According to a report published by Arise News on June 18, 2025, former Nigerian Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon, has explained that the collapse of the 1967 Aburi Accord — the last major attempt to prevent Nigeria’s civil war — was partly due to Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu’s insistence that regional governors should control military zones.

Gowon, in an exclusive interview with Arise News, revealed that the disagreement over who would control military forces in the regions was one of the most serious stumbling blocks during the peace talks held in Aburi, Ghana.

“Although we said that the military would be zoned, you know, but the control… he wanted, you know, those zones to be commanded by the governor,” Gowon said. “Say you have a military zone in the north, it would be commanded by the governor in the North, but of the military in the east, it would be commanded by, you know, by him. And, of course, we did not agree with that one.”

He emphasized that the federal delegation went to Aburi in good faith, believing it was an opportunity to find a peaceful resolution. However, Ojukwu’s push for regional military control created serious tension. Gowon stated that the federal side never saw the meeting as a platform for restructuring or giving up central authority.

He also shared that after returning to Nigeria, he fell seriously ill and couldn’t immediately address the terms Ojukwu announced publicly, which caused further confusion. “Unfortunately… I was having serious attack of kind of fever or whatever it is, and I could not make a decision,” he said.

To resolve the issues, Gowon said the federal government convened a follow-up meeting in Benin and invited all regional governors, but Ojukwu refused to attend.

Though the government remained open to discussions, Gowon stressed that they could never agree to secession or hand over national military control. The failure of the Aburi Accord is widely seen as the final missed opportunity before the Nigerian Civil War broke out in July 1967.

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Credit: @Chisom