owobokiri:


Handled the matter poorly? Maybe, but how really? The country plotters were all under arrest and he has already promised that they will all be tried. All the arrested coup plotters were under arrest as at the night Ironsi was killed. .. Secondly, don't forget that Ironsi ONLY neutralized the coup in Lagos. Nzeogwu had the whole northern and eastern Nigeria under his ontrol, even if the allegiance of all the commanding officer in those areas were in doubt, which was the reason he willingly handed over to Ironsi. It wasn't as if Ironsi crushed the coup in northern nigeria. Ironsi wasn't even very sure of total control in southern nigeria. Nobody knows the agreement reached between him and Nzeogwu that propelled Nzeogwu to hand himself over to federal forces in Lagos without firing a shot....

Finally, while I do agree that with the benefit of hindsight, one can look at the lopsided casualty figure after the coup and wonder if there were ulterior motives, it's also very important to remember that there were no laws mandating mandatory death sentences during ironsis brief rule! Coup plotting and subsequent judicial processes following failure were somewhat uncharted territories within the nigerian judicial system because there were no serious previous cases apart from Awolowos case. Other newly independent countries had the same problems.. Essentially, it wasn't even only in nigeria that we had such dilemmas.., Ghana had coups but never mowed down the plotters... It was Obasanjo that enacted those brutal laws that led to the killings of many subsequently.. So while it's fair to pile on some on Ironsi, we have to also situate the context under which his actions and inactions were permissible as at that time...

nku5:


So you think Ironsi should have just ordered them all executed without investigation or trial just to appeal to frayed nerves? The aim of the investigation was to unearth how deep the conspiracy went in the armed forces and civilian circles. If it was really an "Igbo coup" wouldn't it have been good to know those behind the plot. Are you aware that Hassan Katsina who was part of the Fulani coup that removed Ironsi, was also part of the Nzeogwu coup? You think he would have liked the report to come out?

Besides are you aware that the coup was celebrated at first all over the country? It was the British that incited the northerners into believing the ethnic angle. Ironsi as a leader was not wrong to first investigate and he put the northern officers in charge. What more do we expect the man to have done?

Brooklynsouth:
continue with your tales of deciet , an investigative writings by who ? Someday the truth will be out and the tables turned

gudugudumeje:
Murtala Mohammed was the target of the Fulani/ Kanuri flank and Sokoto caliphate. He was considered an unbiased umpire in then coming 1979 elections and a stumbling block to Hausa/Fulani/Kanuri rigging plans against Awolowo and Awo's monumental public policy campaigns and civil resistance routes and stamina which Obasanjo stifle.... USA has a hand in the coup too with plan to thwart M/Mohammed for not honouring IV to Washington. The coup had 3 plots wt OBJ in one... And OBJ was to be played out at last...until Akinrinade Alani& Alabi-Isama thwarted it... And more.

Racoon:

I have all Max Siollun three books and cherish them a lot because they gave clear succinct dirty histroy of all these past military leaders Nigerians are venerating today as gods especially the role the sitting president played in the July 28-29 1966 northern counter-coup killings @ Ikeja Barracks.I have a copy of the "76" movie.I even watch clips yster night.

femi4:
He was in the room with them but never supported the coup

seunmsg:
It’s so interesting reading how our friends from the east are blaming everybody other than theirs. To start with, was the first coup necessary? There was absolutely no justification for the first coup. The way and manner Ifeajuna and his co-plotters went about the coup in a very bloody and clannish manner made it more despicable. The January 15, 1966 coup ruined the camaraderie in the military and ruined the fragile unity among our political elites till today. Every event that happened thereafter was a chain reaction to the bloody Ifeajuna coup.

Let’s even assume Ifeajuna and co were young and blinded by ambition, what came over an old conservative soldier like Ironsi that he had to force the senate to handover power to him? Was that the only option available to him at that point? Dipcharima had already been selected has acting prime minister, all he needed was the support of the military to help stabilize the government and the country but no, Ironsi with the backing of the Igbo senate president forcefully took over power. Sadly, he wasn’t knowledgeable enough to manage a diverse country like Nigeria. He became overwhelmed and started listening to only Igbo advisers. The pogrom and the July counter coup was the result of his poor leadership.


TY Danjuma faced the same dilemma that Ironsi faced but he appreciated the situation better and handled it differently. If Danjuma had taken over the government after the Dimka coup like Ironsi did after Ifeajuna’s coup, he would have ended up like Ironsi. He was smart enough to support Obasanjo who was the next in line. He even refused to accept the position of CGS and instead promoted Yar’adua who was very junior to him to the position. That is how to navigate the murky waters of Nigeria’s military and ethnic politics.

Alpha100:
I have both of Max Siollun's books if anyone is interested.

Fvckhypocrite:
The same author with they was a country?

Soknown:

Yes.

CharleyBright:


Point of Correction, Aguyi Ironsi did NOT forcefully take over the govt, Pls dont mislead readers.
He became Head of state as the Most senior military officer after the coup.
Secondly, you are absolutely wrong by saying that Ironsi was only listening to IBo advisers. Rather, he failed to listen to his fellow IBO officers who had warned him and informed him that there was a coup plot on ground. He failed to listen and take measures, and that led to his death.
Infact, Ironsi leaned too much to the Northerner Officers so much that he fell out with some of his fellow Ibo officers.

ibietela2:


Do you have the link?

Alpha100:
I have both of Max Siollun's books if anyone is interested.

Alpha100:
I have both of Max Siollun's books if anyone is interested.

CharleyBright:


Firstly, There were names that featured prominently in the Nzeogwu coup, the Ironsi Coup, and the Murtala Mohammed coup.
I cant really recall Hassan Katsina's name in the Nzeogwu's coup, and doubt he was part of that coup.
Many of those that were seemingly like perpetual coupists were either executed or retired as a deterent when Obasanjo became Head of State.
Secondly, it wasnt really the British that incited the Northern Officers. It was actually the anger that Nzeogwu and the coup plotters killed Zakaria Maimalari ( the highest ranking Northern officer) and the Tafawa Balewa, while Nnamdi Azikiwe was left free. The anger was even more fuelled when Aguyi Ironsi emerged as Head of State, and he was hesitant in trying the coup plotters who were arrested.

nku5:


The fact is that Ironsi was in power for just a few months. immediately he took office he appointed an investigative committee from the then Special Branch (now CID) to investigate the coup. It was headed by M.D. Yusuf and supervised directly by Gowon. For reasons we can only guess, the investigative report never got to Ironsi until the same Gowon and co overthrew Ironsi and buried the report.

These kind of facts are never popular

Soknown:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Soldiers-Fortune-History-Nigeria-1983-1993-ebook/dp/B00QP6HVC8/ref=sr_1_3?crid=2S21ZM1HZ0EDA&dchild=1&keywords=soldiers+of+fortune+a+history+of+nigeria&qid=1609159818&sprefix=soldiers+of+fortune+%2Caps%2C195&sr=8-3

ibietela2:

Nope There was a country is different

Sikpa04:
Since I read the book "Tragedy of Victory", I stopped listening to lies from Obasanjo.

CharleyBright:


No, he didnt do any coup.
Go and Read and Understand what happened then before you comment.
General Aguyi Ironsi, Samuel Ademelegun and Zakariya Maimaliari were the most senior ranking Military officers then ( From SE, SW and NW respectively).
After the Nzeogwu coup and the ouster of the Tafawa Balewa/ Nnamdi Azikiwe civilian regime, Aguyi Ironsi was made Head of state( as the most senior of the three officers by Course ranking) with a view to conducting an election and returning power to Civilians as soon a possible.
By this time, there was serious rife in the Military between the North and the South East (Ibos) following the Nzeogwu coup, and some northerners perceived that the coup was done to enthrone Ironsi.
But what many Nigerians dont know is that the Nzeogwu coup which was said to be an Ibo coup was actually aborted by Aguyi Ironsi and Emeka Ojukwu. Ironsi fought the coup plotters from the Lagos/ ibadan axis, while Emeka Ojukwu repelled the poltters from the Kaduna/Kano base of the Military.
What many Nigerians dont also know also is that, the Nzegwu coup would have succeeded if not for Ironsi and Ojukwu that foiled it. Infact, Many Ibo Officers saw Ironsi as siding with the Northerners and not doing enough as Head of state to protect the Ibos during the Massive killings of the Ibos that was going on during the Ironsi tenure. While Ironsi tried to be balance and even favor the North in his govt, he was still perceived as unfair by both the Ibos on one hand, and the North on the other hand.
To tell the truth, Aguyi Ironsi caused his own death by trying to please the north too much. Despite several warnings giving to him that some northern elements within the Military were planning to oust him and he should remove many of his Northern aides, Ironsi failed to listen and continued to surround himself with officers of northern extract, and majority of his personal aides were northerners. On the day Ironsi was assasiinated, it is said that it was his personal and most trusted aide that connived and pave way for T. Y Danjuma and co to arrest and eventually killed Ironsi.

owobokiri:
Somebody help me; Why is Dimkas coup not defined by Dimkas ethnicity? I mean it was stated clearly that the main reason that led Dimka to unleash that coup was to get rid of core northerners that upstaged Gowon, a fellow middle belter! This led to the killings of Murtala Mohammed and Ibrahim Taiwo, including the attempted elimination of officers that helped Murtalas ascedence to power, most of them northerners! Gowons name was so glaringly written all over the coup that the federal government sought for his repatriation to Nigeria for trial.

He will later be left in the UK to rot while Ojukwu whom he fought against during the war, was pardoned to come back to Nigeria! My questions are; who and who here even know Dimkas ethnic group? Why was the ethnic/regional/sectional motivations behind Dimkas military interjection always downplayed by the media, the government and even the military while Nzeogwus military uprising is conveniently used as an excuse to propel an unending devilish policy of containment against the good people of the former eastern Nigeria!?

Xyz001:



Ojukwu? ���

Many authors wrote their views on the Nigerian military coup, which is normal.

What can't be argued was that the first coup saw many northerners both Military officers and civilians killed, and the aftermath of the coup saw the promotion of Igbos.

Though officers from South West were also killed but the most hit region is the North.

nku5:


Nzeogwu was a close friend of Katsina and told him about the coup beforehand. He played a very minimal role from the shadows but he was involved and was a very very sly fox. When Nzeogwu left for Lagos after the coup he put Katsina in charge of Kaduna pending his return.

See both of them answering questions from journalists in Kaduna the day after the coup.The picture in the bottom half is the most popular one of Nzeogwu (with the bandage on his neck). The interesting thing is that Katsina was cropped out of it to preserve a narrative.

Regarding why the plotters were not tried immediately, see my comment on it earlier

Alpha100:
I have both of Max Siollun's books if anyone is interested.

SeunTheOwner:


Time registered: July 27, 2020 You are too new to get help. no one know you.

If it is Racoon, I will send him #500 to buy data and continue begging

thatigboman:
watch 76. Obasanjo was part of the coup, but his role was enshrouded in secrecy

Fvckhypocrite:
who's the author of that one?

Alpha100:
I have both of Max Siollun's books if anyone is interested.

Alpha100:
I have both of Max Siollun's books if anyone is interested.

CharleyBright:


Just a little point of correction:
Firstly, Nzeogwu didnt entirely capture the North in the botch coup. He had boys planted in Kano and Kaduna, but Emeka Ojukwu who was commandant of the Nigeria Army in North ( Kano and kaduna bases) didnt agree with the Nzeogwu coup plotters, so he fought back and foiled the coup from Kaduna, while Ironsi fought back from Lagos and ibadan. Onitsha and the entire South East and middlebelt was already in the hands of the coup plotters, but they needed to be in control of Lagos and kaduna for them to succeed.
Ironically, while many till today call the Nzeogwu coup an Ibo coup, what many dont understand is that it was IBO Military officers ( Ironsi and Ojukwu) that aborted the coup.

Secondly, Aguyi Ironsi was a little weak and indecisive in his bid to desperately please the officers of the Northern extract. He made careless mistakes by overlooking and undermining some officers who he was warned about as planning a coup. He failed to take decisive actions when neccessary. The Nigerian Military then was not where you played weak and indecisive.. Or you will pay dearly for your actions. Ironsi tried desperately to unified the divided army then, and he was caught in between accusations by the Northerners in the Military on one hand, and accusations by his fellow Ibo officers who said he failed to protect them.
While the Northern Military officers saw Ironsi as an impostor and beneficiary of the Nzeogwu coup, they found more reason to take him out on the basis that he failed want to conduct Military Trial for the coupists who were still being under arrest.
Ironsi used to walk with a Staff that was alleged to be Legendary in saving Ironsi in many battles he had fought outside the country where he was posted to, and rumours were rife in the army then that Ironsi was killed to test the potency of the staff and debunk the legendary tale about Ironsi.
All in all, Aguyi Ironsi was a fine soldier and meant well. He didnt deserve the kind of death he was subjected to.