"Pro-Biafra resurgence is not a threat to Nigeria"- Gowon

A former Head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon (retd.) has said the resurgence of a group claiming to be Pro-Biafra will not in any way pose a threat to the sovereignty of the country. He added that Nigerians had put the memories of the 1967 civil war behind them, saying the recent activities of the group did not pose a threat to the country as they were only seeking to reintroduce what had long been forgotten. Thousands of members and supporters of the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra had on Tuesday embarked on a protest in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, demanding to break away from Nigeria. And in a swift reaction, governors in the South East and other leaders in the zone had dissociated themselves from the protests, saying they were not in support of the group.

Speaking with Channels TV on Friday during his visit to Nassarawa State, Gowon said he was sure that majority of the Igbo were not part of the group and its agitations. He explained that it was in the interest of peace and to avoid hard feelings that the phrase, “No victor, no vanquished” was adopted after the war. He said, “There is no threat. If there’s any problem like that, just as Boko Haram, Nigeria should deal with it in a mature way. I even wish I could meet some of those young people as a soldier too. What I saw was what the late Ojukwu saw too. So, it’s not a question of hatred against any tribe but it is about seeking the unity of Nigeria. 

“I hope and pray to God that it is only those few that are there and the majority of the Igbo are not with them in that group. Yes, it is a democracy and they can say their views, but let them remember that, with Biafra, it is finished. “What I saw was true and that’s what my old colleague, Ojukwu saw. It is not because of hatred and that is the reason at the end of the war, in order to make sure there was no hard feelings, that’s why we used the expression: ‘No Victor, no vanquished.”