₦airaland Forum

The late Major-General Johnson Thomas Umunnakwe Aguiyi-Ironsi was Nigeria’s first military head of state and he ruled as the Supreme Military Commander from the 1st of January 1966 till the day he was murdered on the 29th of July 1966 by a group of soldiers who rebelled against his government. When Ironsi was alive, he was known for carrying a crocodile-shaped swagger stick around.



Some believed the swagger stick had magical powers and Ironsi was overpowered and killed that day because he did not have his swagger stick with him (the truth of the matter is that the day Theophilus Danjuma led other rampaging soldiers to kill Ironsi, he was with his swagger stick which was the first thing that they grabbed and the soldiers even demanded that Danjuma break the stick as they feared Ironsi would disappear but he refused). Is it true that the stick was an embodiment of earth-ripping supernatural powers or a load of superstitious flap doodle?

The stick was named ‘Charlie’ and it was also referred to as ‘Aguiyi’ which means ‘crocodile’ or ‘beast of the water’ in General Ironsi’s native Igbo language. It was a kind of small stuffed crocodile mascot and the widespread belief then was that it helped make Ironsi bulletproof or even deflect bullets when he served in Congo where he was the Force Commander of the United Nations Operation in Congo on a peacekeeping mission. It is quite amazing how a tiny mascot will deflect bullets wheezing around with full velocities.

But his aide-de-camp, Senator Andrew Nwankwo (retired as a captain in the Nigerian Air Force), has dismissed such beliefs as crap. He said of the stick:

‘It was a swagger stick, which he made after his name Aguiyi (crocodile). It was in the Congo, when he was commanding the United Nations Forces, the Indian troops were to land at the Lumumbashi Airport but the Cameroon gendarmes went and blocked the place with trucks, so that the Indian soldiers will not land, so, he used a Land Rover and with the stagger stick waved as they were shouting, he was eventually able to convince them to remove the trucks. Many attributed that feat to extraordinary powers in his swagger stick. But there was nothing in it, it was just a stick. Ironsi was not fetish; he was a devoted Catholic and attended mass every morning, even the day he was killed.’

By the way, please note that carrying swagger sticks as a symbol of pride and authority was customary with high-ranking military officers of that time.

asha80:
do you the present location?it is around that abandoned Imo modern market site egbu...just look at the present traffic around there now and imagine what it would be like when the Shoprite opens...the shoprite is supposed to be located around the new owerri area

asha80:
Saw work going on the proposed shoprite site but hell that is the wrongest site.

judey1992:
proudly mbaise..... reppin Ahiazu mbaise for those that care. make money or die hard trying. #IseWuOtu

Creamish:
Lolz.. d guy means bizness...

emmysoftyou:
no how no how! Transformation must occur...
no need of shouting cos we re heading there...
God has bless imo state already and no amount of badmouthing or dirty fake pix on this thread can stop the state from reaching the sky(our limit)..

Zonacom:
Guy pls do something about the poo in your signature. Its too childish and stupid.

Abagworo:
To me keke should be banned from our major roads and replaced with cabs. The ugliest sight I behold driving in Owerri is the cluster of keke on highways. They should not be banned but restricted to inner city areas while some of them are empowered with subsidised taxi scheme.

RareDiamond:
Gov Rochas should endeavor to mark his roads after construction or rehabilitation

innervoice:
Recycling re-defined. Very creative.

stan241:
The guy doesn't really have a clue what he is saying and incase he's reading this Imo state teachers sepecially are earning higher than they have ever earned before

successmatters:
Rochas has been deducting money from civil servants in Imo, they have gone on protest marches before, ask questions.

kunle1960:
Osibanjo is a clown and a frustrated running mate of terrorist Buhari.Osinanjo is a stooge of Tinubu and above all,Osibanjo is telling lies because he upto 70years old.