United States working against the corporate existence of Nigeria - Yakubu Gowon

United States working against the corporate existence of Nigeria - Yakubu Gowon

The former Nigerian military dictator and war criminal,  Yakubu Gowon, has accused the United States of working against the corporate existence of Nigeria. Gowon, in an interview with SUNDAY PUNCH, took a swipe at the U.S government for not selling military hardware to Nigeria to fight Boko Haram, stating that if the U.S was truly a diplomatic friend to Nigeria, it should do everything possible to protect the corporate existence of Nigeria.


Gowon recalled that the United States denied his murderous regime access to important military hardware he had requested to crush Biafra.

“The same thing happened during the Civil War. The Americas refused to sell arms to us. I wanted them to help me with some modest aircraft so that I could chase out Ojukwu’s (Col. Odumegwu Ojukwu) B52 or B56 as they called it. That was all I wanted; not to shoot it down but to chase it away so that it does not drop bombs and kill innocent people.

“But the Americans refused to help us and they even refused to sell arms and ammunition and the spare parts of the equipment that we got from them. And at the same time, they (America) were shipping aircraft and loads of arms and ammunition to Zaire. What sort of friends are they?

“You call them your friends and they say that they are helping us to fight terror. We don’t want their people (Americans) to come and fight the war (against Boko Haram) for us but, at least, we need the equipment.

“During my time (as Head of State), I had to go to the Russians to get the equipment we wanted in order to prosecute that war. If they cannot help us, they should allow us to go elsewhere and get what we want to ensure that we deal with this particular problem.”

The Biafran recalls that the Nigerian forces under the command of Gowon committed many atrocious war crimes leading to the death of over 3million Biafrans - mostly civilians, including children and women. While Gowon is claiming today that he requested for the U.S. fighters to chase away Biafran B52, facts abound that when Gowon laid his hands on Russian MIG fighters, he used them to bomb innocent civilians in markets, hospitals and schools. Gowon has continued to escape justice because the British Government has continued to shield him from prosecution.

The US had on November 12, 2014, defended its refusal to sell cobra helicopters to Nigeria, saying the Federal Government was free to buy fighter jets from any other country.

The State Department’s spokeswoman, Jen Psaki, stated that the US refused to sell the helicopters to Nigeria due to concerns about the ability of the military to use and maintain them.

The cobra is a combat aircraft with the ability to climb at the rate of 8.2metres per second. It is equipped with a 20 mm M197 3-barrelled Gatling cannon in the A/A49E-7 turret (750 rounds ammo capacity).

Psaki said there were ongoing concerns about Nigerian military’s protection of civilians when conducting military operations, adding that these had been discussed with the Nigerian authorities. “Nigeria has purchased helicopters that originated in countries other than the US and nothing in our decision prevents Nigeria from obtaining weapons and equipment from other sources,”

Psaki had reacted to the allegation by the Nigerian Ambassador to the US, Prof. Adebowale Adefuye, that Washington declined to sell arms to Nigeria.

Adefuye had told members of the Council on Foreign Relations on November 10 that Washington was not doing enough to assist Nigeria in combating the Boko Haram insurgency in North-East geopolitical zone of the country.

He said, “The U.S. government has up till today refused to grant Nigeria’s request to purchase lethal equipment that would have brought down the terrorists within a short time on the basis of the allegations that Nigeria’s defence forces have been violating human rights of Boko Haram suspects when captured or arrested.

“We find it difficult to understand how and why, in spite of the U.S. presence in Nigeria, with their sophisticated military technology, Boko Haram should be expanding and becoming more deadly.”

It is saddening and a demonstration of stupidity that in 1967 Nigerian requested for military hardware and 47years later Nigeria is still requesting for aircraft from the the United States. Yet the likes of Gowon believe Nigeria is making progress. Gowon destroyed Biafran indigenous technology that sustained the war and killed off the scientist he could lay his hands on. That is how the brains of Nigerian leaders work. Had the Biafran technology been nurtured, Nigeria would probably be selling military hardware to other countries. The idea to subdue Biafra has backfired right on their face!