Former Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar believes the 1967 civil war that rocked Nigeria could have been avoided if there was no misunderstanding between the waring factions.

His opinion was contained in his titled “Call of Duty,” which was publicly presented on his 84th birthday in Abuja weekend.

According to him, the lack of understanding and cycle of retaliation between the various groups left no room for reconciliation.

Abubakar at the time was drafted into the Nigerian army as they resisted the exit of Biafra which was championed by governor of the Eastern Region, Emeka Odumegwu Ojukwu.

“To this day, I believe that the Civil War, like most other conflicts in life, could have been prevented. I feel that rising tempers, anger, and the cycle of retaliations didn’t leave room for understanding and reconciliation.

“There was one side wanting to break away and the other insisting on maintaining the unity and sovereign integrity of the country. A lot of argument has been made about the fact that our leaders were very young and hot blooded. Whatever the case, I want to believe we learned valuable lessons from the war.

“I want to hedge a bet that we would never go to war again. We have a bitter experience to learn from. I would also say we were lucky as a country to survive the war. We were able to reconcile and make peace. Those who felt they were being marginalised eventually returned to the fold.”

General Abubakar recalled what he described as the costliest mistake made by Nigerian troops that claimed some lives after capturing Awka in Anambra State.

“Capturing Awka in present-day Anambra State was one of the toughest battles we fought. It was also the one in which we made the costliest mistakes.

“When we captured Onitsha in February 1968, Colonel Muhammed, our division commander, felt we were done and dusted.

He believed victory was already assured. Believing the war was over, he lined up vehicles and asked us to move with all our troops and ammunition. It was a tactical miscalculation. Indeed, it was an error. We didn’t know the Biafrans had other plans, attacking us with rocket fire and bombs. Our vehicles caught fire.

“The tankers supplying us with fuel for our operational vehicles also exploded. It was a most terrifying scene. Many soldiers died. I was lucky to escape.