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Tag: Benjamin Adekunle

  • Benjamin Adekunle: the hero Nigeria does not deserve

    Benjamin Adekunle: the hero Nigeria does not deserve

    The death of Brigadier General Benjamin Adekunle provides a stark contrast between the great potentials of the past and the bleak future of the present. His death provides a timeline that shows two pictures: that Nigeria is not progressing due to its inability to preserve and replicate patriotism and that its life is ebbing away with every death of past heroes announced.

    Nigeria faced in 1967 the same internal threat to corporate existence it faced today, with few differences in semantics and prevailing circumstances. Then the threat was termed “secession” from down South but now it is called “insurgency” from up North. Then, Nigeria was neither as rich as it is today nor prepared for such high level combat, having only few trained personnel. Today, the country commands enormous resources and has a reputably strong army, as could be seen in its peacekeeping efforts.

    Yet, this insurgency has not only lasted more than the civil war, from all indications, it is getting stronger, while the army sinks deeper into controversies ranging from mutiny to protests. Adekunle’s death therefore begs the “why” question and it forces a conclusion that the labour of past heroes is being laid to waste, instead of being built upon.

    Adekunle’s heroism could be summed up by one saying that where there is a will, there will be a way. He took over an army command largely made up of volunteers who had no prior military training and turned them, within months, into brave soldiers with the most humane records. His attention to details could be seen when he renamed his command, officially called “Third Infantry Division”, to the “Third Marine Commando.”

    As a good manager of men and resources Benjamin Adekunle threw his soul, knowledge and body to the prosecution of the Nigerian civil war, leading the 3rd Marine Commando through the sea to rapidly capture the city of Port-Harcourt and the total liberation of the parts of eastern Nigeria that are now known as Rivers, Cross Rivers and Akwa-Ibom States respectively. This descendant of Ogbomoso warriors fearlessly fought side by side with his soldiers at the war front, sharing their pains and experiences.

    It is on record that Adekunle’s feat came with minimal loss of human lives, a testimony to his deft tactics. Many of those captured by his command were either absorbed into the Nigerian army or rehabilitated to take up other dignifying jobs. So, while the “Black Scorpion,” as he was fondly called, gave a tough posture in the media as someone who wants to kill all “enemies,” he was quietly rehabilitating them and winning them over, as revealed in recently published accounts of the civil war.

    If casualties recorded by his command’s onslaughts are compared with especially the one led by late General Murtala Mohammed, Adekunle instantly comes across as a thoroughbred officer and gentleman, a Nigerian Military nationalist and a Yoruba illustrious son, who gave the art of modern warfare in Africa a unique place in the history of humanity.

    His exploits in the Nigerian civil war put him in the elite class of military commanders who led from the front; legends such as General George S. Patton of the US Army in World War II, Field Marshall Erwin Rommel, the “Desert Fox” and the exceptional General (Later Field Marshall Viscount) William Joseph Slim, commander of the British Army in Burma in World War II. Audacious and unpretentious, Benjamin Adekunle was a commander’s commander in the best sense.

    Adekunle, according to historical accounts, was a product of Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in the UK and he was commissionedas a 2nd Lieutenant on December, 1960. He served in Kasai Province of Congo with the 1st Battalion, Queen’s Own Regiment, been his first ONUC UN peace keeping duty. In 1962, Lt Adekunle became Aide-de-Camp to the governor of the eastern region, Sir Akanu Ibiam. As a Captain he was posted back to the Congo as Staff Captain (A) To the Nigerian Brigade HQ at Luluabourg under Brigadier B. Ogundipe. In 1964, Major Adekunle attended the Defence Services Staff College Wellington in India. He was appointed Adjutant General briefly in May 1965 to replace Lt. Col. Yakubu Gowon, who was proceeding on a course outside country. He later handed over the position to Lt. Col. James Pam and posted back to his old Battalion (1st Bn) in Enugu as a Company Commander. He later assumed command of the Lagos Garrison as a substantive Lt. Col.

    When the Nigerian Civil War broke out in July 1967, Adekunle was tasked to lead elements which included two new battalions (7th and 8th) – to conduct the historic sea borne assault on Bonny in the Bight of Benin on 26 July 1968 (carried out by Major Isaac Adaka Boro’s unit). This happened after the federal government gained confidence of most south western ethnic groups as a direct result of Biafran push to mid-west state and probe into Western region. Adekunle was promoted to Colonel after the Bonny landing.

    The 6th (under Major Jalo) and 8th (under Major Ochefu) battalions of the Lagos Garrison subsequently took part in operations to liberate the Midwest following the Biafran invasion of August 1967. The 7th (under Major Abubakar) stayed behind to hold Bonny. Because Major Jalo’s Unit was seconded to Lt. Col. Murtala Mohammed’s 2nd Division, Adekunle was left with only the 8th Battalion at Escravos. He, therefore, protested to Army HQ and got the Lagos garrison upgraded to Brigade status through the creation of the 31 and 32 Battalions (under Majors Aliyu and Hamman, respectively). This formation, combined with elements of the Lagos garrison along the eastern seaboard, was officially designated the 3 Infantry Division. However, Colonel Adekunle did not think the name was sensational enough nor did it project the nature of the unique terrain in which his men had to fight. Therefore, without formal approval from Army HQ, he renamed it the “3 Marine Commando (3MCDO).”

    The “Black Scorpion” was easily the most controversial, celebrated and mythologized figure. Benjamin “Adekunle’s boys in the Midwest seized Escravos, Burutu, Urhonigbe, Owa and Aladima. They captured Bomadi and Patani, Youngtown, Koko, Sapele, Ajagbodudu, Warri, Ughelli, Orerokpe, Umutu and Itagba”

    The name of Benjamin Adekunle will continue to resonate as a great son of Africa forever for the role he played in the contemporary history of Nigeria, feats that are lacking in the Nigerian Army today, a rare willpower that is sorely needed. One therefore wonders whether Nigeria deserves its heroes. Nigeria recorded great feats that were unmatched even in European countries in its early years.

    We will continue to miss him, as long as we are unable to produce men like him. it is in this regard that Afenifere Renewal Group (ARG) commiserate with the entire family of the late Brigadier General Benjamin Adesanya Maja Adekunle, the Soun Of Ogbomoso Oba Oladuni Oyewumi, the Oyo State Governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, the good people of Oyo State and Nigerians in general on the loss of this illustrious son of Oduduwa and a national patriot of the highest order. He is gone, but his life is still with us as a lesson, as a fountain from which we can drink forever.

    Adieu! “The Black Scorpion”

     •Famoriyo is the Publicity Secretary of Afenifere Renewal Group (ARG).

  • Reps’ minute silence for Benjamin Adekunle: alas, civil war never ended

    Reps’ minute silence for Benjamin Adekunle: alas, civil war never ended

    THE shooting ended in 1970 in Nigeria’s fratricidal war, but the war, it is now becoming increasingly obvious has not quite ended. Indeed, the civil war is continuing by other subterranean means, with prejudices and parochialism ossifying along ethnic and regional lines. Many signs corroborate this conclusion, but none is so poignant as the quarrelsome one-minute silence observed in honour of civil war hero, the controversial Brig-Gen Benjamin ‘Black Scorpion’ Adekunle, last Tuesday. House of Representatives Majority Leader, Mulikat Adeola-Akande, had briefed the House on the passing of the civil war icon, and had requested a minute silence in his honour. Two Igbo lawmakers, Arua Arunsi and Udo Oluchi Ibeji from Abia State, had objected to the call and denounced the late general. We were not afforded the details of the denunciation, but before the minute silence was eventually observed, Hon. Ibeji was reported to have roared: “I do not care whether he is alive or dead.”

    Gen Adekunle, it will be recalled, died on Saturday, September 13 at the age of 78. During the civil war, he became the most colourful, outspoken and controversial war commander, and was famously reported to have said he owed no apology to anyone for fighting the war so ruthlessly. He had a war to win, he said, a war he reiterated he did not start. Even though more detailed accounts of the war exonerated him of matching his words with action, and was even said to have cared for Igbo captives during the war, he was considered by many Igbo, if not most, to be a war criminal.

    The war ended some 44 years ago, but apparently the wound has not healed. It began in 1967 more profoundly as a North versus East conflict; but after it ended, it has more essentially transmogrified into a Southeast versus Southwest competition,  an insidious competition that predated the civil war, going back as far as the 1950s. Given the Ibeji/Arunsi outburst, not to say its distinctive and alarming sectional undertone, the East-West conflict that has seemed to simmer for decades may witness a recrudescence sometime in the near future. The fault lines have remained, the passion has not cooled, the bitterness has endured, much of it, as the latest Chinua Achebe book proved, fuelled by misinformation, misperception and enduring ethnic mistrust and misunderstanding.

    It is perhaps apposite that the minute silence controversy has reopened a wound many thought had healed. Now, we know all is not well. When Emeka Ojukwu died in 2011 also at the age of 78, Nigeria united in grief at the life and time of the leader of the secessionist struggle, with the Senate devoting an entire session in his honour. Many saw the rebel leader as a flawed but colourful hero, and others considered him brilliant, eloquent and a natural leader. Yet others described him as undisciplined, paranoid and more superficial than profound. But all were united in admiration of a man who acted in consonance with his belief, a man upon whom was thrust the collective burden and destiny of the Igbo at a time when a leader of his talent and accomplishment was needed. If he had not offered himself, argued some historians, the contradictions of the time and the exigencies of the national turmoil that overwhelmed the country in the middle and late sixties would have produced someone like him.

    Given the freshness of the mistrust between the West and East, as evidenced by the minute silence controversy and rousingly inflammatory books that plumbed ethnic conflicts afresh, it seems that urgent and conscious efforts are required to resolve the differences that plague ethnic amity and subvert political competition in Nigeria. Whether the Goodluck Jonathan government can be the agent to summon the discipline and wisdom to resolve these enduring differences is another thing entirely, especially given the fact that his presidency has seemed to harness these differences for private ends and even promote them for his own political objectives.

    Historians may fail to agree on the scope of Brig-Gen Adekunle’s contributions to the prosecution of the 1967-1970 civil war, and in fact there is nothing that says they must agree. But there can be no question that, in spite of his many flaws, he was perhaps the most colourful, charismatic and effective war commander Nigeria has produced. That alone, notwithstanding which side of the divide he brought his unusual and unquenchable military gifts, merits him more than a minute silence in both chambers of the parliament. If the lecherous and larcenous Sani Abacha could have a military barracks named after him, it is in fact time to honour the Black Scorpion very substantially.

  • Adekunle was neglected by govt, says Akinrinade

    Adekunle was neglected by govt, says Akinrinade

    •Funeral date to be announced next week

    The late Brig-Gen Benjamin Adekunle has been described as “one of Nigeria’s most committed soldiers and a gallant officer”.

    His colleague, Gen Alani Akinrinade, said he was neglected by the government in his latter days.

    Gen. Akinrinade, who was among the sympathisers at the home of the late general, said the deceased served the country to the best of his capacity.

    According to him, the late Gen. Adekunle did not get just reward for his commitment and sacrifice for the country.

    Gen. Akinrinade described the Surulere, Lagos, home of the late Gen. Adekunle as a “hole”, saying he deserved better.

    “The country has not been fair to him but he did a lot for Nigeria. So for him to die almost unnoticed in this hole of a home is quite a pity.

    “What is the use of sending him flowers in the grave when he cannot smell them? When he was alive, what did the government do?

    “Now we want to begin singing his praise and giving him honour. What the hell! Whatever they do for him now is not important,” he said.

    The general said his late colleague was a diligent man, who earned the nickname ‘Black Scorpion’.

    On why he was called  ‘Black Scorpion’, Gen Akinrinade said: “Our signal at the barracks then was an octopus. But when put into graphics, it looks like a scorpion and we are more used to the scorpion than the octopus, but it was really an octopus.

    “And what people say about him that he is ‘bullet proof’ is true, because he was a brave man and a committed soldier who fought for the good of the country.”

    Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola, who was among early visitors to the house in a condolence message, wrote: “The Black Scorpion, you came, you saw and you participated and you conquered. May your soul find peace. Amin.”

    The deceased’s son, Folarin, said the funeral arrangements are underway and may be released next week.

    He said because of the extended nature of the family, a meeting is yet to hold.

    Folarin described his father as a strong man and a good dad who gave his children all they needed.

    He said it was pleasurable to be the late Gen. Adekunle’s son.

  • Tributes spark protest among lawmakers

    Tributes spark protest among lawmakers

    An effort to recognise and honour the late civil war hero, Brig-Gen Benjamin Adekunle (rtd), at plenary yesterday in the House of Representatives, did not go well.

    It was met with stiff resistance by some lawmakers of Igbo extraction who protested the special session meant to pay tributes to the late war hero, who helped keep Nigeria a single indivisible unit, due to his role in the army from 1967 to 1970.

    Adekunle was instrumental to the defeat of the breakaway Republic of Biafra and its subsequent return to Nigeria.

    Majority Leader Mrs. Mulikat Adeola-Akande had briefed the House on Gen. Adekunle’s demise at plenary yesterday and catalogued his exploits and actions.

    But Arua Arunsi and Udo Oluchi Ibeji from Abia State refused to observe a minute silence for the deceased when the Speaker called for it.

    Ibeji shouted: “I don’t care if he is dead or alive” several times in protest as the minute of silence was about to commence.

    But the Speaker, Aminu Tambuwal, eventually restored order. The lawmaker was eventually called to order, paving way for the minute silence.

  • For Benjamin Adekunle (1936-2014)

    For Benjamin Adekunle (1936-2014)

    Benjamin Adekunle, more popularly known as the Black Scorpion, died yesterday at 78. In spite of the self-aggrandissing books written on the Nigerian Civil War by Olusegun Obasanjo, a former president and the officer who took over command of the Third Marine Commando in 1969 from the then Col. Adekunle, the Black Scorpion was and still probably remains the most acknowledged and applauded hero of the war. He was doubtless controversial, hated by the Igbo against whom he fought brutally and arguably unconventionally, and respected and distrusted in equal measure by the Nigerian side for which he gave his all. But no one, including officers who fought under him and were often made to squirm by his abrasive style and imperious manner, doubted his brilliance, courage, passion for the military, war, and Nigerian unity. His accomplishments were bound to cause him plenty of problems, heartaches and, as it turned out, early retirement. Unfortunately, he found no way to elude fate’s cruel and unrelenting pangs.

    His views during and after the war were unsparing, irreverent and pungent. They all point to his high intelligence and focus, assuming they could be purged of every hint of insubordination. He knew where he was going early in his life, and he virtually accomplished his goals. His views on the military and the country as a whole should in retrospect be of great use to us in these troubled times, if we are sensible enough to revisit them. Indeed, it is embarrassing that the same military nurtured by officers like Brig Adekunle has proved ineffective and disoriented in the face of the ongoing Boko Haram challenge. Had he not been weighed down by illness in his later years, it would have been interesting to find out what he thought of the Nigerian response to Boko Haram.

    I do not of course wish to join the unending controversy over Black Scorpion’s years in the Nigerian Army, and especially his command of the Third Marine Commando, a name he coined irreverently in place of the official 3rd Infantry Division. The controversy may never end, even as historians will continue to revisit the subject. Instead, I wish to recount the brief encounter I had with this officer whom I have come to respect and admire very profoundly, far beyond his civil war exploits, far beyond his famous temper, and far beyond his courage, brusqueness , ruthlessness and even recklessness. Apart from being namesakes in a limited way, as a few of my readers would know, I share with him a much more profound admiration for Napoleon Bonaparte, whose life and war tactics I have studied. I have no doubt that had Brig Adekunle lived in Napoleonic times or in the formative years of empires anywhere, he would have been an empire builder himself. He had the courage, the vision, and the skill. But I admire him for far more than these.

    In 1996, as an editor, I had asked a colleague to go an interview him for a special civil war anniversary edition we were planning. My colleague took along with him a few past issues of our magazine as complimentary copies. He received the reporter well, but declined to give an interview. Rather, he chose to exchange banter with the reporter over a few drinks, spoke somewhat of the civil war years, and tongues and tension loosened by wine, showed the reporter bullet wounds on his body in order to put the lie to what some had glamorously described as his magical powers during the war. If your tactics were stupid, he pointed out sarcastically to the reporter, you would be ruined together with your troops. We of course went ahead with the civil war anniversary edition, even though Black Scorpion was of little help.

    But a few days later, after having read and digested some of the complimentary copies of the magazine given him, he gave me an unexpected phone call. “I have just read copies of your magazine,” he began tersely, perhaps not even knowing the identity of the person he was speaking with, “and I am shocked by the attention you guys give to language. It is mature and of a high quality, and I am impressed and proud that a Nigerian paper could pay such scrupulous attention to the use of English.” I wanted to cut in and ask who was on the line, but he gave no room, as perhaps was his style. His diction was solid, and it didn’t appear to me affected. He used words as frugally and appropriately as the US general, Douglas MacArthur, and his progression, cadence and erudition were truly striking. After saying a few more things, all complimentary and deeply analytical of the magazine, including its visuals and range of subjects, he summed up that the production of the magazine was exemplary, and he would be disposed perhaps next time to give us an interview if we gave him notice. Sensing a pause at last, I quickly asked him who was on the line. “Benjamin,” he said with a firmness and economy that gave insight into his character, and hung up, disallowing me the joy of appreciating his compliments . He was apparently not waiting to receive one, and would probably not have been touched by whatever I had to say.

    I have never ceased to be amazed. I knew he was intelligent to have, as it were, assembled the 35,000-strong Third Marine Commando from one or two battalions, and led it with aplomb and exampled doggedness, but I had no idea he was a well-read and well-spoken man, or that he paid such exquisite attention to the ornaments and fragrance of language. I confess that before then I had had the funny and unsubstantiated impression of soldiers in these parts as rakes and rambling men, an impression foolishly formed in spite of my study of great generals in history like Hannibal, Alexander the Great, Frederick the Great and a host of others.

    Notwithstanding the controversy that dogged his time in the army, I believe Brig Benjamin Adekunle was an authentic hero, perhaps as entertaining and unorthodox as MacArthur, a great officer, a brilliant soldier and cultured man. It is a pity that the politics that surrounded his exit from the army, which politics is still undermining many otherwise brilliant careers and subverting the cohesion and fighting ability of the Nigerian Army, was allowed to affect the recognition the country he fought so bravely to preserve should have given him.

    It is however doubtful whether most Nigerians under 30 years of age knew the Black Scorpion, let alone situate his achievements within the context of Nigerian unity and Nigeria’s military history, especially in the light of our desultory response to Boko Haram and the continuing ineffectiveness, if not impotence, of our national leadership . Sadly, even my own children have no recollection of the fiery general.

  • Adekunle’s civil war exploits will forever be remembered-Obasanjo

    Former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, has  mourned  the death of General Benjamin Adekunle (rtd), saying his exit would  leave vacuum very difficult to fill.

    Obasanjo who described Adekunle as a “friend, colleague and course mate,” said his contribution during the nation’s three years civil war was a no mean effort, which would also be remembered for long a time.

    In a statement on Saturday  by the former President who also witnessed the surrender of Biafran soldiers to the Federal troops, signalling the end of the war, he said Adekunle achieved much while they were both undergoing a military course in Ghana.

    The statement reads in parts: “I received with shock the news of the death of my colleague, friend and course mate, Gen. Benjamin Adekunle today. I can recall with profound memories what he was able to achieve as a course mate at Teshi, Accra Ghana.

    “The late retired General, made a no mean contribution for the Nigerian civil war. His efforts would be forever remembered and May his soul rest in peace. I am very shocked about by this news today.

    “His vacuum will be difficult to fill in the family, but, I pray for them to have the fortitude to bear this loss.”

  • General Benjamin Adekunle is dead

    General Benjamin Adekunle is dead

    Retired General  Benjamin Adekunle, popularly known as ‘Black Scorpion’ is dead.

    He died Saturday morning in Lagos, according to his wife, Folake.

    Born in June 1936 in Kaduna, Adekunle served in the the Nigerian Army from 1958-1974.

    According to Wikipedia, Adekunle who served in the Congo crisis and the Nigeria civil war assumed command of the Lagos Garrison as a substantive Lt. Col.

    “When the Nigerian Civil War erupted in July 1967, Adekunle was tasked to lead elements which included two new battalions (7th and 8th) – to conduct the historic sea borne assault on Bonny in the Bight of Benin on 26 July 1968 (carried out by Major Isaac Adaka Boro’s unit).

    “This happened after the federal government gained confidence of most south western ethnic groups as a direct result of Biafran push to mid-west state and probe into Western region. Adekunle was promoted to Colonel after the Bonny landing.

    “ The 6th (under Major Jalo) and 8th (under Major Ochefu) battalions of the Lagos Garrison subsequently took part in operations to liberate the Midwest following the Biafran invasion of August 1967. The 7th (under Major Abubakar) stayed behind to hold Bonny. Because Major Jalo’s Unit was seconded to Lt. Col. Murtala Mohammed’s 2nd Division, Adekunle was left with only the 8th Battalion at Escravos.

    “ He was therefore, protested to Army HQ and got the Lagos garrison upgraded to Brigade status through the creation of the 31 and 32 Battalions (under Majors Aliyu and Hamman, respectively). This formation, combined with elements of the Lagos garrison along the eastern seaboard, was officially designated the 3 Infantry Division.

    However, Colonel Adekunle did not think the name “3 Infantry Division” was sensational enough nor did it project the nature of the unique terrain in which his men had to fight. Therefore, without formal approval from Army HQ, he renamed it the ” 3 Marine Commando (3MCDO).”

    The “Black Scorpion” as he came to be known, was easily the most controversial, celebrated and mythologized figure in the war of attrition that laid the foundations for Nigeria’s contemporary crisis; and threw a wedge into the national fabric. “

     
  • FG to ‘foot’ NANS leaders’ burial

    FG to ‘foot’ NANS leaders’ burial

    The Federal Government will foot the bills for the burial of five leaders of the National Association of Nigerian Students who died last week in a ghastly motor accident in Abia State.

    The NANS executives, who were travelling to University of Uyo to mediate in the crisis rocking the university, died when their bus collided with an oncoming truck. Seven other persons were seriously wounded in the crash.

    Speaking in Umuahia when she visited the surviving members of the executives, the Minister of Education, Prof. Ruqayyatu Rufai, said the federal government has concluded plans to take care of the burial expenses of the dead NANS leaders as well as the medical bills of the surviving victims.

    Rufai, who is in the state to ascertain the condition of the crash survivors, said that she was happy with their recovery rate and extended President Goodluck Jonathan’s condolences to the families of those who lost their lives in the accident.

    Responding on behalf of the crash survivors, Benjamin Adekunle, thanked President Jonathan for showing concern to their plight and the gesture he has extended to them since the accident occurred.