Fresh details have emerged on the deep divisions within Nigeria’s military hierarchy after the January 1966 coup, with former Head of State Yakubu Gowon revealing that some northern officers suspected Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu of involvement in the coup and contemplated action against him.
Gowon made the revelation in his memoir, My Life of Duty and Allegiance, scheduled for presentation in Abuja on Tuesday.
The former military ruler recounted the atmosphere of distrust and uncertainty that followed the failed January 1966 coup, during which several prominent northern political leaders and military officers were assassinated by mutinous soldiers, many of whom were of Igbo origin.
Among those killed were Prime Minister Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, Northern Region Premier Ahmadu Bello, Western Region Premier Ladoke Akintola and Finance Minister Festus Okotie-Eboh.
Senior northern military officers also lost their lives during the uprising, including Brigadier Zakariya Maimalari, a development that intensified suspicions among northern troops that the coup specifically targeted their region.
Although the mutiny eventually collapsed, it led to the emergence of Major General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi as Nigeria’s military leader.
But the fragile calm that followed did not last long. In July 1966, a counter-coup by northern officers resulted in Ironsi’s assassination and triggered another struggle over military succession.
Gowon, then a lieutenant colonel, emerged as head of state despite being junior in rank to several officers, including Brigadier Babafemi Ogundipe.
According to Gowon, Ojukwu, who was then military governor of the Eastern Region, rejected his elevation and argued that Ogundipe, being the most senior officer in the army, should have succeeded Ironsi.
“Ojukwu refused my offer of friendship. By extension, he wilfully refused to recognise my leadership,” Gowon wrote in the memoir.
The former head of state explained that while Ogundipe was senior, the instability and fractured command structure within the military after the coup made his emergence unrealistic.
“The course of the coup had made it obvious that he could no longer function effectively in the command-and-control structure of the Nigerian Army and the Armed Forces,” Gowon stated.
He added that Ogundipe was later posted abroad as Nigeria’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom with the concurrence of the British government.
Gowon further disclosed that the hostility toward Ojukwu among northern officers became so intense that some were prepared to move against him over alleged links to the January coup.
According to him, he personally intervened to prevent retaliatory action because he believed cooperation among military leaders was essential to restoring national stability.
“He failed to appreciate that he had been under serious threat because the young northern officers believed he was complicit in the January 15, 1966 coup,” Gowon wrote.
“I pre-empted any attempt to move against him partly because I respected all the regional governors and because I believed we could rebuild the army and allow the country to continue its course.”
Despite Ojukwu’s opposition to his leadership, Gowon said he retained him as governor of the Eastern Region out of goodwill and in the hope that national unity could still be preserved.
“My decision to retain Ojukwu in office was altogether altruistic though subsequent events made it seem a huge mistake,” he wrote.
Relations between both men later deteriorated amid rising ethnic tensions and reprisal killings of Igbos in northern Nigeria.
The crisis ultimately escalated in May 1967 when Ojukwu declared the Eastern Region an independent Republic of Biafra, triggering Nigeria’s civil war.
The conflict lasted 30 months before ending in January 1970 with Biafra’s surrender and the reunification of the country.
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