The Desire of SouthEast to Secede Caused the Nigeria/Biafra War – Gowon

General Yakubu Gowon, Nigeria’s former military head of state, says the Nigerian Civil War would not have been necessary without the secession plan.

The Nigerian Civil War took place between 1967 and 1970. Gowon was head of state from August 1, 1966, to July 29, 1975.

Gowon said the Nigerian civil war was inevitable because the southeast wanted to secede.

Former head of state Gowon said this in an interview with the Daily Trust, noting that “it has become quite clear that the southeast, which is part of the country, wants secession.”

The former head of state urged the residents of the southeast to accept national unity, stating:

“Biafra’s dissolution followed Nigerians’ acceptance of reintegration and unity”.

“I have always said that if there’s no secession, there wouldn’t be a breakout and there wouldn’t be a question of civil war because it got to the stage that the situation was getting pretty clear that a part of the country, the South-east wanted to secede,” he added.

Speaking further about the war, Gowon said: “Sometimes I say to myself that I don’t mind being called the Abraham Lincoln of Nigeria because we had a similar situation and we were able to achieve the same result.

“I remember that one English journalist asked why I thought the war was over — what if the people continued with guerrilla warfare?

“But thank God there was no guerrilla.”