The Nigerian civil war ended 50 years ago. Recently, in Umuahia, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo asked a very pertinent questions, pointing out the benefits of remaining a united country. Oziegbe Okoeki takes a look at the Vice president’s submissions.
ALTHOUGH it is exactly five decades since the Nigerian civil war, otherwise known as the Biafran war, ended, it is hard to know if Nigeria has learnt anything from its history, as issues that led to the avoidable warfare are still very much pronounced in the nation.
In spite of the years of post-war attempt at unity and the over two decades of unbroken democracy, it does not appear that much has changed since the pre-war days. Rather than learning from the mistakes of the past and using the end of the war as a lesson to further build a stronger country, successive leaders and their cohorts have continued to march round in cycles, repeating the same old gaffes.
Today, the fear of ethnic dominance, divisions along ethnic and religious lines, imbalances in politics and unequal opportunities, lamentation over maginalisation are issues that still occupy the front burner of national discuss. And successive leaders and their hangers-on have failed to use the end of the war as a lesson to further build a stronger country.
Speaking recently at the National War Museum, Umuahia, Abia State to mark the 50th anniversary of the end of the civil war, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo highlighted the array of potentials inherent in unity rather fanning embers of discord, secession and other ethno-religious differences. His position was that there was more to gain in the nation’s unity in diversity.
He said the greatest tribute Nigerians can pay to the memories of those who made the supreme sacrifice for the survival of the union called Nigeria today is to ensure that the circumstances that led to the conflict are never re-enacted. “We cannot change the past, but it is within our power to ensure that history does not repeat itself and that we never again confront the awful consequences of abandoning dialogue and letting our darkest impulses drive us.
This advice would seem timely considering the fact that the mass of the youthful population today never experienced the war and the hardship and sufferings it unleashed on the people; even the older ones who saw what happened seemed to have forgotten in a hurry what transpired judging by their present disposition and attitude to national issues.
Osinbajo said, “Sixteen years after the end of the war, Dim Chukwuemeka Ojukwu was asked if he thought the war resolved the issues for which it was fought. His reply is instructive, he said and I quote, ‘Wars hardly ever resolve issues. Wars are an aberration. Eventually, the issues still have to be dealt with.’ In any event, it is evident that the cost of resolving our differences peacefully through dialogue is far less than trying to do so through war,” Osinbajo said.
Despite the challenges faced since the end of the civil war, in the past 50 years, Osinbajo expressed optimism in brighter and rewarding days for the nation, saying even though the nation has faced many challenges along the way, the setbacks should not induce hopelessness or despondency but should constantly remind us that the stakes are high because of the incredible dividends of unity for all.
He harped on the need for the nation to continue to emphasize and ensure fairness, justice and equity amongst all ethnicities and religions and remains open to addressing the concerns of all as everyone must feel entitled to legitimately aspire to the limits and extent of our dreams and visions in public life and commerce within the union.
According to the Vice President, “Our historic mission therefore, is not just to build a nation that works for all of us, but to create a successful polity, an economic and social powerhouse capable of powering our continent to prosperity and renown. And yet, nation-building is hard work and bringing together the multiplicity of ethnicities, languages and creeds that make up this great land under one banner is an onerous but necessary task.”
He said it behooves the elderly, particularly those who witnessed the civil war to educate the younger generation on the need to strengthen the unity of the nation despite its diversity as there are more to gain in remaining one indivisible nation.
“For those of us that are old enough to remember the war, we must be mindful of the fact that the majority of Nigerians alive today are too young to have witnessed the civil war and therefore have no memory of it. The last 50 years belonged to us, but the next 50 years belong to our children and their children and we have a responsibility to unshackle them from the ghosts of ancient grudges and grievances.
“As elders, we must ensure that we do not poison the minds of the young with our own prejudices and affect their ability to take advantage of the opportunities available to them in their country. We must also avoid foisting the toga of victimhood and helplessness on the next generation.”
The memory of the elders, the Vice President said, is crucial and gives instructive lessons, adding that “but we must enable the vision and the imagination of our youth to flower untainted by the biases of the past.”
Osinbajo who also toured the War Museum with a group of students from the schools in the State, said it was a tremendous learning experience for him and the students. He added that he was struck by how novel the war stories behind the artifacts were not just to him, but to the students. The experience, he said, was a reminder that the nation must acquaint the younger generation with her history and realise that the young generation does not see the world through the same lenses as old generation did in the 1960s.
Today’s challenges and potentials:
Speaking on the challenges confronting the nation today and the opportunities that abound in the country, Osinbajo said one of our biggest challenges as a nation is that of providing opportunity and hope for the teeming young population.
In spite this, Osinbajo added “Our youth are among the most creative, energetic and dynamic on the continent and the Southeast is home to Nigeria’s most entrepreneurial sons and daughters. Young Nigerians all over the country and in the Southeast in particular, require outlets that will enable them to maximize their potential.
“We have listened to the voices of some of our young people in the Southeast expressing their discontent; however, we do not hear a battle cry, but rather a cry for help. We are determined to continue providing them with the tools and resources that will enable them to make the most of their lives. This is the reason for our collaboration with the African Development Bank, AfDB to provide a $500million facility for startups and entrepreneurial loans. This is aside from the N10billion fund set aside by the Bank of Industry for the same purpose,” he said.
Strengthening the unity bond:
To effectively explore the gains of cohesion, Professor Osinbajo said there is no greater evidence of how firmly we have closed ranks as a people than the fact that industrialists of the eastern region are today equipping our nation’s Armed Forces. According to him, the businessmen and women, professionals and traders in the Southeast and across Nigeria are the true nation-builders.
“One of our errors in times past has been our inability to appropriate the positive aspects of the civil war legacy such as the spirit of innovation and self-reliance that inspired technological feats in extreme circumstances even here in this museum. Within that period, our people manufactured weapons and tools for refining crude.
“Years ago, Dim Chukwuemeka Ojukwu said and I quote, ‘The war has at least underlined for all of us, the importance of staying together.” Brothers and sisters, no human relationship is perfect and no nation is received or conceived in ideal circumstances. All polities, no matter how good they look today, are imperfect and only through the labours of their members are they perfected. Like families, nations are made up of people who disagree and at times disagree intensely. The ties that bind us have survived the most intense disagreement we have ever known as a people and it resulted in the civil war.”
The Vice President urged Nigerians to build a country devoid of any form of discrimination and marginalization, saying that everyone must strive to achieve the ideal.