At the Alex Ekwueme Square, venue of the event, the Anambra state
governor, who went down memory lane, recalling the events of those dark
days in Nigeria’s history before a massive audience that included the
Second Republic Vice-President, Dr. Alex Ekwueme, the All Progressives
Grand Alliance (APGA) National Chairman, Chief Victor Umeh, traders,
civil servants as well as politicians of all colours from the South
eastern states, and Igbo-speaking areas of Delta and Rivers States, said
that the gallant soldiers lost their lives so that Nigeria would be
united.
It is believed that any soldier who fought in the Biafra civil war
and has not been seen 45 years after the war, is assumed to be dead,
hence the accordance of full funeral rites to all of them with the
governor sitting as the Chief ‘Mourner’ in the “Uke”
alongside Dr. Alex Ekwueme, Captain Emmanuel Iheanacho from Owerri, and
Emeka Ojukwu (Jnr) among others receiving sympathizers from all over
Igbo land according to tradition.
Governor Obiano also seized the opportunity to urge all the Igbos to vote and re-elect President Goodluck Jonathan in the February 14, presidential election because he would offer Nigeria the best opportunity for national integration and unity.
He nonetheless tasked the people of the South-east to vote for APGA candidates in all other elections in Anambra State and every other state where the party fielded candidates for the February general election.
He urged APGA supporter’s nation-wide, especially in Ebonyi, Abia, Imo, Zamfara and Nasarawa States, where the party fielded governorship candidates, to vote massively for the party.
“We must sweep every available position in Anambra State and win the gubernatorial election in Imo, Abia, Ebonyi, Zamfara and Nasarawa States,” he said.
The governor also tasked Igbos, especially those in the Diaspora to think home and join hands to build the South-east zone, adding however that in holding a befitting funeral for the fallen Biafran patriots during the civil war, spates of religious riots and the Boko Haram insurgency, where countless Igbos had lost their lives, they are taking after the Jews who remembered their dead during the holocaust and the Rwandan genocide victims who had been honoured by their people.
He said with the event of yesterday, Igbos should mourn no more as the wandering spirits of the fallen patriots would now rest in peace, but celebrate “the bravery of these great spirits who lost their lives that we may find peace today.”
The Nigerian Civil War, also known as the Biafran War, 6 July 1967 – 15 January 1970, was an ethnic and political conflict caused by the attempted secession of the southeastern provinces of Nigeria as the self-proclaimed Republic of Biafra.
Fallen Biafra Soldiers
Governor Obiano also seized the opportunity to urge all the Igbos to vote and re-elect President Goodluck Jonathan in the February 14, presidential election because he would offer Nigeria the best opportunity for national integration and unity.
He nonetheless tasked the people of the South-east to vote for APGA candidates in all other elections in Anambra State and every other state where the party fielded candidates for the February general election.
He urged APGA supporter’s nation-wide, especially in Ebonyi, Abia, Imo, Zamfara and Nasarawa States, where the party fielded governorship candidates, to vote massively for the party.
“We must sweep every available position in Anambra State and win the gubernatorial election in Imo, Abia, Ebonyi, Zamfara and Nasarawa States,” he said.
The governor also tasked Igbos, especially those in the Diaspora to think home and join hands to build the South-east zone, adding however that in holding a befitting funeral for the fallen Biafran patriots during the civil war, spates of religious riots and the Boko Haram insurgency, where countless Igbos had lost their lives, they are taking after the Jews who remembered their dead during the holocaust and the Rwandan genocide victims who had been honoured by their people.
He said with the event of yesterday, Igbos should mourn no more as the wandering spirits of the fallen patriots would now rest in peace, but celebrate “the bravery of these great spirits who lost their lives that we may find peace today.”
The Nigerian Civil War, also known as the Biafran War, 6 July 1967 – 15 January 1970, was an ethnic and political conflict caused by the attempted secession of the southeastern provinces of Nigeria as the self-proclaimed Republic of Biafra.
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