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INSIDE AFRICA
W.I.C. on Gowon's Apology to Igbos by J.O.S. Okeke We have read of the apology purportedly tendered by the former Head of State of Nigeria, General Yakubu Gowon, to Ndigbo for the brutality that characterized the Biafran War. While we recognize the attempt to atone for the barbarity of the war, we, in the World Igbo Congress, totally reject his apology as tendered at this time. If, as the stated objective was to keep Nigeria as one, that objective was attained at the "surrender" of Biafra with the declaration of "no victor, no vanquished". There was no need for the subsequent activities that followed that declaration: 1. There was no need for the complete destruction of the rudimentary, industrial, and engineering effort of Biafra, such as Ogbunigwe, Biafran Refinery, Uli Airport, etc. 2. Reducing every Biafran to 20 naira allowance, a scheme hashed by the then finance minister, the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, had nothing to do with keeping Igbos in Nigeria or keeping Nigeria one, but calculated to punish and to enslave them. 3. When Chief Anthony Enahoro, as the then foreign minister, said on BBC television that the policy of Nigerian government was to confine the Igbos in their enclave and to "prevent them from coming out to the rest of Nigeria in such large numbers", the General did not repudiate or disassociate himself and his government from that policy. 4. If the General is really serious about his apology he should have chosen a better location, such as Enugu, the spiritual capital of Ndigbo or before his erstwhile adversary, Chief Odumegwu Ojukwu, to make his apology. 5. We recognize that the General is now no longer a government official and does not hold any government post, nevertheless, if he is serious about his apology, he should have accompanied that by showing a sign of restoration, such as donating a considerable sum of money to help to rehabilitate the wounded Biafrans who have now no source of income, and who rely on begging along the expressway and in the cities of Alaigbo. 6. General Gowon could use his good office to help trace and account for thousands of Biafran Kwashiokor babies who were flown out to Sao Tome, Gabon and Ivory Coast during the dying days of the civil war. These are our children. Can we forget them? There are many ways the General, who is not in financial distress, could show both to himself and to the world that he is seriously sorry for what he did and that he has genuinely repented. As Christians, and as Igbos, we will accept the repentance of a sinner when it is genuine and serious because this is part of our faith. Otherwise talk is cheap. Until then General Gowon can go on and talk to the yam fields in Abakaliki, and when he is tired and wants the world to take him seriously, he will know how to tender an acceptable apology.
J.O.S. Okeke Back to: Inside Africa Index |