In 418 B.C. Herodotus, the Greek philosopher who
is known as the ‘’father of history’’, said “a man who does not know anything
about the events that took place before he or she was born will remain forever
a child.’’
It baffles me when you hear the people born in
80s and 90s analyzing national growth and development just from the face value
of it while neglecting the real sociocultural values that are more responsible
in the birth of any nation. We need to go and study how Sadam Husain managed
the Kurds, Shitte and Sunnis in Iraq. Yet, they had some levels of development.
There is no wound that cannot be healed
by nature. Some will be healed with just a scar remaining while some will end
the victims with some measures of deformities. So, the ones with deformities
will always have stories to tell.
The war started with Brigadier Benjamin Adekunle popularly
referred to as black Scorpion leading the Federal Government troops against a fine
soldier, Colonel Chukwuemeka Ojukwu led troops for the agitation of a state of
the Republic of Biafra far back in 1967. History had it that the so called
Biafra troops were gaining upper hands at some points which brought the war
close to Ore, Ondo state. Nigerians soldiers under the command of Brigadier
Benjamin Adekunle were deliberately injuring themselves all in protest of
various challenges facing the army which includes their daily allowance and so
that they could be taken away from the war front. This led to the taking over of
the Nigerian troops by Colonel Olusegun Obasanjo that finally
brought the war to an end with various strategies including starvation. To cut the story short, It was
Obong (Gen) Philip Efiong that eventually surrendered to Colonel Olusegun
Obasanjo on behalf of Colonel Ojukwu when all was gone in 1970. This led to the
exile of Ojukwu to Ivory Coast.
No victor and no vanquished became the slogan
that birthed a new Nigeria after the war. The question is, how has the unity of
the country been since then? Are we truly united as it is hypocritically
professed today? It goes beyond the words of mouth. The unity and oneness must
be seen in reality. From the recently published article by Mr Joe Igokwe in
Lagos. He made the assertions below.
“I want Nigerian leaders to show leadership by
carrying all Nigerians along in distributing power and resources. If there is
no justice, there will be no peace. If there is no peace, there will be no progress.
Let justice prevail. Let us be fair to all concerned. If the truth must prevail,
Nigeria has not been fair to Igbo since the end of the civil war. They tell us
that there is no victor and no vanquished but in actions and deeds, the victors
are still celebrating and enjoying the spoils of the war while the defeated are
still languishing in abject neglect. For instance, of all the six zones in
Nigeria, only the South-East zone has five states…”.
Hmmmmmm
The recent arrest of the manager of Radio Biafra,
Mr Nnamdi Kanu by the DSS and hundreds of youths in Port Harcourt by the police
will not solve the problem. Rather it will aggravate and expose more the hidden
wound. Remember, this is how Bokoharam started with the arrest of Yussuf.
Today, anything you pick on the street of Borno is a bomb. The more you arrest
them, the more you give them the media hype they are looking for. If you
promised them restoration in 1970, then make it available for them. If you
assured them of hope in the 70s, why then do you deny them today? If you told
them you would be fathers and mothers to children who lost their parents in the
war in the 70s, why not fulfill those promises today? The region may have her flaws, but Nigeria must be balanced in the resources sharing including an additional state and leave them with their governors for the rest of the questions and answers.
When we clamored for appointment balance from
President Buhari weeks back, many young folks called us names. Some even said
we were the problems of Nigeria hiding under tribalism and religion. It is not
that we do not understand development by competency as it is done in developed
world, but we need a nation first. Only a fool will be deceived that Nigeria is
one and I refuse to be deceived. In the Nigeria of today, a Yoruba man is first a Yoruba man before he answers
Nigeria. Same goes to Igbos and Hausa. Wounds that brought about the loss of
over a million souls cannot be forgotten in a jiffy. How can you make about
35 appointees without giving them at least one all in the name of competency and
you expect then to clap for you for a job well done? Common! Nigerians wake up
and think for once.
You may not be able to tie all their roads in
four years, but give them signs that you will work on their roads. You may not
be able to make them President of the nation just like that but start with them
with the post of a vice. It is the President from the North that will give that
sign and not really from the South. This is how a sense of belonging will be
built and developed in any nation building. The early signs of the President
must be corrected if we must have an entity called Nigeria. President Buhari
can do it if he truly wants to do and will still achieve the best for the country.
With this, sense of belonging will grow, patriotism will grow, loyalty and love
for Nigeria will grow and everyone will be proud to be called a Nigerian. We
need a nation that is together in reality first before our national dream to materialize. These are the fundamentals that must be addressed and making arrest.
God bless Nigeria
Tunde Adenuga
Twitter: @tunde_adenuga
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