The ghost of the Biafran rebellion of 1966-1970 (note 1966, not 1967) was recently resurrected by Chinua Achebe, in a war memoir provocatively titled “There Was A Country”. Whether that controversial title is an attempt to ascribe post-mortem “state-status” to the failed dream of a sovereign Biafra, or a present-day denial of the collapse – 42 years ago – of that misadventure by a present-day octogenarian, or simply a continuation of the revisionism by pro-Biafra sympathizers keen on re-writing a version of the war history favourable to their dream, remains open to debate.
I happen to belong to a generation that was born around the war period, which places me in my mid-40s today. Now in a county with a life expectancy of 45 years, one should feel lucky to still be alive to witness elders, at least twice one’s age commenting on events that correspond in occurrence to the time of one’s birth. But that sense of gratitude is violently affronted when the comments of one such elder and a venerated scholar, Chinua Achebe, distort historical facts. His reckless allegation of “genocide” against General Yakubu Gowon, who ruled Nigeria at the war period, is not only a gross fabrication but tantamount to biting the very fingers that fed the Igbos at a difficult and trying moment of brutal conflict, when a less sympathetic and more vengeful character would have acted with severe and drastic ruthlessness.
As soon as Achebe’s account went viral on the social media, I became tempted to revisit the entire catalogue of the false assertions in the book that I deemed untrue, and to bring historical evidence to bear in their refutation. But for reasons of time and space, I have chosen simply to enumerate some of the policies implemented by Gen Gowon, both in the course of the Biafran rebellion and its aftermath in order to facilitate the re-integration and rehabilitation of our Igbo brothers and sisters into a federal Nigeria, rather than pursue a pointless contestation with Achebe. I consider such approach more beneficial to our younger generation for whom the Biafran rebellion is only a distant history, just as the second world war appeared to my own generation.
The first thing to note about Gowon’s attitude to the Biafran rebellion was that the refused to view the conflict as a war with a foreign foe. Accordingly, he declared a “police action” rather than a war against the secessionists. And this came only after seven different attempts by the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) at peaceful resolution of the conflict, in addition to the “Aburi” meeting and subsequent fateful declaration of secession by Ojukwu. Moreover, in the course of the armed confrontation itself, General Gowon directed the issuance of a code of conduct for all federal troops which required the rebel forces to be treated “fairly and decently” as well as the strict observance of the Geneva convention in the course of operations by federal troops.
Specifically, the code of conduct required that under no circumstances should pregnant women be ill-treated or killed. Children must not be molested or killed; they should be protected and cared for. Hospitals, Hospital staff and patients should not be molested. Biafran soldiers who surrender will not be killed, but disarmed and treated as prisoners of war and were entitled in all circumstances to humane treatment and respect for their person and honour. No property, building, etc was to be destroyed maliciously and no looting of any kind was permitted. Women were to be protected against attack on their person and honour, and in particular against rape or indecent assault. Wounded soldiers and civilian were to be protected and given medical care, etc.
After the cessation of hostilities, General Gowon declared general amnesty to all Biafran troops which exonerated them from prosecution for treason and other war crimes and offences (no victor, no vanquished). Many soldiers who fought on the Biafran side were reabsorbed into the federal armed forces after the war.
General Gowon’s compassion, mercy and kindness were not limited to fighting soldiers alone. He undertook the resettlement of displaced persons and rebuilding physical facilities in the East. Ex-Biafran civil servants who were in the public service at the regional level were permitted to report to their new states for reabsorbtion, while those at the federal level were also eligible for reabsorbtion into the federal service if they so desired. Each returning civil servant in the East received salary advance as “mercy pay” along with three weeks leave to enable them settle down after the war. Gowon also appointed for the first time and without precedent two Igbo civilians, Ukpabi Asika and J.O.J. Okezie, to represent the East Central State in the Supreme Military Council, which was the highest policy organ in the Country.
Gowon also established a National Rehabilitation Commission under M. Timothy Omo-Bare and saddled it with the task of collection and distribution of drugs and other humanitarian gifts from foreign governments and international NGOs, a responsibility later transferred to the Federal Ministry of Economic Development and Reconstruction to expedite the flow of relief materials to war affected areas. Moreover, Gowon ensured that sips carrying relief materials were granted advance clearance at Nigerian ports and accorded duty-free entry by Customs. Foreign relief workers were automatically granted visas at Nigeria Embassies abroad upon clearance with the Director of Relief Operations.
As part of the reconstruction and rehabilitation in the war affected areas, Gowon restored telephone link between Lagos and the East Central State within three months after the surrender of Biafra. The Onitsha Bridge which was the major link between the east and the west was reconstructed also within three months of the cessation of hostilities. Within a single year of ending the war, most manufacturing industries were reactivated in the east, and the cement factories in Calabar and Nkalagu were re-commissioned into production. To revamp agricultural production in the war affected areas in the East, Gowon also set up the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) to support agriculture and provide loans to farmers although many of the loan recipients in the east “diverted them to other areas of business instead of agriculture” (Ojeleye 2010, p89).
Yet 42 years after the war, revisionists afflicted with the peculiar Nigerian ailment of selective amnesia, are now re-branding the same architect of our modern Nigeria, General Gowon, as a genocidal tyrant. But what did neutral foreign observers have to say on Gowon’s reconciliation efforts? Harold Wilson the British Prime Minister characterized it as “magnanimity in victory”. The Danish Ambassador to Nigeria, Trocis Munk, commented that “where yesterday we saw recriminations, distrust and destructions, we find today reconciliation, compassion and reconstruction”.
With the benefit of hindsight, it became evident that the Biafran leadership were the very architects of Biafran destruction, who set out to mislead innocent Igbo men and women into unnecessary rebellion in gratification of their selfish motives of personal aggrandizement.
•Poloma writes from School of Post-Graduate Studies, University of Limerick, Ireland.
