Obasanjo appealed to Nigerians to move beyond the civil war. Nigeria’s former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, has said that he has no regrets over the various actions he took during the Nigerian civil war (1967-1970).
Mr. Obasanjo, a retired Army General, was one of the soldiers that led Nigeria’s military onslaught against Biafran soldiers leading to the eventual surrender of the Biafrans. Controversies have trailed the war with some intellectuals like foremost writer, Chinua Achebe, accusing the Nigerian troop and government of genocide against the Igbos.
Mr. Obasanjo, who spoke on Friday, at a reception held in his honour by the Peoples Democratic Party,however, said all the decisions he took then were for the growth of the country and he has no regrets taking them.
“I don’t have any regret over some actions or decisions taken then, and I don’t have any apology over that, because it was in the interest of all,” he said.
Mr. Obasanjo said that he almost lost his private part during the war, as a shrapnel hit him on the pelvic region during the war. The former president said his late cousin who died at the age of 92 recently, was still of the conviction that his dead son was still alive and resident in the defunct Biafra Republic.
He, however, used the occasion to call on all Nigerians to put the memory of the civil war behind them and concentrate on the development and growth of Nigeria as a nation.
I’m no coup plotter.
Mr. Obasanjo also said he never participated in any military coup in the country throughout his military carrier.
He said the coup planners only consulted him at the end of each coup.
“I have never participated in any coup, I just sit down jeje…and they later get in touch with me,” he told guests at the colourful ceremony. Mr. Obasanjo became Nigeria’s vice military ruler in 1975 after a coup removed the Yakubu Gowon led military government. He became military head of state after another coup led to the death of his boss, Murtala Muhammed.