Gowon’s Latest Revisionism Exposed: Ojukwu Did Not Frustrate Peace - You Did, By Betraying Aburi Accord

Gowon’s Latest Revisionism Exposed: Ojukwu Did Not Frustrate Peace - You Did, By Betraying Aburi Accord In his newly launched autobiography ...

Gowon’s Latest Revisionism Exposed: Ojukwu Did Not Frustrate Peace - You Did, By Betraying Aburi Accord

In his newly launched autobiography My Life of Service and Allegiance, former Head of State Yakubu Gowon has once again attempted to rewrite history by accusing the late Biafran leader, Lt. Col. Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, of “frustrating all peace moves” and single handedly derailing efforts to avert the Nigerian Civil War.

This claim is not only false it is a shameless distortion of documented facts, coming from the very man who personally signed the Aburi Accord and later tore it apart under pressure from Lagos civil servants and northern hardliners.

Ojukwu’s Own Words Destroy Gowon’s Narrative

In a detailed, firsthand account, Ojukwu made it crystal clear that “Aburi was a complete success” until Gowon returned to Lagos and reneged on everything agreed upon.

“Our case was so clear, so straightforward, that there really was not much room for any doubt or confusion at all,” Ojukwu stated. The meeting in Aburi, Ghana, in January 1967 was not a failure of negotiation. It was a triumph of consensus among military colleagues. All parties, including Gowon fully negotiated, drafted, and agreed on the resolutions. Transcripts and audio tapes exist to this day as irrefutable evidence. Ojukwu even reviewed fresh copies of the records shortly before giving the interview.

The Spirit of Brotherhood at Aburi

Far from the tension Gowon now tries to portray, the conference ended on an extraordinarily warm and hopeful note. Ghana’s General Joseph Ankrah was so impressed that he personally drove both Gowon and Ojukwu to the airport. In a moving gesture aboard the car, Ojukwu took Gowon’s hand, placed it on Ankrah’s lap, covered it with his own, and asked Ankrah to “hold us together.”

Ojukwu then gave this solemn assurance:

“General, I am genuinely and totally satisfied with everything we said… Once we have fully and successfully implemented this, I would like to ask you for just one favour… for you to be the one who proposes Jack Gowon as the Head of State of Nigeria.”

This was not the action of a man frustrating peace. This was a leader extending trust and brotherhood.

Concrete Agreements Reached, Then Abandoned by Gowon

At Aburi, they unanimously agreed on:

Establishment of “Area Commands” for the Armed Forces
Decentralization of the “Police Force”
A new “revenue sharing formula”
Regional control over internal affairs
“Concurrence of every region” required for national decisions
Change of Gowon’s title from Supreme Commander to “Commander-in-Chief”

Ojukwu emphatically rejected the confederation label thrust upon him:

“Everybody talks about confederation. Go and look at the transcript. There is no time that the word confederation came from my lips.”

Yet upon returning to Lagos, Gowon influenced by “some ambassadors” and federal permanent secretaries, began denying the agreement. The same man who shook hands and smiled at Aburi suddenly claimed the deal was misunderstood.

Who Truly Frustrated Peace?

Ojukwu returned to Enugu and threw a celebration, believing the crisis was over.
Gowon returned to Lagos and allowed the agreement to be shredded.
When the denials began, Ojukwu released the “Aburi tapes” publicly so Nigerians could judge for themselves.
Gowon’s regime proceeded with Decree No. 8, which many saw as a watered-down betrayal of the full spirit of Aburi.

The historical record is devastatingly clear: Gowon signed it. Gowon killed it.

Enough of the Blame Game

For over five decades, Gowon has tried to shift responsibility for the war that claimed millions of lives mostly Igbo civilians onto Ojukwu. His new book is simply the latest chapter in this tiresome revisionism.

Ojukwu did not start the war. The pogroms against Easterners did not start with Ojukwu. The refusal to honour a solemnly reached agreement did not start with Ojukwu.

It was Gowon who had the power to implement Aburi and chose not to.

While Nigeria is still struggling with the same fundamental issues of true federalism, regional autonomy, and restructuring, issues that were already solved at Aburi in 1967, Gowon’s book brings no message of unity. It only exposes once again the original betrayal: the monumental failure of honesty and leadership from the very top.

The tapes are still available.
The transcripts are still there.
History cannot be rewritten with a book launch.

On Aburi we still stand.
The truth remains unchanged.

Family Writers Press International.