Former head of state Yakubu Gowon said the Igbo people were compensated for material losses after the 1967-1970 civil war and rejected claims that they were left with only £20 each.
In his memoir My Life of Duty and Allegiance, Gowon said those who held accounts in Nigerian banks, including businessmen, recovered their full deposits plus interest.
He clarified that the post-war currency control policy was a collective Federal Government decision, not solely the work of the late Finance Commissioner Obafemi Awolowo, who has often been blamed for the £20 limit.
“That left the Federal Executive Council with the question of what to do to alleviate the suffering of returnees,” Gowon wrote. “Economic experts recommended that the Federal Government limit the payout to approximately 20 Nigerian pounds for each Biafran adult, irrespective of the amount of Biafran currency being returned.”
He added that the Biafran currency had no international value and exchanging it at par risked economic collapse after a war fought without external borrowing.
“This is far from the truth. The final decision was not Chief Awolowo’s, even though he was the Finance Commissioner. It was done in the overall national interest,” Gowon stated.
The former military ruler, who led Nigeria from 1966 to 1975, said his government pursued reconciliation, reconstruction and rehabilitation under the “no victor, no vanquished” policy. A substantial share of the national budget was allocated to rebuild the former East Central State, and the Second National Development Plan was delayed so the region could take part.
