The Indigenous People of Biafra,
IPOB, on Thursday reacted to former Military Head of State, Yakubu Gowon’s
claim that lies by the late warlord, Odumegwu Ojukwu led to Nigerian Civil war.
IPOB described the comment as a
“bouquet of falsehood.”
The group insisted that history
has it “documented on granite that Gowon reneged on Aburi Agreements” because
he was allegedly “assured by a certain colonial power that Ojukwu’s people
should be crushed militarily.”
In a statement sent out to media houses,
IPOB alleged that the same “colonial power would have unrestricted access to
mindlessly exploitation of oil in Biafraland.”
The statement signed by its
spokesperson, Emma Powerful, reads: “It’s a tragedy, that at the ripe old age
of 83 and with the little window God still has left open to him to repent and
show remorse, Yakubu Gowon, the man who supervised the genocide of 3 million
people, mostly as a result of blockade and starvation, the man who seized all
minerals from the regions and vested all in the central government, the man who
proscribed the regions and created states by military fiat, the man who led the
bloodiest war on African soil, has chosen to continue to deceive himself with
his bouquet of falsehood.
“Gowon acknowledged in over a
dozen published works, long before now, that super permanent secretaries and
two foreign powers persuaded him to reject and renege on the Aburi Accord. He
had previously admitted that implementing the agreed Aburi Accord would wittle
down his powers as head of state, as all the regions will have to agree before
any major decision is affected, now wants to heap lies on Ojukwu, because
Ojukwu is no more.
“Shame on Gowon, shame. History
has it documented on granite that Gowon reneged on Aburi Agreements because he
has been assured by a certain colonial power that Ojukwu’s people should be
crushed militarily, so that same colonial power would have unrestricted access
to mindlessly exploit the oil in Biafraland.
“Shell and BP acting through
Harold Wilson the then British Prime Minister did want Aburi Accord
implemented. It was the Labour Party government of Britain that cleverly
convinced the Arewa North to put pressure on Gowon to feign illness, thereby
making it difficult for him to tell the country what was agreed in Aburi.
“Today, Gowon whom we are led to
believe is a prayerful Christian have said he wasn’t able to speak when he
returned from Aburi because he was ill. Question is: Was his information
minister also ill? Were all Government spokesmen in Lagos also down with
illness at the same time, that made it difficult for Lagos to make a
pronouncement on Aburi Agreement several weeks after the meeting?
“Gowon’s unintelligent decision
to go to his grave while holding on to self-evident falsehood is shocking.
Gowon’s choice, of insisting on deception, even at the age 83 while heading a
prayer club is unfortunate and sad.
“Gowon slaughtered over 3 million
Biafrans to unite Nigeria because of crude oil and gas not out of patriotism.
Had his motive been altruistic, he would have been honourable enough to
publicly announce, upon his return to Lagos, what he agreed with Ojukwu in
Aburi Ghana. The question we must ask is, five decades later, is Nigeria
united? Gowon dismantled regional structure and created states, are the states
viable?
“Gowon’s pathetic attempt to
rewrite history would have worked had IPOB not been in existence. This day and
age, any attempt to rewrite the history of Biafra-Nigeria war will be
intellectually resisted and objectively dismantled. Fake history is at the core
of why Nigeria will never be united.
“Gowon must come clean, apologise
and make atonement. He is not only a man of blood; he is also the father of
lies. His ignoble place in history is secure and unchallenged. He should check
the list of the most brutal mass murderers of all time in history, he will
discover that he is among the top 5.
“We are IPOB, we won’t allow
distortion of historical facts, neither will we allow the denigration of the
revered memory of our all-time hero Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu. He remains
till date, the only man that tried to bring genuine independence, not mere flag
independence, to an African nation.”
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteREPLYING THAT IMPOSTOR AND NAIVE FORMER HEAD O STATE GOWON IS A WASTE OF TIME EXCEPT THAT IF HE IS JUST IGNORED HE WILL THINK THE LIES HE FABRICATED ARE SWALLOWED. GOWON IS A DISGRACE TO NIGERIAN HISTORY. EACH TIME HE OPENS HIS DIRTY LIPS HE SPEWS LIES, LIES AND MORE LIES. WHYWAS HE DEAF AND DUMB WHEN OJUKWU WAS ALIVE. DOESN'T HE SEE ATROCITIES IN THE COUNTRY TO COMMENT ON THAN THE CIVIL WAR AND GENOCIDE HE INITIATED AND PLUNGED NIGERIA INTO. DO OTHERS PAST LEADERS SPEW LIES LIKE HIM. EACH TIME PAST LEADERS THEY TALK ON CURRENT NATIONAL ISSUES BUT GOWON DWELS ON AND REMINDS OF OLD FORGOTTEN WOES/WOUNDS NO WONDER HIS NAME STANDS FOR "God's On Woes/Wounds On Nigeria". THE FULANIS ARE SLAUGHTERING HIS PEOPLE IN PLATEAU AND GOWON IS DEAF AND DUMB. BOKO HARAM AND OTHER POLITICAL AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC HORRORS LIKE KIDNAPPING AND RITUALS, CORRUPTION, BAD LEADERSHIP/GOVERNANCE ARE HOLDING NIGERIA BY THE JUGULAR, HE IS SO NAIVE AND ILLITERATE TO TALK ABOUT THEM. FORGET THE STAGE-MANAGED EDUCATION HE ACQUIRED AFTER HIS OVERTHROW IN A COUP SPEAR HEADED AND ANNOUNCED BY HIS BROTHER JOE GARBA.
ReplyDelete