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Tag: villain

  • MC Think Twice: Saint or villain?

    MC Think Twice: Saint or villain?

    Although reports say they were lynched for being suspected Badoo cultists responsible for the perennial ritual killing of innocent residents in Ikorodu, a Lagos suburb, but the gruesome slaying of a budding comedian and two mechanics by a mob, has been faulted by their family members and friends with a call for justice, reports KUNLE AKINRINADE.

    CHINEDU PAUL aka MC Think Twice’s academic background was about knitting figures. He was, however, a vivacious youth, so much so that comedy was natural to him. Moving from one backstreet show to another to enliven people with rib-cracking jokes, he had dreamt of sharing the big stage with top Nigerian comedians in no distant future. The moment came on July 1, 2017, courtesy of another comedian friend of his, called Mr O, who took him to a comedy show anchored by a popular broadcaster, Ikponmwosa Osakioduwa, aka IK, held at Victoria Island, Lagos.

    To him, his participation at the show was a rare feat he could not hide from his folks. Pronto, he rushed to his Facebook page and shared a photograph he took with the show’s anchor, IK at 9.42 PM.

    But Chinedu’s joy was short-lived. A few hours after, he and two others lost their lives in the most gruesome manner. They were killed by a mob who mistook them for Badoo cultists at the Oju Emuren area of Odogunyan in Ikorodu.

    His last few hours and moniker accentuated the ironies of life. The day he attended the comedy show, the Abia-born budding humour merchant wore a black fez cap with a prayer message in Yoruba, ‘Eleda Masun’, which literally means ‘don’t forget or forsake me, my Creator’. While the prayer might have found an answer in his Creator’s approval, which culminated in his active participation in the comedy show, there was unexplainable silence when he and others were to be made oblation for the sins of Badoo cultists who have been killing people in the Ikorodu area of Lagos State. The mob which intercepted the Honda CRV Sports Utility Vehicle that was conveying the trio to where Chinedu’s broken down car was to be towed also did not think twice before setting them ablaze in controversial circumstances.

    As the story goes, the trio were in the Oju Emuren neighbourhood around 1 AM when residents and vigilantes accosted them and demanded their identity. Chinedu was said to have explained to the men that his car broke down in the area and that he had engaged his mechanic to tow it from the spot it broke down. Rubbish, the furious vigilante men dismissed his explanation and dragged him and the two mechanics, Sunday Owolabi and one Shola to the palace of a traditional ruler in the community, where they were allegedly accused, tried and pronounced guilty in the most bizarre manner and subsequently lynched to death by the cold mob.

    One of the residents, Bolaji Akinola, told The Nation that Chinedu and his friends could not properly identify themselves nor give convincing explanation as to what their mission was before they were lynched.

    “Sir, let me tell you what actually happened on the day the boy and others were lynched. The vigilante men that accosted them demanded to know where they were coming from and where they were heading to, but they could not give any convincing explanation. They said that they were returning from a nearby hotel and that one of their cars had broken down somewhere, which they wanted to tow away. They were subsequently taken to the palace of a traditional ruler for further investigation.

    “The man (traditional ruler) also asked them a few questions bordering on their identity and the place where their car broke down but he got no better response from them. They were also asked if they knew anyone or had relatives in any part of Ikorodu that can identify them but they said no, hence, it became evident that they were lying. By then, a mob consisting of residents had gathered and the traditional ruler ordered a search on their SUV during which a Bante (Yoruba word for assorted charms), a bottle of engine oil and grinding stones, which were the major implements usually used by Badoo cultists to attacks their victims and escape arrest, were found underneath the interior of their vehicle.

    “The traditional ruler tried all he could to keep them in his palace till the next morning but the angry mob resisted him and instead stripped the suspects naked before setting them ablaze,” Akinola added.

     

    Other side of the story

    Facts, however, merged during the week which suggested that they might have been victims of jungle justice by an irate mob.

    A source, who spoke with our reporter, gave a different account of how the three men were killed. He disclosed that the suspects were not given a fair hearing by the vigilante men during their interrogation.

    “The suspects should have been spared by the mob. First, when they were intercepted in the Honda SUV, one of them (Chinedu) explained that he was going to attend a show where he was billed to perform as a comedian when his car broke down in the community, while his two friends said they were automobile technicians at Festac. The boy (Chinedu) said he decided to move the car away with the help of the two other suspects because he did not want his car to be vandalised before dawn. Not satisfied, the vigilante demanded their means of identification and the two mechanics explained that they forgot to take their identity card while they were leaving their home. The boy (Chinedu) explained that he was a former student of LASPOTECH and that he finished from the school about two years ago. He even urged the vigilante men to confirm from the school in the morning but they thought that he was lying.

    “They took them to the residence of a monarch at Oju Emuren where the traditional ruler equally interrogated them in the inner chamber of his house. While the men were being questioned by the traditional ruler, the mob that gathered outside thought that the traditional ruler had compromised and threatened to burn down his palace. They brought petrol and sprinkled it on the man’s palace which made him to discontinue the interrogation and release the suspects to the mob. However, the traditional ruler, who apparently wanted to save the suspects in order to hand them over to the police, urged the vigilante men comprising residents to search their vehicle. The men returned and claimed they found stones and engine oil inside the vehicle. It was then that the two other suspects explained that as mechanics, engine oil was one of the lubricants they used to fix vehicles. As for the stone allegedly found inside their vehicle, it was not a grinding stone that Badoo cultists smash on their victims. It was a stone which the mechanics said they picked on their way to knock on the battery of Chinedu’s car to see if it would ignite any current.

    “They tried to call some of their people on phone but I guess that those they called had switched off their phones. They pleaded and pleaded with the mob, but all their pleas were not heeded. The mob stripped them naked and set them ablaze. They were killed for nothing. To me, even in the face of the mindless killings by Badoo cultists, there is need for angry residents to show restraint and circumspection in dealing with or handling suspects.”

     

    DEMAND FOR JUSTICE

    The killing of the upcoming comedian, according to their friends and family members, was unfortunate, should be investigated by the police and culprits prosecuted.

    Speaking on Wednesday on News Hour on TVC in Lagos, Chinedu’s mentor and pastor, Francis Adebayo of Harvest Place Church, Maryland ,Lagos, who led Chinedu’s younger sister, Elizabeth Dike and his girlfriend, Esther Demenungu, to the television station, said: “Three people were burnt in that incident and one of them was Paul Chinedu. And Chinedu happened to be a member of my church and I have known him for about five years. While he was in school, I was involved in his education and at some points, I did pay his school fees. I mentored him for that number of years and he was a strong member of my youth church. I knew him well and I know when he started his comedy career.”

    His younger sister, Elizabeth, battled tears as she made her remarks saying: “He has been the pillar of our family. My mother always looked up to him that one day he would make us proud, but now he is gone… I know that he is gone but I just want people to know that my brother was never a cultist; he is not a culstist.”

    Chinedu’s girlfriend, Esther, urged both the state government and Police authorities to discourage Ikorodu residents from giving suspects jungle justice treatment.

    “When his (Chinedu) sister called me, I came outside and I was like it’s not real. I was even thinking that they were involved in an accident because I saw police vans coming out of the place (scene). On getting there, we were stopped for a search and one of the vigilante men said that three men were lynched and my mind skipped…(she sobs). Most people who joined them in killing the trio didn’t even know who they were. They felt that they were Badoo cultists and joined them in the killing. Government should just do something about this so that innocent lives will not be cut down like this.”

    A friend of the two mechanics, Oluwasegun Ogunlaja, said: “Government should arrest the Baale, so that he can fish out those who killed Chinedu and the mechanics.”

    Some of Chinedu’s former classmates at the Lagos State Polytechnic (LASPOTECH), Ikorodu, who described him as gentle and prayerful, said the late comedian was never a cultist. They said he was unnecessarily murdered by the distraught residents in a bid to make some scapegoats following the activities of the dreaded Badoo cultists.

    “I cried when it turned out that Think Twice (Chinedu) was among those lynched by the unfeeling vigilantes and residents. We were classmates at LASPOTECH and knowing him was fun. There was never a dull moment with him because of his jokes. He was a promising youth who always told us to think twice before we do silly things or carry out any action. He was not a cultist because he detested a bad company or people of queer character,” said one his classmates, Mike Andrew.

    “He saved money from the numerous shows and parties he anchored to buy the second-hand car he wanted to tow after it broke down while he was on his way to a show. To me, it was  a case of mistaken identity because MC Think Twice was a Godly youth who was raised in a Christian home and those who knew him can attest to this. He was not a cultist and couldn’t have identified with blood-thirsty gangs like Badoo,” Andrew added.

    LASPOTECH also confirmed that the late Chinedu was a former student of the school.

    In a telephone conversation with The Nation, the spokesman of the polytechnic, Mr Olanrewaju Kuye said: “Yes. Chinedu Paul was a former student of our school. He studied Accounting and he completed his studies in 2014/2015 session. I can also confirm to you that he was among those who have so far collected their Letter of Completion (LOC).”

    One of the emotional tributes posted by Chinedu’s girlfriend, Esther, on his Facebook page reads: “Baby u post this in the morning, U got back home just to see ur life taken..U said u have a gift for me before u went to fix our car. Don’t worry I came to collect the gift at Odogunyan. Don’t explain to me again I understand. I love u baby.”

  • Villain as hero, patriot as traitor

    It is a season for expression of solidarity and dissent. It is not unusual during such periods to see villains celebrated as heroes and patriots as traitors. The massive rally that canonise convicted ex-Governor James Ibori in Delta and demonstration against President Muhammadu Buhari’s handling of the affairs of the nation in the last two  weeks once again highlighted our crisis of nationhood. The canonization of Ibori as a hero and Buhari as a traitor define who we are -a nation of divisive nationalities with different cultures, values and world view who disagree on virtually everything including who qualifies as Nigerian heroes. Two weeks back, the people of Niger Delta, welcomed back home their hero with an ecstatic crowd led by Mr. Festus Ovie Agas, the Secretary to the state government who stood in for the governor who was alleged to have made provision for N350m to organise a welcome party for their Niger Delta illustrious son. Ibori dearly loved by his people but disparaged by many Nigerians and foreigners including misguided London court that chose to weep louder than the bereaved by describing him as ‘a thief in government house’ before jailing him for thirteen years for converting his state public fund to private use, offence for which he had been discharged and acquitted by an Asaba court with some help from the then Delta state government, returned to the warm embrace of his people.

    For them, Ibori is a hero perhaps because of what they perceive as his triumph over his past travails and exploits in the murky waters of Nigerian politics. These, of course, include his conviction in 1991 and 1992 for credit card fraud in Britain,  his  allegedly conviction for criminal breach of trust in Nigeria and his subsequent exoneration by the Nigerian Supreme Court that chose to ignore the evidence of the judge that convicted him, his deployment of an estimated Niger Delta N50b to  procure  a Yar Adua’s  electoral victory in the flawed 2007 election,  the dismissal and humiliation of Nuhu Ribadu from the police following his refusal to play ball  even with a mouth watering $15m bribe and the dismissal of Mr. Ibrahim Magu, the leading key investigators  into politically exposed persons, ‘for keeping files of accused in his house’ .

    And from the accounts of his wild jubilating kinsmen, we can also add to this list of his heroic exploits to his ability to influence the emergence of Bukola Saraki, his friend as Senate President, install the current Delta State Governor as well as law makers, including his daughter from inside his prison walls in far away in London.

    The Asaba wild rally was followed by last week’s protests and demonstrations, in Lagos and Abuja against President Muhammadu Buhari, a 74-year-old former military ruler currently on medical leave in Britain. They were organised by those who regarded him a villain  and therefore proclaim their “duty is to liberate Nigeria from shackle of poverty, suffering, disease, squalor and undemocratic tendencies of Buhari’s government”.  Buhari ironically is a Nigerian patriot who during his first coming as a head of a military junta in 1984 strived to make Nigeria a better place for all insisting Nigerian has no other place to call their own. Except for few excesses associated with military juntas, he demonstrated his passion for service to the country until he was removed through a palace coup by Babangida and Abacha for threatening corrupt elements within the military. Elected after three earlier attempts in 2015 on pledges to diversify the economy and fight corruption, his administration has come under serious threat in the last two years by corrupt elements that bled the nation for sixteen years and today openly justify the unwholesome activities of sponsored Niger Delta militants.

    However, Bola Tinubu, a chieftain of APC while appealing to the misguided protesters who are at best victims of misplaced aggression for patience and understanding, reminded them that “We are two years into the administration. To make those changes effectively and positively eventually, we have to be patient; we have to have the hope. The damage of 16 years will go through the system. You cannot get water out of a dry land.”

    Addressing the Abuja protesters put at about 700 by Reuters, Osinbajo, the acting President, blamed corruption which he says is “wealthy, powerful, influential and it is in every aspect of our lives,” And finally assuring the misguided protesters he said. “Things might be difficult today, but I am completely sure if we stay the course this country will not only get out of recession but always go to the path of sustainable development,”

    Bola Tinubu, the ‘Jagaban’ of Nigerian politics’ who went around the nation mouthing restructuring and Professor Osinbajo, an eminent legal mind know that whatever victory is achieved after this economic recession will be a pyrrhic victory. Unlike some of the misguided protesters who did not demonstrate against Jonathan creeping dictatorship when he sacked CBN governor for raising an alarm about missing  $20b in NNPC account, sacked a justice of an appeal court that ruled against his party but now want Nigerians to believe they are fighting Buhari’s dictatorship  and many of their co- travelers occupying state houses as governors and national assembly’s as law makers, who cannot articulate our crisis of nationhood, they know the truth. They know our crisis of nationhood is politics and not economics or economic recession.

    Our problem is the tyranny of the state which federal arrangement sets out to resolve. We should find out why restive groups are prepared to wreck the nation. Why are Niger Delta leaders and avengers sabotaging the economy of the country? Why   were federal ministers stealing and stacking dollars in their homes? Why did federal ministers of Finance who know importation of labour of other societies would sound the death knell of our own economy deploy the bulk of our foreign earnings to importation of everything under the sun for 16 years?  Why do bureaucrats steal pensioners’ funds? Why are our two houses of assemblies, houses of deals? The most plausible answer is that people are ready to destroy the system they don’t have faith in. After all, no sane man sets out to destroy his father’s house.

    The celebration of a villain as a hero and the morbid wish of those who want Buhari dead because with exchange rate of N500 to a dollar, they could no more make easy billions through importation of everything under the sun at the expense of poor Nigerians is a call for a restructured Nigeria. Nigeria will be better off with a Niger Delta region or group of states paying dividends on the nations investment which Kachikwu put at $40b and 50% taxation on her earnings as it was in the first republic than the current situation where we do not know what was produce or when what was refined or imported is diverted to private dumps owned by some ministers.

    A restructured Nigeria is  a win-win for every group. The Niger Delta will be free to celebrate their heroes. With industries springing up in the east, unpatriotic importers of substandard goods in the name of business will be forced to look inwards. A viable middle belt region can contain the threat of Fulani herdsmen. The Fulani who currently armed killers because the constitution allows them to invade other people’s farms and homes will be forced live in the 21st century by providing deep water irrigation to feed their cattle and they will be free to welcome their kit and kin from Northern Cameroon and Niger who they claim are the foreign cattle rustlers. And of course the south west that survives on yam and tomatoes from the north and consumes10,000 head of cows daily  will be forced to look inward or pay the economic rate for products of those who without government subsidy ferry their goods in  amidst man- made huddles including police bribes at every state border.

  • Aguiyi-Ironsi: Hero or villain?

    Aguiyi-Ironsi: Hero or villain?

    What is the place of the late General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi in the history of Nigeria? Following the bloody coup masterminded by mostly young Igbo officers, there were lots of misunderstanding, suspicion and resentment against his administration, particularly in the defunct Northern and Western regions. As a leader who was obviously not prepared for the challenges of governance, the late Aguiyi-Ironsi displayed much naivety in the way he handled the demands of various stakeholders. Deputy Political Editor RAYMOND MORDI looks at the policies that probably alienated the late Head of State from a large chunk of the country. 

    As Nigeria marks the 51st anniversary of the January 15, 1966 military coup, which facilitated the emergence of the late Major-General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi as the first military Head of State, one issue associated with him that has refused to go away is the distortion of the country’s federation. Prior to the bloody military coup that ended the First Republic and ushered in the era of military rule, Nigeria had a true federal structure. The regions were autonomous and viable; they took full responsibility for determining their destinies. Each region developed at its pace; each region was responsible for generating its own resources. They retained 50 per cent of the revenue and remitted the remaining into a common pool at the centre, to be shared later by the federating units.

    No region waited for monthly allocations or handouts; none called on the Federal Government to fix any road, furnish any school or equip any hospital. The regions were responsible for determining their own affairs and by so doing contributed to the strengthening of the centre.

    But, the emergence of Aguiyi-Ironsi changed all that. He became the Head of State in turmoil. The circumstances of the time foisted the responsibility on his shoulders. It was a period of strange experimentation when the command system in the military was replicated in public administration. Advocates of federalism believed that that trial was a colossal failure.

    He thought that concentrating powers in the centre would facilitate unity and enhance cooperation among the ethnic groups. He promulgated the Unification Decree 34 on 1966 May 24, abolishing the federal structure and concentrating powers at the centre. With the decree, the regions were deprived of right to minerals in their states; the Federal Government became the custodian of the country’s treasures and resources.

    A Lagos-based lawyer and commentator on national affairs, Chijioke Ogham-Emeka, said the greatest irony in the criticism against Aguiyi-Ironsi’s arrangement is that although General Yakubu Gowon restored Nigeria’s federal structure on September 1, 1966, yet the country has been administered substantially in the spirit of the vilified Decree No. 34. For instance, under the 1999 Constitution, Nigeria is supposed to be a federation. But, the extraordinary powers lumped at the centre makes it essentially a unitary structure.

    He said: “If we realise that Nigeria must be one and that only a unitary structure can achieve that, why should we not call a spade a spade and post-humously apologise to (or at least vindicate) Aguiyi-Ironsi? Nevertheless, history itself has vindicated him. A true Nigerian was ‘crucified’ for the cause of a united Nigeria and today his murderers are the largest beneficiaries of a unitary and united Nigeria.

    “If we operate a federal system of government why not allow the Niger Delta people to control their oil resources and pay royalty into the Federation Account? Why should the concept of ‘federal might’ not be reduced in practice to a myth? Why do we deceive ourselves?”

    Many observers agree that the development of the country has been slow since Aguiyi-Ironsi’s abrogation of the federal structure in 1966. The ceding of the control over mineral deposits to the Federal Government is responsible for the culture of states folding their arms and going cap in hand to Abuja every month for allocations. Unlike the pre-1966 era, when states were competing in the area of development and revenue generation, today no state can take any decision over any mineral deposit within its area. The result is that the country has been made to rely on ‘easy money’ from crude oil exports. Even though most states are sitting on potential wealth, there is no incentive to harness same for development, because it belongs to the federal purse.

    One of the features of Decree No. 34 was the unification of the civil service of the abolished regions. According to reports, popular feelings in the North and the West then underscored dejection and disillusionment. The understanding in the North was that civil servants from the South will invade the North to displace northerners from the public service, because they had more professional expertise. The rumour was not dispelled. For the northerners, the unification of the civil service was the most annoying aspect of the decree. On May 27, 1966, riots broke out in the North in which many Easterners were killed. The nature of the problem on ground also exposed the fragility of the military then. Soldiers believed that Aguiyi-Ironsi had further sowed the seed of discord and violence. It thus became difficult to deploy the partisan military to quell the riots.

    What is the place of Aguiyi-Ironsi in the history of Nigeria? He was a jolly good fellow; a good family man and a professional soldier whose intention was to unite the country, after the abortive coup. But, there were misunderstanding, suspicions and resentment against his policies, particularly in the defunct Northern and Western regions.

    Aguiyi-Ironsi’s critics said he assumed political leadership without vision and plan. His administration faced persist criticisms from different parts of the country. As a leader that was obviously not prepared for the challenges of governance, he was confused over the demands of various stakeholders. Students and activists persisted in their clamour for the release of Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu, the symbol of patriotic pan-Nigerian fervour. The West was disappointed that Aguiyi-Ironsi was silent about the fate of the jailed opposition leader, Chief Obafemi Awolowo. Delegations from the various provinces in Yorubaland protested to Fajuyi, saying that his continued imprisonment was unjust. The Head of State turned a deaf ear. The perception of the North and the West was that the new regime was to the advantage of the East, the home region of the ruler. In fact, while reflecting on that period of national anxiety, Gowon told his biographer: “There were complaints that only Igbos came to advise Aguiyi-Ironsi.”

    As Head of State, he inherited a country deeply fractured by its ethnic and religious cleavages. The fact that none of the high-profile victims of the January 1966 coup were of Igbo extraction, and also that the main beneficiaries of the coup were Igbo, led the Northern part of the country to believe that it was an Igbo conspiracy. Though he tried to dispel this notion, by courting the aggrieved ethnic groups through political appointments and patronage, his failure to punish the coup plotters crystallised this conspiracy theory.

    His failure to try those behind the coup according to the dictates of military law fuelled opposition against his administration. The Head of State reportedly became hostage not only to radical opinion in the media in the South that hailed the coup plotters as heroes, but also to the curious five-point agreement he had negotiated with Nzeogwu in Kaduna back on January 17.

    According to reports, the coup was investigated by the police and the report was ready by March. Subsequently, a panel was set up to review the report and come up with formal charges. But, the panel went to sleep; it never sat. Major Adewale Ademoyega corroborates the above in his book, Why We Struck, stating that each time the matter was brought up for discussion at the Supreme Military Council (SMC), that Colonel Adekunle Fajuyi, the Governor of the West, was opposed to any trial.

    One of the arrowheads of the July 1966 revenge coup, General Theophilus Yakubu Danjuma, confirmed that Aguiyi-Ironsi’s failure to try the coup plotters was a major factor that led to the second coup. In Lindsay Barrett’s book, Danjuma: The Making of a General, Danjuma, accused the late Aguiyi-Ironsi of doing nothing to bring Nzeogwu and his fellow conspirators to justice.

    Meanwhile, there were allegations that the mutineers were being treated specially in prison. Thus, the failure to bring the mutineers and murderers to book gave a platform for the numerous military coups of the following years. It established the notion that a “successful” coup plotter would never be called to account for his actions. Nigeria paid the price for this in subsequent years, with coups becoming the fashionable way to change a government.

    Owing to increasing tensions in the land, former leading politicians in the Western and Eastern regions were detained on March 7, but those of the Northern region were left alone, because of political sensitivities resulting from the coup. Indeed, Aguiyi-Ironsi made an effort — ultimately insufficient — to pacify the North. He had appointed and promoted the son of the Emir of Katsina as the new military governor, released northern ministers who were detained by Nzeogwu in Kaduna, reappointed Sule Katagum to the Public Service Commission and placed Malam Howeidy in charge of the defunct Electricity Corporation of Nigeria (ECN).

    In May, among other promotions, he promoted three substantive northern Captains (Ibrahim Haruna of Ordnance, Murtala Muhammed of Signals and Mohammed Shuwa of Infantry) who were then acting Majors to the ranks of temporary Lt. Cols. But, he fell short on more culturally sensitive matters. For example, the military governor of the Northern Region, Major Hassan Katsina, was discouraged from attending the funeral of the late Prime Minister in Bauchi.

    Reflecting on Aguiyi-Ironsi’s tenure, eminent scholar Prof. Isawa Elaigwu noted that, though the nature of the coup became more suspicious to many Nigerians, the Head of State’s subsequent actions only aggravated it. The political scientist said in his book, Gowon: The Biography of a Soldier-Statesman: “In a way, it may be argued that General Aguiyi-Ironsi was a victim of circumstances — circumstances which required the quick use of his mental capacity and political subtlety — two traits Ironsi did not possess in adequate amounts.”

    The composition of the administration’s advisory team was also another source of discontent. Chief among them was Francis Nwokedi, former permanent secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs, who had become close to him during his days in the Congo.  Others were Pius Okigbo (economic adviser) and Lt. Col Patrick Anwunah who was later Chairman of the National Orientation Committee. The most common complaint against the appointments was that, although highly qualified and distinguished, they were either all Igbos or Igbo speaking.

    On February 12, Ironsi took his most sensitive decision when he made Nwokedi the sole commissioner for the establishment of an administrative machinery for a unified Nigeria – even though he already appointed a separate Constitutional Review Panel under the late Chief Rotimi Williams which had not submitted a report.

  • Nzeogwu: Hero or villain?

    Nzeogwu: Hero or villain?

    The controversy over the propriety or otherwise of the January 1966 coup d’état and the real intentions of the five young Majors and other colleagues that spear-headed it continues to rage, 50 years after. Deputy Political Editor RAYMOND MORDI examines all the sides in the argument. 

    Fifty years after the first military coup in Nigeria, opinions are still divided about the intentions of the five young Majors and other colleagues that planned and executed the coup. The action of the young officers evoke a lot of passion, because it set in motion a chain of events that plunged the country into the 30-month civil war, over three decades of military rule and a heightened sense of tribalism.

    The role the late Major Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu played particularly would remain controversial. In the early hours of January 15, 1966, Nzeogwu led a group of mostly northern soldiers that attacked the official residence of the Premier of the defunct Northern Region, Sir Ahmadu Bello, in a bloody coup. The Prime Minister, Alhaji Tafawa Balewa, the Premier of the defunct Western Region, Sir Samuel Ladoke Akintola, and top army officers from the North and the West were also brutally murdered in separate operations. Of course, the coup failed and Nzeogwu was later arrested in Lagos on January 18, 1966.

    A debate has been raging for some time, as to whether Nzeogwu should be treated as a hero or villain. Born in 1937 in Kaduna to Igbo parents from Okpanam, near Asaba, in the present Delta State, he was an infantry and intelligence officer of the Nigerian Army. His Hausa colleagues in the Nigerian Army gave him the name “Kaduna” because of his love for his place of birth.

    Indeed, Northerners saw Nzeogwu’s action as a betrayal. He grew up in the North and to all intents and purposes was a northerner. The coup leader who was in detention at the time the war started was released and asked to join the battle on the side of the Biafrans. He was trapped and killed in an ambush near Nsukka while conducting a night reconnaissance operation against federal troops of the 21st battalion under Captain Mohammed Inuwa Wushishi on July 29, 1967. After the war, Gen. Gowon played the role of a statesman when he insisted on burying his mortal remains in Kaduna, with full military honours.

    Critics say the coup was to ensure that the Igbos hold on power. They acknowledge that Nzeogwu was a brave man and a good tactician, considering the way he carried out the task allotted to him in the botched coup. But, they say he was a biased hero, who failed to finish the job of killing top eastern politicians and military officers. One of such critics who does not want his name in print added: “If he had faithfully eliminated all the top politicians, irrespective of their tribes, his neutrality would have enhanced his image as a crusader against corrupt politicians. He would have been up there with the likes like Fidel Castro and Ernesto Che Guevara, the Argentine-born Cuban revolutionary. Unfortunately, he got disillusioned and fell for that evil called tribalism. My conclusion is he was a rebel without a cause and that is where he lost it.”

    But, a more charitable account of the story is that Nzeogwu was only responsible for the execution of the coup in the North, which he did faithfully, working with Northern military officers. His colleagues colleagues who had the responsibility of carrying the plan in the south – Maj. Emmanuel Ifeajuna, Maj. Adewale Adegboyega, Major Donatus Okafor and the others – failed to execute their own part of the bargain faithfully.

    Thus, the coup succeeded in North, but failed in the South where their bid was scuttled by Major-General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi, the General Officer Commanding the Nigerian Army at the time. Though Nzeogwu was very close to Olusegun Obasanjo, he did not involve him in the coup probably because he knew Obasanjo would not buy into the project. The plotters eventually surrendered to Aguiyi-Ironsi, who took over the reins of power in rather controversial circumstances. According to observers, Aguiyi-Ironsi, sought to unite Nigerians upon taking over the reins of power, but he was misunderstood and betrayed.

    He had inherited a Nigeria deeply fractured by its ethnic and religious cleavages. The fact that none of the high-profile victims of the 1966 coup were of Igbo extraction, and also that the main beneficiaries of the coup were Igbo, led the Northern part of the country to believe that it was an Igbo conspiracy. Aguiyi-Ironsi tried to dispel this notion by courting the aggrieved ethnic groups through political appointments and patronage. But, his failure to punish the coup plotters and the promulgation of the now infamous Decree No. 34 — which abrogated the country’s federal structure in exchange for a unitary one — crystallized this conspiracy theory. The way he was murdered, alongside Lt.-Col. Adekunle Fajuyi, remains a sore point in Nigeria’s political history.

    On July 29, 1966, he spent the night at the Government House, Ibadan, as part of a nationwide tour. His host, Fajuyi, the then Military Governor of Western Nigeria, alerted him to a possible mutiny within the army and Aguiyi-Ironsi desperately tried to contact his Army Chief of Staff, Yakubu Gowon, but he was unreachable. In the early hours of the morning, the Government House, Ibadan, was surrounded by soldiers led by Theophilus Danjuma. Subsequently, Danjuma arrested Aguiyi-Ironsi and questioned him about his alleged complicity in the coup, which saw the demise of the Sardauna of Sokoto, Ahmadu Bello. The circumstances leading to Aguiyi-Ironsi’s death still remain a subject of much controversy till date. His body and that of Fajuyi were later discovered in a nearby forest.

    The bloody nature of the January 1966 coup precipitated riots in the North and many Igbos were killed in the process. According to reports, from June through October 1966, pogroms in the North killed tens of thousands of Igbos and caused millions to flee to the Eastern Region. In July of the same year, a group of northern army officers revolted against the government; thus beginning a long history of military coups. General Gowon was appointed as the head of the new government.

    In 1967, Gowon moved to split the existing four regions into 12 states, as a way of checking the secessionist bid of the military governor of the Eastern Region, Col. Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu. Naturally, the move did not go down well with the latter. So, citing the inability of the central government to stop the killing of Igbos, Odumegwu-Ojukwu declared the Eastern Region an independent Republic called Biafra. This led to a civil war between Biafra and the remainder from June 1967 to January 15, 1970, when Biafra surrendered.

    It could be said that the January 15, 1966 coup set into motion a chain of events that plunged the country into the fratricidal civil war, brought in its wake over three decades of military rule and it adversely affected the unity of the country, as Nigerians became more conscious of their tribal differences. But, these are perhaps unintended consequences; participants in the coup such as Adewale Adegboyega and Ben Gbulie in their books, namely Why We Struck and Nigeria’s Five Majors respectively, paint the plotters as idealistic army officers who meant well for Nigeria.

    In the same vein, many military and civilian personnel, some who are still alive and have participated at the highest levels of government in Nigeria, such as retired Generals Yakubu Gowon, Domkat Bali and Theophilus Danjuma, have good words for Nzeogwu and some of the other participants in the coup.

    Similarly, renowned British writer and journalist, Fredrick Forsythe, in Let Truth Be Told says Nzeogwu was a detribalised Nigerian who was out to flush out politicians who were practicing nepotism, favouritism, godfatherism and collectors of 10 per cent from contractors. Ironically, these same vices have eaten deep into the nation’s fabric today. Even the most rabid haters of Nzeogwu and company agree that by 1965 the political situation in Nigeria, particularly in the old Western region, was terrible. The near anarchy in the region over the regional elections that restored power to Samuel Ladoke Akintola as the Premier is a matter of record.

    But, with the benefit of hindsight, it may appear that Nzeogwu and his colleagues acted out of naivety and idealism, but with noble intention. The method Nzeogwu and his group employed is anything but noble. According to observers, killing unarmed civilians in the middle of the night is not particularly heroic. Similarly, there is nothing heroic about military men interfering in politics, because they belong to the barracks. But, military coups were in vogue at the time and Nzeogwu and his colleagues were simply doing what they believed was their responsibility to the nation.

    In fact, some historians say the events of 1966 to 1970 were a time-bomb set by British colonialists, who were aware of the great potential Nigeria had and feared the emergence of a black power. The trick then was to set one section of the country against the other. How did the British do it? According to reports, before his death in 2010, one of the colonialists, Harold Smith, confessed that they rigged the census results as well as the 1959 general election. Acting on the directive of Her Majesty’s Government, he admitted, the departing colonialists cleverly denied a man like Nnamdi Azikiwe (popularly known as Zik) political power. Zik was tricked to accept the position of president in a parliamentary system, which is purely ceremonial, Smith said.

    One of the tragedies of military incursion into politics in Nigeria is that it destroyed the country’s evolving democracy. Analysts say if Nigeria had continued in the tradition of the First Republic, when all Nigerians saw themselves as one, and people can contest election in the part of the country where they reside, the country would have been better for it today.

    Besides, Nigeria’s founding fathers had adopted “true” federalism as reflected in the 1960 and 1963 constitutions. However, beginning with the arrival of the military in the political scene in 1966, Nigeria has witnessed significant erosion in the concept of federalism, as evidenced in the concentration or centralisation of fiscal power at the federal level with the Federal Government  appropriating over 50 per of the total revenues paid into the federation account, while all the 36 state governments and all 774 local governments combined receive less than 50 per cent.

    Many political observers have advocated for a return of the country to true federalism, with the current six geo-political zones of Northwest, Northeast, Northcentral, Southwest, Southeast and Southsouth constituting the federating units. The argument is that the existing states within each zone should be reconstituted into districts, while the existing local government areas could remain intact or be reconstituted into divisions.

  • One man’s hero, another’s villain

    One man’s hero, another’s villain

    There are rainbow-like opinions of Nigerians about his legacies. For some, he was a friend, brother and confidant. To his children, he was, perhaps, a father like no other. Some other people see him as the ultimate governor-general of the Ijaw nation and irrepressible Pan-Ijaw nationalist.

    To his people in Amassoma, Bayelsa State, he was god. However, the British government saw him as a common thief who should be in jail. Not a few people, especially outside of the Ijaw divide, shared the British view.

    His people’s love for him is understandable: Without Diepriye Solomon Peter Alamieyeseigha, there wouldn’t have been Amassoma. He brought the university to them and built the roads. He turned the village to a mini-town.

    Until May 29, 1999, I had never really heard of him. I doubt if I followed his campaigns for governor of Bayelsa State. What struck me about this man, who died last Saturday, were his initials: DSP.

    Until he emerged on the political scene, DSP was associated with Deputy Superintendent of Police. But here was a DSP who was not a police officer. He was a state governor. Before becoming governor, he was in the military.

    Alamieyeseigha was flamboyant. He loved power and relished it until he met his waterloo in ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo. He was removed as governor and ended in jail for money laundering.

    Some believe his ordeal was more political than an attempt to fight corruption. Ask his friend, James Ibori, who is in a British jail after admitting helping himself to Delta State’s money. Ibori believes Alamieyeseigha was not the corrupt one we were made to see. He said the ex-Bayelsa governor owned only one house; in his village, Amassoma. Really?

    That is not quite right. Alams, as many loved to call him, actually had other expansive homes in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital, and Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital. His massive compound in Amassoma is dotted with many beautiful buildings, not one house. They now belong to his surviving six children and wife. One of them, Oyemifa, died in a controversial circumstance in Dubai a year ago, leaving five sons and a daughter.

    With the opulence oozing out of his homes in Bayelsa and Rivers alone, DSP was not the austere man Ibori is presenting.

    Hear Ibori: “Alamieyesiegha became the victim of great hypocrisy masquerading as nationalism and anti-corruption fight. Alamieyesiegha was lied against, as heaps upon heaps of untruths were piled on him, and national hysteria replaced public discourse whenever the subject was Alamieyesiegha.“

    Before he was removed as governor and Dr Goodluck Jonathan made governor, Alams was arrested in London by the British police on allegations of money laundering. The story of how he got home remains not truly told until his sudden death.

    There were tales about how the British police allegedly let him escape on the pretext that they did not want to be used by Obasanjo to get at him. Ibori shares this sentiment.

    Ibori said: “Otherwise respected newspapers made up stories about how he returned from London. Though the man told his own story that he was put on an aircraft and taken out from London to the Ivory Coast, his story was never investigated to even find out if he was lying. It was unconscionable journalism. He was plotted against by those who swore they were fighting on the side of good even though they had taken high seats in the devil’s court. How many people would believe that Alamieyesiegha had only one house? And that is in his village, Amassoma!”

    I fail to see the sense in such tales. It makes no sense again, especially when the British police began moves to have him extradited. If they were the ones who let him go, why would they look for him after many years? And after he had done his time in Nigeria?

    I was looking forward to how the extradition would play out. I thought it would answer many questions about how he got home. Was he released by the British? Did he disguise as a woman to jump bail? These are questions I thought would soon be answered.

    Unfortunately, the man died and I doubt if we’ll ever find answers to these questions. Death has snatched the principal actor in this drama of our time. Whatever the likes of Ibori tell us now makes little or no sense. The main actor is gone. His story of the British letting him go seemingly falls flat with the latest development.

    DSP, bye! I never saw this sort of closure coming. Chances are high his remains will be interred at the Heroes’ Park, a special cemetery constructed by Governor Seriake Dickson for the interment of persons considered as heroes of Ijaw nation. One man’s hero is, sure another’s villain.

     

  • The hero and villain

    The ripples generated in the heat of the last general elections have gradually been going off the radar, except for those seeking redress at the election tribunals. Last Friday, we all witnessed the swearing in of new administrations; elected office holders vowed to match actions to promises as they confront the myriad of problems bedeviling the survival of our nation.

    Power, security and unemployment are major issues threatening the wellbeing of this country. The new officials are faced with daunting task of rescuing the nation from economic instability, massive looting of national treasury by group of villainous politicians and their collaborators in the private sector. Greedy individuals plundered the nation’s resources to satiate their covetous ambitions.

    Foot soldiers of ousted politicians were recruited and armed to prosecute the electoral battles of their paymasters in return for money. Their job description ranged from assassination of political opponents to snatching and stuffing of ballot boxes and invading social media to distort public opinion to favour their paymasters. But, the activities of these low-life bandits do not stop after elections; they extend their nefarious activities to post-election period to wreak havoc, especially when the electoral outcome did not favour their paymaster.

    Having had a taste for quick and fast money, their resourcefulness would be endless and the offshoot is reflected in increased cyber fraud, kidnapping and cult activities on large scale. They are villains and losers that don’t have any role to play in nation building. They sold their conscience like Esau did and betrayed our collective dream like Judas did to the detriment of the nation.

    Dan Millman rightly posited that “choice means saying no to one thing and yes to another”. These villains pitched their tents on the wrong side of history when they allowed their inordinate ambition to cloud their minds by doing the devil’s bidding. They armed our youths to foment chaos; they stirred tribal divisiveness to cause disaffection among ethnic nationalities, gave out contracts to their cronies and siphoning public funds. They broke their social contract with the people.

    James Joyce had them in mind when he said: “History is a nightmare I am trying to awake from.” Their wrong decisions of the past created the demons we are dealing with, including militancy, Boko Haram insurgency, kidnapping and corruption. They commit crime against the constitution and abused the privileges of office.

    Henry Wadsworth Longfellow boomed in his poem, Psalm of life. “Be not like dumb driven cattle, be a hero in the strife,” he said and he aptly describes the picture of heroes of Nigerian democratic system. People who braved the odds to take their destiny in their hands by despising politicians’ gifts and voted according to their consciences. There are public office holders, who have and will dispense their duties and obligations to the electorate, thinking about future generation and not elections. We still have men and women who have and will expose the ills in governance, calling mischief doers to order. With the people of impeccable integrity in the helm of affairs, something good is about to happen.

    People should hold elected leaders accountable by ensuring they deliver on their campaign promises. They must stop celebrating ill-gotten wealth unjustly acquired by leaders. Alexander Hamilton said: “Those who stand for nothing fall for anything.” This hallmark of integrity should be the guiding light for leaders and the follower in an era of crass opportunism and nepotism.

     

    •Amos, 400-Level Mathematics and Computer Science Education, UNIAGRIC MAKURDI