laudate:
Rubbish!! A very pointless thread!

Promhize:


Why?

Why did the Northerners suddenly change their stance?

Why are they suddenly in love with people they loathed so much?

StOla:


Because a man called Major General Aguiyi Ironsi decreed a unitary government - thus actualizing the Northern fears at domination by the South.

The North simply put Ironsi where their own leaders before him had been put, and took over the country with a unitary government, looking others in the face and asking "how are you enjoying this unitary now?".

Those who decreed the unitary government have been crying for freedom ever since.

Kind of like raping a rapist.

Promhize:


Why?

Why did the Northerners suddenly change their stance?

Why are they suddenly in love with people they loathed so much?

StOla:


Because a man called Major General Aguiyi Ironsi decreed a unitary government - thus actualizing the Northern fears at domination by the South.

The North simply put Ironsi where their own leaders before him had been put, and took over the country with a unitary government, looking others in the face and asking "how are you enjoying this unitary now?".

Those who decreed the unitary government have been crying for freedom ever since.

Kind of like raping a rapist.

zendy:

For how long will you people keep promoting this lie? How can you say that Ironsi introduced unitary rule when all four regions were in place as at the time he was killed and all four still had the essential ingredients of federalism such as resource control and regional autonomy?

During his short regime Aguiyi-Ironsi promulgated a raft of decrees. Among them were the Constitution Suspension and Amendment Decree No.1, which suspended most articles of the Constitution (though he left intact those sections of the constitution that dealt with fundamental human rights, freedom of expression and conscience were left intact).

The Circulation of Newspaper Decree No.2 which removed the restrictions on press freedom put in place by the preceding civilian administration. According to Ndayo Uko, the Decree no.2 was to serve "as a kind gesture to the press.." to safeguard himself when he went on later to promulgate the Defamatory and Offensive Decree No.44 of 1966 which made it an "offense to display or pass on pictorial representation, sing songs, or play instruments the words of which are likely to provoke any section of the country."

He also as per the proposals of a single man committee passed the controversial Unification Decree No. 34 aimed to unify Nigeria into a unitary state. This decree effectively gave preferential treatment to the Igbo in Unified State were the Regions no longer had any sort of autonomy from the Federal Government........ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnson_Aguiyi-Ironsi

laudate:


Go back into the archives and read up on what Aguiyi-Ironsi did. The 4 regions were federating units in name only, after he took over.

Promhize:
And what about this by Sir Ahmadu Bello himself

In his autobiography My Life, Ahmadu Bello recalled the
strong agitation for secession by the North and added that
'it looked very tempting'. He admits he decided against it on
two grounds, neither having any connexion with the ideal of
Nigerian Unity that possessed the British. One factor was
the difficulty of collecting customs-dutics along a land
border, the other the unreliability of access to the sea
through a neighbouring independent country.

laudate:


Go back into the archives and read up on what Aguiyi-Ironsi did. The 4 regions were federating units in name only, after he took over.

zendy:


Oil and seaport

laudate:


Go back into the archives and read up on what Aguiyi-Ironsi did. The 4 regions were federating units in name only, after he took over.

Duru1:

Ironsi did not take over any government in the zoo called Nigeria. Gen Ironsi was invited to lead a nation without a government, in this case the government has been sacked by a group of junior military officers. One of the drawback about Nigeria is lack of intellectual honesty.

In July 2000, at a public book launching ceremony in Nigeria, Chief Richard Akinjide stated:

"Talking on the first coup, when Balewa got missing, we knew Okotie-Eboh had been held, we knew Akintola had been killed. We, the members of the Balewa cabinet started meeting. But how can you have a cabinet meeting without the Prime Minister acting or Prime Minister presiding. So, unanimously, we nominated acting Prime Minister amongst us. Then we continued holding our meetings. Then we got a message that we should all assemble at the Cabinet office. All the Ministers were requested by the G.O.C. of the Nigerian Army, General Ironsi to assemble. What was amazing at that time was that Ironsi was going all over Lagos unarmed. We assembled there. Having nominated ZANA Diphcharima as our acting Prime Minister in the absence of the Prime Minister, whose whereabout we didn't know, we approached the acting President, Nwafor Orizu to swear him in because he cannot legitimately act as the Prime Minister except he is sworn- in. Nwafor Orizu refused. He said he needed to contact Zik who was then in West Indies.

Under the law, that is, the Interpretation Act, as acting President, Nwazor Orizu had all the powers of the President. The GOC said he wanted to see all the cabinet ministers. And so we assembled at the cabinet office. Well, I have read in many books saying that we handed over to the military. We did not hand-over. Ironsi told us that "you either hand over as gentlemen or you hand-over by force". Those were his words. Is that voluntary hand-over? So we did not hand-over. We wanted an Acting Prime Minister to be in place but Ironsi forced us, and I use the word force advisedly, to handover to him. He was controlling the soldiers. The acting President, Nwafor Orizu, who did not cooperate with us, cooperated with the GOC. Dr. Orizu and the GOC prepared speeches which Nwafor Orizu broadcast handing over the government of the country to the army. I here state again categorically as a member of that cabinet that we did not hand-over voluntarily. It was a coup. "

Corroborating Akinjide's account, according to Shehu Shagari, in his Book "Beckoned to Serve",

".......At about 7.00 am, I returned to Dipcharima's residence to meet with some NPC ministers who had gathered there. Dipcharima was then the most senior NPC minister available. We received the latest reports on the situation, first from Alhaji Maitama Sule, Minister of Mines and Power, who had visited the PM's residence by bicycle! We then heard from Alhaji Ibrahim Tako Galadima, the acting Minister of Defence, who had brought along with him Chief Fani-Kayode.

Chief Fani-Kayode said he had been fetched from Ibadan early that morning by rebels and locked up at the Federal Guard Officers Mess in Dodan Barracks, where the mutineers initially made their headquarters. Disguised in army uniform, loyal troops handed him over to Alhaji Galadima, who had called in at the barracks, which was a stone's throw of his residence......The acting Minister of Defence assured us that Major-General Ironsi was doing his best to arrest the situation.

Maitama Sule and I were separately detailed to explore with our absent NPC and NCNC colleagues the possibility of naming someone to stand in for the PM. I was consulting with NCNC ministers at Dr. Mbadiwe's residence when we heard that the Northern and Western premiers, Sir Ahmadu Bello and Chief Akintola respectively, had been assassinated. Hence I rushed back to Dipcharima's residence, where I found my colleagues in a state of shock and desperation.

However, we decided to recognize Dipcharima, a Kanuri from Bornu, as our interim leader; and to ask the acting President, Dr. Orizu (President Azikiwe was away on leave), to appoint Dipcharima acting Prime Minister. We also summoned Major General Ironsi and gave him full authority to use every force at his disposal to suppress the rebellion. He moved his headquarters temporarily to the police headquarters at moloney street to facilitate easy communication with army units in the regions.

While at Dipcharima's residence, we contacted the British High Commission and requested for military assistance in the event that our loyal troops should require any. The response was positive, but the British insisted that the request must be written by the PM; or, in his absence, by a properly appointed deputy. We, therefore, drove to the residence of Dr. Orizu, and requested him to appoint Dipcharima acting prime minister. Dr. Orizu requested to see our NCNC colleagues to confirm whether they supported our proposition, and they joined us soon afterwards. They had apparently been caucusing at Dr. Mbadiwe's residence. He (Mbadiwe) was their choice of acting Prime Minister. This was naturally unacceptable to us since the NPC was the major governing party.

While we were at Orizu's residence, Major-General Ironsi, who had seemingly secured Lagos, came in with some armed escorts. He requested for a tete-a-tete with Orizu. The two had a 40 minutes discussion in another room, while we waited anxiously in the sitting room, with the armed soldiers standing and staring at us. When Major-General Ironsi finally emerged, he talked to Dipcharima sotto voce; and then drove off with his troops. Dr. Orizu then joined us, regretted his inability in the circumstances to oblige our request. He suggested we all return to our homes and wait until we were required. All efforts to get any clarification failed, and we left in utter desperation.

I was about to break the Ramadan fast on Sunday 16th January, when all ministers were asked to report to the Cabinet Office at 6.30 pm. The whole premises was surrounded by soldiers in battle order that some of us initially hesitated to enter. In the Cabinet chamber were Major General Ironsi, Bukar Dipcharima and Ibrahim Tako Galadima. There were no officials present.

Major General Ironsi admitted to us that he had been unable to suppress the rebellion, which he said was getting out of hand. He stated that the mutineers were in control of Kaduna, Kano and Ibadan, and had killed two regional premiers, Sir Ahmadu Bello and Chief Akintola. They had also murdered a number of his best officers, including Brigadiers Maimalari and Samuel Adesujo Ademulegun, the Commander 1st Brigade Headquarters in Kaduna. Ironsi was full of emotion and even shed some tears. When we asked him about the whereabouts of Sir ABubakar and Chief Okotie-Eboh, he said he still did not know but averred efforts were being made to locate them. At this stage Mbadiwe broke down and kept crying: "Please where is the Prime Minister?"

When we reminded Major-General Ironsi if he needed to avail himself of the British pledge of assistance, he replied it was too late as the army was pressing him to assume power. Indeed, he confessed his personal reluctance to take over because of his ignorance of government; but insisted the boys were adamant and anxiously waiting outside. He advised it would be in our interest, and that of the country, to temporarily cede power to him to avert disaster. Accordingly, we acceded to his request since we had no better alternative. Ironsi then insisted that the understanding be written.

Surprisingly, there was no stationery to write the agreement; and all the offices were locked while no official was around. Alhaji AGF Abdulrazaq the Minister of State for the Railways (former NPC legal adviser), managed to secure a scrap paper on which he drafted a statement, which we endorsed. That was the so called voluntary hand-over of power by the Balewa Government to Major General Ironsi! It was agreed that the statement would be typed and Dipcharima would sign it on our behalf. We were then advised to return home and await further instructions. I only got to break my Ramadan fast around 9:30 pm.

Later at 11.50 pm, Dr. Orizu made a terse nationwide broadcast, announcing the cabinet's voluntary decision to transfer power to the armed forces. Major General Ironsi then made his own broadcast, accepting the "invitation". He suspended certain parts of the constitution; set up a national military government, with the office of military governors in each region; and briefly outlined the policy intentions of his regime. Nigeria's first democratic experiment was effectively over. And although the mutiny had by then practically collapsed, military rule had arrived. It was a fact. http://www.gamji.com/nowa/nowa25.htm

zendy:

Nonsense. Suspension of parts of the constitution, limitation of press freedom and centralising of powers. These are the hallmarks of every Military rule, anywhere in world. There was no way Ironsi could rule as if he was a civilian ruler. What is important here is if Ironsi introduced the unitary system. Who abolished the regions? Who created States? Who took away resource control and federal fiscal policy? Certainly not Ironsi. Therefore, Ironsi cannot be blamed for the unitary system. But even if Ironsi was the one who did this, who sustained it? Those who killed Irondi said that one of the major reasons they did this was his introduction of unitary rule, why didn't they keep the regions and abrogate the decree when they came to power? Why did the go against the confederation they agreed to in Ghana? Let's not fool ourselves. Murtala and co wanted to pull the North out of Nigeria, but when they were reminded of Oil, they reversed. The North had to get to the oil and the unitary system they claimed they were against was the perfect opportunity to do that. To this day, they are the major proponents of the unitary system

laudate:


The unification decree paved way for Gowon to come in later and create the states. Stop trying to rewrite history with your silly theories that have no basis in reality. Guy, your lack of understanding and knowledge is so painfully obvious yet, you keep refusing to educate yourself. When Aguiyi-Ironsi promulgated the Unification Decree No. 34 decree, what was it designed to achieve??

Then you turned round to say: " What is important here is if Ironsi introduced the unitary system....." What do you mean by 'If'? Oh, are you saying he did not introduce the unitary system?? And are you really being honest by claiming that: "therefore, Ironsi cannot be blamed for the unitary system?" Must you lie to get your points across? And then you went further to do a distracted dance into the realm of ridiculous antics by trying to deflect attention from Aguiyi-Ironsi and claiming that Gowon did not undo the unification decree done by Ironsi, instead he went ahead to create states. Abeg, stop this silliness.

The issue under discussion was that Aguiyi-Ironsi was the first person who destroyed the autonomy and federating structure of the regions, by enacting the unitary system. Every other thing that caused the decline of the regions started with that singular act. Stop trying to exonerate Ironsi, by beating around the bush and throwing Gown, Murtala Mohammed and co. into the mix! Stick to the topic please, and stop digressing using half-baked submissions.

zendy:

Oh so now it is Ironsi that paved the way for unitary rule? It's no longer him that introduced it? You Yorubas can peddle all the lies you like to protect you Hausa-Fulani overlords but one thing is certain.

The zoo must fall!!