Solape Ademulegun-Agbi
Solape Ademulegun-Agbi

Thirty-eight years after, the ghost of the January 15, 1966 coup of the “five-majors” is yet to be exorcised.

The daughter of Brigadier-General Samuel Ademulegun, the then GOC Ist Division, Kaduna, has narrated how Nzeogwu made her and her siblings orphans during the ill-fated coup. Today, Mrs. Solape Ademulegun-Agbi, proprietress of Hillcroft Schools, may be a fully-grown woman. But the trauma of having both parents shot in her presence has left an indelible mark. Reacting to a story captioned, Return My Son’s Body, Nzeogwu’s Mother Begs Obasanjo, recently published in Saturday Sun, Ademulegun-Agbi said that Nzeogwu’s mother wanted her son to be treated as a hero, whereas he could actually pass as a villain.

But her sores were made the more painful when she recalls that Major Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu was a welcome guest who always relished a meal of pounded yam any time he came calling at the Ademuleguns.
She spoke to Daily Sun. Excerpts:
General Ademulegun
My dad is everything you would love in a father. Very caring, hardworking and dedicated. He was in love with horse-riding and he made sure I owned one. I named my horse Santana. I used to ride Santana to school in those days, so when the Volkswagen Santana came into the market, it really brought back memories of those days. As a typical Ondo man, my dad was fond of eating pounded yam with the full complement of cow-leg. Generally, he was a wonderful father who more often than not, hoisted me on his broad shoulders. These are some of the memories that have kept me going all these years.
The 1966 coup
My parents, Brigadier-General Samuel and Hajia Latifat Ademulegun were killed during the 1966 coup. That particular experience was quite traumatic and I have never been able to overcome it. At a point, I had phobia for anything military. My dad was the then General Officer Commanding (GOC) 1st Division, Kaduna and his army number was N3 which makes him the third highest-ranking officer in the Nigerian Army. Major Nzeogwu was a welcome guest in my parents’ home. He will always come to our house for steaming hot meal of pounded yam. Being Ondo State indigenes, pounded yam was a regular meal in my mother’s kitchen. On the day of the coup, Nzeogwu came calling with some other soldiers in the wee hours of the day. I think they were about six soldiers. As an impressionable young girl of six, that was quite a number. There were guns everywhere. I remember vividly that I was down with chicken pox, so I had the opportunity of sleeping in my parents’ room. My immediate younger brother was also sleeping soundly in a cot in the same room. But when Nzeogwu came in, there was little talking. I even called him uncle, but he was the one that shot my mother in the chest. She didn’t die immediately, but she was rolling on the floor, gasping and bleeding. With the last ounce of her breath, she was calling “Kole, Kole” (my immediate elder brother whose room was nearby). But my brother never heard because he hid under his bed when the gunshots were booming. I don’t know who killed my dad because he was dragged out of the bedroom. The batman, who was in the boys quarters polishing my dad’s shoes, and our housemaid, one Gbelle, shepherded us out of the bedroom. These memories are ever so green in my heart. A child remembers bad things more than the good.
Life after the coup
We were really devastated by the events that took place, but the Army rallied round us. Major-General Aguiyi Ironsi’s wife came and took us away from the house. From there we were taken to Lagos. The military catered for our upkeep right to our first degree in the university. Since then, we have not fared badly. My elder brother, Group Captain Frank Ademulegun, now deceased, was the only one who joined the armed forces. My other siblings are doing well both in private and government circles. The military officials and the Ondo State government really tried for us. I also give them a pass mark for immortalising my father’s name. My dad has a street named after him in Abuja and the Ikeja Cantonment. There is also a cenotaph in his honour in Ondo Town. At an auspicious time, we plan to chronicle a biography of our parents.
Nzeogwu and family
I am not supposed to harbour grudges as a Christian. But the fact will always remain that Nzeogwu was instrumental to the death of my parents in the ill-fated coup. Nzeogwu's mother wants to portray her son as a hero, while in some quarters the word villain is actually apt. I don’t know what the hue and cry is all about. The government too buried my parents. I actually commend the government for burying him (Nzeogwu ) since he died in active service, so to say. Now, we are talking of exhuming a body some 30 years after. It is ridiculous. The family should let sleeping dogs be. Nzeogwu’s mother should just relax, hoping for a re-union with her son some day, if such a thing is tenable in the spirit world. I think we should just move on. We have the retrogressive penchant of dwelling too much in the past.
Military rule
A lot of shine has been taken off the military. In the past, the military man was someone to be admired, a gentleman to the core, one to be emulated. But things are no longer the same these days. To me, it doesn’t matter who rules as far as there is safety of lives and property; freedom of speech and movement. Democracy is good, but it comes with its own problems. During the military regime, there was sanity in the land. Things were done right with military precision. But since it is a mark of civilisation to be democratic, then so be it. But to me, it doesn’t really matter who rules as far as the machinery of government is oiled effortlessly to the benefit of all citizens.








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Make i try make front page, oya lets go there.

military life!

Recycling same stories to rekindle old wounds does no one any good. We've thrashed this out severally on Nairaland. Thread closed!

Nzeogwu, Nzeogwu, Nzeogwu.
Well he was a Hausa man in everything except name. Same with Ironsi.
But I will wait to hear from the TRIBALISTS. Lets go there.

Abali1: Nzeogwu, Nzeogwu, Nzeogwu.
Well he was a Hausa man in everything except name. Same with Ironsi.
But I will wait to hear from the TRIBALISTS. Lets go there.

thank God u kw dat, yet he turn back n bite d finga dat fed him, killing Sardauna in cold blood, n also d Man dat gv him hot pounded yam, at long last he was stil flown to Kd n buried there, bt some guys manage comot im eyes.

How low can a reptile go? Shooting an harmless woman? ....this nzeogwu of a man is lower than a sewer rat. And this psychopath is the same guy OBJ describes in flowery terms?

A national hall of shame should be put up For us to remember despicable vermins such as this.

4chi: How low can a reptile go? Shooting an harmless woman? ....this nzeogwu of a man is lower than a sewer rat. And this psychopath is the same guy OBJ describes in flowery terms?

A national hall of shame should be put up For us to remember despicable vermins such as this.

dats d hight of wickedness, d man whose children call u Uncle, Bello trustd him so much dat he hav access 2 d man's bedroom, n even bear Kaduna as part of his name. Shege, he also shot Bello's pregnant wife, n kill Bello whle he was praying.

I think Solape is missing up some points in her submission here! I understand her sentiments which is pathetic but it must be put in proper perspectives for the sake of posterity! Kaduna Nzeogwu did not kill her Mum, that was Tim (Timothy) Onwutageru (Katsumoto or Dede1 can correct me on this if I am wrong) a coup is a coup anywhere it is either commended or condemned! In the case of the January 15 Putsch it was celebrated nationwide then until the BBC turned it into a 'Tribal Coup'!

tomakint: I think Solape is missing up some points in her submission here! I understand her sentiments which is pathetic but it must be put in proper perspectives for the sake of posterity! Kaduna Nzeogwu did not kill her Mum, that was Tim (Timothy) Onwutageru (Katsumoto or Dede1 can correct me on this if I am wrong) a coup is a coup anywhere it is either commended or condemned! In the case of the January 15 Putsch it was celebrated nationwide then until the BBC turned it into a 'Tribal Coup'!

celebrated nationwide? D Hausas n Yorubas celebrate d killing of dia kinsmen? Fat lie, its d ebbows dat celebrate, nt kwing dat Karma is watchng.

tomakint: I think Solape is missing up some points in her submission here! I understand her sentiments which is pathetic but it must be put in proper perspectives for the sake of posterity! Kaduna Nzeogwu did not kill her Mum, that was Tim (Timothy) Onwutageru (Katsumoto or Dede1 can correct me on this if I am wrong) a coup is a coup anywhere it is either commended or condemned! In the case of the January 15 Putsch it was celebrated nationwide then until the BBC turned it into a 'Tribal Coup'!

She was an eye witness. She saw him pull the trigger and kill her parents right in front of her.

danjohn:

She was an eye witness. She saw him pull the trigger and kill her parents right in front of her.

i tire 4 dat tomato guy o, i believe her 100%, cos in giving her account, she said she didnt kw who shot her dad, cos he was taken outside, so y wil she lie abt her Mother's death?

Her old Wounds!

tomakint: I think Solape is missing up some points in her submission here! I understand her sentiments which is pathetic but it must be put in proper perspectives for the sake of posterity! Kaduna Nzeogwu did not kill her Mum, that was Tim (Timothy) Onwutageru (Katsumoto or Dede1 can correct me on this if I am wrong) a coup is a coup anywhere it is either commended or condemned! In the case of the January 15 Putsch it was celebrated nationwide then until the BBC turned it into a 'Tribal Coup'!

Confirming what Machiavelli said " The masses aree Fickle minded and sways in the wind" or something like that.

Abali1:
Confirming what Machiavelli said " The masses aree Fickle minded and sways in the wind" or something like that.

You got my drift pal!

danjohn:

She was an eye witness. She saw him pull the trigger and kill her parents right in front of her.

Gbam!

ecosanders:




Solape Ademulegun-Agbi
Solape Ademulegun-Agbi

Thirty-eight years after, the ghost of the January 15, 1966 coup of the “five-majors” is yet to be exorcised.

The daughter of Brigadier-General Samuel Ademulegun, the then GOC Ist Division, Kaduna, has narrated how Nzeogwu made her and her siblings orphans during the ill-fated coup. Today, Mrs. Solape Ademulegun-Agbi, proprietress of Hillcroft Schools, may be a fully-grown woman. But the trauma of having both parents shot in her presence has left an indelible mark. Reacting to a story captioned, Return My Son’s Body, Nzeogwu’s Mother Begs Obasanjo, recently published in Saturday Sun, Ademulegun-Agbi said that Nzeogwu’s mother wanted her son to be treated as a hero, whereas he could actually pass as a villain.

But her sores were made the more painful when she recalls that Major Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu was a welcome guest who always relished a meal of pounded yam any time he came calling at the Ademuleguns.
She spoke to Daily Sun. Excerpts:
General Ademulegun
My dad is everything you would love in a father. Very caring, hardworking and dedicated. He was in love with horse-riding and he made sure I owned one. I named my horse Santana. I used to ride Santana to school in those days, so when the Volkswagen Santana came into the market, it really brought back memories of those days. As a typical Ondo man, my dad was fond of eating pounded yam with the full complement of cow-leg. Generally, he was a wonderful father who more often than not, hoisted me on his broad shoulders. These are some of the memories that have kept me going all these years.
The 1966 coup
My parents, Brigadier-General Samuel and Hajia Latifat Ademulegun were killed during the 1966 coup. That particular experience was quite traumatic and I have never been able to overcome it. At a point, I had phobia for anything military. My dad was the then General Officer Commanding (GOC) 1st Division, Kaduna and his army number was N3 which makes him the third highest-ranking officer in the Nigerian Army. Major Nzeogwu was a welcome guest in my parents’ home. He will always come to our house for steaming hot meal of pounded yam. Being Ondo State indigenes, pounded yam was a regular meal in my mother’s kitchen. On the day of the coup, Nzeogwu came calling with some other soldiers in the wee hours of the day. I think they were about six soldiers. As an impressionable young girl of six, that was quite a number. There were guns everywhere. I remember vividly that I was down with chicken pox, so I had the opportunity of sleeping in my parents’ room. My immediate younger brother was also sleeping soundly in a cot in the same room. But when Nzeogwu came in, there was little talking. I even called him uncle, but he was the one that shot my mother in the chest. She didn’t die immediately, but she was rolling on the floor, gasping and bleeding. With the last ounce of her breath, she was calling “Kole, Kole” (my immediate elder brother whose room was nearby). But my brother never heard because he hid under his bed when the gunshots were booming. I don’t know who killed my dad because he was dragged out of the bedroom. The batman, who was in the boys quarters polishing my dad’s shoes, and our housemaid, one Gbelle, shepherded us out of the bedroom. These memories are ever so green in my heart. A child remembers bad things more than the good.
Life after the coup
We were really devastated by the events that took place, but the Army rallied round us. Major-General Aguiyi Ironsi’s wife came and took us away from the house. From there we were taken to Lagos. The military catered for our upkeep right to our first degree in the university. Since then, we have not fared badly. My elder brother, Group Captain Frank Ademulegun, now deceased, was the only one who joined the armed forces. My other siblings are doing well both in private and government circles. The military officials and the Ondo State government really tried for us. I also give them a pass mark for immortalising my father’s name. My dad has a street named after him in Abuja and the Ikeja Cantonment. There is also a cenotaph in his honour in Ondo Town. At an auspicious time, we plan to chronicle a biography of our parents.
Nzeogwu and family
I am not supposed to harbour grudges as a Christian. But the fact will always remain that Nzeogwu was instrumental to the death of my parents in the ill-fated coup. Nzeogwu's mother wants to portray her son as a hero, while in some quarters the word villain is actually apt. I don’t know what the hue and cry is all about. The government too buried my parents. I actually commend the government for burying him (Nzeogwu ) since he died in active service, so to say. Now, we are talking of exhuming a body some 30 years after. It is ridiculous. The family should let sleeping dogs be. Nzeogwu’s mother should just relax, hoping for a re-union with her son some day, if such a thing is tenable in the spirit world. I think we should just move on. We have the retrogressive penchant of dwelling too much in the past.
Military rule
A lot of shine has been taken off the military. In the past, the military man was someone to be admired, a gentleman to the core, one to be emulated. But things are no longer the same these days. To me, it doesn’t matter who rules as far as there is safety of lives and property; freedom of speech and movement. Democracy is good, but it comes with its own problems. During the military regime, there was sanity in the land. Things were done right with military precision. But since it is a mark of civilisation to be democratic, then so be it. But to me, it doesn’t really matter who rules as far as the machinery of government is oiled effortlessly to the benefit of all citizens.








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..So sad....Sad that the pain is still fresh in the heart of the victims

Those boys where emotionally immature both our reverend ojukwu and it cost us more than they bargained for.

Zeewirld:
..So sad....Sad that the pain is still fresh in the heart of the victims

That's why it always amuses when some Easterners play the victim. Heck, they wrecked Nigeria true federalism.

Dsimmer:


That's why it always amuses when some Easterners play the victim. Heck, they wrecked Nigeria true federalism.

Which Easterners?He was a Niger Deltan.Che una talk say no Igbo in Southsouth abi na only when bad thing happen you people will link them to Igbos but at peace time they are not Igbos right?Nzeogwu was from Okpanan in Delta state,how is he an Easterner?

swagana:


Which Easterners?He was a Niger Deltan.Che una talk say no Igbo in Southsouth abi na only when bad thing happen you people will link them to Igbos but at peace time they are not Igbos right?Nzeogwu was from Okpanan in Delta state,how is he an Easterner?

You do know it isn't only Nzeogwu though.

The Army majors which include Emmanuel Ifeajuna, Timothy Onwuatuegwu, Chris Anuforo, Don Okafor, Humphrey Chukwuka, Kaduna Nzeogwu and Adewale Ademoyega plotted a coup to murder other regional leaders while sparing only the eastern regional leaders and paved way for Aguiyi who destroyed Nigeria true federalism.

Dsimmer:


You do know it isn't only Nzeogwu though.

The Army majors which include Emmanuel Ifeajuna, Timothy Onwuatuegwu, Chris Anuforo, Don Okafor, Humphrey Chukwuka, Kaduna Nzeogwu and Adewale Ademoyega plotted a coup to murder other regional leaders while sparing only the eastern regional leaders and paved way for Aguiyi who destroyed Nigeria true federalism.

And there is nothing they did that others such as Murtala Mohammed, TY Danjuma, Muhammadu Buhari, Babangida and Abacha did not do, even on a worse scale, but these men went on to become influential in Nigeria

In Nigeria, its all about ethnicity and ethnic tag, what part of the country you come from, nothing more

Dsimmer:


That's why it always amuses when some Easterners play the victim. Heck, they wrecked Nigeria true federalism.

Did they? Last time an Igbo man was in charge, you still had 4 Region's and resource control. Then Gowon came in and all 4 Region's plus resource control disappeared. It was the Northerners that wrecked true federalism

gidgiddy:


Did they? Last time an Igbo man was in charge, you still had 4 Region's and resource control. Then Gowon came in and all 4 Region's plus resource control disappeared. It was the Northerners that wrecked true federalism

NIgeria was still the same poor country before and after 1966.

Most people lived in poverty then. Only the cities had good life, and because the city dwellers write a lot of our contemporary history, they end up portryaing a false image of good old Nigeria.

I am not disparging your tribe. I am just finding it annoying that Nigerians look back to the 1960's as a time of good old days. When they were not.

Even the regions, they vanished because many minorites wanted states. Even if regions remained, most of them would have been broke by the time of the 1970's

Dsimmer:


You do know it isn't only Nzeogwu though.

The Army majors which include Emmanuel Ifeajuna, Timothy Onwuatuegwu, Chris Anuforo, Don Okafor, Humphrey Chukwuka, Kaduna Nzeogwu and Adewale Ademoyega plotted a coup to murder other regional leaders while sparing only the eastern regional leaders and paved way for Aguiyi who destroyed Nigeria true federalism.

Nigeria did not have true federalism before 1966..

What we had was three major tribes oppressing minorites. The midwest region was formed to end minority oppression. There was a move for states even back then.

Also, NIgerians did not have a good life before 1966.

nairalanda1:


NIgeria was still the same poor country before and after 1966.

Most people lived in poverty then. Only the cities had good life, and because the city dwellers write a lot of our contemporary history, they end up portryaing a false image of good old Nigeria.

I am not disparging your tribe. I am just finding it annoying that Nigerians look back to the 1960's as a time of good old days. When they were not.

Even the regions, they vanished because many minorites wanted states. Even if regions remained, most of them would have been broke by the time of the 1970's

The Nigeria of the 60's is better than the Nigeria pf today. We may have had more technological advancements since then, but the quality of life is worse today

Today, there are more Nigerians living in extreme poverty than in the 60's, there is far worse insecurity and much more disunity

His children's children will continue to suffer for it

gidgiddy:


The Nigeria of the 60's is better than the Nigeria pf today. We may have had more technological advancements since then, but the quality of life is worse today

Today, there are more Nigerians living in extreme poverty than in the 60's, there is far worse insecurity and much more disunity

NO, it was not . More Nigerians did not have access to power, access to roads, access to health care and access to pipe borne water.

Plus, the regional system was not fit for purpose. That's why we eventually ended up with states.

Finally, the basis of our economy was wrong. We were relying on selling raw materials, not on manufacturing. That was a sign of problem later on. (See african countries that rely on agric...when the price goes down)

NIgeria is not in the best state today, but there were no good old days.

Abagworo:
Recycling same stories to rekindle old wounds does no one any good. We've thrashed this out severally on Nairaland. Thread closed!

you can't trash the truth... We all know the people who started coup d'etat in Nigeria... Just in case they want to cry marginalization...

ecosanders:
celebrated nationwide? D Hausas n Yorubas celebrate d killing of dia kinsmen? Fat lie, its d ebbows dat celebrate, nt kwing dat Karma is watchng.

Can you imagine! These people are unrepentant.

PortHarcourtcit:
you can't trash the truth... We all know the people who started coup d'etat in Nigeria... Just in case they want to cry marginalization...

All because of greed and ego.