On the recent 90thbirthday of former Military
Head of State Yakubu Gowon, Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate and
former Anambra State governor, Mr Peter Obi went ahead to congratulate Gowon!
It is this Gowon who presided over the Biafra Genocide of 1967-1970 that killed
up to 5 million Easterners including Igbo, of whom Peter Obi and I belong. By
his words, many believe that Peter Obi has belittled and downgraded the lives
of Igbo and of other indigenous Ethnic Nations of the East even to the hearing
of the international community. Firstly, the EFFECTS of that Biafra Genocide
are still ongoing because they are carried on in the 1999 Constitution, a
FORGERY foisted upon all Nigerians. Also, many of the survivors of that
Genocide are still around and suffering. We have those who are now physically
maimed, having lost a limb or more and who are yet till today to be
compensated. We have others with emotional and mental scars from not just only
one, but several traumas they suffered and who to date have had no counselling
etc. It is important that when some elders like Peter Obi say things that are
confused and even downright wrong, there are other elders (and Umuada Igbo)
like myself who come out to challenge his words, and to show the younger
generations that Igbo lives matter and Easterner lives matter.
From news reports, Peter Obi wrote about:
“moving forward in the spirit of reconciliation”.
My response: Ndi Igbo and Easterners are not
uncivilised and stupid. There can be no “spirit of reconciliation” without a
Truth And Reconciliation Commission (or similar) for the victims and survivors
of that Genocide. It is not for an individual to wake up in the morning and
start talking about “reconciliation” in a matter as serious as Genocide, when
the proper processes for reconciliation have not been followed.
From news reports, Peter Obi wrote about: “the
tragedy of revenge”.
My response: It is not about “revenge” and we
know that VENGEANCE is reserved for Yahuwah Chukwu (God). However, Justice is
reserved for man to carry out. That is why in countries where citizens’ lives
matter there is robust Law Enforcement and a purposeful Criminal Justice
System. Therefore, there must be Justice for the Biafra Genocide.
From news reports, Peter Obi wrote about:
forgiveness for one’s enemies, and forgiveness for each other. He went on to
quote Colossians 3:13 and Ephesians 4:31,32.
My response: In Colossians 3:13 and Ephesians
4:31,32 Paul the Apostle was talking specifically to Messiah’s Community. He
was not talking to the (evil) world! Paul was simply telling the believers ie
people who had
repented
of their sins
, to bear with one another in love. That is
very different from telling victims and survivors of Genocide to forgive their
rapists just like that, forgive those who brutalised and maimed them, and
forgive those who killed their family members and destroyed their communities.
(Perhaps Mr Peter Obi should try quoting those Scriptures to Israel or America
after a terrorist strike on those countries and see the response.)
To young people reading this so you do not get
misled by wrong interpretation of the Gospel message, when Master Yeshua in
Matthew 5: 43-45 said to love our enemies and pray for them, what did He mean?
The Messiah was talking to His people the Israelites who already had the Ten
Commandments and Precepts so the “enemy” He was talking about was one who was a
member of their own community, so a brother Israelite. Master Yeshua was
telling His people that if one of them was acting like an enemy towards them
they all being brethren should still love him and pray for him, (but that could
still mean putting the person in prison to keep others safe). At no time was
Master Yeshua saying we should love those who kill us and want to wipe out and
exterminate our Nation/Race!
From news reports, Peter Obi wrote about: a
New Nigeria being possible.
My response: The same Gowon the Genocider had
unilaterally reneged on the Aburi Accord which would have fixed the Nigeria
Union, and the massacres of Easterners that followed made having a Biafra
Republic necessary. The issues that led to the Declaration of Biafra Republic
in 1967 remain UNRESOLVED to date, and need to be resolved before any
functional and safe “New Nigeria” can be built. (It is the National Question.)
We are not little children who do not know the way forward. Peter Obi had
previously said that Nigeria is like a vehicle with a knocked engine, meaning
that no driver can make Nigeria work. So a new engine or a new vehicle is
required, therefore “leadership” is NOT Nigeria’s core and foundational
problem, rather, it is the dysfunctional constitutional arrangement codified by
the illegitimate 1999 Constitution. Therefore, no “New Nigeria” is possible
without Constitutional Renegotiation for a fresh constitutional order.
Fortunately for Igbo and Easterners, plus all Nigerians, the door is open to
get it done. It is the NINAS Transitioning Template which means Rejecting the
1999 Constitution thus involves Shutting down all preparations for national
elections in 2027 to instead have a time-bound Transitioning for Constitutional
Reconstruction. The final outcome can be a Federation, or a Confederation, or
if no agreement is reached, then independent Successor Countries.
Igbo lives, Eastern Nigeria lives, and all
Black African lives matter to me – and we shall make it matter to the whole
world. The matter of the horrendous Biafra Genocide has not been dealt with and
will not be ignored and swept under the carpet. We shall keep on remembering
it, and we shall keep on pointing fingers at the Genociders.
Ndidi Uwechue is a British citizen with Igbo
heritage from the Lower Niger Bloc. She is a retired Metropolitan (London)
Police Officer, she is a signatory to the Constitutional Force Majeure, and she
writes from Abuja.
SUPPLEMENTARY
INFORMATION
Here is a message from someone worthy of being
addressed as Odogwu, who has also made his displeasure at Peter Obi’s homily to
Gowon public, showing that the lives of the victims of the Biafra Genocide
matter a great deal.
Comments:
Leave a Reply