₦airaland Forum

kettykin:
A fascinating story, but let’s dig deeper. What truly triggered this coup? Wasn’t its original intention to free Awolowo from prison and install him as prime minister? If so, why has history been distorted to present only one side of the story?

As usual, the one sides story seeks but to scapegoat the igbos. No one talks about another group of igbos led by Aguiyi Ironsi and Odumegwu Ojukwu that stepped in to restore government.

casualobserver:
Excuse me it is the same mistake they are making with the Obidient movement. Even captain Gbuli admitted with the benefit of hindsight that he wouldn’t have staged the coup. There is nothing more dangerous than young people who think they know it all.

I didn’t miss the point. It is irrelevant because the coup failed. I think you missed that point. If you stage a coup and you fail, the consequence is death, no one cares about your intention. The consequence of the coup failure in this case was the handing over to Igbo centric section of the country even though it was never their intention and it was exactly what they were fighting against. But nobody cares about your intention. People only remember the effects, results and consequences.

I repeat in case you missed it that I don’t believe it was an Ibo coup but the consequence of it was to hand over to Igbo centric leadership. I think you miss that point.

kettykin:
You’re absolutely right. The Igbos had no need for the coup. They held the officer cadre of the military, the Chief of Army Staff, the presidency, and the presidency of the House. Yet, a group of soldiers foolishly intervened in a Western Region crisis—a problem tied to Awolowo and his jailed cronies.

This disastrous meddling should be a brutal lesson for every Igbo: never intervene in battles that aren’t yours, no matter how much blood floods the streets. Let others fight their own wars.

PressMyButton:
https://x.com/realFFK/status/1879437809972601086?t=8zH6JkaGjrPHW8HUd5qxkA&s=19[/quote]Do you know who the person in the last picture is? The others I can identify but not him.
Edit - That is FFK's father.

gidgiddy:
Murtala Mohammed was put on your N20 note, had Airports and highways named after him, even though his coup was far more brutal that of Nzeogwu's coup

Nzeogwu's coup killed less than 20 people, Murtalas coup killed over 300 people

Where are the Airports named after Nzeogwu? Or is it because he was an Igbo man? And not a Northerner like Murtala Mohammed?

2elliot:
Please kindly read this with open mind.https://punchng.com/akintola-travelled-ambulances-protection-wild-wild-west-crisis-ayo-adebanjo/

flokii:
Brutal indeed.. 15 January, 1966 the day Igbo coupists struck..
How did most of them end?.. they were either killed in the July 1966 Northern counter coup, some like Ifeajuna were killed by Ojukwu in defunct biafra, Nzeogwu killed by Federal troops close to Nsukka.
When you draw first blo0d, expect to pay the price.

I read a piece where the Yoruba among them claimed the coup was not an ethnic agenda.. Why then was no Northerner among the coup plotters?. The North I know will never conspire with an Igbo to kill their Premier, instead that Igbo planning such will die first.. but the fo0lish Ademoyega allowed coupists kill the Premier of old Western region Akintola and other top Yorubas in the Military.

Deadlytruth:
How come they stepped in to restore government yet their stepping in put in place a military junta as against the democratic government that was in place? What then is the meaning of restoration?

Deadlytruth:
How come they stepped in to restore government yet their stepping in put in place a military junta as against the democratic government that was in place? What then is the meaning of restoration?

cerpvad:
The question still remains why were large percentage of the January 1966 coupists made up of Igbo tribes? Why did they spare the lives of Igbo prominent leaders such as Nnamdi Azikwe, Ironsi, Ojukwu etc?

bismarck:
Thanks bro. Any reasonable person will see the mischief and selective amnesia from FFK, as if Nigeria's problems began in 1966.
When will 'One Nigerianists' and 'Lovers of Nigeria' apologize for the massacre of Igbos in Jos in 1945 and in Kano in 1953? Were wives, children, husbands and parents not victims of these murderous events way before 1966? The obsession against the IGBO in Nigeria has always existed prior to 1966 and was well-known even to the foreign press
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_odAy4rVz8

MasterJayJay:
Olaniyi, you are shouting ebin pawa and buying petrol at high price like others.

North have had majority of president but still SE is richer, educated than them
Babablu bulabu!!

Shove the presidency into your ass.

Occurstaem:
That's why we must start educating Yorùbá youths about the history of politics in this "mere geographical expression" experiment.

kettykin:
A fascinating story, but let’s dig deeper. What truly triggered this coup? Wasn’t its original intention to free Awolowo from prison and install him as prime minister? If so, why has history been distorted to present only one side of the story?

As usual, the one sides story seeks but to scapegoat the igbos. No one talks about another group of igbos led by Aguiyi Ironsi and Odumegwu Ojukwu that stepped in to restore government.

PressMyButton:
This old lies is stale..
If they wanted to free Awolowo, why couldn't they fly all the way to Calabar where Awolowo was being locked up in jail?. At least,they would have been successful in Calabar than Lagos. The intention was not Awolowo ( it was an afterthought of having failed in their coup attempt) but for Ibos to be in power and dominate others.

Occurstaem:
That's why we must start educating Yorùbá youths about the history of politics in this "mere geographical expression" experiment.

Godwin4444:
that's y we said

Biafra ooo
Presidency oooo

Igbos will not get anyone, that's your punishment n it will linger forever, go to twitter n see how northerners don vex finish for Igbo

They are swearing with their lives that no nyanmiri will ever get to that post

Go n read about ffk n Reno tweets

kettykin:
No Igbo is crying here. What we’re witnessing is pure selective amnesia, FFK. You’ve conveniently jumped into the middle of the book, ignoring the critical beginning.

Let’s set the record straight: Awolowo was rotting in prison, serving time for treasonable felony—a lost cause in every sense of the word. Western Nigeria was under a state of emergency, chaos engulfed the region, and no one was weeping for him. Yet, here you are, fast-forwarding to a chapter where a group of military officers stepped in to restore order, conveniently skipping the blood-soaked prologue.

Even more hypocritical is your silence on Awolowo’s eventual forced suicide, a tragic culmination that elicited no national mourning. Or the thousands slaughtered during Operation Wetie, victims of unspeakable violence. Where were the tears then?

And now, you dare shed crocodile tears when soldiers tear each other apart but turn mute when the same horrors are inflicted on innocent civilians? Spare us the double standards. This is not selective memory—it’s deliberate hypocrisy.

Emekaonline:
Some people will tell the story as it was wile others will choose to distort it to suit their interest and partisanship. God knows the truth. But the question that is begging for answers is if the pan was to free Awolowo, why were 95% of the mutineers are Igbos or are they the only ones in the army? Why didnt we have many Yoruba soldiers from the same ethnic stock as Awolowo in volved in the coup that was designed to set free one of their leaders? You can deceive all the people at a time or some people as all times. What is sure is that you cannot deceive all the people at all the time. No wonder some people have been wishing for another military coup since the last election just because embracing and engaging in coup is part of their DNA.

2elliot:
Igbos had it all, so what are you talking about? Whether they formed the alliance with the north or the west, Igbos were well placed and represented in politics and military. So, and with the newly found oil in the eastern region, no other region could have matched them. So, what power do you think they needed? Some of you are just stupid and wicked parroting lies.
That coup happened because of Awolowo and nothing else. And the coup wasn't a secret one. Several military men especially in the south west were informed but most declined to join. There was no Igbo conspiracy involved. The crisis in the South west was a concern to a lot of vibrant people, both civilians and military, at a time youths were very vibrant and fighting colonialism and corruption in the African continent. It is not like now that 50yrs old men are stupid and cowardly and do not have any revolutionary ideas.
If you want to understand history, you must study and put yourself in the era of those who participated in that history. Don't use you 2025 logic. You won't get it.

kettykin:
You’re absolutely right. The Igbos had no need for the coup. They held the officer cadre of the military, the Chief of Army Staff, the presidency, and the presidency of the House. Yet, a group of soldiers foolishly intervened in a Western Region crisis—a problem tied to Awolowo and his jailed cronies.

This disastrous meddling should be a brutal lesson for every Igbo: never intervene in battles that aren’t yours, no matter how much blood floods the streets. Let others fight their own wars.

cerpvad:
The question still remains why were large percentage of the January 1966 coupists made up of Igbo tribes? Why did they spare the lives of Igbo prominent leaders such as Nnamdi Azikwe, Ironsi, Ojukwu etc?

raumdeuter:
Actually there was need for the Ibos

1959 to 1964 was a NPC(mainly North) and NCNC(Mainly East) alliance which ruled and formed the cabinet. By 1964 Akintola already broke away from the AG and formed his NNDP. Akintola already reasoned that this alliance was to the detriment of Yorubas since all the good positions were cornered by the Ibos and Hausas. To the level where even the Vice Chancellor for UNILAG and UI both in Yorubaland were Ibo men Eni Njoku and Kenneth Dike.
(I listened to Akintolas campaign speech of 1964)
The initial alliance between the NPC(Balewa) and NCNC(Azikwe) was broken and Akintolas NNDP became the new partner with NPC to form the NNA alliance. The NNA Alliance won the election thus Balewa and Akintolas party would be forming the new govt and the Ibos would be pushed into opposition. Akintola started replacing Ibos in the former govt with Yorubas from his NNDP. An example, At that time the tenure of Eni Njoku expired as UNILAG VC and Akintola ensured that Prof Saburi Biobaku was made the VC. This was too much for the Ibos to take and they reacted which meant Akintola had to be killed and those in the new NNA alliance

Okpollo:
Look at this one aside having the president that does not benefit you, what else do you have asides perpetual cry of how igbos are killing your business, dominated your market and how igbos dont sell land to you but have bought all you lands even your fathers graveyards. Nigeria is a play ground for the igbos, No matter how many you are you can never best them. Your fear of the igbos will definately consume you. You said the northerners are swearing with their lives that they will never vote for the igbos, and i ask you what life does the northerners have? A life being lived for you by another man? Your cry will continue and there will never be an end to it , you will pass it to your children as your fathers has passed it to you. The evil lurking around in the SW should scare you , dont worry you will see evil and you will never be the same.

kettykin:
You’re absolutely right. The Igbos had no need for the coup. They held the officer cadre of the military, the Chief of Army Staff, the presidency, and the presidency of the House. Yet, a group of soldiers foolishly intervened in a Western Region crisis—a problem tied to Awolowo and his jailed cronies.


There was peace in the eastern Region with the economy adjudged as the fastest-growing in the world. The east was at peace with itself.
This disastrous meddling should be a brutal lesson for every Igbo: never intervene in battles that aren’t yours, no matter how much blood floods the streets. Let others fight their own wars.

The Igbo playbook going forward should be that no intervention if an issue has nothing to do with the Igbo race. Southern Nigeria only exist in the feeble mind of manipulators. The best interests is the interests of the only the igbos.

Godwin4444:
please explain to us y Igbos would kill everyone except their own to free awolowo?

What's d correlation?

codemaniacs:
igbos never had it all..

in some countries.. government jobs are exclusively for the indigenes, that's the point Bello and Akintola were trying to make..

from the early 1900s even before Nigeria's almagation of northern and southern Nigeria.. Nnamdi Azikwe's father was working for the Bri:tish as a secretary and hundreds if not thousands of other i:gbos were also working for the bri:tish all over Nigeria because the Bri:tish favored them not because other tribes were not qualified and un-educated until 1960 when the Bri:tish left..

their white collar employment had nothing to do with Ahmadu Bello and Balewa. since they already had those jobs before independence and continued on the jobs after independence so Ahmadu Bello, Akintola were working towards replacing i:gbos who had federal jobs in the north and western Nigeria...

having jobs is different from controlling the companies or institutions that create those jobs...

Despite i:gbos having most of the federal jobs all over Nigeria the regional jobs and institutions were controlled by the indigenes and Western Nigeria created more regional institutions, companies and agencies than other regions and i:gbos like Azikwe were covetous towards Western Nigeria's institutions and wanted control of Western Nigeria and its regional institutions which i:gbos till date are still trying to grab control of states in the SW...

casualobserver:
Although I do not believe it was an Ibo coup. It must be noted that the alliance between Zik and Balewa was very shaky. Awolowo’s AG despite being in prison had already formed an alliance with the NCNC called UPGA. So all was not well with the North/east alliance.

Another thing to note that often is not said is that there was a jihad planned for the 17th by Balewa himself. Akintola has got wind of the coup and went to Balewa and he assured him because he was himself planning his own onslaught. So the coup that staged to pre empt that planned jihad.

Badassniggga:
LMAO no mind them. Them think say Dem wise pass other Nigerians and don't want everyone else to see the obvious they've done. . Glad we're in the internet age now and it'll be pretty difficult to distort or withhold information

We agree for a fair coup. You, kill the leaders in the North. you, kill those in the East. You, kill those in the West.

I killed those in the West and North but almost no leader from the East was maimed and somehow, the officers that carried out the heinous crime that resulted in those fatalities were from one certain region.

E reach Ifeajunana turn to do the do, e turn philosopher and couldn't do it because the leaders are from his ethnic group. So many only Northern and Western leaders una like kpai abi? ..

I'm just so glad the Northern officers didn't let it slide and carried out their own bloody counter coup. They drew first blood and results were unfair in the eyes of everyone which led to serious retribution, now Dem dey shout say the civil war they brought upon themselves and Nigeria as a whole was too much for them

2elliot:
Their stepping in failed. And besides, if you were Ironsi, you would not have been able to do anything meaningful because 6 months was such a short time to understand the complexity of the coup matter. There were no existing coup scenarios in Nigeria that he could have drawn judgement from. Nigeria was such a young country at the time and a fragile one at the time to take out rushed actions.

happney65:
FFK is a Blantant Liar. He didnt say what his father and the nonesense Akintola did to Awolowo and the entire Western Region. One of the major reason why the coup took place.

The failed coup was plannend and executed by three majors

Kaduna Nzegwu
Adewale Ademoyaga
Emmauel Ifejuana.

And they brought in others to see to the success of the coup

The Entire Western Region was in turmoil. In connivance with the North, This nonesense FFK's Father who he was deputy to Akintola rigged the 1965 election with impunity and people were killed here and there. Awolowo was locked up on trumped up charges of treason by the North and Akintola and Remi Kayode. Men who were desperate for nothing but power at the expense of the people they claimed they were serving.

Akintola's Aides at a Time even told him to resign but in Akintola's word "It is only death that van take the position away from him" And so it happened

FFK who was trying to claim his father isnt a coward.

When the Soldiers got to Agodi Ibadan and called him out telling him he was under arrest, Dude threw his hands in the air and begging the soldiers not to kill him. They were even surprised and asking themselves if this was truly the Fani Power. Got to Akintola's house where he shot back at the soldiers and they killed him when he ran out of ammo.

All the People that were killed were those who resisted arrest. Remi wasnt killed because he didnt resist arrest.

By the time they got to Lagos around 7AM with Remi,The coup had already failed and Ironsi boys had them all rounded up and Remi Kayode released.

Whenever I see FFK ranting,I remember his father. He is nothing but a coward like his father..