FORMER President Olusegun Obasanjo has warned that many of the conditions that triggered Nigeria’s Civil War remain unresolved, cautioning that the country cannot afford to experience another conflict of such magnitude.
He stressed that regardless of whatever arguments or justifications some people may advance, Nigeria must do everything possible to prevent a recurrence of civil war, insisting that the nation may not survive another one.
News Point Nigeria reports that Obasanjo made the remarks in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, during the presentation of a historical document on the Nigerian Civil War titled Asaba Massacre, authored by the Isama Aje of Asaba, Chief Chuck Nduka-Eze, at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library.
The former president warned that many of the issues that led to the civil war have persisted over the years and should not be ignored.
“Some of the things that led to the civil war are still on. Now, how long will this be with us?
“I was with a colleague when General Yakubu Gowon said, ‘We will not survive a second civil war as a country,’ and I believe that we have fought one civil war too many already.
“So, to say that we will have a second civil war, God forbid. And getting ourselves to know some of what happened, and to say yes, we condemn what happened that should not have happened, and then make sure that we do everything humanly possible to prevent its recurrence.
“And then, for us to be able to say, ‘Never again.’ What are we going to have for us to be able to say, ‘Never again’?
“Thank you very much for making people know about it, for people to learn about it, and for people to take a vow that never again. And I say to you, never. I will do everything possible to say never,” Obasanjo said.
The former president described the historical account as an important contribution to preserving Nigeria’s past and ensuring that future generations learn from it.
“We pride ourselves that we preserve the past, we capture the present, and we inspire the future. We capture the past, and this is the past; we want to capture it, we want to know about it,” he said.
Obasanjo, who fought in the Nigerian Civil War, acknowledged that he had often declined to comment in detail on the Asaba Massacre because the area was under the command of the late General Murtala Muhammed during the conflict.
According to him, many people had approached him over the years seeking clarification on Murtala Muhammed’s role in the Civil War and the Asaba operations, but he had consistently maintained that he could not speak authoritatively on the matter. He, however, pledged to study the transcript and audiovisual materials presented by the author.
“I must confess, and you know that I was involved in the civil war. When people talk about the Asaba Massacre, I always confess that I cannot give details of it,” he said.
Obasanjo also recalled intervening to prevent some atrocities during the war, including stopping a soldier from raping a woman in Asaba, noting that such an act would have attracted vicarious liability.
Presenting the historical document, Chief Chuck Nduka-Eze said the Asaba Massacre publication, produced in both print and audiovisual formats, is based on extensive and carefully cross-referenced evidence, including eyewitness accounts, recorded interviews, archival materials, audiovisual documentation and established historical scholarship.
According to him, the available evidence presents a consistent account of what transpired after federal troops entered Asaba, then a civilian population centre in the former Mid-West Region.
“The evidence establishes a recurring pattern. Civilians were assembled in public places under conditions of fear and uncertainty. During these assemblies, residents were required to proclaim allegiance to the Nigerian State, including being instructed to declare ‘One Nigeria’ and otherwise demonstrate loyalty.
“In a setting where identity and suspicion had become dangerously intertwined, these acts were understood by those present as affirmations of belonging and safety. Men were then separated from women and children. Thereafter, unarmed male civilians were killed in a manner consistently described across multiple independent accounts.
“Compliance with these demands did not secure protection. The sequence, repeated across testimonies, reflects a tragic contradiction in which individuals who openly affirmed their identity and loyalty as Nigerians were nonetheless killed in the most undignified manner by the same Nigerian State to which they pledged their allegiance.
“This sequence is corroborated by testimonies, documentary materials and scholarly works, and remains materially unchallenged. While precise casualty figures cannot be definitively fixed, the convergence of credible evidence points to a substantial loss of civilian life (over a thousand men) and a profound rupture in the fabric of the Asaba community,” he said.
Like Obasanjo, Nduka-Eze warned that many of the underlying issues that culminated in the Nigerian Civil War remain unresolved, noting that ethnic groups across the country continue to relate to one another with suspicion.