Acting President Yemi Osinbajo has delivered a dispassionate call for the nation to stay united, amid renewed agitation for a breakup and the creation of an independent state of Biafra.

Mr. Osinbajo said Nigerian s should think more of what unites them than what separates them.

“No country is perfect; around the world we have seen and continue to see expressions of intra-national discontent,” the acting president said. “The truth is that many, if not most nations of the world are made up of different peoples and cultures and beliefs and religions, who find themselves thrown together by circumstance.”

Mr. Osinbajo made the statementThursday in Abuja at the colloquim on “Biafra: 50 years after’’ organized by the Yar’ Adua Foundation at the Shehu Musa Yar’ adua Centre, Abuja, where he spoke to a cross section of political leaders which include former President Olusegun Obasanjo, John Nwodo, leader of Ohaneze, the Pan-Igbo socio-cultural organization and Ahmed Joda amongst other dignitaries that graced the occasion.

Below is the full text of the Acting President’s Speech delivered at the occasion.

BEING THE TEXT OF THE SPEECH OF HIS EXCELLENCY, ACTING PRESIDENT YEMI OSINBAJO, SAN, AT THE COLLOQUIM ON BIAFRA: 50 YEARS AFTER ORGANISED BY YAR’ ADUA FOUNDATION ON 25TH MAY, 2017

GREATER TOGETHER THAN APART.

The conveners of this event, the Yar’ Adua Memorial Centre, the Ford foundation and the Open Society initiative West Africa, have done us an enormous favour by offering us the platform for this profoundly important conversation. They deserve our deep gratitude for this opportunity for individual and collective introspection.

Introspection is probably what separates us from beasts. That ability to learn from history is perhaps the greatest defense from the avoidable pain of learning from experience, when history is a much gentler and kinder teacher.  Indeed, the saying experience is the best teacher, is incomplete, the full statement of that Welsh adage is that experience is the best teacher for a fool. History is a kinder and gentler teacher.

I was ten years old when my friend in primary school then, Emeka, left school one afternoon. He said his parents said they had to go back to East, war was about to start. I never saw Emeka again. My aunty Bunmi was married to a gentleman from Enugu, I cannot recall his name. But I recall the evening when my parents tried to persuade her and her husband not to leave for the East. She did, we never saw her again.

I recall distinctly how in 1967, passing in front of my home on Ikorodu road almost every hour were  trucks  carrying passengers and furniture in an endless stream heading east. Many Ibos who left various parts of Nigeria, left friends, families and businesses, schools and jobs. Like my friend and aunty some never returned! But many died.  The reasons for this tragic separation of brothers and sisters were deep and profound. So much has been said and written already about the “why’s and wherefores’’ and that analyses will probably never end.

This is why I would rather not spend this few minutes on whether there was or was not sufficient justification for secession and the war that followed. The issue is whether the terrible suffering, massive loss of lives, of hopes and fortunes of so many can ever be justified.

As we reflect on this event today, we must ask ourselves the same question that many who have fought or been victims in civil wars, wars between brothers and sisters ask in moments of reflection….“what if we had spent all the resources, time and sacrifice we put into the war, into trying to forge unity? What if we had decided not to seek to avenge a wrong done to us? What if we had chosen to overcome evil with good?’’

The truth is that the spilling of blood in dispute is hardly ever worth the losses. Of the fallouts of bitter wars is the anger that can so easily be rekindled by those who for good or ill want to resuscitate the fire. Today some are suggesting that we must go back to the ethnic nationalities from which Nigeria was formed. They say that secession is the answer to the charges of marginalization. They argue that separation from the Nigerian State will ultimately result in successful smaller States. They argue eloquently, I might add that Nigeria is a colonial contraption that cannot endure.

This is also the sum and substance of the agitation for Biafra. The campaign is often bitter and vitriolic, and has sometimes degenerated to fatal violence. Brothers and sisters permit me to differ and to suggest that we’re greater together than apart.

No country is perfect; around the world we have seen and continue to see expressions of intra-national discontent. Indeed, not many Nigerians seem to know that the oft-quoted line about Nigeria being a “mere geographical expression” originally applied to Italy. It was the German statesman Klemens von Metternich who dismissively summed up Italy as a mere geographical expression exactly a century before Nigeria came into being as a country. From Spain to Belgium to the United Kingdom and even the United States of America, you will find many today who will venture to make similar arguments about their countries. But they have remained together.

The truth is that many, if not most nations of the world are made up of different peoples and cultures and beliefs and religions, who find themselves thrown together by circumstance. Nations are indeed made up of many nations. The most successful of the nations of the world are those who do not fall into the lure of secession. But who through thick and thin forge unity in diversity.

Nigeria is no different; we are, not three, but more like three hundred or so ethnic groups within the same geographical space, presented with a great opportunity to combine all our strengths into a nation that is truly, to borrow an expression, more than the sum of its parts.

Let me say that there is a solid body of research that shows that groups that score high on diversity turn out to be more innovative than less diverse ones. There’s also research showing that companies that place a premium on creating diverse workplaces do better financially than those who do not. This applies to countries just as much as it does to companies. The United States is a great example, bringing together an impressively diverse cast of people together to consistently accomplish world-conquering economic, military and scientific feats.

It is possible in Nigeria as well. Instead of trying to flee into the lazy comfort of homogeneity every time we’re faced with the frustrations of living together as countrymen and women, the more beneficial way for us individually and collectively is actually to apply the effort and the patience to understand one another and to progressively aspire to create one nation bound in freedom, in peace and in unity.

That, in a sense, should be the Nigerian Dream – the enthusiasm to create a country that provides reasons for its citizens to believe in it, a country that does not discriminate, or marginalize in any way. We are not there yet, but I believe we have a strong chance to advance in that direction. But that will not happen if we allow our frustrations and grievances to transmute into hatred. It will not happen if we see the media – television and radio and print and especially social media – as platforms for the propagation of hateful and divisive rhetoric. No one stands to benefit from a stance like that; we will all emerge as losers.

Clearly our strength is in our diversity, that we are greater together than apart. Imagine for a moment that an enterprising young man from Aba had to apply for a visa to travel to Kano to pursue his entrepreneurial dreams, or that a young woman from Abeokuta had to fill immigration forms and await a verdict in order to attend her best friend’s wedding in Umuahia. Nigeria would be a much less colourful, much less interesting space, were that the case. Our frustrations with some who speak a different dialect or belong to a different religion must not drive us to forget many of the same tribe and faith of our adversaries who have shown true affection for us.

My God-son is Somkele Awakalu, his father Awa Kalu, SAN, and I taught at the University of Lagos. My first book was dedicated to Somkele and my two other God-children. Chief Emmanuel Dimike is almost 80, he was my father’s friend and business associate in his sawmills in Lagos. Chief has been like a father. I see him most Sundays, he worships with me at the chapel.

The individual affections and friendships we forge some even deeper than family ties, must remind us that unity is possible, that brotherhood across tribes and faiths is possible.

Let me make it clear that I fully believe that Nigerians should exercise to the fullest extent the right to discuss or debate the terms of our existence. Debate and disagreement are fundamental aspects of democracy. We recognize and acknowledge that necessity. And today’s event is along those lines – an opportunity not merely to commemorate the past, but also to dissect and debate it. Let’s ask ourselves tough questions about the path that has led us here, and how we might transform yesterday’s actions into tomorrow’s wisdom.

Indeed our argument is not and will never be that we should ‘forget the past’, or ‘let bygones be bygones’, as some have suggested. Chinua Achebe repeatedly reminded us of the Igbo saying that a man who cannot tell where the rain began to beat him cannot know where he dried his body. If we lose the past, we will inevitably lose the opportunity to make the best of the present and the future.

In an interview years ago, the late Dim Chukwuemeka Ojukwu, explaining why he didn’t think a second Biafran War should happen, said: “We should have learnt from that first one, otherwise the deaths would have been to no avail; it would all have been in vain.”

We should also be careful that we do not focus exclusively on the narratives of division, at the expense of the uplifting and inspiring ones. The same social media that has come under much censure for its propensity to propagate division, has also allowed multitudes of young Nigerians to see more of the sights and sounds of their country than ever before.

And for every young Nigerian who sees the Internet as an avenue for spewing ethnic hatred, there is another young Nigerian who is falling in love or doing business across ethnic and cultural lines; a young Nigerian who looks back on his or her NYSC year in unfamiliar territory as one of the valued highlights of their lifetime. These stories need to be told as well. They are the stories that remind us that the journey to nationhood is not an event but a process, filled as with life itself with experiences some bitter, some sweet. The most remarkable attribute of that process is that a succeeding generation does not need to bear the prejudices and failures of the past.

Every new generation can take a different and more ennobling route than its predecessors. But the greatest responsibility today lies on the leadership of our country. Especially but not only political leadership.

The promise of our constitution which we have sworn to uphold is that we would ensure a secure, and safe environment for our people to live, and work in peace, that we would provide just and fair institutions of justice. That we would not permit or encourage discrimination on the grounds of race, gender, beliefs or other parochial considerations. That we would build a nation where no one is oppressed and none is left behind.

These are the standards to which we must hold our leadership. We must not permit our leaders the easy but dangerous rhetoric of blaming our social and economic conditions on our coming together. It is their duty to give us a vision a pathway to make our unity in diversity even more perfect.

Source: http://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/232193-why-biafra-should-remain-in-nigeria-osinbajo.html

Gbam, first to comment again...

This midget should try and grow some balls

He shouldn't always be reading scripts the born to rule hands him

Haba mana

I didn't see the word "FOOLS"

Unity beggars everywhere

How come no one is posting the speech made by the president of Ohaneze Ndigbo - Dr. Nnia Nwodo?

Was he not one of the keynote speakers at the event?

Or could it be that his speech is destructive to the One Nigeria propaganda?

Or are the One Nigeria apologists still not getting it?

When are they going to realize that it's stupid and a pure waste of time for non-Biafrans to tell Biafrans what is best for Biafrans and what is not?

Age is sure a mere number.

Too Long

Blue3k2:


Source http://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/232193-why-biafra-should-remain-in-nigeria-osinbajo.html

Cameleon72:
Gbam

The politicians will always like the status quo
Where they live to loot and deceive the masses

But the honest truth is that Nigeria is too diverse to progress
Nepotism tribalism injustice is the order of the day

The best for the Nigeria is a change of system... True federalism where each region will be forced to look inwards to survive or the total Balkanization of this weird space

They keep begging for unity

United my dicckk!!

Non Biafrans can only voice their opinions, its left for the Biafrans to decide their future.

[/b]“No country is perfect; around the world we have seen and continue to see expressions of intra-national discontent,” the acting president said. “The truth is that many, if not most nations of the world are made up of different peoples and cultures and beliefs and religions, who find themselves thrown together by circumstance.”[b] Since circumstance throw us together,let it also separate us.I puke at the thought of sharing nationality with the core northern part of this country.

It's like Arewa goats don use osibande head drink garri

Diversity of ideas is strength. There are also examples of countries that slit apart and have been successful mainly in Europe and Asia. Montenegro, Singapore, Czech Republic etc. I do commend him on his comment saying debating determining Nigeria's existence.

Anyway I do agree with him on Nigeria potential. If Nigeria got it act together it could be next big power. I real regional hegemony abd economic power house. Currently domestic issues won't allow that.

Tahrah:
Too Long

MaziUchea:
no time,damn too fv*in long note

Get a text reader app if you lack the attention span to read his speech. I use @voice aloud. Also I bold the most important arguements in the article so you can get gist of these long article. I know authoritatively most Nairalanders too lazy to read. They just rush for front page likes.

Nice speech Mr President but you failed to convince me on why Nigeria should not be split.

Nigeria is not united and Nigeria and its people do not wish to be united.

The number of Nigerians who have died as a consequence of this country's existence are far larger than those who even died in the civil war. The strong and reasonable arguments for division far outweigh those against it.

For the sake economic prosperity, human and social security, Nigeria must be divided.

Beautiful nonsense. Nigeria is retrogressing every day, no hope of progress. A country where there is no light, food, good environment and our hospitals are death zones. Every time we keep on reinventing the wheel, no sound institution. For how long are we going to be trapped in this mess? Please save your long epistle for Nigerians as for me Biafra is a done deal.

Realdeals:
I didn't see the word "FOOLS"

Hope you're not blind? "Introspection is probably what separates us from beasts. That ability to learn from history is perhaps the greatest defense from the avoidable pain of learning from experience, when history is a much gentler and kinder teacher. Indeed, the saying experience is the best teacher, is incomplete, the full statement of that Welsh adage is that experience is the best teacher for a fool. History is a kinder and gentler teacher."

He spoke like a wise poltician.

How I wish Buhari has been talking like this, we probably would have had less discordant tones of people seeking to cede away from Nigeria.

. That ability to learn from history is perhaps the greatest defense from the avoidable pain of learning from experience, when history is a much gentler and kinder teacher. Indeed, the saying experience is the best teacher, is incomplete, the full statement of that Welsh adage is that experience is the best teacher for a fool. History is a kinder and gentler teacher.


pls which HISTORY it Osibanjo talking about? is it the one they fearfully removed from our CURRICULUM or what? You cant kill me and tell me not to die

Nonsensical

Shame on you Osinbajo despite your being learned you are in no way different from Buhari in reasoning, I can bet it with anything if Osinbajo eventually becomes the President, he would be worse than buhari..... But who knows maybe he's only saying all these to please his Boss whose head is filled with Fura de nunu

In his eloquent speech, The Acting President focused entirely on rubbing liniment on a wounded limb. Some wounds can be healed to save the limb, in other cases the wound cannot be healed and the limb must be severed to save the patient's life.

For each of the scenarios of lost aunts and friends, god-son and family friends that touch the Acting President personaly, there are millions of lives in agony and pains resulting from the imperfection and irrecoverable burdens of a disjointed Nigeria. We cannot hold the thread together at seams and keep hoping for a better future as each day, week, month, year, decade roll by and our situation continue to descend from good to bad to worse....and now to despicable!

Its time to severe the limbs and save lives of millions, those few with personal emotional ties across the ethnic lines should find ways to reconcile their ties. Nigerians are married to other nationals across the globe and we have friends spread across the universe, we don't ask to join ethnicity and nationality with them in order that our kinship can bind and unify for diverse growth...we get visa when we need to cross boundaries and visit with relatives and friends in their sovereingties. We are already doing that, so breaking Nigeria into its constituents does not change for us what we are already adept at doing.

Give biafrans justice and fairness and they remain in nigeria forever

Ok

K

FagsamPHP:
Shame on you Osinbajo despite your being learned you are in no way different from Buhari in reasoning, I can bet it with anything if Osinbajo eventually becomes the President, he would be worse than buhari..... But who knows maybe he's only saying all these to please his Boss whose head is filled with Fura de nunu

so, what should he have said that he supports Biafra

Why this Osy-bu-njo dey run him gworo mouth like generator? if he doesn't know what to say, he should shut his mouth up!

I think this man is a man of God, why did he allow the devil to take over his reasoning