IGBOZURUOKE FORUM

By Henry Chukwuemeka Onyema,

As Nigerians soberly recollect the fiftieth year of the gruesome murder and overthrow of the country’s first military head of state, Major-General Johnson Thomas Umunnakwe Aguiyi-Ironsi, it is pertinent to reflect on the history of that time.

This is necessary because till date there are significant components of Nigerians, especially from the Northern political and military elite, who argue that Ironsi and Colonel Adekunle Fajuyi, the governor of the old Western region, died justly. This viewpoint was eloquently chronicled by the second republic politician, Dr. Junaidu Mohammed, in the August 3 edition of ‘The Sun’ newspaper.

According to Dr. Mohammed, Ironsi’s sin was his failure to not court- martial and executes the plotters of the January 15 coup.

But history cannot be hidden. The truth is that the Ironsi government planned a trial, a public one for that matter, of the plotters. On pages 307 and 488 of late Ruth First’s ground-breaking book about post-colonial African military incursions in politics titled  The Barrel of A Gun, it was clearly stated that Ironsi planned to court-martial the plotters in August 1966, but it was rescheduled for October. Lieutenant-Colonel Hassan Katsina, the governor of the old Northern Region, said: ‘The minutes of the Supreme Military Council recorded that the young Majors were to be court-martialled not later than October. The proceedings were to be in public.’

Maybe Ironsi’s mistake was that he did not publicize this decision. Given the situation in Nigeria at the time, it was understandable. In the South, many people hailed the January coup plotters as heroes. Up North which had borne the brunt of the coup, initial delight at the overthrow of an unpopular government had fizzled out. No matter any policy measure Ironsi’s government took, it would be seen in the light of the terrible cleavage caused by the coup.

I submit that the Northern soldiers who struck on July 29 were motivated by quests beyond their very public thirst for vengeance. It was the quest for power and fear of a seeming Igbo domination. The Unification Decree No. 34 of 1966 was not good for a multi-ethnic entity like Nigeria but it served as a perfect cover by the displaced Northern People’s Congress bigwigs and their British backers who could not stomach the loss of power by their protégés. The role of the British in the July coup is well documented.

Ironsi, despite being a competent general who did his duty in quashing the January coup, was politically illiterate. His ascension to the number one position remains controversial. He took rather nonmilitary measures to placate his constituency but no matter what he did, his ultimate sin was simply this: he did not belong to the ‘elect’ anointed to rule Nigeria.

Henry Chukwuemeka Onyema is a Lagos-based historian, writer and the Chief Creative Officer of 2-4 henritz writing agency. Email: [email protected]