A former Minister of Health and member
of the Ime-obi (inner caucus) of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Prof. ABC Nwosu, on
Friday, faulted the comment by a former Head of State, Gen. Yakubu
Gowon, that the leader of the defunct Biafra, the late Chief Chukwuemeka
Ojukwu, underestimated him by thinking that he (Gowon) would not fight
the Nigeria Civil War.
Gowon had said at the Diamond Jubilee
Lecture of the Foursquare Gospel Church in Nigeria in Lagos on Thursday
that Ojukwu, who was the then governor of the Eastern Region, thought
his (Gowon’s) Christian disposition would allow the South-East to secede
from Nigeria without consequences.
Gowon said, “During the crisis, my
colleague and brother, Emeka Ojukwu, said, “We know Gen. Gowon, he is a
Christian and he would not like to fight. Do you know the first thing he
puts in his suitcase? His Bible; and that will make him not to engage
in a fight. I think unfortunately, he was proved wrong.”
But reacting to Gowon’s statement, Nwosu described the former head of state’s comments as anti-Igbo.
According to Nwosu, Gowon’s comment is an attempt to demonise Ojukwu after his death.
The former minister noted that Gowon underestimated Ojukwu’s capacity to resist the federal troops for a long period of time.
He said Gowon’s comments did not
correspond with the accounts of other major actors in the events that
precipitated the civil war.
Nwosu said, “I wish to express my
growing concern over attempts to demonise Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu
Ojukwu, who died more than three years ago.
“These posthumous comments on Ojukwu are, at best, ‘ungentlemanly’ and anti-Igbo culture.
“Ndigbo don’t speak of the dead flippantly.
“The latest comment by Gen. Yakubu Gowon
that Ojukwu never imagined that he would go to war because he was a
born-again Christian is appalling and naive.
“Did the General not also underestimate Ojukwu and Biafra?
“The book by Gen. Alabi-Isama tells a different story.”
Nwosu added that Gowon’s opinion on the Aburi Accord was also contrary to the views of Ndigbo and Ojukwu on the same subject.
He said, “Ndigbo worldwide share this
concern of mine because earlier Gen. Gowon has given his opinion on the
Aburi Accord, which differs completely from the opinion of Ndigbo and
Ojukwu on the same Aburi Accord.
“There are always two sides to a story and fairness demands that the two sides should always be weighed side by side.”
Nwosu, however, urged Gowon and others who played key roles during the civil war to let the sleeping dog lie.
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