§ Q8. Mr. Biggs-Davisonasked the Prime Minister on what date he first heard from Colonel Ojukwu, or his representative, that he was willing to meet him.
§ The Prime MinisterThe 26th of March.
§ Mr. Biggs-DavisonDoes not that reply mean that Colonel Ojukwu was given unreasonably short notice to attend the meeting requested by the Prime Minister, and was not that a great pity?
§ The Prime MinisterIt was a great pity that the meeting did not take place but the date 26th March was the day before I left London to go to Lagos and it was clear at that time, as I have told the House, that the meeting would have to take place outside the area then controlled by Colonel Ojukwu. The time was a bit tight, but, on the information I had been given, it would have been possible to meet on the following Wednesday, and I offered to fly back from Addis Ababa to any suitable place in West Africa to meet him. It was unfortunate that the meeting did not take place.
§ Mr. HenigAs the ebb and flow in this war is continuing, has my right hon. Friend any proposal which he thinks might help to bring the two sides together once more in a final bid to stop this disastrous conflict?
§ The Prime MinisterI have told my hon. Friend and other hon. Members that, so far as outside intervention is required to bring the two sides together, it would come best of all from African sources and, indeed, best from the Consultative Committee of the O.A.U. Since I last answered questions on this subject, the House will have seen with great regret that such progress as was made at Monrovia at the recent O.A.U. conference did not lead to a settlement and that, unfortunately, Colonel Ojukwu's representatives did not feel able to accept the proposals and sit down with the Federal representatives, although the proposals 1645 were accepted by the Nigerian Government. We can therefore only now leave it—
§ Sir W. Bromley-DavenportWaffle.
§ The Prime MinisterThis tragedy of a war in Nigeria is a matter with which the House is concerned, even if the hon. and gallant Member is not. He can hardly describe anything to do with this war as waffle.
Therefore, as I have said—
§ Sir W. Bromley-DavenportGet on with it. Do not waste time.
§ The Prime MinisterI would get on if the hon. and gallant Member did not interrupt. I would have finished long ago. What I would have said was that it must be for the O.A.U. now to pursue the Monrovia formula.