₦airaland Forum

~Bluetooth:
January and July 1966 Coups
My course started around January 1966
and when I heard that a coup had taken
place in Nigeria, I was shocked. There was
no hint that junior officers were up to
such a thing. Many military and political
leaders were killed then.
Aguyi Ironsi, who had taken over as the
GOC from General Welby Everald, became
the Head of State. People however,
thought Ironsi did not take any action
against the officers, who staged the coup,
or that perhaps he was slow in taking any
action against the coupists. This
accusation went round the nation and
unfortunately, another coup took place in
which Ironsi was killed. I personally feel he
was slow in acting and that might have
brought the second coup. A lot of the
people killed in the first couple were from
the North. Some people felt it was an Igbo
coup. When the second coup took place
and Ironsi and others were killed, some
people also felt it was an Hausa coup.
He had visited the Western Region on 28
July, 1966. Danjuma was on the entourage
of Ironsi to Mid-West and West where
Ironsi was assassinated with Fajuyi.
One must not blame Victoria Ironsi for
being hard on Danjuma. They assassinated
her husband and left her to cater for eight
children all alone. She did not believe what
happened could happen because all of us
(officers) were doing everything together
when we were in Kaduna. I’m sure if the
same thing happens to me my wife will go
haywire. It is true that if you were on
somebody’s entourage, it is your duty to
protect him. If such an officer on the
entourage of the Head of State is the most
senior of the group, naturally, if he doesn’t
personally use his gun to kill that senior
officer, somebody from the group did the
killing.
Let us be honest: who arranged the
bringing down of Ironsi and Fajuyi? If
Danjuma is the one that brought them
down, that means that there was a gang-
up to summon down officers like Ironsi. I
think Danjuma is not being fair. His job on
the entourage of the Head of State is
beyond ordinary. He should be the one to
be first hit if anything is aimed at the Head
of State. At the same time, I can also
sympathise with Danjuma for not saying
he killed Ironsi. If I did it, I won’t say I kill
somebody unless I was met during the
process. The only people that were not
really involved were the Yoruba, although
we also had our internal problems. We did
not partake in the first and the second
coup and our men were killed. Some
people talk about Wale Ademoyega,
Ifeajuna’s friend. That one is a rascal. We
know the people that are rascals. They
were university boys, who wanted to get
to the top before their forefathers.
The civil war
We were running the government when
suddenly Ojukwu said he could not work
under Gowon because they were
contemporary at the Army Headquartres.
That was when the problem with the East
started. It led to civil war which lasted for
30 months.
Before the civil war, we negotiated with
Ojukwu individually and collectively. We
went to Aburi in Ghana to settle the
impasse. Unfortunately, both parties could
not agree on certain grey arrears. I now
said let me make the last effort in talking
with Ojukwu. I told Gowon and he obliged
me to go and meet Ojukwu in Onitsha. I
thought the governor of Mid-West, David
Ejoor, would go with me, but he was
unavailable.
So, I had to risk going alone. I discussed at
length with Ojukwu. That was the day one
of Chief Awolowo’s daughters was getting
married and I was supposed to be at that
wedding. But I felt I should first attend to
an important national issue. That was why
I went to meet Ojukwu. My wife, however,
went to the wedding and I hoped I would
meet them at the reception after the
meeting with Ojukwu. And I did. Tension
had mounted at the reception when they
did not see me. People felt Ojukwu had
taken or killed me in Onitsha. A big shout
greeted my arrival later.
Ojukwu’s aim during the war was to
capture Lagos. He had to move through
Mid-west and the West to Lagos. When I
knew they had approached us, I called my
engineers at the Ministry of Works and
asked them what to do to prevent the
rebels from capturing the West. One of the,
Engineer Akande (now late) informed me
that there were some explosives we could
use to blow all the bridges in West. He
spotted all the bridges surrounding West
and Mid-West. So, when the rebels got too
close to us, I asked Akande to blow all the
bridges. Because of the noise of the
explosions, the Biafran people thought
we’ve already got big guns to fight.
Ojukwu knew the type of weapons we
had when we were together anyway. That
was how I saved the West and Lagos.
Benjamin Adekunle was then commanding
the Nigerian troops. When Adekunle was
getting tired at the war front we taught he
should be replaced for we did not want to
lose the areas he had captured.
Olusegun Obasanjo was later appointed to
take over from Adekunle. Luckily, for
Obasanjo, he wrapped up the war. The
war that was nearing completion and he
got the credit on the platter of gold.
Things returned to normal but it appeared
Gowon had overstayed. Another coup
brought Muritala Muhammad. He too was
assassinated in another coup attempt six
months after. Obasanjo, again a lucky man,
came to the seat. Another thing he did was
to follow Murtala’s programme by handing
over power to a civilian in 1979. He
handed over to Shagari. Then, a chain of
coup followed until 1999. That man spent
only four years when Buhari overthrew
him. Buhari himself was overthrown by
Ibrahim Babangida, who left office
disgruntledly. Sanni Abacha later kicked
out the Interim Administration of Ernest
Shonekan, which Babangida left. Abacha
died in office after five years. Abdulsalami
Abubakar was to later return the country
to the civilian regime of Obasanjo.
Where we went wrong
The first and second coup. The first coup
was labelled Igbo, the second, Hausa coup.
That has caused trouble and distrust all
over the country. We Yoruba don’t know
our worth. We should be the beautiful
bride of the country. We did not take part
in any coup.quote from General Robert
Adeyinka Adebayo, the former Military Governor of Western Region

Beaf:
Good one! Lovely news!
. . .Now, how I wish we will be able to travel for free between MMA, Abuja and Gatwick!!

Onlytruth:
Can a pack of hyenas produce a dairy cow?

MrCrackles:
Shut up. . . .The dude is not dead!!!

aloy-emeka:
Until they start kidnapping their children else, why disturb themselves over your wahala?. Poor man like you wey no suppose to dey alive sef.

mama-gee:
One would expect Lagos to be a perfect place to live in
after hearing all the good things fashola put in place
but the reverse is the case.

cosby:
[s]In your own (best) interest, no matter the position you are offered in ANY organisation (Office, Church, Meeting/Club, Party Planning, Tenants’ Association, Activist, etc), if your Deputy is named "Goodluck”, PLEASE DECLINE, even if it is UN Secretary General or Head of African Union, whatever, JUST DECLINE![/s]
Should you think I am joking, check these facts:

* [b]Goodluck was Assistant Head Boy in primary school. The Head Boy got expelled. Goodluck took over.
* Goodluck was Assistant Senior Prefect in secondary school, the Senior Prefect died, Goodluck took over.
* Goodluck was Deputy Local Government Chairman. The Chairman got implicated in corruption and got removed from office. Goodluck took over
* Goodluck was deputy governor to Alameiseigha. We all know that story
* Goodluck was Vice President to President Yar’Adua:- PERICADIATIS![/b]

porka:
OLUSEGUN ADENIYI MUST RESIGN IMMEDIATELY. HE SHOULD NOT CONTINUE TO RECEIVE SALARY WITHOUT DOING ANYTHING. HE TOLD US THE PRESIDENT ASKED HIM TO GO AND WATCH FOOTBALL MATCH IN ANGOLA. THAT IS THE LEVEL THESE GUYS HAVE REDUCED US TO, AN ADVISER ON MEDIA IS ASKED TO GO AND WATCH FOOTBALL?

JUSTICE DAN ABUTU SHOULD BE PUT IN A PLANE WITH FAROUK AS THE PILOT, ONLY THE TWO OF THEM, AND FLOWN OVER THE ATLANTIC. AMERICANS SHOULD LOAN FAROUK TO US FOR THIS IMPORTANT ASSIGNMENT. THEY SHOULD NOT BOTHER CHECK FAROUK THIS TIME, THAT IS THE ASSIGNMENT HE HAS TO PERFORM FOR HIS FATHERLAND.

Ibime:
It is a crying shame that Soyinka should still be the one leading civil disobedience rallies after all these years. What happened to the NUS and such? Young people are the drivers of revolutions all around the world, and only complacent youths like the ones we have in Nigeria will wait for an elder like Soyinka to remind them of their civic duty to fight for their democratic rights.

Pk001:
Then PDP controls the whole regions put together

Seun:
If the meeting was scheduled within 10 minutes, how come the other ministers were there?
How come they were all punctual during the next meeting? Why do we tolerate excuses??[/quote


Remi Babalola amd Maduekwe must be specal ministers even though they've both faild woefully in their respective portfolio.
They are all notified way ahead of the meeting.I just hope Jonathan will straighten these flagrant ministers up a bit.

semid4lyfe:
Crap! The voters register was not used eventually. INEC later issued instructions that everyone  and anyöne who came with a valid permanent voters registration card should be allowed to cast his/her vote and they DID. Uba and Ngige (whom I wanted to win) should stop crying WOLF when there isn't one. The ELECTION WAS GENERALLY FREE AND FAIR. Kudos to Anambra for doing what Ekiti and other states couldn't do.

Sam Milla:
Seriously this Aoondokaa is an enemy of progress and should be prosecuted without delay.
A lady summoned enough courage to point fingers, knowing her job is on the line , yet this ugly idiot wont appreciate that sacrifice. ONLY IN NIGERIA CAN THAT HAPPEN.

Yes, someone should tell aondookaa that dora is already our hero.