ABUJA, NIGERIA — A prominent chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Dan Ulasi, has stated that the unresolved trauma of the Nigerian Civil War continues to wrongly fuel political distrust against the Igbo ethnic group, blocking the region’s path to the presidency.
Ulasi warned that the historical injustices and political friction that triggered the 1967 conflict are actively re-emerging across various regions of the country, specifically pointing to volatile security crises in states like Zamfara.
The Myth of Revolutionary Secession
Addressing Nigeria’s ongoing political realignments and power-sharing debates, the veteran politician dismissed deep-seated fears that an Igbo president would collapse the federation or orchestrate a breakaway republic.
“Since the civil war, the rest of the country seems not to have trusted the Igbos,” Ulasi stated. “Many believe we are revolutionary and might have the tendency to exit Nigeria. That is simply not true.”
He argued that the political marginalization of the South-East region is rooted in a collective amnesia regarding the structural failures that preceded the civil war. According to the PDP chieftain, rather than addressing these baseline issues, the political establishment has used outdated narratives to systematically deny the region the presidency.
Parallel Shocks in Northern Nigeria
Ulasi drew a direct comparison between the societal breakdown of the late 1960s and the current security collapse gripping Northern Nigeria. He cautioned that the federal government’s inability to arrest severe regional instability could result in wider state fragmentation.
“People forget what happened before the war, and those same issues are brewing in Nigeria today,” Ulasi warned. “Zamfara is almost at the brink of war.”
He stressed that the rampant banditry, illegal gold mining syndicates, and mass displacements in the North-West serve as clear indicators that state authority is crumbling, mirroring the pre-war fractures of the past.
Call for Sincere Dialogue and Value Overhaul
To prevent a repeat of historical catastrophes, the PDP leader declared that superficial political appointments and elite consensus will no longer suffice to hold the nation together. He demanded an immediate structural transformation of Nigeria’s governance model.
“We must have a sincere dialogue about Nigeria’s challenges,” Ulasi urged. “There must also be a rigorous process of re-engineering values across the country.”
He concluded that the path to a stable, unified Nigeria requires the ruling elite to discard Civil War-era prejudices, embrace regional equity, and completely overhaul the national security architecture before localized crises spiral into full-scale civil conflict.
