Date: 2017-06-08

Na'Allah, who spoke during a press briefing heralding the fifth convocation of the university yesterday in Ilorin, said the proposition would nationally erase the sad memories of the "unfortunate" civil war said to have claimed the lives of about one million Nigerians.

Vice Chancellor of Kwara State University (KWASU), Malete, Prof. Abdulrasheed Na'Allah, has canvassed a national celebration of 'Biafra Day', rather than making it the exclusive remembrance for the people of South-East geo-political zone.

Na'Allah, who spoke during a press briefing heralding the fifth convocation of the university yesterday in Ilorin, said the proposition would nationally erase the sad memories of the "unfortunate" civil war said to have claimed the lives of about one million Nigerians.

Besides, he said the ultimatum issued to people of South-East extractions to vacate the existing 19 northern states was uncalled for. The vice chancellor, who urged the Federal Government to ensure the unity of the nation, said: "Anyone who wants to break up Nigeria today is not sincere. Biafra should not be a sectional thing. Let Nigeria as a nation celebrate it as a national event as the event in our history was not sectional but national.

"The sit-down at home order was wrong. It was an unnecessary action. Our goal should not be war but peace. It is the people at the grassroots that suffer the consequences of war. The elite are together irrespective of tribes or religions. It is advantageous to be big but disadvantageous to be small."

The VC said if the African/American developed America to its present colossal status, Africans in Africa should use the ingenuity of their forebears to develop the continent and her people rather than contemplating wars.

He challenged the Nigerian press to reasonably critique issues that could threaten the nation's peace just as he urged them to jettison publications that could disintegrate the nation.