Former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon (retd), has attributed the collapse of the Aburi Accord to a fundamental disagreement between the federal government and the then Eastern Region leader, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, over control of military forces across the regions.
Naija News reports that Gowon said Ojukwu’s insistence that regional governors should command zonal military units was a red line the federal government could not cross.
Speaking in an interview with Arise News on Wednesday, Gowon stated that although both parties approached the January 1967 Aburi meeting in Ghana with sincerity, Ojukwu’s interpretation of the discussions went beyond the intended scope.
“Although we said that the military would be zoned… he wanted those zones to be commanded by the governor. For example, in the east, it would be commanded by him. And, of course, we did not agree with that one,” Gowon said.
The former military leader said the federal delegation never saw the Aburi summit as a forum for constitutional restructuring or military devolution, but rather a peace dialogue among officers.
“We just went there, as far as we are concerned, to be able to meet as officers… to agree and resolve a problem at home. That was my understanding. But that is not his understanding,” he added.
Gowon revealed that shortly after returning from Aburi, he was struck by illness, which delayed the federal government’s official response to the terms of the accord.
“Unfortunately, I was having a serious attack of fever or whatever it is, and I could not make a decision,” he said.
In the interim, Ojukwu allegedly made public declarations about the Accord that had not been jointly agreed upon.
“Ojukwu was the one who, when he came, he went and made a statement about the Aburi Accord,” Gowon stated.
To clarify the misunderstandings, Gowon said the federal government convened a follow-up meeting in Benin with all regional governors. However, Ojukwu refused to attend.
“We met at Nifo in Benin. And he did not turn up,” Gowon lamented.
He insisted that Ojukwu’s absence from the Benin meeting undermined efforts to salvage the Accord and possibly prevent war.
Gowon noted that while the government was willing to work within the “spirit of Aburi,” it would never accept the idea of regional military autonomy or secession.
“The only thing that I added was that no region can secede from the country,” he said firmly.
The former Head of State stressed that the push for full regional military control, not just political autonomy, marked the irreconcilable difference that ultimately doomed the accord.
Historians widely regard the collapse of the Aburi Accord as the turning point that led to the outbreak of the Nigerian Civil War in July 1967 — a devastating conflict that lasted three years and claimed over one million lives.
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