Yakubu Gowon accused of economic genocide against Igbos

Ambassador Lilian Onoh has issued a sharp critique of former Nigerian leader Yakubu Gowon following the release of his memoir, ‘My Life of Duty and Allegiance’. Onoh accuses Gowon of overseeing the physical slaughter of approximately three million Igbos during the Nigerian Civil War.

Furthermore, the critique highlights the ‘£20 policy’ implemented after the war, which Onoh characterizes as an act of economic genocide. She argues that this policy resulted in the theft of the entire monetary wealth accumulated by the Igbo people across generations, effectively decapitating the ethnic group's economic standing. Onoh rejects Gowon's portrayal of these actions as benevolent, comparing the scale of the economic loss to historical atrocities.