By Emmanuel Gandu
HIGHLIGHTS
• War and its catastrophic effects on man.
• First coup in Nigeria led to the 1966 Biafran war.
• 1966 coup casualties and plotters.
• Why they struck.
• Johnson Agui Ironsi as head of state.
• Counter coup by Northern officers.
• Yakubu Gowon as head of state.
• Discontent and killing of Igbos in the North.
• Massacre of Igbos in Kano.
• Ojukwu steps in to salvage the Igbos
• Ojukwu declares Biafra Republic
• Aburi Accord
• 58 years (2025) after Aburi Accord – how far Nigeria ?
• Break out of War on Biafra soil
• Ojukwu escapes to Ivory Coast – Philip Effiong surrenders
• List of military coups in Nigeria
• Military coups in Africa – country by country
• Factors that lead to military coup
WAR AND ITS CATASTROPHIC EFFECTS
War and the devastating consequencies of war across the world is better imagined than experienced. The scars and effects of World War I and World War II on the environment and on humans especially in the city of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan is catastrophic. The Vietnam war, the Gulf war, the 30 years war between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland, the Syrian war, the Arab Israeli war, the Sudan war, the Ruwanda war, the Liberian war, the Russian/Ukrain war, etc have left gorry pictures in the minds of victims and players.
FIRST MILITARY COUP IN JANUARY 1966 LED TO THE NIGERIAN CIVIL WAR
Coup d’etat is defined as the unconstitutional, illegal, and overt overthrow of an incumbent government especially by the armed forces and others within the state aparatus to unseat the sitting executive.
Coup d’etat is more often than not, treated with scorn in the international comity of nations perhaps because is an aberration.
The first military coup in Nigeria was led by rebelious soldiers on 15 January 1966. They were led by :
1. Major Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu.
2. Major Emmanuel Ifeajuna.
3. Timothy Onwuatuegwu.
4. Chris Anuforo.
5. Don Okafor.
6. Homphrey Chukwuka.
7. Adewale Ademoyega
The coup plotters attacked the cities of Kaduna, Ibadan and Lagos and succeeded in killing 22 people including the Prime Minister of Nigeria Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, the Premier of Northern Region Sir Ahmadu Bello, Premier of Western Region Chief Samuel Ladoke Akintola, and the Federal Minister of Finance Festus Okotie – Eboh. Many senior army officers, senior politicians and their wives mainly from the Northern and Western regions were also killed. The President of the Nigerian Federation Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe who was out of the country at the time was not killed. Also not killed was the Premier of the Eastern Region Dr. Michael Okpara, the president of the Senate Chief Nwafor Orizor.
The success of the coup in the North was because the coup leader Major Kaduna Nzeogwu who was responsible for Kaduna sector played his role of ensuring the elimination of the Northern leaders, while Major Emmanuel Efeajuna failed to neutralize the commander of the Nigerian Army Major General Agui – Ironsi.
Major Adewale Ademoyega who handled the Lagos axis did not execute his role effectively, as the early morning radio announcement from radio Nigeria Lagos did not take place as planned by the coup plotters. This ineffectiveness by Major Ademoyega prompted Major Nzeogwu to make a mid – afternoon radio announcement declaring martial law in Northern Nigeria.
THE COUP CASUALTIES
1. Abubakar Tafawa Balewa
2. Ahmadu Bello
3. Samuel Ladoke Akintola
4. Festus Okotie – Eboh
5. Brigadier Samuel Ademulegun
6. Brigadier Zakari Maimalari
7. Colonel Ralph Shodeinde
8. Colonel Kuru Mohammed
9. Lt. Col. Abogo Largema
10. Lt. Col. James Pam
11. Lt. Col. Arthur Unegbe
12. Sergent Daramola Oyegoke (killed by Major Nzeogwu for refusing to attack Ahmadu Bello’s lodge in Kaduna
13. PC Yohanna Garkawa
14. Lance Corporal Musa Nimzo
15. PC Akpan Anduke
16. PC Hagai Lai
17. Philip Lewande
18. Ahmed Ben Musa (Ahmadu Bello’s Senior Assistant Secretary for security)
19. Hafsat Bello (wife of Ahmadu Bello)
20. Latifat Ademulegun (wife of General Ademulegun)
21. Zarumi Sardauna
22. Ahmed Pategi (Ahmadu Bello’s driver)
WHY THEY STRUCK ?
According to the plotters of the January 15, 1966 incident, the coup was planned because the men at the helm of affairs in the governance of Nigeria were running the country aground with their corrupt ways. Ministers were living flamboyant lifestyles and looting public funds at the expense of the ordinary citizens.
(1) According to Major Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu’s broadcast, the army pulled the trigger against the elected and appointed officials of the first republic on account of brazen corruption. He identified them as “enemies, the political prifiteers, the swindlers, the men in high and low places that seek bribes and also seek to divide the country, the tribalists, the nepotists, and those that have put Nigeria backward by their words and deeds.
(2) The Western Nigeria political crisis and unrest due to the fall out of personality issues and ideological differences between the duo of Obafemi Awolowo and Samuel Ladoke Akintola in the leadership of the Action Congress.
(3) To install Obafemi Awolowo as head of state. The revolutioneries of the January 15, 1966 coup were not interested in ruling Nigeria after the coup. Their plan included the release of Obafemi Awolowo from the Calabar prison and fly him to Lagos to install him as head of state.
(4) The urge of the Nigerian military to join the “Coup Band Wagon.” News of regular coups and the success of such in other African countries was another impetus to the Nigerian military to stage this January 1966 coup, especially given that majority of the army officers coup plotters in those other African countries were mates with the Nigerian counterparts in military training schools abroad. They had felt that if their mates could succeed in those countries, why not them in Nigeria.
(6) Personal ambition of the coup plotters was another reason.
This facts are available in the account of the coup as given by Adewale Adegboyega in his book “Why we struck.”
COUP FAILURE, POWER TRANSFER TO MILITARY, AND EMERGENCE OF MAJOR GENERAL JOHNSON AGUI IRONSI AS HEAD OF STATE
The coup failed because it was not successful in the Eastern region and the Western region. Lagos did not fall to the coup plotters. The coup was succesdful only in Kaduna, and even at that, the top military hierarchy had to take over command of the confusing situation.
Since the President, Nnamdi Azikiwe was out of the country, the Senate president and Acting president Nwafor Orizo made a nation wide broadcast after he had briefed Azikiwe on phone, and subsequently transferred power to the highest ranked military officer who was Major General Agui Ironsi, General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the Nigerian Army. He became the Head of State. In his maiden broadcast, Ironsi accepted the invitation to lead the nation.
On 17 January 1966, General Ironsi established the supreme military council and suspended the constitution.
However, hardly had Ironsi settled down to governance than a counter coup masterminded by Northern military officers took over power and handed it over to Yakubu Gowon.
WHY COUNTER COUP AGAINST AGUI IRONSI
Rightly or wrongly, these are the reasons why Agui Ironsi was killed in the counter coup led by senior Northern military officers :
(1) General Agui Ironsi’s ascendency to power was deemed to be part of the conspiracy of the coup plotters who are said to be predominantly Igbo in order to pave the way for an Igbo head of state. Further more Ironsi had been invited to assume power by Nwafor Orizo who was also from the Igbo ethnic group.
(2) The killing pattern showed that Arthur Unegbe was the only person killed from the Igbo tribe, while the rest were either of Northern or Western region.
(3) It is argued that the handing over of power to Agui Ironsi by Nwafor Orizo a fellow Igbo man appeared like it was planned out all along. But as Senate president and acting president, could Nwafor Oriza abdicated his role at that crucial moment?
Was it not just right to hand over power to the military, and to the most senior military officer who happened to be Agui Ironsi?
(4) During his short-term reign Agui Ironsi promulgated the “Unification Decree of May 1966.” This decree :
(a) Abolished the regional government system.
(b) Abolished the separate regional civil service by establishing the unification of the regional civil service into a federal civil service.
Historically, the Western and Northern regions have always believed in the regional system of government for a multi – ethnic country like Nigeria. However, this was taken away by Ironsi.
(5) The coup plotters, though kept in jail, were never court – marshalled and punished according to military procedure.
(6) The massive outrage and widespread killing/pogrom of Igbos in some cities in the Northern region especially Kano in May 1966.
THE COUNTER COUP PARTICIPANTS
1. Lt. Col. Murtala Mohammed
2. Lt. Col. Joseph Akahan
3. Major Theophilus Danjuma
4. Major Abba Kyari
5. Major Martin Adamu
6. Major Shittu Alao
7. Major Musa Usman
8. Capt. Joseph Nanven Garba
9. Capt. Isa Bukar
10. Capt. Ibrahim Taiwo
11. Capt. Baba Usman
12. Capt. Abdul DS Wya
13. Lt. Muhammadu Buhari
14. Lt. Ibrahim Babangida
15. Lt. Ibrahim Bako
16. Lt. William Walbe
17. Lt. Mamman Vatsa
18. Lt. Bukar Suka Dimka
19. Lt. Yakubu Dambo
20. Lt. Garba A. Dada
21. Lt. Garba Duba
22. Lt. M. Balarabe Haladu
23. Lt. James Onoja
24. Lt. Abdulahi Shelleng
25. Lt. Paul C. Tarfa
26. Lt. D.S Abubakar
27. 2 Lt. Sani Abacha
28. 2 Lt. M. Gado Nasko
29. Sergeant Paul Dickson
30. Sergent Sabo Kwale
31. Corporal Alimi Faheem
OUTRAGE, DISCONTENT AND MASSACRE OF IGBOS IN THE NORTH : THE KANO POGROM
October 14, 1966. America’s Time Magazine Wrote This On The Horrific Massacre Of Igbos in Kano :
“Blood Curses. The massacre began at the airport near the 5th Battalion’s home city of Kano. A Lagos-bound jet had just arrived from London, and as the Kano passengers were escorted into the customs shed, a wild-eyed soldier stormed in, brandishing a rifle and demanding ‘Ina Nyamiri?’- Hausa for ‘Where are the damned Igbos?’ There were Igbo’s among the customs officials, and they dropped their chalk and fled, only to be shot down in the main terminal by other soldiers.
“Screaming the blood curses of a Moslem holy war, the Hausa troops turned the airport into a shambles, bayoneting Igbo workers in the bar, gunning them down in the corridors, and hauling Igbo passengers off the plane to be lined up and shot. From the airport, the troops fanned out through downtown Kano, hunting down Igbo’s in bars, hotels and on the streets. One contingent drove their Land Rovers to the railroad station, where more than 100 Igbo’s were waiting for a train, and cut them down with automatic weapons fire.
“The soldiers did not have to do all the killing. They were soon joined by thousands of Hausa civilians, who rampaged through the city armed with stones, cutlasses, machetes, and homemade weapons of metal and broken glass. Crying ‘Heathen!’ and ‘Allah!’, the mobs and troops invaded the sabon gari (strangers’ quarter), ransacking, looting and burning Igbo homes and stores and murdering their owners. Garbage Trucks.
“All night long and into the morning the massacre went on. Then, tired but fulfilled, the Hausas drifted back to their homes and barracks to get some breakfast and sleep. Municipal garbage trucks were sent out to collect the dead and dump them into mass graves outside the city. The death toll will never be known, but it was at least 5,000.
“Somehow, several thousand Igbos survived the orgy, and all had the same thought: to get out of the North. Many were packed onto a Southbound train. The management of large companies operating in Kano chartered every available plane. All told, 1,400 Igbo’s were flown out of Kano alone the previous week.”
– Time Magazine Friday, October 14, 1966.
OJUKWU STEPS IN TO SAVE THE IGBOS
Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu was born on November 4, 1933 in Zungeru in Northern Nigeria to a wealthy and influential family. His father, Sir Louis Odumegwu Ojukwu was one of the wealthiest men in Nigeria and the first Nigerian to own a Rolls Royce. Chukwuemeka’s privileged upbringing allowed him access to quality education. He attended Epson College in Surrey, England and later studied at the prestigious university of Oxford, where he earned a degree in Modern History. He joined the Nigerian Army in 1957 as the first soldier with a university degree and the first to receive Officer training from the prestigious Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, England.
Rising rapidly through the ranks, he wa appointed Military Governor of the Eastern Region following the first military coup of January 1966, and the subsequent counter coup that deepened ethnic tensions in Nigeria.
He was a military commander in Kano at the time of the coup and was never a part of it. He believed in the unity of one Nigeria until the upheals, killings and pogrom targeted at the Igbos.
The roots of the Nigerian Civil War lay in this deep ethnic, political, and economic tensions within Nigeria, exacerbated by British colonial rule, Northern Hausa-Fulani, Western Yoruba, and Eastern Igbo had signifant political and cultural differences.
These tensions and differences worsened after the first military coup in January 1966. The coup sparked retaliatory violence in Northern Nigeria where thousands of Igbos were killed. As the military government led by General Agui Ironsi tried to restore order, a counter coup ocured in July 1966 killing and ending the regime of Ironsi and bringing Yakubu Gowon to power as head of state.
Meanwhile, the new Gowon administration did little to stop the massacre of Igbos in the North. The Eastern region therefore became increasingly estranged from the central federal government.
CHUKWUEMEKA ODUMEGWU OJUKWU DECLARES SECESSION OF EASTERN NIGERIA
On May 30, 1967, Ojukwu, then military governor of Eastern region declared the region an independent Republic of Biafra. He justified the secession as a response to the continued killings of Igbos and the failure of the Nigerian government to protect the people of the Eastern region. His declaration was supported by the Igbo elites and military officers.
The Nigerian government under General Yakubu Gowon refused to recognize Biafra’s independence and saw it as a threat to the unity of Nigeria.
Meanwhile, several mediation attempts were made by internation and neighbouring countries to the two factions to the negotiation table. One of them is the Aburi Accord brockered in Ghana.
THE ABURI ACCORD
Aburi is a beautiful, serene town in Ghana set daintily atop a hill. It is home to a botanical garden that is far more than a century old. But for us in Nigeria, Aburi goes beyond just nature and its preservation.
It is the town where General Yakubu Gowon and Odumegwu Ojukwu met, to try and avert the Nigerian Civil War that lasted between 1967 and 1970. They came out with Aburi Accord, which later broke down. And a shooting war started.
You could see the Presidential Lodge on a hill, where the Nigerian leaders had parleyed at the behest of Ghanaian leaders. It all ended in futility.
Looking at the letter and the spirit of the accord once again, an agreement that was violated by the Federal side, and which made a bloody internecine war inevitable.
For most part of 1966, the northern part of Nigeria, particularly, had been turned to killing fields.
Non-natives, especially Igbos, were killed in thousands. Many fled, many others were displaced. There was complete anarchy in the land. The average Igbo looked up to Lt. Col Odumegwu Ojukwu, military governor of the Eastern Region, to provide leadership and direction. He did not fail. He picked the gauntlet and championed the cause of his people.
By January 1967, the drums of war were loud and clear, reverberating across the length and breadth of Nigeria. But there was a last ditch effort to prevent what was imminent. There was a peace meeting hosted at Aburi, in Ghana, by the then Ghanaian head of state, Gen J. A. Ankrah.
At the meeting were Gowon, Ojukwu, all the military governors of the regions, and some top civil servants, both from the Federal side and the Eastern region. The meeting held on January 4 and 5, 1967, and came out with what is popularly known today as the Aburi Accord.
The agenda of the meeting consisted of three crucial issues: (i) Reorganization of the Armed Forces
(ii) Constitutional agreement
(iii) Issues of displaced persons within Nigeria.
The two-day meeting reached consensus that were acceptable to both sides. Among others, it was resolved that legislative and executive authority of the Federal Military Government was to remain in the Supreme Military Council (SMC), to which any decision affecting the whole country shall be referred for determination provided it is possible for a meeting to be held, and the matter requiring determination must be referred to military governors for their comment and concurrence. What does this mean in simple language?
The SMC would run the affairs of the country, but not without consulting the regions as represented by the military governors. This was something akin to federalism, even under a military government.
Other terms of the agreement include that appointments to senior ranks in the police, diplomatic and consular services as well as appointment to superscale posts in the federal civil service and the equivalent posts in the statutory corporations must be approved by the SMC. What does this mean again in simple language? Equity, fairness, true federalism.
Other matters like the holding of an ad hoc constitutional conference, fate of soldiers involved in the January 15, 1966 coup, rehabilitation of displaced persons, etc, were also amicably resolved, and the conferees returned happily to Nigeria. Only for the Federal side to deliver a blow to the solar plexus: the Aburi Accord, Gowon said, was unworkable, and he reneged on all the agreements.
Using the Eastern Nigerian Broadcasting Service, Ojukwu played the tape recording of the proceedings at Aburi repeatedly, to educate the populace on who was playing Judas. Later, he made a broadcast in which he said: “we in the East are anxious to see that our differences are resolved by peaceful means and that Nigeria is preserved as a unit, but it is doubtful, and the world must judge whether Lt. Col Gowon’s attitudes and other exhibitions of his insincerity are something which can lead to a return of normalcy and confidence in the country.
“I must warn all Easterners once again to remain vigilant. The East will never be intimidated, nor will she acquiesce to any form of dictation. It is not our intention to play the aggressor. Nonetheless, it is not our intention to be slaughtered in our beds. We are ready to defend our homeland.”
58 YEARS (2025) AFTER ABURI ACCORD – HOW FAR NIGERIA ?
Today, bombs go off like firecrackers in the country. There is agitation for the review of the revenue allocation formula.
There are strident calls for the convocation of a sovereign national conference. Even some component parts are threatening to pull out of the federation if anything happened to their ‘son’ who is now in power.
The Fulani herdsmen are running riot in Nigeria and nobody can stop them. The Yorubas want to have their Oduduwa republic. The Middle Belt are still looking for the creation of that region, IPOB is still dreaming of that Biafra, the country of the rising sun, the Niger Delta is never tired of talking about resource control of their oil, the Christians are accusing the Muslims of planning a jihad (religious war) in order to overun the country. Drums of war every where in the land.
Didn’t Ojukwu warn of these landmines ahead? Were all these issues not already settled at Aburi?
Foremost journalist and media administrator, Akogun Tola Adeniyi, in a media interview, explained the Aburi Accord this way: “Let every region be semi-autonomous and develop at its own level.” Yes, that was the spirit and letter of Aburi, but which sadly became a road not taken.
And is that not why we are still suffering today, living in a rickety and decrepit country that can burst at the seams any moment? I tell you, Ojukwu was a prophet, and like most prophets, he had no honour in his own country. Pity. But whether we like it or not, there’s no way we won’t return to Aburi. Willy-nilly. I only hope it will be sooner than later, before Nigeria goes to grief.
For me, On Aburi I Stand.
Federal Government was perfidious and duplicitous on Aburi. It is still the same way today. That is why as Nigerians, we are most times disillusioned, dismayed, dispirited, dejected and depressed. When will change come to this land? Our hearts are getting weary.
BREAK OUT OF WAR ON BIAFRA SOIL ON 6/7/1967
With the collapse of the Aburi accord, the Nigerian civil war began on the fateful day of 6 July, 1967. The war which lasted for 30 months was marked by intense fighting, blockades, and widespread suffering. Ojukwu’s leadership was characterised by strong resistance against overwhelming Nigerian federal forces. Despite early successes, Biafra soon faced significant military, economic and humanitarian challenges that led to loss of millions of civilian and military lives.
The Nigeria government with international support imposed a blockade on Biafra which led ti widespread starvation and death. Biafra’s cause garnered international sympathy, particularly because of the harrowing images of starving and dying children, women and men. But support was largely humanitarian and not military. Only a few countries, notably Ivory coast, Tanzania, Gabon and Zambia recognized Biafra as a sovereign state.
As the war dragged on, Biafra’s military strenght weakend, and by January 1970, the Biafran forces could no longer resist the Nigerian onslought. On January 9, 1970 Ojukwu, the Igbo war hero fled Biafra for exile in Ivory coast. And on January 15, 1970 Biafran forces led by Major General Philip Effiong surrendered to Nigerian forces. Major General Olusegun Obasanjo led the Nigerian team to receive the Biafran surrender, thus effectively ending the 30 months civil war (1967 – 1970).
LIST OF MILITARY COUPS IN NIGERIA
(1) 15/1/1966 – Led by Major Chukuma Kaduna Nzeogwu. 22 people were killed including Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, Ahmadu Bello, Samuel Ladoke Akintola, Okotie – Eboh.
Major General Johnson Agui Ironsi became head of state.
(2) 29/7/1966 – Led by Northern senior military officers. Head of state Major General Agui Ironsi was killed. Lt. Col. Yakubu Gowon became head of state.
(3) 29/7/1975 – Coup announced by Col. Joseph Nanven Garba. Bloodless coup. Head of state Yakubu Gowon was overthrown. Brigadier Murtala Mohammemed became head of state and Brigadier Olusegun Obasanjo was second in command.
(4) 13/2/1976 – Led by Lt. Col. Bukar Suka Dimka. Murtala was killed. Coup was unsuccessful as Ibrahim Babangida peacefully unarmed Dimka at the radio Nigeria station Lagos. Olusegun Obasanjo became head of state. 32 people were executed by firing squad for taking part in the coup including Dimka and the Defence Minister Major General Iliya D. Bisalla.
31/12/1983 – Brigadier Sani Abacha announced the coup. President Shehu Aliyu Shagari was removed from power. It was a bloodless coup. Major General Muhammadu Buhari became head of state assisted by Major General Tunde Idiagbon.
(6) 27/8/1985 – Led by Major General Ibrahim Babangida the then Chief of Army Staff. Major General Joshua Dogonyaro announced the coup. Ibrahim Babangida became head of state.
(7) 22/4/1990 – Led by Major Gideon Orkar. The coup attempt was unsuccessful. Babangida remained as head of state. 42 men convicted of involvement were executed.
(8) 17/11/1993. Led by Major General Sani Abacha who was Chief of Army staff. Interim president Chief Ernest Shonekan installed on 26/8/1993 by Babangida due to the annulment of June 12 election by Babangida when he stepped aside. Sani Abacha became head of state.
MILITARY COUPS IN AFRICA
The very first coup on African soil was on July 23, 1952 when Lt. Col. Gamal Abdel – Nassar terminated the reign of King Farouk in Egypt. From 1952 to date Africa has seen about 220 coups, some forcefully, violent and bloody, some peaceful, and others failed attempts. Some have been popular and others unpopular with the people.
According to data collected by Powell and Thyne (2022/23) out of 54 African countries, 45 have had at least one coup attempt since 1950.
The list :
Sudan – 18 coups
Burundi – 11 coups
B/Faso – 10 coups
Ghana – 10 coups
S/Leone – 10 coups
Comoros – 9 coups
G/Bissau – 9 coups
Benin – 8 coups
Nigeria – 8 couos
Mali – 8 coups
Niger – 8 coups
Togo – 8 coups
R/Congo – 7 coups
Chad – 7 coups
Mauritania – 7 coups
Guinea – 6 coups
Ethiopia – 5 coups
CAR – 5 coups
Uganda – 5 coups
Egypt – 4 coups
DRC – 4 coups
Algeria – 4 coups
Madagascar -4 coups
Liberia – 4 coups
Lesotho – 4 coups
Ivory Coast – 4 couos
FACTORS THAT LEAD TO MILITARY COUP
According to the African Union Peace and Security Council (2014) the factors include the following :
(1) Deficiencies in governance.
(2) Corruption
(3) Greed and selfishness
(4) Mismanagement of the peoples diversity
(5) Mismanagement of resources
(6) Marginalization
(7) Human rights abuse
(8) Refusal to accept electoral defeat
(9) Manipulation of electoral process
(10) Manipulation of constitution
(11) Unconstitutional review of constitutions to serve selfish interest
(12) Loss of people’s mandate
(13) Breakdown of law and order
(14) Rivalry within the military.
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