_My Views_
This write-up is undoubtedly gripping, but we must be careful not to mistake sensational revelations for settled historical truths simply because they are coming from a former Head of State. Gowon’s account is important, yes, but it remains one side of a deeply contested national tragedy.
Frankly, autobiographies written in the twilight of one’s life should always be approached with measured caution. At that stage, the urge to document history is often intertwined with the desire to explain decisions, soften perceptions, repair legacies, seek absolution, or shape how posterity remembers the author. Memory itself becomes vulnerable to time. Recollections are reconstructed through aides, archives, selective remembrance, and sometimes the emotional need to justify the past.
That is why memoirs of powerful figures — especially military rulers — cannot automatically be elevated to the status of unquestionable historical fact. We saw similar concerns raised over IBB’s memoir, where many readers felt the narrative leaned more toward image management than full candour. Gowon’s book may well face the same scrutiny.
The allegations concerning Rothschild funding, Soyinka’s alleged intermediary role, and the military seniority crisis are serious claims deserving rigorous historical verification, not immediate acceptance because they are now in print. Extraordinary assertions require corroboration from independent records, contemporaneous evidence, and testimonies from multiple sides.
What is equally striking is how discussions around the civil war often drift toward elite political intrigues while the true tragedy — the catastrophic human cost — receives comparatively less emphasis. Millions suffered hunger, displacement, trauma, and death. Entire communities still carry the emotional scars of that conflict. Any honest national reflection must centre not only generals and state actors, but also the ordinary Nigerians whose lives were shattered.
To its credit, TheDiggerNews appears to be treating the autobiography as an opening for investigation rather than a conclusive historical verdict. That is the proper role of journalism — to interrogate, contextualise, and verify, not merely amplify dramatic disclosures.
Nigeria must resist the temptation to weaponise selective memories or convert memoirs into propaganda texts. Our history deserves sober scholarship, intellectual honesty, and the courage to examine all sides critically — including the motives, omissions, and silences of those now attempting to narrate the past decades after the guns fell silent.
Arẹmọ Sẹhinde Ilẹgbusi
Convener/ Chairman Ikarẹ Peace and Development Agenda IPDA & Convener/Head Teachers for Grassroots Development TEGRADEV
Thank you so much for this brilliant contribution, Sir.
Please note that The Gowon Files was published in three parts, and the piece you referenced captures only one — the Editor’s Note.
To fully appreciate the breadth and depth of our coverage, you may wish to read all three instalments.
You will also notice that we pointedly stated we are still digging deeper to unearth the full truth behind the claims the General has raised. We have equally pledged to publish our findings in full.
To that end, Right of Reply letters have been filed to the three concerned figures and actors named in the series.
At TheDiggerNews.com, we dig where others dare not. True to that pledge, we will publish your letter as received.
Kindly provide us with your full name and designation, Sir, so we may attribute your contribution appropriately.
We are also open to a further conversation with you on this and many other pressing issues — including the just-concluded APC Senatorial primaries in Ondo State, particularly the outcome in Akoko North Senatorial District.
Thank you once again
Editor
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