In the wake of former military commander Gen. Yakubu Gowon’s 90th birthday celebration, Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s 2023 presidential contender, has urged for forgiveness and the need for unity among Nigerians.
Numerous individuals and organizations across the country have greeted Gowon, who turned 90 on Saturday, October 19, 2024, including the Christian Association of Nigeria, former President Muhammadu Buhari, and President Bola Tinubu.
The former governor of Anambra State wished the former head of state a prosperous life in a series of tweets on Saturday, stating that Gowon’s accomplishments “stand as one of sacrifice, leadership, and unity.”
Part of the post said, “I am honored to join other good-willed Nigerians in celebrating the 90th birthday of General Yakubu Gowon, a highly esteemed statesman and former Head of State. You stood for love in a time of hate. You stood for peace during a period of conflict. You stood for togetherness during a period of discord.
“You have demonstrated sacrifice, leadership, and unity throughout your life of service to our wonderful country, Nigeria. As we work to create a more cohesive, successful, and just Nigeria, may your legacy continue to serve as our guidance,” among other things.
However, Obi noted on Sunday that although some people found his message of congratulations offensive and/or unnecessary, it was important to him because of his leadership role as well as because it offered the “hope of forgiveness,” which is “an attempt to forget” the offender’s wrongdoings. Obi used this template when he greeted Gen. Gowon at the age of 90.
“My felicitation with Nigeria’s former military Head of state, General Yakubu Gowon, on his 90th birthday anniversary, which was celebrated by a cross-section of Nigerians, has been received with mixed feelings by some Nigerians, and some have expressed their sentiments publicly, and privately to me,” went the tweet titled “Why I Congratulated Gen. Gowon at 90.”
I agree with some of them, and I believe that as a leader at the forefront of giving our nation guidance to move away from all of our flaws, including the problems that led to our preventable, brutal civil war, I had to demonstrate to the world that the highest form of heroism is forgiving the enemy and going on.
“The 30 months of civil war from 1967 to 1970 are unquestionably the darkest period of our 64-year history as a nation. God Almighty, whose way is not our way, must have a reason for keeping General Gowon, the war’s chief prosecutor, alive to this day at 90 years old and Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, the man who saw the war’s end, alive to this day at 87 years old, super-heading all the efforts to see a Nigeria that is just and reconciled.
When the Biafra leader, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, joined his ancestors on March 2, 2012, coincidentally during my time as governor of Anambra state, Nigeria offered him a heroic national burial, there was also a growing new spirit behind it.
According to Obi, Nigeria demonstrated its resolve “in the spirit of reconciliation” by the way Ojukwu was buried.
The former LP presidential candidate cited two passages from the Bible that, in his words, have remained a source of guidance in his interactions with other people.
He went on to say that although anger and bitterness only lead to “resistance and avoidable blood feuds,” forgiveness, as a process, aids in the release of an offender.
Humans can react in a variety of ways to bad deeds, particularly one that took millions of lives. The tragedy of retaliation is one, while the hope of forgiveness in an effort to go on is another. The latter fits in nicely with the format I used to greet Gen. Gowon at ninety.
“I strive to base all of my interactions with people on my Christian faith, which is based on the powerful teaching of Jesus Christ and is emphasized in St. Paul’s letter to the Colossians 3:13, “Bear with each other and forgive one another: if any of you has a grievance against someone.” Be as forgiving as the Lord is. “Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice,” according to Ephesians 4:31–32.
“Whatever justification I offer for joining the other Nigerians in welcoming General Gowon may never fully satisfy some people, particularly those who were directly impacted by the conflict, but the most typical reactions to cruelty are hurt, rage, and resentment. In our nation as well as throughout the world, it exacerbates sectarianism, sparks resistance, and results in preventable blood feuds that are not going away.
Forgiveness has a way of releasing the one who is forgiving. Forgiveness is not so much an instinct as it is a practice. Our culture, which God has blessed as the finest country in the Black world, has been brought to its knees by hate, but this hatred must end. When the Nigerian/Biafra conflict began in 1967, I was less than ten years old. I didn’t think I should be harsh and bring them back to the dark side of our past because the majority of my supporters nationwide who joined me in creating a new Nigeria were born after the war. The tweets say, among other things, “I believe such an act will derail the message of a New Nigeria that we insist is possible.”
Obi urged those who were offended by his birthday message to the elder statesman to “bear with me and join me in this mission to create a country where justice will triumph over hate, unforgiving spirit, and other vices.” Good governance, which can only begin and flourish in the presence of justice and true peace, is what Nigeria desperately and urgently needs to survive in the future. God bless you and thank you.
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