Nobel laureate accused of exploiting Obasanjo’s rear command posting to aid Biafra‑aligned officer
General Yakubu Gowon’s newly released autobiography makes a dramatic claim: that Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka sought to use ex-president Olusegun Obasanjo’s wartime posting as a covert corridor to move Colonel Victor Banjo—a Yoruba officer aligned with Biafra—from Benin through Ibadan into the Western Region.
Gowon frames the alleged manoeuvre as a direct attempt by Soyinka to influence the course of the Nigerian Civil War.
This allegation in My Life of Duty and Allegiance—Gowon’s 859-page memoir—stands out as a direct operational accusation against Soyinka and comes from General Gowon, the federal Commander-in-Chief during the war.
What Gowon Says
According to the autobiography, Gowon had assigned Obasanjo to a Rear Commander position in Ibadan, nominally in a supporting role under the 2 Division, commanded by Colonel Murtala Muhammed. Obasanjo’s primary mandate, Gowon writes, was not military engagement but logistics — organising relief supplies, equipment and reinforcements for the war front — as well as ensuring the general security of the Western Region.
It was into that posting, Gowon alleges, that Soyinka attempted to insert himself operationally.
Writing of Obasanjo’s performance in the role, Gowon states: “He performed well to my expectations, especially by rebuffing Wole Soyinka’s attempt to get him to allow Colonel Victor Banjo to come to the West through Benin to Ibadan.”
The former commander-in-chief adds: “I deeply appreciate Obasanjo’s loyalty and sense of patriotism.”
This brief but weighty disclosure positions Soyinka, an already prominent literary figure and political activist, as an intermediary facilitating the movement of a Biafra-aligned military officer into federal territory. It asserts that Soyinka used personal access to Obasanjo as the mechanism.
Who Was Victor Banjo?
Colonel Victor Adebukunola Banjo was a Yoruba officer in the Nigerian Army who was detained by Gowon’s government in 1966 on suspicion of involvement in coup plotting, then released — only to cross to the Biafran side after the war broke out in 1967. Ojukwu deployed him as a field commander, leading the Biafran mid-western offensive that briefly captured Benin City in August 1967 before federal forces repelled it.
Banjo’s role in the Biafran command made him pivotal in Yoruba politics during the war. For some, he represented a possible Yoruba-Biafra alliance against the federal government. Gowon and his commanders were sensitive to this, since the Western Region lay between Lagos and the war front.
Moving Banjo into Ibadan, the heart of Yoruba politics, would have had strategic implications beyond one officer’s relocation. It would have signalled a bid to open a second political and military front in the West.
Banjo was eventually executed by Ojukwu in September 1967, accused of treachery against Biafra — an irony that Gowon’s account does not address but which historians have long noted.
Soyinka’s Known Wartime Record
Soyinka’s activism during the civil war is documented, though its precise details have long been disputed. He travelled independently to Biafra and held meetings with Ojukwu in an attempt — by his own account — to broker a ceasefire and prevent the war. He was subsequently arrested by the federal government in 1967 and held for 22 months, much of it in solitary confinement, without trial.
After his release, Soyinka wrote about his detention in The Man Died, a prison memoir that became a landmark of African political literature. His account framed his wartime activities as humanitarian and peace-seeking, not partisan.
Gowon’s autobiography, for the first time from the federal government’s perspective, places a clear operational allegation on the record: Soyinka’s activities extended beyond mediation to actively facilitating the movement of a Biafra-aligned officer into federal territory—an effort thwarted only by Obasanjo’s loyalty to Gowon.
The Obasanjo Dimension
This new disclosure reframes a pivotal moment in Obasanjo’s civil war career: his refusal to cooperate with Soyinka’s alleged plan amidst the complex ethnic and personal dynamics of the conflict.
Gowon’s account frames Obasanjo’s actions as confirming loyalty at a critical juncture—vindicating Gowon’s trust and underlining the importance of this allegiance for the Western Region’s security.
𝗞𝗲𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗲 𝗔𝗱𝗲𝗴𝗼𝗸𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱-𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗷𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝟭𝟱 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘂𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗲𝗱 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗲 𝗽𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗰 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲. 𝗪𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘆 𝗻𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝗰𝗿𝗼𝘀𝘀 𝗱𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘀, 𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗴𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗳𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘆𝘀𝗶𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗶𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆. 𝗔𝘀 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗘𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗖𝗘𝗢 𝗼𝗳 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗗𝗶𝗴𝗴𝗲𝗿𝗡𝗲𝘄𝘀.𝗰𝗼𝗺, 𝗔𝗱𝗲𝗴𝗼𝗸𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘀 𝗮 𝗽𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗻𝗲𝘄𝘀𝗿𝗼𝗼𝗺 𝗱𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗵𝗶𝗱𝗱𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘁𝗵𝘀, 𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗳𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗲𝗱 𝘃𝗼𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗱𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗷𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗺.
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