Professor Olayinka Omigbodun, former Provost of the College of Medicine at the University of Ibadan, has argued that her father, Victor Banjo, deserved the same recognition and post-war treatment accorded to other figures involved in the Nigerian Civil War.
She made this assertion during an interview on State Affairs with Edmund Obilo Show, where she reflected on the aftermath of the conflict and how former Biafran actors were reintegrated into Nigerian society. Her comments come amid renewed conversations about historical justice and reconciliation.
Citing examples to support her position, Omigbodun said: “When he returned to the country in 1983, he has a hero’s welcome. When he died, he had a national burial. And I know that many others, even those who were in the Biafran army were fully restored.” Though she did not mention him by name in the quote, her remarks are widely understood to reference Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, who returned from exile to national attention and eventual state recognition.
Victor Banjo, a military officer executed during the war under controversial circumstances, has remained a subject of debate among historians. Omigbodun’s position is that, given the reconciliation policies that followed the war, her father should not have been excluded from the broader process of restoration extended to former adversaries.
She maintained that Nigeria’s post-war approach, often described as “no victor, no vanquished,” was intended to heal divisions and reintegrate those who participated in the conflict, including rank-and-file soldiers and high-ranking officers alike. In her view, Banjo’s case represents a gap in that process….See More
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