Monday 17 November 2014

The coming to Power of the tyrant General Sani Abacha


Zeus: Mortal men have been so disobedient.

Other gods: Lets unleash Hades to them, he has been locked in chains since the war of the gods………




On this day 17 October 1993 General Sani Abacha took the control of government in a palace coup putting an end to Chief Ernest Shonekan led interim government that was meant to usher Nigeria into a democratic regime after the unfortunate abortion of the June 12 1993 Presidential election that was widely acclaimed to be the freest and fairest election in the history of Nigeria, where the people elected Alhaji M.K.O Abiola. Which according to the ruling junta was marred by irregularities.

Abacha’s intrusion into the political ring ended the Democratic process that took years to build, his announcement that evening of 17 November barred all political parties, governors, federal and state  legislative , local government chairmen from holding sway promising to return the country to democracy in one-year after resolving the crisis that is threatening the fabric of the Nigeria unity.

As the proverbial saying goes “The sweet taste of palm wine made the house fly intoxicated that it forgot to fly”. Like all dictators Abacha was not an exception he wanted to stay in power for ever.

Those who knew Abacha from his early days in the military academy would describe him as an un-intelligent officer who keeps more to himself. Abacha as we know has been involved in all successful coups in Nigeria, he played an active role in the counter coup of July 1966 in Lagos- Abeokuta axis. Abacha was one the master minders in the coup that truncated the civilian regime and brought General Buhari to power but when they saw that Buhari was unbecoming he helped boot out Buhari to install General Babaginda in whose government he was appointed the chief of defence staff where he served for eight years. He helped foil the Major. Gideon Orkar led coup of April 1990 making an announcement that the regime would be handing over power to a civilian government in two years.




On August 27 1993 when General Babaginda stepped aside with other Generals in his government. Abacha like the son of the Emperor Napoleon stayed put and waited for the right time to strike like a cobra in the savannah.

When Abacha took over power he passed a decree of his government being above the court and having the right to detain without trial for as long as three months.

 His government was so draconian that there was political assassination in almost every part of the country people like Noble laureate Wole Soyinka went on self-exile for the fear and threat of death on their lives. It was in this regime that the renowned environmentalist and play right writer was hanged for complicities in the murder of his king’s men and the fight against oil giant Shell Petroleum over the environmental hazards and degradation of the Ogoni land. Ken Sarowiwa will be remembered for his play “Bassey and Company” that brought smiles to about 5 million Nigerians in the 80s.

Those who opposed him were framed up for coups. Notable figures like Gen. Obasanjo and Gen. Yaradua were sentenced death for their involvement in a Coup to unseat Abacha. But for the intervention of the international community their sentence was reduced to life imprisonment.

Abacha’s government was unashamedly corrupt to the marrow. During his stay in power the United States department for justice believed that General. Abacha looted an approximately $2 billion dollars from the Nigeria treasury out of which an estimated $486 million dollars have so far been recovered from foreign accounts.

During his stay in power the Nigeria nation experienced stability in the economy even with the number of sanctions hanging on the neck of his administration. He created additional six state increasing the number to thirty six (36). 



Nigerians woke up on the 8 of June to hear that the head of state passed on in some mysterious circumstances.
                                                      **********************
            For comments and contribution mail us on africaonlinehistory@gmail.com



Sunday 16 November 2014

Remembering Sage called Nnamdi Azikiwe





It was the 16th November 1988 my siblings and I were being driven to school by my dad, the journey from Ikotun an outskirts of Lagos to Ikeja the capital of Lagos where my primary school was situated seems like an eternity because of the usual traffic grid lock that besiege the ever busy Lagos- Abeokuta motor way by motorist and pedestrians who are rushing to work.

On getting to a bus stop known as Ile-Zik along the Lagos-Abeokuta express way, in my dreams, I heard my dad voice saying Wake up son. Do you know who once lived here daddy was pointing. I was becoming tired of this daily ritualistic question from father. Obediently I answered, that’s the house of Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe Nigerian first head of state.  A morning sermon of this great sage was always being conducted by my dad on our way to school in the vehicle incidentally my dad is a Zikist.

Looking outside the car that morning, front pages of the dailies were filled with congrulatory messages and picture of this great son of Africa Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe who was an epitome of knowledge.

Who is Dr.Nnamdi Azikiwe?

Benjamin Nnamdi Azikiwe, Owelle-Osowa-Anya Onitsha was one of the leading figures of Nigerian nationalism. He was born on November 16, 1904 to Igbo parents in Zungeru present day Niger state of Nigeria The first language this young man learnt was Hausa, until the time of his death he always said that he had a spiritual attachment to the Northern part of Nigeria.

At the age of eight, he was sent to Onitsha to live with his paternal grandparents where he became very fluent in Igbo language and was taught the Igbo culture.
 In later years Zik described the euphoria he felt when he was told that he was going to the land of King Dosumu to live with his paternal aunty the excitement was boundless that the three day voyage from the River Niger to Lagos seemed like an eternity. In those days, one could only travel by sea to Lagos because there was no connecting road from the east of the Niger to the west, in Lagos he made plenty of friends that lasted him a life time. His speaking and writing of Yoruba Language was so terrific.

Among the three founding fathers of Nigeria Independence Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Sir Ahmadu Bello and Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe. Zik was the only one who had followers across board from the three regions of Nigeria (as it then was) and could speak the three major Nigerian Language fluently.



His formal education started at Onitsha where he excelled in academic and sports. He attended the Wesleyan Boys’ High school in Lagos and the Hope Waddell Training Institute in Calabar, CrossRiver State of Nigeria. The young Zik read what so ever his hands could touch, he was influenced by the works of Marcus Gavery and Web DuBious.

In 1925, he moved to the United State of America in pursuit of higher education he backed degree in law, political science and certificate in journalism. He later earned an M.A in political science from Lincoln and an MSc in anthropology from the University of Pennsylvania. After graduating in 1934, Zik returned to Africa, passing up an offer to pursue a doctorate.

Arriving  Ghana in 1934, Nnamdi Azikiwe meet ITA  Wallace-Johnson, a trade unionist and newspaperman from Sierra Leone who offered him a job as editor of the Morning  Post He held this job until 1936 when he was tried for sedition after publishing an article by Wallace-Johnson entitled “Has the African a God?” Even though he was found guilty of the charges and condemned to six months in penitentiary, he was at the end of the day acquitted on appeal.
He returned home in 1937 and started the West African Pilot newspaper which he used as a means of promoting Nigerian nationalism. He went on to found the Zik Group of Newspapers and set up many newspapers in cities across the country.


Azikiwe committed his adult life to politics and was referred to by his followers as "the Great Zik of Africa." Azikiwe became active in the Nigeria Youth Movement (NYM), the first genuinely nationalist organisation in Nigeria. However, he soon resigned from the NYM in protest at alleged discrimination against Ijebu members, taking all of the Igbo and most of the Ijebu members with him.

He co-founded the Nigeria Council of Nigeria and Cameroon (NCNC) with Herbert Macaulay in 1944. He became the secretary-general of the NCNC in 1946 and was elected to the Legislative Council of Nigeria the following year. In 1951, he became the leader of the opposition in the Western Region's House of Assembly after NCNC members of the house cross-carpeted to the Action- Group (AG).

 In 1952, Azikiwe moved to the Eastern Region and was elected to the position of Chief Minister there, eventually becoming premier of the region in 1954. In 1955, he passed the legislation that led to the founding of the University of Nigeria, Nsuka in 1960. Azikiwe, was a member of the Nigerian delegation at the 1957 constitutional talks held in London which eventually led to the independence of Nigeria in 1960.

 Following the independence in 1960, the elated Zik was quoted as saying   “ My stiffest earthly assignment has ended and my major life’s work is done my country is now free  and I have been honoured to be its first indigenous head of state. What more could one desire in life?”

An NPC-NCNC coalition won the national election and Balewa became the federal prime minister. Bello and Awolowo remained in office as premiers of the North and Western regions respectively while Azikiwe accepted the position of Governor-General. Leadership of the Eastern Region went to Michael Okpara, Azikiwe's long-time friend and colleague within the NCNC. When Nigeria was proclaimed a republic in 1963, Azikiwe became its first president.

The military coup of January 15, 1966 led to Azikiwe and his civilian colleagues being thrown out of power. During the Nigerian civil war, Azikiwe became a spokesman for Biafra and an adviser to its leader, Chukuemeka Ojukwu.

After the war, he was Chancellor of the University of Lagos from 1972 to 1976. He joined the Nigerian Peoples Party (NPP) in 1978, making unsuccessful bids on its platform for the presidency in 1979 and 1983. He left politics after a military coup on December 31, 1983.


Azikiwe was a prolific writer. His work outlined his philosophy of African liberation ('Zikism') which identified five concepts for Africa's movement towards freedom: spiritual balance, social regeneration, economic determination, mental emancipation and political resurgence. His numerous published works include Political Blueprint for Nigeria (1943); Zik (1961); My Odyssey: An Autobiography (1971), Renascent Africa (1973); Essentials for Nigeria’s Survival (1965); The Future of Pan-Africanism (1961); Origins of the Nigerian Civil War (1969); (1974); Creation of More States in Nigeria, A Political Analysis (1974); Democracy with Military Vigilance (1974); Themes in African Social and Political Thought (1978); Restoration of Nigerian Democracy (1978); Ideology for Nigeria: Capitalism, Socialism or Welfarism? (1980); and History Will Vindicate the Just (1983).

He also carved a niche for himself in the professional world by running several newspapers and other companies. He is also the only individual whose name has appeared in a democratic constitution (Nigeria's 1963 Republican Constitution, an amendment of the 1960 Independent Constitution submitted by Prime Minister Tafawa Balewa). 

Azikiwe is widely acknowledged as one of the key people who promoted Nigerian nationalism and called for the establishment of a federation of smaller states which he believed would prevent ethnic rivalry.
Azikiwe died on May 11, 1996 after a long illness.

I will forever remember him for these quotes that was and still is my guiding principles.

 “If you find yourself at the valley of a hill make sure you are the best shrub existing, whenever you find yourself at the peak of the mountain be the best tree there”

“There is plenty of room at the top because very few care to travel beyond the average route and so most of us seem satisfied to remain within the confines of mediocrity”.  

Sources : My Odessy 
               ZODML.Org
                                                         ***********************
For comments on how to serve you better mail us on: africaonlinehistory.blogspot.com





Tuesday 11 November 2014

Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy for www.africaonlinehistory.com

If you require any more information or have any questions about our privacy policy, please feel free to contact us by email at africaonlinehistory@gmail.com.

At www.africaonlinehistory.com, the privacy of our visitors is of extreme importance to us. This privacy policy document outlines the types of personal information is received and collected by www.africaonlinehistory.com and how it is used.

Log Files
Like many other Web sites, www.africaonlinehistory.com makes use of log files. The information inside the log files includes internet protocol ( IP ) addresses, type of browser, Internet Service Provider ( ISP ), date/time stamp, referring/exit pages, and number of clicks to analyze trends, administer the site, track user’s movement around the site, and gather demographic information. IP addresses, and other such information are not linked to any information that is personally identifiable.

Cookies and Web Beacons
www.africaonlinehistory.com does use cookies to store information about visitors preferences, record user-specific information on which pages the user access or visit, customize Web page content based on visitors browser type or other information that the visitor sends via their browser.

DoubleClick DART Cookie
.:: Google, as a third party vendor, uses cookies to serve ads on www.africaonlinehistory.com.
.:: Google's use of the DART cookie enables it to serve ads to users based on their visit to www.africaonlinehistory.com and other sites on the Internet.
.:: Users may opt out of the use of the DART cookie by visiting the Google ad and content network privacy policy at the following URL - http://www.google.com/privacy_ads.html

Some of our advertising partners may use cookies and web beacons on our site. Our advertising partners include ....
Google Adsense


These third-party ad servers or ad networks use technology to the advertisements and links that appear on www.africaonlinehistory.com send directly to your browsers. They automatically receive your IP address when this occurs. Other technologies ( such as cookies, JavaScript, or Web Beacons ) may also be used by the third-party ad networks to measure the effectiveness of their advertisements and / or to personalize the advertising content that you see.

www.africaonlinehistory.com has no access to or control over these cookies that are used by third-party advertisers.

You should consult the respective privacy policies of these third-party ad servers for more detailed information on their practices as well as for instructions about how to opt-out of certain practices. www.africaonlinehistory.com's privacy policy does not apply to, and we cannot control the activities of, such other advertisers or web sites.

If you wish to disable cookies, you may do so through your individual browser options. More detailed information about cookie management with specific web browsers can be found at the browsers' respective websites

Saturday 8 November 2014

Burkina Faso uprising: Thomas Sankara vindicated at last.


                                                           Thomas Sankara

The recent political happenings in Burkina Faso bears to mind the Arab spring of yesterday that swept through the Arab world like a burning bush in the harmattan. It claimed leaders of Tunisia, Egypt and   the life of the Libyan hard man Muammar Gaddafi.  Right now the flames of change is in Burkina Faso.

Leaders of Congo, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea and the likes in other  African countries that have sit tight leaders would keep a close watch on the eagle that has just landed on the Iroko tree in this land locked West African country.

Not even a sorcerer could have predicted that President Blaise Compaore would leave Burkina Faso in a such a hurry to neighbouring Ivory Coast to start a painful exile after enshrining himself  in the heart of Burkinabe’s whom he governed with  an iron hand for 27 years.

He succeeded the Late Thomas Sankara in a bloody coup backed by the imperialist French. He made Burkina Faso a police state where the freedom of press was never obeyed, people were arrested and imprisoned unjustly. It is on record that he was the first President in the world to visit China after the ‘Tiananmen square massacre’ in 1989 and promising to do same in Burkina Faso if the need arises.
As the old African saying goes “push a goat to the wall and he will be forced to fight back”.

 Demonstration of his rule started in 29th  October 2014 when he tried to extend his rule by 5 years through a rubber stamped parliament. The parliament was set ablaze by rampaging demonstrators who demanded to end his 27years and 15 day rule.

 For the first time since the death of ThomasSankara the masses stood up for their right in the dusty streets  of Ouagadougou claiming to have gotten there inspiration from the words of the late Revolutionary leader- Thomas Sankara.

Will I be wrong to say that the ghost of Thomas Sankara is back to life? These were his saying a week before his assassination “You may kill a revolutionary but revolutions don't die, they live beyond the initiator".

Burkina Faso is a country of 17 million people with a rich deposit of gold and manganese but economically, she ranks 183 of 186 of The United Nation poverty index.

Today as I write, this taught provoking questions are been asked by the Burkinabe how she got to this level in the quagmire of poverty. 

What is known today as Burkina Faso was formerly known as Upper Volta by the French because of the Volta River that runs through the lower ends of the country.

The locals fought series of war with the French for 5 years before Upper Volta became a French protectorate in the year 1886.

After 72 years of white rule Upper Volta (as was then known) was granted self-autonomy in 1958.Full independence was received on 5th August 1960.

Since this landlocked country gained its independence from France it has had five heads of states. The fourth was Thomas Sankara who seized power from the weak regime of military pharmacist Jean-Baptiste Oueddaogo.

The coup that brought Sankara to government in 1983 was not bloodless; at least five people died in the cross-fire. However, the president Jean-Baptiste was not killed and he eventually resumed his work as a pharmacist.

After the coup, these four officers that is Thomas Sankara, Blaise Compaore, Henri Zongo and Jean-Baptiste Lingani, quickly formed their “National Revolutionary Council” with Thomas Sankara as the head of state. Years later after the assassination of Thomas Sankara in a bloody coup, Blaise Compaore took over government and in a bid to tighten his grip on power, he secretly tried and convicted the two other officers for treason.

When Thomas Sankara was sworn into power he made it clear that his regime was not going to be just another corrupt, luxury loving President dancing to the tune of foreign masters. To the surprise of many, on the first anniversary of his government the name Upper Volta was changed to an African name Burkina Faso (Land of the upright).

He angered the west by making friends with Fidel Castro of Cuba and Nicaragua then Marxist leader Daniel Ortega. He even turned his back on Libya’s Gaddafi who sponsored the coup that brought him to power. Gaddafi who would only ally himself with dissenters on the continent and cause a great deal of trouble for Western-backed regimes, unless they submit to him as there master. This Sankara refused to do.  

“Thomas Sankara makes it difficult to sleep” says then President Mitterrand of France who was recounting his experience with Sankara after his death. He was known for asking taught provoking questions that kills sleep from one’s eyes. After treating me to a large banquet in front of diplomats he said to me in his address, “we Burkinabe have never understood why criminals like Jonas Savmbi, the head of UNITA, and murderers like Pieter Botha, have the right to travel to France, which is so clean and beautiful. They stain the earth with their hands and their feet covered with blood.  

 To the outside world African leaders are Kleptomaniacs who are unable to restrain their own greed and ego once they ensconced in the golden presidential chair. In Thomas Sankara the black race saw a man who shunned luxury and imported goods. He dispensed with custom made cars and choose instead the tiny Renault 5, Le Car, as the official presidential and ministerial automobile. Unlike his predecessor, who was one of Africa’s richest head of state that enjoyed luxury at the expense of his people.

 Looking at Sankara back then, Energy and Idealism burned in him he was able to put a stop to the age long female circumcision in Burkina Faso. His cabinet were made of women as this was rare in Africa.

He was a Pan-Africanist who believed that, Africa needs to be freed from the power of colonial and neo-colonial powers, Burkina Faso was the first African country to organise an anti-apartheid meeting in Africa.

He once said that it was only in Africa that despite the abundance of fruit grown in sub-Sahara Africa, it’s impossible in most country to find locally made juice. What you find is coke, Fanta and energy caffeinated drinks which abound everywhere.
   
Before the World Bank and the west brought about the issue of accountably in government to fight corruption; in mid- 1987 he instituted an anti-corruption body to fight against corruption in government. He was the first sitting African leader to appear before an anti-corruption panel where he declared his assets and handed over gifts that was given to him by foreign government to the state just like the legendry Julius Caesar.

In the evening of October 15, 1987 Thomas Sankara was shot dead in the presidential villa along with nine of his aides in what seems to be a western backed coup.  In 2002 Mr. Yomi Johnson testified in the Liberian Truth and Reconciliation Commission that Charles Tailor and the then Libyan leader Mommmar Gaddafi conspired with Blaise Compaore to assassinate Sankara who was perceived as a major threat.

As my mum would say those who are born to make a change in their generation make a mark and fades away like a shooting star at night.

To Compore, Sankara’s government was characterised with high handedness and the people hated him and wanted him to go at all cost.

However recent happenings in Burkina Faso is telling us otherwise. Truly the ghost from the past is here to hunt the wicked.

                                                                  *************

               For suggestions and comments send a mail to africaonlinehistory@gmail.com

Tuesday 4 November 2014

The Man called Emeka Ojukwu


In commemoration of Emeka Ojukwu, I am compelled to write a piece about him today 4th November being his birthday.

The tales of Emeka Ojukwu can never be exhausted through the pens of men lest they fade in the lines of history.

Stories of this great African son will forever be told to generations yet unborn for he has earned a place in the court of the gods like the Greek hero Hercules who defended his people against oppression.

It is no coincidence that Chukwu the almighty destined two great Igbo sons in the person of Zik and Ojukwu to be born in Zungeru, the Northern part of Nigeria at different years and in the month of November.

Stories of Emeka can never be completed without mentioning his father Sir Louis Ojukwu. According to Fredrick Forsyth, Louis was Africa first black millionaire and the first President of the Nigeria stock exchange. He held sway as a board member in leading companies at that time before his death in September of 1966.

 Louis had the Midas touch, his wealth was made from the transport business during the outbreak of World War two (WWII). When Victoria Island was underdeveloped he had acquired most of the land there before the Nigerian government decided to turn Victoria Island into a diplomatic quarters. My visit to Nnewi Building at Apapa truly convinced me that Louis was truly ahead of his time in the world of business.

 Young Ojukwu was born on the 4th November 1934 when his family was on a business trip to Zungeru, he was baptised at the local Catholics church in Zungeru as it’s the norm for Catholics.

As a ten-year old boy in form one at King’s College Lagos, he had already joined the anti-colonial struggle.

That year, he joined senior students like Tony Enahoro and Ovie Whiskey among others, to stage an anti-war, anti-colonial protest against the colonial administration, for which some of the students were reprimanded, and from which people like Enahoro emerged into national limelight.

Ojukwu was tried as a juvenile in a Lagos court for his participation in the protest. Immediately after the crisis he was sent to Epsom College, England to further his education. Emeka, later recalled that his first impression of Britain was a sense of being completely lost ‘amid this sea of white faces’. Driven in on himself he developed a private philosophy of total self-reliance, an unyielding internal sufficiency that requires no external support from others.

At the age of 18 he moved to Lincoln College Oxford to study  Law but after the statutory one year, Emeka moved to study modern day history. It was here he had his first clash with his father who wanted him to study law at all cost. But Ojukwu being himself would never yield to the pressures of his father as he has always been a self-reliant and independent person who would not easily succumbed to the will of his father.

Returning in 1956 to Nigeria, Emeka Ojukwu helpless father tried to lure his Oxford-educated son to become a Director in one of his company but his restless son chose to join the civil service.

Seeing that his mind was made up, Sir Louis went to his friend, the then British Governor-General, Sir James Robertson to  help him  speak some sense  in to his son and convince him not to start a career in the civil service.

Sir James Robertson offered Emeka any job of his choice including working as a senior assistant secretary in the Governor-General’s office. Ojukwu rejected the offer, and on his own terms secured a rural posting to Udi, in the Eastern regional civil service. It was at Udi according to Ojukwu that he understood the way and thinking of his people the Igbos.

The name Ojukwu chased him around because of the popularity and fame his father has gained over the years. Nothing came his way on merit and this greatly angered him and out of frustration he left the civil service.

 He entered the Army as one of the first Nigerian university graduate to earn a commission. At a time when the military was not attractive as it was considered to be the last resort for drop outs.

 Ojukwu, apparently with an eye on history, sought a commission in the army knowing that one day the army will play a major role in Nigeria politics.

His influential father once again intervened to stop his son, using the Governor-General to block Ojukwu commission in the army. Failing to earn an officers commission, Ojukwu decides to go through the lowly route - he joined as a private not minding that he is a graduate with a Master’s degree in History from Oxford.

He was commissioned in 1959 as a second lieutenant where he rose very fast to the rank of a Lt.Col. In 1963 he was part of the United Nation (UN) peace contingent to the Congo on returning he was posted to the 5th Battalion Kano as the commander. The coup of January 1966 came to him as a surprise and unaware of its imminence.   

A lot has been written about the events that lead to Nigeria- Biafra civil war. To so many pundits he wanted to carve an Empire for himself and his people but he will forever remain in the hearts of his people for standing up against an unholy alliance of the Anglo-soviet backed feudal Nigeria that was poised to wipe up his people the Igbos.

Like all men he had his short comings, which was why Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe said he had to stop supporting the Biafra cause because of Emekas all-knowing attitude.
When he saw that the war was lost instead of being captured or assassinated he fled to Ivory-Coast in 1970 where he stayed until he was pardoned by President Sheu Shagari in 1982.
His kins men the people of Nnewi gave him a Chieftaincy the now famous title of Ikemba (Strength of the People) ,while the Igbo nation took to calling him Dikedioramma (beloved hero of the masses).

In politics he was not successful, the ruling party,NPN, rigged him out of the senate seat, which he purportedly lost to a relatively little known state commissioner.
The second Republic was truncated on 31 December 1983 by Major-General Muhammed Buhari. The military government arrested and kept Ojukwu in Kirikiri Maximum Security Prison, Lagos alongside most politicians. He was released on 1 October 1984, alongside 249 other politicians of that era.
After the death of Abacha, he played a significant role in Nigeria’s return to democracy since 1999 (the fourth republic). He formed the All Progressive Alliance (APGA) where he contested the last three of the four elections.

At the age of 78, after a protracted illness he died in the United Kingdom.He was accorded the highest military accolade. He was buried on Friday,2 March 2012.

His name will forever be remembered in the annals of history.


                        **************************
For comments and suggestions send mail to africaonlinehistory@gmail.com





Saturday 1 November 2014

A search Light on General Yakubu "Jack" Gowon at 80

Little was known about General Yakubu Gowon before the coup of 15 January 1966. This young man was born on the 19 October 1934 to a preacher who hails from the Northern minority group the Angas in Plateau state of Nigeria.

His started his early education  at St. Bartholomew’s Anglican School in Wusasa before proceeding to the prestigious Government College Zaria (Barewa) during 1950—1953. He was College Captain as well as a star athlete. He had intended to study medicine, engineering or education, but his British teachers persuaded him that he had the makings of a great commander. Gowon enrolled in the army in 1954 and was commissioned 2nd Lieutenant in 1955; attending prestigious military institutions such as Sandhurst, Warminster and Camberley. 

 General Yakubu Gowon was an accidental leader who came into lime light after the murder of his superior commander General Aguiyi Ironsi on the 29th of July 1966 by soldiers of Northern extract over the killings of their political leaders in a failed coup that brought Ironsi to power.

The original plan of the mutineer was to secede out of Nigeria. After much persuasion by British diplomat who advised that the North will be economically stagnated if they pulled away so the idea of breaking away was dropped.

Gowon was selected to rule by the mutineer whose head was  the hawkish Major Murtal Mohammed who masterminded the rebellion that lead  to the death of 50 Igbo senior Military officer and 154 other ranks.

According to Gowon, he was happy that God in his wisdom has brought the leadership of the country back to the North.

 The perpetrators did not want the world to think that their coup was an ethnic war or a Muslim Hausa-Fulani plot to recover lost political grounds from the predominantly Catholic Igbo. To the mutineer, Gowon was a plus for this project.

The nervous Gowon in his maiden speech was quoted as saying “the burden of leadership has been placed on my shoulder and I plan to stop the country from drifting into anarchy". But three months into his rule the killings of Igbos of Eastern origin went unabated. This angered the easterners, especially Lt.Col. Ojukwu (as he then was) who was one of the four military administrators appointed by the late Gen. Aguiyi Ironsi, for his role in quelling the first coup of 15 January 1966 where he was stationed as the commander of the 5th Battalion in Kano.

The political tension and the killings of the Igbos in Nigeria at that time was so intense, this prompted the then Ghanaian head of state General Thomas Ankrah to call for a conference inviting Col. Gowon and the four military Governors comprising of Col. Ojukwu, Col. Robert Adebayo, Col Kastina and Col.Ejoor to the mansion of Kwame Nkrumah the former head of state in Aburi, Ghana in a bid to finding a lasting solution to the crisis in Nigeria.

 At the conference Ojukwu Intellectually towered above the rest in his arguments. At the end of the three day conference, concession and agreements were reached. General Ankrah who called himself the big brother told the officers to keep to their agreement and they should feel free to call on him for their advice.

On getting home Gowon was advised by his high ranking senior civil servants not to append his signature to the document which they believe would lead to the eventual breakup of Nigeria.
The agreement of the Aburi accord was not honoured by General Gowon which resulted in a 30 months long civil war which resulted in the death of Five million Nigerians. 

During the outbreak of the civil war events which occurred showed that Gowon had little or no control over his troops leading to an untold massacre that has never been seen in the continent of Africa since its inception. According to one foreign correspondent with the BBC; He reported that what Gowon tells the foreign press is different from what is being seen at the Biafra enclave. The attack on civilians by Nigerian Air force Jets and his field commanders was nothing other than an ethnic cleansing.

General Gowon should be applauded for declaring a “no victor no vanquished” after the war. But in later years he said that Ojukwu was lucky to have escaped because he would not have shown mercy just like the Nazis who were executed after WWII. 

Wanting to integrate the Igbos into the main stream of Nigerians politics he established the three Rs. Reconciliation, Reconstruction and Reintegration. This move was hailed by the international community as Nobel gesture for accepting the defeated Igbos.

Those who knew Gowon said he could not hurt a fly but as Lord Acton once wrote “All power corrupts.  Total power corrupt absolutely”.

Like all Totalitarian regime, Yakubu Gowon’s regime was very repulsive and abusive on Nigerian. Decree no. 24 of 1967  was enacted which gave the Inspector  General of Police the power to arrest and detain people indefinitely which when challenged in court usually met a brick wall. The habeas corpus statute of the law was rendered useless to protect the individual freedom.

When Gowon was sacked, 50 detainees breathed the air of freedom in August 11, 1975.
Historians call the 70s a missed golden opportunity in the history of Nigeria. It was a period that Nigeria witnessed an increase in revenue from the oil boom.

During this period, Nigeria needed a leader that could utilise this God given opportunity but from his statement “The problem of Nigeria is not money but how to spend this money". One can say that he was overwhelmed by the amount of money flowing in as revenue from oil.

In the person of Gowon, Nigeria witnessed a flamboyant head of state who drives around with a large entourage. The prime minister, Tafawa Balawa only drove about with one police orderly.

Gowon's government embarked on massive importation of cement for construction of elephant projects. In no distant time a lot of ships were on the Nigeria water way taking turns to berth. The government of Nigeria spent $2000 dollars a day on demurrage. The BBC conducted a documentary on this incident calling it “a city within a city” due to the light of the cluster of ships at night.

The people of Nigeria will remember the regime for the Udoji Bonanza and its aftermath on the economy of Nigeria. From the words of an informed economist Dr. Samuel Aluko, he said never before in modern economic history has a country spent an estimated $500 million to about $700 million to public service workers in one or two lump sums.

“His government was unashamedly corrupt to the marrow. Everyone knew it. They did not even try to hide it from the public gaze”. –Nigerian Tribune editorial, August 1 1975.

From an historic point of view, it would not be an understatement to say that it was during this regime that corruption became an institution in Nigeria.  After 50 years of independence Nigeria was listed as one of the most corrupt country by Transparency International. Gowon’s government became a safe haven for corrupt elements. 
Inflated contacts were awarded with impunity by senior civil servants at an astronomical cost three times higher than elsewhere in the continent.
However General Gowon’s who assumed power humble and unassuming would be remembered for his legacies in breaking the regions into 12 states, the introduction of National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) in July 1973, the process of Indigenisation of the economy and the Universal Primary Education (UPE).

General Gowon maintained a cordial relationship with neighbouring countries. This resulted in the formation of the Economic Community of West Africa State (ECOWAS) in May 27, 1975 in a treaty signed in Lagos.

However from his majestic throne, he was brushed off the throne like a fly off the dressing table by the Murtal Muhammed government that brought him into power in the bloody coup of 1966.

After the coup that ousted him, he went into exile in London. He enrolled at the University of Warwick where he settled into a modest life style. In 1976 Gowon was implicated in a coup d’état lead by Lt.Col Buka Dimka, which resulted in the death of Murtala Mohammed.

He was pardoned by the President Sheu Shagari’s regime in 1983, presently he is the coordinator of the group called Nigeria Prays a non-denominational group. He is also involved in the fight against HIV/AIDS and Guinea worms.
                                                           ****************
For comments and suggestion on how to improve on this blog please send a mail to: africaonlinehistory@gmail.com


This Day in African History


On this date in 1733, one of the first successful African slave rebellions took place.
Enslaved Africans on the island of St. John (today a part of the United States Virgin Islands) defeated the Danish army, taking over the island and flying their own flag.

The insurrection, the first successful one in the New World, lasted six months; the Africans finally were defeated by troops sent by other European colonies in the region as reinforcements for the defeated Danish troops.

Reference:
History of American Slavery
by Duncan Clarke JG Press
Copyright 1998 PRC Publishing Ltd
ISBN 1 57215 256 7