Gowon Blames Ojukwu For Failure Of 1967 Aburi Accord In New Autobiography

Former Nigerian Head of State, Yakubu Gowon, has blamed late Biafran leader, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, for the collapse of the historic Aburi Accord of 1967, describing his actions as deliberate attempts to derail peace efforts before the Nigerian Civil War.

The revelations were contained in Gowon’s newly released 859-page autobiography titled My Life of Duty and Allegiance, particularly in Chapter Nine, “Aburi and Our Road to Nowhere.”

In the book, Gowon accused Ojukwu of attending the Aburi peace meeting in Ghana with pre-planned positions while allegedly misrepresenting the outcome of the discussions to people in the Eastern Region after the meeting.

According to Gowon, Ojukwu repeatedly frustrated attempts by the Supreme Military Council to peacefully resolve the political crisis that followed the 1966 coups.

“Ojukwu deliberately and effectively thwarted every effort we made to amicably resolve all vexing national issues,” Gowon wrote.

The former military ruler also claimed Ojukwu privately mocked him as a “Bible-carrying” officer who would never go to war.

“He only saw me as a Bible-thumping ‘Jack’ who would pick up his Bible and pray rather than stand up to fight,” Gowon stated in the autobiography.

Gowon further alleged that while peace talks were ongoing, Ojukwu was secretly building up arms in preparation for conflict. According to him, intelligence reports at the time suggested the Eastern Region was strengthening its military capabilities before the eventual declaration of Biafra.

The former Head of State claimed Ojukwu later openly boasted about the Eastern Region possessing one of the strongest armies in Africa at the time.

The Aburi Accord meeting, held in Ghana in January 1967, was initially seen as a major attempt to prevent civil war and rebuild trust among Nigeria’s military leaders after the political crisis of 1966.

However, Gowon argued that Ojukwu later gave a different interpretation of the agreement to Eastern Nigerians, creating confusion and deepening tensions across the country.

He also revealed that despite implementing major concessions through Decree No. 8, which decentralized power significantly, Ojukwu rejected the arrangement because it contained a clause against secession.

The Nigerian Civil War eventually broke out in July 1967 after the Eastern Region declared independence as the Republic of Biafra, leading to one of the deadliest conflicts in Nigerian history.

Gowon’s latest comments are expected to reignite debates about the true events surrounding the Aburi Accord and the origins of the Nigerian Civil War.

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