US-Based Group Accuses Gowon of Twisting Aburi Accord Facts, Blames Him for Nigerian Civil War Bloodshed

A US-based advocacy group, the Nigerian-American Coalition for Justice and Democracy (NACJD), has stirred national attention by accusing former Nigerian Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon (rtd), of misrepresenting the events surrounding the Aburi Accord. The group asserts that Gowon’s failure to honor the agreements reached at Aburi in Ghana in 1967 directly contributed to the outbreak and escalation of the Nigerian Civil War. The Aburi Accord was a crucial meeting held between representatives of the federal government and the Eastern Region, led by then Military Governor, Lt. Colonel Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu. The meeting was intended to resolve tensions following the July 1966 counter-coup and prevent the country from sliding into war. Agreements were reached to devolve more power to the regions and to restructure the military command. However, according to the NACJD, General Gowon reneged on the terms of the Aburi Accord shortly after returning to Nigeria, opting instead for a ce...