BIAFRA CIVIL WAR WAS NOT MY CHOICE" ~ Yakubu Gowon From the above statement by the former Head of State and Commander in Chief of Nige...
BIAFRA CIVIL WAR WAS NOT MY CHOICE" ~ Yakubu Gowon
From the above statement by the former Head of State and Commander in Chief of Nigerian Armed Forces, General Yakubu Gowon, we must specifically state some facts to the world while, at the same time, correcting some entrenched fallacious, malicious, malevolent and mischievous falsehoods, that have endured over the years, due to Biafrans' lack of access to media platforms.
These corrections include, but are not limited to the following:
Firstly, it was not the Biafran Civil War.
Biafra did not instigate, facilitate, trigger, or sponsor any war.
It was a British proxy war against #Biafrans, which qualifies the war to be called BRITISH GENOCIDAL WAR AGAINST #BIAFRANS.
Secondly, it is essential to clarify that this conflict should not be referred to as a civil war. Instead, it was a genocidal war in which the UK government sought to exterminate the Biafran people out of vengeful vindictiveness. They hid behind the Nigerian government and collaborated with the entire Collective West, the USSR, the wider Islamic world, and most African nations to carry out this extermination. During this time, they completely blockaded the Biafrans by air, land, and sea.
Amidst this blockade, Harold Wilson's government was bombarding Biafra's schools, churches, markets, hospitals, homes, and, most tragically, refugee camps. As one of Nigeria's field commanders, Adekunle, stated, they aimed to "shoot every living thing, including non-living things, to ensure that nothing survived in Biafra," emphasizing that their motives were driven by oil rather than any notion of Nigeria's unity.
Thirdly, it was not Gowon's choice.
The world understood that the genocidal war was not a decision made by Gowon. From the moment he assassinated Aguiyi Ironsi and seized power, he had been intent on quietly severing the North from Nigeria so that the North could exist as a distinct sovereign nation. This intention was evident during the Araba riots in the North. Elements of this agenda were not entirely absent from Gowon's initial broadcast as Head of State.
Fourthly, Gowon had agreed to and signed the Aburi Accord, but he was later compelled to renounce it. Although he was supposed to address the nation regarding the outcomes of the Aburi Conference, he remained silent for months. This enforced silence led to Ojukwu publicly announcing the results of the Aburi Conference, which Gowon later claimed were crucial to understanding the immediate causes of the genocidal war.
Now that Gowon is under great torment, torture, trauma, and nightmare because of over 6 million Biafrans' blood that he submitted himself to be used to waste, is it not reasonable for him to openly confess, apologize, and ask for forgiveness?
If Gowon still has any shred of human conscience, nobody should be sermonizing about confessing and apologizing to him, as what is happening in the Middle Belt, particularly in #BenuePlateau, and the whole of the North and Nigeria generally, should have been pricking and haunting him without measure.
Again, if Gowon is not merely deceiving himself by claiming to be praying, he should know that the preliminary step towards any effective prayer is the acknowledgement, confession, and repentance from any degree of sin, not to talk of a heinous crime like this humongous crime of genocidal murder of over 6 million Biafrans.
How then can Gowon be carrying the burden of the murder of over 6 million Biafrans in his heart and still be claiming to be communicating with Heaven when the precondition for praying fruitfully is confessing and forsaking one's sins (crimes)?
Incidentally and ironically, Gowon has lived this long to see with his own eyes the calamity which Ojukwu and Biafrans were trying to forestall.
If Gowon had seen half a meter of the thousands of kilometers that Biafrans saw and acted truthfully, selflessly, and conscionably, the catastrophic devastation and the brutal extermination agenda being mindlessly executed against Gowon's region would certainly have been averted. The terroristic silent genocide steadily going on against them would have been preventable.
(To be continued)
Written by
Mmadụ Awụchukwu
Edited by
Obiageli Mboma
For
Lagos State Media Team
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