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Mr Peter Obi of the Labour Party, LP, has explained why he congratulated former Head of Head of State, Yakubu Godwin on his 90th birthday anniversary.<\/p>\n

Obi said he needed to show to the World that the ultimate heroism is forgiving the enemy and moving forward.<\/p>\n

DAILY POST reports that Obi\u2019s earlier goodwill message to Gowon was greeted with mixed feelings by some Nigerians, with some expressing strong resentment.<\/p>\n

This comes after Gowon had alluded that the people of the southeast region started the infamous Nigerian-Biafran civil war.<\/p>\n

Explaining why he facilitated with Gowon, the former Anambra State Governor posted on X: \u201cMy felicitation with Nigeria\u2019s former military Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon, on his 90th birthday anniversary, which was celebrated by a cross-section of Nigerians, has been received with mixed feelings by some Nigerians, and some have expressed their sentiments publicly, and privately to me.<\/p>\n

\u201cI share in some of them, and I feel that as a leader in the vanguard of providing direction for our country to shift base away from all our shortcomings, including the issues that caused our avoidable cruel civil war, I needed to show to the World that the ultimate heroism is forgiving the enemy and moving forward.<\/p>\n

\u201cIndisputably, the darkest part of our 64-year journey as a nation is the 30 months of civil war from 1967 to 1970 and God almighty whose way is not our way must have a reason why he kept the Chief Prosecutor of the war who is General Gowon alive to be 90 years today and the man who saw the end of the war, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo to be there at 87 years super-heading all the moves to see a reconciled and just Nigeria.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was also a developing new spirit why the same country, Nigeria, gave the Biafra leader, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, a heroic national burial on 2 March 2012, when he joined his ancestors, coincidentally under my tenure as Governor of Anambra State.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe status of the burial given to Dim Ojukwu remains the boldest indication to the World that Nigeria as a country is disposed to moving forward in the spirit of reconciliation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are various ways human beings can respond to acts of evil, especially one that claimed millions of lives.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne is the tragedy of revenge, and another offers the hope of forgiveness in an attempt to forget. The latter conforms neatly with the template I adopted in greeting Gen Gowon at 90 years old.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn all my dealings with human beings, I try to be guided by my faith as a Christian in a strong message preached by Jesus Christ himself and underscored in reflections in St Paul\u2019s letter to the Colossians 3:13: \u201cBear with each other and forgive one another: if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.\u201d And to Ephesians 4: 31-32 \u201cGet rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhatever reason I will give for joining the rest of Nigerians to greet General Gowon, May never truly conform with some persons, especially direct victims of the war, but anger, hurt, and bitterness are the commonest responses to cruelty.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt fuels sectarianism, it leads to resistance and avoidable blood feuds that we are witnessing across the globe, and even in our country and it does not abate.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is something about forgiveness, it sets the person doing it free. Forgiveness is more a process than an instinct.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s hate that has put our society, blessed by God to be the greatest land in the black World, down, but this hate has to stop.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was under ten years old when the Nigeria\/Biafra war started in 1967. Most of my supporters across the country joining me to get a new Nigeria was born after the war, and I didn\u2019t feel I should drag them back to the dark side of our history by being unforgiving.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel such an act will derail the message of a New Nigeria that we insist is possible.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018Must you greet him? Why didn\u2019t you keep quiet?\u2019 some angrily say to me, but that will still be injurious to our journey to a new Nigeria where all political vices, including but not limited to ethnic, religious, bitterness, and regional segregation, are eliminated.<\/p>\n

\u201cVarious personal experiences of victims of injustice across the globe who have chosen to put ugly things behind them visibly demonstrate the transformative power of forgiveness in healing personal and collective wounds.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith these explanations, I like to admonish all those angered by my greetings to the elder statesman to bear with me and join me in this mission to create a country where hate, unforgiving spirit, and other vices will give way for justice.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat Nigeria needs badly and urgently to survive going forward is good governance, which can only germinate and grow in true peace and the presence of justice. Thanks and God bless.\u201d<\/p>\n

Why I congratulated Gowon at 90 years \u2013 Peter Obi<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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