ON MAX SIOLLUN BOOK
ON MAX SIOLLUN BOOK
By:
Nurudeen Dauda
12th July, 2021
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My Dear Mallam Yusuf Amoke,
To puncture some assertions made by Max Siollun in his book titled : Oil, Politics and Violence: Nigeria's Military Coup Culture (1966-1976) one needs to read alongside the followings:
(1) Ahmadu Bello Sardauna of Sokoto : values and leadership in Nigeria written by Professor Emeritus, John N. Paden. He served as Director of African Studies at Northwestern University, Professor of Public Administration at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, and Dean, Faculty of Social and Management Sciences, at Bayero University, Kano.
(2) Let truth be told, the coups d' Etat of 1966 written by D.J.M Muffet a British who served as a colonial officer in Northern Nigeria. David Joseph Mead Muffet was a Northern Nigerian administrator. A former District Officer(DO) in Northern Nigeria, the last sole commissioner to serve in Northern Nigeria and former Resident of Sardauna Province.
(3) The Victors and the Vanquished of the Nigerian Civil War 1967-1970: Triumph of Truth and Valour over Greed and Ambition written by an insider His Excellency; late CP. Usman Faruk, CON; Commissioner of Police (rtd); the former Governor of North -Western State now comprises of Sokoto, Kebbi, Zamfara and Niger states.
(4) Why they Struck written by M.A. Mainasara as a reaction to a book called Why we Struck written by Major Adewale Ademoyega the only surviving member of Five Majors and
(5) A Profile in Courage written by Paul C. Tarfa a retired Major General, a former military Governor of Oyo State and a former Commandant Nigerian Defence Academy.
However, In my observation, part of the reason for the perennial agitation for Biafra is a product of one-sided account of both the remote and immediate causes of Nigerian Civil War currently in circulation. Nigerian youth are leaving in danger of one-sided “story”about the Nigerian Civil War and the activities that led to it. Almost about ninety eight percent of the books written on the issues were written by Igbos or Biafan sympathizers! It is an open secret that most of the books were written in order to show how injustice was perpetrated against a particular set of people which was totally untrue.
I essentially blame those who fought from the Nigerian side. In my view , soldiers who fought from the Nigerian side did not do well enough in terms of writing their own accounts of the events. As far I know, those who fought for Nigerian side did not write enough books about the Civil War and activities before it, except of course, very few among them.
There were a lot of hyperboles in most of the books written to favour one interest or the other. We need a balance account of the war not the one-sided account presently in circulation. We need a balance account which will promote reconciliation, integration, and unity, but not the ones currently in circulation.
I am afraid that , In the next fifty years when most Nigerians from the generation of those who are insiders on all the issues are gone we will be left with a lot of distorted facts. This a challenge to the actors who fought from the Nigerian side and still alive to put up enough books on their own side of the story for posterity to judge.
May God bless Nigeria!