A United States-based group, Rising Sun, has faulted former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon (rtd), over his recent comments on the failure of the historic Aburi Accord of 1967.
The group described Gowon’s claims as a distortion of historical facts and a dishonest attempt to rewrite the narrative surrounding the civil war.
In a statement jointly signed by Chief Maxwell Dede and Rev. Fr. Augustine Odimmegwa, President and Secretary of the group respectively, Rising Sun said the former military leader’s account does not reflect the true events that led to the breakdown of the peace agreement.
Specifically, the group condemned Gowon’s assertion that the accord collapsed because General Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu insisted on regional governors controlling the military.
According to the statement, the regional leaders’ demand for control over security forces in their territories was made in good faith and in the spirit of justice and true federalism.
“If Nigeria had honoured the Aburi Accord in its true form, there would have been no war, no genocide, and no famine weaponized against civilians,” the group stated.
The group emphasized that the Aburi meeting, held from January 4 to 5, 1967 in Ghana, was a final attempt to rescue Nigeria from total disintegration following the coups of 1966 and the widespread massacre of Easterners in the North.
They noted that the accord, which was documented both in writing and tape recordings, reaffirmed regional sovereignty and called for a confederation with a weak central government, joint control of the armed forces, and regional consensus in key military appointments.
“These were not Ojukwu’s personal demands,” the statement read. “They were collective resolutions agreed upon by all the Nigerian military leaders present. Gowon’s reversal upon return to Lagos was driven by pressure from the British High Commission and the Northern oligarchy.”
The group further questioned Gowon’s understanding of federalism, citing the United States where state governors have authority over their National Guards.
“Was it treasonous in a federal system for regional leaders to demand control over their own security forces? Ojukwu stood for reason, justice, and true federalism. Gowon betrayed that spirit and plunged Nigeria into chaos.”
The statement added that Gowon’s own admission that the disagreement at Aburi was over military control—not oil or secession—vindicates Ojukwu and the Biafran cause.
The group also alleged that the British government, through its then High Commissioner in Lagos, Sir David Hunt, influenced Gowon’s decision to abandon the accord in order to maintain a unified, centrally controlled Nigeria under Northern dominance for the benefit of British interests such as Shell BP.
According to Rising Sun, Nigeria is still suffering from the consequences of the betrayal of Aburi, including insecurity, economic collapse, and the persistence of a unitary structure disguised as federalism.
“His words are not just distortions of the past; they are a dangerous attempt to sanitize tyranny and genocide,” the group said.
They urged historians, scholars, and truth-seekers to revisit the original documents and recordings of the Aburi Accord, many of which remain publicly available, to counter what they described as Gowon’s historical revisionism.
“The Rising Sun global family will continue to resist all efforts to rewrite history or justify genocide. Ojukwu stood on the side of justice. History has already delivered its verdict—and it is not in Gowon’s favour,” the group concluded.
