Biafra post
March 09 2025 | State Media
Gowon was the main actor of the genocidal war that claimed the lives of over 5 million Biafrans between 1967-1970. On January 15th 1966, a group of young military officers from across Nigeria carried out a coup d’etat, that toppled the government of Abubakar Tafawa Balewa. British government propaganda radio, the BBC, maliciously peddled the evil narrative that the coup was an Igbo coup. This evil narrative set-off a series of pogrom against Igbos especially in northern Nigeria, including a bloody counter coup by northern officers that eventually led to the genocidal Biafra war.
Former Nigeria military ruler, Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (IBB), in his recently launched book titled “A Journey in Service” (2025), stated clearly that the January 15th 1966 coup was not an Igbo coup. This confession in his book is not a new fact, many authors have stated the same fact over the years. In the book, “Why we Struck” (1981), Major Adewale Ademoyega, a Yoruba man from Ode Remo in Ogun state, who was one of the five prominent officers that were involved in the January 15th 1966 coup. Ademoyega revealed that the coup was not an Igbo coup but rather a revolution; to remove corrupt Balewa government, stop the political killings in the Yoruba land and Tiv land, and install Obafemi Awolowo (a Yoruba man from Ikenne, Ogun state) as the Prime Minister of Nigeria. This account has been collaborated by many other authors like former Nigerian President, Olusegun Obasanjo, in his book, “Nzeogwu” (1987), Ben Gbulie, one of the coup plotters, in his book, “Nigeria’s Five Majors” (2017), just to mention a few. Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), has stated on multiple occasions that the events of January 15th 1966 was not an Igbo coup.
As a consequence of this false evil narrative, Ndigbo have been marginalised and persecuted in Nigeria. Now, it is time for Gowon to speak and tell the world the truth that the events of January 15th 1966 was never an Igbo coup. He cannot claim ignorance of this fact because he was one of the three-man investigative board that was instituted by General Aguiyi Ironsi to uncover the motives, intentions, and long term objectives of the failed coup (Biafra Revisited, 2006). This three-man board was made up exclusively of northern officers; M.D. Yusuf (head of special branch), Col. Yakubu Gowon (appointed by Aguiyi Ironsi as Chief of Army Staff), and Captain Baba Usman (Military Intelligence). The board carried out an extensive 3-month investigation, that involved interrogating around 200 military personnel, including principal leaders of the coup. They reviewed vital coup documents retrieved from all over the country. They concluded that the coup was restricted strictly to the military, with no civilian involvement. There was no evidence whatsoever to suggest or indicate it was a south or Igbo coup. It was unfortunate, that the same Gowon, a member of this investigative board, along with other northern officers carried out the bloodiest coup in the history of Nigeria, against his boss Aguiyi-Ironsi on July 29th 1966. Gowon and his group, murdered Gen. Aguiyi Ironsi, Col Adekunle Fajuyi and 300 other Igbo officers in a coup they termed “revenge coup”. Gowon after his bloody coup supressed the release of the Gowon-Usman-Yusuf investigative report that concluded that January 15th 1966 was never an Igbo coup.
Subsequent Nigerian governments have followed this path of deceit and dishonour, and have continued to supress the publication of the Gowon-Usman-Yusuf investigative report of 1966. I ponder how Gowon sleeps at night, knowing the truth of this report since its submission 59 years ago and 55 years after the end of the genocidal war he waged against the Igbos. It is time for Gowon to free himself and the generations to come by going public with the truth that January 15th 1966 was never an Igbo coup. If he finds writing a book too burdensome, he should release the Gowon-Usman-Yusuf report of 1966 to the public. Should Gowon fail to take this opportunity to tell the world the truth, I urge President Bola Amed Tinubu to follow the example of President Trump of the US, and declassify the Gowon-Usman-Yusuf report to the public. This will finally end the evil conspiracy against the Ndigbo and possibly open a new era for the indigenous peoples of Nigeria.
References:
Ademoyega, A. (1981). Why we Struck. Evans Brothers.
Babangida, I.B. (2025). A Journey in Service. Bookcraft.
Ekwe-Ekwe, H. (2006). Biafra Revisited. African Renaissance.
Gbulie, B. (2017). Nigeria’s Five Majors. Africana Educational Publishers.
Obasanjo, O. (1987). Nzeogwu. Spectrum Books.
Written by:
Mazi Onyeka Ekekwe
For: Biafra State Media
Published by:
Chibuike Nebeokike
For: Biafra State Media
