Obasanjo: Lets Put The Past Behind Us

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo yesterday in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital reflected on the civil war in Nigeria and urged Nigerians to put it behind them. Speaking during a grand reception organised in his honour by the
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the Southwest, Obasanjo, a major player during the war that threatened the unity of Nigeria said “enough is enough’’.

Obasanjo, who said he had no apology for some of the decisions he took as head of state and president in the country, added that most of his actions were based on democratic arrangements even during his military regime. His words: “Action and reaction are always equal and opposite in physics, but reaction is always greater in human interaction. The time has come for us to put behind us the civil war in Nigeria, enough is enough.

If after 43 years, we are still mourning and groaning about the civil war, I wonder’’, the elder statesman stated. The ex-head of state, who was responding to Ben Gbulie, another major character during the war, appealed to Nigerians to work for the unity of the country. “I believe the time has come when all of us in this country should put the civil war behind us.

Whether you call it Biafra, whether you call yourself rebels or we called you rebels at that time or you call us vandals or we call ourselves whatever, I believe enough is enough on the Nigerian civil war. “I had a cousin who died last year at the age of about ninety three, I think. Until she died, she believed that her son was still alive in the Eastern part of Nigeria where he went to fight. “But I know that he could not have been alive.

I know that he had died. There are many like that. That was the sacrifice that we all made on both sides. If it was possible for me to remove my trousers now for you to see, I would show you where I have shrapnel or grenade”, he added. Among the dignitaries were former President of Ghana, John Kufor, former Interim National Government, Chief Ernest Shonekan, the Senate President, David Mark; Governor Murtala Nyako of Adamawa State and a host of others.