No Peace Without Reconciliation, No Progress Without Peace
by Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, former leader of
the Republic of Biafra
Ever pungent and lucid, the head of state of defunct Biafran Republic, Ikemba Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, gives a blow-by-blow account of the travails of the Nigerians, especially the Igbos, who have been terribly marginalised and who need to be urgently reconciled with their fellow citizens.
The forum was the seminar on "Democracy and National Interest" organised by the South East zone of the National Reconciliation Committee (NARECOM), held in the old Eastern Nigeria Parliament Building, Enugu, last week (circa March 10, 1998).
IN historical and political terms, one of the most significant milestones of the present administration is the establishment of the National Reconciliation Committee (NARECOM), I said historically, because it is the first time that such an idea, after the early 70s when the nation toyed with the three Rs, Reconstruction Reconciliation and Rehabilitation has found a clear favour in the thinking and policies of government. Politically, I also said, because this committee was established at a time when Nigeria was in the throes of one of its perennial convulsions. It was thought that in some way, the committee could have helped in raising the hopes of citizens who thought themselves aggrieved and by this, lowering the political temperature all over the country. Apart form the foregoing, there were also certain symbolic and practical purposes served by the constitution of this committee. As a symbol, it was a sort of an olive branch by government to all sections of society. It indicated that all grievances would be suceptible to resolution through dialogue. Government by this act was encouraging the governed to come forward to discuss with it through its chosen agency.
By setting up this committee, the government was indicating to the governed that the dialogue begun at the constitutional conference still remained in session. Many issues were either untouched or not sufficiently dealt with at the constitutional conference. Such issues required a more relaxed consideration. Some issues could not be fitted into the straight-jacket of a time-bound conference. Others could not bear inclusion in a formal document of the nature of a constitution.
It is my intention to speak the truth. I consider it my patriotic duty to give to my beloved country the benefit not only of my experience but also of whatever little I have learnt in this university called life. Whatever I say should be considered in the context of one who strives to teach not as one who strives to lead. Let me stress that after experiencing the futility of war, I am more than ever opposed to violence and to war. I believe, not only, that Nigeria is big enough for all our needs but, further, I believe that we are lucky and blessed to be Nigerians. It is true that none of us ever had the opportunity to choose whether or not to be Nigerian we all found ourselves Nigerians. It is also true that finding ourselves Nigerians, we all wish to find fulfilment, pride and honour in Nigeria. I believe therefore that no Nigerian is more Nigerian than the other. We only have to look back at our antecedents, to see that we Nigerians are citizens of a country put together by British Colonisalism stumbling from one crisis to another, in mutual disrespect of one another and in the ever increasing fear. Fear of the imperial army under British colonialism and fear of its successor - Nigerian Army, after Independence has held Nigeria together.
As imperialism froze our cultural development, so has the Nigerian army frozen our political development.
Yet despite the scourge of these two armies, Nigeria has remained our hope in its resource though we remain weak in our application of the resources. The peoples of Nigeria welcomed Independence in 1960. This was natural because we found ourselves the undisputed inheritors of a large estate from the withdrawing British. At Indpendence we had learnt only to fear government. When the British left, we inherited what was on the ground at the moment of inheritance. We inherited the tangible assets of colonialism - we also inherited its liabilities. We inherited the Armed Forces, we inherited the Police, the Customs and Prison Services. We inherited the institutions of coersion for that was the very essence of withdrawing government. Politics, economic development, and civilisation were bequeathed only as pious intentions and sanctimonious injunctions - we had read about them but they were kept in the realms of rhetoric beyond the scope of our personal experience. We inherited a puntitive judiciary and an extortionate bureaucracy. We did not inherit democracy, we did not inherit its concommitant legislature. We did not have the privilege of knowing or seeing the benign face of government. The colonial policy of divide and rule ensured that we never got to recognise the rights of other communites. The significance of what I have just pointed out can be seen in relief when we note that all the failures which we ascribe to Nigeria in our unending complaints derive from the nature of our inheritance. It is for this reason that all the institutions which we inherited remain very much appreciated abroad, while at home the reverse would seem to be the case..... we were loyal but we were not responsible. Our soldiers in Liberia, our police in Namibia, our civil servants in Zambia and our judges in Tanzania were very much sought after yes outside Nigeria, they very often acquitted themselves with brilliance. In Nigeria, that brilliance invariably dimmed. It is my humble opinion that the corrupting agent lies in the very nature of Nigeria. The institutions which I have mentioned were designed not to develop Nigeria but to cover Nigeria for colonial government exploitation. It is therefore not surprising that today when we required them to assist in nation building and unity, they fail. It is from this that I derive my belief that reconciliation in Nigeria needs to begin with re-educating our people and redesigning our institutions for nationhood and for unity. Instead of celebrating Independence, we Nigerians should go back to school to study nation building.
A common dictionary definition of reconciliation is the process by which various peoples who for whatever reasons find themselves in a disharmonious relationship, are able to overcome the disharmony and restore the original good relationships between or among them. Hence, while contradictions are an essence of social life, a disharmony is a negative contradiction which may and does impede productive life, progress and civilisation. In a reconciled state, while natural and cultural differences may not have been extirpated, these diversities rather become a necessary positive contradiction which moves the society and nation forward once skillfully harnessed.
Implicit in the above definition are a number of assumptions. For example, it implies that the Nigerian peoples had once lived in a harmonious, mutually beneficial relationship, that at some point and in some way, there was a disruption of that harmonious order, and that it is now necessary, possible and vital to restore the original harmonious condition.
The peoples that make up the present Nigeria had once lived and interacted harmoniously within the geographical area defined as Nigeria today. But, that was before colonial rule and in some of the years of colonial governance when the peoples still thought of themselves as one black and African race living under or trying to free themselves from white rule. That was a time when Nigerians were still innocent, and when some "wise" politicians had not thought it necessary to destroy the brotherly relationships between our various nationalities for the single purpose of advancing their short-sighted political objectives. The full implications of statehood for peoples previously less conversant with coerced collective governance as practised in the West., were yet to be fully brought home to Nigerians. It was actually before colonial rule that the various nationalities in this "geographical expression" genuinely interacted very freely and almost entirely peacefully. Peoples travelled and traded from place to place without let or hindrance provided they observed and kept the laws of the land in which they found themselves. Various kingdoms and principalities protected their citizens both within their legal jurisdictions, and outside, through diplomatic relations with other communities or societies. There is no doubt that if our peoples related so well even before they came under a single political entity, such a relationship is still possible and should be expected now that we are under a single polity.
That we are not exactly doing so requires deep thought and concern, as well as practical efforts to restore us to the original condition.
How was disharmony introduced into Nigeria? The answer is a little bit complex for nothing that causes strife arose overnight. So many commulative factors created the situation that Nigerians are in today. First, was the colonial policy which encouraged disharmony between various Nigerian groups as a way of ensuring the continuance of colonial rule. Then, there were the social and cultural differences between the various Nigerian groups which for example, were responsible for creating a Jaja of Opobo for some people, an Akitoye and a Dosumu for others, and an Othman Dan Fodio and the Sultan Atahiru for yet another. There were also various pronouncements made by the nationalist leaders, some of which were intended to advance the cause of the anti-colonial struggle but which in a different context could engender ill-feelings among the people of Nigeria.
However, as in all things, action speaks louder than voice. And so it was before Nigerian independence. While so many words had been uttered in ferment, nothing rocked the foundations of a future Nigerian society like the actions taken in the dry season of 1951-52, during Nigeria's first general election, by Chief Obafemi Awolowo and the Action Group to deny Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe and the NCNC the premiership of the western region.
According to one author (Crowder, 1976:231), who evidently was attempting to put it mildly, "the Action Group won the west with 49 out of 80 seats," but only after "a number of the A.G. members had stood as NCNC candidates but subsequently crossed the carpet." The millions who thought they benefitted from or wisened by that annulment are uptill today unable to come to terms with tragic blow and its enduring effects on Nigerian politics, society and history.
Another major issue that created disharmony in Nigeria was the early 60s western regional bloody crisis and the subsequent coup d'etat led by Major Emmanuel Ifeajuna and others. The western crisis itself was an unavoidable consequence of the pattern of administration at the federal level: the dishonesty, falsehoods, insincerity, lack of genuine commitment to nation-building through competitive democracy, meritocracy and national unity. The January and July 1966 coups d'etat themselves worsened matters for they were hardly called for, given that the democratic and other mechanisms for the peaceful resolution of issues had not all been exhausted. And then, the patterns of both their execution and their suppression left many loopholes in their trail.
Related also to that coup d'etat, were the many brutal and senseless killings of innocent civilians in parts of the country. Added to these were the many grievances as well as the associated revolts issuing from the national minorities nationwide. Chief among these were the Tiv rebellion, the "Niger Delta Republic" of Adaka Boro, and a number of others.
Nigerian troops watched by Biafrans
The Nigeria-Biafra war itself, occupied a pedestal of its own. It was a major consequence and a direct cause of disharmony in Nigeria. Not only in retrospect, but even before its occurrence, many right-thinking people had been in no doubt that there was no need for that war. Because of this foresight, meetings were held and agreements signed in order to pre-empt it. Unfortunately, those agreements were observed only in their breach. The conduct of the war and the manner of its end were no less enlightened. How could people already inundated with superior arms and endless supplies, call for hunger as an (additional) instrument of war against their brothers and sisters? How could one imagine, how much less-implement , a policy depriving every Igbo man of his life-long savings and money, levelling everyone far below a poverty line of N40.00 each, regardless of your wealth? How could a people turn round to evolve a certain indigenisation policy intended to make some people buy over the economy after ensuring that the brothers and sisters had no kobo to participate in doing so? How could you march forward and deprive people of their properties - their only remaining source of sustenance - merely unilaterally labelling the properly abandoned?. Abandoned in a foreign land? We are yet to touch the case of Igbos, who after rendering meritorious services in the armed forces and the Police, as well as the civil service, were rendered non-persons by both official and unofficial policies of those in power. These do not include a multitude of decrees, edicts, court rulings, infrastructural policies, administrative measures, socio-cultural schemes, and other countless designs intended to achieve the same objectives of impoverishing, humiliating, and marginalising a whole race. No one remembered that these Igbos were the same that played and would continue to play a pivotal role in Nigerian politics, in its economic construction and development, and in its unity. All the above were all in the context of a certain policy called "Rehabilitation, Reconciliation, and Reconstruction ", in whatever order. The only sense in which we can value rehabilitation is when the Igbos are fully rehabilitated into full Nigerian citizens.
Soldiers in Nigerian-Biafran War, Agwu, Nigeria
Instead of any of the above policies and practices abating, they have found expression in some other ways: A quota system in appointments that is hardly applied to plum federal appointments and infrastructure, but still retained as official policy, quota in school admissions, capricious designation of educationally disadvantaged states, haphazard application of federal character, whimsical boundary adjustments, provocative promotions in the services, and so on and so forth, none of which - as bad as the policy and concept are - means what it says, and all of which are carefully crafted and targeted mainly against a section of the Nigerian population. These are all central issues of justice, democracy and human rights which some of our compatriots in Nigeria would either enjoy violating or watch being violated.
Starving Biafran refugee child suffering from Kwashiokor
Who are to be reconciled in Nigeria? - For this, I refer primarily to the speech given by His Excellency, General Sani Abacha at the inauguration of this committee - the NARECOM.
Nobody can be deceived any longer. Everyone knows that every group in Nigeria has something worrying it, and some problem it has to solve. But we can distinguish between problems which spring from people's culture, size and ways of life, and which only they themselves can tackle by an internal self-generated cultural revolution, and those problems which are imposed upon some groups by other groups either with the cynical aim of wither arresting any group's progress or forcing or attempting to compel others to behave according to certain unacceptable norms, or simply as part of the well-worn effort to ensure that Nigeria does not move a millimetre forward. We can distinguish between problems that are natural, in the sense that they are an unavoidable part or a stage of development , and the problems which are neither inevitable nor necessary. In fact, most Nigerian problems are artificial creations of those who intend to benefit from them, those whose legitimacy can be conceded only when such problems exist. It is also easy to distinguish between those problems which are very easy to solve and those that are genuinely awesome. No one will believe a man trying to magnify a simple problem, just in order to let it remain there, or say that a problem does not exist when it does. We are aware that grievances are not of equal magnitude:- there are those that are real and objective and those that cannot be sustained by reference to empirical evidence.
What the foregoing is pointing at is that even as every group in Nigeria has joined the Igbos in shouting marginalisation, we still know what marginalisation means, who has marginalised or is marginalising others, to what extent and in what directions every group is marginalising itself; who, is marginalising who at the centre, in the states, at the local government and individual levels; and who is marginalising who in the economy, the civil service, the armed forces and police, and in society and politics? We also know what is happening in the educational and diplomatic sectors, as well as in commerce and industry. Those who care to know are conversant with Nigerian laws, how they are made, and in what ways they are interpreted and applied for certain groups. Even the man in the street knows what is happening and had happened in the judiciary. The leanings, biases and insincerity of some sections of the press are also well known as to require no recounting, except to add that those biases had in the past hardly assisted the solution of a single problem.
A dead Nigerian soldier
The first general answer, then to the question of who are to be reconciled in Nigeria is that everyone or group in Nigeria in some way and to some extent needs reconciliation with the other group or person. But the actual specific answer is that there are groups who, more than other, require reconciliation with either the rest or with the country as such. There are groups who need a greater sense of belonging to the Nigerian polity and whose complete reconciliation with the rest will be a mighty boost and solid foundation for Nigerian progress and development. There is no doubt whatsoever, that there are groups who have been deliberately sacrificed or subordinated than the rest. And there is no doubt at all that since the end of the civil war, certain groups, more than others, have borne a greater burden of the Nigerian drift, and sacrificed more than others for the sake of participating in the entity called Nigeria. Despite the cynicism and hypocrisy which have been elevated to high art in some quarter, even those enjoying the riches of One Nigeria and some of those who believe they have started to see at the close of the twentieth century that the Igbos have borne the greatest brunt of One Nigeria since 1966, and they continue to do so today. 32 years are a long enough time for the injustices perpetrated against a race to be reconciled, and for their sufferings to be brought to a close. 32 years are a more than sufficient number of decades for fellow Nigerians to have exacted their pounds of flesh out of the Igbo blood, and 32 years are a long enough gap between the declaration of "the three RS" and the actual implementation of just one of them
Reconciliation.
Obstacles to a genuine national reconciliation in Nigeria Why do we not simply proceed along the road and reconcile when in essence everyone appears willing to or interested in doing so? There are many reasons why genuine reconciliation has continued to elude our nation and people. The first among them is that those in a position to do so have either, by omission or commission, been unable to identity the offended groups, and the offences committed against them. Another major obstacle to national reconciliation is the forked-tongue approach to it: In other words, in the same way that the snake has a forked-tongue, there is so much double-talk about reconciliation in Nigeria. So many would-be reconcilers and reconcilees would wish to eat their cake and have it, or to reconcile without repair.
General Yakubu Gowon, former military Head of State of Nigeria
There is nothing in this reconciliation process more fraudulent than seeking for solidarity and reconciliation, and at the same time insisting upon holding on tenaciously to the ill-gotten gains of the conflict that one is trying to reconcile - and on top of all this pretend that nothing had happened justifying a repair or that the other person should accept to reconcile at a loss.
For example, there is no way that the Igbos can show solidarity on matters like June 12 or the assumed plight of some peoples in a situation where no consideration is given by such peoples to the national plight of Ndigbo - and worse, when indeed, they contributed much to the Igbo predicament. For, as long as we are pointed at or rather painted as rebels, and then, treated as such for so long, shall the Igbos be delighted and celebrate the emergence of new rebels, and welcome them into the great band of rebellion? We saw many years ago why some people might rebel some day in the future, and did a lot in sympathy for a reasoned resolution of their plight. But, they not only failed to see why Ndigbo may be rebels in the future, rather they demonstrated not an iota of sympathy with our plight, but contributed in the most brutal terms to worsening it, and yet, do not even pretend today as if it is human beings that were so treated.
A Biafran soldier, 1968
The Ikemba is not, and cannot be unfair to anybody and, in particular, would not wish to appear harsh towards our compatriots West of the Niger. And if, indeed, I appear to be harsh towards anybody, it is because I have genuine love for them. What I learnt in school was that the opposite of North is South, not East or West. Therefore, whenever I speak with any degree of frankness about these matters, it is because of the genuine intention to build up a viable southern contribution to a progressive Nigeria.
There can be no genuine reconciliation today except the stated and well-publicised objectives of the original reconciliation explicit in the three Rs are elevated from the levels of perfunctory gesticulation to that of practical reality. The Igbos are marginalised today as they were in the early 70s. If there is any difference, it is only evident in the marginalisation's increasing mindlessness and crudity. Our people continue to be marginalized in the economy. They play little or no role in the huge official economy, and laws are deliberately made to exclude them from it. Ndigbo are thus deprived from making a living by lawful methods while vindictive laws are evolved which tend to ensure that they do not make a living either even in the unlawful ones. Not that they even dominate the unlawful trade, only that for one reason or the other, it is the criminality of Igbo sons and daughters that get most intercepted and most reported. If Ndigbo do not shout as loud as might be expected, it is only because in Nigeria, Ndigbo live in fear. The Igbos continue to be appointed like the rest to official positions, but strategic ministries such as agriculture, works and housing, defence, internal affairs, petroleum resources and so on, continue to be denied them. In the same way, there appears to be parastatals and directorships or secretaryships of federal ministries that would not bear seeing an Igbo. The situation is the same with regard to postings in the armed forces and the police where any long list to strategic positions hardly includes an Okeke or Okafor. Our children continue to be denied admissions to schools and universities based on carefully crafted criteria that exclude the Igbo youths, and when those who get admitted graduate, they face the same discriminations in finding jobs. In Nigeria, governments operate a very sophisticated glass ceiling to the detriment of certain groups of citizens.
Citizenship in Nigeria is so ill-defined and ill-protected that the itinerant Igbo is still made not to know when and how he is a citizen anywhere in the country, substantially so as to enable those coverting his hard-earned belongings to see enough loopholes with which to threaten his life and property at any chosen mad moment. This is not as if so much has not been said and written about this, or that it is a problem so awesome that it cannot be solved. It is only that it appears to square well with the high calculations of some people to continue to preach One Nigeria while keeping citizenship - the very essential tool for realising the oneness - an uncertain issue.
Igbo communities sharing borders with non-Igbo ones have without exception, had the state borders driven to their back yards, ignoring ancestral boundaries, pre-colonial and colonial demarcations, and other clear evidence showing that those territories are Igbo. Each time a boundary adjustment commission is set up, it now appears obvious that the real targets are the Igbo borders and border communities. It actually seems in some cases that in addition to depriving Igbos of their lands, deliberate efforts are also made to encourage constant hostility against the Igbo communities by those who had unfairly gained from their political weaknesses.
On the matter of this political disadvantage, so much has also been said and written. Because government in Nigeria has since 1966 been systematically cleansed since that date, it means that Ndigbo since the last thirty-two years have mostly been spectators in, instead of wielders of power. And because of the denial to Ndigbo of any effective say, participation or sharing in the power equation, it means that those ingredients of governance and polities such as merit, competition and excellence, which are germane to the Igbo culture and essential to the Igbo progress, have also lost out in the power equation in Nigeria - replaced, as it were, with opposite concepts that play no role in twentieth century progress.
We can go on to discuss the Igbo share in federal infrastructure, industries and the like. We can give an example with Lagos where a huge chunk of Nigerian wealth - most of which came from the East - was and is being sunk to develop and prosper, and we may mention Abuja compare the development of these two and other cities West and North of the country, with the reverse situation in the East, where, instead of developing, the cities are deteriorating and gradually crawling a dead end. No city in the East benefited half as much from the oil boom as the cities North and West of the country, and all cries to build a city in the East of a comparable standard with Lagos and Abuja, have fallen on deaf ears. And, these are money and oil from the East!
The compactness and density in the East have created a degree of soil erosion and other environmental hazards more extreme, dangerous and costly than the waves at the Bar Beach and the speed of the Sahara Dessert, yet it is these latter two that attract an urgency of treatment that ought to be reserved for the already evacuating villages and compounds of the East that are facing an ecological disaster the magnitude of which is unknown to history. If the Igbo homelands cannot be made habitable, and life and citizenship for Ndigbo are rendered almost unbearable in other parts of the country, it means that the Igbos are expected to float in the air and stay nowhere - the same way that they are prevented from living legally, and prevented from surviving illegally.
The components of the Igbo marginalization are so vast that they would be impossible to recapture in a speech of this nature: the pole to pole vindictive police check-points planted along Igbo trade routes, the multiple taxes levied upon Igbo traders and the patently unfair patterns of their assessment; the general feelings of insecurity nationwide by Igbos, especially at such times when other people's affairs are re-chanelled into bouts of steam against Ndigbo, the constant shifting and re-location of markets by some state governments as part of the ploy to compel Igbo traders to develop new hamlets; the issue of appointments, promotions and postings in the federal bureaucracy, the armed forces and the police. The list could be endless, but for an average Igbo, never boring. These are the real obstacles to genuine national reconciliation in Nigeria, and any honest and sincere intention to reconcile the nation must begin with these matters which affect the lives and happiness of other people on a daily basis.
Igbo communities sharing borders with non-Igbo ones have without exception, had the state borders driven to their back yards, ignoring ancestral boundaries, pre-colonial and colonial demarcations, and other clear evidences showing that those territories are Igbo. Each time a boundary adjustment commission is set up, it now appears obvious that the real targets are the Igbo borders and border communities. It actually seems in some cases that in addition to depriving Igbos of their lands, deliberate efforts are also made to encourage constant hostility against the Igbo communities by those who had unfairly gained from their political weaknesses.
On the matter of this political disadvantage, so much has also been said and written. Because government in Nigeria has since 1966 been dominated by the military, and because Igbo influence in the latter has been systematically cleaned since that date, it means that Ndigbo since the last thirty-two years have mostly been spectators in, instead of wielders of power. And because of the denial to Ndigbo of any effective say, participation or sharing in the power equation, it means that those ingredients of governance and politics such as merit, competition and excellence, which are germane to the Igbo culture and essential to the Igbo progress, have also lost out in the power equation in Nigeria - replaced, as it were, with opposite concepts that play no role in twentieth century progress.
We can go on to discuss the Igbo share in federal infrastructure industries and the like. We can give an example with Lagos where a hung chunk of Nigerian wealth - most of which came from the East - was and is being sunk to develop and prosper, and we may mention Abuja where a similar process is going on to everybody's delight. We can compare the development of these two and other cities West and North of the country, with the reverse situation in the East, where, instead of developing, the cities are deteriorating and gradually crawling to a dead end. No city in the East benefitted half as much from the oil boom as the cities North West of the country, and all cries to build a city in the East of a comparable standard with Lagos and Abuja, have fallen on deaf ears. And, these are money and oil from the East!
The compactness and density in the East have created a degree of soil erosion and other environmental hazards more extreme, dangerous and costly than the waves at the bar Beach and the speed of the Sahara Dessert, yet it is these latter two that attract an urgency of treatment that ought to be reserved for the already evacuating villages and compounds of the East that are defacing an ecological disaster the magnitude of which is unknown to history. If the Igbo homelands cannot be made habitable, and life and citizenship for Ndigbo are rendered almost unbearable in other parts f the country, it means that the Igbos are expected to float in the air and stay nowhere - the same way that they are prevented from living loyally, and prevented from surviving illegally.
The components of the Igbo marginalisation are so vast that they would be impossible to recapture in a speech of this nature the pole to pole vindictive police check-points planted along Igbo trade routes, the multiple taxes levied upon Igbo traders and the patently unfair patterns of their assessment, the general feelings of insecurity nationwide by Igbos, especially at such that times when other people's affairs are re-chanelled into bouts of steam against Ndigbo, the constant shifting and re-location of markets by some state governments as part of the ploy to compel Igbo traders to develop new hamlets; the issue of appointments, promotions and postings in the federal bureaucracy, the armed forces and the police. The list could be endless, but for an average Igbo, never boring. These are the real obstacles to genuine national reconciliation in Nigeria, and any honest and sincere intention to reconcile the nation must begin with these matters which affect the lives and happiness of other people on a daily basis.
Steps to Genuine National Reconciliation In Nigeria
FOR a true national reconciliation to take place in Nigeria, certain steps, proceeding from the above analyses, must be taken. Many of these steps are inter -wined and, as such, must be taken simultaneously. We need, first of all, to establish the offended group in this reconciliation process. This is very easy for us to do because the pretended reconciliation of the early seventies evolved around the policy of Three Rs (Rehabilitation, Reconstruction and Reconciliation), had already established that Ndigbo are the main offended group, and it is they and the rest of Nigeria that need to be re-conciled with each other. We only need to affirm that since no genuine reconciliation actually took place they, the NARECOM can now make it possible so that the untold hardship and travails of the Igbo people can now be brought to a close.
In connection with the foregoing, specific mentions should be made of the place of Igbo military officers and other ranks, Igbo civil servants, and the question of glass-ceiling imposed on the Igbos in their various places f work. To start with, all retired soldiers on both sides of the civil war should have their ranks recognised and their retirement benefits correspondingly effected.
The war ended twenty-eight years ago, and these retired soldiers constitute no objects of fear to or competition with currently serving officers. They should, therefore, be given the honour due to them, and be welcomed back into the comaraderie of those who served. As a matter of military ideology, they should, therefore, get the protocol of their ranks and the benefits of retirement for their service. The same treatment should be extended to the civil servants of a similar category and predicament as the military men.
Next is the matter of the so-called abandoned property, an unheard of concept woven around the Igbos for the sake of exacting unofficial reparations from them for unstated offences. These "abandoned properties" have to be returned, even if their return disrupt things, so long as we are aware that the things being disrupted are actually the injustice imposed on innocent people solely by virtue of their being Igbos. and, also so long as we are aware that such "disruption" are a necessary sacrifice for peace. In any of a possibly few instances where for whatever reasons it is impossible to return any property, a just compensation must be paid, and for it to be just, the compensation must go through a proper process of arbitration.
We had above highlighted some of the concepts and policies around which the marginalisation of Ndigbo were schemed and implemented. As a matter of urgency, and in the spirit of reconciliation and peace, those concepts and policies should now be dismantled to enable Nigeria move forward. Nigeria after twenty-eight years, should be able to put a symbolic end to the war by all of us courageously coming together to re-absorb the Igbos into the Nigerian society.
All the measures and discussions above are in the short-term. But we also have to take a long-term view. It is true that a man may fight and be tired, but his offsprings, knowing that the matter concerns their birthrights, may harbour ill-feelings forever. There should be no dis-ability that remains a left-over from the war, and no Nigerian should be made to suffer for the sins of his father or father's father if we intend to have peace. It is time that we Nigerians searched our hearts on this matter of union. In doing so, we should stumble upon the obvious fact that only an accident of colonialism brought these widely disparate peoples together, and that around this historical accident, a legacy has emerged. Hence, like all children with a legacy, it is our duty to make that inheritance viable.
Finally, it would be important to emphasize for the umpteenth time that none of the above noble objectives can be achieved or the nation's problems solved by the attitude of the winner taking it all. Things in Nigeria will reach everyone, but we cannot fulfill our destiny in Africa if we continue as we are. In fact, the disarray in Nigeria has a direct causal relationship with the disaster in Africa, and the whites like both. A genuine national reconciliation is, therefore, vital not only for Nigeria but for black peoples everywhere for, without it, Africans have nowhere to draw inspiration. I have met no one in the Igbo society who is fundamentally against One Nigeria; all I see and hear everywhere are pleadings and sermons, that it be based on truth, sincerity, equality and justice. If the National Reconciliation Committee is interested in achieving this objective, there are so many Igbos and other Nigerians, including my humble self, willing to extend a helping hand.
I have tended in all I have said so far to see Nigeria and her need for reconciliation through Igbo lenses. I make no apologies for this for I believe that it is natural.
I have also tended to see Nigeria through the eyes of a rebel - the arch-rebel. this also is natural for I cannot escape myself. I am and have been a rebel with a cause. That cause has been simply the protection of my people. My people, of course denotes all who also consider my kind their own people.
I speak for a section of Nigeria which other sections would prefer to ignore, a section of Nigeria which is constantly excluded. a people denied the cure for ravages of a war which was ended with 'No Victor, No Vanguished' yet a people surrounded by the lingering pain of defeat. We are a people who lie in fear - all the concessions we make are concessions made in fear for we are weak. Because we are weak we fear and because we are afraid we dare not seek liberty rather we applaud benevolence. We seek favours not rights and instead of truth, we make sycophancy the currency of our social interaction. We partners of the Nigerian enterprise want Equity, we want Social Justice, we want Peace - all we continue to point out is but this - 'That if peace cannot be maintained with honour then to us it is no longer Peace like Unity is a matter of choice. We either want Peace or not - we either want Unity or not. The only reason why these precious commodities continue to elude Nigeria is our lack of honesty. Neither should be subject to double - talk, both require sacrifice. We are either willing to make the requisite sacrifice or we are not. If we want peace we must be prepared to cure the ills of conflict. If we want unity we must be prepared to accept the unity of equal partners in an enterprise and reject the unity of Jonas in the belly of the whale.
Nigeria can only be reconciled and her destiny fulfilled, by celebrating her pluralism, by an absolute commitment to secularism, by a total embrace of democracy and by an unshakable political will to remain together. We have fought one war, Nigeria may not survive a second war. My fellow countrymen and women we have an urgent need to realise that in a nation that is composed of diverse elements every effort must be made to reassure each of the diverse elements whilst the emphasis must be to design, to establish and to protect all institutions that unite the Nation because without the Nation all national effort will be void. We have fought a war which ended in a no victor no vanguished verdict... We have to realise that this verdict was not so much an evidence of magnanimity, it was rather a recognition of the objective truth of the contemporary Nigerian situation - the war gave to Nigeria, victory it did not give justice. Without justice the pain of war persists and remains a most potent provocation.
Finally, seeking to reconcile Nigeria, I wish to draw attention to one point that is often missed. We require to appreciate the destructive power of boundaries. Boundaries promote tension - Tension cultivates a siege mentality, a siege mentality nurtures a defence mechanism and a defence mechanism invariably leads to war. Mental boundaries are just as potent as physical boundaries. I hesitate to suggest that this might be the source of our problems. From independence till today all we have done is to proliferate boundaries when it might have served as better to remove more boundaries. Instead of creating more states perhaps we could have reduced states to the least number acceptable.
For the third time. Let me take the opportunity of this talk to reaffirm to all Nigerians that we Ndigbo are Nigerians, we need to be Nigerians and if the truth were to be told, we seem more committed to the Unity of Nigeria than any group in Nigeria. We live Nigeria, our ambition is Nigeria our long term interest and Nigeria's long term interest are one. We want peace but for as long as Nigeria maintains us in a quarantine as rebels the reconciliation which we seek will not be complete.
It was Tacitus who said that 'It is part of human nature to hate the man you have hurt.' I believe this is true Nigeria yet faced with this urgent need for national reconciliation. I am proud to proclaim hurt not withstanding the hate, not withstanding that we approach our Nigerian brothers and sisters without bitterness and without rancour. Sometime ago I had the honour of welcoming no other personality as Ken Saro Wiwa to the scared band of rebels. since then, I note with bewilderment, how that band has grown today, I welcome the late comers to the band of Rebels. It is gratifying to note that not only my kind are rebels now in our beloved Nigeria. It remains my constant hope that when we come to reconciliation we shall all be reconciled together.
I have also tended to see Nigeria through the eyes of a rebel - the arch-rebel, this also is natural for I cannot escape myself. I am and have been a rebel with a cause. That cause has been simply the protection of my people. My people, of course denotes all who also consider my kind their own people.
I speak for a section of Nigeria which other sections would prefer to ignore, a section of Nigeria which is constantly excluded, a people denied the cure for ravages of a war which was ended with 'No victor, No Vanquished' yet a people surrounded by the lingering pain of defeat. We are a people who lie in fear - all the concessions we make are concessions made in fear for we are weak. Because we are weak we fear and because we are afraid we dare not seek liberty rather we applaud benevolence. We seek favours not rights and instead of truth, we make sycophancy the currency of our social interaction. We partners of the Nigerian enterprise want Equity, we want Social Justice, we want Peace - all we continue to point out is but this - 'That if peace cannot be maintained with honour then to us it is no longer Peace like Unity is a matter of choice. We either want Peace or not - we either want Unity or not. The only reason why these precious commodities continue to elude Nigeria is our lack of honesty. Neither should be subject to double - talk, both require sacrifice. We are either willing to make the requisite sacrifice or we are not. If we want peace we must be prepared to cure the ills of conflict. If we want unity we must be prepared to accept the unity of equal partners in an enterprise and reject the unity of Jonas in the belly of the whale.
Nigeria can only be reconciled and her destiny fulfilled, by celebrating her pluralism, by an absolute commitment to secularism, by a total embrace of democracy and by an unshakable political will to remain together. We have fought one war, Nigeria may not survive a second war. My fellow countrymen and women we have an urgent need to realise that in a nation that is composed of diverse elements every effort must be made to reassure each of the diverse elements whilst the emphasis must be to design, to establish and to protect all institutions that unite the Nation because without the Nation all national effort will be void. We have fought a war which ended in a no victor no vanquished verdict. We have to realise that this verdict was not so much an evidence of magnanimity; it was rather a recognition of the objective truth of the contemporary Nigerian situation - the war gave to Nigeria, victory it did not give justice. Without justice the pain of war persists and remains a most potent provocation.
Finally, seeking to reconcile Nigeria, I wish to draw attention to one point that is often missed. We require to appreciate the destructive power of boundaries. Boundaries promote tension - Tension cultivates a siege mentality; a siege mentality nurtures a defence mechanism and a defence mechanism invariably leads to war. Mental boundaries are just as potent as physical boundaries. I hesitate to suggest that this might be the source of our problems. From independence till today all we have done is to proliferate boundaries when it might have served as better to remove more boundaries. Instead of creating more states perhaps we could have reduced states to the least number acceptable.
For the third time. Let me take the opportunity of this talk to reaffirm to all Nigerians that we Ndigbo are Nigerians, we need to be Nigerians and if the truth were to be told, we seem more committed to the Unity of Nigeria than any group in Nigeria. We live Nigeria, our ambition is Nigeria our long term interest and Nigeria's long term interest are one. We want peace but for as long as Nigeria maintains us in a quarantine as rebels the reconciliation which we seek will not be complete.
It was Tacitus who said that 'It is part of human nature to hate the man you have hurt.' I believe this is true Nigeria yet faced with this urgent need for national reconciliation. I am proud to proclaim hurt not withstanding the hate, not withstanding that we approach our Nigerian brothers and sisters without bitterness and without rancour. Sometime ago I had the honour of welcoming no other personality as Ken Saro Wiwa to the scared bank of rebels. Since then, I note with bewilderment, how that bank has grown today, I welcome the late comers to the bank of rebels. It is gratifying to note that not only my kind are rebels now in our beloved Nigeria. It remains my constant hope that when we come to reconciliation we shall all be reconciled together.
Philip Emeagwali's Website | Interview with THE GUARDIAN | Books on Biafra