Former Minister of Health and eminent statesman, PROFESSOR A. B. C. NWOSU, in this interview responded to some of the issues raised by General Yakubu Gowon in his recent interview, on his roles in the Nigeria – Biafra War. He is of the view that there were critical issues that the former Head of State did not address, warning that “Nigeria will continue to be an unstable state until we restructure.”
You must have read General Yakubu Gowon’s interview; as a person close to Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu and final year undergraduate who was politically active, how did you feel at the time?
I felt sad. Very sad because I had expected that Gowon would reveal at least some of the things which have bothered me and Ndigbo from 1966 till now. Gowon’s interview was not only sad for me because of his self-serving half-truth but also for the major things not said. I don’t think that Gowon believes that total deviation from the Aburi agreement was the cause of the civil war but everybody, and I mean everybody who was a “Biafran” at the time, doubted that it was. That’s why ‘On Aburi We Stand’ was the war cry from the East. If Aburi had been implemented there would have been no Nigeria – Biafra War. I thank the respected Journalist, Chuks Iloegbunam, for his masterful response to General Gowon published in the Saturday Vanguard.
For example, when General Gowon said that he didn’t call his Secretary to Government to the Aburi meeting whilst Ojukwu did, I said to myself that General Gowon has lost it because Aburi was not a single’s tennis match between him and his so-called friend, Ojukwu.
Why was Aburi critical for Nigeria?
Aburi was critical because every other discussion on what had happened namely, the January 15 coup, May 29 pogrom and the July 29 counter coup had failed to resolve the matter as the various delegations had feared for their lives and would not attend further meetings. Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s meeting with Ojukwu on May 5th and 6th, 1967 did not succeed in bringing the Eastern delegation to the meeting. As Gowon correctly said, the East could not attend any meeting in Nigeria because they feared for their lives. As Gowon also said, a British war plane as well as a Naval war ship were considered but rejected by the East because of the involvement of Britain in the conflict. So the acceptable venue was General Ankrah and his offer of Aburi in Ghana. It was not a meeting between Gowon and Ojukwu, that’s why I insist it was not a single’s tennis match between the two of them. It was a meeting between General Gowon, who came with the federal cabinet secretariat; General Hassan Usman Katsina and the Secretary to the Northern Government; Governor David Ejoor, who came with the Secretary of the Midwest Government; Governor Adeyinka Adebayo, who came with the Secretary of the Western Nigerian government and Governor Odumegwu Ojukwu, who came with Eastern Nigerian government. So, it was a full-fledged Nigerian meeting to avert a war and not a meeting between Gowon and Ojukwu.
One of the key unanimous decisions at Aburi was that the conflict would not be settled through a war. Therefore to say that we fought to live together is not true since all of them had agreed that fighting was not necessary and would not be used to settle the matter. In any case, the matter of dividing Nigeria into 12 states was neither tabled nor discussed at Aburi. What was discussed was devolution of powers from the centre to the federating units including coercive agencies of State like Police, Army etc. What was discussed with unanimity was in making appointments to “Super Permanent Secretaries”, Inspector General of Power, etc. This greatly irked the super permanent secretaries at the time, who submitted an anti-Aburi agreement memo.
What was required in order to keep good faith was a follow-up meeting by all those present at the original meeting where the original agreement was reached. The other members couldn’t implement their version of the agreement without consulting and getting the concurrence of the Eastern government that wore the shoes that were pinching them on all sides – refugees and rehabilitation, burial of so many dead bodies and fleeing citizens, etc. So, it was wrong to have implemented the civil servant-mutilated Aburi Agreement. If one checked the sequence of events leading to the Nigeria – Biafra war, the creation of 12 states on 5th May 1967, which was not part of Aburi, was done to take the wind off the sails of the urge for the creation of Biafra. This was clearly bad faith shown by the federal government. Unfortunately, this was the impetus that accelerated the declaration of Biafra on 30th May, 1967 because people of the East feared that the federal government could declare a state of emergency and invade the East. Biafra was not declared before the creation of the 12 states, which was not in the spirit of the Aburi agreement.
One of the major agreements of the Aburi was the repatriation of soldiers to their states of origin. The West continued to whine over this until the Nigeria – Biafra war, where they joined the fight against Biafra.
You told me that you were worried about Gowon’s silence over January 15 coup in 1966 and the counter coup of July 1966, what are your worries:
I am worried about the January 15th coup because I know it was fully investigated by the special branch of the police under late Inspector General of Police MD Yusuf and the report up till now is not public, even though some people have managed to lay their hands on it. The report was said to have been submitted to the Chief of Army Staff under General Ironsi (which would be General Gowon) but Gowon has said nothing about it so far. I would have liked to know how many people were investigated; the statement that they made and in particular, whether it was an Igbo coup. I know for certain that the report indicated that Emmanuel Arinze Ifeajuna and Demola Ademoyiga were the central figures of the coup and that Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogu was involved towards the later part of their planning. There are rumors that others were involved but Nigerians would like to see what the report was like. It was also sad that General Gowon kept total silence on the counter coup of July 29 and how he became Supreme Commander.
That interview by Gowon was also totally silent on the pogrom and killing of civilians in the North and West of Nigeria. Easterners, especially Ndigbo, would wonder why he was silent because these were the bases of fears of insecurity by Easterners, especially Ndigbo, about their lives and property in their own country without being protected by their own government. Knowing the reason why people got killed and their properties seized when they ventured out of their states of origin, is critical for stability in Nigeria.
Gowon stated that he gave specific instructions on the rules of engagement for the Nigerian Army for the war…(cuts in)
Really, and were these rules enforced? I never read of the tribunal and trials of those behind the Asaba Massacre for example. Meanwhile, “Asaba still mourns” and have erected a memorial to give their sons respectable rest. The other day Ogbomosho people wanted National Honours for their son and hero, Brigadier Benjamin Adekunle. I wonder whether it was the same Brigadier Adekunle, the Black Scorpion, who ordered that anything moving should be shot, even the dogs, but I leave that for now. And the West still feels that Colonel Emma Nwaobosi should be publicly hanged for killing Governor Akintola and his wife whilst idolizing Chief Awolowo. It perplexes me. ,
Finally, on war crimes, I am still to come to terms with the fact that starvation of new born children, their mothers and toddlers could be a legitimate instrument of war. Is that part of the UN Convention? And yet nobody talks about these things, just wishing that those who lost their loved ones should just hide in the corner and shut their mouths. And Gowon kept quiet on this in the interview.
It is obvious, from what you said, that you expected more from Gowon’s interview…
Yes. As I would have expected from Ojukwu, if he ever gave an interview in the later part of his life. In three months it will be 55 years since the war ended and Nigerians are living together but the same problems that were to be solved by Aburi are still very much with us. We keep having conferences upon conferences on how to live in a more stable united country. We even had under Obasanjo a Truth and Reconciliation Commission under the renowned jurist, Chukwudifu Oputa with also renowned Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah as Secretary, but nobody was ready to talk. Nobody also had any regrets.
Governor Usman Farouk, Governor of Northwest State when Nigeria was a 12 state structure and member of the investigative panel of MD Yusuf Panel for the January 15 coup, wrote his book titled, “There were Victors and There were Vanquished”. Some of us have copies. Nobody is still ready to talk and say exactly what happened. Even when these national conferences agree on issues like State Police, Devolution of Powers, Less funds for the Federal Government, more percentage on Derivation Principle, they don’t get implemented either by a president who throws the report into the trash bin nor by a president, who is supposed to be an apostle of true federalism and fiscal federalism. The consoling issue is that we shall all go the way of all mortals whether we like it or not. And Nigeria will continue to be an unstable state until we RESTRUCTURE.
Vanguard
