[size=13pt]Babafemi Ogundipe[/size] was the de facto Vice President of Nigeria during Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi's 1966 military government. He was born on September 6, 1924 to Yoruba parents from Ago-Iwoye, in present-day Ogun State in western Nigeria. He joined the Royal West African Frontier Force in 1941, serving in Burma between 1942 and 1945. He re-enlisted after the second World War, and rose to the rank of Brigadier in May 1964.
He served as the Chief of Staff, Supreme Headquarters Nigerian Defence Forces between January 1966 and August 1966. After the coup which overthrew Aguiyi-Ironsi, and following an agreement with the new military government led by Yakubu Gowon, he left the country for the United Kingdom, where he attended the 1966 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting as Nigeria's representative in September. Thereafter he took up appointment as Nigeria's High Commissioner in the United Kingdom, a post he held until August 1970, when he left public service. He died in London in November 1971.
He was criticized in some quarters for his refusal to take the mantle of office of his supreme commander, who had been murdered in the August 1966 coup, and that this aggravated the pogroms that eventually followed. He was the most senior military officer after the death of Ironsi, and the thinking was that he ought to have taken power himself. The fact is that this was not a viable thing for him to have done. He had no troops, and he was unable to rely on the few individuals available to him, many of whom were northern and were unwilling to take orders from a Christian southerner. Furthermore, he was basically a soldier and had no personal political ambitions. He understood that the preservation of Nigeria as one country meant that a southern Christian would be unable to hold the country together, and he took himself out of the power equation by accepting Yakubu Gowon (several years his junior) as the head of the new military government.

c.1940s Lieut.. W. Bassey 2nd Bn., Nigeria Regt.

[size=13pt]W.D Bassey[/size]
Brigadier Wellington Duke Bassey (rtd), an Efik officer from Cross-River State. He joined the Army in 1936 and is widely commemorated as Nigeria’s first indigenous officer, short-service commissioned from the ranks in April 1949, two months before Ironsi. However, in the course of the history of the Nigeria Regiment, West African Frontier Force, Lt. Ugboma was actually commissioned in 1948 – before Bassey. Ugboma, however, left the military shortly thereafter. A few other Nigerians were given field commissions during the first and second world wars.

As a Lt. Colonel, Bassey was the first Commander of the Federal Guards Company in September 1962, a rather curious appointment for a Lt. Colonel.

During the period between 1960 and 1965 Ironsi, Ademulegun, Ogundipe, Maimalari, Adebayo, Kur Mohammed and Shodeinde all superseded him in rank for reasons that are not totally clear. It is not clear either why he did not get an opportunity to serve in the Congo, a near universal experience for any Nigerian soldier of that era.

As of the time of the January 15, 1966 coup he was commanding the Regimental Depot in Zaria. After Major General Ironsi came to power, Bassey was appointed “Acting Brigadier” and Brigade Commander of the 1st Brigade in Kaduna to take the place of Brigadier Ademulegun who had been murdered. However, Bassey was away on “medical leave” during the northern counter-coup of July 1966.

On page 44 of his book “The Nigerian Revolution and the Biafran War”, former Biafran Army Commander, Major General Alexander Madiebo relates a curious (but unconfirmed) story. He tells how the 1st Brigade Commander ran out of his office in June 1966 when he heard the sound of a Goods Train off-loading planks at a nearby Train Station in Kaduna. Allegedly, Brigadier Bassey had, like other officers on his Staff, wrongly interpreted the sounds as gun shots and chose to abscond, saying “they should have told me; they promised to give me sufficient warning.”

He retired from active service just before the civil war began and later emerged as Consul and later Nigerian Ambassador to Fernando Po (Equatorial Guinea).

Info Nowa Omoigui
Photograph: Amanda Kirby Okoli

[size=13pt]Benjamin Adekunle[/size] was born in Kaduna. His father was a native of Ogbomosho, while his mother was a member of the Bachama tribe. He underwent secondary education at the government college, Okene (in present day Kogi State). He enlisted in the Nigerian Army in 1958 shortly after completing his school certificate examinations. He passed the army selection examinations and thereafter was despatched to the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in the UK, the British Army's initial officer entry academy. He was commissioned 2nd Lieutenant on December 15, 1960. As a platoon commander, he served in Kasai Province of Congo with the 1st Battalion, Queen's Own Nigeria Regiment during his first ONUC UN peace keeping tour of duty. In 1962, Lt. Adekunle became Aide-de-Camp to the governor of the eastern region, Sir Akanu Ibiam. The following year, as a Captain, he was posted back to the Congo as Staff Captain (A) to the Nigerian Brigade HQ at Luluabourg - under Brigadier B. Ogundipe. In 1964, Major Adekunle attended the Defence Services Staff College at Wellington, in India. When he returned he was briefly appointed Adjutant General at the Army Headquarters in May 1965 to replace Lt. Col. Yakubu Gowon, who was proceeding on a course outside the country. However, he later handed over the position to Lt. Col. James Pam and was posted back to his old Battalion (1st Bn) in Enugu as a Company Commander.
Adekunle later assumed command of the Lagos Garrison as a substantive Lt. Col. When the Nigerian Civil War erupted in July 1967, Adekunle was tasked to lead elements which included two new battalions (7th and 8th) - to conduct the historic sea borne assault on Bonny in the Bight of Benin on 26 July 1968 (carried out by Major Isaac Adaka Boro's unit). This happened after the federal government gained confidence of most south western ethnic groups as a direct result of Biafran push to mid-west state and probe into Western region. Adekunle was promoted to Colonel after the Bonny landing.
The 6th (under Major Jalo) and 8th (under Major Ochefu) battalions of the Lagos Garrison subsequently took part in operations to liberate the Midwest following the Biafran invasion of August 1967. The 7th (under Major Abubakar) stayed behind to hold Bonny. Because Major Jalo's outfit was seconded to Lt. Col. Murtala Mohammed's 2nd Division, Adekunle was left with only the 8th Battalion at Escravos. He, therefore, protested to Army HQ and got the Lagos garrison upgraded to Brigade status through the creation of the 31 and 32 Battalions (under Majors Aliyu and Hamman, respectively). This formation, combined with elements of the Lagos garrison along the eastern seaboard, was officially designated the 3 Infantry Division.[1] However, Colonel Adekunle did not think the name "3 Infantry Division" was sensational enough nor did it project the nature of the unique terrain in which his men had to fight. Therefore, without formal approval from Army HQ, he renamed it the " 3 Marine Commando (3MCDO)." The "Black Scorpion" as he came to be known, was easily the most controversial, celebrated and mythologized figure[citation needed] in the war of attrition that laid the foundations for Nigeria's contemporary crisis; and threw a wedge into the national fabric. Benjamin "Adekunle's boys in the Midwest seized Escravos, Burutu, Urhonigbe, Owa and Aladima. They captured Bomadi and Patani, Youngtown, Koko, Sapele, Ajagbodudu, Warri, Ughelli, Orerokpe, Umutu and Itagba"
Benjamin Adekunle was promoted to Brigadier-General in 1972. After the war Adekunle was put in charge of decongesting the Lagos port that was having a chronic problem of clearing imported goods. He held this position until being put on compulsory retirement. On August 20, 1974, he was compulsorily retired from the Army.
He attributed his problems during and after the war to his rivals in the army. In various interviews, he said there was always a rumor of coup linked to him until the army authority felt the concern to do something about it. He had large followings in both the army and public at large and was the most popular military commander during the war, apart from Obasanjo, who succeeded him and brought the war to an end with the same 3MC.
Adekunle led the Third Marine Commando Division with such great panache and determination that the foreign media, in looking for a human angle on the Biafran war, found him a ready source of news.
Gen. Adekunle's son wrote an account of his father's military career in a biography titled The Nigeria-Biafra Letters: A Soldier's St

Lieut.. S . A Ademulegan Nigeria Signal Squadron 1949? Max Siollun ??

For the rest:
visit: https://www./nigeriannostalgiaproject/

Gen Murtala and the vehicle that presented him for murder, at Page 12, of the Magazine 'Daily Times Historical Account of July 29 and After' detailing the official version of the circumstances surrounding the bloody coup of 1976.

Major-General J.T Aguiyi Ironsi the 41 year old chief of the Nigerian Army, emerged today as the new strong man of the rebellion-shaken nation. General Ironsi took power at the request, he told the people of the political leaders as his troops moved to quell a rising by rebel army units. Photo Shows: Major General Agulyi Ironsi, Chief of the Nigerian Army. Photo: 1966. Source: Historic Images

Sir Ahmadu Bello(1910- 1966) Teacher and Politician
Born in Rabah Sokoto State. He was the great-grandson of Uthman dan Fodio the legendary Islamic reformer and founder of the Sokoto Caliphate. Bello attended Sokoto Provisional School and Katsina Teachers Training College. He taught for some years in several schools before going to England to study local government administration. On his return, he entered Politics and founded the Northern Peoples Congress(NPC). In 1959 he became Premier of the Northern Region and received a knighthood. He held the reverred title of Sardauna of Sokoto. Bello was killed in the Military coup of January 1966.(Photo: Eliot Elisofon 1959)

Lieut. R. A Shodeinde N.R. T.C.

Killed during the January 1966 coup by Major Tim Onwatuegwu and Major Nzeogwu

Young Olusegun Obasanjo being congratulated after completing his tour of duty in the Congo in 1961. Before Congo, Obasanjo had completed the 6 months Short Service Commission at the Mons Officer Cadet School in Aldershot, England. When Obasanjo joined the Nigerian Army in 1958 at age 21, he initially trained at the Regular Officers Special Training School, Teshie Ghana, before he was selected for the short course in England. - Source : Obasanjo...In the Eye of History - (Ecclesia Interactive)

[size=13pt]The Lioness of Lisabi[/size]
Funmilayo Ransome Kuti (25 October 1900 - 13 April 1978) teacher, political campaigner, women's rights activist and traditional aristocrat. She served with distinction as one of the most prominent leaders of her generation.

Mrs. Ransome-Kuti's political activism led to her being described as the doyen of female rights in Nigeria, as well as to her being regarded as “The Mother of Africa.” Early on, she was a very powerful force advocating for the Nigerian woman's right to vote. She was described in 1947, by the West African Pilot as the “Lioness of Lisabi” for her leadership of the women of the Egba clan that she belonged to on a campaign against their arbitrary taxation. That struggle led to the abdication of the Egba high king Oba Ademola II in 1949.

Kuti was the mother of the activists Fela Anikulapo Kuti, a musician, Beko Ransome-Kuti, a doctor, and Professor Olikoye Ransome-Kuti, a doctor and a former health minister of Nigeria.

This photo was taken shortly after the attack on Fela's compund, Kalakuta Republic at Ojuelegba Lagos by soldiers during the Military regime of General Olusegun Obasanjo in 1977. Mrs. Kuti was said to have been thrown from a second floor window and sustained a broken leg and other injuries. She passed on the following year at age 78.

A very dark and foreboding moment in the nation's checkered political history, Saturday May 15 1976: Dismissed Lt. Col. Bukar S. Dimka is interviewed shortly before his execution for his role in the aborted military coup attempt of Feb 13 of same year during which head of state General Murtala Mohammed was assassinated. Dimka was executed by firing squad at the Kirikiri Prisons Lagos along with six others including former military governor of the old Benue Plateau State, Police Commissioner, Mr. J.D . Gomwalk, Lt. S. Kwale, W.O. (II) E. Bawa, Col. Isa Bukar, Major K. Afolabi, and Mr. H. Shaiyen. Former head of state General Yakubu Gowon in exile in the UK at the time was implicated in the coup attempt, dismissed from the army and declared wanted. 11 other individuals including a woman were sentenced to life imprisonment. Three others received lesser sentences. Two months earlier, 32 of the convicted coup plotters had already been excuted by firing squad including former federal commissioner for defence, Major General I. D. Bisalla.

Madam Janet Alatede. Businesswoman. From, modest beginnings in the 1950's, she established a strong own brand of women's beauty products, subsisting till the early 1990's.

Major Sanni Abacha and Maryam after their wedding in 1969

17 yr old Wole Soyinka. matriculation day at university college Ibadan 1952.

Major Nzeogwu Speaks about the Night he killed the Sardauna.mp4:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJ2pcLO9HSc via @youtube

Major IA Boro

[size=13pt]WHO WAS AUNTY AYO?[/size]

You have heard of Aunty Ayo Prep, Aunty Ayo Comprehensive School for Girls, Aunty Ayo International School. Your might have wondered now and again who this person is or was but as your trying to negotiate traffic at Ojuelagba or the Lekki/ VI connection or as your child distracts your attention you forget what you had just been thinking of a few minutes ago and your thoughts return to matters of the moment.

Chief Mrs Theodora Obafunmilayo Manuwa was born in Lagos on the 21st of March 1907 to the Rt Reverend, Bishop Isaac Oluwole and his wife Mrs Abigail Oluwole a member of the Johnson family with connections to UPG Johnson.

Amongst her siblings were Mrs Olugbemi May, Mrs Tinuola Phillips Dr Isaac Ladipo Oluwole, Mrs Kofoworola Sowunmi and Mrs Ibironke Lucas. To delve into the lives of the siblings of Mrs Oluwole, what they did and whom they married would be to give an account of the social history of Lagos and the professional and networking links that existed at the time and that is beyond the scope of this article.

Like other daughters of high ranking West African clergy and her mother being of solid Creole stock it was inevitable that she was going to be educated in the highest possible mode in the form of her predecessors and contemporaries, eg the Blaize sisters, Patricia Leigh Sodipo, Oyinkan Ajasa (later Lady Abayomi), Kofo Moore etc.

Her education began at the CMS Girls Primary School then later at the CMS Girls Seminary now St Anne’s School, Ibadan. Thereafter she attended Meddles School in Brighton where she studied music. This seems to have been an inherited trait as her mother had been a good pianist.

In 1929 she married Dr Samuel Layinka Adetomi Ayodeji Manuwa a distinguished Surgeon from Ondo. As a dutiful wife she accompanied her husband to various medical postings at Owerri, Aba and Port Harcourt. After several traumatic attempts to carry a child to full term she succeeded and had a daughter her only child Chief Dr Vera Motunde Oluwatosin Clairmonte who followed her father into the medical profession.

In 1937 she attended the Rotunda Maternity Hospital Midwifery School where she qualified as a State Certified Midwife in 1938. She returned to Nigeria and opened ADETOMI Maternity Home in 1945. Like Abimbola Gibson (nee Blaize) before her she was a devoted midwife but also a devoted educationalist most especially because her observations were that the education of young girls was being neglected. She therefore returned to England to study for a Diploma in Teaching at The Institute of Education, University of London from 1951-1952.

She opened The Girls Modern Academy in 1946 on Igbosere Road, Lagos Island, and in the early 60’s what is now, Aunty Ayo Preparatory School located on Biaduo Street S.W. Ikoyi. The preparatory school, which began as a Nursery School taking in 3-5 year olds used the teaching approach of “Learning by Activities” and after 3 years it was extended to become a primary school with the first students sitting the common entrance in 1968. The school was extended to become a Secondary School in 1980.

In 1963 she opened Aunty Ayo’s Comprehensive Girls Secondary School, at the helm of the school as Principal was her brother in Law the late Revd. Dr J O Lucas. She later opened Aunty Ayo Girl’s High School and then Aunty Ayo Vocational School in 1970.
In Lagos she joined women missionaries in organising a Youth Club the Y.P.U at Bible House on Broad Street. She was also Captain of the 2nd Lagos Girl’s Guide Company of her Alma Mater.

She rose to become Commissioner and Executive member of the Girl Guides. Her commitment to social work culminated in her successful persuasion that the government should provide accommodation for social work, which they did by handing to her a building at Nos 1-3 Marina, which is now a motherless babies home.

She founded the Women’s Business and Professional Club, which had its parent body in London and was also a founding member of the committee of the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation.

In Church she was a member of the Standing Committee, a delegate to the Diocesan Synod Board, Patron of the Harvest Committee, Patron of the Women’s Helpers of The Cathedral Church of Christ, Patron of the Women’s Guild Auxiliary.

She was also a member of the Y W C A, Nigerian Red Cross Society a founding member of the Federal Home Science Association, which believed in education with an emphasis on domestic science education and was a Board Member of New Era Girl’s Secondary School.

In 1960 she was awarded the Order of the British Empire. And in 1965 was awarded the Order of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

She held the titles of The Ogbokun of Itesi, Abeokuta, The Lika of Itoko, and the Ajigbeda Oba of Lagos.

It is true to say that her community work was typical of that of a high ranking Creole woman but her contribution to society was clearly over and above the call of duty and involved selflessness and great sacrifice of time and finance. Her granddaughter described her as a lovable woman.

It was in the arms of her only child Dr Vera Omotunde Clairemonte that she breathed her last on the 30th day of August 1977. Of the 5 schools that she founded 3 are still in existence. (Not to be copied in part or in whole without the permission of myself or Villette Magazine)

Oloye Hubert Adedeji Ogunde (31 May 1916 in Ososa, near Ijebu-Ode, Ogun, Nigeria - 4 April 1990 in London England), and eight of his twelve wives, London 1969.

A young Umaru Dikko under the watchful eye of a teacher at Barewa College, Zaria in the 50's.
Umaru Dikko(1936- ) was a powerful Federal Minister in the Second Republic under President Shehu Shagari(his brother-in-law). Dikko was at the centre of the 1984 'Man in a Crate' bungled kidnap attempt in London. The saga strained Anglo/Nigerian diplomatic affairs for two years.

Major General. Yakubu "Jack" Gowon (1934-) And His Wife Mrs Victoria Gowon At Nairobi Airport , Kenya 1969/1972 . Source: Historic Images

Maryam Babangida(1948- 2009) First Lady, Fashionista and Women's Rights Actvist- in the 70's.
Born in Asaba, Delta State of Igbo/Hausa parentage she attended Queen Amina's College Kaduna. She later studied Secretaryship and Computer Science. In 1969 she married Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, a Military officer who later became President of Nigeria. She was Nigeria's First lady from 1988 till 1993 and is widely regarded as the most visible and active First lady to date. Maryam founded the Better Life for Rural Women's Programe and championed many Women's advancement causes. She was well known for her sartorial style and glamorous persona. Maryam died of Ovarian cancer in December 2009.

From left
Brigadier Zakariya Maimalari (Commander, Second Brigade, Lagos) and Col. Ralph Adetunji Shodeinde (Deputy Commandant, NDA, Kaduna) lost their lives during January 15, 1966 mutiny!

Alhassan Dantata(1880- 1955) Businessman.
Born in Bebeji Kano to the famous Agalawa Trading family he started out selling kolanuts, textiles and beads in Lagos, Ibadan and Accra. In 1912 he entered the ground-nut trade and became the main produce buyer for UAC covering the whole of Northern Nigeria. He was the patriarch of the Dantata business empire with interests in foreign exchange, pilgrim travel, transport, oil mills and real estate. At one time he was the richest man in West Africa. His granddaughter Mariya is the mother of Aliko Dangote who was listed by Forbes Magazine in 2012 as the richest black man in the World with a net worth of $11.2b.

Biafran Airforce Air Ace Flight Lt Willy Bruce- (older brother of Ben Murray-Bruce). He flew under the command of Count Carl Gustav Von Rosen. c.1969.This image and context is from the book "Last Flight" by Captain August Okpe. An incredibly incisive and comprehensive tome on the Biafran Air-war (available on Amazon

Day Of Mourning , Officers carry The Body Of Murdered Lt-Col Fajuyi To His Resting Place , 1966. Source. Africa Online

1958 LancasterHouse Conference on Nigerian Independence —(From Left) Alan Lennox-Boyd, British Colonial Secretary with the big four: Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Premier of the West Region; Alhaji Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, Federal Prime Minister; Alhajii Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto, Premier of the North Region; Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, Premier of the East Region.

"Shalom, your excellency. You will hardly appreciate how deeply grateful I am to you for allowing me into Israel after causing you and your officials so much headache!"
-Olabisi Ajala

"It's not often we have this kind of trouble. Your bravery impressed us. We thought we should crown it. Just as we are trying very hard to be friendly to the Arabs, so we want to be friends to every person irrespective of his race, religion and nationality. Israel is as much your home as Nigeria!" - Golda Meir (On meeting Olabisi Ajala prior to his interview with her).
Excerpt taken from "An African Abroad" by Olabisi Ajala published by Jarrolds 1963 Page 152.