LEARNING FROM THE NIGERIAN CIVIL WAR.
Anthony Akinola
Don’t destroy Nigeria, Gowon, Soyinka, others warn leaders
Special Guest of Honour, Prof. Adebanji Akintoye (left); Chairman, Planning Committee, Prof. Pat Utomi; Chairman of the occasion, Prof. Anya O. Anya; Keynote Speaker, Prof. Wole Soyinka and Royal Father of the Day, Ezeora 34th/Akajiovo Igbo, Eze Chukwuemeka-Eri during the Never Again Conference on “Nigerian Civil War: 50 Years After” organised by Nzuko Umunna and Ndigbo Lagos in collaboration with civil society organisations in Lagos…yesterday. PHOTO: FEMI ADEBESIN-KUTI
• ‘Only true federalism will save nation from implosion’
Fifty years after the end of the Nigerian Civil War, principal actors, historians and other players in the political space yesterday warned against acts capable of destroying the country.Urging Nigerians to see the war years as a reference point for reconciliation and unity, they advised politicians to chart paths for harmonious living among the people.
They made this known at the ‘Never Again Conference 2020’ organised by Igbo think-tank, Nzuko Umunna, and Ndigbo Lagos, in collaboration with civil society organisations. In attendance were political historian, Prof. Banji Akintoye; former Head of State, Yakubu Gowon; Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka; a former presidential candidate, Prof. Pat Utomi; Fellow of the Institute of Biology of the United Kingdom, Prof. Anya O. Anya; singer and rights activist, Onyeka Onwenu; a former Minister of Information, Frank Nweke; and Senate Minority Leader Enyinnaya Abaribe, among others.
In his keynote address, Akintoye noted that Nigeria consists of many different nations, radically different in culture, political tradition, perception of reality and expectation. According to him, these differences must be addressed, if the country must have peace.He lamented that the country is being managed like the exclusive preserve of a particular minority group intent on establishing its interests in the executive, administrative, judicial and security sectors of the country.
“The voices of the majority register protests continually and are continually disrespected and ignored. The state of the law is patently being subsumed to the needs of that agenda, with seriously damaging effects on human life.”This situation, he said, is inevitably fostering among the people of the Middle Belt and South of the country the feeling that they are being reduced to the status of conquered people. He warned of the need to terminate the descent into war and speedily move the country into a state of law, mutual respect, and peace.
Akintoye said Nigerians must restructure the country with the objective of giving the people a true and acceptable federal structure under which the sections of the country would deploy their resources to conquer poverty in their domains.“Ignoring these fundamentals, we have almost continuously let our country wobble and teeter on the brink of violent implosion and we have continually inflicted serious pain upon ourselves. We fought and ended the civil war, but we have never really moved measurably away from the brinks of civil war,” he said.
Gowon in a video message declared that commitment to Nigeria must be total and patriotic and that leaders must ensure the wellbeing of the country in politics, economy and security. He urged citizens to reconcile their differences to avert another war.Soyinka in a presentation said the loss of about two and a half million people in a war should provoke sober reflection. He also advocated the entrenchment of democratic principles to forestall war.
“No nation has ever survived two civil wars. The sovereignty of the country is non-negotiable and the wisdom of not holding a banknote over a flame is not a justification to tempt fate. We need to ask, are we being heard?” In his address, the chairman of the occasion, Prof. Anya, warned that justice for all is an important principle for the nation’s survival. “A proposition could be made that we went to war because of the failure of leadership, and marginalisation. Let Nigerians eschew violence because ‘those who lead by the sword shall die by the sword’. We haven’t learned lessons from our past. Germany fought a war and in less than 30 years after, became the strongest economy. Losing a war doesn’t mean economic backwardness,” he said.
Utomi and Onwenu said Nigerians are at war in public conversations especially, on social media. They noted that managing public conversation is a lesson all Nigerians must learn.Utomi particularly denounced the collapse of culture, democratisation of mediocrity, and greed among politicians. He called for the re-introduction of history into school curriculum, so that people can learn about their past. He further urged the entrenchment of positive values and the setting up of strong institutions to tackle the challenges facing the continent.
Anthony Akinola
Nigerian civil war, never again!
Leading Nigerian intellectual Professor Pat Utomi speaks during a conference to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the end of the Nigerian Civil War in Lagos, on January 13, 2020. – Activities have been lined up across the country to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the end of the Nigerian Civil War, also known as the Nigerian-Biafran War, estimated to have cost over a million lives before the secessionists surrendered 50 years ago in January 1970. (Photo by PIUS UTOMI EKPEI / AFP)
An occasion organised by Igbo think-tank, Nzuko Umunna and Ndigbo Lagos in collaboration with civil society organisations, appealed to political leaders to stop fanning the embers of war. No doubt, Nigeria can be said to be one of the most blessed and lucky nations on earth.
Indeed, the reports and accounts given by those who not only delivered a paper on the occasion but witnessed or played a role during the civil war provided a dramatic illustration of how human beings can be so forgetful. Yes, people do forget so often when the pain of an injury is gone. Even the scar sometimes seems to bear no lesson because people are tempted to revisit what had caused them severe pain and anguish. The fact that war is an enemy to development and a dire situation one could hardly find an escape is enough not to provoke it. The filthiness and soul-destroying circumstance caused by war are unimaginable. Any nation that fought a civil war bears an indelible scar and hardly survives a second as an entity.
It is hard to overstate the difficulty of distancing political leaders from playing dangerous tunes of crisis in the country. One of the biggest challenges facing Nigeria’s political leaders is that there is a serious problem of trust. This phenomenon, make Nigerians warier than they might otherwise be. Since the end of the civil war, ethnicity and religion have continued to plague the country’s politics and made Nigerians fall out of love for each other. It is important for the ruling government to sow an article of faith and patriotism among young people. This will enable them to distance themselves from political propaganda that may push them against one another.
Lest we forget, Wole Soyinka described his generation as a wasted one because millions of them died while fighting during the civil war.
Nigerian intellectual Professor Anya Oko Anya speaks during a conference to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the end of the Nigerian Civil War in Lagos, on January 13, 2020. – Activities have been lined up across the country to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the end of the Nigerian Civil War, also known as the Nigerian-Biafran War, estimated to have cost over a million lives before the secessionists surrendered 50 years ago in January 1970. (Photo by PIUS UTOMI EKPEI / AFP)
With the on-going, if one may ask, does it mean Nigeria’s political leaders many of whom fought on either side during the civil war had jettisoned the lessons? Regrettably, peace is becoming a bit of a nightmare to Nigerians as certain people seem happy to fan the embers of war again. And the ruling government is doing little or nothing about it. The fact that Nigeria consists of different nation-states, radically different in culture, political tradition, perception of reality and expectation, gives no reason to resurface a futile war. Ironically, these pertinent issues lay bare before us and are deliberately being ignored by successive governments with the lie of one Nigeria.
In 2014, Nigerians came up with a Constitutional draft from a constitutional conference, where several voices across the country spoke and agreed to restructure the country. However, it is sad to note that, the outcome of the jaw-jaw has been continually ignored. It might be wise, therefore, to listen to the voices of the reason so that the nation does not wobble and teeter on the brink of violent implosion.
The risk to rewrite history by allowing what triggered a civil war to repeat itself is crazy. Amid several uncertainties, if another civil war should break out, two realities stand out. First, the war would achieve nothing, only help to divide the country into particles. Second, and more important, is that having not learned any lesson from the three-year civil war, 50 years after, the crisis will generate more grief and sorrow.
As it were, it is even riskier to observe that the only people speaking the language of ‘Never Again’ are those who are not in position of leadership nor do they aspire to lead in any capacity. It is annoying that many of our political leaders shut their eyes to these realities. Worst still, many of them act on what they think rather than what they say.
Nigerian writer Wole Soyinka speaks during a conference to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the end of the Nigerian Civil War in Lagos, on January 13, 2020. – Activities have been lined up across the country to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the end of the Nigerian Civil War, also known as the Nigerian-Biafran War, estimated to have cost over a million lives before the secessionists surrendered 50 years ago in January 1970. (Photo by PIUS UTOMI EKPEI / AFP)
On several occasions, President Muhammadu Buhari had claimed to be a born-again democrat and that he would obey the rule of law. But regrettably, Nigerians have seen otherwise on his watch. Unfortunately, there are always reasons, strongly and blindly advanced by government why things should deliberately stay on obscure way. There seems to be a pendulum of pride and arrogance in certain quarters as a particular region in the country feels they are untouchable and born-to-rule. The riddle behind such audacity remains wrapped in a mystery. However, many believe it is a political weapon of choice meant to intimidate other regions. But to a large extent, it is short-sighted to think that way because it does not spell out the plausible and precise criteria for holding such views.
At the moment, Nigerians are beginning to get scared of their shadows with the lingering whispers of imminent crisis. The continued agitation for Biafra is on a high gear 50 years after. It is important to know that Biafra is not an anathema. Once the country is restructured Biafra will naturally fissile out because restructuring will take care of the need to break away.