- Ask governments to confront growing poverty, insecurity, divisions to prevent another conflict
- We’re conquered people, only Obasanjo believed war has ended, says Igbo elder
- Tinubu inherited a balkanized country, should correct errors – Analysts
Amid worsening injustice and pervasive poverty raging in Nigeria, governments have been charged not to push their citizens to the point of revolting or waging another war against their perceived enemies in the country.
Recall that Nigeria’s civil war ended precisely on January 15, 1970, when the instruments of surrender were officially received by the government of Yakubu Gowon, the then Nigerian military head of state.
But 54 years after the brutal war, despite the bitter experience, some Nigerians, in their separate interviews with The Point, contended that the issues that led to the war are still very much alive.
They said ethnic tensions, religious crisis, rancorous politics, nepotism and ethnic cleansing, which played out before, during and after the over three years Biafran war that claimed the lives of about three million Nigerians, are still raging and that they have led to the death of many and are heightening divisions across the country.
On how Nigeria’s leaders could ensure the wellbeing of the country in politics, economy and security to avert another war, some citizens including political analysts, lawyers and politicians argued on the need for justice, fairness restructuring, and equal distribution of the nation’s wealth.
An analyst, Professor Rashid Aderinoye, a Professor of Literacy and Open Distance Learning, in an interview with The Point, noted that the federal character principles should be strengthened and made realistic in order to address marginalisation of some tribes.
“When you talk of the issue of federal character on appointments, education, redistribution of rights and privileges and rights, the purpose is to ensure that there is a re-integration of the various groups in the country; be it Hausa, be it Igbo, be it Yoruba; so, people won’t think they are being marginalized.
“But, today, I don’t believe that people are being marginalized, but sometimes, people try to marginalise themselves. Though, the National Character Commission has been doing its job well, then, adequate representation of Nigerians in the various establishments, be it ministries, parastatals, and government establishments. There has been nothing like victimisation or marginalisation.”
The academic, a former Executive Secretary, National Commission for Nomadic Education, urged President Bola Tinubu to ensure that his appointments are not lopsided or nepostically designed.
“The elites were the ones that caused the civil war; it was not the common people. The elites are united but what is next to do is to have the support of the people. Currently, what we have is the superficial support of the people. You will see them renting the people and paying them.”
“Governments should move forward a bit to ensure that what the Federal Character Commission is established to do, they should do it. When it comes to appointments, let it reflect various groups in the country and again, when people are appointed into places, they should not bring in their people or their tribes or family members. They should try as much as possible to see that they maintain a kind of equal representation. The moment there is equal representation, there will be justice and fair play; because where there is no justice, there will continue to be problems,” he said.
The Chairman of Accord Party, Osun State chapter, Victor Akande, urged the governments at all levels to allow justice, fairness, equity and equality to prevail in whatever they do.
“What gave rise to that war was that some sections of the country, the Igbo to be precise, believed that they were being disenfranchised in this country and that they were not being treated fairly with other tribes at that particular time and about 3 million people, especially from the Igbo extraction were killed. It is unfortunate that the same situation that led to that war is still intact today because of injustice and unfairness.
Without justice, there is no peace. You dare not sacrifice justice on the altar of peace; it will be a false peace.
“What those at the helm of affairs of this country should do is to allow the rule of law to prevail in all our doings because sentiments, nepotism and all this corruption that you are seeing here and there will destroy this country. There should be justice, fairness, equality if peace will prevail in this country.
“But, in a situation whereby some people are living in luxury and some are living in penury, there might be war. If the people we send to represent us end up representing themselves and we that they are supposed to be representing are living in penury, we will only be postponing the evil days,” Akande warns.
In his views, a political scientist, Prof. Bolaji Omitola, noted that “some of the factors that caused the civil war are still prevalent.”
The scholar said, “One of it is our attitude to governance, high level of corruption. Besides, nothing has changed, if you look at the past events that led to the civil war. The only thing I can say on the positive side is that there is a higher level of elite consensus now than then, because then, it was because the elites could not come to agreement on a lot of things, that was what led to the civil war. Now, we can say that the elites have agreed among themselves not to rock the boat again.
“But, the issue is that while they agree on that, the people are at the receiving end in the sense that it is what we call democracy, but as a political scientist, I won’t call it democracy, I will call it civil rule. It is more or less for the elite now in terms of those in the leadership cadre or even the process of being members of the leadership cadre or even having access to the resources of the state. My fear is that the way the elites are going with governance is not sustainable.
“Though, there is unity among the elites, forget about these religious and ethnic differences, they are a smokescreen of the way the elites use to manipulate the people. The elites were the ones that caused the civil war; it was not the common people. The elites are united but what is next to do is to have the support of the people. Currently, what we have is the superficial support of the people. You will see them renting the people and paying them.
“But, in order to have genuine support, there is a need for those who control the statecraft to start thinking of the people in terms of answering all those basic things that the people want. People are not demanding for anything much other than to live a good life, have a good road, have a place to lay their heads and for people to afford three square meals, to send their children to school, get good health and basic things of life. I think that is what we need to be thinking of because if we are going to have any civil war, that may cause it.
“We can give kudos to the elites because they have been able to design a system that sustains themselves and there is no likelihood of having civil war from them again.”
Another political analyst, Mojeed Animashaun, noted that the civil war might have ended but many are yet to heal from the bitterness, 54 years after.
According to him, “It is so easy to say the war ended and that the Federal Government won the war against Biafra, but, nobody is talking about the issue that led to the agitation at that moment, whether those issues have been resolved several decades after the war had ended. That is what could have been a challenge with the successive administrations in Nigeria.
“There is no way you can build a nation when certain parts of that nation feel you are not giving them the right attention. Unless we don’t want to be frank, Nigeria’s federalism has lasted for a very long time but there still remains certain contentious issues that should be addressed if we want to have a federation that works for every unit of the nation. In the current dispensation, people that got power in 2015, came to power on the campaign promise that they were going to restructure Nigeria. If that issue had been followed diligently, we should be having less agitation within the Nigerian federation today.
“The fact that agitations continue really shows that the Nigerian government under APC has not lived up to its words. So, the current government needs to now go back to the issues and see how they could be engaged,” Animashaun, a lecturer at Fountain University, Osogbo, added.
We’re conquered people, only Obasanjo believed war has ended, says Igbo elder
An elder statesman, Okoroigbo Ogbuo, described the pronouncement by the then military Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon to mark the end of the three years Nigeria’s civil war as deceitful aimed at bringing the Igbos closer to subject them beyond what they suffered during the war proper.
He said the declaration was only on paper not practical because the Igbo people were still a conquered people in all ramifications in the programmes and projects of Nigeria.
“You captured the scenario in your questions. Exactly, Nigeria’s civil war ended precisely on January 15, 1970, when the instruments of surrender were officially received by the government of Yakubu Gowon, the then Nigerian military head of state and he declared no victor, no vanquished and proposed a 3R which is Reconciliation, Reconstruction and Rehabilitation, but none was done.
“Fifty-four years after the brutal Nigeria’s civil was presumed to have ended with the declaration of “No Victor, No vanquished” by the then Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon, the Igbos were deceitfully made to believe they had been reintegrated to the nation, Nigeria. But when you look critically at the way things are happening in Nigeria, decisions are taken and worst of all, the treatments meted out to Ndi Igbo in Nigeria, you don’t need a soothsayer to tell you that there were victors and vanquished. However, this was downplayed for many years even during the military regime because Ndi Igbo were highly needed to rebuild Nigeria.
“Gowon who declared the so-called no victor, no vanquished did not involve any Igbo man in any of the sensitive positions in his administration through the five years he ruled after the civil war. His successor, late Gen. Murtala Mohammed continued from where he stopped though he created two states from the only then East Central State, that is Anambra and Imo States, but that was all. It was General Olusegun Obasanjo whose tenure both as military Head of State and civilian President that actualized the no victor, no vanquished declaration.
“When he took over from the assassinated Murtala Mohammed, he began the appointment of Ndi Igbo into his cabinet, his body language paved way for an illustrious son of Igbo land late Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe to lead a political party; the Nigeria People’s Party (NPP) and even the emergence of an illustrious son of Igbo land, late Dr Alex Ekwueme to be accepted by other Nigerians, particularly the Hausa/Fulani as presidential running mate to a late Shehu Shagari in the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) which eventually won the election and an Igbo man became Vice President. But because some people were still not comfortable with the reintegration of Ndi Igbo, they felt and they knew that after Shagari’s second term, Ekwueme was the rightful person to become the next President, what did they do? They struck and removed the government.
“Ask yourself, who led that Coup. Buhari of course. Even after that when General Ibrahim Babangida overthrew Buhari and in an effort to resuscitate the reintegration project of Obasanjo, he appointed an Igbo officer, Commodore Ebitu Ukiwe his Vice, rather than that bringing honour to Igbo land it turned out to be a humiliation because of the way he was removed from office. It goes on and on but I want to emphatically state here that Chief Obasanjo remains the only man who fought the civil war and believed that the war had ended with no victor, no vanquished in 1970. This was proven during his civilian administration between 1999 and 2007. Ndi Igbo were fully and completely involved in his government and just last year, he threw his weight behind Peter Obi’s presidential ambition.”
Ogbuo regretted the incidents that happened in President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration that brought back the civil war in practical terms and reminded Ndi Igbo that they are conquered people, there was nothing like no victor, no vanquished 54 years after.
“If you have not come to Igbo land recently, you will not understand what I am talking about. We are a conquered people. Our roads, homes, forests and communities have been taken over by soldiers on the command of Buhari. They dehumanize us; treat us as prisoners of war. This ill treatment lasted with Buhari’s administration and we thought the coming of President Bola Tinubu will change it, but from what is happening in Lagos, I am talking about the attack on Igbos’ economy and the sit-at-home which was sponsored to destroy our economy at home in the South East without the Federal Government showing any concern, it is very clear they are enjoying the destruction of Igbo people and Igbo land.
“We are in a country where someone will publicly make such statements as “No Igbo man will be President of Nigeria, Igbo people cannot rule Nigeria, and nothing happens but a milder statement by an Igbo man will see the military roll out their thanks in the South East. Every 100 metres is a check point even as it never was during the civil war and these checkpoints are used to dehumanize Ndi Igbo, distort them and subject them to all sorts of inhuman treatment but who cares since it is a federal expression of a conquered people.”
On what our leaders must do to ensure the wellbeing of the country in politics, economy and security to avert another war, Ogbuo said the only solution is to tell ourselves the honest truth about who we are.
He lamented that an Igbo man is rejected in the north where nationals of Niger and Chad Republics are wholeheartedly embraced by a people who are supposed to be fellow Nigerians.
“There’s no magic. For as long as we continue to tell ourselves lies about who we are, we cannot have a solution to this mess. I’m mentioning Igbo because I am feeling the pains we are subjected to. There are evils everywhere, ethnic tensions, religious crisis, rancorous politics, nepotism and ethnic cleansing that have taken the lives of many and even escalated divisions across the country. These evils were brought to bear by the Buhari administration because of his pathological hatred for the Igbo and non-Muslims. President Tinubu should make a 180 degree turn from all programmes of Buhari if he wants to recover Nigeria. That’s my sincere and honest advice,” he said.
Political analyst and social commentator, Johnbosco Ayuba believes that President Tinubu has the capacity to correct all the errors introduced by his predecessor, Buhari.
Ayuba blamed the Buhari administration for tearing the country into shreds, removing the little thing that bound us together as a country by allowing ethnic cleansing, nepotism, extreme religious bigotry and clear hatred against non-Fulani.
“It’s an understatement to say that President Bola Tinubu inherited a balkanized country where ethnic cleansing, nepotism, extreme religious bigotry and avowed hatred against non-Fulani introduced by the Buhari administration is reigning supreme. But I’m full of confidence that the President has the capacity to return the country to a united country before the end of his tenure.
“My conviction is based on the President’s antecedents to governance. He has the penchant to spread his drag nets to hook people who can give their best to the country regardless of their tribe, religion and ethnic inclinations. His recent appointments have proved this unlike his predecessor who did not hide his hatred against the Igbo and did everything to make them suffer even worse than the civil war.”
Ayuba said everyone thought that by this time, 54 years after the civil war, the relics would have been long forgotten but noted that the immediate past administration only succeeded in the rebirth of the war in the minds of the people and even created more awareness to the youth who were not born then.
“The government should also do all it can to reduce poverty and hardship in the country. People can do extreme things when they are hungry”
“We thought the civil war would become history after 54 years , but we made a mistake with the election of former President Buhari. He brought back the brutal and bitter experience in our minds. His policies were completely anti Igbo as if we were still fighting war with them. His reaction to whatever happened in the zone was always a testimony that if he had his way, he would have ordered their extinction. When you have such people in power, the solution to such problems becomes a mirage. Sincerely speaking, President Tinubu should encourage a constitution amendment so that Nigerians will be at the round table to discuss, deliberate and agree on what to do. All this media propaganda will only destroy more than it can build.”
The social critic further challenged the political class to refrain from employing divisive antics to gain political positions adding that such can never help the development of our choice Nigeria, not now or in the nearest future.
He added, “Nigeria can only avoid the recurrence of civil war by shunning those things that divide us and embrace those things that unite us but the problem is that our leaders do not care about the wellbeing of the country. They are interested in politics, nothing concerns them with economy and security and that is our name.”
Another public affairs commentator, Nura Wanbai, said, “We are lucky that we have not descended into war already considering all the animosity the three major ethnic groups feel towards each other, not to talk of the mutual distrust between them.
“And if you ask me, I would tell you for free that the intolerance, rancour and ethnic commotions that led to the civil war…all the ethnic jingoism and what have you…they pale in comparison to what we are experiencing today. We have done far worse things against one another today, yet somehow, we have managed to avert another civil war.
“However, I will advise that we don’t push our luck. War is terrible. Its horrors are unimaginable. Sadly, I look at some ignorant Nigerians who sometimes call for war. I pity them because they think war is like the usual protests they may have partaken in and are used to.”
On what Nigerian leaders must do to ensure the wellbeing of the country in politics, economy and security to avert another war, Wanbai said that institutions like the National Orientation Agency must live up to people’s expectations by orientating Nigerians about the dangers of war.
Wanbai also said ethnic bigots should not be allowed to hold sensitive positions and that the government had to address poverty in the country.
He said, “To avert war, those in government must put on their thinking caps. Unfortunately, they are not ready to do so because they know that if the first bullet during war is fired, they would abandon us and travel to foreign countries where they have dual citizenship.
“So, the government must start to work and convince us that war is not to be welcomed. The National Orientation Agency has a lot of work to do here. They used to be very active, but are nowhere to be found now.
“The NOA must begin to step up their orientating duties. Let them warn Nigerians about the dangers of war and how it can tear a country apart.
“The government must also ensure that tribal bigots don’t hold sensitive positions. They must never be in a position where they can influence gullible Nigerians.
“The government should also do all it can to reduce poverty and hardship in the country. People can do extreme things when they are hungry.
“I also think that there should be laws that can punish those who call for wars. They should be imprisoned and barred from seeking public offices.”
