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I think this section is too dramatic and sentimental, I wish we can start studying politics, their mistakes and success without any emotion, regardless of whether you believed it was right or wrong.



The Coup Plotters mistakes

1. Overextension: The coup plotters overestimated themselves, Nigeria back then was a regional system, this meant that power was not located in the centre, capturing Lagos had little value on its own, the coup plotters needed to capture the capitals of each region namely Kaduna, Ibadan and Enugu to have proper authority and they simply did not command enough troops to make this happen. (Benin didn't have political value at this point since the Midwest was newly created) , They only successfully captured Kaduna.

2. Killing Tafawa Balewa: Tafawa Balewa was the prime minister of Nigeria but the truth is that just like Azikiwe, he was a symbolic figure, the true power lied with the president of the NPC which was Ahmadu Bello, arresting Tafawa Balewa would have been a more smarter strategy, and according to Ademoyega this was the actual plan. Killing Ahmadu Bello however was a smart move since he was powerful enough to incite troops and public support against the coup plotters.

3. Not isolating communication: They should have tried to disrupt the communication between the politicians and soldiers, the fact that Akintola knew something was up and was prepared, was a bad omen, in a proper coup, he should have never found out something was up until they came for him. Again this lack of proper disruption led to Aguiyi Ironsi being informed and he then launch his own coup using the chaos and structure the Jan 15 coup plotters created.

4. Not enlisting a superpower: Tafawa Balewa was well liked by the British, there's no way they would have sit back and let him be toppled, if the coup plotters had succeeded, the British would have frustrated them. Dimka who plotted the coup against Murtala Mohammed was smart enough to get British blessing before embarking on the quest, the British liked Gowon and blatantly refused to hand him over for the military trial that ensued after Dimka coup failed. The coup plotters should have tried to get London support, perhaps by promising some concessions.



Can you add yours?

danvon:
I think this section is too dramatic and sentimental, I wish we can start studying politics, their mistakes and success without any emotion, regardless of whether you believed it was right or wrong.



The Coup Plotters mistakes

1. Overextension: The coup plotters overestimated themselves, Nigeria back then was a regional system, this meant that power was not located in the centre, capturing Lagos had little value on its own, the coup plotters needed to capture the capitals of each region namely Kaduna, Ibadan and Enugu to have proper authority and they simply did not command enough troops to make this happen. (Benin didn't have political value at this point since the Midwest was newly created) , They only successfully captured Kaduna.

2. Killing Tafawa Balewa: Tafawa Balewa was the prime minister of Nigeria but the truth is that just like Azikiwe, he was a symbolic figure, the true power lied with the president of the NPC which was Ahmadu Bello, arresting Tafawa Balewa would have been a more smarter strategy, and according to Ademoyega this was the actual plan. Killing Ahmadu Bello however was a smart move since he was powerful enough to incite troops and public support against the coup plotters.

3. Not isolating communication: They should have tried to disrupt the communication between the politicians and soldiers, the fact that Akintola knew something was up and was prepared, was a bad omen, in a proper coup, he should have never found out something was up until they came for him. Again this lack of proper disruption led to Aguiyi Ironsi being informed and he then launch his own coup using the chaos and structure the Jan 15 coup plotters created.

4. Not enlisting a superpower: Tafawa Balewa was well liked by the British, there's no way they would have sit back and let him be toppled, if the coup plotters had succeeded, the British would have frustrated them. Dimka who plotted the coup against Murtala Mohammed was smart enough to get British blessing before embarking on the quest, the British liked Gowon and blatantly refused to hand him over for the military trial that ensued after Dimka coup failed. The coup plotters should have tried to get London support, perhaps by promising some concessions.



Can you add yours?

Your first mistake is in writing as though all the coup plotters had the same objectives and plans. They did not.

Nzeogwu and Ademoyega made the same mistake.

SmartyPants:
Your first mistake is in writing as though all the coup plotters had the same objectives and plans. They did not.

Nzeogwu and Ademoyega made the same mistake.

What else do you expect them to say? Of course they would paint themselves in the best light possible, it was the sensible thing to do.

Those guys were 30yrs old. What can 30yrs old do today without major mistakes?

danvon:
I think this section is too dramatic and sentimental, I wish we can start studying politics, their mistakes and success without any emotion, regardless of whether you believed it was right or wrong.



The Coup Plotters mistakes

1. Overextension: The coup plotters overestimated themselves, Nigeria back then was a regional system, this meant that power was not located in the centre, capturing Lagos had little value on its own, the coup plotters needed to capture the capitals of each region namely Kaduna, Ibadan and Enugu to have proper authority and they simply did not command enough troops to make this happen. (Benin didn't have political value at this point since the Midwest was newly created) , They only successfully captured Kaduna.

2. Killing Tafawa Balewa: Tafawa Balewa was the prime minister of Nigeria but the truth is that just like Azikiwe, he was a symbolic figure, the true power lied with the president of the NPC which was Ahmadu Bello, arresting Tafawa Balewa would have been a more smarter strategy, and according to Ademoyega this was the actual plan. Killing Ahmadu Bello however was a smart move since he was powerful enough to incite troops and public support against the coup plotters.

3. Not isolating communication: They should have tried to disrupt the communication between the politicians and soldiers, the fact that Akintola knew something was up and was prepared, was a bad omen, in a proper coup, he should have never found out something was up until they came for him. Again this lack of proper disruption led to Aguiyi Ironsi being informed and he then launch his own coup using the chaos and structure the Jan 15 coup plotters created.

4. Not enlisting a superpower: Tafawa Balewa was well liked by the British, there's no way they would have sit back and let him be toppled, if the coup plotters had succeeded, the British would have frustrated them. Dimka who plotted the coup against Murtala Mohammed was smart enough to get British blessing before embarking on the quest, the British liked Gowon and blatantly refused to hand him over for the military trial that ensued after Dimka coup failed. The coup plotters should have tried to get London support, perhaps by promising some concessions.



Can you add yours?

The other Mumu soldiers thought the coup was all about removing bad governance. Little did they know the real plan was just to kill western & northern premier leader..

DMerciful:
Those guys were 30yrs old. What can 30yrs old do today without major mistakes?

Buhari, Babagida, Gowon, Ty Danjuma, Murtala Mohammed were all pretty young back then too, yet they made less mistakes in their coup.

PulaPower:
The other Mumu soldiers thought the coup was all about removing bad governance. Little did they know the real plan was just to kill western & northern premier leader..

Hmmm. To an extent this is debatable.

I dont know why you people are fixated on a failed coup. That wasnt the only failed coup wè had in Nigeria

The Gideon Orkah coup too failed,Likewise the Dimka coup too failed.

One of the reasons why it failed was because most of the coup plotters came from out of State. Captian Nwobosi that carried out the Ibadan operation came from Abeokuta. Likewise the one that successfully arrested Micheal Opara in the East.

Infact most of the Junior Soldiers didnt know they were to take part in a coup until they got to the scene and their superiors gave the order.

The Major reason why Kaduna was succesful was because Nzegwu headed a Military unit. Was able to bring out soldiers on his own without any issues and himself and Wale had gone to scout through the Premier's Lodge and plan how to scale through. He had freedom to do and undo and that was why it was succesful.

Also,the coup wasnt even meant to hold on the 15th. They brought it back because Akintola and the North had their own plan of using the same Military against their Enemies. A total crush of other Political Enemies

P.S. Akintola never knew of any impending coup. He only went to get the Gun to protect himself against the civilians who were against him in case the ongoing riots gets closer to his doorstep

The coup that liberated Ikwerre people.

You are the one making mistake.

The coupists achieved their objective. Just that you could have 100 people on a cause and only 10 people are remote controlling them to their own purpose.

Their purpose is change of government to the Ibo hand and it worked perfectly.

PulaPower:
The other Mumu soldiers thought the coup was all about removing bad governance. Little did they know the real plan was just to kill western & northern premier leader..

LegendHero:
You are the one making mistake.

The coupists achieved their objective. Just that you could have 100 people on a cause and only 10 people are remote controlling them to their own purpose.

Their purpose is change of government to the Ibo hand and it worked perfectly.

A person who praised Buhari for 8 years as the best, but condemned him as the worst immediately he left office would come up with theories like these

Some Igbo authors attested to the fact that the Nzeogwu coup was well planned since Independence.. they just needed enough reasons to strike and then mask it as revolution.. This further gives credence to the belief that Azikiwe, Orizu, Ironsi et al. had prior knowledge about it.
Some of the honest people you can find are Igbos. Every side has good and bad eggs.

Most of the other officers conscripted to take part in the coup were fed with false narratives and false sense of purpose that they were changing a corrupt government but the real masterminds knew their grand plan which was to seize power in Nigeria. Has the corruption ended after killing those innocent Nigerians? The ones now are even worse than those killed in the past.

They learnt from the mistakes of the first.

When the frog in front falls into a pit, others coming behind take caution.

Murtala spent 6 months on that seat

danvon:
Buhari, Babagida, Gowon, Ty Danjuma, Murtala Mohammed were all pretty young back then too, yet they made less mistakes in their coup.