Let me begin by saying that I am NOT out here to defend Tafa Balewa. I was not a student of History, I hardly knew who he was except that he was a Nigerian Prime Minister when Nigeria became a sovereignty state.

I was only applying logic here when you observed in your earlier post that 'how could he afford to send his son to England immediately he became a Prime Minister?' The bone of contention here is AFFORDABILITY right?

Now, was Tafa Balewa our best candidate for the post of prime minister then? No Sir, there were better candidates in the persons of Azikiwe,Awolowo, Enahoro and co.

Would they have been more competent than him?Awolowo and co were NEVER tested at that level, so there can be no basis for comparison.

T9ksy:

Don’t u then think it is essential that u ought to find out more about the guy before offering your ill-informed opinion about him on a public forum like this? Afterall, am not a history student either but I took the time and energy to do my research on the extant participants during and after our independence. There’s no point in u admitting knowing next to nothing about TB and at the same time saying u’r not his apologist. Its obvious that u’r ill-equipped for that particular task.

Sir, you read what you want to believe in. To some people, TB was a visionary  leader and a symbol of unity especially in the North, while to others, he was not. I do not belong to either camps-my apology! And I can't see in my entire posts where I tried to misinform the public about TB. I just do not agree with some of your observations.

How can u apply such a reasoning process to a/my post without engaging the aid of a pre-existing knowledgebase? The bone of contention is not exactly affordability but rather/also the moral premise. He cannot educate his constituency but deemed it fit to send his son to England for exclusive PRIMARY school education..

Despite his fluent english, TB was a thief who suddenly was able to send his 10 yr old son to England for completion of
his primary school education. In the meanwhile, in his region the poor were denied free basic education.
I thought the above statement was credited to you?

So why then was he given the post? A typical manifestation of Mediocrity, I presume. Which unfortunately has been the focal point of our conundrum, since independence.
A lot of people will disagree with you.

Awo performed wonders in the western region then. So too, did Zik in his region. At the centre, either one of the two would have done far better than this pro-western, lucidly-spoken grade II teacher who thinks as evident from his 1959 speech , that the brits are the best thing since sliced-bread.

More often than not, university education does not equate to one being a good leader. JEG is a P.hD holder, I don't think he has a clue of what our problems are?

TB was a visionary leader and a symbol of unity especially in the North,

U know nxt-to-nothing about TB,

poweredcom:

Yes oo that it, very funny in this our yeye country, the country is a very silly and the leader dont need a chance to live, from the guy that spoiled Naija, IBB,

justcool:

@davidif

If you can show me what makes Aguiyi Ironsi evil, I will appreciate it. Please give me historical facts and not just assumptions and opinions.

Based on my investigations, I am of the opinion that Aguiyi Ironsi may have been one of (if not the only) worthy Nigerian leaders. Belwa may not have been bad too, but I rather not reveal my reservations about him. I am not very sure of the authenticity of my reservations about him, especially his leadership abilities; so in-order not to be unjust to the poor man, all I will say about him was that he was not a bad fellow; from my findings, Belwa was modest, also he spoke good English.

About Aguiyi Ironsi, I haven't found anything wrong that he did. Actually he sacrificed his life to avoid bloodsheed; if he were like other African Generals (Idi amin for example), Danjuma would definitely not have been able to kill him. Aguiyi Ironsi was killed due to his lack of brutality.

However, I understand your sentiments about the likes of Nzeogwu and Ifeajuna. A lot of Igbo's like to celebrate Nzeogwu; although I am proudly Igbo, I will never celebrate Nzeogwu as a hero.

That first coup, as well as all the subsequent Nigerian coups, was very unnecessary. The first coup occupies a very agonising position because it introduced the idea of coups in a country that was still very infantile. Also, contrary to what the tibalists say, that coup was not an Igbo coup.

But I digressed a little. I await your response on the issue of Ironsi. I trust your response to be devoid of assumptions and tribalistic sentiments.

Thanks