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Benjamin Adekunle Black Scorpion! A man who always provokes intense debate when the Nigerian Civil war is talked about.Here was a man who allegedly boasted to “kill
everything that moves” in “Iboland”.To the Igbos he was a Satan Demonic man.The story is that Benjamin Adekunle ordered the killings of innocent men and women,oh children as well..all Igbos of cos and during the war.An infamous line of the Black Scorpion Adekunle to a foreign journalist were "I want to avoid feeding a single Ibo as long as this whole people have not given up yet."
Here are some excerpts from the interview Benjamin Adekunle had with the jourmnalist,Randolph Baumann of Stern Magazine in Igweocha (published on August 18, 1968)-
ADEKUNLE: In the section of the front that I rule—and that is the whole south front from Lagos to the border of Kamerun—I do not want to see the Red Cross, Caritas Aid, World Church delegation, Pope, Missionary, or UN delegation.
STERN: Does that mean that the many thousands of tons of food that are stored in Lagos will never get to the refugee camps in your section of the country?
ADEKUNLE: You are a sharp one, my friend. That’s exactly what I am saying.
STERN: But you said yourself that most of the refugees in the part you captured are not Ibos.
ADEKUNLE: But there could be Ibos among them. I want to avoid feeding a single Ibo as long as this whole people have not given up yet.
STERN: Do you sometimes feel sympathy for the Ibos?
ADEKUNLE: I have learned a word from the British, which is “sorry”! That’s how I want to respond to your question. I did not want this war but I want to win this war. Therefore I have to kill the Ibos. Sorry! The End.
Reading this,it is understandable why the Igbos have so much hatred for Benjamin Adekunle ,The Black Scorpion.
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So imagine my surprise when reading this article by an Igbo journalist,Ochereome Nnanna in the Vanguard Newspaper, and he narrates how Benjamin Adekunle called him up out of the blue speaking to him in perfect Igbo without an accent! Made me wonder if Adekunle hated the Igbo's so much,why would he wanna speak their language in such a way,when he could have easily spoken in English ?A guilty man or a MISUNDERSTOOD MAN?Adekunle was the most popular Nigerian soldier during the Nigerian civil war,he was so powerful and the mythical stories of the war further enhanced that reputation.Adekunle's time in the Nigerian Army was cut very short,he was forced to retire in 1974,barely 3 and half years or so after the end of the war of which he played the biggest part in Nigeria winning.His thoughts on the way he left the army was that his reputation played a big part.There was always a rumour that he was planning a coup.No one felt safe with Adekunle lurking in the back ground.He might wake up one morning pissed off and decide to kill the officers in government and take over! So the sensible thing to do was force him to retire.Some believe the nature of the scandal which forced him to go was cooked up.I think so as well,i can't imagine a man who so much was a soldier could do what he was said to have done...He was implicated in an international drug smuggling operation.
Brigadier Benjamin Adekunle died on the13th September 2014 (aged 78) in Lagos,Nigeria.There was no National honours bestowed upon him in form of a state burial.Goodluck Jonathan ,the President of Nigeria payed him a glowing tribute which some Igbos were not happy about and some even said they were betrayed by Goodluck Jonathan,and this convinces them that Jonathan was never a true Igbo supporter .How can he say such nice things about a man who masterminded genocide of Igbos in Nigeria during the civil war?
Personally i feel there should have been a proper inquest into the Nigerian Civil war,so we can all have a closure.The Igbos deserve to know what really happened to all those who died of starvation and why.It would have also been nice and important for Benjamin Adekunle to explain his part of the war.Adekunle was an enemy of Olusegun Obasanjo till the end.He felt Obasanjo came at the last minute and took the glory of all what he fought for during the war.It could not have been easy for Adekunle to watch Obasanjo go on to becom the Head of State and later President of Nigeria ,while Adekunle wallowed in a not so comfortable existence.As a kid i heard a lot of Adekunle,his house in Surulere was a stone throw to ours and Fela's wife,Femi's mother Remilekun,was right in the middle of Adekunle's house and ours. It was good nostalgic times,I don't remember ever seeing Adekunle,as he was a recluse,you only saw that bunglalow always in immaculate condition,with no one dare stepping into the compound.
The Nigerian civil war has come and gone and sadly today,it all seems like a wasted effort,Nigeria would have been better going our separate ways then,what they all fought for is a shadow of its former self.And all those dead men who laid foundations and fought the war,Ojukwu included would turn in their graves if they see what has become of Nigeria.Are we really one?
Borrowing a quote from Ochereome Nnanna.the journalist Adekunle called up and spoke perfect Igbo to,here is what he said about his thoughts on Adekunle addressing him in Igbo...And I am wondering: if Benjamin Adekunle hated Igbos so much that he was ready to kill everything that moved during the war, why did he so gleefully go out of his way to impress me with his excellent mastery of the Igbo language, even when he did not know me personally? Why did he call me ezigbo nwanne m (my dear brother)? Perhaps, the devil is not as black as he is painted? Or perhaps, for Adekunle, bygones were bygones? Or normal hypocrisy?
So, if Adekunle was willing to call me a brother in spite of everything, where does that leave those of you killing one another over the social media?Most of you are the youth of this country. Is this how you are going to live in Nigeria after the Ojukwus, Gowons, Obasanjos, Murtalas, Danjumas, Joe Achuzias, Alex Madiebos and the other protagonists of the war, are phased out?
Well,there's not much more i can add to that,i hope the next generation will be singing a better song for Nigeria in the next 40 years...if there is still a Nigeria...somehow i think there will be..we are a resilient bunch after all.
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