No victor… no vanquished.
When you hear this famous quote taken from Edgar O’ Ballance’s book, one calls to mind the stories of rampant terror unleashed on both sides of the divide half a century ago which left scars both on the body and souls of a people, while abandoning them with melancholic memories that have made some write books on how a country may have existed; albeit for a jiffy, or even tales of how one’s military command played strategic roles in ending war amongst brothers and sisters.
Although tensions are high in most parts of the country due to the wanton killings and abductions perpetrated by criminal elements in the country, well meaning Nigerians have said “Never again” to repeating errors of history.
Never again shall we engage in warfare against eachother for any reason. If we must fight any war, it will be against those who threaten the peace and sovereignty of Nigeria regardless of what region they come from.
Never again shall we present ourselves as instruments for war against ourselves on ethnic or regional lines.. never again.
Never again will the country be seen to outrightly make it look like the children of the common man are insignificant, because we all equally collectively share an identity… never again.
Never again shall we entertain messages with secessionist undertones, hate speeches that needlessly beat the drums of war to high decibels, it would be a spit in the graves of our heroes past for us to entertain such mistakes ever again, Never again…
All these and more are things we have sworn would never happen again, but while we count our losses or learn lessons from the civil war of 1967 to 1970 between Nigeria and the people of Biafra, have we really made lasting corrections for such ugly times in history not to have a sequel?
Have we done enough in terms of fair and equal representation in politics to reflect the diversity in our one Nigeria?
Is the government giving the same opportunity for states in every region to explore potentials, have they been fair in this regard?
Does Nigeria encourage honesty and diginity in labour or are we cheerleaders in corrupt practices especially when we are beneficiaries? Have we commercialized the truth or does it still have its value?
What have we done in terms of creating policies in order to encourage small businesses in our country? What are we doing to alleviate the millions currently languishing in extreme poverty?
The unity of our country is no material for comedy and if we must never see such terrible times again, then our approach to delicate issues must be different.
Henry Ford once said, “Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success”. For Nigeria to continue to stay together or keep together we must never get tired in our quest to discovering new ways and methods to work together for the success of our great Nation.