It's Time to Put Civil War Experience
Behind Us
Anyiam-Osigwe
By Joseph Ushigiale

In its determination to usher in an avenue for reconciliation and national rebirth, the Osigwe Anyiam-Osigwe Foundation is to build a National Unity Arc and Reconciliation Cenotaph which would "serve as a watershed for the divisive trend that is still dogging us in Nigeria", the Co-ordinator for the Foundation, Mr. Michael Anyiam-Osigwe has said.

He stated that the cenotaph that is slated to be built at the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja "will sensitise Nige-rians to the debilitating impact of war. It will be promotional of non-violence as a fundamental and superior alternative to violence in the pursuit of justice and equity".

On why the establishment of the project has become imperative, Anyiam-Osigwe maintained that "from 1967 - 1970, Nigeria was subjected toa monumental loss of about three million lives from what history has come to acknowledged as the Nigerian civil war. In the three years of hostilities, human and natural resources laid waste, our environment was devastated, national solidarity encumbered and development stunted".

He emphasised that " 33 years after the civil war, the contending social variables that are fundamental in the polity do not indicate that the citizens have benefitted from the hindsight of history".

According him, "with the prevalence of youths militia built around ethnic cleavages, the sense of nationhood is beoing mechanically eroded by a declining loyalty on the part of the larger populace who are more attuned to thye interest and dictates of their primordial societies".

Anyiam-Osigwe said the Foundation has resolved to engage in the project which will bear the names of all those who died in the civil Nigerian war on both sides of the conflict, whether civilians or soldiers just as has been done in Israel, so that "future generations should immensely benefit from the hindsight provided by our chequered past as it relates to the civil war, its causes and its impact".

On the modalities for the construction of the cenotaph, he explained that "project is expected to be constructed through publioc contributions. To start with, we have applied to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory FCT) for the allocation of a one- square mile land space. After which we will solicit a N10 voluntary contribution from Nigerians to make the project a reality".

He disclosed that the foundation is targetted thye first quarter of next year for the beginning and completion of the project which will provide a platform for reflection, adding that "if we do not confront our past, no matter how negative, and learn from our our experiences, we will never transcend to a level of neutralising it".
THIS DAY 9th December 2003.

arole_odua: It's time to move on Ndigbo.

Igbo Kweze nu..

Dede1: Nigeria is a dead state. All that left now is time to bury it. Anybody who thinks Nigeria is salvageable remains mentally dead too.

I believe the dude named Anyim Osigwe is contract and attention seeker who seemed to have gotten one from a lapper named arole_odua.

torkaka:
and anyone who thinks biafra will reawaken is clinically dead. that your parents fought in a war wins you no medals! biafra was fought,lives were lost,families were shattered and a peoples general skipped "to ivory coast" with his tail btw his legs! dude live with it.

Dede1: Nigeria is a dead state. All that left now is time to bury it. Anybody who thinks Nigeria is salvageable remains mentally dead too.

I believe the dude named Anyim Osigwe is contract and attention seeker who seemed to have gotten one from a lapper named arole_odua.

and anyone who thinks biafra will reawaken is clinically dead. that your parents fought in a war wins you no medals! biafra was fought,lives were lost,families were shattered and a peoples general skipped "to ivory coast" with his tail btw his legs! dude live with it.

torkaka:
and anyone who thinks biafra will reawaken is clinically dead. that your parents fought in a war wins you no medals! biafra was fought,lives were lost,families were shattered and a peoples general skipped "to ivory coast" with his tail btw his legs! dude live with it.

Dede1:

What my parents did with Biafra was what your parents can not and will never contemplate to do. It takes intestinal fortitude to standup against seemly insurmountable odds. What keeps Nigeria buried and left it in an unsalvageable state is Nigeria/Biafra war. Only a latent fool sees half-filled cup as full.