“Chinua Achebe has Awophobia” – Adebanjo

As controversies continue to trial his yet-to-be-released book titled “There was a country; a civil war memoirs authored by ace writer Chinua Achebe, more Yoruba leaders have condemned the literary work where the author alleged that Chief Obafemi Awolowo was the initiator of the war against the Igbos. Joining the long list of those berating Achebe, a leader of the Yoruba socio-cultural group, Afenifere, Chief Ayo Adebanjo said that for Achebe’s memoirs to be coming out after 42 years of the war, shows “Achebe’s pathological hatred for Awolowo and the Yoruba race.” He asserted that the author of the famous “Things Fall Apart” needed to be cured of his Awophobia. Adebanjo in a statement issued on Tuesday said: “At the risk of his life, and against the advice of his cabinet colleagues, Chief Awolowo made contact with
Ojukwu and met him in Enugu to dissuade him from going to war. In his one-on-one meeting with Ojukwu, Chief Awolowo tried to persuade Ojukwu to come to a round table conference with the Federal Government to iron out his differences with the government. “Fair minded persons cannot accuse Awolowo of being part of the intellectual arm of a cabinet that intentionally initiated the pogrom of the Igbo, when in fact the record shows he took positive steps to persuade Ojukwu to avoid the conflict.” According to Adebanjo the late Awolowo prior to his demise visited Enugu prison during the war, he was surprised to see people suffering even when adequate quantity of food were sent through international agencies to the civilians in the areas. He added, “This is what Achebe mischievously called the deliberate starvation of the Igbo. I would like Prof. Achebe, if he can; to make reference to any publication where Awolowo made the statement that starvation was a legitimate tool of war. “One would have thought the charge of genocide should have been better directed at the leaders of Biafra who had first hand knowledge of the starvation in the area they controlled, yet did nothing to bring an end to the war sooner before two million people, mainly members of future generations died of starvation as Prof Achebe claimed.” The frontline Yoruba leader added that had to stop Biafran soldiers who were looting Nigerian currency from Central Bank locations in Biafra occupied areas and were using them to purchase arms, Awolowo, as the Federal Commissioner for Finance had to wade in.