Tuesday, March 14, 2017

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

Mr. Kadiri,
Once again sir, I would like to congratulate you on your detailed research efforts on the Nigerian Civil war. It is always comforting that a meaningful 'other version' of any story is told. This way, the people, most especiallythe young ones who never witnessed the event can make up their minds. More imprtantly, the objective of sieving through this quagmire of tales is the prevention of further attrocities.
I also impore you, as I did previously, to take the time to put this research effort into writing an easily readable book form for ALL our children and coming generations. The objective is to prevent animosity amongst our people. A society that is better informed of the past tend to have more respect for one another and go the extra mile to prevent war and misunderstandings. 
The one sided story that was being told about the war is dangerous for ALL of us. In the first place, it creates enmity amongst perfectly peaceful people. Before the war, and after it, Ibos have  lived amongst us, Yorubas, and we have all been our Brothers' keepers. Any propaganda machine that will make us continue to live in peace must be rebuffed in the strictest form. 
Large areas of Yoruba land are occupied by Ibo businessmen in almost all our towns and cities. We trade with one another and little is made of the war. 
I sincerely hope that we all stop creating supermen out of any of our peoples and let us just be Nigerians.
God bless us ALL.
FAKINLEDE K

On Friday, March 3, 2017 at 12:23:42 PM UTC+1, Kayode J. Fakinlede wrote

'No victor, no vanquished."is comforti

This pronuncement, to me, is the greatest blunder of our civil war. I can almost say that it is at the bottom of the continued aspiration by a segment of our society for secession.

Of course, one could not have blamed the government of young Ganeral Gowon. It was reasoned then that in declaring that neither side won or lost the war, everyone would have learned his lesson and our nation would be at peace forever more.

What we see now is a blantant misplacement of historical facts and grotesque caricatures being made of those whose intentions were noble. But more importantly, we are seeing agitations where none should have arisen and from the side that was vanqished in the war. The factual victors, having remained silent for so long, are now being painted as carnivores and murderers.  

Anyone who was an adult during the civil war will definitely not wish another one on Nigeria. Lessons have been learned and honestly, not too many of these people agitate for secession or any form of upheaval, regardless of his tribal origin. It is those who were yet unborn or too young to experience the realities of war that would think it is child's play.

But the truth is that they do not know better. They receive information, not history, from their parents. In most instances, while the intenions of the older ones may not be for agitation, a vanquished people will always tell a story of their mistreatment and their heroism in the face of all odds.

A factual history of the civil war must be taught in all our schools to all our children. This is not to put any segment of our nation down. It is reasonable because this event marks the singular greatest period when, but for providence sake, Nigeria would have disintegrated. Moreover, people badly informed of the mistreatment of their forebears are bound to react negatively to their perceived malefactors.   

This subject needs not be given a name that would be derogatory to any side. It can just be called 'The Nigerian Civil War'. Therein all our young ones will learn as a subject matter: the events that led to the war; attempts to resolve the issues so war could be averted; who were the initial aggressors; who took part militarily in the war; who were the heroes; the parts played by our own leaders either in preventing or agitating for war; the parts played by others in trying to prevent war; how the war was prosecuted; how the war was brought to an end; life after the war; attempts to rebuild; the lingering issues arising from the war; the effects of the war on our present political life; important dates in the process; etc.

There is so much to teach our children and they should be properly and factually taught. Some smart person once said that whoever forgets the past is bound to repeat it, or something of that nature.

I rest my case

Fakinlede K

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