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FIRST CALL: AN ACCOUNT OF THE GOWON YEARS
I was posted to State House in late 1971 as press secretary to the Head of State, Major-General Yakubu Gowon, but I actually started serving in that capacity the following February. At the time, I was full of excitement and expectation.
I had closely followed the politics of the US and had read press secretary Pierre Salinger’s book, With Kennedy, and observed how he had contributed to an understanding of some of the events of that administration.
With my posting, I resolved in my mind that I would try to do what Salinger had done - and even try to improve on it. The first thing was to search for write-ups by my predecessors but soon discovered that there were none. In view of the fact that I intended to write about my experiences at the end of my tenure, I started keeping notes from day one. Regrettably, the government that I was privileged to serve was brought to an abrupt end and, because the new government was hostile to the one it had overthrown, wisdom dictated that I be cautious in writing anything, especially since a truthful assessment would, in part, fault the new government that was itself authoritarian.
Following Gowon’s overthrow, the new government asked me return to my desk but because I believed that doing so would harm my credibility and even that of the new government, I declined, saying that I would prefer to return to the Foreign Service, to which I had been transferred from the Ministry of Information. I had also made up my mind that, if my request to be reassigned in any way embarrassed the new government, then I would offer my resignation.
After he had consulted with the new Head of State, General Murtala Mohammed, Brigadier Olusegun Obasanjo, who was then Chief of Staff, Supreme Headquarters, graciously allowed me to bow out and return to the Foreign Service. To his request that I advise on a replacement, I recommended Saka Aleshinloye, the veteran journalist with a great interest in the job, on condition that two graduate assistants be assigned to support him. Aleshinloye was later announced as my successor.
The policy of the new government did not create an atmosphere in which people like me could write about their time in office without fear of reprisal. My conviction ab initio was to be as truthful as possible in my account and, under such a determination, I felt that it would be impolitic of me to state all I knew, which would merely draw the ire of the new government. I, therefore, heeded advice to stay publication until the time was ripe. This was also informed by the fact that, at some point in gathering information on some aspects of my proposed write-up, my hotel room was burgled. The burglars stole some tapes of recorded interview but left some money that was lying around.
Time, I believe, has assuaged the anger, hurt, and disappointment caused by the treachery of otherwise trusted friends and aides. For the nation to learn from the experiences of the past, the accounts must be truthfully told. Many of the biographies covering this period have tended towards hero-worshipping and praise singing. Under those circumstances, truth is invariably sacrificed.
All that I have written has been dictated by my desire to enable the reading public to get a glimpse of the truth as I saw it. If anyone preferred to feels hurt, it is because the truth hurts. No harm is intended. I can write this way because General Gowon himself preferred being told the truth at all times and, from my experience of him, was not known to castigate anyone for so doing.
I had to exclude the chapter on the Civil War because it would have made the book too voluminous. It is intended that such an account will stand on its own.
The natural follow-up to this volume, however, will be an effort at detailing the policies adumbrated during the Gowon years. Prayerfully, I plan to work on it soon.
Finally, let me state that the account recorded in this book is not exhaustive. Indeed, it is impossible for such to be produced. The one person who may be able to supply a more factual account of the life and times of General Yakubu Gowon is the man himself.
Moses O. Ihonde,
Lagos, October 2004.
Soft Cover $15 (N1,500), Hard Cover $25 (N2,500)
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