Nigeria yet to heal civil war wounds, says Kukah

Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Bishop Matthew Kukah, says Nigeria is yet to recover from the wounds of the civil war, 51 years after it ended.

He said this at the second edition of the ‘Never Again Conference: 51 years after the Nigerian-Biafran civil war’, which was held via zoom.

He noted that the country had failed to adopt resolutions meant to heal the war wounds of the citizens.

TheCable reported that the ‘Never Again Conference’ is the brainchild of Nzuko Umunna, a pan-Igbo socio-cultural organisation, which organised the first edition in Lagos in 2020.

Kukah said some of those resolutions came from the Human Rights Violations Investigation Commission, popularly known as Oputa Panel, which was set up by the Obasanjo administration.

He added that while the military laid the foundation for Nigerians to begin a process of rebuilding the nation, “things somehow went wrong” along the line.

Kukah said, “I have met a lot of people who fought the war who are full of regrets. There is a lot of resentment, anxiety and frustration that we have not learnt any lessons.

“Fifty-one years after the war, we are still hearing the kind of agitations that ordinarily, with commitment, dedication, focus and the right leadership, we should have put a lot of the anxieties behind us. Unfortunately, they are still with us.”

The bishop described the Oputa panel, of which he was a member, as “the best school I would ever hope to attend.”

He said, “Oputa panel managed to generate quite a lot of data and information that academicians and policymakers would have used to ensure we erect the signpost saying, ‘Never Again’, because it gave us an opportunity, a mirror, to look at ourselves after hearing from all sides but we didn’t have the discipline to follow through.

“We have not been able to forgive ourselves as a people. The wounds of the civil war have not been able to heal. Coups and counter-coups that followed were more or less miniature civil wars by themselves because they threw up the same contradictions, anxieties and feeling of divisiveness across the country.”

Chairman of the conference planning committee, Prof. Pat Utomi, said the initiative started as an advocacy “in trying to bring a better understanding of the civil war and its aftermath to the Nigerian people.”

He added, “We know that if people learn enough from errors of yesterday, they can, in fact, make more progress than they are currently making.”