A pan-Igbo women’s organisation, the Igbo Women Assembly, has again criticised former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon (retd), over his recent claim that he fought the civil war to keep Nigeria united.
The group urged him to courageously apologise to Ndigbo for what they described as a needless war waged against them, insisting that such an apology is necessary for true healing and reconciliation.
The National President of IWA, Lolo Nneka Chimezie, in a statement on Sunday, responding to Gowon’s remarks that he fought the war “to keep Nigeria one,” accused the former military leader of being economical with the truth.
“Even when they declared ‘no victor, no vanquished,’ what did Gowon do to bring about true reconciliation after the war?” she queried. “Till today, have the Igbos not continued to suffer injustice and marginalisation?”, she continued.
Recall that the women’s group had last week challenged Gowon to speak out on all he knew about the civil war and the Aburi Accord he signed with the Biafran leader, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu. In a fresh statement issued on Sunday and signed by Chimezie, IWA told Gowon: “You didn’t fight to keep Nigeria one; you fought because of your desperation to rule Nigeria.”
The group recalled the protests that followed Gowon’s emergence as Head of State after the 1966 coup, arguing that he was not the most senior military officer at the time.
Chimezie stated that “the counter-coup that led to the tragic death of Gen. Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi and the emergence of Gowon as Head of State was confirmation that desperation to rule Nigeria was Gowon’s real motive for waging the 30-month civil war.”
“In military hierarchy, he (Gowon) was not supposed to be Head of State because he wasn’t the most senior officer. Late Col. Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu was among those who protested against his emergence. During the Biafra war, Ojukwu was fighting in defence of his people (Biafrans), who were the targets of pogroms that triggered the conflict. Gowon, on the other hand, was fighting to protect his position.”
IWA further claimed that for some individuals and the British, who allegedly saw the Igbos as a threat, the war had nothing to do with national unity. “They spread false propaganda that the 1966 coup was an Igbo coup, which was a lie—something even former Head of State, General Ibrahim Babangida, recently affirmed in his autobiography,” the group stated.
“They used powerful radio stations to brainwash the North into believing that the coup was an attempt by the Igbos to eliminate Hausa military officers, which was not true.”
The group further noted, “Remember that it was the Aba Women’s Riot that sparked the campaign for the British to leave Nigeria. The British never forgave the Igbos for that. So, the coup presented an opportunity for them to punish the Igbo and cause disunity in Nigeria, thereby undermining the 1960 political independence of the country.”
According to IWA, “Because Gowon wanted to be Head of State at all costs, he was willing to dance to the tune of the British. That was why he jettisoned the Aburi Accord he had earlier reached with Ojukwu. Knowing that he came from a minority region (Middle Belt), if maintaining his position meant sacrificing the Igbos, he was ready to do so. He was willing to please the North and Britain at the expense of the Igbos. That’s why he went to war—not for unity, as he now claims.”
Chimezie maintained that the civil war could have been avoided if Gowon had accepted the proposal for regional government in light of the senseless killings of Igbos across the country. She argued that those who envied the Igbos instigated Gowon to reject the Aburi Accord, which could have calmed rising tensions and preempted today’s lingering agitations for restructuring.
“They saw the Igbos as powerful, intelligent, and domineering—and felt they needed to be stopped. Other selfish individuals from different tribes who resented the Igbos out of envy joined in the war against an innocent people.”
She concluded, “If the civil war was truly about Nigeria’s unity, as Gowon now claims, he would have implemented the Aburi Accord.” IWA also challenged Gowon to deny knowledge of war crimes allegedly committed by federal troops during the war and questioned why he has not, to date, apologised to the victims.
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