Gowon: Some Commanders Did Unlawful Things In My Name
- Africcon News
Africcon Report: Gowon: Some Commanders Did Unlawful Things In My Name
Africcon New Media – News
Covered By Africcon Media – Gowon: Some Commanders Did Unlawful Things In My Name
From Africcon News Media
Echoes of the nation’s civil war reverberated in Lagos, as former head of state General Yakubu Gowon lamented that some of his commanders used his name to carry out unauthorised actions against their subordinates.
This is coming just as a former chief of army staff, Lt-General Theophilus Yakubu Danjuma, absolved the Nigerian Army top hierarchy from any form of witch-hunt against young officers, saying discipline and promotions in the force went through proper procedure under him.
They both spoke on Thursday at the launch and presentation of a book written by a former chief of staff in the Third Division of the Army (Third Marine Commando) during the civil war, Brigadier-General Godwin Alabi Isima.
The occasion provided a kind of re-union for old comrades in the military who fought during the war. They include former chief of general staff Vice Admiral Ebitu Ukiwe, former military governors such as Brigadier-General Oladayo Popoola (Oyo), Brigadier-General Raji Rasaki (Lagos), and Brigadier-General Theophilus Bamigboye (Kwara).
Speaking as the chairman of the occasion where the book, The Tragedy of Victory: On-the-Spot Account of the Nigerian-Biafran War on the Atlantic Theatre, Gowon stated that some officers were indeed punished by their superiors whom he accused of dropping his name.
Making a specific reference, Gowon, who was represented by Nigeria’s former high commissioner to the United Kingdom, Ambassador Moses Ihonde, stated that the author suffered unlawful detention in the hands some unnamed officers just as some other field commanders disobeyed lawful orders in the course of prosecuting the war efforts.
“As the head of state and commander-in-chief then and up to today, I have no recollection of asking that Alabi Isama be recalled from the war front to see me in Lagos. Even today, I still do not have any recollection of having given such order. It is not in my character and leadership style to destroy officers and men but rather to reform them for ultimately greater service to the nation,” the former leader said.
While thanking providence for sparing the life of Alabi Isama, who would have died in the abortive attempt to capture Onitsha, Gowon added: “This book therefore has thrown into relief the fact that, unknown to the commander-in-chief, some of his aides did use his name to do things he had not authorised. This fact could only have explained Alabi Isama’s incarceration in Kirikiri Maximum Prisons without my knowledge.”
For his part, Danjuma absolved the top hierarchy of witch-hunting officers and men in exercising its prerogative to discipline errant personnel, saying he ensured that those accused of any form of misdemeanor were fairly treated using the laid-down procedures and processes.
“I don’t usually comment on events that I know nothing of, but I had to look for aspects where my name was mentioned in the book. I tried to read what Alabi said about me in the book… and the long and short of what he wrote in the book is that I and Obasanjo conspired to throw him out of the Army.
“I was very surprised about this. There was no conspiracy; we followed due process in handling your case, and, fortunately for me, I have tons of papers and documents and recordings of all the disciplinary cases that were handled under me while I was the chief of army staff,” Danjuma stated.
The former army chief who stated that he and the author were enlisted in the army on the same date however praised him for putting up the book which he recommended to those who feel obliged to know how the division achieved victory for the country during the war.
“Part of the book, to me, looks rather juvenile and childish; to me, the contents arose out of bitterness over how you were thrown out of the army and you said you resigned from the army; commissioned officer cannot resign; you can be allowed to go but you can’t wake up in the morning to say you have resigned,” he stated.
He said a combination of personnel improvement and equipment swayed victory in favour of the army during the war which he declared was won by the federal side in spite of the fact that the official position was that there was no victor, no vanquished.
“When we were at the outskirts of Enugu trying to take Enugu, we decided to silence Radio Biafra by shelling the station with artillery pieces. That evening, Major General Madiebo was on air and he said the Nigerian Army, the artillery corps that he left behind, did not have the capacity for accurate artillery shelling.
To us, this was a very high commendation; it was a value commendation. They usually say that there are no victor or vanquished during the war but I dare say that we won the war,” he said.
Alabi Isama stated that he wrote the book partly to correct what he termed factual errors in an earlier one written by his former commander, the then Colonel Olusegun Obasanjo, whom he accused of arrogating most of the victory recorded at the warfront to himself.
(General) Obasanjo wrote a book entitled My Command in which he arrogated so much to himself as the only person who won the war. He failed to give credit to the other officers who were actual field soldiers.
“For instance, it was (then Lt-Colonel) Alani Akinrinade who actually accepted the surrender from the Biafran officers. Obasanjo failed to give him credit; rather he glorified how he had to escort the Biafran officers to Lagos without any mention of the name of Akinrinade,” he said.
While urging Nigerians to ensure that they avoid things that would lead to another civil war in future, he stated that the country was divinely created for a purpose, which he prayed would be achieved one day.
“In Nigeria today, we celebrate thieves and vagabonds as role models. I am afraid that the reasons why the country went to war is still with us and we must guide against a recurrence,” he stated.
