Asaba Massacre: Nigeria Must Share Our Pain, Learn From Tragedy – Nduka-Eze

The Chairman of the Asaba Massacre Memorial Trust, Chuck Nduka-Eze, has called for a national reckoning over the Asaba Massacre, insisting that the tragedy should not be treated as the burden of Asaba alone but as a painful chapter in Nigeria’s history.

Nduka-Eze made the call while reflecting on the massacre, which occurred during the Nigerian Civil War and claimed the lives of hundreds of Asaba residents.

According to him, what happened in Asaba was fundamentally a Nigerian tragedy and should therefore be remembered and confronted by the entire country.

“The general feeling is that Asaba is trying to say something to the country. What happened in Asaba happened to Nigeria because it was a Nigerian tragedy,” he said.

He stressed that genuine healing would require Nigerians to understand what happened and draw lessons from the tragedy.

“It is not only a pain that should be borne by Asaba people; it should be a pain that should be shared by the whole country,” Nduka-Eze said.

He argued that failure to learn the right lessons from the massacre had contributed to a culture of impunity, saying some subsequent crises in Nigeria might have been prevented if accountability had followed the events of Asaba.

Nduka-Eze also said the people of Asaba had made enormous sacrifices during the civil war, describing their losses as part of what was presented as a war for national unity.

He, however, questioned whether the country adequately demonstrated that commitment to unity after the war, particularly in the treatment of people from the former Biafran region.

According to him, many Igbo people were not fully reintegrated into the Nigerian establishment after the war, forcing some to leave the country and build successful lives abroad.

He described the development as a loss to Nigeria, arguing that the country failed to fully benefit from the talents and contributions of many of its citizens.

Meanwhile, Major General Ahmed Taiwo (rtd), son of the late Colonel Ibrahim Taiwo, has advocated forgiveness and dialogue as pathways towards healing over the Asaba Massacre and other painful episodes of Nigeria’s past.

Taiwo said he had been aware of the issue for decades and had personally researched it extensively while serving in Enugu.

“I have always believed that forgiveness is the only way we can heal this,” he said.

He called for broader national conversations on the issues that contributed to the country’s tragedies, stressing the need for Nigerians to confront the past and seek genuine forgiveness.

“I think we should have major discussions around all these issues that bedeviled the nation, and seek true forgiveness and healing will come thereafter,” Taiwo said.

The retired general also clarified that his comments were not prompted by external pressure, noting that he had known about the Asaba Massacre for about 31 years and had studied the circumstances surrounding it.