BIAFRA: EZEKWESILI WEEPS, RELIVING CIVIL WAR EXPERIENCE, SAYS NIGERIA MUST REMAIN ONE

IKEJA, Lagos, Nigeria – A former Minister of Education, Dr. Oby Ezekwesili, was full of tears as she narrated her experience during Nigeria’s Civil War, also known as the ‘Biafran War’, between 1967 and 1970.

Dr. Ezekwesili relived the experience at the 2017 edition of the Applause Achievers Awards Night, Symposium and Unity Concert, at the Sheraton Hotel and Towers in Lagos.

She affirmed that though she and her family went through harrowing situations during the war, her father made sure that none of her family members nursed any form of bitterness when the war was over.

“I was born in Lagos, my family was based in Lagos, my father travelled to the east before the war suddenly started. I was just four years old, my mother took me, with my younger sister, (Nkiru), on her back and being pregnant with my younger brother, her first son and then we began the journey to the east.

“My younger sister had kwashiorkor in the process. I grew up overnight, I got a mark on my thigh through the fire I made while trying to take care of my younger sister. My father had to start a school so that we didn’t lose touch with knowledge, it was painful, but at the end of the war in 1970, my father made sure that we never had any bitterness in our souls.”

“We quickly returned to Lagos and started off life again and all through my life, I have never seen myself as being less than any Nigerian,” she added.

Forgiveness across the divides

Dr Ezekwesili maintained that there must be forgiveness across all the divides in the country to put an end to all the bickering and agitation once and for all.

She expressed dismay over the unpatriotic attitude of some citizens to the collective ideals of the nation, as she asked the audience to join her in kneeling to pray for the nation.

“It’s like we decided that we are a people that God put together but we are determined not to achieve the purpose why God put us together; whereas the only thing that God sees when he looks at us is our humanity before he sees every other thing that we call ourselves, so as I join these children in kneeling, let us ask God to listen to our heart cries today on behalf of our land,” she emphasised.

Good governance

The ex-minister, who was also the Vice-President of the World Bank’s Africa division spoke on “Good governance as a fulcrum for national unity;” as she identified character, competence and capacity as major ingredients that Nigerians must seek for in leadership.

She enjoined Nigerians to cherish and do all to protect democratic ideals.

“We must cherish our democracy. No matter what happens, we must stand with it because God has given this to us. Winston Churchill says democracy is the worst form of government until you have tried all the others,” Dr. Ezekwesili affirmed.

Strengths and weaknesses

Convener of the meeting, Pastor David Atoloye, in his brief, said the essence of the symposium was to examine the strengths of the nation and to fashion out ways to overcome the weaknesses.

“The essence of this symposium is to examine those threads that have held us together as a nation over the years, identify those others that threaten our unity and devise ways of overcoming them so that we can remain one strong, indivisible, progressive nation that each ethnic group is proud to call its own,” he stressed.

According to Pastor Atoloye, who is also the President of Salvation Crusaders Media, “the National Unity Concert is meant to demonstrate the power of music as a universal language and its ability to hold together, people of different nationalities.”

Applause Achievers Awards

A member of the media team, Mr. Olumide Odesanya, in an interview hinted that ‘Applause Achievers Awards’ was aimed at rewarding outstanding individuals in various fields of endeavours, regardless of tribe, colour or other affinities.

In the same vein, other stakeholders such as Pastor Rafiu Kuteyi and Pastor (Mrs.) Andrea Ogide, said the event was the third in its series, stressing that the annual get-together would always be premised on the unity of Nigeria.

Nigeria has come to stay

According to Pastor Kuteyi, “Nigeria can stay together, our beauty lies in our diversity.”

Pastor Ogide, who spoke on the theme of the Unity Concert, ‘Nigeria has Come to Stay’, said the unity of the nation must not be negotiated for any other thing.

“That is why we are saying that ‘Nigeria Has Come to Stay’, despite all that has been happening, we believe in the unity of this country and we believe that this nation will stay together, if there is war, if there is unrest, it will profit no one,” she maintained.

She noted that the Nigerian project remained a task for both the government and the people as she enjoined both parties to always see each other as critical stakeholders.

Award categories

The award night saw Dr. Ezekwesili bag ‘A shining Star Award in Corporate Governance’, while Voice of Nigeria’s Eniola Ajayi got an ‘Applause Achievers Award’, in the Best Reporter’s category.