By Anyi Kings
Published On the Biafra Post
May 23, 2026
The release of General Yakubu Gowon’s newly published autobiography has once again reopened painful memories surrounding the Nigeria-Biafra war. Gowon says the purpose of the book is to “clarify history” and explain the decisions taken during the civil war. But for millions of Biafrans, especially families who lost loved ones to starvation, bombings,
displacement, and blockade, history cannot simply be rewritten from one side.
For many survivors, the wounds of the war never healed.
While the autobiography attempts to defend the Nigerian federal position during the conflict, many of its anti-Biafra narratives deserve serious historical criticism and rebuttal.
One major issue is the continued attempt to portray Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu as the man who frustrated peace efforts before the war. Historical evidence strongly challenges this narrative.
The Aburi Accord of January 1967 remains one of the most important peace agreements in Nigerian history. The meeting, held in Ghana between Nigerian military leaders, was designed to prevent war and establish a confederal arrangement that would guarantee regional autonomy and security after the massacres of Easterners in Northern Nigeria in 1966.
Ojukwu repeatedly stated in interviews that he was satisfied with the Aburi Accord and was committed to its implementation. In fact, he reportedly assured Gowon that if the agreement was faithfully implemented, he would personally announce Gowon as Commander-in-Chief of Nigeria.
The real collapse came after the federal side returned from Ghana and refused to fully implement the spirit and terms of Aburi. Under pressure from powerful political interests and foreign influence, especially Britain, the agreement was weakened and altered.
For many Easterners, this confirmed their fear that they could no longer trust the Nigerian state to protect them after the anti-Igbo massacres of 1966.
If Gowon’s autobiography still attempts to blame Ojukwu for the failure of peace, then it ignores one fundamental truth: Aburi was the last genuine opportunity to avoid war, and it was not Ojukwu who abandoned it.
Another issue raised during the launch of the autobiography was the old narrative surrounding Gowon’s name — “Go On With One Nigeria.” The slogan has long been used to symbolize his determination to preserve Nigeria’s unity at all costs.
But over fifty years later, Nigerians must honestly ask themselves:
What exactly was achieved through that war?
Today Nigeria faces insecurity, terrorism, banditry, mass kidnappings, economic hardship, religious violence, and deep ethnic division. Ironically, even communities in Gowon’s Middle Belt region and Plateau areas have become victims of recurring violence and insecurity.
Can anyone honestly say the dream of “One Nigeria” has delivered peace, justice, equality, or national unity?
Millions died to preserve that unity, yet the country remains deeply fractured and unstable.
A unity preserved through war, blockade, starvation, and fear cannot truly be called voluntary unity.
One of the darkest aspects of the civil war remains the federal blockade imposed on Biafra.
International journalists, humanitarian organizations, missionaries, and relief agencies documented how food, medicine, and humanitarian supplies were prevented from reaching Biafran civilians. Starvation became a weapon of war.
The horrifying images of starving Biafran children suffering from kwashiorkor shocked the world and remain some of the most painful memories in African history.
Millions of civilians — mostly women and children — died from starvation and disease during the conflict.
Britain openly supported the Nigerian federal government throughout the war with weapons, diplomatic backing, intelligence, and political influence.
To many Biafrans, the war was therefore not merely a civil conflict, but a genocidal campaign carried out with foreign support in order to preserve British political and economic interests in Nigeria, particularly oil interests and strategic control.
This is why many people continue to ask difficult questions that Gowon’s autobiography does not fully answer:
Why was starvation allowed to become a military strategy?
Why were humanitarian relief efforts blocked?
Why has there never been a formal apology to Ndi Igbo and the victims of the blockade?
Why are the voices and sufferings of Biafran civilians often minimized whenever the history of the war is discussed?
Autobiographies naturally reflect personal perspectives, but no autobiography can erase the memories of survivors or silence historical realities.
The Nigeria-Biafra war was not only a military conflict over territory. It was also a story of fear, betrayal, ethnic massacres, survival, foreign interests, and the refusal of the Nigerian state to reassure Easterners after the killings of 1966.
After more than five decades since the end of the war, Gowon must reflect deeply on the legacy he will leave behind. History will remember that millions of innocent Biafran civilians — mostly women and children — died during a war fought under the banner of preserving “One Nigeria,” a project many critics believe primarily protected British political and economic interests in post-colonial Nigeria.
Britain openly backed the Nigerian federal side with weapons, diplomatic support, and international influence, while Biafra remained isolated under blockade and starvation. To many Biafrans, this was not merely a Nigerian civil war, but a genocidal campaign carried out with foreign backing to protect strategic British interests tied to oil, territorial control, and political dominance in the region.
At this stage of his life, is it not time for Gowon to rise above old wartime narratives and confront the painful truth of history?
Rather than continuing to defend policies associated with blockade, starvation, and mass civilian deaths, many believe his final years should be devoted to reconciliation, truth, and moral responsibility. A sincere public apology to Ndi Igbo and the families of the victims would become one of the most important acts of healing in Nigeria’s history.
More importantly, Gowon should openly acknowledge that the mistakes and horrors of the civil war must never repeat themselves. Instead of forcing unity through violence, military force, and bloodshed, Nigeria should begin embracing peaceful democratic solutions to its national questions.
If different peoples within Nigeria no longer believe in the union, then the civilized path forward should be peaceful negotiation and a legitimate referendum — not another war. This remains the position many pro-Biafra movements, including IPOB, continue to advocate.
History may forgive the tragedies of war, but history rarely forgives silence, denial, or refusal to seek justice after the bloodshed has ended.
Anyi Kings
May 23, 2026
