will come to your delegates. But if
you insist that it should be in Benin, we will come to Benin. Yesterday Chief
Onyia suggested Asaba. I think that would be asking too much from the Northern
delegates. So, we want you to give us the chance of presenting the case of the
South in a concerted form to the North. I would not like to treat the North as
one for this purpose; there are certain elements in the North who want to
dominate not only the East, the West and the Mid-West but also certain sections
of the Northern Region. These are the people who constitute the enemies of
Nigeria and we really would like to give them a showdown. But this does not mean
military actions; we do not want any more coups, friction and so on. We want to
maintain the link among all the Regions. But if we present the case of the
South and they say, 'no, this does not suit us' very well it suits the South
and we take appropriate action.
His Excellency (Ojukwu); If I might come in there. There is persistence on this
and the impression is that if the South says this and the North says the
opposite, you know, we start feeling that then the crisis really starts.
Chief Awolowo; The Crisis is already on. What has not taken place so far is
that the North has not been in a position of being presented with the United
front of the South. The East has been speaking so far, the Mid-West has been
speaking, and the West has been speaking, but there is no concerted action
among us. If the North understands that the South is united, it would make a
lot of difference.
7-His Excellency (Ojukwu): This leads to the next point of observation that,
therefore, the only way for the South really to present that united front is
for the South to meet and hammer out that united front. It is a point which
must be cleared first before proceeding to make a statement of whatever it is.
That is why, to my mind at the present stage of the crisis the ideal thing for
the Southern people to meet in any platform and discuss and hammer out any
differences they might have. Then going further, it would then mean that to do
this the South must take the initiative, because the North will not allow the
South to meet; because if we wait for their permission, we wait forever. We
have to think of this crisis objectively, realise our vital interests and take
the bull by the horns. I see no reason indeed why the South should not come
together. We have been suggesting this for so long, that the Southern leaders
could meet at Asaba too. Once we do this, there is hope for the future.
There is a slight alternative; if we find it impossible because people are
going to label us conspirators, and I can understand the reason for the feeling,
then the alternative may be for the South in their groupings to say the same
thing. After all, the whole of the South has been consulted on the platform of
different units making their points and indeed, Sir, when you spoke and made
your statement, first your letter, then your statement, the report abroad was
that the East and the West were united. If the Mid-West considers that the
stand which the East and the West have taken is the stand which they ought to
take and say the same thing, then outside they will say that the South is
united. If this cannot be achieved, then perhaps the only alternative if for
the East to decide its own fate and perhaps to move out of the Federation for
the West, finding Northern protection intolerable, to equally move out of the
Federation, and for the Mid-West once again finding itself in the belly of the
North, to decide to eat out of it, and for us knowing our vital interests, to
meet and hammer out a form of association. Sometimes that appears rather
attractive because it starts on the basis of absolute equality and we meet and
freely put into the melting-pot things we think we can afford to put into it. I
find that quite interesting.
Finally, the question of venue, I notice how all talks about venue point to the
Mid-West. If there is a true feeling that there should be peace, after all
these people claim to have a sizable following in the East, in view of our won
suspicions an things making it difficult for all the people we would like to be
present at such meetings to beheld, since there are just a few who can in fact
be welcomed anywhere, then perhaps in their so called stronghold of the
minorities. We can hold meetings in Calabar, in Port Harcourt which they say is
Rivers; I am sure we hold a meeting in Ogoja which is quite near the North. So
there are places in the East where these meetings could indeed be held, but
talks of venue for meeting are exclusive of the East; I wonder why.
Chief Awolowo: It is also exclusive of the North. Could I put in a word here
now? I do appreciate the points you have made, especially the suggestion that
the South could take the bull by the horns, convene a meeting of its leaders
and work out its salvation. Well, I must say that a number of factors have been
overlooked in this regard. I would be quite willing to attend any meeting
convened by the leaders of the South in the South, but it must be realised that
WE IN THE WEST ARE IN VERY DIFFICULT POSITION AND THERE IS SUCH THING AS TACT
IN THIS TYPE OF MATTER. Last year when we went to the Ad Hoc Committee we, or
the West laboured under a lot of inhibitions and we had to move rather
cautiously because courage does not lie in someone lying on the road and having
all the traffic to run him over. At that time all the members of the body-guard
of the Military Governor were Northerners; there were over 36,000 soldiers in
the whole of the West, most of whom were Northerners, and all of them carried
arms. It was under such circumstances that we attended the meeting in Lagos. It
is natural that all these soldiers also have their fears occasionally, though
they are trained to be fearless. Our Governor was also under some inhibition.
At one stage during the course of the Conference I had to speak out against the
North because I felt that they thought that because they were in control they
could do just what they liked. But in spite of the fact that we laboured under
those inhibitions, we did summon up courage, and we did not know why the
meeting of the Ad Hoc Committee was postponed before the 17th. It was not
because the East was not coming but because I led a delegation to Lt. Col.
Gowon on the 7th and at that interview I made it clear on behalf of the West we
would not attend any further meetings of the Ad Hoc Committee. Then he said
between then and the 17th he would do something. Of course, he didn't and
decided to postpone the meeting indefinitely. Well, even now we run a lot of
risks by calling upon Northern soldiers to go. This morning I got a word from
Ibadan, form the Commanding Officers of the Battalion in Ibadan. We passed our
resolutions and Col. Adebayo did very well and gave us certain Yoruba Officers
with whom to go and deliver the petition to Lt. Col. Gowon. I did give him an
ultimatum up to the 15th of May to remove these Northern soldiers from the
West. Of course, he agreed to remove them by the 31st of May, but by the time
we returned to Ibadan Northern soldiers had taken up arms and wanted to kill
me, to kill Adebayo and all the others. Just now Adebayo does not sleep in his
house. Somebody told me that he has not been sleeping in his house. The
populace, of course, turned against the Northern Soldiers. They now want to
send away their wives and children before they themselves finally leave; I
understand they are waiting for transport. I dont know why Adebayo should issue
the release that soldiers should not be taunted. But this is the way we have
been doing our own quiet fighting. YOU ARE REMOTE FROM THE WEST; YOU ADVANTAGES
WHICH WE DO NOT POSSESS. WE CAN NOT RUSH WITHOUT RUSHING TO OUR DEATH AT THE
SAME TIME. WE ARE NOT COWARDS IN THE WEST; YOU HAVE TO MOVE CAUTIOUSLY, BECAUSE
IF WE DO NOT DO THAT YOU MIGHT NOT HAVE US ALIVE; you would only have monuments
all over the place.
8-And may I say in this connection of Southern solidarity. I am sorry to go
into what has happened in the past - in 1953 there was an understanding between
the banned NCNC, and the banned Action Group, we entered into an agreement,
which I hope would be used sometime, to the effect that if the North remained
intransigent we would declare a Southern Dominion. This was signed by myself
and Zik and I still stand by it. I don't think you need assurance from me that
we have a lot in common; but we prefer that you should send your delegates to
his meeting, so that we should, known to everyone, enter into negotiations
among ourselves and present a common front to the North. Then nobody can accuse
us of conspiracy or trying to divide the country into two parts. We want to
work for one Nigeria on certain basis which would be agreed to by all of us.
You did say that when I spoke people said that the East and West are united.
That is the manner of speaking. There are certain points which you hold dear on
which we do not agree but if we are able to have a dialogue, certainly there is
need for dialogue between the East and the West on the one hand, and between
the West and the Mid-West on the other, I think it will help us to have a
common basis. It is not enough for us to say that we don’t not like the North.
That is a negative approach. I think positive approach will be for us to meet.
Unity will last only if it is based on common understanding among us and the
basis will start with that meeting, then it would be faced with opposition and
then we shall go out and tell the whole world that this is where we stand. And
if it is misconstrued the we can hold our meeting initiated in the South. This
is the way I see it.
I want you to look at it from our point of view, If there were no Northern
soldiers in the West the position would be different. and even if by the time I
return home the Northern soldiers have gone I still do not want to be accused
of perfidy.
According to the Western Area Commander, Nigeria Army, they are now arranging
for transport and my attitude is that if they are anywhere in the West, I will
not attend any meeting anywhere even if their cap is left. So, we want you to
appreciate that point. As I said before, I want you to give me a chance of
meeting your people regularly and Sir Adetokunbo Ademola has provided the
forum. Let us resolve our differences and get what we want and quickly too
