The politician and Labour Party presidential candidate in the 2023 general election, Peter Obi has shared his reasons for joining other political leaders in celebrating former military head of state, General Yakubu Gowon (rtd), on his 90th birthday.
Alongside President Bola Tinubu and other leaders, Obi publicly praised Gowon, describing him as an exemplary gentleman who served the nation with distinction.
However, Obi’s stance did not sit well with some members of the Ndigbo community, who recall that Gowon was in power during the Nigerian civil war.
The civil war, which occurred from 1967 to 1970, saw Nigeria under Gowon’s leadership, while the secessionist state of Biafra was led by the late Lieutenant Colonel Chukwuemeka “Emeka” Odumegwu Ojukwu.
In response, Obi explained that his decision to celebrate Gowon was rooted in his belief in forgiveness.
“My felicitation with Nigeria’s former military Head of state, General Yakubu Gowon, on his 90th birthday anniversary, which was celebrated by a cross-section of Nigerians, has been received with mixed feelings by some Nigerians, and some have expressed their sentiments publicly, and privately to me.
“I share in some of them, and I feel that as a leader in the vanguard of providing direction for our country to shift base away from all our shortcomings, including the issues that caused our avoidable cruel civil war, I needed to show to the World that the ultimate heroism is forgiving the enemy and moving forward.
“Indisputably, the darkest part of our 64-year journey as a nation is the 30 months of civil war from 1967 to 1970 and God almighty whose way is not our way must have a reason why he kept the Chief Prosecutor of the war who is General Gowon alive to be 90 years today and the man who saw the end of the war, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo to be there at 87 years super-heading all the moves to see a reconciled and just Nigeria.
“There was also a developing new spirit why the same country, Nigeria, gave the Biafra leader, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, a heroic national burial on 2 March 2012, when he joined his ancestors, coincidentally under my tenure as Governor of Anambra state.
“The status of the burial given to Dim Ojukwu remains the boldest indication to the World that Nigeria as a country is disposed to moving forward in the spirit of reconciliation.
“There are various ways human beings can respond to acts of evil, especially one that claimed millions of lives. One is the tragedy of revenge, and another offers the hope of forgiveness in an attempt to forget.
“The latter conforms neatly with the template I adopted in greeting Gen Gowon at 90 years old. In all my dealings with human beings, I try to be guided by my faith as a Christian in a strong message preached by Jesus Christ himself and underscored in reflections in St Paul’s letter to the Colossians 3:13: “Bear with each other and forgive one another: if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.”
“And to Ephesians 4: 31-32 “Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice” Whatever reason I will give for joining the rest of Nigerians to greet General Gowon, May never truly conform with some persons, especially direct victims of the war, but anger, hurt, and bitterness are the commonest responses to cruelty.
“It fuels sectarianism, it leads to resistance and avoidable blood feuds that we are witnessing across the globe, and even in our country and it does not abate. There is something about forgiveness, it sets the person doing it free.
“Forgiveness is more a process than an instinct. It’s hate that has put our society, blessed by God to be the greatest land in the black World, down, but this hate has to stop.
“I was under ten years old when the Nigeria/Biafra war started in 1967. Most of my supporters across the country joining me get a new Nigeria were born after the war, and I didn’t feel I should drag them back to the dark side of our history by being unforgiving.
“I feel such an act will derail the message of a New Nigeria that we insist is POssible. ‘Must you greet him? Why didn’t you keep quiet?’ some angrily say to me, but that will still be injurious to our journey to a new Nigeria where all political vices, including but not limited to ethnic, religious, bitterness, and regional segregation, are eliminated.
“Various personal experiences of victims of injustice across the globe who have chosen to put ugly things behind them visibly demonstrate the transformative power of forgiveness in healing personal and collective wounds,” he wrote on his official X handle on Sunday.