T. Uzodima Nwala

Biafra : A Collective Guilt

Have we forgotten that Biafra was a collective guilt and that those who created the Nigerian Federation did so to satisfy their own agendaThey designed a local a local agenda for the same purpose?
Have we forgotten the cause of Biafra and the war? Have we ever come together to examine why Biafra?
Obasanjo’s Truth Commission and the Justice Oputa Commission were arrogantly dismissed and nothing happened.
Who was the aggressor in that war?

Aborted Efforts to Solve the Nigerian Problem

What about several efforts to sit down and dispassionately examine the fate of the Federation and how to heal the wounds of the past.Several aborted historical opportunities for peace and stability, or a genuine democratic system include –

Ibadan Conference of Sept/Oct 1966
Aburi Accord.
Abiola’s election that wuld have set a precedent.
1994-5 Constitutional Conference and the 1995Draft Constitution, the best Constitutional Draft in the history of Nigeria.
Conferences organised by Obasanjos regime.
President Jonathan’s 2014 Conference.
Current Ferocious opposition to restructuring.

Laying the Foundations for Genuine Reconciliation – The Biafra Initiative

The Birth of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) – A child of the post-war East Central State Youth Volunteer Services Corps (ECSYVSC) whose memo to General Gowon led to the establishment of the NYSC by the Federal Government.

I led the delegation, as Chairman of the ECSYVSC, that delivered the Memoradum to the Federal Government on the eve of the first post-war independence anniversary, precisely on30th September, 1970.

In response General Gowon had given Dr UkpabiAsika’s Government £75,000 (Seventy-five thousand pounds) in appreciation of that historical initiative of the youth of Alaigbo.

The great objective of that historical initiative as conceived by us, the youth of Alaigbo, was to forge a genuine instrument of national reconciliation and national integration.

What has happened to the NYSC? Any credit to the initiators? Several attempts have been made by the chaps in the NYSC Foundation in Abuja to interview me in order to draw inspiration from the original mind that conceived the NYSC; each time they were discouraged from a follow-up.

It was the same way that a former Governor had advised the Federal Government to create an institution to house the Biafra scientist. The answer was no!, because doing so would give credit to the Biafrans.

The Road to Reconciliation.

Not Restructuring but Renegotiation of the basis of the Nigerian Federation.

Nigeria is a multi-national Federation. The task is to agree on the terms for a form of political union among these nations and mini-nations.

Unless this is done, there would never be any stable Federation uniting all these peoples who are culturally, religiously and philosophically separate nations and mini-nations.

Paper presented by Prof. Uzodinma Nwala, President, Alaigbo Development Founda tion (ADF) at The Conference – Memory And Nation Building: Biafra 50 Years After : A Sober Reflection.