IRONSI AND OJUKWU NEVER PLANNED JANUARY 15, 1966 COUP – THEY STOPPED IT!
IRONSI AND OJUKWU NEVER PLANNED JANUARY 15, 1966 COUP – THEY STOPPED IT!
For 60 years I saw yorubas on social media saying that the January 15, 1966 coup was an “Igbo coup” led by Igbos because Ironsi and Ojukwu wanted to take over Nigeria. They said Major Chukwuma Nzeogwu and his brothers killed Sardauna of Sokoto, Ahmadu Bello and Tafawa Balewa to make Ironsi Head of State and Ojukwu powerful. That is a BIG LIE! It is the biggest propaganda in Nigerian history, and that lie led to the killing of 30,000 Igbos in the North and 3 .5 million Biafrans in the war.
Let me ask you a simple question with common sense. How can a man who stopped a coup be the one who planned it? Major General Johnson Thomas Umunnakwe Aguiyi-Ironsi was the General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the entire Nigerian Army in January 1966. When Nzeogwu struck in Kaduna, Ironsi did not join them. He crushed the coup in Lagos! He deployed soldiers, surrounded the rebels, arrested them and saved the lives of many politicians including the President Nnamdi Azikiwe who they said he wanted to kill. If he planned it, why did he crush it?
In Kano, the coup was happening. The coup plotters in Kano — Major Chukwuma Nzeogwu’s boys — killed the Premier of Northern Nigeria and took over. Who stopped them? It was Lt. Col. Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu! Ojukwu was the commander in Kano. He refused to support the coup, he protected the life of the Emir of Kano, he arrested the coup plotters in Kano and stopped the coup from spreading. The man they said wanted to take over Nigeria was the man who stopped his own Igbo brother from taking over! How can you plan a coup and stop it at the same time?
The January 15, 1966 coup was not an Igbo coup. Check the list of the plotters: Major Nzeogwu (Igbo), Major Adewale Ademoyega (Yoruba), Captain Gani Adeleke (Yoruba), Major Don Okafor (Igbo), Major Humphrey Chukwuka (Igbo), Major Fola Oyewole (Yoruba), Captain Emmanuel Nwobosi (Igbo), Major Timothy Onwuatuegwu (Igbo). It was a mixed Nigerian coup of angry young Nigeria majors who were tired of corruption. The leader, Nzeogwu, even said in his broadcast: “Our enemies are those who make this country look big for nothing…” He did not mention Igbo agenda. But because Igbos were the most visible, the Hausa-Fulani oligarchy tagged it “Igbo Coup” to get excuse to kill Igbos.
Why did they tag it Igbo coup? Because Ironsi, an Igbo man, became Head of State after the coup failed. But he did not become Head of State because he planned it. He became Head of State because he was the most senior officer in the Nigerian Army! After the Prime Minister Tafawa Balewa was killed and the government collapsed, the remaining ministers begged Ironsi to take over to save the country from anarchy. It was not a plan. It was accident of seniority. If it was planned, why would Ironsi arrest Nzeogwu and keep him in prison in Lagos?
That lie — that it was Igbo coup — is what they used to launch the counter-coup of July 29, 1966 where they killed 300 Igbo officers including Ironsi himself and over 30,000 Igbo civilians in Northern Nigeria. They said “Igbos killed our leaders, we will kill their own.” If Ironsi really planned the January coup, why did they kill him in July? You don’t kill your own plotter. Ironsi died because he was not part of them. He died protecting One Nigeria.
Nigerians I asked again, Can A man who stopped a coup cannot be the one who planned it. Ironsi stopped the coup in Lagos. Ojukwu stopped the coup in Kano. They saved Nigeria. But propaganda turned saviours to villains, and that propaganda killed 3 .5 million people.
You have never seen a man who stopped a coup planning a coup! Share the truth and stop the lie.
What did they teach you in school about January 15, 1966 coup? Comment below.
