Former Head of State Yakubu Gowon has revisited one of the most controversial periods in Nigeria’s history, accusing late Biafran leader Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu of undermining repeated efforts to prevent the outbreak of the Nigerian Civil War. The allegation is contained in Gowon’s autobiography, My Life of Service and Allegiance, where he recounts the political tensions, failed negotiations and constitutional disagreements that deepened the crisis between the Federal Military Government and the Eastern Region before the 1967–1970 conflict.
Reflecting on the aftermath of the January and July 1966 coups, Gowon said the country’s leadership made several attempts to preserve national unity despite growing unrest and separatist sentiments in the East following the killings of Igbos in parts of Northern Nigeria.
“Ojukwu deliberately and effectively thwarted every effort we made to amicably resolve our national issues,” Gowon wrote.
According to the former military ruler, the Federal Military Government agreed to attend the January 1967 peace meeting in Aburi, Ghana, in the hope that dialogue could still avert a national breakdown.
“We went to Aburi with open minds and with the sincere hope of finding a basis for national reconciliation,” Gowon wrote.
The Aburi meeting, facilitated by former Ghanaian leader Joseph Arthur Ankrah, brought together Nigeria’s top military officers at a time of deep political instability marked by coups, ethnic violence and growing mistrust within the armed forces.
However, Gowon said the peace efforts faltered after both parties returned from Ghana with conflicting interpretations of the Aburi Accord.
He argued that Ojukwu’s understanding of the agreement would have significantly weakened the powers of the Federal Government and left Nigeria too fragile to remain united as a single nation.
“What was presented by Ojukwu as the Aburi Accord was, in reality, his own interpretation of our discussions,” he wrote.
The former military ruler said his administration was confronted with growing regional tensions and concerns that conceding to the demands of Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu could hasten the disintegration of Nigeria.
Despite the escalating crisis, Gowon insisted that his government remained committed to pursuing peaceful solutions.
“At every stage, we tried to preserve Nigeria without resorting to war,” Gowon wrote.
In the autobiography, the former Head of State revisited the enduring debate surrounding the Aburi Accord, widely regarded by some as Nigeria’s final opportunity to avoid civil war, while others believe the country had already moved too close to conflict for any agreement to succeed.
Gowon also dismissed suggestions that the Federal Military Government entered the negotiations in bad faith, describing the era as one dominated by fear, deep suspicion and collapsing trust among military and political leaders attempting to hold the federation together.
Gowon said, said the actions of late Biafran leader Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu made efforts at a peaceful resolution increasingly challenging in the lead-up to the Nigerian Civil War.
“Ojukwu’s actions made peaceful settlement increasingly difficult,” he wrote.
In his autobiography, Gowon also reflected on the aftermath of the failed 1966 coups and the killings that followed, acknowledging the fear and trauma experienced by many Eastern Nigerians living outside their homeland during the period.
He said the massacre of Igbos deeply affected him and further weakened attempts to rebuild trust at a time when national tensions were already dangerously elevated.
“I understood the fears of the Easterners. But the breakup of Nigeria was never an option I could accept,” Gowon stated.
The former Head of State said communication between both camps deteriorated steadily in the months preceding Biafra’s declaration of independence on May 30, 1967, as mistrust deepened and the possibility of compromise diminished.
“We were confronted with a situation in which compromise was becoming almost impossible,” Gowon wrote.
Gowon also defended the Federal Military Government’s decision to create 12 states shortly before the declaration of Biafra, saying the move was intended to address concerns among minority ethnic groups over domination within the regional structure.
According to him, several minority communities in the former Eastern Region sought direct recognition from the federal government and feared political marginalisation.
“The creation of states was intended to give all groups a sense of belonging within Nigeria,” he wrote.
He further rejected suggestions that the Federal Military Government was eager for armed conflict, maintaining that war became unavoidable only after Biafra declared secession.
Explaining further, he said the declaration of Biafra by late secessionist leader Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu left the Federal Military Government with little alternative but to respond militarily.
“Ojukwu’s declaration of Biafra left the federal government with no choice,” he wrote.
The former head of state also defended the “No Victor, No Vanquished” policy introduced at the end of the Civil War in January 1970, describing reconciliation and reintegration as essential steps toward rebuilding the country after years of conflict and destruction.
According to Gowon, the war was fought to preserve Nigeria’s unity rather than to target or punish any ethnic group.
“We fought to keep Nigeria one, not to destroy a people,” Gowon wrote.
Reflecting on the humanitarian consequences of the conflict, which resulted in millions of deaths and widespread displacement, Gowon said the post-war period demanded restraint, national healing and deliberate efforts to prevent deep and lasting divisions across the country.
“We had to think about the future of the country beyond the bitterness of war,” he wrote.
Though Ojukwu maintained until his death in 2011 that Biafra emerged out of necessity and the failure of the Nigerian state to protect Easterners, Gowon’s memoir presents a contrary account, placing responsibility for the collapse of peace talks squarely on the late Biafran leader.
“We exhausted every peaceful avenue available to us. But Nigeria had to survive,” Gowon concluded.