Gowon should apologise to Igbo over ‘Palm Tree’ war comment – Onoh

By Dennis Agbo

Former member of the Enugu State House of Assembly and ex-South-East spokesman for President Bola Tinubu, Denge Onoh, has criticised former Head of State, Yakubu Gowon, over his recent comments on civilian casualties during the Nigerian Civil War, describing the remarks as a dangerous minimisation of the human tragedy of the conflict.

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In a statement yesterday, Onoh faulted Gowon’s remarks during an interview on Arise Television in which the former military ruler said that after visiting former Biafran territories following the war, he noticed black spots on palm trees and was informed they were bullet marks.

Gowon had reportedly concluded from the observation that “most of the bullets fired by the Nigerian army hit palm trees, not people.”

Reacting, Onoh said the claim contradicted historical accounts, eyewitness testimonies and international reports on the civil war, insisting that the comments failed to reflect the true scale of suffering experienced during the conflict.

According to him, the war, fought between 1967 and 1970, claimed an estimated three million lives, most of them through starvation and disease linked to the federal blockade, in addition to civilian casualties caused by combat operations, bombings and reprisals.

“Reducing these horrors to bullets harmlessly striking palm trees does not withstand basic scrutiny,” Onoh said.

“It ignores the well-documented humanitarian crisis, including widespread kwashiorkor among children, mass displacement and the devastating human cost of prolonged fighting across the South-East.”

Onoh also questioned the credibility of Gowon’s autobiography, My Life of Duty and Allegiance, arguing that the publication appeared to sustain what he described as a defensive narrative of the war.

He said Gowon’s portrayal of the conflict as a reluctant “police action” aimed at preserving national unity, while largely blaming Biafran leaders and downplaying the impact of pre-war killings and the blockade, amounted more to personal justification than an honest historical reflection.

The former lawmaker, however, acknowledged Gowon’s post-war policy of “No Victor, No Vanquished” as well as the 3Rs programme — Reconciliation, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction — but maintained that genuine healing could only come through open acknowledgment of the suffering endured by victims of the war.

According to him, attempts to excuse or deflect atrocities through “anecdotes like the palm trees story” only weaken public trust in the overall account of the conflict.

Onoh urged Nigerians, especially those from the South-East, to read Gowon’s memoir critically, stressing that national healing requires confronting the full human cost of the civil war.

Drawing comparisons with global historical examples, he cited former United States Defence Secretary Robert McNamara and Lt. William Calley, who later expressed remorse over the Vietnam War, as well as German leaders who apologised for atrocities committed during the Second World War.

“In light of this, General Gowon owes the Igbo people a simple, sincere apology for the suffering endured during the war,” Onoh stated.

“Not that this simple act means anything, but it means everything. Such an apology will be remembered as the act of a true statesman and a genuine step toward healing and reconciliation.”

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