…when the Northern establishment decided to protest the coup and promote anti-Igbo rallies, the ruling Northern Peoples Congress (NPC) had been so discredited that it did not dare raise its head. The oppressed opposition led by Mallam Aminu Kano had to be approached to lead the violent protests that led to the pogrom. If this had happened today, the respected Aminu Kano might have been charged by the International Criminal Court (ICC) with genocide.
The last fortnight has been awash with stories marking the sixtieth commemoration of the January 1966 coup that terminated Nigeria’s First Republic. But as usual, a lot of these are myths that have been promoted to the status of history. So, I decided to emerge from the bomb-resistant bunker of my knowledge of Nigerian history to shoot supersonic missiles at the myths.
The truth is that there was no coup on 15 January, 1966; there was only an attempt. That attempted coup claimed the lives of Prime Minister Abubakar Tafawa Balewa and Finance Minister Festus Okotie-Eboh. So, the rest of the government at the federal level was intact, as were the parliament and judiciary. The government did what was correct by appointing an Acting Prime Minister, Zanna Bukar Dipcharima.
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However, top military officers met and decided to overthrow the government the next day, 16 January, 1966. The coup plotters were General Aguyi-Ironsi, Lieutenant Colonels Francis Adekunle Fajuyi, Victor Banjo, Yakubu Jack Gowon, George Kurubo, and Njoku; also, Major Patrick Anwunah and Commodore Akinwale Wey. Ironsi had led the abortion of the previous day’s coup attempt.
There are claims that the 15 January attempt was an “Igbo coup.” This was primarily based on the fact that four of the five known Majors who led the attempted coup were Igbo or had Igbo-sounding names. In reality, the coup was by idealistic young officers who had concluded that the country was adrift and had to be saved. The leader was Major Emmanuel Ifeajuna, a radical graduate of the University of Ibadan (UI) who, in league with some radicals in and outside the university, had decided to carry out a Left-leaning revolution. Major Kaduna Nzeogwu became the most popular leader of the attempt because the coup had failed in Lagos, so spectacularly that the plotters could not even broadcast the coup speech. So, Nzeogwu, who had achieved success in the North, took to the airwaves and in the name of the Supreme Council of the Revolution of Nigerian Armed Forces, “Declared Marshall Law over the Northern Provinces.” In fact, Nzeogwu was a Northerner, except in name, and the background of his parents.
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There were lots of non-Igbo officers involved in the coup, including Major Adewale Ademoyega, Captains Gibson Jalo, S. Swanton and Ganiyu Adeleke; Lieutenants John Atom Kpera, Fola Oyewole, O. Olafemiyan, Saleh Dambo and Hope Harris Eghagha. Besides, the roles of Majors Hassan Katsina and Mobolaji Johnson have not been clarified.
There are claims that it was Ironsi, by his promulgation of the Unification Decree No. 34 of 24 May, 1966, that abolished the federal system and imposed a unitary system. This is a rather puerile argument; the January military coup had automatically abolished federalism.
Also, the preponderance of Igbo military officers or people with Igbo-sounding names in the coup, was not unexpected as they dominated the officer corps. As at the time of the January 1966 coup, they numbered 57 of the total 143 military officers. So, the total number of all other Nigerians in the officer corps was 86. The reason for this dominance might be because of the very low level of education in the North, which meant that apart from NCOs, it had few qualified entrants in the officer corps, while the Yorubas who could match the Igbo in terms of education, had an anti-military culture. They believed that nobody from a cultured family would join the army.
Also, the clearly stated aims of the coup plotters before the coup, included the release of Chief Obafemi Awolowo, a Yoruba, from prison, and appointing him the Provisional President of the country. Equally, the coup was so popular that there were wild jubilations, especially in the North, to the extent that some of the leaders fled from approaching pro-coup crowds. For instance, Emir of Kano Ado Bayero fled to the army barracks in Kano and was given protection by the Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Colonel Emeka Ojukwu, from 16-18 January, 1966. The popularity of the coup might have been responsible for the slow move to try the coup plotters.
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Eventually, when the Northern establishment decided to protest the coup and promote anti-Igbo rallies, the ruling Northern Peoples Congress (NPC) had been so discredited that it did not dare raise its head. The oppressed opposition led by Mallam Aminu Kano had to be approached to lead the violent protests that led to the pogrom. If this had happened today, the respected Aminu Kano might have been charged by the International Criminal Court (ICC) with genocide.
There are claims that it was Ironsi, by his promulgation of the Unification Decree No. 34 of 24 May, 1966, that abolished the federal system and imposed a unitary system. This is a rather puerile argument; the January military coup had automatically abolished federalism.
The same can be said of the argument that Gowon, by failing to implement the Aburi, Ghana peace accords, precipitated the Nigeria Civil War. But, there was no way, as military Head of State, that he could have implemented the confederal accords, which also structured the armed forces along regional lines, dressed as ‘Area Commands’.
Equally, sixty years after, Gowon has refused to come out clean on his role in the 16 January, 1966 coup and the counter-coup that made him Head of State. There are two additional myths to shatter. One, that the 15 January, 1966 coup plotters executed Tafawa Balewa. The journalist Segun Osoba who found the corpse, before the security services got there, reported that there was not a single mark of blood on him. This reinforces claims that he died of an asthmatic attack.
A point about the 29 July, 1966 countercoup. It was both a ‘revenge’ coup and to implement the decision of the then Northern establishment to break away from the country. That was why Gowon, in the first four or so days of that coup, ruled under the Northern flag. That was also when the Northern decision to secede was rescinded. This made a leader of that coup, Murtala Mohammed, to not only disagree, but also go AWOL.
It is a failing of the Nigerian military not to have court marshalled and dismissed Mohammed. Given this fact, indiscipline brewed in the military, to the extent that the same Mohammed, during the Civil War, against basic and simple military advice, tried twice to cross the River Niger with non-amphibious troops. These resulted in spectacular military disasters.
Equally, sixty years after, Gowon has refused to come out clean on his role in the 16 January, 1966 coup and the counter-coup that made him Head of State. There are two additional myths to shatter. One, that the 15 January, 1966 coup plotters executed Tafawa Balewa. The journalist Segun Osoba who found the corpse, before the security services got there, reported that there was not a single mark of blood on him. This reinforces claims that he died of an asthmatic attack. The cause of death can still be ascertained if the corpse is subjected to forensic examination.
Second, that Colonel Fajuyi, as host governor of the Western Region, stood up to the counter coup plotters who had come to seize then Head of State General Aguyi-Ironsi. There is no authenticated record of this claim. It was a coup and the plotters did not have the niceties to treat those they encountered with any courtesy. They simply went to the Western Region State House to maim and to kill. They seized both Ironsi and Adekunle, and battered them before their execution.
I am safely in my bunker, let the counter missiles fly.
Owei Lakemfa, a former secretary general of African workers, is a human rights activist, journalist and author.
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