The 2019 presidential candidate of the Young Progressive Party, YPP, has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to set up a fresh inquest into the events leading to the Nigerian civil war.
Moghalu who gave the advise at a press conference in Abuja on Tuesday said the ‘Truth and Reconciliation Committee’ should begin its assignment from a probe of the January 1966 coup and go all the way to January 1970 when the Nigerian civil war ended.
According to him, the committee should be given a six-month mandate to examine, especially the events of January 1966 to January 1970, invite witnesses, survivors and critical players still alive to make statements.
Moghalu, a former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), made the recommendation at a news conference on Tuesday in Abuja while re-emphasising his intention to contest the presidency in 2023.
He added that members of the committee, one from each geopolitical zone in the country, should be of high reputation and relevant expertise.
He further added that one international member assigned from the United Nations or from South Africa should also be part of the committee.
Moghalu said the committee should be given a six-month mandate to examine, especially the events of January 1966 to January 1970, invite witnesses, survivors and critical players still alive to make statements.
Such persons he said, should also make recommendations that would promote national reconciliation by turning historical memories into a positive force for mutual forgiveness and nation building.
”President Buhari should invite all secessionist agitation movements to a national dialogue in order to give them a hearing with a view to addressing credible, verifiable grievances.
”Concrete actions toward the establishment of a Constituent Assembly to begin framing a new Constitution, with legislative support from the National Assembly, should be initiated jointly by the presidency,” he said.
The presidential hopeful added that this should be done in collaboration with the national assembly and representatives of ethnic nationalities, traditional rulers, the clergy and civil society.
He also recommended the appointment of a panel of historians, with equal representation from the northern and southern parts of Nigeria, to review and agree on a curriculum of contemporary national history.
This, he said, should include the Nigerian Civil War, to be taught in primary and secondary institutions from the specific perspective of lessons learnt, national healing and reconciliation.
”To build our nation, we must confront our history and embrace reconciliation.
”I am making the recommendations as a contribution to stopping immediately, the current bleeding of our country, beyond my personal intervention.
”In my recent declaration of my interest to contest in the 2023 presidential election, I pledged to unify Nigeria,” he said.
This, he said he intended to achieve through inclusive governance with a dream team from all over the country if given the opportunity.
After that election, he announced that he had quit partisan politics for nation building with the formation of his To Build A Nation (TBAN) platform which he hopes to use as a vehicle to influence issues of national and public interests.