Former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon, has exonerated himself from the killing of Easterners in the North in 1966 -1967.
He also debunked the claims that his administration did not try to bring the perpetrators to book.
He said those accusing him of not doing anything were just been mischievous and also deliberately ignored the undeniably and open efforts he made at stopping the killings in all parts of Nigeria.
The said killings followed the counter coup of July 29, 1966 which claimed the lives of then Head of State, General Aguiyi Ironsi, and then Governor of Western Region, Colonel Adekunle Fajuyi, among others.
The coup plotters had accused Ironsi, himself an Easterner, of not doing enough to bring the organizers of the January 15, 1966 coup, perceived in some quarters to be mostly Igbo officers and which killed Nigerian political and military leaders, including the Prime Minister, Alhaji Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, Premier of the Northern Region, Alhaji Ahmadu Bello, Premier of the Western Region, Chief Samuel Ladoke Akintola, and Brigadier Maimalari, mostly of northern origin, to book.
The crisis led to the Igbo Pogrom in the North and the Civil War that lasted from 1967 until 1970.
Amid the crisis, some northern military officers contemplated the breaking away of the North from Nigeria.
Gowon hinted in his just released autobiography, My Life of Duty and Allegiance, that at least two major world powers, Britain and the United States, said at the time that they would not support the breakup of Nigeria.
He also spoke on the moves to stop the Civil War, notably the Aburi Conference which was hosted by Ghana, and how, according to him, then Governor Emeka Ojukwu of Eastern Region twisted the outcome while preparing for war against Nigeria.
The former Head of State narrated how he tried to save Ironsi from death, Ojukwu’s refusal of his offer of friendship, the clash he had with the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, who had been made the Vice Chairman of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) after he had been freed from Calabar prison where he was serving jail term for treason, over payment for arms, and why he did not fight back after the coup of 1975 that ousted him from office while attending the OAU conference in Kampala.
On the pogrom in the North, Gowon wrote: “Some of my accusers have also suggested that I did not do enough to prevent the killing of Easterners in the North 1966 and 1967. They also alleged that the federal government did not even try to bring the perpetrators to book after the sad occurrences. This position is not only wrong and full of mischief, but it also deliberately ignored the undeniably and open efforts I made at stopping the killings in all parts of Nigeria”.
The former Head of State narrated: “Just the conference (Ad Hoc Constitutional Conference he had convened to discuss the future of Nigeria in the post-military era he had envisaged) was scheduled to reconvene, Radio Dahomey relayed a news item on purported mass killing of Northerners in the Eastern Region. This triggered mayhem in the North, especially in Kano which recorded reprisal killing of Easterners.
“These ugly developments never featured in my worst scenario planning, and they sure threw a spanner in the works of the government. Ojukwu swiftly ordered Easterners in the North and other parts of Nigeria to return ‘home’ to safety in the East.
As was to be expected, the Eastern delegates to the conference put up a no-show when the conference was to reconvene on October 24. “Neither did they show up at the next adjourned date, November 17.
“They maintained a position that they would not return to the table as far as ‘Northern troops’ remained in Western Nigeria. The Western Region delegates supported this position. Left with no choice, I adjourned the Ad Hoc Constitutional Conference sine die, since the ultimatum demonstrated that the outcome of the conference could no longer be expected to be representative of the desires of all Nigerians as I had wanted.
“Apart from trying to determine the best form of government for Nigeria in the years ahead, I also focused on addressing the matter of restiveness in the North.
“As soon as I assumed office I treated this latter issue with urgency because nobody with a conscience would approve of or endorse the mass killing of Easterners, mostly Igbo, in various parts of the North, notably Kano, Kaduna, Zaria, Bauchi and Jos.
“It was doubly worrying and unfortunate that the Eastern intelligentsia continued to maintain that the central authorities and leaders of the North instigated the killings. This was not the case.
“Without ruling out the possibility of subtle encouragement by partisan politicians who probably wanted to make personal political gains out of the situation, it is safe to say that the mob action that led to the killings was executed primarily by ordinary people on the streets in reaction to the radio news item.
“But those of us in charge at the time tried our best to minimize what happened.
“Acting on my belief that the use of force in the short run would not be as effective as an address to the heart and conscience of the people to tackle the problem on the ground, I arranged to make a few public broadcasts in English and Hausa, which were specifically intended for the listening ears of the people of the North.
“My overriding objective was to calm their nerves and, in the process, restore normalcy.
“I achieved that goal, though my message created the impression that one was partisan. “But I spoke the way I did to really touch the conscience of the people.
“Days after my broadcasts, several public commentators and sections of the local media made attempts to criminalise my remark that ‘another Northerner had come back to authority.’ This was an inconvenient truth, but it was embedded in empirical facts.
“Nigeria’s first centre of political authority was the Prime Minister, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa. He was a Northerner.
“After him was the Supreme Commander, Major-General Johnson Aguiyi Ironsi, an Easterner, who was also unfortunately killed. I am undeniably a Northerner from the Middle Belt area.
