Nigeria's 15th January 1966 Coup of The 5 Majors: 50 years on

Exactly 50 years ago, on 15th January 1966, Major Kaduna Nzeogwu and 4 other Majors carried out a coup d'etat  that killed mainly leaders from the North & South. The SE suffered the least casualties in the coup, leading some elements to label the coup an Igbo coup. However, a thorough analysis of events preceding, during and after the coup reveals the narrative as misleading and false. It was not an Igbo coup.

Major Patrick Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu

The 5 Majors who orchestrated the coup were:

(1) Kaduna Nzeogwu

(2) Adewale Ademoyega

(3) Emmanuel Ifeajuna

(4) Chris Anuforo

(5) Timothy Onwuatuegu

While Nzeogwu completed his own part of the assignment in the North, Major Emmanuel Ifeajuna partly completed his assignment in South West Lagos by not neutralizing then Military Head, General Officer Commanding, Major General Aguiyi Ironsi amongst others.
Radio broadcast by Kaduna Nzeogwu declaring martial Law on the Northern Provinces, January 1966. 
Interview with Kaduan Nzeogwu May 1967 

In all 13 prominent leaders of Nigeria were killed that fateful day including: Abubakar Tafawa Balewa (Prime Minister), Ahmadu Bello (Premier of the Northern Nigeria), Samuel Akintola (Premier of the Western Nigeria) , Festus Okotie-Eboh (Finance Minister),  incl Lt Col Arthur Unegbe (Igbo) and other senior Military officials.

The coup of Jan 1966 which introduced the Military into our politics would change Nigeria's socio-political and socio-economic trajectory forever. A fallout of the Jan 1966 coup was the 'rematch' - the July 1966 coup, masterminded by Lt Col Murtala Mohammed & other Northern soldiers. The July 1966 counter coup resulted in the deaths of 29 Officers of mainly Igbo extraction incl GOC, Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi and Adekunle Fajuyi. It was revenge.

The Igbo ethnic cleansing in the army spilled over to Northern communities. Over 30,000 Igbo civilians in the North were slaughtered in the ensuing anti-Igbo Pogrom. The pogrom led to mass migration of Igbos from the North, South west & other parts of Nigeria to the East. Chinua Achebe n others had to flee Lagos. Subsequently, in 1967 after collapse of the Aburi accord, Odumegwu Ojukwu declared the Eastern region of Nigeria a sovereign state, to be known as Biafra.

The Nigeria - Biafra war spanned 3 years with a casualty figure of over 3 million deaths on the Biafran side, mainly children due to starvation as a result of the economic/food blockade instituted by Federal Government of Nigeria. The brain behind the food blockade was Chief Obafemi Awolowo. A statement credited to Awolowo goes thus: ''All is fair in war, and starvation is one of the weapons of war. I don't see why we should feed our enemies fat in order for them to fight harder.''

In 1970 Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu handed over to his 2nd in command, Major General Philip Effiong, then fled to Ivory Coast.  Few days later Effiong announced an end to the conflict. After the war, a flat sum of 20 Nigerian pounds was approved for each Igbo depositor, regardless of deposited amount previously. Properties owned by lgbos in the North, South and even some in Port Harcourt in the present day South South ‘abandoned property’ were confiscated or destroyed, incl Businesses, shops, homes.

In addition, Igbos were systematically excluded from the indigenization decree of 1974 by Gowon. The Decree sought to transfer ownership via stock, bonds, shares, equity of foreign companies to Nigerians. As a result of the exclusion of Igbos from participating in the indeginization program of 1974, most legacy companies in Nigeria are chaired/owned by Yorubas/Hausas. The Igbos largely had to start afresh.

Major Kaduna Nzeogwu's Grave: Military Cemetery Kaduna, Nigeria.

Major Kaduna Nzeogwu's Grave: Military Cemetery Kaduna, Nigeria. 

Another unfortunate fallout of the Nigerian – Biafran war, in addition to the countless deaths & property destruction, is the enthronement of nepotism & mediocrity in Nigeria’s socio-economic and political consciousness. Permit me to share Chinua Achebe's submission on Nigeria's flawed socio-economic and socio-political ideology, in the following  quote:

''What has consistently escaped most Nigerians in this entire travesty is the fact that mediocrity destroys the very fabric of a country as surely as a war - ushering in all sorts of banality, ineptitude, corruption, and debauchery. Nations enshrine mediocrity as their modus operandi, and create a fertile ground for the rise of tyrants and other base elements of the society, by silently assenting to the dismantling of systems of excellence because they do not immediately benefit one specific ethnic, racial, political or special-interest group. That in my humble opinion, is precisely where Nigeria finds itself today.’’ ~ There Was Country, Chinua Achebe (2012).

Prof Albert Chinualumogu Achebe