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| Chimamanda, Buhari & Osinbajo. |
Nigerian
born global write and autor, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie said the Igbo have been
treated unfairly by the rest of Nigeria, especially after the war, 49 years ago
and therefore recommended the setting up of a truth and reconciliation
committee that would examine the issue critically and find lasting solutions to
the matter.
She
made her recommendation today after she planted a tree at the Nelson Mandela
Garden in Asaba, capital of Delta state. She was the guest of Dr. Newton
Jibunoh, Nigeria’s famous environmentalist, who has the distinction of
traversing the Sahara Desert.
According
to her, Nigeria set up a body akin to the truth commission in 1999, headed by
Justice Chukwudifu Oputa. It was called The Human Rights Violation
Investigation Commission of Nigeria. But 16 years after it submitted its report,
the recommendations have not been published.
The
novelist and feminist campaigner, whose second novel, her second novel, Half of
a Yellow Sun (2006), took its title from the flag of the short-lived Biafra,
said 50 years after the civil war ended, the Igbo have not been treated well by
Nigeria.
SHE
SAYS: “I think we should have a sort of Truth and Reconciliation Committee in
this country, not just to address Biafra, which should be a central part of it,
because it is impossible to understand Nigeria without understanding her history
from around 1965 to 1970 and for Nigeria to thrive as a nation, we have to
acknowledge the truth. In Asaba for instance, brutal massacres happened during
the war and not yet acknowledged and so a lot still needs to be done. Let us
just air our history, sometimes all people need to hear is sorry”.
Furthermore,
she says, “There are houses in Port Harcourt today that were named abandoned
properties and were illegally taken from their owners. There were people who
lost everything they owned and just given a tiny amount to start all over.
That
is injustice that has not been addressed, and our history does not mean we will
have to divide Nigeria and dissent does not mean treason”.
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