Abuja—Ikemba Nnewi, Chief Emeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu said yesterday
that former Head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon caused the Nigerian civil
war (1967- 70). Chief Ojukwu who spoke at a seminar entitled,
Historical Perspective of the Nigerian Civil War, Lessons for
Nigeria,
at the War College, Abuja said the war was triggered by
Gowon's refusal to follow laid down rules and procedure in the
army.
Many Nigerians and non-Nigerians blame Chief Ojukwu for causing the
war after declaring a Republic of Biafra. But throwing light on the
circumstances that led to the war yesterday, the former Biafran
warlord said: I would be doing Nigeria wrong by failing to
speak. Before you can understand the Nigerian civil war, we must go
back and look at the army so as to decipher who was loyal and who was
a rebel.
According to him, following the death of Maj.-Gen. Aguiyi-Ironsi
through the coup de'tat, he (Ojukwu) proposed that Col. Adebayo
Ogundipe should succeed him given his position in the army
hierarchy. Murtala agreed with my position but Gowon repeatedly
said
my boys will not accept that.
I (Ojukwu) asked him who his boys were that would alter the laid
down rules and procedure, and since, I was then the Commander of the
Eastern Zone and as such I decided to hold forte by challenging the
desires of Gowon which led to the coup de'tat.
Because of my position, which was based on principle and against
Gowon, the civil war broke out. For three years Gowon was trying to
get me. The war was a continuation of the coup de'tat; the war was
an orchestration of his (Gowon) desire to legitimise and rationalise
his (Gowon) coup de'tat.
Chief Ojukwu acknowledged making some mistakes, saying I made some
mistakes as a human being, but my mistakes were less than most
people's because I had a background as an administrator which put
me on a better pedestal to relate with the people.
On how to move Nigeria forward, he said peace will come when we
have been able to look at past with sincerity and objectivity.
Government,
he said must lay emphasis on reconciliation,
restitution and restructuring since
to forget is not possible
particularly when the wounds of the civil war are still
hurting.
He asked Nigerians to adopt positive attitude to nation-building and
shun selfishness as there is enough for everybody in this country
and anybody who say otherwise is greedy.
He dismissed the 1999 constitution as selfishly conceived, wrongly
formulated and unrepresentational of the collective interest and
yearning of the Nigerian people.
![[Documents menu]](../bin/bk.gif)