A former Head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon has dismissed the resurgence of Pro-Biafra in eastern Nigeria as posing no threat to the sovereignty of the country.
For Gowon, Nigerians have put the memories of the 1967 civil war behind them and will not succumb to divisive tendencies of a few elements in the East.
He said that those fanning the embers of the aborted secession were only seeking to reintroduce what had long been forgotten.
Thousands of members and supporters of had on Tuesday embarked on a
Gowon, who was speaking in obvious reaction to the Tuesday protest in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, by members and supporters of the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra seeking the creation of the nation of Biafra.
He spoke with Channels TV on Friday during his visit to Nassarawa State in Lafia.
Gowon said, “There is no threat. If there’s any problem like that, just as Boko Haram, Nigeria should deal with it in a mature way. I even wish I could meet some of those young people as a soldier too. What I saw was what the late Ojukwu saw too. So, it’s not a question of hatred against any tribe but it is about seeking the unity of Nigeria.
“I hope and pray to God that it is only those few that are there and the majority of the Igbo are not with them in that group. Yes, it is a democracy and they can say their views, but let them remember that, with Biafra, it is finished.
“What I saw was true and that’s what my old colleague, Ojukwu saw. It is not because of hatred and that is the reason at the end of the war, in order to make sure there was no hard feelings, that’s why we used the expression: ‘No Victor, no vanquished.”
