Gowon Blames Ojukwu for 1967 Civil War and Urges Fair Elections

Former Nigerian Head of State General Yakubu Gowon has presented a detailed account of the events leading to the 1967-1970 civil war in his newly launched autobiography, attributing the conflict's outbreak primarily to the actions of the late Biafran leader, Lieutenant Colonel Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu. The book, My Life of Duty and Allegiance, was presented at an event in Abuja on Tuesday attended by prominent political figures.

Gowon, who led Nigeria during the war, asserts that the conflict could have been avoided if agreements reached at the pivotal Aburi peace talks in Ghana in January 1967 had been honored. He accuses Ojukwu of undermining the Aburi accord by arriving with pre-prepared positions and then misrepresenting the agreed outcomes to the public in the Eastern Region. Gowon writes that Ojukwu falsely claimed the Supreme Military Council had agreed to partition Nigeria, a statement other regional governors present denied. Illness prevented Gowon from issuing an immediate counter-statement, he states, allowing Ojukwu's narrative to spread.

The former head of state further alleges that Ojukwu was secretly building up arms while publicly dismissing him as a...