A 75-year-old Biafran war veteran, Mr Sasa Ugwumba Kalu Nwoke, popularly known as “Corporal Nwafor” for his exploits during the Nigerian Civil War, has called for the establishment of a Biafra Remembrance Day to honour victims and veterans of the 30-month conflict.

Nwoke, who spoke exclusively with Vanguard in Umuahia, said the commemoration of the 1967 Asaba massacre was a welcome development but should mark the beginning of a broader national effort to confront the painful history of the civil war.

He spoke against the backdrop of the 59th memorial of the Asaba massacre, chaired by former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Wednesday.

The veteran said remembering the victims of Asaba was important, but insisted that other victims of the war, including those killed in different parts of the former Biafran territory, should also be remembered.

He queried:“Who is afraid of remembering Biafra? If you can remember a massacre and some other genocides committed in different parts of the world, what is actually wrong with having Biafran Day remembrance?

“Since they have started remembering Asaba genocide, that’s okay. One by one they will remember other genocides, including the one in Aba and other parts of Biafra.

“We should not be suppressed from talking about it. It’s our history that cannot be buried. We should start talking about them until we tell ourselves the truth and accommodate every area where people were wronged.”

According to him, the Asaba commemoration could provide an opportunity for Nigerians to begin a painful but necessary national conversation about the civil war.

“They’ve been hiding this thing; they’ve been trying to cover it up. They’ve been attempting to cover up that it was a massacre. Now they’ve realised that it’s something that they need to talk about.

“Let’s go along with them. After now, we will go in a second step, a third step, until we reconcile all the patches involved in this Biafran experience.

“All this while, they’ve not taken this Biafran thing seriously, this massacre, this genocide. But now, I think somebody is telling them that they should bring it up and make things better.”

‘Civil war was needless’

The war veteran blamed the Nigerian government for the civil war, describing the conflict as needless and questioning the justification for the enormous loss of lives.

“Nigerians don’t want to mention it because they know that it was a futile war they fought,” he said.

“They wasted lives of Igbos and other Biafrans for nothing, saying they want to keep Nigeria one. Look at the country now. Is there any justification for the war?”

Nwoke said the country could not genuinely reconcile without confronting the circumstances, atrocities and consequences of the conflict.

“We need to reach out to the war veterans. This is our history. Whether it was right or wrong, we have a history.

“Let us build on this history and ask ourselves where we went wrong so that we can do it right the next time. But when we don’t talk about it, nobody gets to know.”

Nigeria denying its children their history’

The veteran also accused successive governments of deliberately failing to teach younger Nigerians about the civil war and the country’s historical figures.

According to him, suppressing history only ensures that younger generations grow up without understanding the events that shaped the country.

He urged Nigerians to confront the country’s difficult past rather than bury it, arguing that honest remembrance could become a pathway to reconciliation

“If you’re proud of your history, if you go to America now, one of the first places you meet is American history. And so, you get to know the people you’re dealing with.

“You come to Nigeria, our children have no idea about Nigeria. I talked to them, None of them can tell you anything about Nnamdi Azikwe. None of them can tell you about Nigerian patriots. It’s like hiding behind a finger and you can’t do it. We ought to start opening up. Even if you made a mistake, you own up. Our children will learn from it.”

‘We’ve forgotten our war veterans’

Nwoke lamented what he described as the neglect of Biafran war veterans, saying many who survived the conflict had died in poverty without recognition.

“We’ve not done anything for our veterans. So, we don’t expect more from Nigeria,” he said.

“The war veterans have been totally forgotten. Nobody else remembers us. ‘Pampas’ died, wretched. And they’re waiting for me to die too, so that they’ll come and say, ‘Corporal Nwafor has died.’

“I wanted to buy you a jeep. Bring it now. They won’t bring it.”

He said the Igbo community should also look inward and honour its own historical figures and veterans instead of waiting for the Federal Government.

“You don’t remember Ojukwu. You don’t remember Akanu Ibiam. You don’t remember Mbakwe. You don’t remember anybody.”

‘I defended Umuahia 50% during war’

Recounting his experience on the Biafran front, Nwoke singled out the Uzuakoli sector as one of the fiercest theatres of the war.

“The Uzuakoli sector was the hottest of the battles we fought,” he said, recalling that the fighting lasted about seven weeks, with two battles fought daily.

He made the striking claim that only three Biafran officers effectively defended Umuahia during the war.

“Colonel Emeka Ananaba (who later became Abia Deputy Governor) defended Umuahia 30 per cent. Colonel Joe Achuzie defended Umuahia 20 per cent. And myself, Corporal Nwafor, defended Umuahia 50 per cent,” he said.

Nwoke also referred to the book Tragedy of Victory, saying its title aptly captured what he considered the paradox of the Federal Government’s victory.

“I’ve never seen a victory that turned into a tragedy. I’ve never seen. Only the Nigerian victory turned into a tragedy,” he said.

‘War must have a reason’

Explaining his earlier assertion that he would have committed suicide if he had fought on the Nigerian side, Nwoke said war should only be fought for a clearly defined and morally defensible purpose.

“You go to war with genuine reasons. War is serious business because you are going to kill somebody as well. You must have a good reason to go to war.

“Why did Nigerians go to war? To kill people, or to wipe people out, or did they go to build a nation? Maybe they didn’t tell us why they went to war. But they should come and tell us why they went to war.”

He argued that nation-building, rather than military victory, should have been the ultimate objective.

“You want to build a nation. You’re not going to rig an election. You’re not going to wipe out people’s race. It doesn’t make sense.

“And after wiping out people’s race, what’s next? Look at the country today.”

The veteran said the lessons of the civil war should therefore be used to build a more just and inclusive Nigeria. (Saturday Vanguard)