Former Nigerian military President, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (rtd.), has attributed the secession of the Eastern Region in 1967 to General Yakubu Gowon’s failure to protect the lives and properties of the Igbo people in northern Nigeria.

In his newly launched memoir, A Journey in Service, Babangida asserts that the inability of the Gowon-led government to curb the massacre of Igbos in the North following the 1966 coup left the then-Military Governor of the Eastern Region, Colonel Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, with no choice but to declare Biafra’s independence in May 1967.

This declaration triggered the Nigerian Civil War, which lasted until 1970 and resulted in the deaths of millions.

The book, released on February 20, 2025, at an event in Abuja’s Transcorp Hilton, attracted prominent figures, including President Bola Tinubu, former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo, Goodluck Jonathan, and Yakubu Gowon himself. And Former Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo delivered the keynote address.

Babangida’s remarks mark a significant historical acknowledgment from a senior northern military officer, as they highlight the role of the 1966 pogroms in deepening ethnic tensions and fueling Ojukwu’s decision to break away.

Beyond the civil war, A Journey in Service also revisits other defining moments in Nigeria’s history, including the controversial annulment of the June 12, 1993, presidential election.