Veteran journalist and political aide, Chuks Iloegbunam, has dismissed claims in Yakubu Gowon’s biography that the former Head of State was responsible for crushing the coup against General Aguiyi Ironsi. In an interview with Edmund Obilo on Splash FM, he insisted that such accounts were false and misleading.
Iloegbunam recalled his experience with Gowon when the former leader visited Anambra State during Peter Obi’s tenure as governor, where he personally received and hosted him.
He explained that while Gowon enjoyed longevity and recognition, he had failed to clarify several historical issues. According to him, the biography by Elaigwu, which painted Gowon as the one who ended the coup, was inaccurate, and he felt compelled to counter it in his own writings.
In his words, “When I was chief of staff to Governor Peter Obi, Gowon visited, he was moving around with his Nigeria praise. I was the person who received him. I was the person who put him in the hotel where he stayed.”
“I was with him while he ate, we were chatting and everything. He encouraged me, said he was chief of staff at a much younger age than myself. He said, it’s not easy, I should do my best. I thanked him and everything.”
“But there are many things about our society that he should have cleared the air about but has desisted from doing so. That is why he deserves to… It’s good that God gave him longevity. The man is nearly 90 years.”
“He has to come clean on all these matters and tell them what happened. The Gowon biography written by Elaigwu, I read it, I quoted it in this book. He talked about Gowon’s biography of his whole life, his nine years in power and everything.”
“But the ones that are pertinent to Ironsi, where he said that Gowon was the person who crushed the coup, that’s a lie. It’s not true. And I had to counter him there.”
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