Why Did Nyerere Support Biafra?

[jyfranca]

Hah hah, Nyerere mungu mtu hafai kukosolewa kila kitu alichofanya kilikuwa sahihi. Ndo maana Tanzania ikawa tajiri sana enzi zake!

 

[Jasusi]

Hah hah, Nyerere mungu mtu hafai kukosolewa kila kitu alichofanya kilikuwa sahihi. Ndo maana Tanzania ikawa tajiri sana enzi zake!

Stick to the topic. Jibu hoja kwa hoja si kuingiza mambo ya umungu mtu.

 

[jyfranca]

Stick to the topic. Jibu hoja kwa hoja si kuingiza mambo ya umungu mtu.

Kwa kuwa Nyerere ni mnafiki wa kisiasa, anachotaka yeye kizuri, yeye kama nani kuingilia siasa za ndani za nchi, mbona alikuwa dikteta na Kenya hawakuja kumtoa?

 

[Nyaturu]

A lot of the conflicts we have had in Africa since independence have to do with centralisation of power. Many ethnic groups are ignored and suffer discrimination because power is in the hands of only a few people who come from only a few ethnic groups or from some of the most powerful. And they perpetuate themselves in office.

Decentralisation, including devolution of power to the regions or provinces, is one of the options which should be considered as a solution to the problem.

Let the people determine their own affairs, in their own areas, instead of being dictated to, from the centre, where they are not even represented. Not only are they marginalised; they are ignored by the leaders most of the time.

I don't know if secessesion of the Eastern Region could have been avoided had Nigeria been a confederation in which its citizens had the freedom to live anywhere they wanted to live in the union. But a confederation could at least have provided the option for its constituent parts to secede. This would have enabled Eastern Nigeria to seek self-determination without being forced to remain in the union. And millions of lives would have been saved.

In recognising Biafra, Nyerere had the vision and foresight to realise that secession can not be precluded in all cases. And he has been vindicated by history. More than 40 years after the Nigerian civil war which led to the secession of Eastern Nigeria, we have another secession, of Southern Sudan, almost for the same reasons which led to the secession of Biafra: rejection of Southern Sudanese by Northerners, massacres (of Southern Sudanese in the south by Northern troops and their henchmen), and a civil war - that has ravaged the country since 1955, before independence - in which milllions of people, mostly South Sudanese, have died.

 

[Wacha1]

Asiyejua maana haambiwi maana.

 

[Nyaturu]

Hakuna unafiki wowote wa Nyerere na nchi yetu kuitambua Biafra. Karibu nyote mnaosema lilikuwa ni kosa kuitambua Biafra mngekuwa wa kwanza kujitenga ikiwa watu wa kabila lenu walikuwa wanachinjwa na Watanzania wengine bila serikali yetu kufanya chochote kuwasaidia na kukomesha mauaji hayo.

 

[Madela Wa- Madilu]

Nyerere hakuwachagulia Waganda kiongozi wao. Uingereza na Israel walishirikiana kumweka Idi Amin mamlakani. Hao ndio unapaswa kuwashapulia na kumwacha Nyerere. Obote alipinduliwa kwa njama za hizo nchi mbili kubwa na Tanzania tukabaki na mzigo wa kumtunza Obote na Waganda waliokimbia upanga wa Idi Amin. Hapo sijaona unafiki wa Nyerere. Nyerere alikuwa predictable and principled.

Kuhubiri Siasa ya Ujamaa kwa nguvu sana,Hamisha watu kutoka maeneo yao ya asili yenye rutba, kisha Kutaifisha vyama vya ushirika vyama vilivyokua nguzo kuu ya uchumi kwa wananchi??

Hivi ushirika wa wananchi ni kinyume cha ujamaa??

Baada ya maisha ya watu kuwa taabani eti ndo anarudisha vyama vya ushirika vyenye mkono wa serikali ndani.

Wote tulinyweshwa maji ya bendera ya kijani bila kupenda tukalewa, lakini wengine tulipozinduka tulijitapisha na kunywa maji safi.

Mtu aonaye ushirika ni kinyume cha ujamaa ni predictable??

 

[TIMING]

Haka ka-thread kapo tu.. Sijui kwanini

 

[Jasusi]

Kwa kuwa Nyerere ni mnafiki wa kisiasa, anachotaka yeye kizuri, yeye kama nani kuingilia siasa za ndani za nchi, mbona alikuwa dikteta na Kenya hawakuja kumtoa?[/QUOTE

Have you ever played chess with a 3 year old?

 

[Shwari]

....Nyerere..., yeye kama nani kuingilia siasa za ndani za nchi...?

Ukiwa una mawazo hayo, kwamba kuitambua Biafra tuliingilia mambo ya nchi nyingine ambayo hayatuhusu, labda uliamini pia kwamba lilikuwa ni kosa kuwasaidia watu weusi na wengine walipokuwa wanakandamizwa na Makaburu kule Afrika Kusini kwa sababu tatizo hilo lilikuwa katika nchi hiyo.

Nyerere alizungumzia suala hilo, kwa ujumla, aliposema: When an entire group of people is targeted for discrimination, the problem ceases to be a matter of internal affairs. It becomes a matter of concern for all mankind.

The principle applied to Nigeria as well.

 

[Zakumi]

Ukiwa una mawazo hayo, kwamba kuitambua Biafra tuliingilia mambo ya nchi nyingine ambayo hayatuhusu, labda uliamini pia kwamba lilikuwa ni kosa kuwasaidia watu weusi na wengine walipokuwa wanakandamizwa na Makaburu kule Afrika Kusini kwa sababu tatizo hilo lilikuwa katika nchi hiyo.

Nyerere alizungumzia suala hilo, kwa ujumla, aliposema: When an entire group of people is targeted for discrimination, the problem ceases to be a matter of internal affairs. It becomes a matter of concern for all mankind.

The principle applied to Nigeria as well.

Swari:

Unatoa vipande vizuri vya kihistoria lakini conclusions zako sometimes fall very short. Nigeria ina matatizo yake. Na matatizo mengi yanahusiana na imbalance aliyoacha mkoloni. Lakini katika matatizo hayo wamejaribu nao kuyafanyia kazi. Hata wale viongozi corrupt wa kijeshi nao walijaribu kuweka makers zao.

Kwa mfano wakati wa boom la mafuta miaka ya 70, serikali za kijeshi zilipeka sana waNigeria kusoma nje ya nchi. Hivyo kuna jamii za waNigeria duniani kote.

Vilevile walijenga mji mkuu katikati ya nchi. Mgawanyo wa kidini katikati ya Nigeria hupo nusunusu.

Vilevile Nigerians wote ni watu mobile kuliko watu wa mataifa mengine Africa au duniani. Waibo wapo kwa wingi kaskazini kuliko miaka ya 60. Na watu wa Kaskasini ni merchants and traders wazuri sana. Sasa hivi kuna watu wa Kaskazini wanaofanya biashara kusini.

Vilevile wameongeza idadi ya majimbo. Sasa hivi kuna majimbo zaidi ya 37 ambayo yana uwezo wa kutunga sheria na kuchagua viongozi wa majimbo.

Vilevile wanazo timu za taifa kama za soccer zenye mafanikio kimataifa ambazo zimekuwa ni kiungo kikubwa cha utaifa wao.

Mpaka sasa waNigeria wengi wanakubali identity ya utaifa wao. Wamebadilisha katiba mara nyingi. Wameachana na mfumo mzima wa utawala alioacha mwingereza na ku-model ule wa Marekani.

Wamekuwa na utawala wa kiraia kwa zaidi ya miaka 10 sasa. Katika kipindi hiki wamefanya uchaguzi mara tatu. Na vilevile wamefanya transition baada ya rais kufa akiwa madarakani. Hivyo basi wakifanikiwa kwenye uchaguzi unaokuja na kuendelea na utawala wa kiraia kwa miaka mingine 10, watakuwa tayari kwenye njia tofauti na mataifa mengine.

Bado wanayo matatizo makubwa. Lakini kuwafananisha Nigeria na Sudan ni kutowatendea haki waNigeria. Sudan siku zote imetumia brutal force na haijafanya juhudi ku-decentralize madaraka.

 

[Mzee Mwanakijiji]

Kwanini taifa moja linatambua jamii fulani ya watu kuwa ni taifa?

 

[Pascal Mayalla]

Kwanini taifa moja linatambua jamii fulani ya watu kuwa ni taifa?

Mzee Mwanakijiji, kilichofanyika Biafra ndicho kinachofanyika Sudan mwezi Januari, na hata kwetu kingeweza kufanyika Pemba. Kwa nini watu wa eneo fulani wawe persecuted na serikali yao.

Licha ya US kumshambulia Saddam kwa kisingizio cha WMD, lakini brutality ya Saddam kwa Wa Kurdi ilifahamika wazi. Ndicho pia kilichotokea kwa Yugoslavia na kuundwa kwa taifa la Bosniakwamba kama , na vivyo ndivyo lilivyozaliwa taifa la Chechnia.

Support ya Nyerere kwa Biafra ili kuwa purely humanitarian grounds.Kama kikundi fulani cha watu, kinanyanyasika ndani ya nchi yao, na jumuiya ya kimataifa hauwezi kusaidia lolote kwa kisingizio cha kutoingilia mambo ya ndani, na hatimaye wakaamua kujitangazia uhuru wake, support ya kiklundi kama hicho ni justified.

Hii doctrine ya kutongilia mambo ya ndani, ni internationa hypocricy ayt its best na Tanzania pia tunajikuta tunaplay the same games, kwani tul.ienda kufanya nini Comoro?.

 

[WildCard]

Sisi wengine tungekuwa "MARAIS" tungeshaitambua ZANZIBAR kama NCHI na kupeleka BALOZI pale. Mabadiliko yale ya KATIBA ya Zanzibar ndivyo yanavyoashiria baada ya JK wetu kushindwa kuilinda na kuitetea KATIBA ya JMT kama alivyoapa. Nimemsikia Maalim SEIF juzi akisema hakuna Rais wa Serikali ya Mapinduzi bali yupo Rais wa Zanzibar.

 

[Shwari]

Zakumi,

You have quoted me out of context.

Nilikuwa nafafanua - I was expounding a principle enunciated by Nyerere with regard to non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries even when entire groups of people are targeted for discrimination and even extermination. Ndiyo maana nimesema tulikuwa na haki kuingilia Nigeria kama vile tulivyokuwa na haki kuingilia South Africa. Nimezungumzia South Africa na Nigeria, siyo Sudan, where you have quoted me, ingawa South Sudan also has the right to secede.

Also, my analysis focuses on the conditions which prevailed in Nigeria when Biafra seceded, forcing Easterners to secede, not on Nigeria in contemporary times, in order to help answer the question: Why did Nyerere support Biafra?

 

[Shwari]

Ni kweli Nyerere aliitambua Biafra for humanitarian reasons. Kuna watu ambao wamejaribu kutumia udini kupotosha ukweli, wakisema kwamba Nyerere alifanya hivyo kwa sababu Waibo walikuwa ni Wakatoliki kama yeye. Kuna Waislamu nchini Tanzania waliokubaliana naye alipoitambua Biafra. Kuna hata Waislamu nje ya Tanzania waliosema kwamba nchi yetu iliitambua Biafra for humanitarian reasons. Raisi Habib Bourguiba, Tunisia, ni mmoja wa viongozi waliosema hivyo. He issued a statement in May 1968 stating that recognition of Biafra by Tanzania and other countries was a "protest against massacre." - (Africa Contemporary Record, 1969, p. 114).

Kuna wengine, ambao siyo Wakristo, waliosema kwamba Ukrisito au Ukatoliki wa Nyerere haukuhusika na uamuzi wake kuitambua Biafra au kwenda vitani na Idi Amin ambaye alikuwa ni Mwislamu. Nyerere's high moral integrity and ethical standards were also a factor katika uamuzi wake. Huu ni mfano mwingine wa mtu ambaye siyo Mkristo aliye elewa kwa nini Nyerere aliitambua Biafra:

"Has Nyerere's political behaviour sometimes reflected his upbringing as a Roman Catholic?

One school of thought explains his recognition of the secessionist Biafra in 1968 as a form of solidarity with fellow Catholics against a Federal Nigeria, which would have been dominated by Muslims. This was in the middle of the Nigerian civil war. The Igbo of Biafra were overwhelmingly Roman Catholic. It seems much more likely that Nyerere recognized Biafra for humanitarian reasons.

What about the assertion that Nyerere's military intervention in Uganda in 1979 was motivated by a sectarian calculation to defend a mainly Christian Uganda from the Muslim dictator, Idi Amin? In reality, Nyerere might once again have been more motivated by a wider sense of humanitarianism and universal ethics. He was also defending Tanzania from Idi Amin's territorial appetites....

Nyerere as president was a combination of deep intellect and high integrity...(and) was in a class by himself in the combination of ethical standards and intellectual power. In the combination of high thinking and high ethics, no other East African politician was in the same league." - (Ali A. Mazrui, in his tribute to Nyerere, "Mwalimu's Rise to Power," at Cornell University, USA; also published in the Daily Nation, Nairobi, Kenya, 17 October, 1999).

 

[Jasusi]

Pasco,
Ile doctrine ya non-interference katika internal affairs ya nchi nyingine ilishapitwa na wakati. Hata AU wameshaitupilia mbali.

 

[JokaKuu]

The Boss,

Mjadala wa Biafra huu hapa.