The question we should ask mbu, was he there? If not should we trust the account of another person that has not testify to such? Mbu can decieve himself by saying they didnot kill Tafa, but what of the others that were execueted, from all indication head or tail tafa would have been killed, that was why he was saying his last prayers, as for people like Mbu that wake up one day and start fumigating shit like this we say well done.

@topic

I dont usually comment on this type of threads,which automatically degenerate to ethnic wars,but just to correct one impression:

Forty-four years after, the controversy over how Nigeria’s first Prime Minister, Alhaji Tafawa Balewa died may have been finally laid to rest.

Contrary to the widely-held belief, Nigerian soldiers did not kill the country’s first Commander- in-Chief in the bloody coup of 1966. Rather, Prime Minister Balewa succumbed to asthma, according to a key player in his government. He reportedly died while soldiers were taking him out of Lagos in the aftermath of the putsch.

Nigeria’s first High Commissioner to the United Kingdom and one of only three surviving members of the first Federal cabinet, Dr. Mathew Taiwo Mbu made this known to The Nation in an exclusive interview in Lagos.

quote from Dede1

This article lost the flavor of truthfulness when the author included the bolded section as part of this conjectural crap. The fact was Prime Minister Tafawa Balewa was never Commander-in-Chief of Nigerian armed forces.

Balewa was the de-facto commander-in-chief at the time of the  coup since Azikiwe was out of the country on his annual leave

The quality of discussions on this thread amaze me.
I didn't know nairalanders were this intelligent.

MrPrsdent:

@topic

I dont usually comment on this type of threads,which automatically degenerate to ethnic wars,but just to correct one impression:

quote from Dede1
Balewa was the de-facto commander-in-chief at the time of the  coup since Azikiwe was out of the country on his annual leave

And maybe you should take your former stance and stop commenting further! Dude, did it say "Defacto Commander In Chief" or "First Commander In Chief"?!!

Guys, why are we castigating Mbu or is the dispute forensic. Is it not because we constantly lie to one another and cannot effect closure. This is not another JFK caper. There should be enough solid and credible evidence to make Mbu's story credible or not. What we should be talking here are things not seen such as motive and circumstances.

I would rather want to know what his motivation is now and what motivated the actors in that particular theatre. Then it would be clear if he is moving sideways. Remember the bigger picture came shortly after. Over one million people died needlessly. Nigeria still hasn't and cannot recover because certain sections prefer the episode under the carpet.

Let him talk, good or bad and let it stir the hornets nest. How many people will continue to get killed and nobody knows how or why. In 40 years there would be endless conspiracy stories concerning Bola Ige, Harry Marshall and others. Only in a country of constant convenience built on lies and conspiracies. No one ever wants to admit wrongdoing.

bk.babe97y:

And maybe you should take your former stance and stop commenting further! Dude, did it say "Defacto Commander In Chief" or "First Commander In Chief"?!!

and whats your point exactly??

Guys if you ask me, i would say that this guy is saying the truth,The reason is that he has nothing to loose by saying it now,remember he is already and old man so it will be better he says the truth now before he goes to join his ancestors.
I am Ibo,as i am a Nigerian and i believe in unity hence i believe we should analyse the historical facts before making conclusions.The events surrounding 1966 will forever be a source of debates and theories because the principal actors are either dead or those that are alive will not want to say the actual facts(because they are the beneficiaries of this confusion that has continued to haunt us) in order to put this matter to rest let the nation move forward.But lets not forget one thing which all the principal actors in both coups acknowledged.Chief Awolowo was the one that was to be installed as the Prime minister.
We Ibos suffered the biafran war because of Ironsi's careless attitude.Why i said this is because his inaction in prosecuting Nzeogwu and Co was actually labelled by the Northern Officers(Murtala,Danjuma and Co) was labelled as tribalistic.If he had acted decisively then considering that a particular region was nursing bad blood already,the careless loss of lives would not have been,because if you look at 1966 the electoral violence was centred in the Western region the Igbos had nothing to loose in the political scheme of things,judging from the fact that we were amongst the top officers in the Military and Civil service and we also had captains of industry then too.Hence my conclusion is that Nzeogwu's stemmed from the feeling of saving the country at that time and installing a leadership that was more people oriented,and i also believe that the elder statesman revelation is infact Correct. I REST MY CASE

obynzo:

Guys if you ask me, i would say that this guy is saying the truth,The reason is that he has nothing to loose by saying it now,remember he is already and old man so it will be better he says the truth now before he goes to join his ancestors.
I am IGBO,as i am a Nigerian and i believe in unity hence i believe we should analyse the historical facts before making conclusions.The events surrounding 1966 will forever be a source of debates and theories because the principal actors are either dead or those that are alive will not want to say the actual facts(because they are the beneficiaries of this confusion that has continued to haunt us) in order to put this matter to rest let the nation move forward.But lets not forget one thing which all the principal actors in both coups acknowledged.Chief Awolowo was the one that was to be installed as the Prime minister.
We IGBOS suffered the biafran war because of Ironsi's careless attitude.Why i said this is because his inaction in prosecuting Nzeogwu and Co was actually labelled by the Northern Officers(Murtala,Danjuma and Co) was labelled as tribalistic.If he had acted decisively then considering that a particular region was nursing bad blood already,the careless loss of lives would not have been,because if you look at 1966 the electoral violence was centred in the Western region the Igbos had nothing to loose in the political scheme of things,judging from the fact that we were amongst the top officers in the Military and Civil service and we also had captains of industry then too.Hence my conclusion is that Nzeogwu's stemmed from the feeling of saving the country at that time and installing a leadership that was more people oriented,and i also believe that the elder statesman revelation is infact Correct. I REST MY CASE

IGBO.

abadaba:

IGBO.

wow, low self esteem at its best!

MrPrsdent:

and whats your point exactly??

The point he was making is that Tafa might be the defacto C in C when he was arrested, but he was definitely not the country first C in C as claimed in the report. get it?

@Katsumoto:
Like I said previously, I don't care why he said it. I am not about to pontificate. I will stick to facts.
1. Balewa was abducted by Ifeajuna
2. Balewa was found dead
3. There are official accounts which state that Balewa was shot by Ifeajuna
4. Mbu was not present at Balewa's murder.
5. Mbu is making these claims knowing fully well that ALL actors in that episode are dead.

All the actors are not dead. Captain Ben Gulie, Nwaobosi and I think Ademoyega are still alive

OAM4J:

The point he was making is that Tafa might be the defacto C in C when he was arrested, but he was definitely not the country first C in C as claimed in the report. get it?

You really got the time. . . . . You really think the fool aint understand what I was putting across? But, these folks like to play all types of deceitful games just to win a point; I choose to ignore when I've made my point!

bk.babe97y:

You really got the time. . . . . You really think the [b]fool [/b]aint understand what I was putting across? But, these folks like to play all types of deceitful games just to win a point; I choose to ignore when I've made my point!

sorry Prof, Move On. I only looked interested.

obynzo:


We Ibos suffered the biafran war because of Ironsi's careless attitude.Why i said this is because his inaction in prosecuting Nzeogwu and Co was actually labelled by the Northern Officers(Murtala,Danjuma and Co) was labelled as tribalistic.If he had acted decisively then considering that a particular region was nursing bad blood already

I disagree with you on Ironsi.He was being diplomatic about the whole issue.Even if he refuses to prosecute Nzeogwu and co, I don't see that as a good reason to start killing Igbos across the country.I believe that was born out of envy for the property acquisition tendency inherent in Igbos.

Abagworo:

I disagree with you on Ironsi.He was being diplomatic about the whole issue.Even if he refuses to prosecute Nzeogwu and co, I don't see that as a good reason to start killing Igbos across the country.I believe that was born out of envy for the property acquisition tendency inherent in Igbos.

So you are supporting Ironsi for turning a blind eye and pardoning Nzeogwu along with his cohorts. . . .the north cried for justice but he chose to protect his kinsman that committed treasonable felony.there is nothing diplomatic other than official perjury and abuse of office which led to the prsent day ethnic problems

ARROBA:

@Katsumoto:
Like I said previously, I don't care why he said it. I am not about to pontificate. I will stick to facts.
1. Balewa was abducted by Ifeajuna
2. Balewa was found dead
3. There are official accounts which state that Balewa was shot by Ifeajuna
4. Mbu was not present at Balewa's murder.
5. Mbu is making these claims knowing fully well that ALL actors in that episode are dead.

All the actors are not dead. Captain Ben Gulie, Nwaobosi and I think Ademoyega are still alive

Ademoyega is dead as well. He died 2/3 years ago.
You know in Nigeria anything goes. People are bribed to give falsified evidence. For example Bola Ige's murder. Those who claimed the saw bullet wounds on Tafawa's decomposed body might have lied because Ndigbo were involved. Only God knows.

~Bluetooth:

So you are supporting Ironsi for turning a blind eye and pardoning Nzeogwu along with his cohorts. . . .the north cried for justice but he chose to protect his kinsman that committed treasonable felony.there is nothing diplomatic other than official perjury and abuse of office which led to the prsent day ethnic problems

Ironsi did not pardon Nzeogwu. Nzogwu was still under lock when Ironsi was overthrown.

MrPrsdent:

sorry Prof, Move On. I only looked interested.

How long have you been dying to use that line?

Andre Uweh:

Ironsi did not pardon Nzeogwu. Nzogwu was still under lock when Ironsi was overthrown.

Do you know the punishment for coup under military decree ? I doubt if it's just keeping suspects under lock and key that is involved. Why didn't he prosecute them ?

~Bluetooth:

Do you know the punishment for coup under military decree ? I doubt if it's just keeping suspects under lock and key that is involved. Why didn't he prosecute them ?

There were plans to put them on trial but the Ironsi regime was short lived.

what if Mbu is right can any one here say Mbu is nearer to the event than all of us and we must learn to listen to our elder   what is History Mbu is giving us his own history, he is not there but has a 1st class info more than all of us.
The coup was meant to install Awolowo, but he was the person who advise that all S-Easterners be given 25pounds of all their savings, how Yoruba can be slippery

chiozor:

what if Mbu is right can any one here say Mbu is nearer to the event than all of us and we must learn to listen to our elder   what is History Mbu is giving us his own history, he is not there but has a 1st class info more than all of us.
The coup was meant to install Awolowo, but he was the person who advise that all S-Easterners be given 25pounds of all their savings, how Yoruba can be slippery

Another member of the Insane Clown Posse. . . . .

Here is another view from a news article written by Femi Falana on the same issue after the initial report credited to Chief Mbu:

This is why it is so important for us to learn about our history properly, to read as widely as possible and to do our own research before we just accept and believe whatever anyone may tell us about our past.  Chief Matthew Mbu is a man that I have  tremendous respect and affection for and he is undoubtedly one of our most eminent elder statesmen and nationalists. He is also a father to me so I do find it difficult to say what I am about to say. Yet the truth must be told no matter what and no matter whose ox is gored. And the truth is that the elder statesman's assertion that Sir Tafawa Balewa, the former Prime Minister of Nigeria, was not murdered by soldiers and that he in fact died ofasthma is a sordid and shameful attempt at distorting history. It is nothing but historical revisionism. 


It is simply not true to say that Ifejuana did not kill Tafawa Balewa and that the man just died of an asthma attack after being abducted. The man was shot and his body was left to decompose. It is not true to say that there was no autopsy report. There was. After the body was found it was taken to LUTH and an autopsy was conducted by the head of the pathology department in that hospital. The findings were that he had been shot to death. Dr.Moses Majekodunmi, who was the Minister of Health at the time, can confirm this. After murdering Balewa in cold blood on the Abeokuta road Ifejuana fled to Enugu because by that time it was clear that the coup had failed. When he got to Enugu he met withChristopher Okigbo who he was very friendly with and Okigbo smuggled him out of the country from where he fled to Ghana. He later came back to Biafra and both he and Okigbo fought on the Biafran side during the war. Okigbo was killed at the war front and Ifejuana was executed by Ojukwu for plotting a coup against him too. Mbu is basing his assertion on reports that he was given by Christopher Okigbo. One wonders what he expected Okigbo to say other than that because not only was Ifejuana his best friend but he was also in the know and part of the conspiracy during that first coup. Of course he would not want to admit to anyone that Balewa was murdered by his best friend and co-conspirator. 


These men were cold blooded murderers and cowards and we must not let Mbu or anyone else attempt to revise history before our very eyes. Ifejuana not only shot Balewa after allowing him to pray but he also mutilated his body and left it to rot in the bush by the roadside. We owe it to Balewa, his family, all the others that were killed, abducted and brutalised on the night of Jan. 15th 1966 by Major Nzeogwu and his fellow mutineers and murderers that night, the Nigerian people, our children and posterity to let the truth be known. I also question the motives of Chief Mbu for telling this strange and ridiculous story which is nothing but a lie 44 years after the event. The next thing that people like that will tell us is that Sir Ahmadu Bello, Chief S.L. Akintola, Brigadier Maimalari, Brigadier Ademulegun and his 8 month pregnant wife, Col. Largema, Col. Sodeinde, Chief Festus Okotie-Eboh ,  Col. Yakubu Pam and all the others that were cut short that night died of the flu. This is so unfair and so disrespectful to the dead and their families. My own father was almost killed that night too and he was forced to witness the brutal murder of his friend S.L. Akintola, the former Premier of the west, by this same gang of wicked and heartless thugs. I remember the events of that time very well and I personally witnessed the events of what happened in our house when the soldiers came for my father too and took him away. 


If no-one else will tell the truth and set the record straight about these events, I certainly will. It was what those boys did that night that led to the northern officers counter/revenge coup of July 1966 in which General Ironsi, Colonel Fajuyi and 300 Igbo army officers were killed and it also led to the terrible pogroms of Igbo civilians in the north which in turn led to the civil war. These are terrible events from a terrible time and none of like to talk about it because it is painful and inflammatory. But the fact that we don't talk about it does not mean that we should sit back and allow someone to revise history. We must set the record straight, we must never allow our people to forget what happened and we must always be courageous enough to come out and tell the truth. This is the only way that we can ensure that this sort of thing never happens again.   


If anyone has any doubts about what I have said here I urge them to please go and ask some of our most eminent elder statesmen who were very active at the time, who were deeply involved in governance then and who are still alive today like President Shehu Shagari, Dr.Moses Majekodunmi(the former  Minister of Health in the first republic who was a personal friend of Balewa's and who was very close to him), Chief Richard Akinjide(the former Minister of Education in the fist republic), General T.Y. Danjuma, General Yakubu Gowon, President Olusegun Obasanjo, Alhaji Inua Wada(the former Minister of Defence in the first republic, Alhaji Maitama Sule and so many others. They can also read an excellent book which is Balewa’s biography titled "A Right Honorable Gentleman" and which was written by a British historian and colonial officer at the time by the name of Trevor West. For further confirmation they can also reach three of the most respected, objective, authoratative Nigerian historians and authors of this generation who are all, in my view, of the highest standard and who are all extreemly knowledgeable about the events of those days and our history generally.  They are Mr. Max Siollun, Mr. Ayo Akinfe (both of whom are based in and write from London) and Mr. Akin Ajose-Adeogun who is based in Lagos. 


There was also a formal investigation into the matter which was conducted by the Special Branch Department of the British police and they produced a report which confirmed the fact that Balewa had been shot by Ifejuana. I should also add that Mbu was the Foreign Minister for Biafra. So really what we are witnessing here is the questionable testimony of two Biafran sympathisers, Christopher Okigbo and Chief Mbu, who are trying to clean up the image of a cold blooded and ruthless murderer by the name of Major Emmanuel Ifejuana who was one of the most prominent officers of the Biafran army.  The truth is that Ifejuana's hands were dripping with Nigerian blood before he died and for anyone to now try to absolve him of the murder of Tafawa Balewa or anyone else that he killed  is sad and unfortunate. Interestingly enough just as he betrayed his leaders in Nigeria and killed some of them, the same man betrayed the leader of Biafra,  Col. Odumegwu Ojukwu, too by planning a coup against him. He was caught and he was executed by firing squad. Treachery and homicidal tendencies were both in his blood.   

Chief Femi Fani-Kayode was the spokesperson to President Olusegun Obasanjo; he subsequently became Minister of Tourism & Culture & later served as Aviation Minister for Federal Republic of Nigeria. He is currently vying for the position of Governor in Osun State (South-West, Nigeria).

Sorry guys. it was actually written by Femi Fani-Kayode

Andre Uweh:

There were plans to put them on trial but the Ironsi regime was short lived.

For how many months ? The delayed justice did led to the counter-coup.

Ah, I thought all these lying Ibo scoundrels have been saying "What has Mbu got to gain from lying?". What they failed to inform us was that the old thug was BIAFRAN FOREIGN MINISTER!!!! I swear, by the day, it shows that these Ibo men are irredeemable liars and deceits!

http://nigerianwiki.com/wiki/Matthew_Mbu

I still do not understand why Igbos were killed in 1966.It is insane saying that all Igbos should be killed because some few people of mixed ethnicity attempted an unsuccessful coup d'etat.Very absurd!We must be barbaric to even imagine such act.

For the first time I agree on something with Femi Fani-Kayode.
Mbu's comment is just a lame attempt at Historical revisionism.
He and people like him should just let sleeping dogs lie and let us find ways to forge a united and prosperous nation.

Abagworo:

I still do not understand why Igbos were killed in 1966.It is insane saying that all Igbos should be killed because some few people of mixed ethnicity attempted an unsuccessful coup d'etat.Very absurd!We must be barbaric to even imagine such act.

Mixed ethnicity indeed! If u kill a single member of my family, I wont relent until ur whole clan is wiped off the face of the earth. Dont play dumb, that is the way of the world; end of!

~Bluetooth:

For how many months ? The delayed justice did led to the counter-coup.

It I s therefore justified to kill igbos.The counter-coup is enough.

bk.babe97y:

Ah, I thought all these lying Ibo scoundrels have been saying "What has Mbu got to gain from lying?". What they failed to inform us was that the old thug was BIAFRAN FOREIGN MINISTER!!!! I swear, by the day, it shows that these Ibo men are irredeemable liars and deceits!

http://nigerianwiki.com/wiki/Matthew_Mbu

From the Wiki page

After the proscription of political activities and the regional system of government by the military, Mbu was later made a delegate to the 1966 Ad Hoc conference under Gowon where[b] the Eastern delegates presented points on returning to regional autonomy.[/b] He later joined the Eastern government's secession move and became the Biafran minister of foreign affairs.

The same Regional Autonomy the North had wanted since the time before independence. The same thing they wanted after the Nzeogwu Coup in January 1966. It was Ironsi with the backing of some Southern "Intelligentsia" who took Nigeria into a Unitary system of government. 6 months after they started singing the tune of Regional autonomy. Goes to show that no tribe has the monopoly of violence.