A
grassroots effort to mobilize support for the declaration of a National
Memorial Day has taken off in the states of the Southeast. Disclosing
this on his return from a recent visit to Nigeria from his base
in Washington DC, Chief Manny Onyekwere, assured that contacts at
the local government, state and national levels have been established
to see to it that the bill is passed in the shortest possible time.
The purpose of the four-paged bill is to enact the creation of a
public holiday for the commemoration of the suffering and tragic
loss of 1.5 million fellow citizens who died during the Civil War.
Unless
the Federal Government first declares a “National Memorial
Day” beforehand, the houses of legislature of the Southeast
have been asked, through this bill, to declare one day in May to
be the “Biafra Memorial Day”. A similar bill for the
declaration of a “National Memorial Day” has also been
forwarded through the national legislators of Southeast origin for
both the Senate and the House of Representatives in Abuja. Active
consultations are already in progress to synchronize strategies
between the Southeast legislative assemblies and their colleagues
in Abuja.
Because of the heightened unease caused by large numbers of restive
youths who are now flocking into the ranks of Movement for Actualization
of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), it is expected that the bill
will be given sympathetic treatment at the national legislature.
The state legislatures of Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo are
making arrangements to debate the desirability of creating a “Biafra
Memorial Day”. With the high emotion rekindled by MASSOB and
the Biafran issue, politicians of the Southeast are certainly under
pressure to do something quickly to bring this matter to some type
of closure. A press conference was recently held in Awka, Anambra
State capital, by the State BMP Leader, Chief Chuba Nweke, during
which the full text of the bills were released to the general public.
Apart from calling for the declaration of a public holiday to remember
the Civil War, the bill empowers the Chief Executives at the national
and state levels to establish monuments and memorial parks as well
as preserve major historical sites that are connected with the Civil
War. The bill also enables the heads of government to establish
the “Civil War Reconciliation Committee” with a mandate
to conduct open hearings for citizens on the Civil War. The recommendations
from the committee shall facilitate the process of national healing
and possible payment of compensations if necessary. The Reconciliation
Committee is also tasked to suggest the means to ensure that circumstances
that precipitated the Civil War will never be allowed to get out
of hand again.
