Barrister Aloy Ejimakor, counsel to IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu, has strongly criticised former Nigerian Head of State, Yakubu Gowon, over claims made in his newly released memoir concerning the events that led to the Nigerian Civil War.
Reacting to Gowon’s account, Ejimakor rejected allegations that late Biafran leader, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, sabotaged peace efforts before the outbreak of the war.
Instead, he accused Gowon of abandoning the historic Aburi Accord reached in Ghana in 1967 — an agreement many believe represented Nigeria’s last major opportunity to avoid the civil war.
According to Ejimakor, the Federal Government returned from the Aburi meeting only to allegedly yield to pressure from British interests and influential northern civil servants who feared losing power at the centre.
He argued that the implementation of Decree No. 8 altered the spirit of the Aburi agreement and destroyed trust between the Eastern Region and the Federal Military Government.
“The federal government destroyed the best opportunity for peace,” Ejimakor said, insisting that Ojukwu was left with “no option but secession.”
The lawyer also faulted Gowon’s post-war policies, especially the controversial £20 compensation policy introduced after the war, where former Biafrans reportedly received only £20 regardless of their previous bank savings.
According to him, the policy deepened feelings of marginalisation among the Igbo and contradicted Gowon’s famous “No Victor, No Vanquished” declaration.
Ejimakor further argued that the continued rise in separatist agitations and ethnic tensions in Nigeria proves that the issues which triggered the civil war were never fully resolved.
“Gowon saved the map of Nigeria, but fractured the soul of the nation forever,” he stated.
His remarks have reignited nationwide debate over the collapse of the Aburi Accord and who bears responsibility for one of Africa’s deadliest conflicts.
