Almost 55 years ago when the war that battered the future of a tribe ended, the hate, the discrimination and the suspicion are still palpable.Â
It was a war that ought have been avoided. It wasn’t hell bent, but the broken trust and deceit of one man made it a must.
Today, the pains of that war remains so fresh, the dripping of blood , the tears and cry of the killings a nightmare.
The scars are there, but one would even forget and forgive if love, remorse and honest hug of no victor, no vanquish are shown. No! In their hearts the war continues and the killing sustained in multiple dimensions.
They suppressed them, like a rounded rubber, they bounced back. They got stretched, thinking their annihilation would soon come, like an elastic string, they coiled back, maintaining still their positions of never say never.
They threw them away, broken and shattered into pieces. The diamond is gone and the beauty disfigured so they thought.
Like magic their pieces of broken diamond were redefined and recrafted, giving it new designs that trippled the value of its former self.
They are irrepressible, destroy the mould you think in it their life depends, In a twinkle they assumed another mould that would make them better than they were.
They are butterflies, you don’t chase and catch them bare handed. like winds, you don’t see them with bare eyes but their effects are felt.
They are mysteries to them. As much as they tried to phantom the very stuff their life is made of , illusion and confusion become the very things that come to their mind.
Befuddled and at their wit ends trying to unravel the mysteries of the staying on power of this tribe, there mind becomes tabulalized.
Forward ever, backward never, their destiny song and their lyrics “never say never” even in a dire straits situation.
Ojukwu gone, many that were at the heat and heart of the war, gradually bowing out from the stage.
You are still alive and strong Gen. Gowon. Grace and mercy of God seem abundance in you. Who will question him? In you he may have found a good home, where fellowship with him is steady and real.
I bid you come Gen Gowon! Come to the stage and make peace with the spirit of our ancestors some of them probably would still be living today if only you obeyed the Aburi accord.
Come on stage, it isn’t late, better late than never. Come and make peace with the land for the spilled blood of innocent, vulnerable etc souls during that war still cry for vengeance.
Come on stage now that you are hail and hearty, time ticks, soon the trumpets may blast. Come and appease souls, the blood spilled was too much.
Go back to those gory documentary. The massive killings, the pitiable sight of starved women and kwashoko shrivelled children. Their showing ribs, their hollow eye socket, their tiny and fleshless body. Watch it over and over again. Watch the Asaba killing you will shed tears , may be the conviction to come apologise for appeasement before the curtain falls will be strong.
You would have stopped that war! You had the yam and the knife. Rather you chose to renage on the agreed terms. Trust! You blew it away and the consequences of that trust broken years ago we are still grappling with.
Time ticks Gen Gowon. At the departure lounge many are, waiting for their flight to land for boarding. Come on stage and make peace, for the injustice of 58 years ago still manifesting in many forms and dimensions.
If I told you that the insurgency we experience today, the killings and kidnappings that are almost like a normal life events, the topsy-turvy of our political system, the looting, the thuggery,the rigging, the corruption and the rituals are just domino effects of the civil war, you may probably tag it wishy-washy thought.
Believe what you want to believe but the truth is, that war was like an injection of a poisonous substance into a once healthy system. Nothing thereafter will be good again until a total and deliberate detoxification is done..
Come on stage before the curtain falls and do that detoxification. You started that war. You think it ended 55 years ago? Nah! It still rages in minds, in systems, in policies, in appointments etc.
Come up to the stage before the curtain falls and appease the land and the souls. The blood spilled speaks daily. Come up on stage Gen. Gowon. Posterity awaits to describe you in history. It’s description of you depends solely on your coming on stage or not. Life is spiritual! What the eyes couldn’t see are usually those that hit us the most.
Jarlath Uche Opara Jarlathuche@gmail.com
