[size=14pt]Who released Awolowo from prison: Ojukwu, Gowon or Ironsi?[/size]

Category: ARTICLES
Published on Friday, 03 October 2014 16:40
By Ogbuefi Blogs


I have been following an online aggressive discourse about who released Obafemi Awolowo from Calabar prison in the 1960s. I must confess that the discussion was confusing and sad at best: It was confusing to see a simple fact generate such a diverse interpretation. It is sad because a great country like Nigeria failed to record it's history adequately or to make such history easily accessible.

The problem is that this story is very central to the argument about Ironsi's alleged non performance and the excuse for his murder.

Quoting Obi Nwakamma: "Ironsi is also often linked to the general story of Igbo antinomy, and the excuse for which a section of the Yoruba intellectuals prefer to justify Awolowo's actions in the war and his fervent support for Gowon. As far as I'm concerned it will serve no great purpose to Nigerian history to have what we might simply call an "equal opportunity history" that compromises on the truths of the event because the real truth is starker and more uncomfortable for a particular group of people in Nigeria."

Here is an excerpt from Awo's diary:

"I will let my Diary for 3 August speak briefly here. (1) Crossed the prison gate into freedom at 7.56 a.m. (2) Plane took off from Calabar at 8.30 a.m. (3) Arrived Ikeja airport at 9.32 a.m. (4) Saw Gowon at his Headquarters. (5) Returned to Ikenne alone in triumph. At this juncture, it is of interest to narrate the nature of Ironsi’s proposed release as it was disclosed to me after my actual release. The plan was to take me to Ikoyi prison until it was judged safe to set me free. A cell had been prepared for me there which contained extra facilities . If I did not like the place, I could be placed under house arrest at Ikenne. If I wanted to travel abroad, every facility would be afforded me to do so. That was why my intended release was not announced, even though a plane had been dispatched to Calabar to bring me to Lagos. Until negotiation with me on the above lines had been concluded, Ironsi’s team did not want the public to know that I had been transferred back to Ikoyi prison or to my house under house arrest, with my own consent."


Here is the view of a historian and scholar Obi Nwakamma:

"If Ojukwu did not release Awo, I'd have no business disputing some people's attempts at crass revisionism. I'll simply accept it. But as their increasing vacillation shows, the truth haunts because it is stubborn. They have moved from one angle to the other in a shifting sand that only amuses people like me. Note: the story has since gone from Ironsi did not release Awo to "Ironsi's release was CONDITIONAL."

I have never before in my life found greater irony. Now he is squirming under the weight of interpretation - the wheres and wherefores that belong to legal doublespeak - which is when you really need to close an argument.

Awolowo's letter is rather self-explanatory. Emissaries sent to him to Calabar arrived Calabar with a plane on July 27, 1966. The SMC wanted him in Lagos on July 29. In the early mornings of July 29, Ironsi and Fajuyi were murdered in Ibadan by a coup in which Gowon was very active. On the day that Ironsi was supposed to make the announcement publicly in the gala planned for his final day in Ibadan as a gesture of goodwill to the West, he was killed. The crucial point to note here from Awo's diary is that

(a) his release was already final. A plane had been sent to him to leave Calabar to Lagos. He did not leave because it was a one-engine plane and he just did not like the idea of traveling in that plane.

(b) Having being released, a second declaration of release was no longer necessary by Gowon because the papers releasing him had been signed and sealed and effected. The only person who could stop further action on that release document in the circumstance was the Eastern Regional governor whose authority was required to effect the wishes of the Federal government,

(c) there is no place in the annals of Nigeria's administrative records where you will find an order or paper of release for Awolowo in which Yakubu Gowon's signature appears.

But I'd like to bet Ayo and co $1000 that if we go into the archives of the Nigerian Cabinet Secretariat, the signature that will be on the release order for Chief Awolowo will be Ironsi's signature by the power conferred on him by the SMC, and that there is no second release order unless it was backdated. Ironsi's order was fully carried out by the administrative requirements that compelled the Governor of the East to issue administrative writ to the Director of Prisons in Eastern Nigeria to comply.

It is as simple as that. If Gowon issued an order in that regard, Emeka Ojukwu would have very clearly and deliberately ignored it to fully press the point that he was under no obligation to heed Gowon's authority and Chief Awolowo would not have been released. He would most likely have ended up in the East, like Banjo and co during the war all of whom were released by Ojukwu's orders.

Awo's diary confesses quite clearly that Ironsi's regime had kept his release "secret." Why did Ironsi feel the need to thread carefully about such a matter? Would it be to placate the East, the West, or the North? From whom was Ironsi keeping this secret and why? Who would be more grieved by the news of Awo's release? Awo's release was apparently affected by the confusion in Lagos.

If Ayo were Ojukwu, would he have let him go on July 29th 1966, the day he was expected to be taken to Lagos from the East and the day Ironsi was murder or wait for things to clear up a bit? Why did Ojukwu feel the need to release Awo on the 3rd before a reconstituted SMC? Clearly, Ojukwu thought that Awo's presence in the West would help rally the rump of his supporters in the West to act against the coup in evolution. Awo told Ojukwu plainly when they met in Enugu later in May that he could not act because of the presence of Northern troops in the West. As soon as he arrived Ibadan, Awo was placed under clear surveillance. Military sentries were kept daily at his gate in Ibadan and Ikenne.

That is a version of House arrest. Anyone who talks about "conditional release" does not know how governments function. Awo was to be put through a safe, transitional house, no more than a week after the public announcement of his release, debriefed, and released to his home. The same thing happened to Mandela. It is the normal administrative process in these matters. What really makes me happy is that "Nebu and Obi" can no longer be said to write about things that are not in the public domain. We were both clear about who released Awo and why. Awo's diary basically confirmed the following:

(a) A plane had been sent to Calabar to bring him to Lagos on 27th July, two days before Ironsi was killed; (b) the SMC expected him in Lagos on July 29th the day Ironsi and Fajuyi were killed in Ibadan. In fact, they were desperate that he must arrive Lagos by the 29th! It prompts the question: Why the hurry to bring him to Lagos on the 29th? Were these facts communicated to the coup plotters? If so, who but those in the inner circle of the SMC could have communicated this highly classified policy to the coup plotters who had to act quickly to eliminate Fajuyi and Ironsi before the effectuation of the orders on July 29?

(c) Awo refused to travel in the one-engine plane for fear of his safety and

(d) But above all, no other order is required once the order of release has been gazetted for the release of a prisoner. Therefore, Gowon could no longer have re-issued an order already being carried out. It is elementary.

TO RECAP: By the very decree establishing the National Military Government under Ironsi, the Governor of the Eastern Group of provinces was a member of the Supreme Military Council, and the Chief agent of the federal government in the East. All federal institutions, including the Federal Prison Services, were under his jurisdiction and authority. That is one. As at August 3 1966, with a coup in evolution which had not succeeded in the East, the laws of the federation ceased to exist in the East. The only laws that existed in areas under Ojukwu's command were the emergency laws that he assumed. No tributes, declarations or orders by any other authority outside of the East under any guise of law could be enforced in the East. Basically, Nigeria temporarily ceased to exist. That is two.

Finally, Awo was not in a position to refuse his own release. In fact, he was not in any position to discuss the terms of his own release. As at July 1966 Awo was politically, perhaps not irrelevant, but inconsequential. He had begged to be released, and out of pure humanitarian consideration, and following the fervent advocacy of Francis Adekunle Fajuyi at the SMC, the highest body in the land voted to release him, and had set Awo's release in motion. It was no longer a question of when or how to release him. It was a question of what time and by what means he'd get to Lagos on July 29. Fajuyi's persistence earned him the perjorative, "Action Grouper" by Hassan Kastina, and in fact as George Kurubo who was Secretary of the Supreme Military Council once confirmed to me, when the votes to release Awo were taken, only Hassan Usman Kastina, of the four governors declined. Awo was certainly to be placed in transitional housing. So what? Mandela was kept in transitional housing before his full debriefing took place. It does not remove the facts of his release." - Obi Nwakanma

What Ojukwu said...excerpts from Interview:

OJUKWU: We’ve said this over and over again, so many times, and people don’t understand; they don’t want to actually. If you remember, I released Awolowo from jail. Even that, some people are beginning to contest as well. Awo was in jail in Calabar. Gowon knows and the whole of the federal establishment knows that at no point was Gowon in charge of the East. The East took orders from me. Now, how could Gowon have released Awolowo who was in Calabar? Because of the fact that I released him, it created quite a lot of rapport between Awo and myself and I know that before he went back to Ikenne, I set up a hotline between Ikenne and my bedroom in Enugu. He tried like an elder statesman to find a solution. Awolowo is a funny one. Don’t forget that the political purpose of the coup, the Ifeajuna coup that began all this, was to hand power over to Awo. angry angry angry angry angry angry angry angryWe young men respected him a great deal. He was a hero. I thought he was a hero and certainly I received him when I was governor. We talked and he was very vehement when he saw our complaints and he said that if the Igbos were forced out by Nigeria that he would take the Yorubas out also. I don’t know what anybody makes of that statement but it is simple. Whether he did or didn’t, it is too late. There is nothing you can do about it. So, he said this and I must have made some appropriate responses too. But it didn’t quite work out the way that we both thought. Awolowo, evidently, had a constant review of the Yoruba situation and took different path. That’s it. I don’t blame him for it. I have never done."

I don't know

You still don't know after reading the article?

Then google it..

See current affairs question.....
Ah don't no cos mai parents hav nat gav birth to me dah tym....

Quite revealing,very insightful

This issue has been debated in one of my myth busting thread (which unfortunately got lost when this forum was hacked some months ago). Then the argument was who between Gowon and Ojukwu released him.
Where are Katsumoto and DerideGull to do justice to this topic?

W O W....

This issue of AWO release is really giving some people heat

is ojukwu that release him from prison

I believe in one Nigeria.Any plan by any group to separate this great country will never and never come to past.God bless Nigeria

If ojukwu set Awo free against the federal wishes, he would have simply being locked up on arrival in Lagos. My assumption will be both parties needed him onthier side and Awo made the decision to side with the Nigerians, if that is a good thing or a bad thing, o don't know but surely a lot of lives were saved by that decision.

sullybee:
I believe in one Nigeria.Any plan by any group to separate this great country will never and never come to past.God bless Nigeria

Don't cry secession or cause trouble like the North when your ethnic group becomes irrelevant within the Nigerian state

django1:
If ojukwu set Awo free against the federal wishes, he would have simply being locked up on arrival in Lagos. My assumption will be both parties needed him onthier side and Awo made the decision to side with the Nigerians, if that is a good thing or a bad thing, o don't know but surely a lot of lives were saved by that decision.

For the avoidance of doubt: Ironsi's SMC passed a resolution to release Awo(with the exception Hassan Katsina who voted against) then it was up to Ojukwu as the governor of the East to effect the SMC resolution. Ojukwu released Awo on 7/27/1966!

MisterLongman:
Tribalist has polluted this wonderful thread..... @Naijaking if Ojukwu released on the 27. What was he still doing in the east the day ironsi and co were murdered

Awo rejected the single engine airplane sent to fetch him, that might have caused some delays. From the article above, it was apparent that there was a plan to debrief Awo in Lagos, before proceeding to his home in Ikenne. Unfortunately, some people have chosen to describe this standard debriefing protocol as "releasing him with strings attached"

OrlandoOwoh:
This issue has been debated in one of my myth busting thread (which unfortunately got lost when this forum was hacked some months ago). Then the argument was who between Gowon and Ojukwu released him.
Where are Katsumoto and DerideGull to do justice to this topic?

Thank you, I was part of the earlier argument too. That's why I jumped at sharing this detailed article about Awo's release with the audience.
You see, truth maybe covered up, delayed, buried 6ft below, but somehow it always manages to resurrect itself.

Ojukwu release Awo from prison so that Awo could take the West out of Nigeria as this wil make it easy for him to take biafra out of Nigeria. In a shocking twist, Awo declared loyalty to the federal government immediately after he was released by Ojukwu. This made taking the Igbo's out of Nigeria a harder nut for Odumegwu to crack.

onimcee1:
Ojukwu release Awo from prison so that Awo could take the West out of Nigeria as this wil make it easy for him to take biafra out of Nigeria. In a shocking twist, Awo declared loyalty to the federal government immediately after he was released by Ojukwu. This made taking the Igbo's out of Nigeria a harder nut for Odumegwu to crack.

Exactly!
That's one motive that could be ascribed to Ojukwu.
But to say that Gowon released Awo, and ordered Ojukwu to free him from Calabar prison, and Ojukwu actually obeyed Gowon's order at that time simply flies against simple logic.

naijaking1:


Awo rejected the single engine airplane sent to fetch him, that might have caused some delays. From the article above, it was apparent that there was a plan to debrief Awo in Lagos, before proceeding to his home in Ikenne. Unfortunately, some people have chosen to describe this standard debriefing protocol as "releasing him with strings attached"

Foul. Awo did not reject any plane. His diary account was explicit- he had no inkling Ironsi planned to release him until after the actual release. Obi Nwakamma, the so-called historian mischieviously misinterpreted Awo's own account for reasons best known to him. How about this hypothesis - That Awolowo was released from prison after Ironsi's death was incontrovertible. This was immediately followed by Gowon's takeover. Given the fact that Ojukwu was naturally averse to this scenario, if he then had released Awo as is being touted, the question is, would he have allowed Awo plus the plane to be taken to Gowon ? I doubt.

Wow! This is just too revealing....at last the truth is out, katsumoto goofed on this one, I can't forget when this topic was hotly debated between katz and onlytruth few years back, katsumoto is indeed a revisionist no doubt. On the issue of Pa Awo's rejection of the single-engine aircraft, yes he said something like that in his book, 'My March Through Prison'...Ojukwu was right afterall! I love this