The 31-year-old Major Emmanuel Ifeajuna
was the brain behind the Revolution. He studied zoology for 4 years at Ibadan
University and graduated with a B.Sc before being commissioned into the army in
1961. At the age of 20, he brought glory to the nation when at the 1954
Commonwealth Games in Vancouver, he won Nigeria’s first ever gold medal at any
international games and set a new record in high jump. He refused to wear the
athletes’ spiked boots or any shoe at all for the run-up competitions. At
Vancouver, in front of the international cameras, he was persuaded to wear the
boots. As a compromise, he wore a boot only on one leg and jumped the highest
setting a new world record in high jump and in bizarre outfitting. Ifeajuna
knew he was not born to be ordinary and so was addicted to breaking rules and
setting new records. As a charismatic orator and Director of Information at
University College Ibadan Students Union, he led the protest against the
Queen’s visit to the University in 1956.
Ibadan City was born by dissident soldiers headed by Lagelu among seven hills
as a refuge for immigrants fleeing wars in 1829. By 1960, Ibadan had become the
most cosmopolitan city in Nigeria. Being an embodiment of the lure of consistent
non-conformism, Ibadan like New York of that time, held an extraordinary
collection of flame-headed intellectuals avid for novelty and whose creativity
and distinguished activisms enriched the city and the country. There was
nowhere in Africa that matched Ibadan’s assemblage of fire then. There was SG
Ikoku who challenged and defeated his own famous father Alvan Ikoku at the
Eastern Region Assembly elections of 1956 and then radicalised his new adopted
father Chief Obafemi Awolowo into socialism. There was Anthony Enahoro, Chris
Okigbo, John Pepper Clark, Chinua Achebe, Tayo Akpata, Benedict Obumselu, Chike
Obi, Wole Soyinka, Sam Agbam, Akin Mabogunje, Bola Ige, Emeka Anyaoku, Elechi
Amadi. Ifeajuna was a friend to most of them. He wrote in his manuscript:
“It was at Ibadan also I learnt my third lesson. One morning, workmen arrived in the campus with what looked like burglar grills. In a matter of days, they had sealed off each hall or residence from the outside and turned all into cages. Altogether, they gave the place the look of a zoo, so that students saw themselves as animals on show…Then the students took a decision – the cages would have to come down faster than they had been put up. But how to do it? Everybody knew what was wanted but they had not or did not know the means and the manner of effecting the change desired and demanded by all. Each waited for the other to act or simply waited in the hope that something would happen by way of providential intervention.
“At the appointed hour, I and two others met in a hidden rendezvous. We worked out the detailed plans and assembled hammers for the job. The events which took place a week or so later went according to plan. We called a Union meeting. There were speeches, moving speeches. Then one of my friends shouted: ‘Down with the cages.’ He led the way to the hammer dump. Before long the cages were down. At the end of it all a student friend reflecting on the incident made interesting comment that a collection of professors would still be a crowd: a group must have a leader or remain in chaos. The University College was closed for a term but we made our point. And the lesson that emerged for me from this incident was the need for careful planning before [undergoing] any operation; the chance of success can be said to be proportion to the work put into the planning.”
Ifeajuna informed Okigbo the discussed Revolution was in the works. According
to Wole Soyinka, Okigbo informed Achebe and informed him also without going
into details. Soyinka was then on trial for allegedly using a gun to persuade
the state broadcaster that instead of Akintola’s tape announcing himself as the
election winner, his own tape asking Akintola to pack and go was of better
value to the people. He was later freed by Justice Kayode Eso on 12 December
1965.
Ifeajuna was pleased to hear about Okigbo’s friend subversive broadcast. He
regarded it as theatre; they were plotting the real stunt. On the day of this
stunt, more than anywhere else in the country, there was great euphoria of
vindication in Ibadan as the people leapt around on the streets like compressed
chests freed at last from the tyranny of pushdown bras. Ibadan claimed Ifeajuna
as one of its very own and Okigbo distilled the joys of that day into his poem “Hurray for the Path of Thunder”. When
Nzeogwu’s voice fountained out like a genie of the lamp amongst some Ibadan
intellectuals clustered around their radio at Risikatu’s restaurant, Okigbo was
reported to have called for patience, patience, patience. He confidently proclaimed
that there was still another voice that would soon follow suit. He was
referring to his friend and chief engineer of the Revolution, Major Emmanuel
Arinze Ifeajuna born on 3rd March 1934, married to Rose on 16th June 1959 at
Lagos Registry in Ikoyi and commissioned into the army on 6th December 1960.
On the night of the coup, after Ifeajuna concluded his address to his fellow
mutineers in his sitting room, he led the largest unit comprising 22 soldiers.
Reaching Onikan roundabout, he divided them into three groups. One officer,
2/Lt. G. Ezedigbo and 8 NCOs would go to arrest the finance minister, Chief
Festus Okotie-Eboh who was then the most corrupt politician in the history of
Nigeria. Just like the Downing Street model in London, the Prime Minister and
Finance Minister lived side-by-side. But they had become respectively like
church and state that did not mix. Another unit comprising 5 NCOs commanded by
second warrant officer Onyeacha was left behind to watch over their vehicles
and ensure that no other vehicle entered or exited the Onikan roundabout during
the course of the operation. Ifeajuna himself commanded the remaining soldiers
whose task was to arrest the Prime Minister, Sir Tafawa Balewa Abubakar, the
novelist and teacher turned Prime Minister.
Abubakar was widely known to hardly surround himself with guards at home or
even when commuting. He always cautioned his household against striving for the
inessential and ostentatious materialism which expressed itself in need for
elaborate security measures. Only Abubakar could have a disabled cripple called
Inspector Kaftan Topolomiyo from Nangasu in Chad as his head of security. It
was only in 1964 that he consented to a supplement ADC, Sgt Maxwell Orukpabo
fondly called “the Igbo” in the household. In February 1963 during a police
council meeting with the four regional premiers, the newly restored Western
Premier, Akintola proposed a budget for armoured cars for themselves given the
security situation in the country. Abubakar softly reprimanded him: “Mr Premier, if I ever thought I would need
an armoured car to go anywhere in Nigeria, I would resign.” In the
pornography of corruption called the Nigerian government, Abubakar was a monk.
And so Ifeajuna knew his task would be very easy. The soldiers he took to
abduct him were service soldiers drawn from Signal Squadron, Lagos Garrison
Organisation and Camp. None were combat soldiers.
Around thirty minutes later, without a single shot fired, the cool and
soft-spoken Prime Minister emerged from the front gate of his residence untied,
gently rattling his prayer beads and was dressed in a white flowing jalabiya
and a pair of sandals. A lifetime of emotional discipline had rendered his
signature face docile and unconquerable by fear. The dead silence of the night
lent a hallowed majesty to his steps as he advanced towards his Golgotha.
Behind him was Ifeajuna and eight other non-combat soldiers with guns drawn. By
the time the entourage reached the parked vehicles, Okotie-Eboh his NCNC
Finance Minister had been arrested with his hands tied. Abubakar was assisted
into the backseat of Ifeajuna’s luxurious red Mercedes Benz while Okotie Eboh
was tossed like a sack of potatoes into the back of the 3 tonner. The convoy
drove to report to Federal Guard’s Officer’s Mess.
The
Counter Attack
Lagos – Gowon
The soldier who nipped the coup in the bud and ensured it failed miserably was
Gowon. Lt Col Yakubu ‘Jack’ Gowon left the shores of the country on May 1965.
He was then Adjutant General at the Army HQ. Because of his distinguished
performance in Congo Peacekeeping mission, he was asked to attend the elite
Joint Services Course at Latima House, Buckinghamshire, UK. The course was
designed for lieutenant colonels on how to plan and execute tri-service
operations. While the course was drawing to an end, the Army HQ told him that
he was coming home to become the commander of the 2nd battalion, in Ikeja
Lagos. His ship docked at Apapa Wharf, Lagos, on the morning of Thursday, 13th
January 1966 and Lieutenant T. Hamman, a brigade staff officer was sent by
Ifeajuna, to pick him up. (Gowon and Ifeajuna were both 31 years old.)
Gowon’s heartthrob, Edith Ike was there to welcome him too dressed for the
occasion. Jack did not inform her of his arrival date but her network within
the Army HQ kept her alerted and ensured she was neither surprised nor
outmanoeuvred by fast-eyed competitors whose rears were so shapely and soft as
if Lagos lagoon was stored in their back pockets. Lt Colonel Hillary Njoku the
erstwhile commander of the 2nd battalion had been reassigned to the NMTC in
Kaduna. He was slated to vacate his residence on January 16. Ifeajuna then
offered Gowon a reservation at the posh Ikoyi Hotel pending the time Njoku
left. Gowon then went to see Lt Colonel Pam at No 8 Ikoyi Crescent Ikoyi where
Adjutant General, Gowon used to live before he went on course in England. He
wanted to stay with him for some few days and catch up what he had missed about
the army and the country. Pam’s twins Ishaku and Ishaya and the girls Jummai
and Kaneng rejoiced “Uncle Jack!! Welcome Uncle Jack!!” when they saw Gowon
filling up their doorway. Pam and Gowon were both on the Editorial Board of the
influential army journal, The Nigerian Magazine. They were also both from
Middle-Belt region though Gowon was Anagas and Pam was Birom. Pam was the first
officer in the Army from the Middle Belt. Pam advised Gowon that since he would
soon take over from 2nd battalion, he should rather be close to Ikeja not be in
Ikoyi. Had Gowon accepted Ifeajuna’s Ikoyi Hotel reservation, he would have
ended up like Abogo Largema. Had he stayed with Pam, he would have been slain
like Pam.
On Friday, the morning of 14th January,
Gowon went to the brigade headquarters in Apapa to see Brigadier Zakariya
Maimalari the head of the brigade under whose formation he was would serve.
Largema, the CO of 4th Battalion in Ibadan was there too attending the Brigade
Training Conference. Major M.O. Nzefili, Largema’s second in command called in
from Ibadan that the Western Region’s police commissioner, Chief Odofin Bello
came to the barracks to request a detachment for some IS operations. It was
Maimalari who later called Nzefili back. He told him to tell the commissioner
to place his request via Army HQ. Maimalari’s intention with the cost
implications. He had argued that his brigade’s men, arms and ammunition, his
supply and transport were being used to provide internal security for the
West’s political crisis hence his brigade deserved more appropriations.
Maimalari had also circulated a signal signed by Ironsi that certain unnamed
officers backed up by politicians were planning to cause trouble. He asked his
commanders to tighten security when they get back to their units and to warn
all their subordinates against disloyal acts. The influencing politicians he
was referring to was notably Mbazulike Amaechi, an MP and NCNC’s publicity
secretary, RN Okafor, an MP who was on that day appointed the minister of state
for trade, and Paul Nwokedi. They had befriended Donatus Okafor the CO of
Federal Guards and was always seen most evenings going to Okafor’s residence in
the evenings to lecture him about Revolution, Armed Struggle, Current Affairs
and the need for a conscious Army. Ademulegun too had cause to report Nzeogwu
to first his boss Col. Shodeinde and then to the Army HQ in Lagos which
supervised the NMTC. Captain Udowoid complained to Ademulegun through a letter
that Nzeogwu’s lectures had become extended sermons of political bitterness
that had little to do with military training. Ademulegun in his report wrote
that Nzeogwu was “a young man in a hurry that needed to be watched.” Ironsi and
Maimalari never envisaged that the human intelligence they received had a false
estimate of the scale of what was being planned. It was not just some mere
disturbance but a full-fledged treasonable mutiny that would take the army
leadership down with it.
Maimalari then officially welcomed Gowon to the Brigade and told him of the
cocktail party at his residence that night. Ironsi was there too and being the ‘special
guest of honour’, he told Gowon he had to be there. Gowon politely declined
saying his sweetheart who came to welcome him had to be taken back safely to
University College Ibadan. She was in the middle of her exams. But Ironsi did
not accept the excuse. He told Gowon:
‘Edith Ike? We know her. Bring her to the party. That’s an order.’
Ironsi was a member of her network. They laughed and Gowon consented. After the
cocktail party, Jack and Edith later left for Ikeja Cantonment as Pam had advised
and they had to make do with a makeshift room to spark magic from a cold
starless night and explode bam, bam
like fireworks.
Commotion rose. It was around five in the morning. Army vehicles zoomed back
and forth and soldiers in different degrees of UnCloth were running in
haphazard directions. Gowon sprang from bed to the window and could make out
Captain Martin Adamu from the chaos. As the adjutant and the chief of staff of
the outgoing commander, Adamu was in charge of all the organisation, administration
and discipline for a battalion. He told Gowon that the GOC came to inform them
there was some disturbance in Lagos in the order of a coup; the bugle had been
sounded and every soldier was ordered to report to their company. Gowon too
left the cantonment for the battalion HQ. There he found the GOC and Njoku
huddled over a map, jotting down some information and sipping tea. There were
captains, company commanders and the battalion hierarchy already present. The
GOC then told him there were some unknown soldiers ‘creating trouble in Lagos.’
He and Njoku had just dispatched a platoon on a fact-finding mission. Gowon was
shocked that he was not specifically sent for as the incoming commander of the
battalion. What he did not know was that Ironsi did not send for Njoku too. He
went straight to the RSM’s office and asked a sentry to go and fetch him. It
was Njoku who moved the meeting to the conference room the battalion
headquarters from the RSM’s office. Gowon then started having doubts. He asked
if they had contacted the brigadier and other senior officers down in Lagos.
The answer was negative.
Had the night being normal, as the
General Officer Commanding, the first person Ironsi supposed to contact for
action was Brigadier Maimalari who would then mobilise the Federal Guards, the
combat force immediately accessible to him in Lagos.
That was why Maimalari was running to
the Federal Guards.
Should more infantry reinforcement be
needed, the next unit to draw from would be 2nd battalion in Ikeja then 4th battalion
in Ibadan. And if mechanised and artillery support were needed to augment
combat power, 2nd Field Battery and 2nd Recce Squadron in Abeokuta would be
mobilised. The battle order and operations procedure was that clear and basic.
The night was not normal and the GOC was
a certified mediocre.
According to the British intelligence
assessment report, Ironsi was “a
notorious profligate and twenty years of British Army records show him up
militarily as a consistent flop.” TY Danjuma also said that much of his GOC
many years later describing him as a “ineffective and desk general”. Only
Ironsi would reach a battalion in a time of action and order for the RSM when
there were 460 officers between him and the RSM. The history of Nigeria would
have been very different had Maimalari refused to solicit lift from Ifeajuna
and reached the Federal Guards by himself. He was already less than 100m away.
After the briefing, Ironsi ordered an
immediate platoon headed by Lt Walbe to be formed for a reconnaissance while
the companies prepare for action. He then asked the platoon when they would be
ready. He was told given the nature of the requirements, two and a half hours’
time at the minimum. To conclude, Ironsi asked for questions. Gowon was
shocked. In his later account of the night he wrote that he asked: “When was
this trouble first reported, sir”
“ About 3am”
“What time is it now?”
“ 5:30.”
“These people have already had over two-and-a-half hours’ advantage. Must we
give them the same again to enable them to consolidate?”
Gowon then faced the platoon commanders, ‘I give everyone 20 minutes to get
ready.’ That was the first order he gave as the incoming commander of the
battalion. Unlike Njoku the outgoing commander and the GOC who contented
themselves with issuing orders from the safety of the battalion headquarters
while the mutineers went on killing, Gowon a lieutenant colonel, decided to
lead the quick reaction force. Success laid in being bold. And that made all
the difference. Spruced up in full combat kit, Gowon grabbed a helmet, his
service pistol, sten gun and readied himself for action. He gazed at his lover,
Edith, fresh, sweet-looking, innocently-dozing and wondered whether he would
see her again. To him, the call of duty and the requirements of its success
superseded the indulgences of an irresistible bed. After all, the Revolution
collapsed partly because Major John Obienu preferred the rooster-teasing allure
of a bed in Shomolu and its two cushion of pins to the call of revolutionary
duty. The sense of the true is always a kind of conquest but first it is an
opportunity.
Lt Muhammadu Buhari was in charge of the Land Rovers and three tonners that
roared out of the Motor Transport Section of the battalion ready to take on the
mutineers. The A Rifle company began to mount like commandos with their ammos
doubled up to war quantities. Off, they charged out from the gates of the
battalion. The first place Gowon led the force to was the Prime Minister’s
residence. It was six o’clock. Gowon met the Minister of State for Defence,
Tanko Galadima who told him some armed soldiers had kidnapped the Prime
Minister. Gowon then conducted a thorough search of the Residence. He found no
mutineer and no clues. He then led the soldiers to the parliament buildings
where the office of the Prime Minister was, again no clues. Then he went to the
Federal Guards that held responsibility for the safety of service officers and
government officials. Gowon praised Tarfa and the RSM Tayo for safeguarding
discipline and was told all Igbo officers including the OC (Okafor) were
missing.
At around six o clock, Captain Nwobosi and his men too arrived the Federal
Guard’s Mess from Ibadan. They wondered whether they were reporting early or
too late since other units were nowhere to be found. During the planning for
the coup, a decision was made against the use of walkie-talkies because their
communications would easily be picked up by the Special Branch of the Police
Operations Command and Army Signals. Once Gowon was told of the presence of unaccountable
soldiers and vehicles next door to the barracks, he rounded up the Mess and
overruled Tarfa who preferred lobbing grenades before attacking. Tarfa was a
lieutenant. Gowon was a lieutenant colonel. The difference showed. Gowon’s fear
was that the Prime Minister was there with them and he may be killed during the
process. Instead they called out to the mutineers to be aware they had been
surrounded. Nwobosi surrendered and showed Gowon the signal from Maimalari
authorising their action. Gowon handed Remi Fani Kayode to Tarfa the de facto commander of the Federal Guards
for safekeeping. (Victor Banjo came later to take possession of Fani Kayode of
his own accord.) With his crack force, Gowon went to the senior officers’
residences in Ikoyi. At the GOC’s residence, he met his wife Victoria and their
six children who told him what happen in the middle of the night with the phone
calls they had received. Gowon assured her his husband was safe in Ikeja
issuing orders.
REMARKABLE TIMES IN OUR HISTORY
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