Dan Ulasi Dismisses Gowon's Civil War Memoir as 'Convenient Amnesia'

A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dan Ulasi, has criticised former Head of State Gen. Yakubu Gowon's newly released memoir on the Nigerian Civil War, describing it as a collection of "convenient amnesia" and "half truths." Speaking on Arise Television's The Morning Show, Ulasi argued that the book failed to present an accurate account of the events leading to and during the 1967–1970 civil war.

Ulasi particularly faulted Gowon's account of the Aburi Accord, insisting that the former military leader agreed to the peace terms in Ghana but later abandoned them after returning to Nigeria. He suggested that Gowon either misunderstood the agreement or deliberately failed to honour its provisions, saying the memoir omitted key historical facts about the conflict.

The PDP stalwart also questioned the timing of the memoir's publication, noting that the late Biafran leader Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu had made several public comments about the civil war before his death without receiving a response from Gowon. According to Ulasi, publishing the memoir after Ojukwu's death made it impossible for the former Biafran leader to challenge Gowon's version of events.

In his memoir, Gowon defended the circumstances that led to his emergence as Nigeria's Head of State after the 1966 counter-coup, explaining why he believed Brigadier Babafemi Ogundipe could not assume leadership of the armed forces. He also maintained that Ojukwu rejected his authority despite efforts to build a working relationship before the civil war.