Exactly
47 years ago today, 30th May 1967, in response to widespread pogroms targeted
mainly against the peoples of then Eastern region of Nigeria, a pogrom that had
resulted in thousands of fatalities, the Republic of Biafra announced its
secession from Nigeria.
This event was followed by a genocidal war of attrition against the Igbo nation, who comprised a sizable proportion of the population of the Republic of Biafra as declared.
The powers that hold sway over the Nigerian contraption, has since the Biafran Genocide, deliberately refused to educate the population on the causes, course and consequences of the Biafran genocide.
We now have a greater percentage of our population oblivious of the Biafran Genocide and inadvertently willing to effect a repeat thereof, albeit in other parts of the country.
Those who fail to learn from history are bound to repeat its pains.
This event was followed by a genocidal war of attrition against the Igbo nation, who comprised a sizable proportion of the population of the Republic of Biafra as declared.
The powers that hold sway over the Nigerian contraption, has since the Biafran Genocide, deliberately refused to educate the population on the causes, course and consequences of the Biafran genocide.
We now have a greater percentage of our population oblivious of the Biafran Genocide and inadvertently willing to effect a repeat thereof, albeit in other parts of the country.
Those who fail to learn from history are bound to repeat its pains.
Happenings
in today’s Nigeria: ranging from the terror unleashed in the northern fringes
of the country by Boko Haram to the deployment of terrorism and terror tactics
as avenue to seize political power by elements in the core north; from the
ethnic cleansing going on in a massive scale in Nigeria’s Middle belt region to
the mass-murders perpetuated by ‘Fulani’ Herdsmen across the Nigerian State; from inter-religious conflagrations pitting
Muslims against Christians to bloody skirmishes amongst neighboring
communities; all signals which preceded outright civil war in Nigeria in the
late 60’s have replicated themselves albeit with greater viciousness and
violence.
Our
inability and or failure to imbibe any lessons from our violent past has most
unfortunately set us on a direct trajectory to repeat the violence of the past –
those who forget genocides, end up repeating the genocide.
As we today remember the millions of victims of the Biafran Genocide, we also realize that a restructured and renegotiated Nigerian contraption can yet afford us an opportunity to avoid the seemingly inevitable calamity facing us.
As we today remember the millions of victims of the Biafran Genocide, we also realize that a restructured and renegotiated Nigerian contraption can yet afford us an opportunity to avoid the seemingly inevitable calamity facing us.
Picture: Children suffering from Kwashiorkor
(extreme malnutrition) during the Biafran Genocide – Mass Starvation, which
resulted in the death of over 2 million people, was adopted as a cardinal strategy
of prosecuting war by the Nigerian Government against the peoples of Biafra.
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