Yakubu Gowon is Adolph Hitler, by J. Ezike

One thing other nations can learn from the Biafran War was the overt conspiracy taking place between Britain and Nigeria which has continued beyond mere politics. In a recent article published on Daily Trust, Yakubu Gowon had compared himself to Abraham Lincoln of America. He had mildly justified the genocide of the Igbo people – a distraction from the objective truths. Gowon sounded defensive. And his narrative didn’t reveal any regret only pride.

Gowon takes after his political godfather – Harold Wilson, who was undoubtedly the Chief Officer behind Biafrans genocidal experience. The fact that Gowon had reneged on the agreement at Aburi no matter how grudgingly, remained the cause of Biafra’s breakaway which culminated in a genocidal war that had endured beyond the Pyrrhic Victory of 1970.

If asked, I would say that the war had never ended. The Igbo man had been cancelled, relegated and marginalized. In many parts of Northern Nigeria, the Igbo man could literally get lynched for merely speaking his language or identifying with his racial group or religion. There is everything in the background to predict such response. The collective hatred for the Igbo man has become the general consensus that bonds the rest of Nigeria.

In Western Nigeria, the trauma of house demolition and business hijacking seem romantic when spun through the loom of the Igbo man’s experience. You have to watch and observe carefully to recognize the subtle persecution of the Igbo race and the unspoken codes that had alienated them – an envy towards the distinction of a people who had demonstrated the capacity to excel in all facet of life.

Even in the dubious claim that Gowon offered in his speech, there were many things I didn’t understand. But I strongly ask for the explanation that might resolve the meaning of “puppet” or “stooge”. For everything in Gowon’s legacy and life path occupied the same terrain of a puppet or stooge. 

Gowon looked nothing like Abraham Lincoln. For the circumstances that led to the American Civil War differed from the Biafran War. While the Biafrans wanted to preserve their race from extinction and thus chose to apply the principle of self-determination, the Southern States in America wanted to abolish federal laws that didn’t support them to keep slaves.

In fact, history revealed that the three main causes of the American Civil War were: Slavery, States vs Federal rights and the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860. Emeka Ojukwu would be the best representation of Abraham Lincoln. He stood against the persecution of his people and the relegation of their status to slaves. And he had proposed a “Confederation” at Aburi which was refused, rejected and aborted by Yakubu Gowon. Confederation would have united the union and prevented the war. It is for the objective truths that I say that Yakubu Gowon in this context can only be likened to Adolph Hitler of Germany. Gowon can only be remembered in history as the British puppet or stooge who officiated the large scale genocide of the Igbo people – the Jews of Africa!