J
anuary 15, 2020 marked 50
years since the Nigerian/
Biafran civil war came to an
abrupt end. The then General
Yakubu Gowon government, in
order to assuage nerves, announced
that the no victor, no vanquish
slogan. He also announced the three
Rs: Reconstruction, Rehabilitation
and Reconciliation meant to help
heal the wounds of all parties, par-
ticularly those of the Biafrans who
lost millions, mostly children and
women. Unfortunately, many years
after the war, little has been done
by successive government to truly
reconcile, reconstruct and rehabilitate
victims of the war. There is undeni-
able evidence that the contrary has
been the case with the Igbo and other
tribes suspected to have been part of
the botched Biafra Republic being
denied access to effective political
participation.
The Igbo in particular have been
clamouring for equity and fair play in
resource allocation and appointment
into what is seen as juicy positions in
the Nigerian political space. Severally
they are denied and simply have to
settle for the crumps that falls from
the proverbial master’s table. Often
times our brothers who act and play
the victor shout them down for dar-
ing to speak out the injustice meted
out to them
Fifty years after, the major causes of
the war appear yet to be resolved. The
average igbo are still complaining of
merginalization. The South South is
not excluded despite their oil wealth.
Accusations and counter accusa-
tions of ethnic dominance, inequality
and religious prejudices remain the
order of the day. This perceived mar-
ginalisation over the years has led to
the emergence of various groups with
secession agenda; the most prom-
inent being the Indigenous People
of Biafra led by Mazi Nnamdi Kanu
who has been hounded down without
reprieve by the federal authorities for
asking separation from the Nigerian
project. He has been in and out of
prison and risk being jailed for life.
The issue of insecurity now reigning
supreme in many parts of the country
and the resolve by some regions to
form their own security apparatus
to complement that of the police is
no doubt an attestation of the wind
of change that is gradually blowing
across the land. It suggests that the
time is more than ripe for the various
components that make up the Nigeri-
an state to come together and fashion
out the way forward
The federal and state governments
need to appreciate and identify the
peculiarities of the times which
require an all inclusive approach to
governance. Reaching out to the var-
ious segments of the country would
go a long way to heal gaping wounds
and set the pace towards true recon-
ciliation that is needed at this time.
