The 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, has advocated for forgiveness and the need for unity among the Nigerians in the wake of the 90th birthday celebration of former military leader, Gen. Yakubu Gowon.
Gowon, who clocked 90 on Saturday, 19 October 2024, has been greeted by many personalities and bodies nationwide, including President Bola Tinubu, former President Muhammadu Buhari, and the Christian Association of Nigeria, among others.
In a series of tweets Saturday, the former Anambra State Governor wished the former Head of State a prosperous life, adding that Gowon’s contributions “stands as one of sacrifice, leadership, and unity.”
The tweet read partly, “I am privileged to join other Nigerians of goodwill to celebrate a highly respected leader and former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon, on his 90th birthday anniversary. In a time of hate, you stood for love. At a time of strife, you stood for peace. At a time of division, you stood for unity.
“Your life of service to our great nation, Nigeria, stands as one of sacrifice, leadership, and unity. May your legacy continue to guide us as we strive to build a more united, prosperous, and just Nigeria,” among others.
However, on Sunday, Obi pointed out that while some persons saw his congratulatory message as offensive and/or unnecessary, it was significant to him not only because of his leadership position but also to offer the “hope of forgiveness” which is “an attempt to forget” the misdeeds of the offender — a template he (Obi) “adopted in greeting Gen Gowon at 90 years old.”
The tweet titled, “Why I Congratulated Gen. Gowon at 90,” read, “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.
“I share in some of them, and I feel that as a leader in the vanguard of providing direction for our country to shift base away from all our shortcomings, including the issues that caused our avoidable cruel civil war, I needed to show to the world that the ultimate heroism is forgiving the enemy and moving forward.
“Indisputably, the darkest part of our 64-year journey as a nation is the 30 months of civil war from 1967 to 1970 and God almighty whose way is not our way must have a reason why he kept the Chief Prosecutor of the war who is General Gowon alive to be 90 years today and the man who saw the end of the war, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, to be there at 87 years, super-heading all the moves to see a reconciled and just Nigeria.
“There was also a developing new spirit why the same country, Nigeria, gave the Biafra leader, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, a heroic national burial on 2 March 2012, when he joined his ancestors, coincidentally under my tenure as Governor of Anambra state.”
Obi noted that “in the spirit of reconciliation,” Nigeria showed its resolve owing to the status of the burial given to Ojukwu.
The ex-LP presidential candidate quoted two Biblical verses which, according to him, have continued to guide his dealings with other humans.
He added that forgiveness, being a process, helps to set an offender free, while anger and bitterness only bring forth “resistance and avoidable blood feuds.”
“There are various ways human beings can respond to acts of evil, especially one that claimed millions of lives. One is the tragedy of revenge, and another offers the hope of forgiveness in an attempt to forget. The latter conforms neatly with the template I adopted in greeting Gen Gowon at 90 years old.
“In all my dealings with human beings, I try to be guided by my faith as a Christian in a strong message preached by Jesus Christ himself and underscored in reflections 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. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.” And to Ephesians 4: 31-32, “Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice”
“Whatever reason I will give for joining the rest of Nigerians to greet General Gowon, may never truly conform with some persons, especially direct victims of the war, but anger, hurt, and bitterness are the commonest responses to cruelty. It fuels sectarianism, and it leads to resistance and avoidable blood feuds that we are witnessing across the globe, and even in our country, and it does not abate.
“There is something about forgiveness, it sets the person doing it free. Forgiveness is more a process than an instinct. It’s hate that has put our society, blessed by God to be the greatest land in the black world, down, but this hate has to stop. I was under ten years old when the Nigeria/Biafra war started in 1967. Most of my supporters across the country joining me get a new Nigeria were born after the war, and I didn’t feel I should drag them back to the dark side of our history by being unforgiving. I feel such an act will derail the message of a New Nigeria that we insist is possible,” among others, read the tweets.
Obi concluded by urging the persons angered by his birthday message to the elder statesman to “bear with me and join me in this mission to create a country where hate, unforgiving spirit, and other vices will give way for justice. What Nigeria needs badly and urgently to survive going forward is good governance, which can only germinate and grow in true peace and the presence of justice. Thanks and God bless.”
