January 15,1966: The day that changed Nigeria
January 15, 2016
January the 15th, 1966 is no ordinary date in Nigeria’s history. On this fateful day, precisely fifty years ago, Nigeria socio-political and economic landscape was changed for good. It was the day a group of mutinous officers in the Nigerian Army, led by Major Kaduna Chukwuma Nzeogwu, staged the country’s first coup d’etat, leading to the assassination of key Nigerian leaders, senior officers in the army, and the abduction of three others. It was the day whose events set off the collapse of the First Republic, resulted in a counter-coup six months later, led to the Nigerian Civil War, and ushered in 30 years of military interventions in Nigerian politics from which the country is yet to fully recover,
Among others, the coup plotters abducted the Prime Minister of Nigeria, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, the country’s first Minister of Finance and Chief Festus Okotie-Eboh; killed the Premier of the Northern Region and Sarduana of Sokoto, Sir Ahmadu Bello; and killed the Premier of the Western Region, Chief Samuel Ladoke Akintola. The dead bodies of Balewa and Okotie-Eboh were discovered six days later at a roadside near Lagos. Other notable persons that were killed included Brig-Gen. Samuel Ademulegun and his wife, Brig-Gen. Zakariya Maimalari, Col. Kur Mohammed, Col. Shodeinde and Lt.-Col. Abogo Largema.
Notably, five out six of the coup plotters were of Igbo extraction, while all those killed were of either northern or Yoruba extraction. The act of overthrowing a constitutionally elected government was compounded by the fact that one of the officers, Lieutenant Oguchi, dispatched to “take care” of the Premier of the Eastern Region, Dr. Michael Okpara, arrested him, while Mr. Nwafor Orizu, who was the Senate President and also the acting President of the country in the absence of Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, who was out of the country on the day of the coup, capitulated by handing over the reins of government to the most senior person in the Armed Forces at the time, Major-Gen. Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi, yet another Igbo man.
January 15, 2016
January the 15th, 1966 is no ordinary date in Nigeria’s history. On this fateful day, precisely fifty years ago, Nigeria socio-political and economic landscape was changed for good. It was the day a group of mutinous officers in the Nigerian Army, led by Major Kaduna Chukwuma Nzeogwu, staged the country’s first coup d’etat, leading to the assassination of key Nigerian leaders, senior officers in the army, and the abduction of three others. It was the day whose events set off the collapse of the First Republic, resulted in a counter-coup six months later, led to the Nigerian Civil War, and ushered in 30 years of military interventions in Nigerian politics from which the country is yet to fully recover,
Among others, the coup plotters abducted the Prime Minister of Nigeria, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, the country’s first Minister of Finance and Chief Festus Okotie-Eboh; killed the Premier of the Northern Region and Sarduana of Sokoto, Sir Ahmadu Bello; and killed the Premier of the Western Region, Chief Samuel Ladoke Akintola. The dead bodies of Balewa and Okotie-Eboh were discovered six days later at a roadside near Lagos. Other notable persons that were killed included Brig-Gen. Samuel Ademulegun and his wife, Brig-Gen. Zakariya Maimalari, Col. Kur Mohammed, Col. Shodeinde and Lt.-Col. Abogo Largema.
Notably, five out six of the coup plotters were of Igbo extraction, while all those killed were of either northern or Yoruba extraction. The act of overthrowing a constitutionally elected government was compounded by the fact that one of the officers, Lieutenant Oguchi, dispatched to “take care” of the Premier of the Eastern Region, Dr. Michael Okpara, arrested him, while Mr. Nwafor Orizu, who was the Senate President and also the acting President of the country in the absence of Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, who was out of the country on the day of the coup, capitulated by handing over the reins of government to the most senior person in the Armed Forces at the time, Major-Gen. Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi, yet another Igbo man.
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