Stop Distorting Facts On Failure Of Aburi Accord, US Group Tells Gowon

A United States-based advocacy group, Rising Sun, has faulted former Nigerian Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon (rtd), over his recent comments on the reasons for the collapse of the 1967 Aburi Accord, accusing him of misrepresenting history and absolving himself of responsibility for the Nigerian Civil War.

In a statement issued in Abuja on Sunday and made available to THE WHISTLER, the group asserted that Gowon’s explanation—that the agreement broke down because General Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu demanded regional governors control the military—is a “deliberate distortion of history” and “an attempt to sanitize tyranny and genocide.”

The statement, jointly signed by Chief Maxwell Dede, President, and Rev. Fr. Augustine Odimmegwa, Secretary of the Rising Sun Global Family, argued that the terms agreed upon at the Aburi meeting were reached unanimously and not unilaterally dictated by Ojukwu.

“His claim that the breakdown occurred because General Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu wanted regional governors to control the military is both laughable and dishonest,” the group said.

The Aburi Accord, held on January 4–5, 1967 in Aburi, Ghana, was convened in the aftermath of Nigeria’s first coup and a bloody counter-coup. It was a last-ditch effort to prevent a full-scale civil war.

Attended by top military leaders including Ojukwu and Gowon, the meeting produced what many consider a workable federal solution to Nigeria’s escalating crisis.

According to the Rising Sun group, the agreement explicitly provided for a loose federation, regional autonomy, joint control of the armed forces, and consensual decision-making at the Federal Military Government level.

“The Aburi Accord reaffirmed the sovereignty of the regions. It called for a weak center and strong regions. It was agreed that all military appointments and deployments would be by mutual consent.

“These were not Ojukwu’s personal demands but collective resolutions reached and documented in writing and on tape,” the group emphasized.

The group accused Gowon of reneging on the agreement upon his return to Lagos, allegedly due to pressure from the British High Commission and Northern oligarchs, who feared that regional autonomy would reduce their control over national resources and power.

“Gowon’s later repudiation of the Aburi Accord… was not due to disagreement with the terms, but under direct pressure from the British High Commission and the Northern oligarchy, who feared a return to the economically successful and politically autonomous regions of the First Republic,” the statement said.

It further alleged that British interests, particularly Shell BP, influenced the rejection of the Aburi resolutions, leading to the outbreak of the civil war and the devastation that followed.

“Britain did not want a successful federation of autonomous regions; it wanted a unified, centrally-controlled Nigeria under Fulani dominance to protect colonial-era corporate interests. That is why Britain armed Nigeria with bombs, aircraft, and diplomatic cover to annihilate Biafra,” the statement continued.

The group condemned the use of famine, aerial bombardments, and mass killings during the war, saying that these would not have occurred had the Aburi Accord been honored.

“If Nigeria had followed the Aburi Accord in its true form, there would have been no war. There would have been no genocide. There would have been no famine used as a weapon of war. Instead, Gowon reneged, Nigeria reneged, and the blood of millions is on their hands,” Rising Sun charged.

The group also took issue with Gowon’s implication that regional military control was tantamount to secessionism or treason, calling it a misunderstanding of federalism.

“Is General Gowon genuinely unaware that in the United States—the very model of federalism—state governors control their National Guards and can activate them independently of the federal government?” they asked.

“Is it treasonous in a federal system for regional leaders to demand control over security forces in their territories? Ojukwu’s position was the position of reason, of justice, and of true federalism,” the group added.

According to the Rising Sun Global Family, millions of Nigerians are still living with the consequences of the betrayal of the Aburi Accord, including insecurity, economic collapse, and a pseudo-federal system that functions more like a unitary state.

“His words are not just a distortion of the past—they are a dangerous attempt to rewrite history and justify state violence,” the group declared.

The group called on historians, scholars, and journalists to revisit the original tapes and documents of the Aburi meeting—many of which are available in public archives—to uncover the truth and challenge the prevailing narrative.

“We call on all truth-seeking historians, scholars, and lovers of justice to revisit the original tapes and documents of the Aburi Accord… to expose Gowon’s lies. Ojukwu stood on the side of justice. History has already passed its verdict—and it is not in Gowon’s favor,” the statement concluded.

Stop Distorting Facts On Failure Of Aburi Accord, US Group Tells Gowon is first published on The Whistler Newspaper