Onoh Counters Gowon, Says Federal Govt Betrayed Aburi Accord

Onoh Counters Gowon, Says Federal Govt Betrayed Aburi Accord

Josef Onoh, Chairman of the Forum of Former Members of the Enugu State House of Assembly and former Southeast spokesman to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has strongly challenged recent comments by former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon, over the collapse of the historic Aburi Accord and the events that led to the Nigerian Civil War.

In a detailed statement made available to journalists, Onoh argued that the failure of the 1967 Aburi Accord was caused primarily by what he described as the Federal Government’s refusal to fully implement agreements reached in Ghana, rather than the alleged intransigence of the late Biafran leader, Col. Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu.

The statement followed recent remarks credited to Gowon in his newly released memoir, My Life of Service and Allegiance, where the former military ruler reportedly accused Ojukwu of frustrating peace efforts and misrepresenting the agreements reached during the January 1967 talks in Aburi, Ghana.

However, Onoh insisted that available historical evidence contradicts that position.

Drawing from years of personal discussions with Ojukwu, who was his late brother-in-law, as well as interactions with late Biafran war commanders including Col. Joe Achuzie and former Biafran second-in-command, Maj. Gen. Philip Effiong, Onoh said his account reflects firsthand historical perspectives from key participants in the conflict.

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According to him, the Aburi meeting held between January 4 and 5, 1967, under the mediation of former Ghanaian leader Gen. Joseph Arthur Ankrah, produced clear resolutions aimed at preserving Nigeria’s unity amid worsening ethnic tensions and political instability after the 1966 coups.

He said the agreements included greater regional autonomy, decentralisation of military command, unanimous decision-making within the Supreme Military Council and commitments by all sides to avoid the use of force.

“The atmosphere was cordial, with both leaders actively participating. Upon his return, Ojukwu publicly broadcast the accords and adopted the position ‘On Aburi We Stand,’” Onoh stated.

According to him, opposition to the agreement emerged almost immediately after the Federal Government delegation returned to Lagos.

Onoh alleged that federal permanent secretaries and senior advisers opposed aspects of the accord because they believed the resolutions moved Nigeria toward a confederal arrangement that significantly weakened the central government.

He said the disagreement later resulted in the promulgation of Decree No. 8 of 1967, which the Eastern Region interpreted as a major departure from the original spirit of the Aburi Accord.

According to Onoh, the decree diluted understandings reached in Ghana, particularly on issues relating to military authority, emergency powers and regional autonomy.

“Ojukwu warned that non-implementation of the accord would leave the East with no option but self-help,” he said.

The former presidential spokesman further argued that several historical documents, eyewitness testimonies and declassified materials support claims that the Federal Military Government later retreated from key understandings reached during the talks.

He maintained that Ojukwu attended the peace meeting in good faith and remained committed to avoiding war, but growing distrust and the failure to reassure Eastern Nigerians after the anti-Igbo killings of 1966 ultimately deepened the crisis.

Onoh recalled Ojukwu expressing disappointment over what he perceived as betrayal by the Federal Government following the massacres of Easterners in parts of Northern Nigeria and disagreements over implementation of the accord.

He quoted Ojukwu as once referring to Gowon as “my friend Gowon turned bandit,” adding that similar sentiments were allegedly echoed years later by Maj. Gen. Philip Effiong.

The former Tinubu spokesman also noted that Ojukwu, an Oxford-trained historian and one of the most senior military officers of his era, later documented his interpretation of the crisis in his memoir, Because I Am Involved.

While acknowledging Gowon’s post-war “No Victor, No Vanquished” reconciliation policy, Onoh warned that renewed disputes over the Nigerian Civil War risk reopening painful national wounds more than 50 years later.

“A true statesman prioritises national healing over vindication, especially on wounds that are still healing slowly more than 50 years later,” he said.

Onoh urged Nigerians, historians and younger generations to rely on official recordings of the Aburi Accord, historical broadcasts, documentary evidence and balanced academic scholarship instead of one-sided narratives.

“History thrives on truth that unites, not narratives that divide. Let us learn from Aburi’s failure: genuine dialogue and faithful implementation matter far more than signed agreements in an atmosphere of mistrust,” he added.

Onoh Counters Gowon, Says Federal Govt Betrayed Aburi Accord