By Rev Fr Gerald Nwafor
I took time to listen to the interview granted to ARISE NEWS by the former head of state of Nigeria, Retired Major General Yakubu Gowon.
The interviewer, Mr. Charles Anagolu, did fantastically well asking pointed questions which the retired general tried his best to answer. The general is celebrating 91 years of age and most of the questions were based on his time as the head of state of the Nigerian State between 1966 to 1975. So, Gowon was trying to recall events of 55 years and counting. There are many takeaways from the interview, but I will dwell on two only, because they defy logic.
The first one was the statement that he was not part of the 1966 coup that saw the death of Aguiyi Ironsi. You were not part of the coup that made you the head of state? The second was that when he came back from the Aburi Accord meeting, he had malaria or fever: according to him that was why he did not immediately read out to the nation what was discussed.
When Ojukwu read out what was discussed without adding anything to it, why did you get angry and go to war, since you had malaria? I think I have said enough because you ‘can’t base something on nothing’ and expect it to stand. Since the old man cannot say things that make sense, I do not think he has the capacity to give a valid account of what happened in that 9 years.We know that the head of state is not a one-man business because aid and special assistance are always available to the head of state or presidents. Meanwhile, he said that it was the premier of the western region who called him to inform him that Ojukwu had read the manifesto to the public.
We all know that it was the Premier who told him not to agree to the Accord, since they had their eyes on the oil too. How can you say that you had malaria in 1967, and because of that, the office of the head of state would be closed and only get opened when the Premier of the western region called you, and the malaria left, and you began to take steps immediately to make sure that the Aburi peace accord was not implemented.
This is not good optics General Gowon. Sickness doesn’t stop the function of a public officer, especially that of the number one citizen; that is why even in death the office continues to work. Therefore, we did not accept your excuse because it does not make common sense.Furthermore, sharing in a booty you did not partake of can only happen in a den of lions and a cackle of hyenas. Gowon said that when the coup that ushered him in as the head of state happened, he was not aware because he was in school at Berlin.
Does it mean that the coup plotters started the coup without a leader? I cannot believe that a general in the army can say something like that and think that people would believe it. With elementary knowledge, we know that before any military coup, key positions are allocated to the planners, and people who would be eliminated are mapped out. How can you say that you were not aware of the coup that killed Major General Aguiyi Ironsi? This is a joke taken too far.
Gowon should stop speaking rather than opening the wounds and making us relive the injustice meted out to the Igbo people of eastern Nigeria. Even in a failed coup the people who did countercoup have positions mapped out. How can Gowon be mutilating facts this way and no one is speaking up?I wrote a book review on the book IBB authored, and I sincerely called on Gowon to write down what he knew about the Nigerian Civil War and the account of his stewardship for 9 years as the head of state. I did not expect this interview, but it is very clear to me that Gowon is afraid to write a book on the Nigerian Civil War and the role he played.
At 91 I did not expect him to remember a lot of things correctly, but I did not expect him to distort facts to this magnitude. Now, who do we hold accountable for killing our brother Aguiyi since the primary beneficiary said he was not involved and not even in the country when the coup took place? He was sick after the Aburi Accord, he was not involved in the 1966 countercoup and probably was not involved in the Civil War that killed more than 3 million Igbos.I do not think that Gowon needs to write a book if what he said during the interview is all he was planning to put down in the book.
It may be another book of lies second only to the one written by IBB about June 12. Gowon, please keep your news to yourself. Since you are 91 years, I do not know how long you will stay before you meet your Creator. When you meet Him, He will ask you about your stewardship and you can narrate to Him, because at that point I do not think we can change facts.Finally, the Igbos should not wait for anyone to tell their own story for them. Ojukwu wrote a book “Because I am Involved.” Many others have written on the Civil War and the coups in Nigeria.
If Gowon chose to write that would be okay, if he chose not to write, that would be better. We have enough information to structure our lives down in the southeast geopolitical zone. We are like the dust of the earth; whenever the rain stops, we shall rise again. All the efforts and lies to keep the southeast marginalized and underdeveloped have been shattered by the success made manifest by the hard work of the people of the southeast. Some people truncated democracy just to make sure that someone from the southeast did not sit on the presidential seat, but we are like the dust of the earth. Another precious bride has been born and bred, and a movement has emanated from his name Obi (Obidient).
Until people like Gowon begin to speak the truth and allow the southeast to occupy their political position in the Nigerian configuration nothing will work QED. Quod erat demonstrandum (it has been tested and proved and demonstrated).
