General Yakubu Gowon, Nigeria’s head of state during the Nigeria-Biafra War, has explained that his duty as head of state was basically to ensure that country did not break up.
Gowon said this in an interview on his 90th birthday which was published by Daily Trust.
He stated that every effort was made by his administration during the civil war to ensure the situation did not degenerate into a breakaway. “I had a duty to make sure that the breakup of the country did not happen.” he added that “We had to fight for two and a half years and made sure that there was no interference from outside.
“There was no question of allowing any nation or power to get involved in our crisis. If you remember, in the Congo, you had United Nations forces made up of Nigerian troops and others from other parts of Africa to deal with the problem.”