Benjamin Adekunle's War Memoir:
A Script of Blood, Rebirth Still Deferred...
By Louis Achi
Leaning on his lesser known talent as a 'historian', coupled with his trademark insight (and participation) in some of the key tragedies that have shaped modern Nigeria, the country's former military supremo, General Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida identified ethnic nationalism as the major cause of Nigeria's 1967-70 fratricidal civil war. He did not concede that this primordial chemistry was at the heart of his 'ouster' from power in 1993.
As it were, the ethno-nationalistic explosion that was the Nigeria-Biafra civil war - woven around the Western crisis (Awolowo-Akintola political schism); January 1966 coup; July 1966 counter-coup; anti-Igbo pogrom in the North; and finally, the Biafran revolt - tell a poignant story of survivalist human response in the face of perceived threats to group identity and symbols of cultural/political faith. At another level, it represents an effort at rebirth, a national renewal forged in the furnace of crisis, a common discernible feature in the evolution of modern states.
Has this been the case for Nigeria? Has this tragic script of blood, enacted almost four decades ago, theoretically targeted at provoking change and renewal, met its dream? What is the state of this national rebirth, if any? In THISDAY's succinct cover choice, Brigadier Benjamin Adekunle (a.k.a Black Scorpion, one of the foremost military strategists and a critical spearhead of the federal offensive against Biafra, in the first volume of his maiden opus, "The Nigerian-Biafran War Letters: A Soldier's Story," shares a theatre ring-side view of what transpired during the war proper.
In this historically important tome (excerpted here), compiled/edited by Abiodun Adekunle, the Black Scorpion's son, an illuminating montage, assemblage of war-time correspondences by Brigadier Adekunle, the consummate field commander, to General Yakubu Gowon, the then head of state and Adekunle's superior's in the Nigeria Army high command emerges. It fills a crucial historical niche in the plethora of accounts of the war years put out by a disparate cast of actors.
"A Soldier's Story," contains hitherto hidden truths; controversial facts. Notes the book's editor/compiler Adekunle jnr., in his introduction: "General Obasanjo made many claims about his brief tour of duty at the tail end of the war as Commander of Third Marines. It is a historical fact that by the time he took over the division in mid 1969, all the major campaign of the war had already been waged...
"It is legitimate to ask what role may be fairly attributed to my father in bringing the war to its conclusion. Nigerians and more particularly the Yorubas, have perhaps been fortunate that Obasanjo has always been available to fill the roles of other fallen comrades, such as my father after his loss of command, Murtala Mohammed after his assassination and again MKO Abiola, after his premature death. Over the length of his career, from the very start until the present, General Obasanjo seems to have displayed an uncanny ability of reaping where others have toiled."
No less a child of providence, the 'Black Scorpion', born June 26, 1936, in Kaduna, was fifth in the line of six children by Amina Theodora to a polygamous husband, Thomas Adekunle from Ogbomoso in current South West's Osun State. His family legend has it that he was born after clocking the eleventh month in his mother's womb. Though stout Christian's, in the subsisting environment of fetishism this event became meat for crystal ball gazers who foretold much for the infant. Incidentally, they were not off the mark by much as later events revealed.
Adekunle's life trajectory started immediately he was done with his school certificate examination. "The idea of beginning 'life' at once, without the suspense and irritating interlude of university strongly appealed to me, a young man without the luxurious backdrop of a solicitous family...I departed for Lagos after my final examination and found my way to Apapa cantonment (Lagos)."
After scaling the often punishing preliminary admittance hurdles into the army, he, with other lucky peers were hauled off to the Regular Training School, Teshie in Ghana. "As I stepped over the portals of Teshie, I felt that my military career had truly begun. We spent six months at this institution and it was pure unadulterated hell. I, who had hitherto pride myself on my toughness, resilience and ability to manage any condition life cared to throw at me, found myself to be thoroughly challenged mentally and physically to maintain my chosen course. The objective of the Teshie training was to produce leaders. Leadership was conceived in two dimensions: leadership as a personal quality and leadership as an organisational function."
After Teshie followed military training in Britain's Sandhurst Royal Military Academy, Mons Officer Cadet School, Warminster School of Infantry, et al. His first commission was at the Queen's Own Nigerian Regiment based in Enugu. He was appointed Platoon Commander of 'C' Company under the command of (then Major Ogundipe). From here on, there was no looking back.
Lt. Col. W.R.B Allen, his one time company commander once commented on Adekunle whose hero was Napoleon Bournaparte: "He is always too sure that h is right and has a somewhat aggressive attitude." For Robert Browne-Clayton, his best friend and roommate at Sandhurst, "He was very much a lone wolf...He was particularly forthright about a united Nigeria. He boasted about what he would achieve in Nigeria and always said he would get to the top in the Nigerian army."
The rest is now history. His war letters paint a gripping insider picture of the progress and prosecution of the war and provide other insights that would benefit scholars and war historians. But at the end of the day, has Adekunle's idealism been rewarded? Does the extant national reality exalt or diminish the substance of his sacrifice and those of his compatriots who fought on opposite divides? These are legitimate posers. More so because they form pivots on which the future of the polity must turn.
The 'Black Scorpion's' son captures the core of this dilemma at a part of his introduction: "To chart a course towards a stable and productive future, it is imperative that we, as a nation and a people, fully come to terms with our past. This is my modest contribution to the promotion of dialogue, understanding, reconciliation and peace amongst my deeply divided compatriots for whom a fierce civil war failed to resolve fundamental sources of division."
Willy-nilly, this "fundamental sources of division" must be resolved. This rebirth is Nigeria's most important challenge and not a few believe it should represent the priority of current and future governments...
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