Former military Head
of State, General Yakubu Gowon (rtd), says the late Chief Chukwuemeka Odumegwu
Ojukwu, was to blame for the civil war that engulfed Nigeria from 1967 to
1970.
Ojukwu was the
Governor of the Eastern region when a spate of attacks and reprisal attacks in
the South and North of Nigeria, plunged the West African nation into a civil
war that ended the lives of over a million Igbos.
The scars from that
war remain, in a nation still in search of its soul.
In 1967, delegates from the federal government and the eastern region
led by Gowon and Ojukwu, trooped to Aburi, in Accra, Ghana for a meeting that
was supposed to prevent an all out war.
However, the accord
broke down; no thanks to a difference in interpretation from both sides of the
divide.
The civil war ensued.
Speaking during a
breakfast program on AIT on Tuesday, October 24, Gowon said Ojukwu's
interpretation of the accord was a tissue of lies.
“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", Gowon said.
“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 one of the
resolutions reached in Aburi was that he would be the first to make a statement
as Nigeria's Head of State, upon return.
Ojukwu however took the wind off his sails and reneged on the agreement,
Gowon alleged.
“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,” Gowon said.
Source: PulseNG
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