As the Nigerian political space is gradually heating up ahead of the country’s general election come 2015, Nigerians have been advised to make deliberate effort to forget anything that could drag the country into a second civil war.

The advice is coming from Reverend Dr. Moses Iloh, erstwhile head of delegation, Red Cross Society, who served in the breakaway Biafra (1967-70).

“I don’t know if Nigeria as a nation has learnt anything from the war because a lot of the people who are blowing hot now did not see the war. So they talk of war as if they talk of a movie or a drama,” said the revered cleric against the rising voices in favour of Ndigbo retaliating the killing of their kith and kin in the north by the Boko Haram terrorist group.

According to Iloh, “These days you hear people say words like ‘Nigeria will burn’ or ‘there will be war in the country’. It is a terrible thing – may it never happen. I rather we keep on arguing; war situations are not pleasant situations, most of the things you build over time, you just lose them at once. War is a bad thing particularly when it is a war between brothers especially when it is an uncivilised war which has no rules and regulations.”

Iloh, who is also the Presiding Steward of Soul Winning Ministries, Lagos, opined that Nigeria would benefit more if her citizens concentrate on putting the civil war experience behind us and concentrate towards building the nation.

“There are too many things about the war that I wish we forget to avoid the trauma of the Biafra War,” he said, adding: “If you are not asking me these questions I would have forgotten. Rather the question should be shouldn’t there be something that would make us forget the war so we don’t keep revisiting it to open new wounds? I believe in the biblical saying that says old things have passed away all things have been made new. What bothers me is when we talk about the Igbo man having to beg to live in a country own by all. I would have liked to see a situation like the boxing where during the ring you beat yourselves after 10 round you get up and hug each other – there is no bitterness or malice; that is why sports is a good avenue to build character. Didn’t East and West Germany come together? I think that what we need to do is to make everybody forget that there was ever a war.”

•Photo: War veteran Rev. Iloh.

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