Nigeria
is unwittingly courting disaster by leaving the sores from
wounds of the Civil War to fester with the expectation that
mere passage of time shall take care of everything. Events
have shown that this approach is faulty because, as long
as many see no closure to the bitter experiences of the
civil war era, suppressed anger can reemerge in sudden and
unpredictable ways with undesirable consequences. One of
the best means to gauge the pent-up resentment that still
lingers within the polity is to monitor the acrimony that
is aroused whenever politicians, deliberately or inadvertently,
make an allusion to a subject that pertains to the Civil
War. At the outset of President Obasanjo’s first term,
Justice Oputa-led commission was tasked to feel the pulse
of the nation by conducting open hearings in all parts of
the country and to make recommendations on best ways to
heal wounds of the past and reconcile all parties for a
more harmonious future. Parts of the country, particularly
civil war battleground states, seized this opportunity to
bring up the otherwise shelved subject of finding an acceptable
closure to wounds of the Civil War. Ohanaeze Ndiigbo capped
its submission, on behalf of states of the Southeast, with
a whopping bill of $87 billion (US) to the Federal Government
as recompense for Igbo losses since 1966.
President
Obasanjo’s statement during one of his visits to Niger
Delta caused an uproar because he made a comment which implied
that securing oil resources for the Federal Government was
the key reason for prosecuting the Civil War. One of the
junior ministers in Obasanjo’s first term drew fire
from Igbo critics when she bucked at the decision to compensate
civil war veterans who fought on the Biafran side. Perhaps,
the most provocative remark, so far, about the Civil War
is the apology which the Abia State Governor, Orji Uzor
Kalu, was reported to have made on behalf of Ndiigbo for
spearheading Biafran resistance. He went as far as to assert
that declaration and defense of Biafra "was a mistake
on the part of the Igbo". As one would expect, a deluge
of condemnation for the governor’s position emanated
from a wide spectrum of Igbo groups and individuals. To
add fuel to a raging fire, the loquacious young governor
opined that his statements were informed by his quest “to
move forward” by first securing forgiveness of Igbo
role in the Civil War. In his own counteroffensive, he characterized
his critics on this matter as “those who do not want
the old war wounds to heal”.
Since some would sympathize with Governor Kalu’s approach,
it is easy to see a dichotomy of views amongst the Igbo
political elite on how one can best find a closure to wounds
of the Civil War which shall be acceptable to Nigerians
on both sides of the battle line. Ohanaeze’s demand
for payment of multi-billion dollar reparations to Ndiigbo
contrasts sharply with Governor Kalu’s apologetic
stance and implied admittance of error on behalf of those
who fought for Biafran sovereignty. With this new development,
there is an urgent need for Ndiigbo to resolve the differences
within their political elite to enable them to find a credible
common ground for relating with the rest of their compatriots
on healing wounds of the Civil War. The fact that little
mention has been made by the Federal Government regarding
the reparations bill submitted by Ohanaeze through the Oputa
Panel suggests that, even though the average Igbo would
prefer this approach, no payments are imminent. On the other
hand, the massive repudiation of the notion of offering
apologies on behalf of Ndiigbo for their role in the Civil
War is indicative of the pain that is still felt by the
average Igbo over this tragic era of our collective history.
If, indeed, there is a critical mass of conscientious citizens
who are serious about finding the way forward for Nigeria
through finding universally acceptable closure to civil
war wounds, effort must be directed now at seeking compromise
between the above two extreme positions.
Sacrifices in blood and human misery have already been made
decades ago, mostly by residents of civil war battlegrounds.
What really matters now is to what use the present and future
generations of Nigerians put those sacrifices. The generation
that partook in the Civil War is fast depleting in numbers.
It will be a great disservice to Nigeria, Africa and the
Black man for those who are well versed on issues that surrounded
this tragedy to bequeath a festering sore to future generations
without providing a clue on how to best heal the wounds
that their generation helped to inflict on the nation. This
scenario makes it very likely that all sorts of interpretations
and conclusions, which could have serious destabilizing
effect, may be reached by generations who had no firsthand
knowledge about the cause, prosecution and immediate aftermath
of the Civil War. The controversial utterances by the Abia
State Governor, who was a mere toddler during the Civil
War, should be a sample of what can happen if the task of
finding closure to fratricidal war wounds is deferred indefinitely.
It is noteworthy that arch protagonists of neo-Biafra actualization
movements are comprised mostly of those who were too young
to be directly involved as civil war combatants.
Nigeria stands out as the lone country that has failed to
harness the experiences and sacrifices of a costly civil
war in furtherance of its nation-building effort. It was
successfully sold to the citizenry and the world at large
that the primary reason for Nigerian Civil War was for preservation
of the nation’s territorial integrity. This war cry
was mostly responsible for shifting the tide in favor of
the victorious Federal armed forces since international
bodies, at the time, were averse to reshaping of national
boundaries on African continent. National territorial integrity
was restored since January 1970 but the residual pent-up
anger still lingers in the subconscious of those who paid
dearly for that war. The present democratic dispensation
offers Nigerians the unique opportunity to establish institutions
and structures that can help to bring closure to pains of
the Civil War and at same time foster the objective of building
a strong, united and tolerant polity. The National Assembly
should, without further delay, create a National Memorial
Day as a national public holiday to commemorate sacrifices
of the civil war era. Historic battlegrounds should be preserved
as part of the National Park and Museum system to teach
posterity about the price of plunging into internecine wars
with inadequate circumspection. Appropriate monuments should
be commissioned by all levels of government and civil society
to honor those who shed their blood to bring about the Nigeria
we inherit today.
Finding an acceptable and lasting closure to civil war wounds
is a sure means to bring about a new sense of belonging
to millions of citizens, from all ethnopolitical backgrounds,
who feel left out of the center stage of national governance.
It may have been possible to maintain national cohesion
without addressing the lingering bitterness of the war years
during the protracted era of military rule. In a democratic
dispensation, however, continued procrastination of this
essential chore could become a costly undertaking and a
constant source of irritation in the nation's political
discourse. The sacrifices in human blood and 30 months of
socioeconomic retardation have already been made. Since
the war, Nigeria has achieved relative stability that should
now be further buttressed with a renewed sense of nationalism
which can, in turn, unleash the necessary patriotic fervor
in the citizenry for tackling the daunting tasks that lie
ahead. Neither the Federal Government nor Ndiigbo should
be compelled a priori to admit special culpability for bringing
about the Civil War because such may never happen. The best
way forward is to establish institutions and structures
now that shall concretize the doctrine of “no victor
no vanquished” which was aptly enunciated in the immediate
post-war period. Let’s start this healing process
now by creating a National Memorial Day as a national holiday
to commemorate the sacrifices of the civil war era.
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