A respected elder statesman, Dr. Chike Obidigbo, has called on former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon (retd), to speak the full truth about the Nigerian Civil War and the role Britain allegedly played in it, as reported by NIGERIAN TRIBUNE.
Obidigbo, who is President of the Osisioma Foundation, advised Gowon to use the rest of his life to seek peace with God and mankind.
He said that Gowon, as a Christian, should focus on truth and reconciliation. …CONTINUE READING
He accused Gowon of making misleading statements about the causes of the war.
According to Obidigbo, Gowon has been giving confusing public accounts about what led to the 1967-1970 crisis between Nigeria and Biafra.
Obidigbo disagreed with Gowon’s explanation that the war was caused by Lt. Colonel Emeka Ojukwu’s insistence on a regional military structure and the collapse of the Aburi Accord.
He said such claims were false and aimed at rewriting history.
He alleged that foreign powers, especially Britain, pushed Gowon to break the Aburi Agreement.
He claimed the British and some Fulani leaders used Gowon to carry out their own agenda against the Eastern region.
Obidigbo said Ojukwu never wanted war or secession, he told a British delegation before the war that the Igbo needed a united Nigeria for trade and lacked the weapons to fight.
Obidigbo said Ojukwu also feared that Nigerian soldiers would not fight one another.
According to him, Britain secretly offered Ojukwu oil royalties and promised to stop Nigeria from fighting Biafra if he agreed to secede, Ojukwu rejected the offer, insisting on peace and unity.
“One thing Gowon should be very clear about is the truth. Though Gowon may not have wanted the war, forces beyond him particularly British and Fulani interests compelled him to renege on the agreement entered at Aburi.”
“And, until the former head of state makes these facts known through public confession, his soul may not experience peace. Those of us who happened to be a little close to the then Governor of Eastern region, Lt. Colonel Emeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, knew that Ojukwu never ever wanted that war,” he said.
