SV: USA Africa Dialogue Series - THE HISTORY OF THE NIERIAN CIVIL WAR SHOULD BE TAUGHT IN OUR SCHOOLS

When the drums of the Civil War is sounding, there question that comes to my mind is what side of the story should we take as the truth. Truth in it presentation is subjective. I have always wondered why Nigeria Civil War History is not taught, rather it is replaced with Nigeria Peopled and Culture... Simply to avoid the kind of subjectivity that I am reading in this discourse. Whose version would be taught?... The No victor or the No Vanquished?

After reading Obi Nwakanma's response I copied of an area that always almost never fail to intrigue me because it will always be a part of the Biafran argument and I paste below:

"The roots of the current agitation for the restoration f Biafra can be traced to the military coup of 1984. From 1984 to 1999, the Igbo were in a political wilderness in Nigeria, and far more than any other era, saw themselves increasingly "marginalized" from nation. When Chuba Okadigbo first used that term in 1990 to describe the Igbo condition in Nigeria, that reality had become routine, and a new generation was paying attention, and living the reality of political and economic exclusion. They could see it all around: they would graduate top of their classes in the universities, and see their classmates get safe corridors to the cushiest jobs, while they either made do with the crumbs or had no crumbs at all. Of all parts of Nigeria, only the East, particularly the Igbo, had what may actually be the presence of "citizen soldiers" in good number: that is a large army of civilians with military training and with combat experience, who had circulated into civil life as teachers, doctors, university professors, traders, and so on."

Prof Kadiri obviously figured out that broken record like a broken china plate
...Igbos are marginalised. I think it is unfair for the Igbos to continue to play the victim role at this stage of their success and achievements from politics to leadership to education, economic and even literary successes. If for nothing the war made that Igbo group more determined to succeed. There is no arm of government or even government that does not have the Igbos as either number two or three. Every government parastatal has Igbos as DG or ministers or directors... And in every ministry if you have a staff strength of 100, 60 of it is from Igbo ethnic. The Yoruba and Hausa have never clamor about this imbalance in scale of employment and appointments. The 1999 civilian regime had Igbos as number three throughout and Governor of CBN. Predident JEG had Igbos flocking and strutting around with public positions. Even the present regime has Igbo as CBN governor, NNPC.

My question is if the Igbos feel this way, then the minority groups which I incidentally belong to and on whose land tth Nigeria/Biafra war was fought should also begin their process of secession. Since Nigeria gained independence, how many public and private positions have be KINDLY thrown the way of the minorities. Are they all not Nigerians? Is Nigeria made of only three ethnic groups? Did the minorities not suffer the war, even more than the players of the war. Shouldn't the minories also cry oppression and discrimination? Or is their fate not a part of history of the nation?

Going back to the beginning of the conversation, the history of the Nigeria civil war, my question is what version of the story do we teach our children? Who will do the writing of the story and who will be teaching it? My position is to take the lessons of the war: no victor, no vanquished and use it to secure a great future for our children instead of unwarranted bitterness.

Ofure Aito

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