ABUJA (Sundiata Post) – General Yakubu Gowon, a former military head of state of Nigeria, says there would not have been any need for the Nigerian Civil War if there were no plans of secession.
The Nigerian civil war was between 1967 and 1970. Gowon was the head of state between August 1, 1966 and July 29, 1975.
Gowon said the Nigerian civil war was inevitable due to the south-east’s desire to secede.
Gowon made this statement in an interview with Daily Trust, noting “It got to the stage that the situation was getting pretty clear that a part of the country, the South-east wanted to secede,”
The former head of state asked south-east residents to embrace national unity, stating that “Biafra’s dissolution followed Nigerians’ acceptance of reintegration and unity”.
“I have always said that if there’s no secession, there wouldn’t be a breakout and there wouldn’t be a question of civil war because it got to the stage that the situation was getting pretty clear that a part of the country, the South-east wanted to secede,” he added.
Speaking further about the war, Gowon said: “Sometimes I say to myself that I don’t mind being called the Abraham Lincoln of Nigeria because we had a similar situation and we were able to achieve the same result.
“I remember that one English journalist asked why I thought the war was over — what if the people continued with guerrilla warfare?
“But thank God there was no guerrilla.” (Saturday Vanguard)
