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General Yakubu Gowon’s address to Nigerians on October 1, 1967

By Editor
01 October 2015   |   3:31 am
“Fellow Nigerians, I wish to call upon all on this
seventh anniversary of our independent existence as a
nation to rededicate yourselves to the task of
building a strong
Gowon

Gowon

“Fellow Nigerians, I wish to call upon all on this
seventh anniversary of our independent existence as a
nation to rededicate yourselves to the task of
building a strong, united and prosperous Nigeria: a
Nigeria in which every citizen regardless of his or
her religious belief, or ethnic origin will have equal
opportunity with his fellow Nigerians.

“As you all know this seventh anniversary is not an
occasion for festive celebrations.

“The Armed Forces of our country have been waging a
disciplined but hard campaign to put down a rebellion
in the East Central state of Nigeria; a rebellion
conceived, nurtured and executed by Emeka Ojukwu and
his collaborators after the failure of their mad bid
to subjugate and dominate all Nigeria in the exclusive
interest of their ethnic group.

“Neither the Federal Military Government nor the
people of Nigeria wanted this war.

Conference

“Every avenue of peace was fully explored, beginning
with the ad hoc constitutional conference of August
1966 and terminating with the last minute peace move
by a number of eminent and representative Nigerians
who, in their patriotic anxiety to find a peaceful
solution to the crisis, sent a peace mission to Ojukwu
in Enugu.

“You all will recall how Ojukwu sought the failure of
the ad hoc conferences on the constitution first, by
using his agents to terrorize the delegates by bomb
explosions, and then by boycotting the conference
totally.

“From then on the rebels in Enugu were determined to
turn their backs on the country and to escalate the
crisis by every means at their disposal to a level
which should rule out a peaceful settlement.

“The Government-sponsored Radio Enugu and all the
newspapers in the East were organised to whip up the
emotions of the people, rumours were spread of
impending attacks on Lagos and on several important
installations elsewhere in the federation.

“These rumours were subsequently confirmed by the bomb
explosions which destroyed the Ore bridge, a wing of
the Federal Palace Hotel and Government residential
quarters in Ikoyi.

“The effect of this campaign of hate and terror was to
build up tension not only in the Eastern states but in
many other parts of the country.

“It was in this charged atmosphere that the well
founded story was released about the massacre of a
large number of men and women and children of Northern
origin resident in the East.

“This touched off violent reactions in the North in
September and early October 1966 such as Nigeria has
never witnessed before. I strongly condemned this
incident and all right-thinking Nigerians deplored it.

“Then, as now, the Government was willing to explore
ways in which the survivors of this episode could be
cared for and rehabilitated, but Ojukwu and his clique
were determined to make that incident the occasion for
putting into effect their pre-meditated plan for the
complete break up of Nigeria, after their failure to
dominate Nigeria.

“Even so, the Federal Military Government did not give
up its peace efforts as well as its determination for
conciliation to the Ibos.

“It was as a result of this search for a peaceful
settlement that the Aburi meeting was held.

 Enthusiasm

“It is now a matter of history that the Federal
Military Government conceded to Ojukwu everything he
asked for at Aburi except one thing, and that was to
agree to a break up of the federation. This, I could
not and will never agree to. I am happy that my firm
stand on this fundamental question has now been
vindicated by the enthusiasm with which Nigerians
everywhere have committed themselves to the continued
existence of Nigeria as one country.

“The whole of Africa at the recent OAU conference has
also vindicated our stand in their clear commitment to
the territorial integrity and unity of Nigeria and
their condemnation of secession.

“If Ojukwu had sincerely wanted a peaceful settlement
of this crisis he might have used the Aburi decisions
as a way out of the deadlock. Instead, he proceeded to
seize Federal establishments in the former Eastern
Region and, by an edict of April 16, 1967, he took
over all Federal statutory bodies and assets located
in the Eastern States.

“Ibo employees in the Western states and in Lagos were
stampeded into returning home while Ojukwu intensified
his illegal purchase of arms. When the clouds of war
were thickening fast, a number of eminent Nigerians
decided to form a national reconciliation committee.

Condition

“The committee met me in Lagos and also visited Enugu
from where they brought back certain conditions which
if fulfilled by both sides, could have arrested the
drift to an armed conflict.

“The main element was that the Federal Government
should lift the economic sanctions imposed on the East
and that the East in turn should end its flagrant
defiance of Federal Government Authority.

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