Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has
called on the Federal Government to negotiate with those agitating for
the creation of a Biafran republic out of the current set-up in Nigeria.
Obasanjo said this at an event, tagged ‘Memory and Nation Building: Biafra 50 years later’, which held in Abuja on Thursday.The event was held to commemorate 50 years of the declaration of an
independent state of Biafra by the late Dim Chukwuemeka Ojukwu on May
30, 1967.Obasanjo as the Commander, Third Marine
Commando Division, was the military officer who accepted the surrender
of the Biafran forces on January 12, 1970, after three years of war.
However, the former President said the
agitation for Biafra was like a woman complaining constantly about her
marriage and threatening to file for a divorce against her husband.
Obasanjo said in such a situation, the husband must pet and “massage” his wife to make her feel loved.
He stated, “I believe that the point
must be clear. Nigeria must be loved and we must treat Nigeria as we
treat love affairs. It must be massaged. Nigeria must be massaged by all
of us.
“It is like a love affair. If in a house
with a husband and a wife and the wife says ‘I am fed up, I am going’
and every day, that is the song you hear, you will soon get fed up
yourself as the husband and you will say, ‘if you want to go, you can
go’.
“But if there is any misunderstanding
and you resolve it, and you find a solution, you will live together
almost forever. I believe there is no substitute for holding Nigeria and
massaging it as you massage love. There is no alternative and I will
say we should even appeal.
“If anybody says he wants to go, it is
not that you will say ‘you can go if you want to go’. Don’t go! There is
enough cake for each and every one of us. If what you are asking for is
more of the cake, then ask for it in a way that is pleasant, not in a
way that will make others feel you are not entitled to what you are
asking for.”
Recalling his role in the Nigerian Civil
War, Obasanjo said it was never the plan of the Nigerian government to
exterminate the Igbo.
He explained that everything that the federal troops did was in a bid to unite the country.
Obasanjo added, “We had in our pocket
the Geneva convention to guide us. In addition to that, we had a special
code of conduct. Third, we had foreign observers. We had people who
were like umpires.
“If it was a war to exterminate and we
had no reconciliation in mind, what would foreign observers be doing?
The foreign observers reported periodically and even had powers to
investigate any allegation and they did.”
Also speaking at the event, acting President Yemi Osinbajo said Nigerians must continue to strive for the unity of the nation.
While delivering his speech, titled
‘Greater together than apart’, Osinbajo noted that the civil war was a
stain on the history of Nigeria.
He, however, said it would be foolish if Nigerians passed through such a thing again.
The acting President stated, “Indeed the
saying ‘experience is the best teacher’ is incomplete. The full
statement of that Welsh adage is that experience is the best teacher for
a fool. History is a better and kinder teacher.”
Osinbajo said the demand for secession
was not exclusive to Nigeria but was also present in many western
countries including the United Kingdom and the United States.
He, however, stated that the answer to the problems of Nigeria goes beyond secession.
The acting President said the diversity
in Nigeria should be seen as a blessing because it offered manifold
opportunities for greatness.
Osinbajo added, “The most successful
nations of the world are those who do not fall into the lure of
separation but who through thick and thin forge unity in diversity.
Nigeria is no different. We are not two or three but more of 300 ethnic
groups between the same geographical space, presented with a great
opportunity to combine all of our strengths into a nation that is truly
more than the sum of its parts.”
He said Nigerians should never shy away
from discussing the terms of our unity because debate was an essential
aspect of democracy.
The acting President added, “I fully
believe that Nigerians should exercise, to the fullest extent, the right
to discuss and debate the terms of our existence. Debates and
disagreements are fundamental aspects of democracy.”
The President of Igbo socio-cultural
group, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Nnia Nwodo, said the political system was
jaundiced and hindering proper development, adding that with fiscal
autonomy, every state in Nigeria would develop faster.
Nwodo said, “Before the war, national
unity was the norm. A Biafran was a member of Northern Nigeria House of
Chiefs. Biafrans lived freely and invested in all parts of Nigeria.
“In Lagos, Dr Azikiwe was elected leader
of Government Business. Mbonu Ojike was elected Deputy Speaker. In
Enugu, Alhaji Umoru Altine, a Fulani man, was elected Mayor of Enugu.
Mr. Willoughby, a Yoruba man, was Accountant-General.”
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