A former Principal General Staff Officer (PGSO) of the Nigerian Army and Chief of Staff of 3 Marine Commando Division (3MCDO) during the 1967-70 Nigeria-Biafra war, Brigadier-General Godwin Alabi-Isama, is a reporter’s delight anytime. He canvasses his views with passion and emotion, not minding whose ox is gored. He was at his best, literally shooting from the hips, during a visit to the corporate headquarters of Vanguard in Apapa, Lagos. In a two-hour chat with Vanguard’s senior editors on his book, ‘The Tragedy of Victory, On-the-spot Account of the Nigeria-Biafra War in the Atlantic Theatre,’ the civil war hero made startling comments that are bound to raise dust and generate controversy in the polity. For instance, he said the Northern and Eastern Nigeria have jointly been ruling the country since independence in 1960 and Nigeria has not known peace; there was no pogrom against the Igbo during the war; Biafra would not have lost the war if her military leaders had been tactically disciplined and prosecuted the war professionally; and that Nigeria neglects her heroes and heroines.
