Some people are like they’re going to live forever; they are just —for lack of better words to describe it— larger than life…. So it doesn’t matter where you are or what you’re doing, when you hear Ojukwu is dead; you pause and taken a moment.

And no matter  your impression or opinion of  him as a man; immediately  you feel the vacuum.  Ojukwu is one of the last of the true ‘greats’, openly revered by his people through the decades, not because he bribed them or wielded the big stick, but because he had and showed a inestimable love for his people.

It is no wonder then, how quickly and viciously the claws came out when a statement credited to the former Head of State, retired General Yakubu Gowon rubbed the great man’s immediate constituency the wrong way. Because I’m not  privy to the retired General’s entire statement, I have no way of ascertaining whether or not his words were taken out of context, however, were I one of  his advisers (do they right these things themselves?) I would have advised otherwise.

A condolence message at Ojukwu’s death is not a good time to bring up the civil war unless of course, it is to highlight the bravery of the great man in the pursuit of  what he believed was the best for his people.

… “At the Aburi accord, all attempts to bring sense into the situation failed. Now, we have not been able to solve this problem. Look at how they killed several youth corpers in the North…”  “The issue discussed 43 years ago in Ghana are still staring us in the face…”

“If  Southern Nigeria had been a state it would have contested with Europe today in terms of development…. He (Gowon) should address this not remind us of past wounds…” … “Ojukwu took the decision because several Igbos were being killed in the North…the ideal thing is for Nigeria to sit down and discuss what led to the war properly and prevent another war…”  “Things are growing worse in this country and this time, it might not be the Igbo that will try to break away, it might be another group trying to break away…”

These are just a few of the comments on the General’s statement. It’s interesting to see what you can find just beneath the surface if you scratch  little… there is a seething anger permeating the very  core of this nation. Nigerians are one of the happiest people in the world…? Hog wash! The anger is there…pulsating. And with it all the latent resentment and frustration of going round and round in circles and arriving at the same spot over and over again. All it takes is one little spark and you are reminded that this nation is faced with some MAJOR psychological and structural problems. Old wounds have not healed and old grievances are definitely not forgotten.