by Agbonmagbe Kazeem
What If I Told You Biafra Was Never About Biafra? The Cold War Plot Behind 1967
What If I Tell You The Nigerian Civil War Had Nothing To Do With Unity?
Forget everything they taught us in history class.
The Nigerian Civil War was never about keeping Nigeria one. That was the slogan they sold to the masses. The real war was a global chess game. And the pawn they sacrificed was Obafemi Awolowo.
In the 1950s, Chief Obafemi Awolowo made a dangerous choice. While the rest of the emerging African elite were lining up to be loyal boys for London and Washington, Awolowo chose Democratic Socialism.
He openly rejected unbridled Capitalism. He said Nigeria’s wealth must serve Nigerians.
And to make it work, he did the unthinkable. He broke the monopoly.
Awolowo courted the friendship of Russia, East Germany, and China. Not because he was a communist, but because he understood geopolitics. He wanted to counterbalance the stranglehold of America, Britain, and NATO on our new nation. He wanted options. He wanted true independence.
That was his sin.
Nigeria got flag independence in 1960, but we did not get real independence. Until 1963, we were still under British control. The Queen was still our head of state. And within those three years, Britain did something extraordinary.
They had to stop Awolowo by all means.
On trumped-up charges of treasonable felony, they handcuffed the most brilliant leader in the country and threw him in prison. The trial was a show. The goal was clear: remove the socialist threat.
But when they jail Awolowo, they don’t just jail a man. They set a nation on fire.
That single action created a chain of events that led directly to where we are today.
With Awolowo in prison, the Western Region was thrown into chaos. The AG crisis. Operation Wet-e. The wild-wild-west riots in Yorubaland. The political vacuum made the entire First Republic ungovernable.
That ungovernability led directly to the January 15, 1966 coup. Which led to the counter-coup in July. Which led to the pogroms. Which led to the Araba versus Biafra power dance. And finally, the war.
It was a domino effect. And Britain pushed the first domino.
Here is the ultimate proof of imperial hypocrisy: The same Britain that conspired to put Awolowo in prison in 1963 came crawling back in 1966 to bring him out of prison.
Why? Because they needed him to help win the Civil War they had caused.
Gowon needed Awolowo’s intellect, his financial genius, and his Yoruba support base to prosecute the war against Biafra and to keep Nigeria in the Capitalist bloc. The socialist had to be used to defeat the secession and secure the oil for Britain and Shell-BP.
If you have studied imperialism and geopolitics around the world, this is just the pattern. This is how empires work. From Congo with Lumumba, to Ghana with Nkrumah, to Chile with Allende. First, criminalize the socialist leader. Then, create chaos. Then, intervene to “save” the country.
Even Professor Jeffrey Sachs has confirmed this pattern of Western sabotage of any African leader who dared to seek an alternative to Western capitalism.
So let me sum it up for you straight:
Who caused the Nigerian Civil War? Britain!
Who is blamed for it till today? Awolowo!
What caused it? His choice of Socialism!
What wins today and is celebrated? Capitalism!
We were told the war was fought to keep Nigeria one. No. The war was fought to keep Nigeria inside the British-American capitalist empire. Unity was just the beautiful lie they used to make us kill ourselves.
“THE HISTORIAN”
