My role in Nigeria-Biafra war —Gowon
09 March, 2010 03:55:00 RAYMOND GUKAS, Jos
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Gen. Yakubu Gowon (rtd), Former military Head of State

Former military Head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon (rtd) has explained why he had to use military force to bring the Nigerian civil war of 1967 to an end.

He spoke yesterday in Jos the Plateau State capital while addressing the inaugural meeting of the peace building conference, put in place by the Institute of Governance and Peace.

He said: "Those who know me know that I have always been on the side of peaceful resolution of all conflicts. If you will recall as Head of State, I did all that was possible to secure a peaceful resolution of the Nigeria crises in the 2nd half of 1960. Unfortunately because of circumstances beyond my control, I had to use force to preserve the unity of our nation.

"I hereby declare my support for all peaceful means of resolving conflicts at all levels in the federation. I also support all peaceful means targeted at achieving peace in Jos and else where in the federation."

He added that he was delighted to be the chairman of the peace building conference and to be among eminent Nigerians assembled to find ways to arrest the cycle of violence in Jos Niger-Delta and Nigeria as a whole.

The conference which came a day after about 500 people lost their lives in an attack on Dogo Nahawa village by suspected Fulani herdsmen was attended by two other former President of Nigeria including Shehu Shagari and Chief Ernest Shonekan.

It was organised by the chief executive, Institute for Good Governance and Social Research (IGSR) Prof. Isawa Elaigu in collaboration with the United States Department for International Development (DFID) and supported by the Plateau State government.

Gowon said: "We are here basically to discuss the imperative of peace in Jos, the importance of peace in Nigeria as a whole, Jos and other trouble spots in Nigeria, the Niger Delta and eastern parts of Nigeria.

"The question is how did we get to where we are. There is too much insecurity of lives and properties in this country. We need to stop, analyze where we have come from, asses our strategies of moving forward and summon the political will to deal with it and forge ahead."

He said Plateau State is a microcosm of Nigeria and Jos has always been a metropolitan city with amiable weather and serene environment to calm ones nerve. This is why people of all ethnic, racial, religious and other divides have been leaving there in peace.

He pointed out that violence has now become a preferred technique of solving conflicts of inter-personal and inter-group relations.

"The serenity of Jos has evaporated while the cosmopolitan qualities stand threatened."

Shagari in his remarks said present leaders of this nation have failed to maintain the unity of the country fought for by past leaders.

Others who attended the conference include Senate President, David Mark, Chief Solomon Lar, Deputy Governor of Nassarawa, Bauchi State, representative of Sultan of Sokoto and Hon. Bistrus Kaze who represent the speaker of House of Representatives, Demaji Bankole and host of others.



http://www.champion.com.ng/index.php?news=28951

More misinformation.

There was no crisis in Nigeria when he did a u-turn on the Aburi accord which he signed.

In trying to annihilate the Igbos he created states to weaken the Eastern region and have it surrounded on all sides including giving away Bakassi to Cameroun for the part they played.

So, he should tell himself the truth and tell Nigerians what those factors beyond his control were so that we stop guessing.

He claims to be a born again christian and as such he should be at home with the truth at all times.

the guy has said no shiit or poo

newmaster:

My role in Nigeria-Biafra war

He said: "Those who know me know that I have always been on the side of peaceful resolution of all conflicts. If you will recall as Head of State, I did all that was possible to secure a peaceful resolution of the Nigeria crises in the 2nd half of 1960. Unfortunately because of circumstances beyond my control, I had to use force to preserve the unity of our nation.

Pls can someone ask this mumu FOOL what is that circumstances beyond his control? if not to see and witness the 'annihilation of the IGBO RACE'

Look at this Fool whose house was on fire rejoicing over his appointment to 'Chair a stupid peace forum'

May Him & his kinsmen may the nxt to experience 'the unity' of the senseless killing in nigeria.

newmaster:

My role in Nigeria-Biafra war —Gowon
09 March, 2010 03:55:00 RAYMOND GUKAS, Jos
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Gen. Yakubu Gowon (rtd), Former military Head of State

He added that he was delighted to be the chairman of the peace building conference and to be among eminent Nigerians assembled to find ways to arrest the cycle of violence in Jos Niger-Delta and Nigeria as a whole.

The conference which came a day after about 500 people lost their lives in an attack on Dogo Nahawa village by suspected Fulani herdsmen was attended by two other former President of Nigeria including Shehu Shagari and Chief Ernest Shonekan.

^^^^^Only a very BIG FOOL will be there saying he his delighted to be the chairman of the peace building conference. When its obvious that the enemies of his people will never rest.

newmaster:

My role in Nigeria-Biafra war —Gowon
09 March, 2010 03:55:00 RAYMOND GUKAS, Jos

He pointed out that violence has now become a preferred technique of solving conflicts of inter-personal and inter-group relations.

Cos there will never be peace without justices. The man seem not to understand that injustices is the root cause of conflicts.

Here we go again Another round of ethno-centric bashing

It is funny Gowon and his listeners went ahead with their yapping conference a day after 500+ people were murdered just a stone throw from them. Blessed are the peace makers but 47 year late, Jack.

Aburi accord was peacefully signed and any man that went back on his word for what he agreed upon to bring peace and then armed himself with bombs, shelling market places, schools, hospitals, churches killing women and children without let up along with foreign backers like the Soviets, Egypt and crooked British, cannot turn around four decades later and claim to be a peace maker.

It seems we are in the season of reality check, fortunately many of them are alive to see the moster they created.

Gowo's guilty conscience is worrying him.

I think its fair to say that Gowon is a worried man ashamed of his own legacy

If he truly sought peace, that would have been reflected in the psyche of the Nation and trust me 40years later genocide against people of other tribes will not have been fashionable.

Today his own people are the targets of genocide and this genocide is a direct result of his own legacy.

I think at this point he should appologise to his own people and on behalf of his people for God's forgiveness otherwise they will continue to reap what they sowed

krendo:

I think at this point he should appologise to his own people and on behalf of his people for God's forgiveness otherwise they will continue to reap what they sowed

Well said.

Why cant good old jack or jackass gowon just keep his mouth shut. He should apply his energy to comforting the survivors of the horrors of the last weekend in jos.the old man has lived to see the end results of his ''gallantry'' in 1966. His ''one nigeria'' has become a banana republic, labelled terrorist state, and joke of a country in an era where ghana, gabon, benin, gambia etc are emerging as prime examples of nationhood.

thunder fire Gowon!
He will leave to see his kinsmen slaugtered the way he did to Ibos till he dies of heart attack!
He's a goon!

newmaster:


He said: "Those who know me know that I have always been on the side of peaceful resolution of all conflicts. If you will recall as Head of State, I did all that was possible to secure a peaceful resolution of the Nigeria crises in the 2nd half of 1960. Unfortunately because of circumstances beyond my control, I had to use force to preserve the unity of our nation.

"I hereby declare my support for all peaceful means of resolving conflicts at all levels in the federation. I also support all peaceful means targeted at achieving peace in Jos and else where in the federation."

Can anyone see the contradiction in this speech. He says he has always believed in peaceful resolutions of conflicts; pray, who first used force in 1967
Like others have noted, this guy (and most of other players) can't say two words without mentioning their roles in Biafra. This should be a lesson to all those calling on Ndigbo to forget the past and move on.

It is self evident that the nation cannot move forward until the civil war issue is properly addressed. Sweeping it under the carpet will only breed more chaos and retrogression.

Meanwhile Gowon and his cohorts are under curses from the worst sources: innocent children, women and old people. Those curses won't let up until he expiates!

any day violence breaks out in Jos again, somebody should go to Gowon's family home and drop a canon bomb.

krendo:

any day violence breaks out in Jos again, somebody should go to Gowon's family home and drop a canon bomb.

It will not compare to what he and murtala and Obasanjo did to Asaba, onitsha, enugu and many other places by bombing villages full of children and women.

Onlytruth:

Can anyone see the contradiction in this speech. He says he has always believed in peaceful resolutions of conflicts; pray, who first used force in 1967
Like others have noted, this guy (and most of other players) can't say two words without mentioning their roles in Biafra. This should be a lesson to all those calling on Ndigbo to forget the past and move on.
It is self evident that the nation cannot move forward until the civil war issue is properly addressed. Sweeping it under the carpet will only breed more chaos and retrogression.

Meanwhile Gowon and his cohorts are under curses from the worst sources: innocent children, women and old people. Those curses won't let up until he expiates!

Onlytruth,
How come we(Biafrans) are always asked to forget the past and move on. Move on to where? As if a person who doesnt know where he/she is coming from will ever know where he/she is going to.

Forgive and forget-- is only a tool by the master to fool the slave.
The right phrase should be forgive and learn.

@House,

Who knows GOWON's Nigeria Prays group email address?

Can u imagine that murderer praying for Nigeria. No wonder God tends not to answer.

onye_ngbu:

It will not compare to what he and murtala and Obasanjo did to Asaba, onitsha, enugu and many other places by bombing villages full of children and women.

I am not an Obasanjo fan but all he did was bring the war to an end. He wasn't at Enugu, Asaba, or Onitsha. He advanced on Owerri to end the war.

chosen04:

@House,

Who knows GOWON's Nigeria Prays group email address?

Can u imagine that murderer praying for Nigeria. No wonder God tends not to answer.

LWKMD

Tainted prayer that never goes beyond the roof of his house, . .

Katsumoto:

I am not an Obasanjo fan but all he did was bring the war to an end. He wasn't at Enugu, Asaba, or Onitsha. He advanced on Owerri to end the war.

Hope you are normal sha? what war did he bring to an end? was it not the war he created himself?

Gowon said: "We are here basically to discuss the imperative of peace in Jos, the importance of peace in Nigeria as a whole, Jos and other trouble spots in Nigeria, the Niger Delta and eastern parts of Nigeria.

This Man should think of how to keep his backyard at peace b4 thinking of east and ND. Are the east and ND slaughtering themselves in ethnic/religious violence?

Come to think of it this the 2nd time this year Gowon is bringing up the issue of Nigerian Civil war and his role in it. The funny thing is that he was meant to address something different, not related to civil war on these 2 occasions. I think the poor guy must living with a serious guilt and torture within.

princekevo:

This Man should think of how to keep his backyard at peace b4 thinking of east and ND. Are the east and ND slaughtering themselves in ethnic/religious violence?

Come to think of it this the 2nd time this year Gowon is bringing up the issue of Nigerian Civil war and his role in it. The funny thing is that he was meant to address something different, not related to civil war on these 2 occasions. I think the poor guy must living with a serious guilt and torture within.

Its called heavy consience.

Gowon must be regretting his role in that ciil war. now the same hausas he fouht that war for are killing his own people. Cn't there be a war between the rest of Nigeria and the Hausas? atleast let them have a taste of what the Biafrans went through.

gowon is speaking out now because he knows another civil war is looming in nigeria, imo.


the first one was also preceeded by all this jos mayhem.


what came before that is still not quite clear.

probably tribal warfare and headhunting by mutually antagonistic tribes- blood feuds so to speak.  Bear in mind the fact that this would have been the era of pre-christian conversion, european exploration and perhaps the fulani jihad. Not to mention they were all probably selling each other as slaves to whites, arabs or fellow africans.

krendo:


If he truly sought peace, that would have been reflected in the psyche of the Nation and trust me 40years later genocide against people of other tribes will not have been fashionable.

krendo,

Thanks for this line!

* The Nigerian government sanctioned ethnic-killings (as a legitimate means of seeking redress) way back in 1966 when they aided the pogrom targeted against Igbos.

* Ndi-Igbo, knowing the Nigerian government had no interest in preventing the large-scale murder of Igbos, moved to the then Eastern region - their traditional homeland.

* The Aburi Accord was reached to right these wrongs and forge a better, fairer future for Nigeria.

* That accord was jettisoned by the Nigerian government. No lie.

* With no assurance that Igbos living outside their homeland would be guaranteed any protection by the Nigerian government, Biafra came to be.

* Biafra was multi-ethnic and included all the ethnic groups in the former Eastern Region. Many people from these ethnic groups were killed in the Igbo-targeted pogrom outside the Eastern region because they were either assumed to be Igbos or thought to be related to Igbos.

* The Nigerian government, employing every resource available and getting massive support from some foreign nations launched a genocidal war against Biafra.

* Biafra was defeated after three years of fighting with limited resources.

* The Nigerian government had no post-war plans for either Nigeria, hence Nigeria's sustained march to failure.

* Nigeria is today still being hunted by the issues discussed in the Aburi Accord.

chosen04:

Onlytruth,
How come we(Biafrans) are always asked to forget the past and move on. Move on to where? As if a person who doesnt know where he/she is coming from will ever know where he/she is going to.

Forgive and forget-- is only a tool by the master to fool the slave.
The right phrase should be forgive and learn.

In the more developed societies, issues like the Biafran War are openly discussed and governments apologize for the wrongs they've done.

1. Germany has apologized for the Holocaust. See.
2. The United States has apologized for slavery. See.
3. Japan has apologized for her war crimes. See.

When will Nigeria apologize for:
1. The Igbo-targeted pogrom which occurred all over Nigeria (except the Eastern Region) between 1966 and 1967, and
2. The war crimes of the Nigerian side during the Biafran War?

But trust Nigeria, a country being governed by "animals in human skin" (apologies to Fela - no pun), the leaders still don't understand the meaning of an apology.

zebra:

Hope you are normal sha? what war did he bring to an end? was it not the war he created himself?

Do you need a history lesson? I suggest you find your way to the nearest bookshop. How did Obasanjo start the war? And you are asking whether I am normal.

RichyBlacK:

In the more developed societies, issues like the Biafran War are openly discussed and governments apologize for the wrongs they've done.

1. Germany has apologized for the Holocaust. See.
2. The United States has apologized for slavery. See.
3. Japan has apologized for her war crimes. See.

When will Nigeria apologize for:
1. The Igbo-targeted pogrom which occurred all over Nigeria (except the Eastern Region) between 1966 and 1967, and
2. The war crimes of the Nigerian side during the Biafran War?

But trust Nigeria, a country being governed by "animals in human skin" (apologies to Fela - no pun), the leaders still don't understand the meaning of an apology.

You don't have to apologise to baba; your anology is apt. You have used the phrase in the correct context. Nigeria has/is been/being ruled by 'animals in human skin'.

Nigeria leaders will not discuss the war and the events that led to it because they do not want their roles and actions examined.

Katsumoto:

Nigeria leaders will not discuss the war and the events that led to it because they do not want their roles and actions examined.

100% correct. Yet, they fail to realize that the more they hide, deny or lie about what really happened the more the younger generation will be told the truth and when you try to reconcile the lies with the truth anger will naturally be the result.

Katsumoto:

I am not an Obasanjo fan but all he did was bring the war to an end. He wasn't at Enugu, Asaba, or Onitsha. He advanced on Owerri to end the war.

was he the only person i mentioned?
Again, wasnt he like others shelling villages on his way to 'end the war'?
People like you might never understand why igbos will never 4get the war so easily.
I lost my maternal uncle in that war.
My home town is about 9km from önitsha/asaba but my dad's old house which is still standing till today still has a huge hole opened from the roof thru the ceiling to the floor. It missed my grandmother by a couple of feet. Effect of shellings from murtala and his men fired all the way from asaba and onitsha. Thousands of such landed in my hometown killing people in their homes and bunkers.
What kind of military strategy is that if not a deliberate act of genocide.
Yet someone like gowon will come out today to lie about their actions.
He aint seen nothing yet!

Typical, you are once again finding everyone else guilty, while feigning innocence and playing the victim card. Fine example is how RichyBlacK's accounts begins from the pogrom and ignores all that had happened prior to that including Ironsi's failings that led to the counter coup. Anyone that faces the truth knows there is enough blame to to around. Admit the failing of people from your end like Zik, Nzeogwu, Ifeajuna, Orizu and Ironsi, before jumping to condemn those from other regions.
Gowon is no saint, but nor is Ojukwu, whose earlier surrender would have probably saved millions of lives, instead he was busy courting foreign sympathy through the press.
Genocide?  Anyone that approves of Ojukwu not surrendering when it was obvious Biafra was not going to win, is complicit and guilty of the said 'genocide'.