OrlandoOwoh:
Murtala Muhammed never led the July 1975 coup.

APCLyingBastard:


Yaradua and Garba approached Murtala for his blessings(according to them) but the fact remains that as soon as they informed Murtala of their intentions he told them he won't be executing it with them but will surely be on their sides no matter the outcome. Murtala had been given them salient orders to stage a coup by bearing his mind and displeasure on Gowon's govt.

Mid ranking officers (Majors and Captains) are the best to use in a coup.

Why? Because the military command chain puts Majors at the heart of commanding military formations and manuvoures.


A Division is made up of 2 - 3 Brigades and is headed by a Major General commonly referred to as the GOC.

A Brigade is composed of 2-3 Battalions and is headed by a Brigadier-General.

A Battalion consists of 800- 900 men and is headed by a Colonel.

A Company consists of roughly 150 men and is headed by a Major and consists of 3 -5 platoons headed by luitenants.

If you have 5 Divisions , you will need only a company in each division to effect an arrest of the GOC.

A Major has the right number of men (not too large and not to small) to plan secretly and coordinate a coup.

This is why mid ranking officers always get the Job done.

The Coup was orchestrated by Yaradua and co (mid ranking officers) but was planned by Murtala.

Remember , Yaradua served directly under Murtala in the Biafran front.

APCLyingBastard:


He never had to.

His movement was under surveillance.

As a member of the Supreme Millitary Council with his Brigade infiltrated by recently commissioned middle belt officers , he risked having officers disobey his command.

This is why he resorted to having the likes of Yaradua lead the coup.

opey25:
why did u focus on murtala alone.danjuma and obasanjo were also approached.they also gave yardua and garba the same response murtala gave them. Murtala didnt plan the coup,I have never read it anywhere that he planned the july 1975 coup. The coup was orchestrated by Yardua,ibrahim taiwo and joe garba.The only coup murtala planned,was the july 1966 counter coup.

OrlandoOwoh:

The coup was led by Joe Garba.

APCLyingBastard:


A luitenant can order a platoon into position under the command of a sergeant.

That doesn't mean the sergeant had the initiative.

OrlandoOwoh:

Joe Garba was a colonel. He even announced the coup. Go read Isawa Elegwu's Gowon.

APCLyingBastard:

A Lt. Colonel and not a substantive Colonel.
That put him under the mid ranking cadre

OrlandoOwoh:

What exactly is your arguement?

APCLyingBastard:


Are you asking me?

I stated in my first post that the coup of 1975 was on the orders of senior officers with Murtala at the helm. I never said he was part of the physical operation but that he was the main architect of it.

OrlandoOwoh:

Murtala Muhammed nor any senior officer never ordered the coup. It's was conceived by Garba, Taiwo, Yar'Adua, etc, who later met Muhammed.

OrlandoOwoh:

Murtala Muhammed nor any senior officer never ordered the coup. It's was conceived by Garba, Taiwo, Yar'Adua, etc, who later met Muhammed.

OrlandoOwoh:

Murtala Muhammed nor any senior officer never ordered the coup. It's was conceived by Garba, Taiwo, Yar'Adua, etc, who later met Muhammed.

APCLyingBastard:


Murtala had a history of insubordination and disrespect to authority and his seniors.

Here is a man who led and participated in the counter coup of 1966 alongside the likes of Dimka to purge the army of Ibos where most of them where his superior officers.

During the war his total disrespect and non compliance to orders by his commanders will see him being recalled from the front. During the Asaba siege he attempted on three occasions an amphibious attack on onitsha against the advice and orders of his superior officers. His first attempt saw over 1,000 men and officers dead and was forced to retreat. Morale and discipline were at an all time low that the men under his command bluntly refused another amphibious attack. When word reached GOC about how bad things were under his command coupled with his refusal to not use a particular narrow supply route which led to over 1,000 trucks being destroyed by one single artillery shell ( the supply route was narrow and the convoy consisted of long trucks loaded with ammunition and fuel. A biafran artillery corps man disobeyed his superior officer not to fire the last remaining shell but he went on to do so hitting one ammo laden truck at the middle of the convoy. The narrow Road made it difficult for the remaining articulated trucks to turn around and so that is how all the vehicles got destroyed in an explosive inferno), his commanding officers had no choice but to recall him back from the front.

The man constituted a nuisance and danger to his own men and given his long record of insubordination , the very thought of him not planning a coup is like saying Dimka was not a drunk.

APCLyingBastard:


Don't be silly.

Every coup in Nigeria apart from the Shonekan coup which Abacha did on his own by pointing a gun at Shonekan's head has been carried out by junior and mid ranking officers under the command of senior officers.


Why will any mid ranking officer stake his neck to stage a coup then begin to look for a Senior officer to handover to?

Yaradua came out after retiring in 1979 with that incredulous lie that he alone planned and executed that coup only to willingly submit to Murtala.

That on is own is a lie as it was used to paint murtala as dedicated and loyal soldier to the Gowon administration. This lie was used to further perpetuate the myth of Murtala being a selfless man who had no choice than to accept office of head of state. This is the same lie we were told about Buhari reluctantly assuming supreme powers after the overthrow of Shagari.

opey25:
pls stop arguing with the guy,his knowledge of nigerian history is shallow.

OrlandoOwoh:

Shut up! I know that middle rank officers carry out coups across Africa. Even Gaddafi was one. Go read David Jemibewon's A Combatant in Government.

MagicBishop:


Talking trash as always.

Refute without making baseless silly statements.

You have not added one single quality sentence on this thread but just here desperately perpetuating the myth of murtala as a selfless man just as you once foolishly claimed that Buhari never participated in the Shagari coup been though there are historical records of Shagari being informed of Buhari planning a coup.

APCLyingBastard:
Jan 15, 1966 Coup mid-ranking officers, mainly Ibos , university graduates before joining the army, leftist ideology, Ultra Nationalist outlook.

July, 1966 Counter Coup Northern Junior officers and NCOs (retaliatory and ethno religiously motivated). No clear political outlook. Continued with the policy of nationalization instigated by the Jan 15 coupists.

1975 Colonels Coup composed of Colonels to wrest power for themselves. The plotters of this coup against the Gowon govt where ironically the same set that bought him to power a decade ago. The coup was led by Murtala Mohammed who felt his turn to chop was long overdue. No clear political outlook for the country. Nationalization continua.

1976 Dimka Coup the drunkard's coup. Mainly Christian middle belt officers led by the callous Dimka. Dimka had no problem killing his superior officers as he had gotten away with cold murder of his senior officers a decade ago in the July 1966 counter coup. Dimka's motivation according to his drunken confession was to reinstall Gowon back as head of state. Ironically, Murtala and Dimka left the political scene in the same manner they had entered it - in a hail of Bullets!

1983 Buhari Coup the remnants of the class of July, 1966 where now Generals. This coup consisted of senior northern Muslim officers. motivation was to consolidate their power.

1985 IBB Coup same as above only they wanted to get rid of the stubborn Buhari.

1990 Gideon Okar Coup southern Christian minorities drawn from midranking cadre. In so many ways this coup had all the hallmarks of the Jan 15 coup and was doomed to fail because it was driven by vague ideologies and not pragmatic realities.

As we can see the most successful coup plotters in the history of Nigeria where the class of July, 1966.

The main reason advocated why they were so successful is because unlike their southern colleagues , the northern cadets admitted into the NDA where usually drawn from the same secondary school.

Since the number of schools in the north where outnumbered by 20 to 1 in the south and coupled with lowered enrollment in these same schools alongside Tafa Belewa's quota system which was specifically drawn to ensure that Ibos do not continue to dominate the officer cadet, the 1st and 2nd luitenants that carried out the counter coup of 1966 knew themselves from childhood and had a sense of duty to each other to watch their backs.

Childhood friendships are more powerful than sharing similar ideologies or a beer in the mess.

MagicBishop:


You are just spewing trash.

Nzeagwu had a formal tertiary eduction before joining the Army after which he spent a year in Sandhurst.


Ojukwu joined the army as an NCO before his millionaire father exposed his education level to his British officers who will later give Ojukwu the option of leaving the army or joining the officer cadre.

Murtala Mohammed was the brains behind the 1975 coup. The 1975 coup targeted only Gowon's trusted officers as Gowon was away on official trip to Uganda.

Facts can not be twisted to meet your demented sentiments.

DropShot:


"Were" not "where"

I couldn't resist not pointing it out. Too many times you used it wrongly.

MagicBishop:


Grammar nazi thanks for the correction .

It was a mistake and besides I am typing with a pad that keeps trying to guess my words for me.

DropShot:

So, MagicBishop = APCLyingBastard! I will take note henceforth.

You don't make the same mistake five times in about 150 words. It doesn't fly!

Bye!

APCLyingBastard:


That's because the class of July 1966 are still ruling you.

IgrigiEOD:


**grins** A friend once told me that we'll have to wait for the remnant of July 66' Hausa/fulani coupists to all die off for this country to at least stop moving backwards. I was inclined to agree with him. **grins**

APCLyingBastard:
Jan 15, 1966 Coup mid-ranking officers, mainly Ibos , university graduates before joining the army, leftist ideology, Ultra Nationalist outlook.

July, 1966 Counter Coup Northern Junior officers and NCOs (retaliatory and ethno religiously motivated). No clear political outlook. Continued with the policy of nationalization instigated by the Jan 15 coupists.

1975 Colonels Coup composed of Colonels to wrest power for themselves. The plotters of this coup against the Gowon govt where ironically the same set that bought him to power a decade ago. The coup was led by Murtala Mohammed who felt his turn to chop was long overdue. No clear political outlook for the country. Nationalization continua.

1976 Dimka Coup the drunkard's coup. Mainly Christian middle belt officers led by the callous Dimka. Dimka had no problem killing his superior officers as he had gotten away with cold murder of his senior officers a decade ago in the July 1966 counter coup. Dimka's motivation according to his drunken confession was to reinstall Gowon back as head of state. Ironically, Murtala and Dimka left the political scene in the same manner they had entered it - in a hail of Bullets!

1983 Buhari Coup the remnants of the class of July, 1966 where now Generals. This coup consisted of senior northern Muslim officers. motivation was to consolidate their power.

1985 IBB Coup same as above only they wanted to get rid of the stubborn Buhari.

1990 Gideon Okar Coup southern Christian minorities drawn from midranking cadre. In so many ways this coup had all the hallmarks of the Jan 15 coup and was doomed to fail because it was driven by vague ideologies and not pragmatic realities.

As we can see the most successful coup plotters in the history of Nigeria where the class of July, 1966.

The main reason advocated why they were so successful is because unlike their southern colleagues , the northern cadets admitted into the NDA where usually drawn from the same secondary school.

Since the number of schools in the north where outnumbered by 20 to 1 in the south and coupled with lowered enrollment in these same schools alongside Tafa Belewa's quota system which was specifically drawn to ensure that Ibos do not continue to dominate the officer cadet, the 1st and 2nd luitenants that carried out the counter coup of 1966 knew themselves from childhood and had a sense of duty to each other to watch their backs.

Childhood friendships are more powerful than sharing similar ideologies or a beer in the mess.