JuanDeDios:

You seriously believe Nzeogwu and co could have thrived in the north after killing the Sardauna who was considered a god by northern folk? No, they won't. If that was Ironsi's thinking, he erred. And sold out the country the way our leaders are doing today by releasing Boko Haram commanders and paying the terrorists millions of dollars. What you do is declare Nzeogwu and co wanted and send the troops after them like it was done with Dimka. They were in the north, but that did not mean that soldiers stationed in the north were with them.

were they captured in the North?were they fugitives in the North? Who was in control of the Northern army?most of those soldiers don't know what to make of the alien situation, they simply do as they are told. if they are to make a choice between Nzeogwu and Ironsi, we know who will win. Nzeogwu ceremoniously left Kaduna for Lagos to form part of the unity government. Alas Ironsi wasn't a man of his words.

JuanDeDios:

Ironsi's actions put the entire country in danger. I guess he was out of his depth as commander-in-chief - he was a professional soldier not a politician.
Ironsi actually carried out acts of bravery in Congo - he wasn't merely cited.

Ironsi was and is still cited by every military person of that generation as a COWARD (only IGBOs regard him as anything other than a coward)

JuanDeDios:

You are a child. Your arrogance begets your ignorance - as is usually the case.

u call me a child, don't postrate and beg Wen u see my real face. so u better withdraw ur statement

So many Injustice in this country... The death of Ironsi must have bolden many young officers like Buhari to dream of coup.

It gave pathway for military rudeness we are seing today

if u were a military officer from the rank of captain upwards and served between the 70's and to the late 80's and u are alive today better go do thanksgiving for church or mosque

Konquest:

^^^^^^^^^^
^^^^^^^^^^
I read an interview 2 years ago which was
granted to Punch by one of the children
of Adekunle Fajuyi that Northern/Middle-Belt
soldiers didn't want to kill him but his
killing was unintended and Theophilus
Danjuma apologised/condoled with the family.

The real target was Ironsi, but Fajuyi's
Ekiti strong-head, laced with military loyalty
and discipline led to his death!

Nwankwo saw an opening in the Ibadan
forest and promptly escaped with his
injuries while being aided by his friend - Bello.

Those ones are not ADCs jare. Running away

Born2Breed:


Both of them were close and swore to an oath to protect each other no matter what.

Seems they both had promination or Bello was in the know of the counter coup and hinted Nwankwo.

fajuyi was killed because he didn't wnt d ibos to feel he knew about the coup. fajuyi had a gud relationship with d Hausa's in the army. prior, to d visit of ironsi, he has ask 4 d assurance on his safety in Ibadan, but he(fajuyi) said no problem. so after they had surrounded the house, ironsi came out of the house to beg them but they ordered fajuyi to release ironsi to them immediately. he said if they wanted to kill him(ironsi), it sud be at Lagos n not now that he was with him. they insisted on tame him and forcefully went in. thereafter, ironsi told the rebels IF THEY INSISTED ON KILLING IRONSI THEN HE SAW NO REASONS HE SUD BE SPEARED. So they took both to Iwo road and shot them there. it took several days b4 their decomposing bodies were found

winj3:


Ironsi was and is still cited by every military person of that generation as a COWARD (only IGBOs regard him as anything other than a coward)

igbos till date still regard him as a coward cos he sold igbos and southerners under 3 month, for over 53yrs we are still suffering from his I don't care attitude

winj3:


Ironsi was and is still cited by every military person of that generation as a COWARD (only IGBOs regard him as anything other than a coward)

Bolded is not true. He fit the definition of a coward in certain respects but you can't take away the fact that when the situation called for him to stand up for his officers and soldiers in Congo he did. I guess everyone has his strong point. But what makes Danjuma a non-coward and a better human being? Murdering his boss for ethnic vengeance?

Lordave:
I hope not to read betrayal, Afonja, IPOB, slave and master" bullshít on this thread from rude and disrespectful scallywags. You imps should let us reminisce on the pucture in peace.



But Ironsi was a foolish man, sha.

How was Ironsi foolish?

ezegenigbonine:


Ask your father or an elder of the history OK. I think they will explain to u well.
But let me educate u small.
After the killing of belewa, northerners called it Ibo cue because they called Kaduna nzeogwu who superhead the cue Ibo. And also because Ibo took over as the head of state, they were not happy so they plan a counter cue.

After the counter cue, Ojukwu been the governor of the eastern region ask for justice which they refused

that means Nigeria has never been one b4.

winj3:


Ironsi was and is still cited by every military person of that generation as a COWARD (only IGBOs regard him as anything other than a coward)

My brother I know he didn't listen to Ojukwu advice but he is not a coward. Remember that the capital then was Lagos. N he can't leave Lagos. If call him a coward, what of gowon he was removed by cue, murtala was murdered, what of buhari he was removed by cue, shagari nko are they all cowards?

opyzy:
Fajuyi the gallant host, he chose to die with his boss rather than see him killed under his nose. Yet some bastards will say Yoruba people are cowards

And if yawa gas, na dem dey first japaa!

Doctorfitz:
And these are the stories I want on fp be it 100percent correct or 50percent correct...The youths need to knw their history,know the politicians you celebrate,what are their antecedents?..A man who doesn't remember is past already has a bad future.

For obvious reasons those who messed up our country and wish to continue to misgovern same abolished the teaching of History as a subject in Nigerian schools. Olusegun Obasanjo is a culprit of note in this respect!

JuanDeDios:


I agree with the bolded - he was a professional soldier, not an IT politician. As to your call for a revolution, be careful what you wish for. If you're wondering what I mean, take a pencil and write down every country that went through are violent revolution, including the Arab Spring and reflect on where it got them.

The problem was the first coup. The soldiers should have let the politicians commit their blunders and we would have emerged out of it. Maybe things won't have improved but they certainly won't have got as bad it turned out with the soldiers.

There was no politics at play, it was just a rule of the Northern Oligarchy, Census was canceled and rigged, Western Nigeria was already on fire with Awolowo(opposition leader in the federal parliament) imprisoned. If they hadn't intervened, we would be in a far worse situation than we are now. I only wish they had succeeded.

Arabs and their Islamic revolutions is not to be used as an example. those guys are bigots. Jk. Rawlings kinda revolution is more apt.

winj3:


Please get it right.
Ironsi delayed in prosecuting the coup plotters because he was an IGBO tribalist!

If you think Ironsi is a tribalist, then you'd agree that Obasanjo is a sentimentalist - otherwise, tell us why he delayed in persecuting Dimka.

Baselm:


were they captured in the North?were they fugitives in the North? Who was in control of the Northern army?most of those soldiers don't know what to make of the alien situation, they simply do as they are told. if they are to make a choice between Nzeogwu and Ironsi, we know who will win. Nzeogwu ceremoniously left Kaduna for Lagos to form part of the unity government. Alas Ironsi wasn't a man of his words.

It won't necessarily have been a choice between Nzeogwu and Ironsi. Nzeogwu would have been knaive to think the northern rank and file would fight alongside him against northern officers getting him for killing the Sardauna.

Ironsi refused to listen to his brothers who warned him against an impending doom and ended up paying the ultimate price.
Listen to your brothers, nothing goes for nothing.

ezegenigbonine:


My brother I know he didn't listen to Ojukwu advice but he is not a coward. Remember that the capital then was Lagos. N he can't leave Lagos. If call him a coward, what of gowon he was removed by cue, murtala was murdered, what of buhari he was removed by cue, shagari nko are they all cowards?

They walked in, picked Ironsi, drove him away and flogged him to death. Is that how a head of state should be overthrown, it shows how weak the structure was under him, he was just having a swell time as head of state, he doesn't even know what to do. If he wasn't listening to Ojukwu, then who was he listening to? Ojukwu was his right hand man.
That was the same way Ojukwu didn't prepare for the civil war before starting and was using civilians as a wall, till he eventually ran away cowardly.

DMerciful:
The cause of the coup was not because of tribalism infact Nzeogu wanted to install Awolowo. He should have left the structure and fix the coupists!

I am afraid you are not making sense...

You have no point hence looking for a way out

maestroferddi:
I am afraid you are not making sense...

DuxofMen:
Almost all that came out of this episode alive gained something. Danjuma became a billionaire, Bello and even his son , became a governor, Ironsi's son Thomas was given an appointment by Obj, whilst Ironsi' ADC, Nwankwo, we're told became a senator later.

Hmm,

Pray what happened to the family of the gallant Adekunle Fajuyi who paid the ultimate sacrifice for loyalty.

Never heard that any of his children later went on to become anything.

Am from ekiti and I have some faguyi grand children as classmate then,ntin became of them.
They are just an average family with a popular surname,some even changed name to fajuyitan.

No matter how the Igbo feel about Awolowo's betrayal of the region ,this Fajuyi demonstrated loyalty to Aguiyi Ironsi even to the point of death .

For me that shows that the Yoruba Are not as bad as we in the South East potray them.
The action of one man can not be used to judged an entire tribe

millionboi2:
that means Nigeria has never been one b4.

Yes of course
All this born to rule thing started from the first election of which the northerners won out of population.
Later the then leaders were corrupt so the soldiers decided to kill all of them including Nnamdi azikiwe, Micheal OKPara, awolowo was in prison then. But things didn't went well as the two Ibo Nnamdi fled out of the country, n Micheal OKPara was no we're to be found. So the northerners were angry cos the cue only happened in the north. Kaduna nzeogwu killed the man that trained him. That's y he cried after the cue

My brother, even if Ironsi had executed the coup plotters it still would not have appeased the North at that time. You need to understand that the view of the Northern elite at that time was that the Igbos were power hungry and had succeeded in snatching power. Ironsi pretty much helped them confirm this by consolidating power for himself by forming the unity govt through Decree 34. I think this was his greatest mistake though he had his reasons. I even think this single act was what set us as a country on this path of failure that we are currently on cos through that decree we said bye to the regional system of govt. Not saying that system didn't have it's faults but we all can agree that if we had atleast continued regional form of govt, corruption would be less and accountability more.

superlightning:
immature people discussing what they know little or nothing about.

somehow i thank God Nigeria is suffering under this jihadist government so that their brains can be reformatted. Nigerians are so so myopic. exaggerating ironsi's mistakes won't conceal the hate and envy you lots have had for sincere and honest men like ironsi and fajuyi.

ironsi's only crime was not executing the couppplotters immediately and also, that he was IGBO.

anybody saying otherwise is just a zombie.

ezegenigbonine:


That's y am angry with his tribe cos they care not of his death.

As with everything in life there's always personal interest. He never consider his personal/future interest. I think He is a fool with his decision making.
War does not know who's right, it only know who's left/alive.
Being alive is the number one priority for any living being no matter what it takes.

winj3:


Ironsi's Decree 34 has absolutely nothing to do with his own blatant tribalism and treatment of IGBO coup plotters which led to reprisal attacks and subsequently the civil war! I know because it was daily news in my military home on how his weak and mediocre actions endanger soldiers, politicians and the rest of the country.

I will never forgive that assh0le for putting my dad's life in danger!

Anyone giving credit to a dunce like Ironsi should be slapped and made to frog jump!

Ironsi, a veritable professional soldier, meant well for Nigeria but his Achiless heel was his idealism and impracticality.

Everybody blames him for not making the most of the opportunity he had...

Ironsi could have easily taken advantage of the preponderance of the Igbos in the officer cadre in the Nigerian Army from independence to 1966...

He had the misguided belief in one Nigeria...He made a grievous mistake that the Igbos are still paying for over 50 years after his death.

Chukazu:
No matter how the Igbo feel about Awolowo's betrayal of the region ,this Fajuyi demonstrated loyalty to Aguiyi Ironsi even to the point of death .
For me that shows that the Yoruba Are not as bad as we in the South East potray them.
The action of one man can not be used to judged an entire tribe

I don't know how old you are but I can only say that for the size (and earlier influence) of the Yoruba tribe and how they could have tipped the power scales away from mallams since independence, they are easily the most useless, weak and wasteful tribe in Nigeria - and you can take that to the bank!

Baselm:


There was no politics at play, it was just a rule of the Northern Oligarchy, Census was canceled and rigged, Western Nigeria was already on fire with Awolowo(opposition leader in the federal parliament) imprisoned. If they hadn't intervened, we would be in a far worse situation than we are now. I only wish they had succeeded.

Arabs and their Islamic revolutions is not to be used as an example. those guys are bigots. Jk. Rawlings kinda revolution is more apt.

The northern oligarchy became powerful because the NPC was ruling the country, right? Yet, the NPC was only able to form a government because the NCNC agreed to a coalition. Whose fault was it that the NCNC did not wrest sufficient concessions from their coalition partners such that a northernisation of national institutions was taking place under their nose?

We were not headed towards a civil war and the sort of corruption you had then was nothing compared to what you have now. And why the barbaric murders - why didn't they simply lock up the politicians?

When you advocate a revolution, you're TRUSTING those who will carry out the revolution to be any better or that the revolution will not be hijacked by people with a separate agenda like it happened in Iran. Goodluck with that. But you saw what military rule did to Nigeria. Ghana improved because Rawlings was sincere - he could have set the country on a part to improvement like he did without the killings. After all, Samuel Doe killed people in a similar fashion in Liberia and we know the result. You think the Arabs are less bigoted than us?

Baselm:


They walked in, picked Ironsi, drove him away and flogged him to death. Is that how a head of state should be overthrown, it shows how weak the structure was under him, he was just having a swell time as head of state, he doesn't even know what to do. If he wasn't listening to Ojukwu, then who was he listening to? Ojukwu was his right hand man.
That was the same way Ojukwu didn't prepare for the civil war before starting and was using civilians as a wall, till he eventually ran away cowardly.

I blame him though but check other scenario
Murtala was assassinated on the road,
Abacha was murdered as strong as he is
Buhari went to mecah n was overthrown by Ibb n Wen he returned he was imprisoned.

winj3:


Ironsi was and is still cited by every military person of that generation as a COWARD (only IGBOs regard him as anything other than a coward)

Get it right...
Most Igbos regard him as a coward.
He failed to do the needful, busy pacifying the impossible to please "Norrherners"

hansomb:

As with everything in life there's always personal interest. He never consider his personal/future interest. I think He is a fool with his decision making.
War does not know who's right, it only know who's left/alive.
Being alive is the number one priority for any living being no matter what it takes.

OK let say he caused his, what of abiola death,did he caused his also