Office of the Historian

388. Memorandum From the President’s Special Assistant (Rostow) to President Johnson1

Washington, June 6, 1967, 4:15 p.m.

Mr. President:

At Tab A,2 for your approval, is a brief reply to a message from General Gowon of Nigeria. Gowon wired you and many other heads of government urging against recognition of the newly-proclaimed Republic of Biafra—formerly the eastern region of Nigeria. The incoming message is at Tab B.3

None of your advisers would recommend recognition of Biafra until the Nigerian situation is clarified. However, we did hope to avoid answering this message so as to not appear to favor either the Central Government or the Biafrans. (How we handle the recognition question will greatly affect the tone of our relations with these states in whatever configuration emerges.)

However, Harold Wilson has now responded to Gowon’s message to him with a non-committal hope that Nigeria can find her way out of her present difficulties. (A copy of the Wilson response is at Tab C.) If we don’t say at least this much, we will probably wear out some of our welcome with the central government. Thus, the proposed reply takes very much the same non-committal line.

Walt

Approve4

Disapprove

Speak to me

  1. Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Special Head of State Correspondence File, Nigeria-Presidential Correspondence. No classification marking.↩
  2. The attached tabs are not printed.↩
  3. Tab B is a copy of Gowon’s May 30 message.↩
  4. This option is checked.↩