The Rising Sun Survival Group has strongly condemned former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon (rtd), over his recent comments on the 1967 Aburi Accord, accusing him of attempting to rewrite history and justify the genocide against Biafrans during Nigeria’s civil war.
In a statement issued on Sunday and signed by Chief Maxwell Dede and Rev. Fr. Augustine Odimmegwa, President and Secretary General of the global group respectively, the Rising Sun described Gowon’s claim that the Accord failed because General Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu insisted regional governors control the military as “laughable” and “a gross distortion of historical facts.”
The group asserted that the Aburi Accord, reached in Ghana on January 4–5, 1967, was a genuine effort to prevent war by decentralizing power and reaffirming regional autonomy. According to the statement, the Accord proposed a loose federation, joint control of the armed forces, and a consensus-driven approach to national governance—terms unanimously agreed to by military leaders present, including Gowon himself.
“Let us be clear,” the group stated, “General Yakubu Gowon, under whose command over 5 million Biafrans, including women and children, were killed, has no moral authority to speak on truth, unity, or federalism.”
They claimed Gowon’s repudiation of the Accord after returning to Lagos was not out of principle, but due to pressure from the British High Commission and Northern elites who feared losing control of the Nigerian state. The group accused Britain of backing Nigeria militarily and diplomatically to suppress the Biafran bid for autonomy in order to protect its oil and corporate interests.
Rising Sun maintained that the Nigerian Civil War, which raged from 1967 to 1970, could have been avoided had the Aburi Accord been faithfully implemented. They further argued that Ojukwu’s stance was rooted in federalist ideals, not secessionism.
“By admitting the dispute at Aburi centered on military control, not oil or secession, Gowon has inadvertently vindicated Ojukwu,” the group said, insisting that Biafra sought autonomy and safety—not war.
They further linked the “unitary system” established under Gowon’s rule to Nigeria’s current security and governance crises, including ethnic violence in the Middle Belt and other regions.
Rising Sun called on scholars, historians, and truth-seekers to revisit the original tapes and documents of the Aburi meeting to counter what it called deliberate historical revisionism.
“Gowon’s words are not just distortions of the past,” the statement concluded, “they are dangerous attempts to sanitize tyranny and justify genocide. The Rising Sun global family will resist all efforts to rewrite history. Ojukwu stood for justice; Gowon stood for deceit.”
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