Problems That Led To Civil War Still Linger – Ekweremadu

The Deputy President of the Senate, Chief Ike Ekweremadu, has expressed regret that the factors that led to the   Nigeria Civil War are still existing among Nigerians, 41 years after the end of the war that lingered for three years.

Ekweremadu who made his feelings known last Saturday in Enugu while answering questions from reporters during his condolence visit to the family of the late Biafran leader, Chief Emeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, who died on November 26, this year in a London hospital.

His words: “You see as we speak today, the things that gave rise to the Civil War are still with us and that is why many years after the Civil War, we had the Ife/Modakeke crisis and the problem we still have in Plateau State. Even in Anambra state, we have Aguleri/Umuleri crisis”.

Chief Ekweremadu further said:  ”So, these crises are still there. What gave rise to the civil war was massacre of the people who are Nigerians living within Nigeria. You see that such thing is still going on. It is still that same hatred of one another that gave rise to the civil war. We still have them here and there and those problems are yet to be addressed.”

On the late Biafran leader, the Deputy Senate President said Ojukwu was a phenomenon, stressing that each person should do his best to give him a befitting burial.

“Ikemba as a person came before his time. Ikemba lived ahead of his time. He died ahead of his time because his vision, his views are yet to be realized. And I believe surely his views will be realized. And it is at that time Nigerians will begin to realize that Ikemba was a man who saw tomorrow,” he further stressed.

According to him, the best that could be done for the late statesman was for Nigerians to sit down and dialogue to address the unresolved issues to enable Nigerians  live as a nation, pointing out that  ”As at now we are all managing to survive as one country. It is important to address these problems because they are with us and I do not believe that they are insurmountable”.

He said: “It is possible we find an arrangement to accommodate everybody in Nigeria so that people can live peacefully wherever they find themselves and be able to earn their living without confrontation. For me, Ikemba is a phenomenon and everybody should do his best to give him a befitting burial. Ikemba, people knew him as a humble and focused man. The man inspite of the wealth of his father abandoned the luxury of life and joined  the army which at that period was meant for children of the less privileged.”

Ekweremadu also said: “Also in spite of his education, he was prepared to serve Nigeria. And when it became necessary for him to fight, he lived almost like an animal. He did not know what will happen to him in the next moment. What a better sacrifice will a man do than that?

“He loved his people. So what we have seen since his death shows that his people also loved him. I believe that the people of South East and indeed Nigerians will give him a befitting burial”, he further stressed.