1. The Republic of Biafra actually had two presidents. The first was Odumegwu Ojukwu.The second was Obong Philip Ewing who was in office from January 8 till January 12, 1970, after Ojukwu had fled the country.

2. The Republic of Benin* is the shortest independent country in the world. It was created in the then Mid-Western region, Nigeria, by the Biafran government on September 19, 1967. It lasted till September 20, 1967, when it was captured by Nigerian troops.

*The Republic of Benin should not be confused with the West African country: Benin Republic, which is also called the Republic of Benin. During the Nigerian civil war, Benin Republic was officially known as the Republic of Dahomey.

3. Contrary to popular belief, the coup of January 15-16, 1966, was not executed by Major-General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi. It was executed by five Army majors (four Igbos and one Yoruba): Kaduna Nzeogwu, Timothy Onwuatuegwu, Emmanuel Ifeajuna, Chris Anuforo and Adewale Ademoyega. Emmanuel Ifeajuna was the leader and not Nzeogwu as some people claim. Aguyi-Ironsi only came into power because he was the highest ranking military officer in Nigeria after the coup failed.

4. The January 1966 coup was actually half-successful. Kaduna Nzeogwu was able to capture the north but Timothy Onwuatuegwu was unable to capture the south. Kaduna controlled northern Nigeria for several weeks while Aguiyi-Ironsi controlled southern Nigeria.

5. General Yakubu Gowon is a Christian from the Ngas tribe (also called Angas), based in Lur village, Plateau State. He was chosen as president of Nigeria after the counter-coup of 1966 which was led by northern soldiers. Gowon was chosen because he was neither an Hausa, Fulani or Muslim. The coupists did not want it to look like northern coup.

6. Before the coup of 1966, Major Kaduna Nzeogwu often led some soldiers on a training excercise close to the house of the premier of the north: Sir Ahmadu Bello. The training exercise, codenamed "Excercise Damisa," was actually a dry run to the impending coup. On the day of the coup, Nzeogwu personally threw the grenade that destroyed Sir Ahmadu Bello's gate.

7. Nobel laureate: professor Wole Soyinka, visited Odumegwu Ojukwu in August 1967, so they could discuss how to avert the war. This angered Yakubu Gowon who had him detained for almost two years.

8. Emmanuel Ifeajuna later fought for Biafra during the Civil War. He was arrested and executed at the orders of Ojukwu who believed he was negotiating a ceasefire with Nigeria and was also trying to overthrow him.

9. During the counter coup of 1966 that brought Yakubu Gowon into power; Buka Suka Dimka, who later killed Murtala Muhammed in the botched 1976 coup, tried killing his Brigade Major: Samuel Ogbemudia, because he detained him for deploying soldiers without authorization.

Dimka conscripted some northern soldiers who chased Ogbemudia all the way from Kaduna to Owo, Ondo state. Both sides exchanged gunfire during the chase which only ended when Ogbemudia's Land Rover ran out of fuel and he escaped into the jungle.

10. The famous 3rd Marine Commandos headed by Colonel Benjamin Adekunle and later Olusegun Obasanjo, was originally named the 3rd Infantry Division. Without approval from Army headquarters, Colonel Benjamin Adekunle changed the name to 3rd Marine Commandos because he felt the 3rd Infantry Division did not really project the unique, difficult and dangerous terrain the division was operating. Today, the 3rd Infantry Division is based in Jos, Plateau state. It has been renamed the 3rd Armored Division.

Source: FactsHood: my Facebook[url=Facebook.com/Factshood](Click here)[/url] and Twitter pages[url=twitter.com/Factshood](Click here)[/url] where I post several random interesting facts everyday.

Care not
We are in 21st century

Beef no reach them so they desided to coup me

More facts

Prior to his death, Sarduna imported weapons to execute his plan to dip the Qur'an into the Atlantic ocean through the destabilization of Eastern region in the same way he did destabilized SW.

Mobsync:
1. The Republic of Biafra actually had two presidents. The first was Odumegwu Ojukwu.The second was Obong Philip Ewing who was in office from January 8 till January 12, 1970, after Ojukwu had fled the country.
2. The Republic of Benin* is the shortest independent country in the world. It was created in the then Mid-Western region, Nigeria, by the Biafran government on September 19, 1967. It lasted till September 20, 1967, when it was captured by Nigerian troops.
*The Republic of Benin should not be confused with the West African countrt: Benin Republic, which is also called the Republic of Benin. During their Nigerian civil war, Benin Republic was officially known as the Republic of Dahomey.
3. Contrary to popular belief, the coup of January 15-16, 1966, was not executed by Major-General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi. It was executed by five Army majors (four Igbos and one Yoruba): Kaduna Nzeogwu, Timothy Onwuatuegwu, Emmanuel Ifeajuna, Chris Anuforo and Adewale Ademoyega. Emmanuel Ifeajuna was the leader and not Nzeogwu as some people claim. Aguyi-Ironsi only came into power because he was the highest ranking military officer in Nigeria after the coup failed.
4. The January 1966 coup was actually half-successful. Kaduna Nzeogwu was able to capture the north but Timothy Onwuatuegwu was unable to capture the south. Kaduna controlled northern Nigeria for several weeks while Aguiyi-Ironsi controlled the southern Nigeria. Kaduna controlled northern Nigeria for several weeks while Aguiyi-Ironsi controlled the southern Nigeria.
5. General Yakubu Gowon is a Christian from the Ngas tribe (also called Angas), based in Lur village, Plateau State. He was chosen as president of Nigeria after the counter-coup of 1966 which was led by northern soldiers. Gowon was chosen because he was neither an Hausa, Fulani or Muslim. The coupists did not want it to look like northern coup.
6. Before the coup of 1966, Major Kaduna Nzeogwu often led some soldiers on a training excercise close to the house of the premier of the north: Sir Ahmadu Bello. The training exercise, codenamed "Excercise Damisa," was actually a dry run to the impending coup. On the day of the coup, Nzeogwu personally threw the grenade that destroyed Sir Ahmadu Bello's gate.
7. Nobel laureate: professor Wole Soyinka, visited Odumegwu Ojukwu in August 1967, so they could discuss how to avert the war. This angered Yakubu Gowon who had him detained for almost two years.
8. Emmanuel Ifeajuna later fought for Biafra during the Civil War. He was arrested and executed at the orders of Ojukwu who believed he was negotiating a ceasefire with Nigeria and was also trying to overthrow him.
9. During the counter coup of 1966 that brought Yakubu Gowon into power; Buka Suka Dimka, who later killed Murtala Muhammed in the botched 1973 coup, tried killing his Brigade Major: Samuel Ogbemudia, because he detained him for deploying soldiers without authorization.
Dimka conscripted some northern soldiers who chased Ogbemudia all the way from Kaduna to Owo, Ondo state. Both sides exchanged gunfire during the chase which only ended when Ogbemudia's Land Rover ran out of fuel and he escaped into the jungle.
10. The famous 3rd Marine Commandos headed by Colonel Benjamin Adekunle and later Olusegun Obasanjo, was originally named the 3rd Infantry Division. Without approval from Army headquarters, Colonel Benjamin Adekunle changed the name to 3rd Marine Commandos because he felt the 3rd Infantry Division did not really project the unique, difficult and dangerous terrain the division was operating. Today, the 3rd Marine Commandos are in Jos, Plateau state. They have been renamed the 3rd Armored Division.
Source: FactsHood: my Facebook[url=Facebook.com/Factshood](Click here)[/url] and Twitter pages[url=twitter.com/Factshood](Click here)[/url] where I post several random interesting facts everyday.

Nice.

Interesting..

SUBMARINE:
More facts

Prior to his death, Sarduna imported weapons to execute his plan to dip the Qur'an into the Atlantic ocean through the destabilization of Eastern region in the same way he did destabilized SW.

Let's not go down that line. Please don't turn this thread into one for tribal, ethnic, religious or political bashings. There are several other threads you can do that.

The reason Buka Suka Dimka chased Samuel Ogbemudia cannot be unconnected with Ogbemudia locking him up in the guard room for being drunk and trying to break into the armoury.

I don almost read am finish

This is really enlightening

I'm beginning to think Nzeogwu had some undocumented mental issues!

Mobsync:


Let's not go down that line. Please don't turn this thread into one for tribal, ethnic, religious or political bashings. There are several other threads you can do that.

Then you don't know Nigerian history


This fact is clearly known.

I did dis in govt.

There are some inconsistencies here. Onwuatuegwu (this translates in English as "he who does not fear death") was with Nzeogwu in Kaduna during the coup, he was never part of the southern operations. Also, Lt colonel Yakubu Gowon was chosen as Military head of state because he was the highest ranking "northerner" at the time. Ogundipe, Nwawo , Effiong, Njoku, Imo, Ejoor, Adebayor and Ojukwu were all senior to Gowon but they were all by-passed because they were from the south.

zendy:
There are some inconsistencies here. Onwuatuegwu (this translates in English as "he who does not fear death" was with Nzeogwu in Kaduna during the coup, he was never part of the southern operations. Also, Lt colonel Yakubu Gowon was chosen as Military head of state because he was the highest ranking "northerner" at the time. Ogundipe, Nwawo , Effiong, Njoku, Imo, Ejoor, Adebayor and Ojukwu were all senior to Gowon but they were all by-passed because they were from the south.

Gowon actually got there by chance. He wasn't the best candidate for the post. Shuwa, Murtala Muhammed and several others were all Lieutenant-Colonels alongside Gowon. Infact, Kur Muhammed was a full Colonel. Gowon was chosen because the coup plotters did not want the coup to be seen as an Hausa coup since the first coup was already seen as an Igbo coup. Gowon was a Christian and wasn't a core northerner. Two factors that led to him been chosen as the preferred candidate.

Secondly, Onwuatuegwu was in Lagos while the coup was on. He commanded a group of Igbo soldiers whose mission was to kill any top military commander they could lay their hands on. There are reports however that he fled to the north after the coup failed and possibly held control of the north along with Kaduna Nzeogwu for some weeks.

As usual instead of our youth to follow this thread and learn about the history of this country, they'll be busy posting "first to comment" all over the forum. It's so sad that very little is being taught today about Nigeria's history especially about the Nigerian civil war.

I believe there's a grand plan to obliterate facts about the civil war and Nigeria's history. If not, why would History be scrapped from secondary school curriculum in Nigeria?

The Yoruba elite were the first, in 1962, to attempt a violent overthrow of an elected government in this country. In 1966, it was the violence in the West which provided an avenue for the putsch of 15th January. After Chief Awolowo lost to Shagari in 1983 elections, it was the discontent and bad publicity in the South-West which led to the Buhari intervention.
Sanusi Lamido.

Ok thanks for the info

IGBOSON2:
I'm beginning to think Nzeogwu had some undocumented mental issues!

its long ibo trying indiginalise them self in another people town, what is kaduna eziogu.

Military and their madness

Mobsync:


Gowon actually got there by chance. He wasn't the best candidate for the post. Shuwa, Murtala Muhammed and several others were all Lieutenant-Colonels alongside Gowon. Infact, Kur Muhammed was a full Colonel. Gowon was chosen because the coup plotters did not want the coup to be seen as an Hausa coup since the first coup was already seen as an Igbo coup. Gowon was a Christian and wasn't a core northerner. Two factors that led to him been chosen as the preferred candidate.

Secondly, Onwuatuegwu was in Lagos while the coup was on. He commanded a group of Igbo soldiers whose mission was to kill any top military commander they could lay their hands on. There are reports however that he fled to the north after the coup failed and possibly held control of the north along with Kaduna Nzeogwu for some weeks.

The plan was to take the North out of Nigeria. Gowon was an afterthought!

Mobsync:


Gowon actually got there by chance. He wasn't the best candidate for the post. Shuwa, Murtala Muhammed and several others were all Lieutenant-Colonels alongside Gowon. Infact, Kur Muhammed was a full Colonel. Gowon was chosen because the coup plotters did not want the coup to be seen as an Hausa coup since the first coup was already seen as an Igbo coup. Gowon was a Christian and wasn't a core northerner. Two factors that led to him been chosen as the preferred candidate.

Secondly, Onwuatuegwu was in Lagos while the coup was on. He commanded a group of Igbo soldiers whose mission was to kill any top military commander they could lay their hands on. There are reports however that he fled to the north after the coup failed and possibly held control of the north along with Kaduna Nzeogwu for some weeks.

Some of your facts are wrong. Colonel Kur Mohammed was killed in the first coup along with Authur Unegbe and Brigadier Maimalari. Although Shuwa and Murtala were Lt Colonels, they were far Junior to Gowon. Another thing is that you said Onwuatuegwu was in Lagos however,if you search on Youtube, you will see Nzeogwu answering questions from reporters on the morning of the coup in Kaduna. Onwuatuegwu can be seen standing next to Nzeogwu in that video clip. Gowon, was the highest ranking officer from the north and also chief of Army staff.

Mobsync:
1. The Republic of Biafra actually had two presidents. The first was Odumegwu Ojukwu.The second was Obong Philip Ewing who was in office from January 8 till January 12, 1970, after Ojukwu had fled the country.

2. The Republic of Benin* is the shortest independent country in the world. It was created in the then Mid-Western region, Nigeria, by the Biafran government on September 19, 1967. It lasted till September 20, 1967, when it was captured by Nigerian troops.

*The Republic of Benin should not be confused with the West African country: Benin Republic, which is also called the Republic of Benin. During the Nigerian civil war, Benin Republic was officially known as the Republic of Dahomey.

3. Contrary to popular belief, the coup of January 15-16, 1966, was not executed by Major-General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi. It was executed by five Army majors (four Igbos and one Yoruba): Kaduna Nzeogwu, Timothy Onwuatuegwu, Emmanuel Ifeajuna, Chris Anuforo and Adewale Ademoyega. Emmanuel Ifeajuna was the leader and not Nzeogwu as some people claim. Aguyi-Ironsi only came into power because he was the highest ranking military officer in Nigeria after the coup failed.

4. The January 1966 coup was actually half-successful. Kaduna Nzeogwu was able to capture the north but Timothy Onwuatuegwu was unable to capture the south. Kaduna controlled northern Nigeria for several weeks while Aguiyi-Ironsi controlled the southern Nigeria. Kaduna controlled northern Nigeria for several weeks while Aguiyi-Ironsi controlled the southern Nigeria.

5. General Yakubu Gowon is a Christian from the Ngas tribe (also called Angas), based in Lur village, Plateau State. He was chosen as president of Nigeria after the counter-coup of 1966 which was led by northern soldiers. Gowon was chosen because he was neither an Hausa, Fulani or Muslim. The coupists did not want it to look like northern coup.

6. Before the coup of 1966, Major Kaduna Nzeogwu often led some soldiers on a training excercise close to the house of the premier of the north: Sir Ahmadu Bello. The training exercise, codenamed "Excercise Damisa," was actually a dry run to the impending coup. On the day of the coup, Nzeogwu personally threw the grenade that destroyed Sir Ahmadu Bello's gate.

7. Nobel laureate: professor Wole Soyinka, visited Odumegwu Ojukwu in August 1967, so they could discuss how to avert the war. This angered Yakubu Gowon who had him detained for almost two years.

8. Emmanuel Ifeajuna later fought for Biafra during the Civil War. He was arrested and executed at the orders of Ojukwu who believed he was negotiating a ceasefire with Nigeria and was also trying to overthrow him.

9. During the counter coup of 1966 that brought Yakubu Gowon into power; Buka Suka Dimka, who later killed Murtala Muhammed in the botched 1973 coup, tried killing his Brigade Major: Samuel Ogbemudia, because he detained him for deploying soldiers without authorization.

Dimka conscripted some northern soldiers who chased Ogbemudia all the way from Kaduna to Owo, Ondo state. Both sides exchanged gunfire during the chase which only ended when Ogbemudia's Land Rover ran out of fuel and he escaped into the jungle.

10. The famous 3rd Marine Commandos headed by Colonel Benjamin Adekunle and later Olusegun Obasanjo, was originally named the 3rd Infantry Division. Without approval from Army headquarters, Colonel Benjamin Adekunle changed the name to 3rd Marine Commandos because he felt the 3rd Infantry Division did not really project the unique, difficult and dangerous terrain the division was operating. Today, the 3rd Infantry Division are in Jos, Plateau state. They have been renamed the 3rd Armored Division.

Source: FactsHood: my Facebook[url=Facebook.com/Factshood](Click here)[/url] and Twitter pages[url=twitter.com/Factshood](Click here)[/url] where I post several random interesting facts everyday.

[size=15pt]When it comes to BIAFRA, the Yorubas and Hausa/Fulanis are the WORST hypocrites.

They bitterly hate the Igbos and indeed the southern minorities and would want them to leave Lagos etc and go stay in their own country!

But in contradiction to their true feelings, they don't want Biafra because they want to perpetuate their right to collect the lion share of the oil resources sourced from the same peoples land, using the bogus criteria they foisted on the country called Nigeria.

Without oil in Igboland and Southern minorities part of Nigeria, Yoruba and Hausa/Fulani would have long seceded from Nigeria. FACT! [/size]

All i can learn from this thread is that young chaps in their late 20's and early 30's rule this country with guns in their pocket. Iresponsible and ego ridden generation that laid the foundation for my corrupt generation. GOD dey wait for all of una on judgement day!

Volksfuhrer:


The plan was to take the North out of Nigeria. Gowon was an afterthought!

That's true. Murtala and the likes initially wanted to separate the country after teaching the Ibos a "lesson" with the counter-coup.

zendy:



Some of your facts are wrong. Colonel Kur Mohammed was killed in the first coup along with Authur Unegbe and Brigadier Maimalari. Although Shuwa and Murtala were Lt Colonels, they were far Junior to Gowon. Another thing is that you said Onwuatuegwu was in Lagos however,if you search on Youtube, you will see Nzeogwu answering questions from reporters on the morning of the coup in Kaduna. Onwuatuegwu can be seen standing next to Nzeogwu in that video clip. Gowon, was the highest ranking officer from the north and also chief of Army staff.

Kur Muhammed was hardly mentioned in many of my sources save one which said he alongside several others were overlooked over Gowon.Nevertheless, all the sources I consulted agreed that the coup was launched by disgruntled Hausa soldiers and Gowon was not involved. But then, Gowon was not chosen because of his seniority (although it could be a factor). The major reason he was chosen because the northern soldiers involved did not want it to look like a northern coup. They initially wanted to separate the north from the soth but considering the fact that, they would have a hard time surviving, they had a rethink.

Sadly the war is not on youtube

Mobsync:


Kur Muhammed was hardly mentioned in many of my sources save one which said he alongside several others were overlooked over Gowon.Nevertheless, all the sources I consulted agreed that the coup was launched by disgruntled Hausa soldiers and Gowon was not involved. But then, Gowon was not chosen because of his seniority (although it could be a factor). The major reason he was chosen because the northern soldiers involved did not want it to look like a northern coup. They initially wanted to separate the north from the soth but considering the fact that, they would have a hard time surviving, they had a rethink.

Your right about one thing. Many people do not know that the first people who wanted to break up Nigeria were actually the Northerner. Their coup or should I say, counter-coup was code named "operation Araba" which means 'to separate' was intended to pull northern Nigeria out Nigeria as a separate country. It was only after they coup that they were reminded that economic wealth of Nigeria lay in the South and that if they cut themselves off from the sea-port and Oil money,they would suffer greatly. That's why they immidiately switched back to 'one Nigeria'. I laugh at die hard proponents of 'one Nigeria' or people who castigate the Igbos for seeking Biafra and those who insult the memory of Ojukwu for trying to break up Nigeria. What many them don't seem to realise is that, had the Oil been in the North, the Hausa man would have been the first to declare "Arewa Republic" long before Ojukwu declared Biafra. The unity and existence of Nigeria is all based on Oil.

zendy:


Your right about one thing. Many people do not know that the first people who wanted to break up Nigeria were actually the Northerner. Their coup or should I say, counter-coup was code named "operation Araba" which means 'to separate' was intended to pull northern Nigeria out Nigeria as a separate country. It was only after they coup that they were reminded that economic wealth of Nigeria lay in the South and that if they cut themselves off from the sea-port and Oil money,they would suffer greatly. That's why they immidiately switched back to 'one Nigeria'. I laugh at die hard proponents of 'one Nigeria' or people who castigate the Igbos for seeking Biafra and those who insult the memory of Ojukwu for trying to break up Nigeria. What many them don't seem to realise is that, had the Oil been in the North, the Hausa man would have been the first to declare "Arewa Republic" long before Ojukwu declared Biafra. The unity and existence of Nigeria is all based on Oil.

But An Igbo man, called Azikiwe, introduced "one Nigeria" at a time when both Yorubas and Hausas made it clear that Nigeria was the mistake of 1914 and a mere geographical expression which should not be further amalgamated but left in such a way that each region would be on its own and enjoy its own resources alone. Had Igbos, led by Zik, abandoned their "one Nigeria" fantasy and faced reality as proposed by Awolowo and Ahmadu Bello, Nigeria would have known peace and the war avoided. But Igbos kept on chanting "one Nigeria" despite seeing it clearly that Nigeria was not really one and could never really become one. If not for a selfish interest and ulterior motive why did Zik and Igbos decide to live in fantasy while reality was staring at them directly in the face?

Deadlytruth:


But An Igbo man, called Azikiwe, introduced "one Nigeria" at a time when both Yorubas and Hausas made it clear that Nigeria was the mistake of 1914 and a mere geographical expression which should not be further amalgamated but left in such a way that each region would be on its own and enjoy its own resources alone. Had Igbos, led by Zik, abandoned their "one Nigeria" fantasy and faced reality as proposed by Awolowo and Ahmadu Bello, Nigeria would have known peace and the war avoided. But Igbos kept on chanting "one Nigeria" despite seeing it clearly that Nigeria was not really one and could never really become one. If not for a selfish interest and ulterior motive why did Zik and Igbos decide to live in fantasy while reality was staring at them directly in the face?

I can't blame Zik for believing in one Nigeria. Zik was not a soothsayer who could see the future.He was a man who thought that with self rule, Nigeria would be a great country. Until you try something, you can never be sure if it will work or not. So Zik was willing to give 'one Nigeria' a try. It's just unfortunate that it had and still has disasterous consequences.

the civil war has left an indelible mark on our polity, but with time we shall become better and more unified