Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has stressed the need for Nigerians
to embrace peace and dialogue instead of beating war drums, saying what
the nation needs right now is better communication and not to go on
another round of civil war.
Reacting to the spate of protests and demonstrations by pro-Biafra
agitators in some parts of South-east and Lagos recently, the former
president, who is also a civil war veteran, said: “Our differences could
only be addressed when issues are discussed instead of going to war.”
He said, “We do not need another civil war. We had fought one before. I was part of it.”
Speaking at the unveiling of a banquet hall in his name built by
Executive Vice President, Centre for Policy and Foreign Engagement, Dr.
Agbai Eke Agbai, at the burial of his mother, Mama Enyidya Beatrice
Agbai, in Abiriba, Abia State, Obasanjo said, “I saw with my eyes. I
heard with my ears. I smelled with my nose. What we need is better
communication. And I am here to communicate with you.”
He stated further, “What I enjoy most is the cultural diversity.
Earlier in the week, I was in Benue State and I enjoyed the cultural
dance. Since I arrived here yesterday I have enjoyed the cultural
dances. What we need to address is how to reduce unemployment, how to
reduce poverty, and how to hold our leaders accountable to their
promises.”
Supporters of pro-Biafra groups had staged protests on major streets in
Owerri, Onitsha, Port Harcourt and some other major cities in the
South-east following the arrest of the leader of the Indigenous People
of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, who was ordered to be released last week.
Kanu, who operated an illegal radio station- Radio Biafra, had called for a separate state of Biafra.
Kanu, who operated an illegal radio station- Radio Biafra, had called for a separate state of Biafra.
The demonstrators, comprising members of Movement for the Sovereign
State of Biafra (MASSOB) and the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB),
chanted pro-Biafra songs and war songs.
The spate of demonstration by the separatist groups was centred on an
issue that had again exposed deep and longstanding ethnic fault lines in
the country.
A previous unilateral declaration of an independent Republic of Biafra
in 1967 led to a brutal civil war that left more than one million dead
in nearly three years of fighting.By Festus Akanbi
Courtesy of This Day Live
When News Breaks Out, We Break In. (The 2014 Bloggies Finalist)
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