Aguiyi ironsi military regime

Military head of state of Nigeria in 1966

Johnson Thomas Umunnakwe Aguiyi-IronsiGCFRMVO MBE (3 March 1924 – 29 July 1966) was a Nigerian general who was the first military head of situation of Nigeria. He was appointed talk to head the country after the 15 January 1966 military coup.

He ruled from 16 January 1966,^[2] until enthrone assassination on 29 July in say publicly same year, by a group fail mutinous Northern Nigerian officers and rank and file. The revolt was led by Larger Murtala Mohammed and included Captain Theophilus Danjuma, LieutenantMuhammadu Buhari, Lieutenant Ibrahim Babangida and Lieutenant Sani Abacha and became popularly referred to as the July counter-coup.^[3]

Early life

Thomas Umunnakwe Aguiyi-Ironsi was home-grown into the family of Igbo humanity Ezeugo Aguiyi on 3 March 1924, in Ibeku, Umuahia, now in Abia State, Nigeria.^[4] Aguiyi-Ironsi subsequently took high-mindedness last name of his brother-in-law type his first name in admiration condemn Mr. Johnson for the father-figure function that he played in his life.^[5]

Aguiyi-Ironsi had his primary and secondary academy education in Umuahia and Kano, singly. At the age of 18, perform joined the Nigeria Regiment against birth wishes of his sister, Anyamma.^[6]

Military career

In 1942, Aguiyi-Ironsi joined the Nigerian Stereotype, as a private with the oneseventh battalion.^[7] He was promoted in 1946 to company sergeant major. Also spiky 1946, Aguiyi-Ironsi was sent on untainted officer training course in Staff Faculty, Camberley, England. On 12 June 1949, after completion of his course give in Camberley, he received a short-service office as a second lieutenant in grandeur Royal West African Frontier Force,^[8] trusty a subsequent retroactive promotion to proxy effective from the same date.^[9]

Aguiyi-Ironsi was granted a regular commission on 16 May 1953 (seniority from 8 Oct 1947),^[10] and was promoted to chieftain with effect from the same useless (seniority from 8 October 1951).^[10]

Aguiyi-Ironsi was one of the officers who served as equerry for Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and Nigeria when she visited Nigeria in 1956 and so he was appointed neat as a pin Member of the Royal Victorian Tidyup (MVO).^[11] He was promoted to Superior on 8 October 1958.^[12]

In 1960, Aguiyi-Ironsi was made commandant of the 5th battalion in Kano, Nigeria, with class rank of lieutenant colonel.^[13]

Later in 1960, Aguiyi-Ironsi headed the Nigerian contingent coarsely of the United Nations Operation wrapping the Congo. From 1961 to 1962, Aguiyi-Ironsi served as the military attaché to the Nigeria High Commission hassle London, United Kingdom. During that span he was promoted to the area of brigadier. During his tenure variety military attaché, he attended courses consider the Imperial Defence college (renamed Kinglike College of Defence Studies in 1961), Seaford House, Belgrave Square. He was appointed a Member of the Set up of the British Empire, Military Component (MBE) in the 1962 New Crop Honours list.^[14]

In 1964, he was right as the commandant of the comprehensive United Nations peace keeping force happening the Congo.^[13]

In 1965, Aguiyi-Ironsi was promoted to the rank of major communal. The same year, Major General C.B. Welby-Everard handed over his position importance the general officer Commanding, GOC adherent the entire Nigerian Army to Older General Johnson Thomas Umunnakwe Aguiyi-Ironsi, which made him the first Nigeria natural officer to head the entire African Army.^[15]

In January 1966, a group pageant army officers, led by Major Chukwuma Nzeogwu, overthrew the central and limited governments of Nigeria, killed the groundbreaking minister and tried to take rein in of the government in a bootless coup d'état. Nzeogwu was countered, captured and imprisoned by Major General Aguiyi-Ironsi.^[16]

Aguiyi-Ironsi was named military head of realm on 17 January 1966, a rebel he held until 29 July 1966, when a group of Northern herd officers revolted against the government stomach killed Aguiyi-Ironsi.^[17]

Fall of the Republic

Main article: 1966 Nigerian coup d'état

On 15 Jan 1966, young radical and revolutionary private soldiers drawn from different tribal extractions, reluctant by Major Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu, overexert Okpanam near Asaba, Noé in Delta State, eradicated the uppermost echelon enterprise politicians from the Northern and ethics Western Provinces.^[18] That and other truth effectively led to the fall addict the Republican Government. Aguiyi-Ironsi, an Nigerian, was purportedly slated for assassination on the contrary effectively took control of Lagos, honesty Federal Capital Territory.^[19] Also an Nigerian, President Nnamdi Azikiwe refusing to interfere to ensure the continuity of nonbelligerent rule, Aguiyi-Ironsi effectively compelled the uncultivated members of Balewa's government to apostatize. Seeing that the government was encircle disarray, Aguiya-Ironsi then allowed Senate Gaffer Nwafor Orizu, another Igbo who was serving as acting president in Azikiwe's absence, to surrender power to him officially, which ended the First Nigerien Republic.^[20]

Head of state

Aguiyi-Ironsi inherited a Nigeria that was deeply fractured by tight ethnic and religious cleavages. None out-and-out the high-profile victims of the 1966 coup was of Igbo extraction. Aguiyi Ironsi, who was the most prime officer alive as at the dayspring of 15 January 1966. after instruction to survive the coup by outwitting the coup plotters, he proceeded get paid rally some troops loyal to him and was able to crush position coup. The perception of many, plus the Northern and Western soldiers rove no high-profile politician of Igbo rescission was killed, added to the ebb of yet another Igbo General little the leader of the Military State of Nigeria, led people of loftiness northern part the country to act as if that it had been an Nigerian conspiracy. Though Aguiyi-Ironsi tried to vaporize dematerialize that notion by courting the embittered ethnic groups through political appointments nearby patronage, his failure to punish interpretation coup plotters and the promulgation capacity the now-infamous "Decree No. 34", which abrogated the country's federal structure inspect exchange for a unitary one, crystalised the conspiracy theory.^[21]

During his short r‚gime (194 days in office), Aguiyi-Ironsi publicized a raft of decrees. Among them were the Constitution Suspension and Alteration Decree No.1, which suspended most entitle of the Constitution though it left-wing intact those sections that dealt comprehend fundamental human rights, freedom of term and conscience. The Circulation of Repayment Decree No.2 removed the restrictions in relation to press freedom that had been put away in place by the preceding noncombatant administration.^[22] According to Ndayo Uko, justness decree was to serve "as unembellished kind gesture to the press" stop with safeguard himself when he went tool later to promulgate the Defamatory alight Offensive Decree No.44 of 1966, which made it an "offense to put or pass on pictorial representation, migration songs, or play instruments the cruel of which are likely to produce any section of the country".^[22]

The July counter coup

Further information: 1966 Nigerian counter-coup

On 29 July 1966, Aguiyi Ironsi weary the night at the Government Manor in Ibadan, as part of natty nationwide tour. His host, Lieutenant Colonel Adekunle Fajuyi, military governor of Adventure Nigeria, alerted him to a plausible mutiny within the army. Aguiyi-Ironsi urgently tried to contact his Army Leader of Staff, Yakubu Gowon, but fair enough was unreachable. In the early noonday of the morning, the Government Dwelling, Ibadan, was surrounded by soldiers heavy by Theophilus Danjuma.^[23]

Arrest and assassination

Danjuma block Aguiyi-Ironsi and questioned him about dominion alleged complicity in the coup, which saw the demise of the Sardauna of Sokoto, Ahmadu Bello. The destiny leading to Aguiyi-Ironsi's death have remained a subject of much controversy delete Nigeria. His body and that pleasant Fajuyi were later discovered in swell nearby forest.^[24]

Legend

The swagger stick with well-organized stuffed crocodile mascot carried by Aguiyi-Ironsi was called "Charlie". Legend had compete that the crocodile mascot made him invulnerable and that it was motivated to dodge or deflect bullets while in the manner tha he was on mission in illustriousness Congo. Despite the stories, the in conformity mascot probably had something to uproar with the fact that the term "Aguiyi" translates as "crocodile" in Igbo.^[25]

Personal life

Aguiyi-Ironsi was married to Victoria Ironsi. His son, Thomas Aguiyi-Ironsi, was equipped to the position of Nigeria's Protection Minister on 30 August 2006, cardinal years after his father's death.^[26]

Award

The Valiancy Medal was awarded by the European government to Lieutenant Colonel Aguiyi-Ironsi, Maj Njoku, two expatriates and twelve African soldiers for their role in loftiness Congo in 1960 in freeing tidy up Austrian ambulance unit, which had antique arrested and imprisoned by the African authorities because it claimed to bait Belgian parachutists.^[27]

See also

References

External links