₦airaland Forum

Yakubu Gowon: Ojukwu and I Disagreed over Aburi Accord Partly Because He Wanted Governors to Control Military

Former Nigerian Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon, has said that a key reason for the collapse of the Aburi Accord, the last major attempt to prevent Nigeria’s civil war, was a fundamental disagreement with Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu over who should control military forces in the country’s regions.

Speaking in an interview with ARISE NEWS on Wednesday, Gowon explained that although both parties engaged in sincere dialogue during the January 1967 summit in Aburi, Ghana, the Eastern Region leader, Ojukwu, later pushed for a form of regional autonomy that the federal side could not accept.

“Although we said that the military would be zoned, you know, but the control… he wanted, you know, those zones to be commanded by the governor. Say you have a military zone in the north, it would be commanded by the governor of the military in the east, it would be commanded by, you know, by him,” Gowon said, “And, of course, we did not agree with that one.”

Gowon stated that the federal delegation never viewed the Aburi meeting as a forum for constitutional restructuring or military devolution.

“We just went there as far as we are concerned to be able to meet as officers now, and then to agree to be able to get back home and resolve a problem at home. That was my understanding. But that is not his understanding.”

Gowon also revealed that upon returning to Nigeria after the summit, he was ill and unable to immediately respond to the terms Ojukwu had publicly announced. This delay, he said, created space for misunderstanding and unilateral declarations.

“Unfortunately… I was having serious attack of kind of fever or whatever it is, and I could not make a decision.” He accused Ojukwu of making unauthorized statements about the Accord without waiting for joint clarification.“Ojukwu was one who, when he came, he went and made… a statement about the Aburi Accord.”

To address the confusion, Gowon said the federal government convened a follow-up meeting in Benin, inviting all regional governors to agree on the path forward — but Ojukwu declined to attend.

“We had to organise that, you know, a meeting of all the governors. And he was invited to attend so that we can deal with the Accord. And we met at Nifo in Benin. And he did not turn up.Gowon insisted that had Ojukwu attended the Benin meeting, the parties might have been able to avoid escalation.”

Gowon said the government was willing to work in the “spirit of Aburi,” but would never concede national military control to regional governors, nor accept the possibility of secession. The only thing that I added was that no region, you know, will, you know, can secede from the country.”

The collapse of the Aburi Accord is widely regarded as a decisive moment that led to the outbreak of the Nigerian Civil War in July 1967, a conflict that lasted until 1970 and claimed over a million lives.

Gowon’s remarks shed new light on the irreconcilable differences between both sides and reveal that the push for regional military control, rather than just political autonomy, was a red line for the federal government.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71fEF30idJs?si=vdB-Xz6LJS-CvHWd
Aburi accord is as follows:
"-1). Members agree that the legislative and executive authority of the Federal Military Government should remain in the Supreme Military Council, to which any decision affecting the whole country shall be referred for determination provided that where it is possible for a meeting to be held the matter requiring determination must be referred to military governors for their comment and concurrence.

-2). Specifically, the council agreed that appointments to senior ranks in the police, diplomatic, and consular services as well as appointment to superscale posts in the federal civil service and the equivalent posts in the statutory corporation must be approved by the Supreme Military Council.

-3). The regional members felt that all the decrees passed since January 15, 1966, and which detracted from previous powers and positions of regional governments, should be repealed if mutual confidence is to be restored."

Gowon said the government was willing to work in the “spirit of Aburi,” but would never concede national military control to regional governors, nor accept the possibility of secession.

gidgiddy:
Gowon should stop lying to Nigerians, the records are there. Regional Army was agreed at Aburi, and it was agreed that the Regional Armies would be under the control of the Regional Military Governors

You signed the agreement, only to return to Nigeria, realised that what you signed gave a lot of powers to Regions, then went back on the agreement

You invited Ojukwu to the Midwest meeting knowing fully well that Ojukwu was not safe there, but Ojukwu sent Phillip Effiong to represent him.

You then completely broke the Aburi agreement with Decree 14 that dissolved the 4 Regions, and created 12 new states to replace them

To add insult to injury, you immediately enacted Decree 15 that abolished resource control

Gowon, you caused the war by breaking the Aburi agreement you signed with Ojukwu, just because you and your fellow Northerners wanted control of Nigeria

gidgiddy:
Gowon should stop lying to Nigerians, the records are there. Regional Army was agreed at Aburi, and it was agreed that the Regional Armies would be under the control of the Regional Military Governors

You signed the agreement, only to return to Nigeria, realised that what you signed gave a lot of powers to Regions, then went back on the agreement

You invited Ojukwu to the Midwest meeting knowing fully well that Ojukwu was not safe there, but Ojukwu sent Phillip Effiong to represent him.

You then completely broke the Aburi agreement with Decree 14 that dissolved the 4 Regions, and created 12 new states to replace them

To add insult to injury, you immediately enacted Decree 15 that abolished resource control

Gowon, you caused the war by breaking the Aburi agreement you signed with Ojukwu, just because you and your fellow Northerners wanted control of Nigeria

Watianoengineer:
If not for Ojukwu that failed to honor the aburi accord there would not be a civil war. Gowon was ready for the implementation of the aburi accord and all of a sudden Ojukwu declared independence of Biafra which was treasonous. The rest they say is history

Lifestone:
Gowon did what he needed to do. Dialogue was not given enough time and it cost Nigeria, Million in dollar and Human

gidgiddy:
No, Gowon did what the North wanted him to do

Factcheck0001:
hope u say where he made it clear that seccesion shouldn't b included but ojukwu wanted secession?

Factcheck0001:
was seccesion part of the aburi accord?


Just want to know

SmartPolician:
If a government is fair to its people, why should it be scared of secession? This is the same madness we see in Nigeria today. If a region wants to pull out of a union, everyone will start threatening them. Why threaten a people if you are being fair, just and equitable?

SmartPolician:
If a government is fair to its people, why should it be scared of secession? This is the same madness we see in Nigeria today. If a region wants to pull out of a union, everyone will start threatening them. Why threaten a people if you are being fair, just and equitable?

Racoon:
https://www.arise.tv/yakubu-gowon-ojukwu-and-i-disagreed-over-aburi-accord-partly-because-he-wanted-governors-to-control-military/#google_vignette

gidgiddy:
Gowon should stop lying to Nigerians, the records are there. Regional Army was agreed at Aburi, and it was agreed that the Regional Armies would be under the control of the Regional Military Governors

You signed the agreement, only to return to Nigeria, realised that what you signed gave a lot of powers to Regions, then went back on the agreement

You invited Ojukwu to the Midwest meeting knowing fully well that Ojukwu was not safe there, but Ojukwu sent Phillip Effiong to represent him.

You then completely broke the Aburi agreement with Decree 14 that dissolved the 4 Regions, and created 12 new states to replace them

To add insult to injury, you immediately enacted Decree 15 that abolished resource control

Gowon, you caused the war by breaking the Aburi agreement you signed with Ojukwu, just because you and your fellow Northerners wanted control of Nigeria