Gowon: I don’t mind being called Abraham Lincoln of Nigeria

Yakubu Gowon, former military head of state, says he does not mind being called the “Abraham Lincoln of Nigeria” due to similarities in their civil war experiences.

The Nigerian civil war was between 1967 and 1970. Gowon was the head of state between August 1, 1966 and July 29, 1975.

The American civil war took place from April 1861 to April 1865 during the presidency of Lincoln.

In an interview with Daily Trust, Gowon reflected on Newsweek magazine’s comparison of him to the former American president, noting that his experience in the Nigerian civil war mirrored the dynamics of the American civil war.

The former head of state described the similarities as “very much alike” and “uncanny”.

“I remember this question of comparing me with Abraham Lincoln (at the end of the civil war) — I remember that during the time, somebody called Mr Martin Dent and gave me a book about the American civil war, but because of what was happening, I had no time to read it until towards the end,” he said.

“Honestly, if I had read that book before we prosecuted the Nigerian civil war, if anybody had said that I was trying to make myself look like Abraham Lincoln, I would have found it very difficult to say there was no comparison between us.

“The only difference was that at the end of it, I was able to continue with the reconciliation and getting the country through.

“So, sometimes I say to myself that I don’t mind being called the Abraham Lincoln of Nigeria because we had a similar situation and we were able to achieve the same result.

“I remember that one English journalist asked why I thought the war was over —what if the people continued with guerrilla warfare? But thank God there was no guerrilla.”

Gowon said the Nigerian civil war was inevitable due to the south-east’s desire to secede.

The former head of state asked south-east residents to embrace national unity, stating that “Biafra’s dissolution followed Nigerians’ acceptance of reintegration and unity”.

“I have always said that if there’s no secession, there wouldn’t be a break out and there wouldn’t be a question of civil war because it got to the stage that the situation was getting pretty clear that a part of the country, the South-east wanted to secede,” he added.