NIGERIA MUST AVOID ANOTHER CIVIL WAR AT ALL COSTS, SAYS OBASANJO

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo says Nigeria cannot afford another civil war, with the country still in the throes of the 1967 conflict.

Obasanjo spoke on Wednesday in Abeokuta during the public presentation of a book on the Asaba massacre and related events written by Chuck Nduka-Eze, chairman of the Asaba Memorial Trust and the Asaba image branding and project committee.

He said understanding the mistakes of the past is essential to preventing a repeat of the tragedy, noting that some of the issues that led to the civil war still persist. 

“What went wrong in the past is essential to preventing a repeat. We must do everything humanly possible to prevent its recurrence,” he said.

“Some of the things that led to the civil war are still with us. How long will this remain so?

“I was with a colleague when Gen Yakubu Gowon said that we would not survive a second civil war as a country.

“I believe we have fought one civil war too many already. To say that we will have a second civil war, God forbid.

“We must understand what happened, condemn what should not have happened.

“And then, for us to be able to say, ‘never again,’ what are we going to do to make that possible?”

The ex-military ruler commended Nduka-Eze for documenting events leading up to the Asaba massacre, describing the effort as crucial to preserving history, promoting national healing and ensuring that future generations learn from the past.

According to him, preserving historical records remains a core objective of the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library.

“Thank you very much for making people know about it, for people to learn from it, and for people to take a vow that it should never happen again. I will do everything possible to ensure that there is never again a civil war in this country,” he said.

“We pride ourselves that we preserve the past, we capture the present, and we inspire the future.”

Reflecting on his role during the war, Obasanjo acknowledged that although he participated in the conflict as a military commander, he could not provide detailed accounts of the Asaba massacre because operations in the area were under the command of Murtala Mohammed, former head of state.

He said he was later assigned responsibilities towards the end of the war to ensure that no further massacres took place, noting that the military high command neither authorised nor condoned abuses against civilians.

He recalled how he personally stopped a soldier from assaulting a civilian woman in Asaba, saying commanders bore responsibility for the actions of troops under their control.

He added that Yakubu Gowon, former head of state, had publicly acknowledged and apologised for the excesses committed during the war.

Obasanjo pledged to study the transcripts and audiovisual materials presented by Nduka-Eze, reiterating that documenting and teaching the history of the civil war and the Asaba massacre were essential to strengthening national unity and ensuring that Nigeria never experiences another civil war.

Obasanjo was Nigeria’s military head of state from 1976 to 1979 and civilian president from 1999 to 2007.

The Nigerian civil war lasted for 30 months —  beginning on July 6, 1967, and ending on January 15, 1970.