By Okey Maduforo, Awka
Anambra State Governor, Prof. Charles Chukwuma Soludo, has said there is no justification for another civil war in Nigeria, stressing that the Nigerian Civil War ended 56 years ago.
The governor also dismissed claims that Igbos are marginalised in the nation’s armed forces, attributing the situation largely to the refusal of youths from the South-East to enlist in the military and police.
Soludo made the remarks during the 2026 Armed Forces Remembrance Day celebration held in Awka on Thursday.
According to him, enlistment figures from the South-East, particularly Anambra State, remain among the lowest in the country.
“The Police are working hard, the Army is working hard, but Anambra people and the rest of the South-East must tell ourselves the truth — the Civil War ended 56 years ago,” Soludo said.
“Our youths from Anambra and the entire South-East recorded the lowest numbers in the last recruitment into the Army and even the Police.”
He urged youths in the region to enlist in the nation’s security agencies, noting that Nigeria belongs to all its citizens.
“Nigeria belongs to all of us. We cannot claim full ownership of the country and at the same time exclude ourselves from key national institutions. This is one area where we have marginalised ourselves,” he stated.
“If we continue to refuse to join the Police and the Armed Forces, in a few decades we will turn around to complain that there are no officers of Anambra or Igbo extraction. We must participate equally as stakeholders in Project Nigeria.”
The governor also condemned the activities of criminal elements operating in forests across the South-East, insisting that they are not freedom fighters but criminals.
“I want to call on our brothers and a few sisters hiding in the bushes and forests, claiming to be liberators. These people are criminals — kidnappers and terrorists,” Soludo said.
“They are not liberating anybody. Human beings do not live in forests; they live in houses. The era of terror is over and must end.”
He disclosed that the state government had extended an olive branch to those willing to renounce violence and reintegrate into society.
“We have extended an olive branch to the remnants still in the forests to come out, and we will help them become useful and productive citizens,” he said.
“But if you choose to remain there, then the line is drawn. No one sustains a life of criminality into old age.”
Soludo reiterated his call for armed groups across the country, including bandits in other regions, to lay down their weapons.
“As we celebrate Armed Forces Remembrance Day today, we call on all of you to lay down your arms. The Civil War is over. We cannot continue it through other means,” he said.
“It is time to build Nigeria to realise her manifest destiny — not just as the most populous nation in Africa, but as one of the most progressive nations in the world.”
Earlier, the Commissioner of Police, Anambra State Command, CP Ikioye Orutugu, fwc, mnips, PhD, alongside other service chiefs and dignitaries, participated in a wreath-laying ceremony to honour fallen officers who paid the supreme price in the line of duty.
The ceremony, led by Governor Soludo as Special Guest of Honour, featured a minute of silence, intercessory prayers, gun salute, laying of wreaths, and the release of white pigeons, symbolising peace, remembrance, and the nation’s collective gratitude to its fallen heroes.
