President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday said one million Nigerians died in the Biafra war in the fight to keep the nation as one entity.
Mr Buhari said the circumstances that led to such wanton loss of lives between 1967-1970 must not be allowed to repeat itself.
“We have gone through all the troubles from 15th of January 1966 to date. You know what I mean by this, we have killed a million of ourselves in order to keep this country together.”
He said this on Tuesday at the Presidential Villa when he hosted a forum of state chairmen of the defunct CPC, his erstwhile political party which merged with other parties to form the ruling APC.
“I don’t think there can be any practical experience more than that. We are Nigerians, God willing we remain Nigerians and Nigeria will remain one,’’ Mr Buhari assured.
Praising his visitors for their continued support for his administration, Mr Buhari urged political leaders to stay focused and uphold the ultimate objective of promoting the interest of the country.
He asserted that the CPC was founded on the bedrock of patriotism.