Senator Victor Umeh has demanded an apology from former Military Head of State, Yakubu Gowon, for mistreating Ndigbo during his administration.
Naijaonpoint reports that the Anambra Central Senator said it was sad that Ndigbo were made to carry a heavy load of injustice for years after the 1966 coup that was erroneously tagged the Igbo coup.
In an interview with Arise News on Wednesday, Senator Umeh commended General Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida (IBB) for writing his autobiography ‘A Journey In Service’ and clarifying what was already public knowledge.
The Labour Party lawmaker further demanded that General Gowon write a book on the Nigeria-Biafra civil war that led to the death of many people from the South East region.
His words: “I think Gowon owes Nigerians a duty to write his own account of that war and the things that led to the war and the way the war was carried out and the way the war ended. Because when the war ended, he promised the Nigerian people reconciliation, restitution, and rehabilitation, particularly to the Igbo side of the nation. That he did not implement until he was overthrown in 1975. And these accounts that have come out, particularly from General Babangida, because these things are already available everywhere, preponderant stories being told, written by the actual participants in the coup, counter-coup, and the civil war, all these things are available.
“So, he himself should stop playing the ostrich. Just like Babangida came out as an elder statesman at 80 now, he decided to speak the truth, including on matters of June 12. People should not retain certain things until death. Gowon was a principal person in the whole episode. He was one that destroyed the regional arrangement in Nigeria and created the 12-state structure from where we had all these things.
“So, he needs to come out and put his statements clearly, and because of the way he handled the war and the way he treated the Igbos, including the massacre of the Igbo people, he owes the Igbo people an apology. Incidentally, he could not join these issues when people like Ojukwu were alive, but still his conscience requires that he must tell the truth. He must speak the truth before he leaves the stage. Yes, at 90, he cannot keep quiet and pretend over these things. A lot of books have been written – what he did and what he failed to do to ensure that that war was avoided. He was accused of so many breaches of agreement, both Aburi Accord and the rest of it. If he had kept his own side of the Aburi Accord, I believe Nigeria wouldn’t have plunged into a civil war. So he needs to write a book and tell his story and apologise.”