Ojukwu's pension as balm
in Gilead
By Henry Chukwuemeka Onyema
Sunday, February 10, 2008
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•Ojukwu
Photo: Sun News Publishing |
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The recent payment of compensation to many officers who fought
for Biafra during the Nigerian civil war by the current government
is commendable. Even more touching was the payment to the
Biafran Head of State, Chief Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu.
The gesture goes well beyond the undoubtedly welcome money.
It is a step towards the nationhood we desire; the heroic,
though bruising, quest to come to terms with our past.
All the cash in the vaults of the Central Bank cannot wash
away the ugly things the war threw up. Perhaps some people
wish Ojukwu had got the Jonas Savimbi treatment when Biafra
fell, but do we know why the good Lord kept both him and General
Yakubu Gowon alive to tell the tale?
As 2008 unfurls the challenge before all Nigerians is the
task of multi-ethnic group living. No one ever thought that
over 300 nationalities haphazardly lashed together by a self-centred
colonizer would have an easy time of it, especially when the
project was deliberately designed by the designer to fail.
But must we remain in the labyrinth of failure?
The first step to making Nigeria work is justice to all Nigerians,
including the Igbo. We (the Igbo) do not apologize for fighting
the war; the situation between 1967-1970 pushed us to the
wall. No tribe lacks survival instincts.
Forget the clash of claims and counter-claims and look at
the facts which are available for anyone interested in the
truth.
Finally, were the officers and men who participated in the
January 15, 1966 coup included in the largesse? Many of them
fought for Biafra. Some of them did it reluctantly. Historical
evidence abounds. For instance, Majors Chukwuma Nzeogwu and
Adewale Ademoyega opposed secession. Nzeogwu openly aired
his views in an interview in April 1967. But the dark political
situation at that time made any plan to return to Nigeria
suicidal for them.
However, once the war began they heroically kept Biafra' s
heart beating. I hope our leaders, in the spirit of reconciliation,
compensated the families of men like Nzeogwu, Ifeajuna, Onwuatuegwu,
Victor Banjo, and even survivors like Colonel Ben Gbulie.
Let nobody tell me they are rebels who opened the foodgate
of the military deluge that nearly drowned us between 1966-1999.
Men like Generals T. Y. Danjuma, Ibrahim Babangida and late
Murtala Muhammed let slip the dogs of war with the July 29,
1966 coup. To the best of my knowledge their pensions and
gratuities are intact. What is sauce for the goose is sauce
for the gander, assuming the January 15 group are not beneficiaries
of military compensation exercises in this country.
Believe it: Nigeria will achieve its destiny as Africa' s
beacon of life.
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