Browsing: The First Coup

Forty-three years ago, on the 15th of January 1966 to be precise, a certain Major Chukwuma Nzeagwu addressed Nigerians through Radio Kaduna announcing martial law and the takeover of power by the Supreme Council of the Revolution. Their aim, he said, was to establish a strong, united and prosperous nation free of corruption and internal strife. Our method of achieving this is purely military”. By the end of the day, a significant part of the political class in the North and the West had been wiped out and the military had taken over the political system. In his column in Daily Times (3/2/1966), the late Tai Solarin blasted the civilian political class for destroying Nigerian politics through their twin evil practices of corruption and election rigging. He confidently boasted that Now we have been saved and we want to stay saved. Today, we are all wiser and almost nobody believes the military can save any country.