Nigeria’s ex-military Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon (retd), has revealed how lies by late warlord, Odumegu Ojukwu after the Aburi accord led to Biafra civil war, between 1967 and 1970.
The ex-Head of State made the claim while giving insight into what happened at the Aburi Conference, in Ghana, convened to resolve Nigeria’s political logjam.
Gowon said the Federal Government went to Aburi unprepared, following a disagreement which broke out between the Supreme Military Council (SMC) and the Eastern region, led by Ojukwu.
Speaking on AIT’s programme “People, Politics and Power,” on Tuesday, Gowon said the decision to go to Aburi was borne out of the desire to win back the trust and confidence of Nigerians.
He maintained that secession was never part of the resolutions they agreed on.
Gowon said, “We agreed to put our heads together, to regain the trust and confidence of Nigerians. We went to Aburi, to agree to deal with the situation of our country, by ourselves.
“We did not go with any prepared position on the federal side, but, Ojukwu came with a paper he prepared. His prepared position was on a pink paper. Usually, pink paper at the Staff College is directing staff solution to the problem.”
Gowon said most of the positions presented by Ojukwu at the conference were accepted and upon their return to Nigeria, he was determined to keep the country united by assuaging the South East but Ojukwu felt otherwise.
He said Ojukwu’s refusal may have been as a result of killings of Igbos in the North, a situation that made him (Ojukwu) insist on Nigeria’s breakup.
Gowon disclosed that part of the agreement reached in Aburi was that upon return to Nigeria, he would be the first to make any statement concerning the resolutions before any governor makes any statement.
He said, “But, by the time I returned, I was ill; I had fever. I could not make any statement. But, Ojukwu went to the radio, to make a statement and said the things we never agreed on.
“David Ejoor was the one who called me one early morning to ask if I had heard what Ojukwu said, and I said no. He then reeled out all that Ojukwu had said and I asked David, in all honesty, if that was what we agreed. He said no.
“To keep the country together was not a task that I could do alone. I needed the cooperation and understanding of every Nigerian. And, in order to ensure we kept the country together, I reckoned that we needed to have discussions among ourselves. We had a civil servant who was exceptionally experienced and good.
“We went there (Aburi) to restore the trust of our country. If we were working together, anyone with conscience will assuage the feelings (of the South-easterners). But, Ojukwu thought otherwise. He had in mind all along, based on what happened to his people in the North, that secession was the only way out. But, we were thinking of the whole country, because all parts of the country were involved. The military was not involved in the killings of South-easterners in the North.”
Very convenient for Mr. Gowon to say that Ojukwu’s lies caused the civil war, afterall, Ojukwu’s not alive to defend himself.
It’s very sad that Mr. Gowon could not exactly say, pinpoint, or emphasize why Ojukwu decided to pursue cessation instead of union, afterall, when your people are being killed in the manner that it happened, I don’t know what you would have done if you were Ojukwu.
Sure go ahead with those lies, Ojukwu is not alive.
Please Mr. Gowon…stop peddling those stories…you’re not helping the situation in the country right now.
Cash Ezimako
Gowon must let the sleeping lion’s cubs lie. History will not forgive you if you would pervert the truth at any point to change its course against posterity. It is a pity that as a respected statesman someone like Gowon would condescend to lying against Ojukwu after the latter has died. Why did Gowon not raise this matter during Ojukwu’s life time if he (Gowon) has any iota of honesty and integrity? The country is faltering today because people have chosen the path of dishonesty aligned themselves with deceit and unjust gain. From documented facts, Ojukwu did not ask for secession of Biafra during Aburi meeting. He requested for the country to become a confederate state, and made a representation against the mass killing of Igbo peoples in the North. He did not change this position and never declared Biafran state until it was obvious that the killings of Igbos in the North and elsewhere did not stop. Gowon must realize that the Nigerian- Biafran war is still a sensitive matter especially to Igbo peoples at home and abroad, so he must not go on media to weep up sentiment. If he loved Nigerians why was the option of turning his country into a theater of war his priority during the civil war? After regretting his role in Ironsi’s death and mass killing of Igbo people in Northern Nigeria; what did he do during his regime to restitute for the wrong done to Igbo people? The book on Nigerian Foreign policy 1900 to 1993 clearly indicates that due to the Cold War, the then Soviet Union requested Ojukwu’s consent to come into the war but he (Ojukwu) declined it, saying he did not intend to plunge his country into a theater of war. But Gowon and some other Nigerian politicians including Awolowo, and Katsina went for Soviet’s assistance, bringing in their planes and war mercenaries to use against the Igbo people. One would not imagine that the country could easily have become another “Somalia” if the United State and her allies had taken the other side in the war. So where then is Gowon’s love for Nigerian citizenry he purported he went to Aburi to maintain their interest?