Biafra is dead and will remain dead

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo who spoke in Abuja recently during a round table discussion organized by Nextier Advisory, a public sector advisory firm stated that:

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo

 “only those who did not experience the Nigerian civil war would embark on such a malevolent exercise….. “No right-thinking person who has experienced the horror of war will ever agitate for more wars. Most wars stem from real and perceived injustices and dissatisfaction and invariably wars emanate from a desire to correct or redress such situations. Our civil war wasn’t any different.” ~ Former President Obasanjo 

Comments By Dr. Tom Okure:

I completely and totally agree with the remarks by former President Olusegun Obasanjo who recently directed his remarks to the protagonists of Biafra. Why? The youth that are agitating for the revival of Biafra lack a sence of thier history and the consequences of war. When it come to war, "any war" the best option is to avoid it.

Those who started the civil war that engulfed Eastern Nigeria did not pay the price for that war, it was the common people of Biafra, mostly children, the poor who suffered from starvation and homelessness. Most of the influential people responsible for perpetuating that conflict fled Biafra to greener pastures with their children when the tide turned against Biafra. My family (The Okure Family) among others and my beloved hometown Ikot Ekpene that paid a hefty price for that civil war and still bears the scars of that brutal civil war till today.

We all are stakeholders in Nigeria’s future and those who fail to learn from their past are condemned to repeat the mistakes of the past. We cannot let agitators and selfish and corrupt politicians drag Nigeria into the path of war again.

General Gowon

To keep Nigeria one is a task that must be done. General Yakubu Gowon was Nigeria's head of state at the time and prosecuted the Nigeria civil war with the slogan that bore his name and still holds true today….GOWON: meaning “Go On With One Nigeria.” Let’s keep Nigeria One. And that is my take on the issue. 

Read more ...http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/01/bombshell-biafras-dead-obasanjo-insists/

US President Obama Says "To Keep Nigeria One Is A Task That Must Be Done."

ICMS, Inc Listen and Learn Series:

President Obama’s Message to the Nigerian People On Democracy and Free and Non Violent Elections

Commentary by Tom Okure, Ph.D
March 23, 2015

US President Barack Obama in a brief speech to Nigerians a few days before the National Elections talks about the importance of Democracy and the Essence of having a Credible and Violent Free Voting in the elections. He concludes his brief speech with what he calls a Nigerian saying: "To Keep Nigeria One Is A Task That Must Be Done".......That statement or saying as Obama puts it is a War Time Slogan and an ECHO and emotional calling relating to Nigeria's tumultuous history and "Civil War Past" which the younger Nigerian generation and even many of the current political elites do not understand or fully appreciate.

Yakubu Gowon

I posit here that unless you lived through Nigeria's civil war within the boundaries of the then breakaway Eastern Nigeria or Biafra as it was called, you cannot fully understand the emotional underpinning of that saying  "To Keep Nigeria One Is A Task That Must Be Done."  It was not just a saying but the Policy Objective of the Nigerian Federal Government and the determination of former military ruler and the administration of Yakubu Gowon who was  the head of state of Nigeria from 1966 to 1975 to keep Nigeria united as one country.

Odumegwu Ojukwu

For the historical record and to counter Nigeria's Unity Slogan, breakaway Biafra led by Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu who served as the military governor of the Eastern Region of Nigeria in 1966, the leader of the breakaway Republic of Biafra put forth his own War Time Slogans for the East..."They (meaning Nigeria) Want Your Money, Not Your Prosperity, Biafra be Vigilant"..."The Price of Liberty is Eternal Vigilance, Biafrans be Vigilant." ....These too are also Nigerian sayings.  

I conclude by noting that Nigeria is an Enduring Nation and has withstood many dividing challenges in the past and will overcome the challenge posed by BOKO HARAM.  I am deeply grateful to the President of the United States for reminding Nigerians during this voting season of what is at stack here for Nigeria and that is the necessity for a fair and credible elections through the ballot box ..."To Keep Nigeria One Is A Task That Must Be Done"

Watch the Video of  President Obama’s Message to the Nigerian People




President Obama released a message to the Nigerian people to highlight the opportunity that the upcoming elections present for all Nigerians to stand together in rejecting violence and extremism and instead show their support for a more peaceful, secure, and prosperous future.

For a full text of the speech, follow this link President Obama’s Message to the Nigerian People