"More people died during Nigeria's Civil War than during the Rwandan genocide. But there's no national memorial for that event in Abuja. What a country!"- Uchena Makiaveli Stephen.

True but the difference is as follows.

In Rwanda those that were butchered ended up winning the day whilst those that were the butchers lost out.

However in Nigeria those that were the butchers won the day whilst those that were butchered lost out.

Given this I am not surprised that there are no monuements in Abuja or anywhere else in Nigeria that were built in remembrance of the millions of Igbo men, women and children that were subjected to genocide in the northern pogroms of 1966 and during our civil war.

As sad and unjust as it is the fact of the matter is that history is always written by those that won in any conflict or war.

He that is triumphant determines who the heroes and who the villains are. They also detetmine who the predators and who the victims are.

They also detetmine what the relevant facts are and who ought to be remembered and honored and who ought not to be remembered and honored.

This is very unfair but that is the sad and unfortunate reality of the aftermath of war. It is also a true reflection of human nature and the world we live in. It is a winner takes all world.

After a war or a major conflict the vanquished and the conquered are left with nothing except for the humiliation of their defeat and the shame of their failure to prevail.



It is left for the learned, the intellectual, the true historian and the investigative writer or journalist to do his research, establish all the relevant facts from credible sources, maintain his objectivity and determine the truth of the matter about all the relevant events and all that took place.

That is why history is such an important subject. Without it we are left at the whims, caprices and to the, more often than not fanciful tales, of those that were victorious in war and nothing else.

Without a proper knowledge and recollection of the facts of history we are compelled, due to continous repetition, to accept the victors subjective narrative and version of events as being the correct one.

Yet the truth is that, more often than not, this is hardly an accurate description of the facts and it is simply not true.

The truth is that there are demons and angels on both sides of the conflict in any war. We ought to be charitable, sensible and just enough to honor all those that are deserving of honor regardless of which side of the divide they fought on.

We ought to have monuements built in our country to honor not just the Nigerians that were killed during the civil war but also the Biafrans as well. We ought to remember ALL those that were subjected to genocide at ANY point in our history regardless of where they come from in our country and honor them as well.

This was done in the United States of America after their civil war and it enhanced national unity and cohesion between the north and the south.

If we claim that we are really one nation in Nigeria today then the same ought to be done here. As a matter of fact it is long overdue.

Our Armed Forces Remembrance Day, which is a day on which we remember all those gallant soldiers that died in defence of our nation, is not enough.

We should also have a day of atonement set aside for the victims of genocide and for those who sacrificed their lives for what they believed to be a worthy cause. Justice and equity demands it.