Remembering Major General J.T.U Aguiyi Ironsi kiied 52 years ago

By -
Late Major General Johnson Thomas Umunnakwe Aguiyi-Ironsi

(Nigeria) Today, Biafrans all over the world remember the late Major General Johnson Thomas Umunnakwe Aguiyi-Ironsi who was assassinated in the early hours of July 29, 1966, by a group of  soldiers.
The soldiers carried out their dastardly act in response to an earlier coup in January 15th of same year by another group of soldiers drawn from both the Northern and Southern parts of Nigeria, which resulted in the death of prominent Nigerians such as Felix Okotie-Eboh, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, Ahmadu Bello, Samuel Ladoke Akintola, Ahmed Ben Musa, Brig. Samuel Ademulegun, Brig. Zakariya Maimalari, Col. Ralph Shodeinde, Lt. Col. Arthur Unegbe, and others. Although the majority of the January 15th coup plotters were non-Igbos, it was still dubbed an “Igbo coup” which then gave rise to the July 29th counter-coup in which 100 percent of the coup plotters were from Northern Nigeria.
“Johnny” as he was fondly called by his wife, Victoria Aguiyi-Ironsi, hails from Umuana village in Ndume community of Ibeku clan in Umuahia, Biafraland. Johnny was born on March 3, 1924,  and at the age of 18 joined the Nigerian Army at the rank of a Private. Because of his outstanding performance, Johnny was promoted to the rank of company Sergeant within four years of enlisting in the Army. Between 1946 and 1949, Aguiyi-Ironsi completed an officer training course at Staff College, Camberley England and was promoted to a Second Lieutenant of the Royal West African Frontier Force.
From promotion to the rank of Captain in 1953, Aguiyi-Ironsi became a Major in 1955, and a Lieutenant Colonel in 1960 and the Commandant of the Fifth Battalion in Kano. It was at this point that he led the Nigerian contingent of the United Nations (UN) peace-keeping Force in the then Congo and in 1964 became the overall commandant of the entire UN Forces in Congo.
Having completed advanced courses at the Imperial Defence College, Seaford House, Belgrave Square, Johnny was promoted to Brigadier and later Major General in 1965. 
With the retirement of Major General Christopher B. Welby-Everard, Aguiyi-Ironsi became the General Officer Commanding (GOC), Nigerian Army, thus being the first indigene to head the entire Nigerian Army.
After the failed coup of January 15, 1966, and with the attendant confusions, the civilian government handed over power to the Nigerian military and on the 17th of January 1966, Major General J. T. U. Aguiyi-Ironsi became the military head of state of Nigeria. Six months later, he was assassinated at Government House, Ibadan (now the capital of Oyo state), leaving his adorable wife and First Lady, Victoria Aguiyi-Ironsi from Ohokobo-Afara Umuahia-Ibeku, as well as eight children.
Today, Biafrans all over the world remember their illustrious son who was murdered in his prime by Northern soldiers in a revenge for a hoax and non-existent “Igbo coup.” 
It is instructive that many of those who carried out the dastardly act were also assassinated or executed later in their military careers and those still alive are facing ethno-religious cleansing such as is the case with the leader of the 1966 soldier-assassins.
Biafrans will also not forget over 40 high-ranking Army Officers of Biafran extraction who were massacred between July 29 and September 30, 1966.
We also remember more than 200 rank-and-file soldiers from Biafraland murdered, between July and August in 1966, by the rampaging  soldiers at the various Army formations in Nigeria.
We console the families of our dead heroes and we make a solemn declaration and promise that their death will never be in vain because we know that they were murdered for the simple fact that they were Biafrans. Hence, we shall restore the nation of Biafra to the disappointment and chagrin of these assassins in military uniforms. Indeed, Biafra shall be restored and our dead heroes shall forever be remembered.
May the soul of Major General Johnson Thomas Umunnakwe Aguiyi-Ironsi and the souls of all the dead soldiers of Biafran extraction rest in the bosom of Chukwu Okike Abiama, Iseeeeeee.

*Dr. Clifford Chukwuemeka Iroanya
Houston-Texas, USA

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

UBTH @50: Obaseki hails institution’s role in strengthening Edo healthcare

By -
Image
(Nigeria) Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State, has commended the staff and management of the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, UBTH, for their unwavering commitment, dedication, and hard work in providing high-quality healthcare services to the people of Edo State and Nigeria in the past fifty years. Obaseki, at a dinner organized in honour of the Committee of Chief Medical Directors of Nigeria, at the Government House, Benin City, reassured the government’s continuous partnership and collaboration with the federal government-owned health institution to strengthen the health system and ensure quality health delivery to Edo people. The governor, who was represented by his deputy, Philip Shaibu, reeled out the gains of the government’s reforms in the health sector, commending the medical centre for bolstering the government’s efforts at transforming Edo State into a health hub. He said, "We came into a wilderness where you have to cut a part for yourself and fix it. We held...
Read more

Osun: S'Court ruling affirmed power resides with the people - Diri

By -
Image
*Bayelsa State Governor, Senator Douye Diri (Nigeria) Bayelsa State Governor, Senator Douye Diri, has said the ruling of the country’s apex court on the Osun State governorship election was an affirmation that power in a democracy resided with the people. Governor Diri, while congratulating Senator Ademola Adeleke in a statement issued by his Chief Press Secretary, Daniel Alabrah, on Wednesday, expressed joy that the Supreme Court sealed the mandate freely given to the governor by the Osun people. The Bayelsa governor also said the verdict reflected the current mood of the country where those whose stock-in-trade is to promote electoral violence and subvert the will of the people have no place in our electoral system. He expressed the hope that introduction of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, BVAS, will instil more confidence in the electoral process, urging the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to deepen Nigeria’s democracy by also introducing electronic votin...
Read more

NBC has no powers to impose fine on broadcast stations --Court

By -
Image
(Nigeria) The National Broadcasting Commission, NBC, has been restrained by a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, from imposing fines on broadcast stations in the country. Trial judge in the matter, Justice James Omotosho also set aside the N500,000 fines imposed on March 1, 2019, on each of 45 broadcast stations. The court made the orders in its judgment a suit by the Incorporated Trustees of Media Rights Agenda, MRA, which had sued the NBC. Justice Omotosho held that the NBC, not being a court of law, had no power to impose sanctions as punishment on broadcast stations. The court further held that the Nigeria Broadcasting Code, which gives the commission the power to impose sanction, is in conflict with Section 6 of the Constitution that vested judicial power in the court of law. He said the court would not sit idle and watch a body imposing fine arbitrarily without recourse to the law. He said that the commission did not comply with the law when it sat as a complainant and at...
Read more