THE MISSION THAT COULD HAVE ENDED THE WAR IN 1967

THE MISSION THAT COULD HAVE ENDED THE WAR IN 1967

THE MISSION THAT COULD HAVE ENDED THE WAR IN 1967

Let’s talk about one of the boldest, most consequential military gambles of the Nigeria-Biafra Civil War. A mission that came within 300 kilometers of Lagos. A mission that could have changed the entire outcome of the war, and possibly the fate of Biafra itself.

General Ojukwu had a plan. While the Nigerian government invaded Biafra from two flanks, its own backyard sat exposed and undefended. We are watching a version of this same pattern today. Nigerian soldiers flood the East to harass Biafrans at checkpoints, while Boko Haram and other terr0rists overrun their own villages back home.

But in 1967, Ojukwu saw the opening. He handed the mission to invade Lagos to Colonel Victor Banjo, a Yoruba soldier fighting on the Biafran side.

Banjo did not disappoint at first. His troops captured Benin City in under 24 hours, a stunning tactical feat that shocked both sides of the war. From there, his forces pushed on, closing in on Lagos. At the Battle of Ore, barely 300 kilometers from the capital, Banjo halted.

He turned back.

To many, this was outright sabotage. Nigeria already had its own military tied down fighting in Biafran territory. Analysts to this day argue that had Banjo’s battalion pushed through to Lagos, it would have forced Yakubu Gowon’s government into retreat. Instead, the advance died at Ore, and so did Biafra’s best shot at forcing an early end to the war.

Some say Banjo simply could not bring himself to march Biafran soldiers into his own homeland. Others point to reports that British representatives met with him and persuaded him to stand down. What is certain is this. Banjo was tried, found guilty of treason, and executed by firing squad alongside Emmanuel Ifeajuna, Philip Alale, and Sam Agbam on September 22, 1967.

Here is my honest take.

Handing Colonel Banjo that mission, knowing he was Yoruba and that Lagos was his own people’s territory, was a costly miscalculation. I understand Ojukwu’s thinking. A Yoruba commander would know the terrain, know the roads, know how to move through unfamiliar ground with ease. But there is a reason doctors are never allowed to operate on their own loved ones. Sentiment creeps in where precision is required, and that sentiment can cost a life.

Banjo may have fought gallantly up to that point, but he was still human, and humans change their minds when the target in their crosshairs is their own homeland.

There is a lesson in this for every struggle, including the one going on today.

Study people before handing them sensitive missions. Do not give someone based in hostile territory (Isl@mic nations) a position of trust in a movement built on exposure and accountability. Do not give someone hiding behind a fake name and a faceless identity a role that requires loyalty under pressure. A person without a face to lose can compromise without consequence, because the cost of betrayal means nothing to someone the world cannot even identify.

What do you think? Drop your thoughts below. Someone out there is reading silently, learnin