₦airaland Forum

Benjamin Adekunle was all mouth and no deeds. When the 3MCDO captured Bonny, Calaber and Port Harcourt through amphibious operation, the division was massively supported by NNS Lokoja, NNS Nigeria, NNS Ogoja and NNS Eungu. The armada was under the supervision of Capt. Nelson Soroh, ably supported by Lt Cmdrs Akin Aduwo, H. Abdulahi and British naval officers. 

When Adekunle and 3MCDO advanced into the hinterlands were the protection from the heavy guns on the frigates cease to exist, Adekunle’s lack of military tactics became glaringly conspicuous. Almost all the brigades under his commander were retreating, scattering or sending SOS to Lagos. The commanders at HQ in Lagos felt they had enough blunders from Adekunle and he was redeployed to Apapa Wharf as a traffic officer. I guess it is only Ogbomosho chap that could be disgraced from divisional commander to traffic warden.

Adekunle has every reason to be upset with Ojukwu. In the Teshie, Ghana, Adekunle had to burn midnight oil and his eyes almost pop from his head in order to pass the course that would enable him to attend RMA, Sandhurst, UK. It is no gainsaying Ojukwu was the young lieutenant that taught the course in West African Military Officers Cadet School. Ojukwu flunked Adekunle once and flunked Obasanjo three times that saw Obasanjo off to Indian Military Academy instead of Sandhurst, UK.

@dayokanu

Among the divisional commanders of Nigerian army during civil war, Adekunle was second worse. When a division-strength army unit encounters a battalion, the commander of division, if loudmouthed like Adekunle, would trumpet his inconsequential gains to the world. However when the same commander is matched with division-strength unit, the incompetence of such commander shines like a star in sky.

I guess dayokanu did not realize that the same ragtag army reduced Adekunle to a traffic control officer in  Apapa Wharf, Lagos after 17, 16, 15 and 13 brigades of 3MCDO were routed and scattered by the 60, 63, 52 and 68 Brigades of “S” Division of Biafran army.

You can inquire from Lt Col Alani Akirinande, Majors Felimon Shande, George Inninh, E Utuk, Oni and Makanjuola the caliber of GOC Adekunle really was.

PhysicsMHD:
1. Then who did abolish the regions? Why do I have the feeling that this is just semantics? This wouldn't be the first time.

2. What was the post-1960 Western region doing spending so much of that cocoa money only on the Western region if some super-powerful federal government was actually controlling each region's resources? To the best of my knowledge, they were not stopped in spending it only on themselves. Same with groundnut for the North.

3. A decree with abolishes regional governments has nothing to do with system of government? Please explain.

4. Can you provide any evidence concerning these Emirs exploiting LGA's for nepotistic acts and what relation this could have to the motivations of the July counter-coup plotters?


5. How was the civil service divided in such a way that the Emirs and/or Northern soldiers were separate and able to exploit the system for corrupt or nepotistic practices that they would be unable to practice when the civil service of all the regions were united? If a Northern civilian government came to power at the center after Ironsi's change of civil service and LGA's, what would stop that Northern led federal government from not only re-instituting nepotism, but possibly applying it over a wider spread than just the north - for example, appointing some unqualified Northern relative of an Emir or Fulani nobility as some commissioner or official in Lagos, Port Harcourt, Benin, Enugu etc.?

Isn't it obvious that the only way that could possibly be stopped would be if a regional government in the West, East, and Midwest had some degree of independent authority and prevented this northern civilian government from doing so? But when you eliminate all authority independent of the center, no major group can be stopped from doing so - "Hausa=Fulanis." Yorubas, and of course, Igbos. Perhaps you can now see what the Northerners saw. Nobody thought too highly of Ironsi after his governance - not Ojukwu (read Emeka, where he lets Forsyth just portray Ironsi as a dummy), not Nwobosi, not Ademoyega, and Victor Banjo thought Ironsi's actions proved he was so silly he needed to be eliminated (and Banjo attempted to do it himself but was caught) without any concerns about LGA's or nepotism.

Was Lt Col David Ejoor governor of what state? And you thought that coal money was not also spent on eastern region? Did you ever think that war of attrition would have been precipitated on eastern region if crude oil was not struck in the region? Please read the “The Five Majors” by Ben Gbulie and “Why We Struck” by Ademoyaega you will certainly left existence of nefarious nepotism orchestrated by the northern region traditional leaders.

Katsumoto:
You can carry on till kingdom come but Nigeria had an elected democracy and the murder of a few politicians should not lead to the truncation of the nascent democracy. If it were so, every time an American president was asassassinatedthe military would take over. As long as a nation has citizens who have been elected or are capable of being elected, the military has no right or business in taking over. No soldier, I repeat, no soldier has the requisite training or right to lead a country. We only have to look at successive military governments to know that African soldiers are not equipped to lead their countries.

Based on your weak argument, I put it to you that you only argue that Ironsi was right to take over because he was Igbo. Since the NPC rejected Mbu as the choice of NCNC for the position of PM preferring its own candidate (Dipcharima) Orizu preferred to handover to Ironsi because he was a fellow Igbo. That is the reason the coup was called an Igbo coup. You can't eat your cake and have it. For all the moral arguments that supported the coup, it was tarnished by its manner and execution. The subsequent actions of Igbo sons also lent credence to that point.

Why do some Igbo sons think that they are the only ones who are smart? Do you think that the rest of us are fools. Igbo sons went and killed every prominent soldier and politician who wasn't Igbo. Another Igbo son capitalised on the opportunity offered by the murder prominent citizens. Then Igbo politicians equally sought to capitalise on the situation but when that failed, Orizu preferred to handover to Ironsi another Igbo.

Na tree wey near tree na hin make monkey dey smart.

I would not have joined issue with you if indeed what happened in January 15, 1966 was mere killing of few politicians as you would like to claim. Nigeria had no elected or unelected government as at the morning of January 16, 1966. You seemed to have hailed from a Nigeria known to me. Tafawa government had been overthrown, the parliament dissolved by the coup plotters and all political activities, including political parties, banned.

If Ironsi did not miraculously hold to the command of the section of Nigerian army in Lagos, we would not have this dialogue.

Katsumoto:
It was a coup. The Ifeajuna coup was crushed and there were people who could have taken over but were prevented from doing so by Ironsi. It is not clear the role other officers played in this regard.

This is another insidious smear campaign against Ironsi. Ironsi was invited to takeover the reigns of government of Nigeria by the constitutional constituted authority. By the time Ironsi was handed over power, he has slight command of the military formations within Lagos and did not know the extent of coup. It must be recall that Nzeogwu was still in control in certain part of northern region.

Negotiation rather the crush immensely contributed to the demise of the January 15, 1966 coup. I can not believe the mentality of certain Nigerians not to grasp there was not any politician cable of handling the affairs of the county except the military. The so-called politicians had no power to congregate, they were sacked from power by Nzeogwu and Co, few of them had been eliminated and score were hiding under some widow’s bed.

Katsumoto:
No one is stating that Nigeria practiced complete federalism; what they are stating is that there was a federal structure which was abrogated by Decree 34, implemented by Ironsi. Plain and simple, there was no unitary system before Ironsi. Gowon implemented decree 8, which was rejected by Ojukwu. To check Ojukwu, Gowon created more states. State creation is not antithetic to federalism.


Also, the state governors who implemented Sharia and went against the constitution and president did not have state of emergency imposed on their states.

It is unfortunate that people tend to throw caution into the winds in order to register a inconsequential point due to tribal pressure. Ironsi’s regime was not ushered into existence due to plebiscite. It was a military regime that has no use for political parties, legislative bodies constituted of elected members and public civil service controlled by local Emirs.

Granted that provinces were introduced due to Decree #34, Nigeria was not caved up into multitude of provinces in the power structure but still remain in the configuration of four regions with military administrators instead of premiers. The elected legislative bodies were replaced by the appointees since political parties were abolished. The political structure in terms of regional and federal jurisdictions did not change. As far as I am concern, change from the regional to provisional to state governments as well as tertiary governments such as County Council to Provisional Government to Local Government Council are pure nomenclatural exercise. At the end of the day, since in 1960, the power of governance in Nigeria flows from the central government and delegated to regional or state governments.

Gowon claimed to have abrogated the decree #34 and yet retained some if not all the vestiges of the decree #34 including National Public Service Commission which is still in use today. Gowon went further to abolish the regional government for state governments hence the 12 states of Nigeria. I cease to engage in dialogue of this emptiness if Gowon’s actions in usurpation of power and creation of 12 states led by appointed both military, police and civil governors or administrators are not antithetic to federalism.

Silly, dull and idle mind poses silly and idiotic questions or makes foolish statements. Probably the silly name, Ikengwao or the original poster’s surname is the creation of British. Nothing makes any body look more stupid than posing foolish questions or making dumb statements. Anyway, some people are efulefu extraordinary.

ola olabiy:
Are you trying to defend Ironsi?A man who was solely responsible for the marginalisation of the Igbos today. You had a unique opportunity in Nigeria before the coup. He blew it all and you lost your privileged position.
Sorry, man.

He was so silly.

I have not yet cultivated the culture of defending Aguiyi Ironsi in any way or form. Of course, Ironsi was silly in more ways than one but Unitary System of government
definitely not one of them. My attempt was to stand fact on its feet. People keep throwing the Unitary System phrase recklessly in their write-ups without drawing parallel understanding to other system of government.

Today’s Nigeria is Unitary System as it was since 1960. There has never been a true federalism in Nigeria where regions or even states have their police force, control of municipal airports and control of resources from the state or region. Some loonies have even ascribed that Ironsi killed true federalism in Nigeria. How can Ironsi kill what actually did not exist?

Unitary system is government where the central government is supreme and delegates certain powers to regional or state government. In today’s Nigeria if any State Governor attempts to politically disagree with the President, the governor’s state with be slammed with state of emergency.

Again, some of the political national landmarks changed by the decree enacted by Ironsi includded the abolition  of Local Government Authority, which was a bastion of nepotism through the Emirs and unification of civil service code, the same code Nigeria uses today.

@Post

Government has no iota of business in the manner a person spends hard earned money. Nigerian roads are abusing Nigerians everyday and jackasses could not do a thing about the poor condition of the roads. Nigeria is indeed a useless country.

@PhysicsMHD and Co

Please let be known that Ironsi did not Abolish Regional Governments in Nigeria. There has never been a time federalism flourished in Nigeria. During the so-called first republic, the armed forces and police were controlled by the central government, the most resources of the regions were controlled by federal government and all the air and sea ports are controlled by the government at the center. I guess some folks have serious reading to perform.

There were four regions in federation under Ironsi regime and operated as when under Tafawa. The major difference was the military governors replaced the regional premiers.

Gowon abolished the regions and introduced 12 states in 1967. 

The unification decree actual has little or nothing with the system of government. It unified the civil service and vacated the authority of Emirs as found in Local Govt. Authority. The instances of this action terrified the northerners who had benefited from the nepotism perpetrated by machinations of Local Govt. Authority. Most of the beneficiaries of the mentioned nepotism were the coup plotters of July 29, 1966 who wore the uniform of Nigerian army officer which they are not qualified to wash. They really thought that unification of civil service code was a tactical approach to kick them out of the army.

@POST

If the statements contained in the posted article which is credited to one Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi are slip of the tongue and the Mallam still retains his job as governor of Nigerian central bank, I say Nigeria is a practical joke.

This type of statement has no fiscal depth instead it is a load of divisive utterance capable of instigating financial meltdown in country partially engulfed in sectarian riots.

Did the Mallam get lost in thought that Nigeria should also have Christian banking or Traditional banking?

KunleOshob:
@dede1
It is you and your whole lineage that are compound fools, if you bothered to read the OP and you understand english comprehension your peanut sized brain would have told you that the question is in the context of how he can afford to finance his presidential campaigns on a routine basis.

I do not engage imbe.ciles in dialogue. No wonder Nigeria is led by nincompoops such as you and will continue in a retrogressive path to self-destruction. If your parents ever paid anything for your scholastic growth, I suggest they go for a refund.

People say silly mind begets silly question. Again regardless of the context, anybody who poses a question seeking to know what a retiree does for living is a compound fool.

I shall only suggest you rephrase your idiotic question to reflect whatever nonsensical conjures you have in your inadequate closet mind. You still have the time to do so. Olodo

seanet03: The fact is we YORUBAS hold the key to unlock this mystery called Nigeria! We are the only Tribe that can Single handedly Break away from this Country without the North nor the East daring to Launch any military attack no matter how they about it. We will soon break away. Just a matter of time.

What a shameless troll. The year, 1966 , is not a four century ago that our memories have been completely jolted and our retentive senses have malfunctioned. May I direct your dilapidated senses to the incidences that happened after July 29, 1966 coup when the son of soil was audaciously killed in Ibadan and another son of the soil was told in no uncertain terms to take a hike?

The leader of the drunken northern regional soldiers who spilt the blood of Yoruba boys in Ibadan also sat comfortably in Lagos while many Yoruba extractions either scampering into Dahomy or supplying the northern regional soldiers with fine Yoruba girls or lining up to serve under the command of northern soldiers of Nigerian army as means to placate northern regional soldiers and politicians.

One might think that above is enough damage to their psychic, but the government of western region of Nigeria embarked on the most disgraceful propaganda spewing that Fajuyi volunteered to die with Ironsi. Most Nigerians are not fools or gullible dimwits to totally forget the debacle in Ilorin which involved Afonja.

Please folk try to grow up for a change.

@OP

The post is not only laughable but bloody goofy and wasteful endeavor.

@OP

Anybody who poses a question seeking to know what a retiree does for a living is compound fool. Why it is so that whatever Nigerians do not agree or subscribe seemed to drive them sentimentally crazy?

seanet02:
They are fighting over who has the right to sell the land to chinese industrialists. Only God can rate ibos from the love of money

Good to inform us the reason behind the bloodbath in Ota, Ogun State recently. The rat in the bush does not know where the landlord hides the dried fish.

Mobinga:
lol. I thought I murdered you on the other thread?

By the way NO BATTALION was CAMPED IN ELELE!!

What a Moby-di-ck. You are a jackass son of a drooling saboteur.

Mobinga:

Ndiigbo where are you lazy twats.

http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/News/Metro/Politics/5671736-146/army_establishes_new_brigade_in_the.csp

[b]Army establishes new brigade in the east

Jude Atupulazi

February 2, 2011 02:27AM
Print print Email email Share Share


A new brigade of the Nigerian Army has been established in south east Nigeria, general officer commanding the 82nd Division of the Nigerian Army, Enugu, Sarkin Yaki Bello has said.

Mr Bello said this when he paid a courtesy call on the Anambra State governor in government house Awka. He said the establishment of the new Brigade, known as 14 Brigade, by the Nigeria Army in the East with headquarters at Ohafia, Abia State, was in line with the vision of the Chief of Army Staff towards the transformation of the Army to meet contemporary challenges, including kidnapping and bombing.

The commander who said he was also in Anambra State to formally introduce himself to the governor, Peter Obi, said he has heard a lot about the governor's great concern for security and thanked him for all the assistance he has been offering his men, appealing to him not to relent.

Speaking further, the commander declared that the operation to rid Aba of criminals recorded 95% success and assured that the Army will not rest until 100% success was achieved.

He said their eyes are equally on Anambra which he said is within the operational jurisdiction of his division. "I will be attending the state's security meetings now and then for routine advice on security matters, especially from the experience I have garnered as the commander of Joint forces in many troubled areas," Mr Bello said.

Responding, the governor thanked the Army commander for the visit and assured that he is free to call at any time. Mr Obi also commended him for restoring security to Abia State.
Back [/b]

There are morons, inherent imbeciles and irredeemable jackasses. I bet the original poster of this thread qualified for all the three categories. The last time I check though, 82nd (airborne and amphibious) division has been home to Aligbo via Enugu since 1975. In addition, the regiments and battalions that are composite of this division were camped across all the states of the defunct eastern region of Nigeria as well as Benue and Taraba. For example, the 34th artillery brigade has been camped in Owerri since the end of civil war, 2nd Brigade in Igwe Ocha and 212 artilary battalion in Elele.   

Why should a fool at forty always have the knack to display inherent stupidity?

If the T.A. Orji has been elected governor of Abia State, anybody from Ngwaland is qualified to be governor of Abia State.

Katsumoto:


Don't mind Dede1; Tafawa Balewa was elected PM but the reason why there was no PM was because Zik refused to swear him in. Hence why it was called a constitutional crisis. Dede1 is just playing with words.

The general election does not elect PM. When the parliament is dissolved and a new election scheduled, the position of PM ceases to exist. The Permanent Secretaries run their respective ministries until election is conducted. A sitting PM could loose a re-election bid. Even when the sitting PM wins reelection bid, the position of PM could be contested by any person from PM’s party. It is even worse when there is a coalition government where the coalition partners have equal stake to PM position.

It is intellectually dishonesty to write or insinuate that Tafawa Balewa has been reelected as PM when the coalition partners frowned at the alleged massive rigging by NPC.

[quote author=X-factoria link=topic=595963.msg7647135#msg7647135 date=1296575310]So we should disregard Akinjide (SAN, former Attorney General and Minister of Justice) and believe you Dede (a nonentity) Your sheer arrogance can only lead to destruction!!

Then, which constitution empowers Orizu to hand-over to the military when an agreement could not be reached on the choice of a PM?[/quote]You are a typical Nigerian who is so lazy to seek knowledge and would solely occupy him/her self with vanity such as SAN. You are a retar.ded mor.on. I am not a hero worshiper.

Why do you not ask Akinjide if the nomination of party candidates for the post of PM is done at the house of a fellow politician? In fact, I do not entertain comments from wily imbeciles such as you.

The tribal icon, Richard Akinjide, has audacious pedigree to spew crap because Ironsi miraculous held on to the command of the army in certain section of Lagos. I guess it is the same Akinjide who could not venture close to a mile of his resident during the moment in discuss.

I thought you know your history. The government headed by PM Tafawa Balewa had been overthrown. Also, some members of the parliament had been eliminated.

Given the situation at hand, if the parties in coalition government could not agree to consensus candidate for PM the president had constitutional mandate to dissolve the parliament and apply the necessary means to arrest the situation.

Katsumoto:
And how do you drescribe the word constitional crisis when you have the following
1. President refused to swear-in PM
2. Chief Justice is called for interpretation of law
3. Service chiefs explained to Zik that they answer to PM

You can disagree with everything but I don't really care. Your opinion doesn't trump publicly available information. It's the other way around. For those interested in the facts, see below.

'7. Constitutional crisis of January 1965: Following the controversial Federal Election of December 1964, ceremonial President Azikiwe of the NCNC, urged by radical intelligentsia, refused to invite Prime Minister Balewa of the NPC to form a government and issued orders mobilizing the Army to enforce his authority to suspend the government, annul the elections and appoint a temporary interim administrator to conduct elections. However, the oath of allegiance of the officer corps was not only to the Commander in Chief but also to the government of Nigeria. The Army Act (#26 of 1960) and the Navy Act (#9 of 1960) were also clear on lines of authority and control. While the Army and Navy were "under the general authority" of the Defence
Minister in matters of "command, discipline and administration", the authority for operational use and control was vested in the Council of Ministers and the Prime Minister. President Azikiwe and the service chiefs were so advised by the Chief Justice and Attorney General of the Federation. Thus the Navy Commander, Commodore Wey politely told the President that the Navy (under him), the Army (under Major General Welby-Everard) and the Police (under Louis Edet) had decided to refuse his orders. After a week of cliff hanging tension, in which the military stood aside, a political compromise was eventually reached and a government of "national unity" formed under Prime Minister Balewa. In the US Diplomatic Archives: Nigeria
1964-1968, the situation was characterized in this manner: "Very complicated African politics, in which tribes, religions and economics all play a part, are involved in the situation. The Northern Premier is at odds with the Eastern Premier in whose region large oil deposits have been discovered. In the heat of the election campaign, there have been threats of secession by the east; threats of violence "that would make Congo look like child's play" from the north, " At the same time, strong rumors of an impending Army coup purportedly planned for the annual Army Shooting competition were also heard in political circles. But the status quo held, albeit temporarily.'

http://www.dawodu.com/omoigui5.htm

Sometimes Nigerians shoot themselves on the foot while in a hest to rubbish ethnic group other than theirs. You can not have constitutional crisis when there is no PM. The coalition partners were still ruminating on the fallout about massive rigging of the just concluded election allegedly by NPC. Western region was in flames as result of the outcome of the election.

Yes, Zik has refused to call Tafawa to form a government so as to be swear-in as the PM. Also, the constitution has given explicit provision to PM on the deployment of troops and police. What the Omoigui did not include that Head of State has partially granted provision to deploy troops and police. It was about politics because when the dust settled, NPC and NCNC still joined effort to form the government.

Katsumoto:
A write-up which supports some of my points as well as add to the original discussion about Ironsi.

'The majority of those murdered were northerners, accompanied by some westerners and two Midwesterners.No easterner lost his or her life.On January 16, rather than approve the appointment of Zanna Bukar Dipcharima, a politician of northern origin, as acting Prime Minister, the acting President, Nwafor Orizu, himself of eastern origin, handed over power to Major-General JTU Aguiyi-Ironsi, the GOC of the Nigerian Army, also of eastern origin. This was allegedly at the behest of the rump cabinet, allegedly to enable Ironsi put down the revolt which, as of then, had already failed in southern Nigeria.Until it became apparent recently in separate testimony by Alhaji Shehu Shagari and Chief Richard Akinjide, it had always been publicly assumed in the lay Press that the hand-over was voluntary although unconstitutional - since no such provision existed in the Nigerian constitution.However, it does seem that as far back as 1969, Martin Dent pointed out the involuntary nature of the so-called hand-over in an academic paper, based on an interview with Alhaji Shettima Ali Monguno.

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. [b]Ironsi told us that "you either hand over as gentlemen or you hand-over by force". Those were his words. [/b]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. [b]The acting President, Nwafor Orizu, who did not cooperate with us, cooperated with the GOC. [/b]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.

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. [/b]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. [b]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.

In fact [b]President Azikiwe’s personal physician, Dr. Humphrey Idemudia Idehen, abandoned him abroad when he got tired of the “health trip”, having run out of his personal estacode allowance, unaware that there may have been a good reason why Azikiwe did not want to return to Nigeria, after their original planned return date in December 1965 passed.Not even the Commonwealth Leaders’ Conference hosted for the first time by the country in early January was incentive enough for the President to return, for obvious reasons of protocol.[/b]However, after the coup, in a statement to the Press in England on January 16, among other things, Azikiwe did not condemn the coup per se, but said: “Violence has never been an instrument used by us, as founding fathers of the Nigerian Republic, to solve political problems. ….I consider it most unfortunate that our 'Young Turks' decided to introduce the element of violent revolution into Nigerian politics. No matter how they and our general public might have been provoked by obstinate and perhaps grasping politicians, it is an unwise policy……, As far as I am concerned, I regard the killings of our political and military leaders as a national calamity….”

Major Ifeajuna was later to be accused by Major Patrick Nzeogwu, leader of northern operations, of bungling or ignoring an apparent understanding to assassinate General Ironsi in Lagos - an oversight, or “misguided consideration” (to use Nzeogwu’s words)that caused the failure of the coup.Indeed, Nzeogwu bluntly declared publicly that the execution of the coup in the South was tribalistic. Captain Emmanuel Nwobosi (rtd), leader of operations in the Western region, has since corroborated the view that operations in Lagos were compromised by nepotism.[b]For this and other reasons, over the years, some analysts have come to view Nzeogwu, who was recruited two full months after the plot was already in progress, as a tool in a plot he never fully understood.[/b]Indeed, in offering condolences for the death of the Sardauna of Sokoto, ex-Senate President Nwafor Orizu told Alhaji Shehu Shagari that Major Nzeogwu was “an unknown entity among the Ibos (sic) in the Eastern region.”

http://www.citizensfornigeria.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=33&Itemid=45

For bolded statement in the first paragraph, nothing can be further from the truth than this conjecture. In a coalition government, one of the parties in coalition can not caucus to impose a Prime Minister on the other party in coalition or on the nation.  

For bold statements in paragraphs 2 to 4 as accredited to one Akinjide Richard are inherent falsehoods that tend to neglect the decency of academia. I can listen to any fine Yoruba first republic politician but Akinjide Richard the man who incorporated tribalism into Nigerian academia when he was minister of education. Deceptive stories such as these useless statements are bane of Nigeria’s socio-political growth. The last time I checked though, the Tafawa Balewa cabinet was not exclusively NPC and NNDP ministers. It included the ministers from NCNC who also caucused in the resident of K O Mbadiwe and nominated the host as the PM nominee from NCNC and its coalition partners. The coalition partners in government thus NPC and NCNC could not reach a consensus on the nominated candidatures of Zipchrima and Mbadiwe, Orizu as the acting President relied on the constitutional mandate to call in the military to deal with situation at hand.

It is unfortunate the Akinjide thought that NPC was major governing party. I must remind the Richard Akinjide that fact the coalition partner are equal in government since one of the them could not form a government without the other. NPC did not produce the Head of State, Senate President, Speaker of House and Ranking Minister. NPC might have produce ministers of defense, mines and power and capital territory. NCNC equally produced ministers of finance, foreign affairs, transport, trade and industry and Justice.  

These deceitful behaviors displayed by the so-called leaders of cesspit called Nigeria are very unhealthy to new generations.

Dede1:
You simply can not keep quoting statistics that are structurally wrong and you can not clearly provide one single variable to sustain your argument. I shall challenge you and Robin to proffer the names of the officers in column of Igbo, Yoruba, Other South and North.

You have to publish the names first since you are the poster that supplied the statistics to support your skewed argument. Remember you have the help of Robin Luckham. I would only counter with the list of Igbo officers without empirical research.

Katsumoto:
The key point to watch in the numbers I posted was the percentage of Igbo officers in the Army as at Jan 1966. Amongst all the tribes, they had a majority but they did not have a majority when all the tribes are added together. They had 30% which is significantly less than 50%. I repeat in case you missed it; Igbos had 30% officers in the Army but 84% in the first coup.

You are actually proving my point; was that not sufficient motive to label it an ethnically motivated coup? Igbo officers were passed over for promotion to support the quota system. Were Yoruba officers like Obasanjo, Adekunle, and Rotimi not passed over for promotion as well?

Let us look at other facts
1. The PM, Premiers of the West and North Regions, senior military officers from the West and North as well as others making a total of 27 people who died that night; only one was Igbo. Are you suggesting that the make-up of the plotters(predominantly Igbo) and the make-up of the victims (predominantly non-Igbo) was a mere coincidence?

[b]2. There was a constitutional crisis in Jan 1965 in which Zik refused to swear-in Balewa; Zik called in the service chiefs and he was politely told the limit of his powers by Sir Adetokunbo Ademola (Chief Justice) and the service chiefs. Admiral Wey told him that they reported to the PM. After realising the extent of his powers, Zik swore Balewa in. This was exactly one year before the coup.[/b]3. The union of NPC and Akintola's NNDP meant that more posts and appointments went to Yoruba sons at the expense of Ndigbo after the 1964 elections

4. Zik was tipped off by his alleged cousin Ifeajuna, the real leader of the coup. Zik was in fact cooling off in the West indies while his colleagues were being slaughtered.

5. After murdering Balewa and organising the murder of others, Ifeajuna ran to the East and the first place he went to was to Enugu to parley with Okpara (premier of the East, an Igbo man). I have been waiting for someone to explain this; perhaps you can. Please do not sidestep this point.

I have given you fact-supported motive as well as facts which support my position. Please don't come back with conjecture; I am not interested in what-ifs, supposing, if they wanted to, etc statements. If you can supply any new facts, I may be willing to change my position.


Something else that a lot of people miss. The coup had two very different objectives. The first objective as epitomised by Nzeogwu and Ademoyega was a noble one but this two (Nzeogwu and Ademoyega) were only recruited approximately 3 months to the coup. The second objective was an ethnic one and was camouflaged by the first objective. People naively or disingenuously use the first noble objective to excuse the brutal manner of the assassinations which betrays the second objective. Even Nzeogwu and Captain Nwobosisi acknowledge that there was an ethnic undertone with the execution of the coup in Lagos.

You keep posting some of these deceptive and erroneous articles laden with conjectures on this forum. There was no constitutional crisis in 1965. The issue was the alleged wanton rigging of election by the NPC and NNDP that saw political riot in western region of Nigeria. Yes, Zik refused to swear-in Tafawa as the Prime Minister. However, the President does have constitutional issues if he (the President) wanted to deploy Nigerian armed forces to deal with crisis in western region without declaration of state of emergency. The minister of defense is an NPC stalwart and majority of cabinet members are drawn from coalition parties of NPC and NNDP.

Tafawa did not want to give in to Zik’s plank since he (PM) wanted to declare state of emergency in western region that would give him the rare political opportunity to stack the deck with NNDP cronies in western region in other deal AG the final blow.

Katsumoto:
[b]As at January 1966, there were 330 officers in the Armed Forces.

Igbo (Other South) Yoruba North Total
104 43 67 116 330[/b]Using the numbers above, Igbo had approximately 30% in the armed forces.

There were 25 coup plotters in the January 66 coup who were officers; 21 were Igbo (I can provide the list if you want it). Which means Igbo contributed 84% of officers. Of the four who were non-Igbo, three were junior officers(lieutenants). If your agreement were to be accepted, Igbo should have only contributed 30% of coup plotters.

Source: Robin Luckham, The Nigerian Military: A Sociological Analysis of Authority and Revolt, 1960-67 (Cambridge: At the University Press 1971):231.

Please list the Igbo elders who were killed in jan 66 or the Northerners who were coup plotters.

It is disingenuous to include NCOs as part of the coup plotters since NCOs only follow orders. For instance, Nzeogwu murdered sgt Oyeleke who refused to fire shots at Bello's house. Try to be informed before passing factually inaccurate information to others.

You simply can not keep quoting statistics that are structurally wrong and you can not clearly provide one single variable to sustain your argument. I shall challenge you and Robin to proffer the names of the officers in column of Igbo, Yoruba, Other South and North.

Any Igbo person who hunger to become the president of the cesspit called Nigeria is an irredeemable junk.

seanet03:
@Dede, then this country is bound to disintegrate one day with this situation.

I have come to such conclusion long ago that Nigeria is better off disintegrated than standing dilapidated. We hardly speak the truth or fall back on the unadulterated facts due to tribal bias that saw us through a civil war. Every fact is sat on its head and there is not glimpse of light at end of the tunnel.

seanet03:
@Dede, dont you think it is wrong for a Failed Coup Plot to be held responsible for the Sacking of the Cabinet? To me ironsi could simply have gave military backing to the Candidate Nominated by the Party with the controling Lawmakers even though they dont have the majority to Form a Government nor appoint a new Prime Minister, but since the Coalition can not agree on a new Prime Minister, then Ironsi could have salvaged the situation by doing what is expected of a Military which is truely PATRIOTIC to its People.

I do not have any sympathy for crass insinuation. We must always tow to the dictates of constitution. Let me debunk the idea of NPC as majority party. NPC was not a majority party and did not win majority seats to form a government. NPC has no constitutional backing to impose a PM on Nigerians.

If NCNC and AG had formed coalition government, NPC would have become opposition party in government and maybe Awo or Zik would have become PM. It was not on shoulder of Ironsi to call the direction. The constitution had mandated the President to either dissolve the parliament, call for fresh election or call in the army especially in the absence of PM. The same folks that argued it was the constitutional duty of  the PM to deploy armed forces of Nigeria during crisis could not see the constitutional duty of the President or the Acting President to dissolve the government. Talk about tribal bias.   

The knack to forgo the dictates of statutory codes, ordinances, regulations found in constitution is bane of Nigeria’s socio-political growth. When Gowon usurped the position that was statutorily should be assumed by Ogundipe, Ojukwu warned him of the dire consequences of his action and Nigeria is still reaping fruits of such action.

aguiyi:
which do u think Nigeria need most at the moment and what even waranted this wirte up from the major (i guess the blame game is on)

I do not give lamb dung about what Nigeria needs most or care if Nigeria disappears from the surface of Earth when I wake tomorrow. The purpose of my response is debunk the falsehood perpetrated by many frauds that pass as transparent Nigerians. Nigeria has never had practical federalism talk less of true federalism or lack thereof.

Under Tafawa Balewa’s government, there were issues that rendered this useless talk of Ironsi’s murder of true federalism in Nigeria asinine.

Katsumoto:
You have started with this line of argument again.The NPC nominated PM was assassinated by sons from the Eastern region; should an Easterner (Mbu) have benefitted from the murder of the PM from the North. On one hand you argue ceaselessly that the Jan 66 coup was not an Igbo coup, yet you don't see any problems with the Northern region losing out to the Igbo dominated Eastern region. Try to be consistent.

Secondly NPC was within its right to nominate a road sweeper as PM if that road sweeper took Balewa's seat in Bauchi. NPC was the bigger party in that coalition and there was no need for it to lose its position in the government simply because of the actions of some coupists from the Eastern region. When Thatcher was ousted in 90, Michael Heseltine was the most senior member of the Tory party and government and should have become PM but instead, a more junior John Major was selected. Similarly, after the sudden death of John Smith in 1992, the leadership of the labour party should have gone to Gordon Brown but went instead to Tony Blair. In a parliamentary system, a party can decide at any time who it wants to lead it with recognition given to current standing and position. NPC was well within its rights to nominate DipCharima. The NCNC was simply being opportunistic or perhaps it was all part of the plan. No wonder Orizu had no hesitation handing over to Ironsi, another Igbo son.

I am not going to go back and forth on this; my position is clear.

Look pal, I do not give a ratarse who NPC nominated as PM. The crux of this argument is about folks such as you who believed the position of PM after the January 15, 1966 should be a beneficiary gesture to the north or it was NPC's exclusive monopoly to produce PM and Kanuri for that matter.

In fact, I do intend to get into argument if the Igbo soldiers exclusively precipitated the January 15, 1966 coup, the fact remains there was a coalition government that produced Zik as President, Balewa as PM, Orizu as Pro Tem Pour, Wachukwu as the Speaker and Mbadiwe as the Ranking Minister.

When the PM was found missing, NPC was not constitutionally assigned to produce the next PM. It is even irrelevant to cite NPC nominee without invoking NCNC nominee too. The coalition partners must agree on a consensus nominee or parliament is dissolved for fresh election. The situation in Nigeria at that period did not have a chance for refresh election as unfolding events proved it correct.

seanet03:
Typical dede1, always hurling insults on people just because of a simple disagreement. Why talking about education even when what the man said what simply the truth. The point the man raised is Ironsi has no business in government as at the time he took over. Even the issue of the absense of Deputy Prime Minister does not warrant Military intervention when the President could have dissolve the Parliament and called for new elections with a resultant New Prime Minister. Dede should just try and make contributions or criticisms without hurling insults on People. As intelligent as you are, i dont expect you to start talking about education of the General when the man was only talking of somebody killing True Federalism. Your post is simply outrageous and untenable.

No!!! I had not intention to insult anybody. However when people that are in the know or privy to certain facts and yet they yearn junk or make misleading statements as contained in the original post, it intends to pique my mental decorum. The situation during the January 15, 1966 coup does not call for insidious procrastination in pronunciation of measures to remedy the situation.

Two coalition partners could not agree on a candidate of Prime Ministers, the parliament has been sacked by the statements and actions of the coup plotters, the section of government in Lagos was barely visible because of Ironsi’s miraculous hang on command, the call for British military help has been turned down and yet folks are still talking about call for election. Sometimes I think what God was doing the day he/she created Africa.