Why Gowon’s 3Rs programme failed – General IBM Haruna

hy do you think there is a renewed agitation for Biafra, especially considering what happened during the civil war?

The civil war did not occur in isolation. It was a chain reaction to what happened in the past. For instance, the January 1966 coup was believed to have been inspired by Igbo young officers who took advantage of the political situation in the country. They wanted to dominate the economic, political and cultural landscape. That was why Sardauna introduced the northernisation policy. He wanted to bring equity in the empowerment and governing environment, which was dominated by southerners.

No ethnic group, whether minority or majority will want to be dominated by another. Therefore, any signal

Wtimes?

Well, the agitation for Biafra started soon after the demise of Major-General Aguiyi Ironsi. So the name is not new. The only difference is that the old Biafra actually was intended to occupy the whole of southern region.

It was a scheme for getting the entire southern Nigeria to break away. The intention was to block the North from access to the sea. If that happened, the North would be starved of many things coming from the port, including fuel and imported items we rely upon. So that was the old Biafra. Because of that, when they were preparing to declare Biafra, southern minorities from the present day Cross River and Akwa Ibom led a delegation to the North to plead with General Hassan Usman Katsina, the then military governor of Northern Nigeria, to plead with the central government not to allow Biafran secession to succeed because, according to them, if it was allowed to succeed, they would remain forever as second class citizens in what would be known as Biafra.

The young men are not agitating for the five Igbo-speaking states to constitute Biafra, rather, they are thinking of the old Eastern Region, with the four minority states, together with five majority Igbo-speaking states. You don’t dismiss idea by a wave of hand. But the practical aspect of it is very difficult because all along there has not been love lost between the Igbo and their minority.

In fact, when Nigeria was to be granted independence and constitutional conference was held in 1957, the minorities in the East complained of oppression and marginalisation by the Igbo. They wanted their interest to be safeguarded in an independent Nigeria. It was agreed that a special arrangement would be made to protect their interest, and it was made with the creation of the Niger Delta that tends to give the impression that any particular region or ethnic group can hold Nigeria to ransom is not good. I think people should change the narrative of Nigeria’s history.

After the defeat of Biafra, did the Nigerian government ever envisage that there would be another attempt like the present agitation?

Well, history can repeat itself when people don’t learn lessons. I told you that we suffered the civil war because of what happened, which brought about the fear of domination and the desire for equal opportunity in the country.

Unless we stop pursuing an aggressive policy to dominate and be more equitable, history will continue to repeat itself because people don’t want to be oppressed or dominated.

How can this trend be addressed?

It can be addressed through the sincerity of the political leadership. This is because the political elite are always instigating their followers.

I believe the essence of political unity and development is to advance the course of humanity. For that reason, to advance the course of humanity, no particular group can successfully impose itself on another.

What is your assessment of the

Reconstruction, Reconciliation and Rehabilitation programme introduced by General Yakubu Gowon after the civil war?

The 3Rs, as the programme is called, succeeded until the political elite group upturned the development plan. This is what brought us to the heightened regime of corruption.