Igbo Women to Gowon: Speak out on Aburi Accord

Gowon

A coalition of Igbo women under the Igbo Women Assembly (IWA) has urged former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon, retd, to tell the ‘’truth’’ about the Aburi Accord and the real cause of the Nigerian Civil War.It said telling the truth is essential for national healing and genuine reconciliation.

The Aburi Accord was a peace agreement reached in January 1967 between representatives of the Federal Military Government of Nigeria, led by General Gowon, and Eastern Region leaders, led by the late Lt. Col. Odumegwu Ojukwu, in Aburi, Ghana.

The meeting aimed to avert civil war by agreeing on a decentralised federal structure. However, Nigerian government was said to have later reneged on the terms of the agreement, a move widely seen as the immediate trigger of the Biafran War.

The women also maintained that there is nothing wrong with honouring the victims of the war, pushing back against misconceptions surrounding the annual Biafra Day commemoration.

Speaking in Umuahia after the May 30 sit-at-home declared by Biafra agitators to honour those who died during the conflict, the women said remembering fallen heroes is a global tradition that should not be criminalised.

National President of IWA, Nneka Chimezie, said Biafra Remembrance Day has become an integral part of Igbo history and must not be erased or repressed.

She said:”Those who died in that war were not goats. They were our beloved husbands, brothers, and sons. Remembering them is not rebellion. It is a duty.

“We thank everyone in the South East and beyond who joined in honouring them. It’s a mirage to think this memory can be wiped out. Biafra Day is not just about IPOB; it is about our collective memory and history, which even the unborn must be told.”She called on Federal Government to recognise Biafra Day as an important national memorial, rather than trying to suppress it or clamp down on those who observe it.