January 15th 1966: The Day Nigeria Changed Forever
Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu was just 29 years of age when he changed Nigeria forever along with his friends and fellow soldiers notably Major Emmanuel Ifejuna, Adewale Ademoyega with whom he formed the core 3 and with whom we call the 5 Majors.
The coup was excessively bloody and many of the victims were killed in cold bold, some after being held captive whilst witnessing the killing of others.

FACTS About the January 15th 1966 Coup
1) It was a Nigeria’s first coup and was intended to be a revolutionary one.
2) Many have labeled the coup tribalist favoring Ibos, but while almost all the officers except one were Ibo; it was a Yoruba man Chief Obafemi Awolowo they wanted to make Prime Minister to share power with them.
3) Captain Ude was given the assignment to go to Calabar to release Chief Awolowo from prison; the Captain was arrested in the process of doing this.
4) The coup was 100% successful in the Northern Region and was in fact executed by troops of Northern origin supervised by Major Nzeogwu. It was in Kaduna, that he made his broadcast to the nation.
5) The failure of Major Emmanuel Ifejuna to arrest the head of the army Major General Aguyi Ironsi led to the collapse of the coup.
6) No politician or civilian leader was killed in the Eastern part of the country which gave rise to the belief that it was an Ibo coup. But this was probably more to do with the fact that all those who were killed were members of or aligned with the central government and not an issue of tribe.
7) The killing of the Prime Minister Tafawa Balewa was especially gory and tragic. He had been arrested in the early hours of the morning and detained in a military truck that was driving around Lagos and present day Ogun state. Those in charge of keeping him battled with increasing confusing as to what to do with him since apparently the coup was failing in Lagos. By early evening, when it was apparent Ironsi had captured Lagos from them; they simply took the Prime Minister and 3 of his Ministers out of the truck and executed them in cold blood.
Seeing the collapse. Major Ifejuna escaped to Ghana where he was given a Presidential welcome by Kwame Nkrumah who was an ally of Awolowo and disliked the Balewa governent. Months later, Nkrumah himself was overthrown and Ifejuna extradited to Nigeria.
9) Major Ifejuna aside from being a soldier, was also a leading athlete and represented Nigeria at the Commonwealth games where he won a gold medal.
10) Major Adewale Ademoyega was the only non Ibo officer among the coupists. He was jailed along with other coupists by the Gowon government after the civil war the civil and only released in 1974 along with 20 others after Tai Solarin and students of the University of Ibadan protested.
11) Those jailed in Eastern Nigeria by General Ironsi wee released by Colonel Ojukwu and ended up fighting for Biafra. Nzeogwu believed in one Nigeria and wanted to cross to the Federal side, but Gowon wouldn’t let him; Ojukwu was afraid of him and never gave him troops to command. He was killed in action fighting on the Biafra side on July 29, 1967 in Nsukka; nonetheless Federal troops took his body to Lagos and he was buried with national honors in Kaduna, where he was born.
12) Dr. Tai Solarin kept Nzeowgu’s siblings safe during the civil war at Mayflower School, Ikenne. The south entrance to the Mayflower School complex is named after Nzeowgu.
13) Major Ifejuna was executed on September 25, 1967 by General Ojowku for allegedly plotting to overthrow him. Ifejuna like Nzeowgu believed in one Nigeria and along with Major Victor Banjo wanted to advance Biafra troops to Lagos and overthrow Gowon. They actually got to Ore after taking Benin but were ordered to stop .
14) Major Olusegun Obasanjo arrive from India from a military course on January 16th 1966, a day after the coup. He in fact slept on the top bed of the bunk bed where Nzeowgu slept that night. Both men were friends and its very possible, Obasanjo would have joined the coupists if he had been in the country during the planning.
15) On January 17, 1966 after governing Nigeria (albeit Northern Nigeria) for 2 days; Major Nzeowgu flew to Lagos and was arrested by troops loyal to the new military government headed by Major General Aguyi Ironsi.

Source: https://v7place.com/index.php?topic=1900.0

Major Emmanuel Ifeajuna was black Africa's first gold medalist and a graduate of the University of Ibadan where he was a Students Union leader. He was executed during the civil war by Biafrian Head of State, Colonel Ojukwu.

Brig. Samuel Ademulegun was killed with his pregnant wife,

Premier of the Western Region, Chief S.L Akintola faced the coupists and engaged in a gun fight with his sub machine gun. When his bullets exhausted, he came out and was killed.

Wole Soyinka: Arrested before the coup and charged to court when he allegedly forced the Western Broadcasting Service to air his own subversive tape, asking Akintola to resign

Brig. Zakariya Maimalari. Escaped when the coupists invaded his house and tried to arrest him. He fled by foot and when he saw Major Ifeajuna, he was relived at seeing his subordinate, The Brigadier beckoned to the Major who got down from his vehicle and executed his superior officer.

The plan by the mainly Ibo officers to make Chief Obafemi Awolowo the Prime Minister of their new government showed that the coup could not have been an " Ibo Coup".
Chief Awolowo was in jail at Calabar prison. Captain Ude was sent to release him and bring him to Lagos. Ude was arrested by troops loyal to General Ironsi in Calabar.

Major Kaduna Nzeogwu speaks to reporters in this clip. The coup only succeded in the North and Nzeogwu governed for 2 days. On the 17th of January, flew to Lagos and was arrested


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJ2pcLO9HSc

Major Olusegun Obasanjo was a bosom friend of Nzeogwu and his absence from the country for a military course in India was probably why he did not participate in the coup.
He arrived Nigeria on January 16th and slept on the top bunk of the bed, while Nzeogwu slept on the bottom before his flight to Lagos on the 17th,

Dr. Tai Solarin kept Nzeowgu’s siblings safe during the civil war at Mayflower School, Ikenne. The south entrance to the Mayflower School complex is named after Nzeowgu.

Major Kaduna Chukwuma Nzeogwu Road in Mayflower School, Ikenne, Ogun State.

Obasanjo knows the problem of Nigeria. But on selfish interest used it to his advantage.

Major General Aguyi Johnson Ironsi, Commander of the Army at his first conference.
There is a dispute today as to whether the Cabinet Ministers voluntarily handed power over to the General or he forced them to.

Ironsi made his staff (an alligator or crocodile) very famous. Many believed it had magical powers!

If the 1966 coup did not happen, the state of emergency and chaos in the west would have grown out of proportion to an insurgency.

Awolowo would have probably died in prison.
The eastern economy which was the fastest growing economy in the world as at then would have transformed the east to where south Korea's economy is today or something higher.

The sarduana would have continued his unbridled March to bury the Koran in the Atlantic.

Nigeria would have generally been a much better place and country.

Lessons learnt. Igbos should mind their business even when Nigeria is on fire ,mind your business.

Igbos repeated their mistakes in the end SARS protests and the revisionist almost made it an igbo sabotaging lagos economy but for the social media

kettykin:
If the 1966 coup did not happen, the state of emergency and chaos in the west would have grown out of proportion to an insurgency.

Awolowo would have probably died in prison.
The eastern economy which was the fastest growing economy in the world as at then would have transformed the east to where south Korea's economy is today or something higher.

The sarduana would have continued his unbridled March to bury the Koran in the Atlantic.

Nigeria would have generally been a much better place and country.

Lessons learnt. Igbos should mind their business even when Nigeria is on fire ,mind your business.

Igbos repeated their mistakes in the end SARS protests and the revisionist almost made it an igbo sabotaging lagos economy but for the social media

Hmmm. Interesting perspective.

Hmmmmm.... Some of these young soldiers then were quite very educated.

Lagos based journalist, Gabriel Fagbure reacting to the coup in an interview with the British press the day after


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0S0F_5ma4lM

kettykin:
If the 1966 coup did not happen, the state of emergency and chaos in the west would have grown out of proportion to an insurgency.

Awolowo would have probably died in prison.
The eastern economy which was the fastest growing economy in the world as at then would have transformed the east to where south Korea's economy is today or something higher.

The sarduana would have continued his unbridled March to bury the Koran in the Atlantic.

Nigeria would have generally been a much better place and country.

Lessons learnt. Igbos should mind their business even when Nigeria is on fire ,mind your business.

Igbos repeated their mistakes in the end SARS protests and the revisionist almost made it an igbo sabotaging lagos economy but for the social media

Ademoyega in his book confirmed that the coup was supposed to take place later in the year but he found out from H.O. Davies that Sardauna, Balewa and Akintola were planning a very bloody crackdown on the Western Region and the Middle Belt. They then rushed their plans and staged it on January 15

Fantastic reportage.

nku5:


Ademoyega in his book confirmed that the coup was supposed to take place later in the year but he found out from H.O. Davies that Sardauna, Balewa and Akintola were planning a very bloody crackdown on the Western Region and the Middle Belt. They then rushed their plans and staged it on January 15

Hmmm...ironic that the 2 coups carried out by mid level officers and revolutionary in nature were rushed and both failed! 1966 and 1990.

The Igbo coup

Na old story be this.

MelesZenawi:
Na old story be this.

We call it history and necessary for the "indomie generation"

January 15 1966 was indeed a day in histroy of Nigeria.

V7place:
Major Olusegun Obasanjo was a bosom friend of Nzeogwu and his absence from the country for a military course in India was probably why he did not participate in the coup.
He arrived Nigeria on January 16th and slept on the top bunk of the bed, while Nzeogwu slept on the bottom before his flight to Lagos on the 17th,

-Obasanjo knows more than he is willing to say, all to his own selfish end and to the detriment of the so-called Nigeria and the “one-Nigeria” chanters.

-All We want is the restoration of the Republic of Biafra - a land of Peace, Justice and respect for human rights and dignity of the human soul. Isee!

nku5:
Ademoyega in his book confirmed that the coup was supposed to take place later in the year but he found out from H.O. Davies that Sardauna, Balewa and Akintola were planning a very bloody crackdown on the Western Region and the Middle Belt. They then rushed their plans and staged it on January 15

Max Sillon, Capt Ben Gbulie also confirmed same in their respective books.

Fogman:

We call it history and necessarily for the indomie children

Read your history then

kettykin:
If the 1966 coup did not happen, the state of emergency and chaos in the west would have grown out of proportion to an insurgency.

Awolowo would have probably died in prison.
The eastern economy which was the fastest growing economy in the world as at then would have transformed the east to where south Korea's economy is today or something higher.

The sarduana would have continued his unbridled March to bury the Koran in the Atlantic.

Nigeria would have generally been a much better place and country.

Lessons learnt. Igbos should mind their business even when Nigeria is on fire ,mind your business.

Igbos repeated their mistakes in the end SARS protests and the revisionist almost made it an igbo sabotaging lagos economy but for the social media

-I agree 100%, Ndigbo should learn to mind their business- We have Igboland to rebuild from the ashes of millions whose lives were cut short unjustly. The post-1966 Nigeria is not our Country and Nigerians at all levels have made that clear. Let’s move as one and restore our Republic and humbly rebuild for those coming behind us.

babzo:


Hmmm...ironic that the 2 coups carried out by mid level officers and revolutionary in nature were rushed and both failed! 1966 and 1990.

Very correct o. Coups by Generals are more successful.Orkar's coup might have worked if not that they were all very high on cocaine and failed to seize Abacha who mobilised and countered