By Kolawole Ojebisi
Presidential Candidate of Labour Party (LP) in 2023 election, Peter Obi, has explained why he felicitated a former Head of States, Gen. Yakubu Gowon, on his 90th birthday.
He said this in series of posts on his X handle, despite criticism against him for celebrating the elder statesman.
This stems from widespread criticism from Nigerians of Igbo extraction who considered Obi’s action as nothing short of adding insult to injury as many took to social media to reminisce about the Nigerian civil war which lasted for almost three years.
Some people from the South East geopolitical zone even said they would rather consign the ugly incident to the heap of history than remember it as it brings sad memories that bring them to tears.
But reacting to the development Obi said:
“My felicitation with (sic) Nigeria’s former military Head of state, Gen. Yakubu Gowon, on his 90th birthday anniversary, which was celebrated by a cross-section of Nigerians, has been received with mixed feelings by some Nigerians, and some have expressed their sentiments publicly, and privately to me.
“I share in some of them, and I feel that as a leader in the vanguard of providing direction for our country to shift base away from all our shortcomings, including the issues that caused our avoidable cruel civil war, I needed to show to the World that the ultimate heroism is forgiving the enemy and moving forward,” Obi said.
He maintained that he was under 10 years old when the Nigeria/Biafra war started in 1967.
“Most of my supporters across the country joining me get a new Nigeria were born after the war, and I didn’t feel I should drag them back to the dark side of our history by being unforgiving,” Obi said.
The former Anambra State governor said indisputably, the darkest part of Nigeria’s 64-year journey as a nation is the 30 months of civil war from 1967 to 1970 and God Almighty whose way is not human way must have a reason why he kept the Chief Prosecutor of the war who is General Gowon alive to be 90 years and the man who saw the end of the war, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo to be there at 87 years super-heading all the moves to see a reconciled and just Nigeria.
He said there was also a developing new spirit why the same country, Nigeria, gave the Biafra leader, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, a heroic national burial on 2 March 2012, when he died, coincidentally under his tenure as governor of Anambra State.
Obi said the status of the burial given to Ojukwu remains the boldest indication to the World that Nigeria as a country is disposed to moving forward in the spirit of reconciliation.
He said: “There are various ways human beings can respond to acts of evil, especially one that claimed millions of lives.
“One is the tragedy of revenge, and another offers the hope of forgiveness in an attempt to forget. The latter conforms neatly with the template I adopted in greeting Gen. Gowon at 90 years old.
“Whatever reason I will give for joining the rest of Nigerians to greet General Gowon, may never truly conform with some persons, especially direct victims of the war, but anger, hurt, and bitterness are the commonest responses to cruelty.”
He said this fuels sectarianism, leads to resistance and avoidable blood feuds that is being witnessed across the globe, and even in Nigeria and it does not abate.
“It’s hate that has put our society, blessed by God to be the greatest land in the black World, down, but this hate has to stop.
“Must you greet him? Why didn’t you keep quiet?’ some angrily say to me, but that will still be injurious to our journey to a new Nigeria where all political vices, including but not limited to ethnic, religious, bitterness, and regional segregation, are eliminated.
“Various personal experiences of victims of injustice across the globe who have chosen to put ugly things behind them visibly demonstrate the transformative power of forgiveness in healing personal and collective wounds.
“With these explanations, I like to admonish all those angered by my greetings to the elder statesman to bear with me and join me in this mission to create a country where hate, unforgiving spirit, and other vices will give way for justice,” Obi said.
