Last week, the former Military President, General Ibrahim Babangida formally presented his long awaited autobiography, Journey in Service, to the general public. The event which held at the Congress Hall of the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja attracted present and past political leaders in Nigeria, including President Bola Tinubu, Olusegun Obasanjo, Goodluck Jonathan and many others.
In the autobiography, the content of which has gone viral, Babangida would seem to have principally set out to highlight his role in the outrageous annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election and set the records straight on the misconceived January 1966 military coup d’état which was mischievously tagged Igbo coup mainly to justify the atrocities committed against the Igbos in Nigeria ever since.
The book has attracted a lot of reactions from across the land because of what has been perceived by many as a false account on the June 12 saga, and on another hand, the stunning revelations on the 1966 coup and the subsequent civil war in which Babangida featured as a major player. At the book presentation, the retired General took responsibility for the annulment of the June 12 election won by late Chief MKO Abiola, but blamed the late former Military dictator, General Sani Abach for stopping the election.
Nigerians, irrespective of their political and religious affiliations, are astounded by Babangida`s weird claims. How can he be blaming Abacha for the annulment when he, Babangida, was the sovereign and final authority in the land? That denial portrayed Babangida as a coward who was not in charge of his administration.
The June 12 crisis, however, is not the focus of this piece. Rather, our concern here is primarily on the revelation by Babangida on the January 1966 coup in which some top political and military leaders from sections of the country lost their lives.
Babangida in the book categorically debunked the notion that the coup was Igbo coup. He said the intention of the coup leaders which included officers from different parts of Nigeria was to install the former Premier of Western Region, Chief Obafemi Awlowo as the Prime Minister because they believed that he had what it takes to fix the country which was just floundering at that point in time.
The coup leaders included Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu, whom Babangida said was basically a Hausa officer who was born bred and lived his whole life in the North, and was only Igbo by name. Others were Emmanuel Ifeajuna (Igbo), Wale Ademoyega (Yoruba), and Atom Kpera (Northerner) amongst others who were drawn from other parts of the Federation.
These officers as recounted by Babangida acted with the best of intentions even if they were idealistic in their disposition. Their plan which was corroborated by Babangida was to release Awolowo from Calabar prison and make him the Prime Minister in the belief that their patriotic decision would halt the drift in the country which was accentuated by the orgy of killings in Western Nigeria.
The coup failed and was dubiously tagged Igbo by anti-Igbo elements in the military and their civilian supporters to achieve a pre-determined end: wipe out Igbos from the North and West and their influence in Nigeria.
Ironically, the coup that was tagged Igbo coup was stopped by Igbo military officers. As revealed in a current video circulating online, the late Biafran leader, Emeka Ojukwu disclosed that as the Commander of the 5th Battalion of the Nigerian Army in Kano, he halted the coup in the North while General Aguiyi Ironsi, the GOC of the Nigerian Army aborted the coup in Lagos and the West. In spite of these glaring facts, the media propaganda which was aided and abetted by some Western powers led by Britain continued to reinforce the false narratives.
It is a matter for regret that based on these absolute untruths which had been sustained over the years, millions of innocent Igbos, including women and children were callously massacred in the pogrom and ensuing civil war that lasted for almost three years. Igbos were displaced from across Nigeria, bombed and shelled to submission. At the end of the fratricidal war, Igbo properties were confiscated, including their bank savings.
They were given only 20 pounds irrespective of whatever amount of money they had in their bank accounts. This was a wicked policy that was maliciously drawn to reduce Igbos to a state of penury and beggarliness.
The Igbo adversaries who plotted the counter coup of July 1966 that wiped out Igbo officers in Nigeria`s military echelons also continued to peddle the falsehood that the war was caused by the declaration of secession by Ojukwu. They conveniently forgot that it was the inability of General Gowon to protect Igbos and Easterners in the North from the rampaging killer mobs across Northern cities that compelled Ojukwu to declare Biafra.
Babangida in his book has vindicated Ojukwu. He stated categorically: ‘Gen. Yakubu Gowon`s failure to secure and protect the lives and properties of the Igbos in the North forced Col. Emeka Ojukwu to declare the secession of the Eastern Region from Nigeria in May 1967, leading to the fratricidal Nigerian-Biafran civil war’.
Again, every true student of history knew what happened in Aburi, Ghana when a last ditch effort was made by the then Ghanaian leader, General Ankrah, to stop Nigeria from sliding into war. Gowon reneged on all the agreements that were reached in Aburi which included the decentralization of the command structure of the Army and rehabilitation of the Igbos and Easterners displaced in the North.
The failure of Gowon and his regime to keep the Aburi accord was the last straw that broke the camel`s back, making the civil war inevitable.
Now that the whole truth has been revealed by a man who was a participant in those tragic events, the time is now opportune for the wrongs to be righted. The Igbo ethnic nationality in Nigeria and the people of old Eastern Region deserve an unqualified apology from the Government and people of Nigeria for the historical wrongs and injustices perpetrated against them, to be followed by restitution.
All the innocent people that were brutally killed in the pogrom and civil war based on the long subsisting national falsehood cannot come back to life again. The government should, however, institute a programme in their name for national healing and true reconciliation.
Ndigbo should demand the realignment of the geographical boundaries which were maliciously adjusted by the Mamman Nasir Boundary Commission to make the Igbo territory a landlocked region.
The additional State for the South East which was reached through national consensus both at the 2005 National Political Reforms Conference and the 2014 National Conference should as a matter of utmost priority be created to bring the South East zone at par with the other geo-political zones.
These are the right steps to be taken towards bringing this ugly chapter of our national history to an end.
Dr. Nwosu, a Public Policy Analyst, wrote from Abuja.
Email: cdnwosu2@gmail.com
