We cannot talk of Nigeria before the Amalgamation in 1914 for there really was no such country. Anyone who lived and died before that union emerged from the  Colony and Protectorates or better still, simply belonged to any of the groups that dotted the land.

History shall set us free. Those of us who understand comparative History will not fail to tell it as it is. About 51 years ago, Gen. Yakubu Gowon balkanized Nigeria into 12. Col. Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, erstwhile governor of Eastern region, was appointed Military Governor of what was called ‘Central Eastern State.’

Blood on the Benue as we all see today must cease if we go through a highly spiritual process to pacify the souls of innocent Nigerians slaughtered in the second  half of 1966.The Middle Belt and the former Eastern region need to come together for good.

We must be learning from our past now. Those whose ears are still working, let them hear. This is time for reconciliation as blood continues to flow across the upper Benue. The East and Middle Belt will shake off the bloodletting of yore.

Edward Wilmot Blyden was born in 1832 to Igbo parents who were enslaved and sold to the new world. His place of birth, St. Thomas[now US Virgin Islands] did not stop him from holding on to his African roots. He relocated to Liberia, lived in Nigeria as one of the founders of Archbishop Vining Church, Ikeja and died in Sierra Leone on  December 12, 1912.