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| Adesina |
“Federal
Government was perfidious and duplicitous on Aburi. It is still the same way
today. That is why as Nigerians, we are most times disillusioned, dismayed,
dispirited, dejected and depressed. When will change come to this land? Our
hearts are getting weary.” – Femi Adesina.
In December 2009, I was at Aburi, while holidaying
in Ghana. We Nigerians call it A-b-u-r-i, but the Ghanaians pronounce it as
E-b-r-i. For those who have read widely about the civil war (Biafra/Nigeria
war) that we fought between 1967 and 1970, Aburi is a significant place. This
was what I wrote about Aburi, after returning from that journey:
“Aburi. Beautiful, serene Aburi, set daintily atop a
hill. It is home to a botanical garden that is 119 years old. But for us in
Nigeria, Aburi goes beyond just nature and its preservation. It is the town
where General Yakubu Gowon and Odumegwu Ojukwu met, to try and avert the
Nigerian Civil War (Biafra/Nigeria war) that lasted between 1967 and 1970. They
came out with Aburi Accord, which later broke down. And a shooting war started.
You could see the Presidential Lodge on a hill, where the Nigerian leaders had
parleyed at the behest of Ghanaian leaders. It all ended in futility.”
As one of the key parties to the Aburi Accord, Dim
Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, returns to mother earth today, it is also apposite
to return to Aburi, and look at the letter and the spirit of the accord once
again, an agreement that was violated by the Federal side, and which made a
bloody internecine war inevitable.
For most part of 1966, the northern part of Nigeria,
particularly, had been turned to killing fields. Non-natives, especially Igbos,
were killed in thousands. Many fled, many others were displaced. There was
complete anarchy in the land. The average Igbo looked up to Lt. Col Odumegwu
Ojukwu, military governor of the Eastern Region, to provide leadership and
direction. He did not fail. He picked the gauntlet and championed the cause of
his people.
By January 1967, the drums of war were loud and
clear, reverberating across the length and breadth of Nigeria. But there was a
last ditch effort to prevent what was imminent. There was a peace meeting
hosted at Aburi, in Ghana, by the then Ghanaian head of state, Gen J. A.
Ankrah. At the meeting were Gowon, Ojukwu, all the military governors of the
regions, and some top civil servants, both from the Federal side and the
Eastern region. The meeting held on January 4 and 5, 1967, and came out with
what is popularly known today as the Aburi Accord.
The agenda of the meeting consisted of three crucial
issues: (i) Reorganization of the Armed Forces (ii) Constitutional agreement
(iii) Issues of displaced persons within Nigeria.
The two-day meeting reached consensus that were
acceptable to both sides. Among others, it was resolved that legislative and
executive authority of the Federal Military Government was to remain in the
Supreme Military Council (SMC), to which any decision affecting the whole
country shall be referred for determination provided it is possible for a
meeting to be held, and the matter requiring determination must be referred to military
governors for their comment and concurrence. What does this mean in simple
language? The SMC would run the affairs of the country, but not without
consulting the regions as represented by the military governors. This was
something akin to federalism, even under a military government.
Other terms of the agreement include that
appointments to senior ranks in the police, diplomatic and consular services as
well as appointment to superscale posts in the federal civil service and the
equivalent posts in the statutory corporations must be approved by the SMC.
What does this mean again in simple language? Equity, fairness, true
federalism.
Other matters like the holding of an ad hoc
constitutional conference, fate of soldiers involved in the January 15, 1966
coup, rehabilitation of displaced persons, etc, were also amicably resolved,
and the conferees returned happily to Nigeria. Only for the Federal side to
deliver a blow to the solar plexus: the Aburi Accord, Gowon said, was
unworkable, and he reneged on all the agreements.
Using the Eastern Nigerian Broadcasting Service,
Ojukwu played the tape recording of the proceedings at Aburi repeatedly, to
educate the populace on who was playing Judas. Later, he made a broadcast in
which he said: “we in the East are anxious to see that our differences are
resolved by peaceful means and that Nigeria is preserved as a unit, but it is
doubtful, and the world must judge whether Lt. Col Gowon’s attitudes and other
exhibitions of his insincerity are something which can lead to a return of
normalcy and confidence in the country.
“I must warn all Easterners once again to remain
vigilant. The East will never be intimidated, nor will she acquiesce to any
form of dictation. It is not our intention to play the aggressor. Nonetheless,
it is not our intention to be slaughtered in our beds. We are ready to defend
our homeland.”
In a piece I did last December, shortly after Ojukwu
passed away, I said he was virtually pushed into war by the infidelity of the
Federal side to the Aburi Accord. I still stand by that position. Ojukwu was
called ‘warlord’ for many decades, but he was by no means a warmonger. He only
did what he needed to do for his people–and for the country.
As his earthly remains are interred today, it is
tragic that Nigeria is still submerged in the morass that Ojukwu already
identified about 45 years ago. Today, bombs go off like firecrackers in the
country. There is agitation for the review of the revenue allocation formula.
There are strident calls for the convocation of a sovereign national
conference. Even some component parts are threatening to pull out of the
federation if anything happened to their ‘son’ who is now in power. Didn’t
Ojukwu warn of these landmines ahead? Were all these issues not already settled
at Aburi? Foremost journalist and media administrator, Akogun Tola Adeniyi, in
a recent media interview, explained the Aburi Accord this way: “Let every
region be semi-autonomous and develop at its own level.” Yes, that was the
spirit and letter of Aburi, but which sadly became a road not taken. And is
that not why we are still suffering today, living in a rickety and decrepit
country that can burst at the seams any moment? I tell you, Ojukwu was a
prophet, and like most prophets, he had no honour in his own country. Pity. But
whether we like it or not, there’s no way we won’t return to Aburi.
Willy-nilly. I only hope it will be sooner than later, before Nigeria goes to
grief. On Aburi I stand.
Federal Government was perfidious and duplicitous on
Aburi. It is still the same way today. That is why as Nigerians, we are most
times disillusioned, dismayed, dispirited, dejected and depressed. When will
change come to this land? Our hearts are getting weary.
Last December, I wrote that Ojukwu should be buried
like a hero. I’m glad at the rites of passage so far, culminating in the
interment today. Yes, bury him like a true hero. An icon, an avatar, deserves
no less. This generation will surely not see another like Ojukwu. He fought not
only for his own people, but for a true federation founded on justice, fair
play, equity and rectitude. Unfortunately, he did not see the Nigeria of his
dreams. Will we? Adieu the Ikemba, the Eze Igbo Gburugburu. May your soul rest
in peace. Ka nkpur’obi gi zue ike n’adukwa.
(Femi Adesina is currently Muhammadu Buhari’s Media
Adviser; this article was written in during the burial of Chukwuemeka Odumegwu
Ojukwu, the first Head of State of Biafra).
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