Former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Wednesday warned that many of the factors that triggered Nigeria’s three-year civil war in 1967 are still with the country, stressing that every effort must be made to prevent a recurrence of such a conflict, which resulted in huge losses of lives and property
Obasanjo made the remark while receiving a book, research materials, videos and interviews of eyewitnesses documenting the Asaba Massacre and related events, compiled by the Chairman of the Asaba Memorial Trust and the Asaba Image Branding and Project Committee, Chief Chuck Nduka-Eze, at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, Abeokuta.
He described the prospect of another civil war as unthinkable, insisting that the country had already fought “one civil war too many.”
He said, “What went wrong in the past is essential to preventing a repeat. We must do everything humanly possible to prevent its recurrence.”
He called on Nigerians to collectively adopt a “never again” resolve against civil war.
“Some of the things that led to the Civil War are still with us. How long will this remain so?
“I was with a colleague when Gen Yakubu Gowon said that we would not survive a second civil war as a country.
I believe we have fought one civil war too many already.
“To say that we will have a second civil war, God forbid.
We must understand what happened, condemn what should not have happened, and do everything humanly possible to prevent its recurrence.
“And then, for us to be able to say, ‘never again,’ what are we going to do to make that possible?
“Thank you very much for making people know about it, for people to learn from it, and for people to take a vow that it should never happen again. I will do everything possible to ensure that there is never again a civil war in this country,” he said.
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God forbid