HAPPENING NOW! Cardinal Arinze Joins IPOB in Nkpor To Honor Biafran Fallen Heroes
The Catholic Cardinal, Cardinal Arinze and Father Obinna of Owerri have just come out to join the live event happening at Nkpor, Anambra State.
It is indeed a good development, seeing a man of God who came down all the way from Owerri, join IPOB in remembering their fallen heroes this day.
Biafran Remembrance Day, 30th May: It’s Significance
I read the document titled “American Declaration of Independence” many years ago when I was still a teenager. This was the manuscript written and signed by the leaders of the 13 colonies that constituted America where they agreed to amalgamate into one country and also affirmed their independence from Britain on the 4th of July 1776, almost 150 years before the creation of Nigeria. Two sentences from this document stand out to me and I will never forget it to my dying day. The first is;
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”
The second sentence is:
“— That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness”
Today, America is the greatest nation in the world and one that most countries look up to.
On the 30th of May 1967, a young 34 year old Lt Colonel Ojukwu who was then
Military Governor of the Eastern Region, having witnessed the following:
The cold blooded murder of 50,000 Easterners,men, women and children.
The repudiation and contravention of the ‘Aburi agreement’ by the Government of Gowon.
The intent of the North to politically subjugate everyone in Nigeria.
Ojukwu declared Biafra. What followed was a brutal 3 year war that claimed over 3 million lives. Gowon would argue that it was his duty to keep Nigeria one while Ojukwu would argue that it was his duty to protect his people.
The significance of today for those of us on the Biafra side is to remember those who lost their life in the quest for freedom. We remember those who are not with us today because they believed in their right to choose for themselves if they are Nigerian or not. We pray to God to come the aid all people all over the world who yearn to be free from oppression and those who are persecuted for exercising their right to self determination.
May our gracious war dead rest in peace.
Amen!
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