Northern delegates at the National Conference have said the payment of the N2.4tn reparation demanded by the Igbo for the Civil War in the South-East will encourage more wars. The northern delegates, under the auspices of the Northern Delegates Forum, stated that the cases of Boko Haram insurgency in the North-East and the Biafran war in the South-East were not the same. Delegates from the South-East had on Monday demanded N2.4tn reparation and compensation “for atrocities and injustices committed against the Ndi’gbo in Nigeria over a long period.” The proposed National Intervention Fund had caused a wide division between delegates from the North and those from the South. The South-East delegates, in their amendment to the proposed fund, had claimed that the defunct Eastern Region and part of the disbanded Mid-West Region were theaters of war, which devastated the two regions and brought untold hardship on their citizens. However, the spokesperson for the NDF, Mr. Anthony Sani, in a statement on Tuesday, stated that the “three R policy of Gen. Yakubu Gowon after the Civil War were desirable humanitarian gestures,” which should not be mistaken for justification of separatist actions. Gowon’s policy of ‘No Victor No Vanquished,’ was followed by the ‘3R’ – Reconciliation, Reconstruction and Rehabilitation of the defunct Eastern Region. Sani said, “When one hears Ohanaeze demands trillions of naira for reparation due to the Civil War, it baffles and bewilders. The reason is because the world does not encourage separation, let alone civil war, which inevitably leads to losses not only of lives but also properties on both sides. And so, for anybody to pay reparation (for the civil war) amounts to encouraging civil wars across the globe. “It is important to note that the sympathy for the North-East is precisely because the states, which sought and obtained the mandate to secure their lives and properties, have not been able to do so. Therefore, the cases of the North-East and the Biafran war are not one and the same thing.” In their amendment, the South-East delegates had said, “The case of the South-East, which bore the full brunt of the civil war for 30 months, is particularly tragic. Most of it remained a wasteland, despite Gen. (Yakubu) Gowon’s declaration of the three ‘Rs’, Reconstruction, Rehabilitation and Reconciliation.” In a document entitled, ‘Atrocities and Injustices against Ndigbo: Ohaneze’s demand for Reparation,’ which was circulated with the amendment to the proposed National Intervention Fund, the delegates said it was incalculable to put a price on the death of millions of Igbos who were killed in the civil war and other occasions. The group said, “The Federal Government should pay N400bn each to the five states of the South-East as compensation to those who lost loved ones, lost property and those still suffering dislocation today in Nigeria. The same amount should also be paid to the government of Delta State for the benefit of Anioma area of the state.” They explained that the Boko Haran insurgency in parts of the country, especially in the North-East zone, had brought up the issues of reparation and reconstruction in whatever guise to the fore and the National Conference, through its Committee on Devolution of Power had tackled it headlong.
Posted on: Wed, 16 Jul 2014 10:55:27 +0000
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