₦airaland Forum

Fhemmmy: Interesting . . . . Fear is not easy . . .

Don't mind the fake intellectual coward.

[quote author=Nwa_Nimo]Because he wasn't original - but a plagiarist.

A lot of whats been attributed to him was borrowed from either the Bible or Ancient African texts.

The people listed had an original message . . . Muhammed didn't.[/quote]This is one of the main reasons I find it hard to respect any of you aethist/nonconformist- you people are hardly ever sincere about anything, especially about how cowardly you really are.

I mean prove me wrong, you claim you did not include Muhammed because his message wasn't original, but most of what the Christ said was already included in the Old Testament. Biggie had little message besides consumerism and nothing Fela, Marley or Tupac said was original.

So as I said, prove me wrong at least about your cowardice (as I doubt you'll ever be sincere as to why you started this thread), add Muhammed to the title and let's see what's removed first, you or your topic.

alj harem: Haba GEJ was right. There is nothing tresonable about the statement.

Maybe not treasonable but clearly some one in his office should not spread that sort of sentiment. Like I said earlier in the Military of most countries's you will be kicked out for that statement and any leader of a civilsed country who aired these kind of sentiments would be forced to resign.

Take the US for example, if Obama said the aquistion of Texas was a mistake all because they don't support gay marriage, he'd be on the first plane back to Nairobi before I could say Jack Robinson.

We never do things right in Nigeria and that has always been our problem.

Oh and like I said before, I agree the amalgamation was a mistake.

chima12: forget that useless nigerian oath;omar al bashir,the sudanese president swore to a similar oath but he couldnt stop the south sudanese from having referendum and independence.

Swearing an oath does not make you GOD (thankfully)- you can't stop what will happen but you must do all in your reasonable power to fulfil your duty to what you swore.

Personally I don't see how someone who swears numerous times to upholding a constitution that only recognises ONE NIGERIA (the Nigerian People are only mentioned once in that oath I beleieve) can try to turn himself into a some sort of regional champion or agitator.

I am free to do so, Buhari is and kpomo too if he wants; but clearly not a sitting President, the undoubted number one glorified slave to the constitution.

For all those who can be bothered, here is the official oath that GEJ and all his democratic predecessors swore to in their office as President of Nigeria. I have desisted from putting my own reading to it for now so this can be a blank canvass for all to do what they want with.

[b]“ I do solemnly swear/affirm that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to the Federal Republic of Nigeria; that as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, I will discharge my duties to the best of my ability, faithfully and in accordance with the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the law, and always in the interest of the sovereignty, integrity, solidarity, well-being and prosperity of the Federal Republic of Nigeria; that I will strive to preserve the Fundamental Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy contained in
the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria; that I will not allow my personal interest to influence my official conduct or my official decisions; that I will to the best of my ability preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria; that I will abide by the Code of Conduct contained in the Fifth Schedule to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria; that in all circumstances, I will do right to all manner of people, according to law, without fear or favour, affection or ill-will; that I will not directly or indirectly communicate or reveal to any person any matter which shall be brought under my consideration or shall become known to me as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, except as may be required for the due discharge of my duties as President; and that I will devote myself to the service and well-being of the people of Nigeria. So help me God. [/b]

Taken from another nairaland thread BTW

www.nairaland.com/608854/presidents-oath-office

BTW I agree that the amalgamation was a mistake, but my belief has no relevance as I did not swear an oath (before God and man) to protect it.

In the Military of any known country, one would be courtmartialled for this.

Kobojunkie: Advice, never apply for a job as an English Teacher,or a Language Teacher! Please, we have enough evening market trained teachers dragging the Nigerian Education System down.

Sad but true.

It seems poor Frank is one of the many people we have in this country with qualifications but insufficient understanding.

[quote author=Frank-C]The OP is just spreading falsehood because i still can't see how he got to his conclusion. No look at this quote: 'from the time of John the Baptist, the kingdom of God suffereth violence.... And only the violent take it by force' Does this really mean that there was violence in God's kingdom the day John was born? Normally, a 'from' is followed by 'to' indicating a valid range of time within which a logic holds true. That is actually the essence of integration (calculus).
Following what Mr President's logic, he is actually saying that the things that went wrong ranges from laying poor foundation for such a gigantic structure to having the product of such poor foundation- including having non ideological political parties to states going to Abuja monthly for hand out to having a former president mentioning blood and election in thesame sentence.
The question any sincere person must ask himself is which of the problems for which the president is insulted just started today? Actually, we suspected that they have been there, but now we know the extent. But wait a minute, what is Fashola, Peter Obi and Babangida Aliyu's daily feeding budget? You obviously dont know because they sustained business as usual. Do you now get what Jonathan mean when he says that his team wants to change this country?[/quote]This is probably the best explanation you will find here on the actual "English" words that were spoken; but the conclusion of the poster given his correct citation of the prepositional clause form of "from", is a truly mind burgling pathetic indictment of our educational system.

[quote author=Frank-C]The OP is just spreading falsehood because i still can't see how he got to his conclusion. No look at this quote: 'from the time of John the Baptist, the kingdom of God suffereth violence.... And only the violent take it by force' Does this really mean that there was violence in God's kingdom the day John was born?[/quote]For the avoidance of doubt, YES, literally (the "from" part) and figuratively (the "violence" part), it does.

Pls respond to your email hastily.

Sir, check your email.

Ufeolorun: Nice writeup and God bless that man for his honesty.

Amen.
Also may God bless the original poster for sharing his tale.

Dipwater: Thief dey wish him fellow thief happy bffday. Ibb and tinubu una do well eh.

lol.....though it's also clear bridges are being built for 2015- shame we won't be able to drive on them though.

Abagworo: "Peace" is the answer to both questions.

Seems to be the most precise answer so far......funny how 40 something years after Awo hinted this, it's still a true concern.

Much thanks OP.

naijaking1: I agree Awo was very talented and even more realistic than his contemporaries, you know who.
However, my question to the Op is: why do you think you have the intellectual wherewithall to interpret Awo to us. It would be nice if could post a link to something like "Awo's explanation to his own statements" If you can't, I don't see any need to read Awo to us.

@ naijaking
I don't really understand your reply- is their anywhere in my OP where I exalted my intellectual credentials? Re-reading it all I can see is mentioning I am familiar with Awo's works and declaring myself an avid fan, is that wrong? I am no academic, in fact i have just noticed a grammatical flaw in my interpretation which I am going to correct; and I really didn't want to reduce such a great speech into flimsy footnotes in the first case- but who will be the voice for a man who devoted his life to being the voice for all of us for so long, certainly not him anymore and God forbid it be the Manchys or Onlytruths (who I know for certain knows better).

We all know all it takes is for good men to keep quiet for evil men to prosper- and I was really hoping a "good" Biafran would lead the charge in showing his comrades the error of their ways....oh well.

Anyway my footnotes are less than 5% of the material in that post, Baba eloquently interprets himself really.

My post is really just to make it clear that the illogical minds like Logic Mind have only ever had themselves to blame for breeding their children on lethal doses of hate and fairytales.

Maybe we might need to get it translated into etnic languages or pidgin for peace to reign.

While I have been on this forum I have earnestly tried my best not to get involved in the ridiculous daily jingoistic tribal wars fought on this forum. Though a vociferous political animal, I have tried so hard to subdue my inherent prejudice that it recently resulted into me being declared an Igbo man by our favourite Alhaji of all tribes lol. But recently my attention has been captured by the unnecessary Revisionist propaganda perpetuated by our wannabe Biafran Warriors* (mainly of the diaspora) trying to malign IMO, the greatest political speech of Nigeria’s 50 something wasteful year history. I wanted to title this “Awo’s speech for dummies”- but I have come to realise that though I love this speech so much as it captures everything I have loved and continue to love about Baba, it is not that easy to understand for those not familiar with his writings or the legal profession with which he belonged too. Anyway here’s me doing my part- Awo’s speech explained.

The aim of a leader should be the welfare of the people whom he leads. I have used 'welfare' to denote the physical, mental and spiritual well-being of the people. With this aim fixed unflinchingly and unchangeably before my eyes I consider it my duty to Yoruba people in particular and to Nigerians in general, to place four imperatives before you this morning.

Self explanatory

Two of them are categorical*.........

Definition: categorical- unambiguously explicit and direct
Simple English- clear

.........and two are conditional*.

Definition: subject to one or more conditions being met. A conditional clause or conjuction
Simple English- uncertain, unless something happens.

(Remember he said 4 imperatives (directions/instructions) and he goes on to name them)

1.Only a peaceful solution must be found to arrest the present worsening stalemate and restore normalcy.
2.The Eastern Region must be encouraged to remain part of the Federation.
3.If the Eastern Region is allowed by acts of omission or commission to secede from or opt out of Nigeria, then the Western Region and Lagos must also stay out of the Federation.
4.The people of Western Nigeria and Lagos should participate in the ad hoc committee or any similar body only on the basis of absolute equality with the other regions of the Federation.

Now he goes on to explain/ give more info on each instruction in his own words, but before we get onto that lets deal with point 3, the main point of contention by wept over modern day adolescent Biafrans.

3.If the Eastern Region is allowed by acts of omission* or commission* to secede from or opt out of Nigeria, then the Western Region and Lagos must also stay out of the Federation.

Definition: an act of omission is a failure to do something
Definiton: an act of commission is doing something
Simple English: If Eastern Nigeria is allowed to leave Nigeria, because of something that was done or not done, then the Western Region and Lagos must also be allowed to leave Nigeria and do what we want.

I would like to comment briefly on these four imperatives.

I said this was coming. He now comments on each one of them in his own words. Here you can better appreciate the meaning of his 4 imperatives.

1.Only a peaceful solution must be found to arrest the present worsening stalemate and restore normalcy.
There has, of late, been a good deal of sabre rattling in some parts of the country. Those who advocate the use force for the settlement of our present problems should stop a little and reflect. I can see no vital and abiding principle involved in any war between the North and the East. If the East attacked the North, it would be for purpose of revenge pure and simple. Any claim to the contrary would be untenable. If it is claimed that such a war is being waged for the purpose of recovering the real and personal properties left behind in the North by Easterners two insuperable points are obvious. Firstly, the personal effects left behind by Easterners have been wholly looted or destroyed, and can no longer be physically recovered. Secondly, since the real properties are immovable in case of recovery of them can only be by means of forcible military occupation of those parts of the North in which these properties are situated. On the other hand, if the North attacked the East, it could only be for the purpose of further strengthening and entrenching its position of dominance in the country.
If it is claimed that an attack on the East is going to be launched by the Federal Government and not by the North as such and that it is designed to ensure the unity and integrity of the Federation, two other insuperable points also become obvious. First, if a war against the East becomes a necessity it must be agreed to unanimously by the remaining units of the Federation. In this connection, the West, Mid- West and Lagos have declared their implacable* (overwhelming/unquestionable) opposition to the use of force in solving the present problem. In the face of such declarations by three out of remaining four territories of Nigeria, a war against the East could only be a war favoured by the North alone. Second, if the true purpose of such a war is to preserve the unity and integrity of the Federation, then these ends can be achieved by the very simple devices of implementing the recommendation of the committee which met on August 9 1966, as reaffirmed by a decision of the military leaders at Aburi on January 5 1967 as well as by accepting such of the demands of the East, West, Mid-West and Lagos as are manifestly reasonable, and essential for assuring harmonious relationships and peaceful co-existence between them and their brothers and sisters in the North.
Some knowledgeable persons have likened an attack on the East to Lincoln's war against the southern states in America. Two vital factors distinguish Lincoln's campaign from the one now being contemplated in Nigeria. The first is that the American civil war was aimed at the abolition of slavery - that is the liberation of millions of Negroes who were then still being used as chattels and worse than domestic animals. The second factor is that Lincoln and others in the northern states were English-speaking people waging a war of good conscience and humanity against their fellow nationals who were also English speaking. A war against the East in which Northern soldiers are predominant, will only unite the Easterners or the Ibos against their attackers, strengthen them in their belief that they are not wanted by the majority of their fellow-Nigerians, and finally push them out of the Federation.
We have been told that an act of secession on the part of the East would be a signal, in the first instance, for the creation of the COR state by decree, which would be backed, if need be, by the use of force. With great respect, I have some dissenting observations to make on this declaration. There are 11 national or linguistic groups in the COR areas with a total population of 5.3 millions. These national groups are as distinct from one another as the Ibos are distinct from them or from the Yorubas or Hausas. Of the 11, the Efik/Ibibio/Annang national group are 3.2 million strong as against the Ijaws who are only about 700,000 strong. Ostensibly, the remaining nine national group number 1.4 millions. But when you have subtracted the Ibo inhabitants from among them, what is left ranges from the Ngennis who number only 8,000 to the Ogonis who are 220,000 strong. A decree creating a COR state without a plebiscite to ascertain the wishes of the peoples in the area, would only amount to subordinating the minority national groups in the state to the dominance of the Efik/Ibibio/Annang national group. It would be perfectly in order to create a Calabar state or a Rivers state by decree, and without a plebiscite. Each is a homogeneous national unit. But before you lump distinct and diverse national units together in one state, the consent of each of them is indispensable. Otherwise, the seed of social disequilibrium in the new state would have been sown.
On the other hand, if the COR State is created by decree after the Eastern Region shall have made its severance from Nigeria effective, we should then be waging an unjust war against a foreign state. It would be an unjust war, because the purpose of it would be to remove 10 minorities in the East from the dominance of the Ibos only to subordinate them to the dominance of the Efik/Ibibio/Annang national group. I think I have said enough to demonstrate that any war against the East[u], or vice versa,[/u] on any count whatsoever, would be an unholy crusade, for which it would be most unjustifiable to shed a drop of Nigerian blood.

It’s funny how our NL Biafran soldiers love to quote this part but never deal with the vice versa part.
Definiton: with the main items in the preceding statement the other way round.
Simple English: “I think I have said enough to say that any war againt Nigeria (obviously by Biafra or any of it’s allies), on any count whatsoever, would be an unholy crusade, for which it would be unjustifiable to shed a dropo of Nigerian blood (Nigerian blood in both statements includes everyone).

Therefore, only a peaceful solution must be found, and quickly too to arrest the present rapidly deteriorating stalemate and restore normalcy.

2.The Eastern Region must be encouraged to remain part of the Federation.
With regard to the second categorical imperative, it is my considered view that whilst some of the demands of the East are excessive within the context of a Nigerian union, most of such demands are not only wellfounded, but are designed for smooth and steady association amongst the various national units of Nigeria.
The dependence of the Federal Government on financial contributions from the regions? These and other such like demands I do not support. Demands such as these, if accepted, will lead surely to the complete disintegration of the Federation which is not in the interest of our people. But I wholeheartedly support the following demands among others, which we consider reasonable and most of which are already embodied in our memoranda to the Ad Hoc Committee....
That revenue should be allocated strictly on the basis of derivation; that is to say after the Federal Government has deducted its own share for its own services the rest should be allocated to the regions to which they are attributable.
That the existing public debt of the Federation should become the responsibility of the regions on the basis of the location of the projects in respect of each debt whether internal or external.

That each region should have and control its own militia and police force.

That, with immediate effect, all military personnel should be posted to their regions of origin....

If we are to live in harmony one with another as Nigerians it is imperative that these demands and others which are not related, should be met without further delay by those who have hitherto resisted them. To those who may argue that the acceptance of these demands will amount to transforming Nigeria into a federation with a weak central government, my comment is that any link however tenuous, which keeps the East in the Nigerian union, is better in my view than no link at all. (This is from a man who supposedly hates the Igbos with Hitleric passion, may God forgive )

3.If the Eastern Region is allowed by acts of omission or commission to secede from or opt out of Nigeria, then the Western Region and Lagos must also stay out of the Federation.
Before the Western delegates went to Lagos to attend the meetings of the ad hoc committee, they were given a clear mandate that if any region should opt out of the Federation of Nigeria, then the Federation! should be considered to be at an end, and that the Western Region and Lagos should also opt out of it. It would then be up to Western Nigeria and Lagos as an independent sovereign state to enter into association with any of the Nigerian units of its own choosing, and on terms mutually acceptable to them. I see no reason for departing from this mandate. If any region in Nigeria considers itself strong enough to compel us to enter into association with it on its own terms, I would only wish such a region luck. But such luck, I must warn, will, in the long run be no better than that which has attended the doings of all colonial powers down the ages. This much I must say in addition, on this point. We have neither military might nor the overwhelming advantage of numbers here in Western Nigeria and Lagos. But we have justice of a noble and imperishable cause on our side, namely: the right of a people to unfettered self-determination. If this is so, then God is on our side, and if God is with us then we have nothing whatsoever in this world to fear.

4.The people of Western Nigeria and Lagos should participate in the ad hoc committee or any similar body only on the basis of absolute equality with the other regions of the Federation.
The fourth imperative, and the second conditional one has been fully dealt with in my recent letter to the Military Governor of Western Nigeria, Col. Robert Adebayo, and in the representation which your deputation made last year to the head of the Federal Military Government, Lt. Col. Yakubu Gowon. As a matter of fact, as far back as November last year a smaller meeting of leaders of thought in this Region decided that unless certain things were done, we would no longer participate in the meeting of the ad hoc committee. But since then, not even one of our legitimate requests has been granted. I q, therefore, take no more of your time in making further comments on a point with which you are well familiar. As soon as our humble and earnest requests are met, I shall be ready to take my place on the ad hoc committee. But certainly, not before.

And finally

In closing, I have this piece of advice to give. In order to resolve amiably and in the best interests of all Nigerians certain attributes are required on the part of Nigerian leaders, military as well as non-military leaders alike, namely: vision, realism and unselfishness. [i](all things you showed Baba, God will continue to bless your memory)[/i]But above all , what will keep Nigerian leaders in the North and East unwaveringly in the path of wisdom, realism and moderation is courage and steadfastness on the part of Yoruba people in the course of what they sincerely believe to be right, equitable and just. In the past five years we in the West and Lagos have shown that we possess these qualities in a large measure. If we demonstrate them again as we did in the past, calmly and heroically, we will save Nigeria from further bloodshed and imminent wreck and, at the same time, preserve our freedom and self-respect into the bargain.

May God rule and guide our deliberations here, and endow all the Nigerian leaders with the vision, realism, and unselfishness as well as courage and steadfastness in the course of truth, which the present circumstances demand. "

AbuHanifa: If it is true that Henry is a muslim, I enjoin everyone to be part of the Ummah before it is too late.[/b]If not, someone should communicate my message to Henry to accept Islam and all nairalanders..

babsjnr: [b]Henry,aneika and marlon king are all muslim.

I urge all NLanders to always take a breath before they post.

Nothing was wrong with this topic till the poster asked me to convert because Henry has/could...... I ask the unfortunate OP should I also declare to Arsenal fans that I'm going to stay for life and then do the exact opposite the next year while abadoning my wife and infant daughter in the process? Or should I follow the example of pious Anelka who has shown little loyalty to any club, publicly fought with more than half his managers and is on record to have unrepentantly told his national team manager, a man older than his father, to "go Bleep yourself, you son of a LovePeddler "?? Or should I betray my true country of origin like both men and chase greener pastures At least Marlon King was pious enough to play for Jamaica, that's why he's been unfairly persecuted, convicted more than 10 times for offences ranging from grand theft auto to sexual assault ( my personal favorite is when he Tysoned a 20 yr old student in the mouth, permanently disfiguring her, all because she refused his advances). But I guess I need to do all these things since these model examples have.

People (of all religions) should think twice before they post such garbage.

^^ birds of the same feather.....

Genius100: There are obviously a lot of idiots on this site. Even the OP is not very bright. Has he threatened you to change your name? Has he told you he will divorce you if you don't change your name? Even you, the OP, proclaimed that his love for you is still intact. So if he suggested that you change your name to Sinmisola, how does that mean he no longer loves Igbo people as you implied? How does that mean he hates your current name? Perhaps, he just loves the name "Sinmisola". And if you do not want to change your name, you simply tell him in a gentle way that your current name means a lot to you and you will prefer to keep it. What's the big deal. But not only have you read all kinds of unneccessary meaning into his suggestion, you have also brought your family matter into a forum known to be populated by a majority of people with low IQ.

Goodluck...

++1
The only good post i've read so far- probably from your husband himself.

My only problem is the font colour.

Also i think this page zero thing doesn't make sense (probably an american invention).

Seun: Hello Guys,

"Nairaland 2.0" aka "New Nairaland" aka "NL2" is now the default version of Nairaland. What do you think? Ask me any question and I'll post the answer on this thread.

Best Regards,
Seun Osewa.

Nice work Seun but the color scheme is a serious problem- it just seems to be too much going on and thus all the hurting eye comments. That's the main flaw but a tiny one IMO is this page 0- not sureI seen this in any forum and now I know why.

Good job over all but please please change the colour scheme ASAP.

[quote author=ndu_chucks link=topic=889867.msg10365249#msg10365249 date=1331308484]Femi Fani-Kayode is no Remilekun Fani-Kayode. ,No amount of goodwill generated from his latest antics will prevent him from answering to his EFCC charges of laundering various sums of money totaling N230 million through some of his aides, his wife, Regina Fani-Kayode and daughter. barawo banza[/quote]^^This
and this alone should be the only thing that should matter to any Nigerian, no matter if you're happy to be one or not. This man stole from Igbo, Hausa, Efik, Edo, Igala and even his own kith and kin- he is the lowest of lows, an individual IMO worse than BH, responsible for it in fact- someone born with everything, educated to the highest standards but still felt the need to steal and deny millions of his countrymen the same chance at a better life, a total ingrate to God!

I ask if a murderer(which he is) had said good words about Ojukwu, would we have more than 2 pages discussing there worth We are all in this cesspit together and sentimental reasoning is one of the main reasons, the sooner we all wake up the better for us all.

[quote author=re@lchange link=topic=877893.msg10352551#msg10352551 date=1331155819]dis danjuma guy can lie e! 
according to him, he was just a stranger to the plot, but how come he acted with so much venom?
even in the interview he called ironsi a useless desk clerk general
he is a real coward for not accepting his role. nobody cares these days anyway so if danjuma says the truth nbobdy is interested. nigerian army is full of cowards.[/quote]TBF almost everything you bolded has largley been corroborated by the second more useful link that was written in 03, five years before Danjumas interview was given. What amazes me is how rich in detail their descrptions are of events that occured over 30 years ago- they are probably still being haunted by their actions, though Danjuma is the only one who seemingly still wants to justify it.
Anyway still far better than listening to people on here with fancifully laughable stories drawn up solely to soothe and suit their bigoted psyches.

Dede1:
The soldiers who confronted the team of coup plotters in government house in Ibadan were Njoku and Nwankwo. Andy Nwankwo even drew a pistol on T Danjuman[b] who had grenade with the pin pulled. [/b]

LMFAO , is this not the same poster who claims to have fought in a war- does he understand how ridiculous this is coming from someone who is suppose to be familiar with the weaponry of that period or any in fact? So in a pressure situation, a well educated and rational (see his tale above) officer, in control of everything, with troops, decided a pinless grenade was the way to go, Nairaland's keypad warriors :shame:

The other link is far more meaningful, insightful and adds real flesh to the bone about what lead to that infamous night

SUNDAY GUARDIAN-17th
february,2008
You were quoted as saying that
your memoirs would be one
grenade of a book, why?
You know; there are so many
versions of some the critical
events that took place over the
years in which I was involved.
Some of the versions are
sanitized; some of them are
slightly inaccurate, which I will
endeavour to correct. And in
correcting them, there will be a
few explosions. You know what
a grenade is- it explodes.
Unfortunately, for me, each
time I pick up my notes and try
to write, I have to relive some
of those very tense periods and
I am so worked up. So, what I
have decided to do is oral
history- tell the story to a writer
who’ll record, transcribe and so
on and the book will bear his
name and mine.
Will you, in the book correct,
for example, the many
stories around the coup in
Ibadan in 1966 and your
alleged role in the killing of
Aguiyi-Ironsi and Adekunle
Fajuyi?
The interesting thing about the
Ibadan coup where Ironsi was
arrested is that the full story is
already in print. If you take the
book written on me by Lindsay
Barrett, the account given there
with General ( Yakubu )
Gowon’s biography written by
Professor Isawa Eliaugu – if you
read that part of the book, the
account there of what
happened – if you put them
together, a lot of the grey areas
will be clear.
Well, you still have to clear
some speculations here
concerning your role. It is
said that you broke Ironsi’s
famous swagger stick, which
was thought to be his magic
wand. Did you? Did your
people drag Ironsi on the
road? Did you take him to
Iwo road and shoot him?
No, it is not true. What
happened was that after we
arrested him, I lost control.
Remember that I was a
complete stranger. I came from
Lagos with Ironsi as a staff in
the Army Headquarters
attached to him. I stayed in the
barracks with the Adjutant ( the
Chief of Staff of the
Commanding Officer ). I stayed
with him in his single officer
quarters. And it was there, that
at one or two o’clock in the
morning – I was in bed – when
he came and knocked at my
door. He said, “sir, do you
know what has happened.” I
said, “no”. he said there was
some trouble in Abeokuta, who
was an Igbo officer holding
secret meeting with all the Igbo
officers in the officers’ mess
and our boys went and shot all
of them.
Who are the “our boys?”
Northern soldiers. Remember,
Igbos did the killings that took
place in January (1966 ).
They killed non-Igbo senior
Army officers. Only one Igbo
officer the killed but Igbo wiped
out almost all the senior non –
Igbo officers. We rounded up all
the people, who did the killings,
because we all help Ironsi to
abort the January coup. They
were rounded up and put in jail,
where they were being paid
their full salary.
They had television, they had
everything there despite being
detained and nobody was
talking about court marshalling
them. Instead, the newspapers
including the Daily Times, in fact
Peter Enahoro, who was named
Peter Pan; in his Sunday
newspaper(wrote a column) to
the effect that The boys being
detained were national heroes.
National heroes because they
killed corrupt politicians! He
didn’t say anything about Army
officers…
they killed corrupt politicians
and replaced them with lronsi
whom we would call Iron-side
Very insulting and in my own
opinion, very provocative
article! He was saying that those
boys should be freed. Tension
started building. Riots broke out
in the North and it was because
of the riots that broke out in the
North that Ironsi started going
round to talk to traditional
rulers and the Army leaders. I
was in his convoy.
We got to Ibadan. We had a
meeting with traditional rulers
and leaders of thought at the
end of which everybody was
asked to sing the National
Anthem. We all sang the
National Anthem. In the night,
we had dinner and we came
back. We dropped him (Ironsi)
at Government House, and then
went to the barracks to stay
with the AdjutantThen, at one
o’clock in the night (there was)
gbam, gbam, gbam on my
door. I said what happened. He
(Adjutant) said there was some
trouble in Abeokuta. I said what
was it? He said the man on duty
– duty officer – saw the
Commanding Officer holding
meetings in the officers’ mess …
all the officer that attended that
meeting were Igbos. They left
out non-Igbo officers. The duty
officer called one or two
soldiers; they cocked their guns,
went there and rounded up
every body. They thought it was
a joke. One of them had his
staff machine gun by his side
and he bent down and
attempted to pick it up; they
opened up on him and shot him
down.
They sprayed everybody, killed
everybody there and started
tele phoning.
They rang Ibadan. It was then
that this boy woke me up. This
was what happened. The press
had been calling for the release
of the January coup plotters.
Now, our boys had created an
excuse for the release. After
killing these people, it is a draw
– they killed Army officers in
Lagos and all overNigeria. Igbos
did it. Now,Igbos had been
killed in Abeokuta; that’d be the
end of it. I said no. I asked the
Adjutant, who was in a position
to know, if the Supreme
Commander – at that time
lronsi was known as Supreme
Commander – had been told?
He said, no; he didn’ think so. I
said okay; he
should get me some soldiers.
He brought soldiers. I didn’t
come to lbadan with combat
dress. I had to borrow the
combat dress of an officer
about my size. It was an
American combat dress. This
officer had just come back from
the US. You know, when you
travel with the Head of state
you have to dress decently,
wear service dress and so on.
So, I borrowed fatigue, wore it.
In fact, I wore it over my
pyjamas and left with the
Adjutant. I said, “take me to
Government House”. We got
there. We asked soldiers who
were on duty to ground arms.
They all grounded their arms. I
told the Adjutant what to do.
Soldiers grounded their arms;
we disarmed them and armed
the soldiers that we brought.
Meanwhile, the anti-tank gun
(lronsi convoy) was there, the
commander was there. The
commander was from the
garrison in Ibadan. We knew
him; we told him. He said we
should use the gun to blow
down the building. I said
no,There’s no need; the Head
of State was there; we had to
arrest him. We were there and
waited. Any time anybody came
out from the building, we
arrested him. They removed
their shoes and we asked them
to sit down.
Why were you doing this?
We didn’t want any violence. we
wanted to arrest him ( Ironsi )
alive and go and lock him up.we
wanted to interrogate him, to
find out the role he played in
the coup ( January 1966 ); his
stories didn’t add up about how
he escaped from flagstaff House
where he was staying at
No.1,Glover (Ikoyi), and ended
up in Ikeja.How it came about
Njoku,who was supposed to
have handed over the
command of the largest
garrison in lagos, which was
then the Ikeja Garison, did not
handover.Njoku was still in
commandand he (Ironsi) went
to join him. We were going to
interrogate him about all those,
or at least, that was what I
thought we were
going to do.
So, every I told the soldiers to
do or not to do,they obeyed
until eventually, first,
(Adekunle)Fajuyi (Millitary
Governor of Western Region)
came out of the building after
he Waited… every time they
sent somebody out of the
building, nobody went back. So,
Fajuyi Came down. As he came
down the steps, I saluted-him-
and said; “sir, you are under
arrest; hands up’ He looked at
me and called me, “Danjuma?”
I said, “Sir, you are under
arrest.”
He raised his hands, and came
down. He said, “What do you
want?” I said,
“we want to arrest you and we
want to arrest the Head of
State.”
He said,”and you are going out
with him?” I said, “yes , .”
And you were supposed to
be on the Supreme
Commander’s
entourage?
I was;I was there. I went to
Ibadan with him. What do you
mean by,”supposed to?”
Because you were now
arresting…
Yes, I was arresting. He (Fajuyi)
pleaded with me not to go up
with armed men;that he was
going to go up and call him
(Ironsi) provided I guaranteed
his safety. I gave him my
guarantee: I said, “I guarantee
your safety.”
He went there, and didn’t come
down. So, I decided to climb
up. As I climbed up the steps,
armed soldiers followed me. I
had a grenade in my hand. I
didn’t have any arm. As I came,
lronsi was sitted; Fajuyi was by
his side.
I said, “Sir, you are under
arrest.” And I gave him the
order to stand up.
Reluctantly, Ironsi stood up. He
used to carry a staff crocodile.
He had it in his hand. They both
came down. Fajuyi was still
asking me about guaranteeing
safety. I guaranteed his safety
absolutely. So, we came out of
the building down toward the
car.
One of the soldiers said we
shouldn’t allow him to carry his
crocodile, that there’s juju. I
said no; there’s nothing in it. He
said he’d disappear if we
allowed him to carry it. He
started to stop and I told him to
shut up. That was the time I
lost control. The soldier batoned
me and pushed me aside and
took charge. To my greatest
surprise, the Adjutant, who
was, you know, these were his
troops – I was a stranger,
they were obeying me because
everything I did they liked; they
liked what I was doing, but the
moment I told them not to do
some thing they didn’t like, they
rejected – I expected the
Adjutant, who was there, to
intervene. He probably incited
them. He said,”Yes, the soldier
is right. This thing here (Ironsi’s
crocodile) is his Zasa; it’s juju
that will make him disappear.”
So, they took the thing from
him, pushed me aside and
bundled him and Fajuyi in a
vehicle and drove away. It was
six O’clock in the morning.
The front of the Government
House was littered with people
without shoes; people who had
come to get ready to go. They
asked every one of them to sit
on the floor and they removed
their shoes. They all sat,
including the then Head of
Service (Chief P Odumosu). I
came down. They (soldiers)
drove away.
There was nobody to tell these
people to go; so they all sat
there. It was I who said,
what’re you people still doing
here. Quietly, they realized they
were free to go. They (soldiers)
had driven away Fajuyi and
Ironsi.
What of you?
I had to hitch a ride to go to the
barracks. They left; there was
no vehicle even for me to leave
that place; they Just drove
away, taking them away.So, I
had to make my way back to
the barracks. If you read
Gowon’s book, it’s there. They
named names , of the people
who actually took Ironsi away.
Now, there are a lot of lies. I
read some very funny lies told
by Ironsi’s ADC whose life I
saved. He was an Igbo officer
from Abakaliki area, tall, a
good-looking chap. After the
war he came back, I saw him,
we shook hands and I gave him
some money.
I read his account. You know
we captured a lot of literature
in Enugu. The Igbos named his
account, including what
happened in Ibadan, and what
happened in the North – as
pogrom. I read all the accounts
there. It was there that I saw
the evidence given by this man
in order to … he must have felt
guilty, when his boss was
arrested and taken away and he
went away and he went home
empty-handed, without
anything even though he was
his ADC and nothing happened
to him. He had to tell a lie to
justify how he came out with
his limbs intact. He gave a long
story of how he escaped, what
happened and so on.
That man told a lot of the lies
that gained currency. Ironsi had
two ADCs. One of them was
Col. Sani Bello and the other
was this man. I prevailed on the
soldiers not to do anything to
anybody. We arranged even for
him to escape, and go away. He
went home and started telling
lies. He told a lot of lies, which I
read in the account he gave in
Biafra. We had an inquiry.
People came to give account
and so on and so forth.
Unfortunately, I didn’t keep it,
but I remember that the stories
that gained currency were from
that man.
The Adjutant created the
problem?.
He didn’t create the prob1em.
The Igbos who killed our senior
officers all over the place
created the problem; they
created the problem. They
sowed the wind and reaped the
problem; it wasn’t him (the
Adjutant). They were
reacting;they were avenging
what happened in January. The
July coup was a revenge coup.
What’s the name of the
Adjutant?
Garba Paiko!
Was he a major?
Major! He was a Second
Lieutenant.
You were his senior?
Oh yes! But when it comes to
coup-making, there’s no rank.
Coup is abandwagon of
hierarchy. This was his unit. He
knew the boys; I didn’t know
them. But he knew me.He used
me…
You’re lucky they didn’t
mistake you for an Igbo.
Oh, easily! I was lighter in
complexion than I am no. Many
times, they took me for an
Igbo.
So, he (Adjutant) didn’t
create the problem?
I don’t think you people know
what happened. What would
you do when you went to bed
and woke up and found that all
the people from your area in
the Army, innocent people were
killed in their beds, some of
them even with their wives – all
done by Igbo officers? We
bottled up this for six months
from January to July. Then, the
opportunity came for revenge.
In the Army, you are taught
that when you are fired upon,
you take cover and return fire.
We didn’t return fire
immedi¬ately. We gave Ironsi a
chance to deal with the people
who killed our seniors. He did
not. Then foolish people like
(Peter Pan) Enahoro were
talking about national heroes
¬that people who did the
killings were national heroes.
We couldn’t understand! If
politicians were corrupt, why
didn’t you confine yourself to
killing politicians? If it was
necessary that the Army should
take over, why was it that this
same Army should eliminate the
cream of that Army and leave
us With absolutely useless
people, like Ironsi who was a
desk-clerk Head of State? We
couldn’t understand it. But we
bottled this up till July and when
the opportunity came, we
decided to revenge. This is what
happened…
People blame you for what
happened in Ibadan, but as
it is, the Adjutant more or
less, instigated the soldiers,
Yes, this is what I suspect. My
suspicion is borne out by the
fact that he did not do what I
would do if I were in his
position. He (Adjutant)
approved of what the boys did.

Onlytruth:
^^

How I wish that Nwankwo had fired that pistol. They'll all probably be dead, but at least they would die with their aggressors.

In this age of rationality and the internet, some of us still tend to believe in Rambotic fantasies, oh well.

Anyway one thing for certain is people involved in the events we choose to have headaches over have spoken about them and spoken about them extensively ; heres Danjuma and Col William Walbe in different ways recalling what they did and why.

www.maxsiollun./2008/05/28/the-danjuma-interview/

www.dawodu.com/omoigui36.htm

debedebe:
b4 altering any word,always av ur facts, tanx

So who sent them or preferably on whose behalf were they acting If not the governor, was his television and radio turned off when eveyone was reporting on the incidents for 3 solid days?

RELIGIOUS PERSPECTIVE

As intelligent people have already pointed out, a christian MB cannot have a christian SE/SS as his running mate, end of. Muslim options don't exist unless you think Asari Dokubo is worth a twirl. In fact after the civil war Nigeria has only dared 2 homo-religious pairings- both successful.

Buhari/Idiagbon
Abiola/Kingibe

What this suggests is for any homo-religious pairing to work there would have to be a SWner/Edoid involved, or someone acceptable to them. Yoruba muslims like their core northern counterparts will not support/vote for an entire Christian ticket- unless the Christian is closely affiliated with them. Vice versa for Yoruba christians.

The post war complexities of Nigeria now mean if the east ever want some sort of direct power they will have to ally with the Islamic north or get some notable eastern politicians to convert- simple as.