The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has fired back at former Nigerian military head of state, General Yakubu Gowon, following his comments on the Nigerian Civil War. In a fiery response, IPOB accused Gowon of being responsible for the deaths of over three million Biafrans during the conflict, describing him as the mastermind behind the atrocities committed against the Igbo people.
Gowon, in a recent interview marking his 90th birthday, placed the blame for the war on the southeastern region’s attempt to secede from Nigeria. He suggested that the decision to break away was what led to the conflict that ravaged Nigeria from 1967 to 1970, resulting in the devastating loss of lives.
Responding to Gowon’s statements, Emeka Emekesiri, the founder and leader of the original IPOB, criticized the former military leader for what he described as an attempt to whitewash the truth.
“I read General Gowon’s speech where he tried to hide the real cause of the war between Nigeria and Biafra,” said Emekesiri. “He is working in vain to cleanse his image tainted by the horrors he and his Nigerian soldiers inflicted on the Biafrans.”
According to Emekesiri, the war could have been avoided if the Nigerian government had honored the agreement reached at the Aburi meeting in Ghana. This agreement, which proposed a confederation or regional autonomy, was intended to allow each region of Nigeria to govern itself and develop at its own pace.
The Aburi meeting, held in January 1967, was a significant turning point in Nigeria’s history. It was supposed to offer a peaceful solution to the growing tensions between the federal government and the southeastern region, led by Colonel Odumegwu Ojukwu.
During the meeting, Ojukwu argued for a confederation, a system where Nigeria’s regions would remain united under a loose federal structure but with significant autonomy for each region.
However, upon returning from Aburi, General Gowon did not implement the agreement. “Gowon himself admitted that he wasn’t well prepared for the meeting,” Emekesiri pointed out. “He said he didn’t even go with his secretary and claimed to have fallen ill after the talks because Ojukwu presented a stronger case.”
IPOB’s leader stressed that the confederation proposal was not a call for secession but a way to maintain Nigeria’s unity while addressing the unique needs of each region. “Confederation is not secession,” Emekesiri emphasized. “It’s a union of self-governing regions, just like in the United Kingdom.”
Emekesiri did not mince words when addressing Gowon, urging the elderly statesman to come clean about his role in the war. “General Gowon, with all due respect, you are 90 years old. You do not know when you will leave this world to meet your maker. We expect you to tell the truth,” he said.
He accused Gowon of betraying the Aburi Accord, leading to the war that engulfed Nigeria and resulted in widespread suffering. “It was Gowon’s failure to implement the Aburi agreement that caused the war,” Emekesiri stated. “The East accepted the confederation, but Gowon violated the agreement.”
In his criticism of Gowon, Emekesiri pointed to the political maneuvering that occurred during the war, which led to the creation of new states within Nigeria’s Eastern Region. Before the war, the Eastern Region was a cohesive political unit. However, to weaken the Biafran cause, Gowon’s government carved out Rivers State and Cross River State, thereby dividing the region and preventing the full unification of the Biafrans.
“You confirmed what Ken Saro-Wiwa wrote in his book,” Emekesiri said, referring to the famous Nigerian activist. “He explained how you created Rivers and Cross River states to stop Biafra.”
This political strategy, Emekesiri argued, was successful in dividing the Eastern Region, but it did not stop the people of the Niger Delta, who make up a large part of the newly created states, from suffering marginalization. “Now, the Rivers and Cross River states are in a different region called the South-South, but they are still facing the same injustice as the South-East,” he said.
For IPOB, the path to lasting peace in Nigeria lies in restructuring the country into regional governments, a sentiment echoed by other groups and political leaders in the country. Emekesiri believes that by decentralizing power and allowing each region to govern itself, Nigeria can overcome the long-standing issues that led to the civil war in the first place.
“This is why the Movement of Biafrans in Nigeria (MOBIN) submitted a memorandum to the National Assembly, calling for Nigeria to be restructured into six regional governments,” he explained. “Each region should govern itself and develop at its own pace.”
He pointed out that many other nations around the world have adopted similar models, citing the United Kingdom as an example. “If Great Britain can have four nations – Scotland, England, Ireland, and Wales – within one country, then Nigeria can also become a great nation with six self-governing regions,” Emekesiri argued.
