At last, Anambra buries war victims

•Calls for forgiveness as Ekwueme, Arthur Eze, Achuzia,
others grace occasion
…Obiano campaigns for Jonathan, APGA
FROM GEOFFREY ANYANWU, AWKA, DOM EKPUNOBI AND
ALOYSIUS ATTAH, Onitsha
Governor Willie Obiano, former Vice President Alex Ekwueme,
oil magnate, Prince Arthur Eze and National Chairman, All
Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Chief Victor Umeh,
yesterday led Ndigbo mainly from Anambra State, to give
victims of the civil war and other pogroms and violent killings
in Nigeria a formal burial.
The Ekwueme Square venue of the ceremony was filled to the
brim with Igbo across the country and war veterans including
Col. Joe Achuzia (rtd) and Gen. Ben Gbulie (rtd). Also at the
ceremony which kicked off with an interdenominational
commendation service were civil war veterans, market unions,
the clergy, town union leaders, women and youth
organizations and representatives from Abia, Imo, Enugu and
Ebonyi states.
The event had all the trappings of the typical Igbo funeral as
various masquerades and cultural displays added colour to the
occasion just as the traditional 21 gun salute was observed.
Addressing the people who put on mourning dresses, Governor
Obiano whose government funded and organized the
ceremony, said the event was the beginning of the symbolic
effort of casting a long look backwards beyond the immediate
horizon of the national experience to honour the memories of
Ndigbo that lost their lives to various dark chapters of the
national history. He said the Igbo ancestors believe that a
people without memory have no future, adding that to
underscore the significance of the memory, they handed the
concept of Ncheta ka (recalling is supreme).
He likened the event of the day to the Jewish efforts to honour
the memory of the Holocousts as well as the recent efforts to
commemorate the Rwandan Genocide in Kigali, adding, “sadly,
although we share a similar experience with the Rwandese,
our attitude to the memory of that sad experience has lacked
boldness and organized response.”
According to him, “Umu nnem, it is a thing of pride to be onye
Anambra. We are indeed a remarkable people. However,
throughout history, there has always been a prize to pay for
greatness. Our natural disposition to seek wealth-creating
opportunities in known and unknown places worldwide and
support the local economy with our famed energy has made
us imminent targets of conflicts that we had no hand in
fomenting.
“Ndi Anambra, happily, our brave spirit has helped us navigate
the mine fields of this experience. We have become one of the
most successful black people in the world. We have set high
standards in literature, business, the academia, science,
Information Technology, entertainment and nearly every field
of human endeavour.
“Umu-nnem, we are the owners of a proud history; paved with
pain and anguish and watered by the blood of the innocent.
Hardly is there a family in this gathering without a story; a
story of profound loss. But beside every story of loss sits a
story of success; of glory and of abundance. Ndi Anambra, to
the glory of God, we are not a people with a SINGLE STORY…
we are a proud, intensely driven, hardworking, innovative,
adventurous and forward-looking people with more gifts than
the world can take!
“…Umu nnem, in my inaugural address, I informed Ndigbo that
the time had come for us to climb over the recriminations of
the past and build new bridges of understanding across
Nigeria. I argued that if our ancestors sacrificed so much to
create Nigeria, we must not sacrifice any less to rebuild this
country. I also re-emphasized my belief that our future as a
people is better guaranteed in a united, indivisible Nigeria.
Ladies and gentlemen, that is why we must all vote for Dr
Goodluck Azikiwe Ebele Jonathan in the presidential election
that will hold next month. Among the candidates running for
the Presidency, Dr. Jonathan offers Nigeria the best chance at
national integration and unity. So, we must vote for him.
“We must also vote for all the candidates standing election on
the platform of APGA here in Anambra and other states. We
must sweep every available position in Anambra State and win
the gubernatorial election in Imo, Abia, Ebonyi and Zamfara
states. Ladies and gentlemen, this is APGA’s year of self-
actualization and we must grab it with both hands.”
Earlier in a homily titled, “The duty to remember,” the Catholic
Bishop of Awka, The Most Rev. Paulinus Ezeokafor, advised
Igbo to always trust in God in spite of the circumstances of
their lives. He admonished the people to always let God be at
the centre of their lives, noting that Nigerian history would not
be complete without mentioning the Nigeria civil war.
He encouraged parents to tell their children the story of the
civil war so as to prevent them from thinking of or planning to
engage in wars, stressing that forgiveness should be
uppermost in the minds of the people so as to foster love and
unity.
Speaking to newsmen, Chief Umeh commended Governor
Obiano for accepting to organize the event which he said the
late leader of APGA, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu
wanted and asked for it before his demise.
Umeh said having given the fallen heroes the honour they
deserve, “the Igbo race can now behold the future with great
promise, with great hope, and with great bride knowing that
the journey of a people will be marked with pit and falls but
what is important is the number of times they get up when
they fall. The Igbo have gotten up from this war and will never
go down again.”