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A reporter once asked me: “What’s the motive of Boko Haram?” What a question! Well, I am not Boko Haram, so I don’t know their motives. The only thing that I would say is that their call for Southerners and Christians to leave the North is not the northern voice. The way a lot of members of the press have taken it to be as though it is the North that is saying that such people should go is wrong. No. It is not. And that has to be understood. And this is a group whose leadership you cannot absolutely identify yet.
This is one of the most probably difficult groups because you do not know where they are. They come in, they probably might be sleeping with you. And then the following day you find that they have struck. They may spare you or they may take you along with them. So really, it is difficult to know. It is only a true Boko Haram that would tell what is ailing him. If their leadership can articulate their desire and wish, then it can be considered. Just like Ojukwu came with his pink paper and demands. And for the sake of getting him back into the fold, we practically endorsed everything he demanded. I can assure you I had pretty difficult time with so
me of the critics. I was not being a politician, whereas Ojukwu was being more of a politician and making some various political demands which I took in, believing that I can deal with them administratively. A lot of people said it would not work, that it would virtually emasculate the Federal government and me. One thing I could not compromise however was the breakup of Nigeria. That was why I put that caveat that there would be no secession. And because of that they rejected that decree which would have given them everything that they wanted. And let me say this: Some of the senior permanent secretaries from the states at that time—somebody like Peter Odumosu in the West, a man of great religious strength. I remember what he said to me. He said: “Sir, please, ensure that if I am in this decree, reflect every decision that was taken, that was agreed upon at Aburi.” They were part of the officials that came. I didn’t take my Secretary to the Government with me to advise me but Ojukwu of course had his own Secretary to the Government and all those advising him. I could have gotten all my advisers to start off with but we did not. He did, but I am not taking anything away from Ojukwu. Did he not go to Oxford? What did he study? Did he not study history? Many people had told me that probably the future of power would be with the military and that was why he joined the military. And but for the stand I took, we probably would have had the first coup in 1964. But that was averted.
‘Go on with one Nigeria’
By a twist fate, my father’s name Gowon has been tied to the destiny of Nigeria. In a way, I come from a royal family. My father belonged to the chieftaincy of the people of the area he came from. He was born into the traditional religion of his people. He was what Christians would say an idol worshipper even though he later converted into a Christian and served in the Lord’s vineyard. One of his names Gowon means “the owner of gods.” That is what Gowon means. Even though Nigerians later translated it to “Go on with one Nigeria.” I first read about this acronym on the pages of a newspaper. I cannot remember the name of that particular newspaper. I wish I knew. I saw that as a call, a challenge from Nigerians that I should go on with one Nigeria. Exactly what I was trying to do. But with that call, with that little acronym on the new meaning of Gowon, I was convinced of the need to do my best to hold Nigeria together. At that time, I said I could not do it alone. I needed the help of all Nigerians. To me, Ibos were part and parcel of Nigeria and I always wanted them to remain part and parcel of Nigeria, irrespective of what had happened as a result of some unfortunate developments. The unfortunate political developments and the unfortunate military intervention and the method they adopted by killing some political leaders in parts of the country. The killings also extended to some of the most senior officers in the country. I was the only one saved. Maybe I was saved for a purpose. Because I could have been one of the victims if probably I had been in the country for any length of time. But I just arrived less than two days when the coup took place.
I questioned Nzeogwu: Why did you do coup?
I remember when I asked Nzeogwu after he was brought down to the Teaching Hospital here in Lagos: “Why did you do such a thing? Do you realize the harm you have done to both the political and the military, especially the military?”
Because that comradeship and brotherliness that is very essential in the army between officers and officer, between officers and men, was really severed. It was broken. The soldiers knew the true import of what had happened. But for the grace of God and for the pleading that I made to all the soldiers at the time plus the trust and the confidence they had in me, as one-time Adjutant General in the Nigerian army, the story at that time would have been different. All of us soldiers for example, we do not know what could have happened. Considering the calibre of the leaders killed, some of the favorite leaders were killed, especially from the North. And honestly, I can assure you the pressures that we had from a lot of people asking: “What are we doing? From the North, your leaders have been killed, your political leaders have been killed, your senior officers have been killed, what are you doing? You haven’t had any revenge?”
I can assure that that was not my mindset at the time but to get to the bottom of it to try and see how we can resolve it. But we were not fortunate enough. That’s why I paid a long tribute to Ojukwu when he died. In spite of everything, we were friends quite alright and honestly in the end, we remained friends.
The good thing is that Ojukwu and I reconciled before his death. He came to see me in the UK, he found out where I was, he called my home, my wife answered and she told me about it and when I came back at the weekend, I went to see him at the hotel where he was staying in London. If I was afraid of anything, what if he had somebody there to shoot me dead in the hotel? And people would say it is an accident that happened. And I believe on that day, his friend and biographer Frederick Forsythe was there when I went there. I can remember seeing this white man sitting quietly in one corner, seeing me as I went to see Ojukwu. And later on, I learnt he was the one. He was the one who said all sorts of things about me and even wrote a book about me, making me look so small. But for me, it doesn’t matter.
(To be continued)
