This reaction is intended to correct widespread misinformation about the office of the Senate president in the First Republic and malicious distortion of facts on the January 15, 1966 coup that ushered the military into power. First, it is important to state, in unequivocal terms, that Dr. Abyssinia Akweke Nwafor-Orizu was the third and not “first” Senate President as often attributed and wrongly fed into the global information network.

 

Second, there was a formal handover of power from the then acting president to the GOC, Major-General Johnson Thomas Umunnakwe Aguiyi-Ironsi, on the recommendation of fellow service chiefs. He did not take over power at “gun-point” as hatefully canvassed.

 

Ideally, facts are sacred while comments are free. However,  ironically, Nigeria is one of the climes that is an exception to that rule and informed approach to communication. In this country, facts are so coloured and oftentimes distorted that it has become increasingly difficult to distinguish facts from fabrications. This began from the ethnic colouration of the pre-independence media, which was transported into the new federation and cemented by the civil strife/war hostilities. However, while some flaws are attributable to ignorance and intellectual laziness, prevalence of writer’s allergy to facts and flair for parochialism explains the absence of an accurate document  on the nation’s political history. This is more pronounced in the contributions and roles of frontline political personalities. However, the  mix-up between Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe (Zik) and Orizu’s tenures in the Senate is unfortunate. Their relationship, which dates back to 1937, was like that of father and son. Orizu articulated Zikism, which gave birth to the Zikist Movement. Both hail from old Onitsha Province of today’s Anamba State.  sad, the misinformation – garbage in, garbage out – has been fed into the Internet and it’s now globally accessed from Wikipedia.

 

Having once tried to correct this flaw in the defunct Moment newspaper of July 10, 2011, I was irked when I read Kemi Yesufu’s fine feature on “50 years of Igwe Orizu of Nnewi on the throne (Daily Sun, January 17, 2014), where she wrote inter alia: “… daughter  of the country’s first Senate president, Dr. Abesina Orizu…” Besides the attribution, which is no longer the reporter’s fault, misspelling the name of a public figure is an unpardonable production blunder. The common resort to “it’s not my language” is a lazy journalist’s alibi, especially in this age of the worldwide web.

 

Two days earlier, in The Nation of Wednesday January 15, political editor, Emmanuel Oladesu, in a memorial feature, entitled, Balewa: 48 years after, mischievously stated: “Ironsi was carried away by his new status, as head of state on a platter of gold. Although the coup had failed, he still decided to take over from the council of ministers at gunpoint…” Although the rendition was characteristic of his ilk, I was miffed that a ‘political editor’ could engage in such a blatant distortion of an event that is core to Nigeria’s political history.

 

Against the backdrop of these two publications, one decided to react, with a view to setting the records straight. It’s equally important to note that the two subjects – Orizu’s tenure, as third Senate president and Ironsi’s  assumption of office – are closely related. Given the outcome of the 1959 general elections, neither of the three major parties – the National Council of Nigeria Citizens (NCNC), Action Group (AG) and Northern People Congress (NPC) could form government at the centre without an alliance with either of the two others.

 

Although there were moves and concessions, an NCNC-AG alliance was ruled out because of the fresh memories of the 1951 carpet-crossing perfidy. Naturally, the NCNC leadership felt safer working with the NPC, which, by virtue of its numerical edge, had produced the Prime Minister, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa. After consultations, Zik accepted the non-executive position of first Senate president. This was also preparatory to the office of Governor-General on retirement of the colonial incumbent, Sir James Robertson, due on November 15, 1960. Consequently, on November 16, as God’s 56th birthday gift, the Right Honourable Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe (P.C.) was installed the first African Governor-General of Nigeria. Same day, the Queen of England appointed him a member of her Privy Council (P.C.). Thus, Zik became the president and commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces in 1963 when Nigeria attained a republican state.

 

As he vacated the Senate presidency on November 16, 1960, the amiable and astute NCNC stalwart, Chief Dennis Chukwude Osadebay, took over as second Senate president. Before coming to the centre, he was the opposition leader in the defunct Western House of Assembly, Ibadan, where he endured taunts of “kobokobo” by fellow legislators. His tenure lasted till the birth of the Midwest movement of which he was the leader and eventual Premier in 1964 when the Region was created.

 

He was succeeded by the Nnewi Prince, Dr. Nwafor-Orizu, author of over eight books and philosopher of “Horizontal Education,” whose scholarship programme, American Education for Africans, produced the first Nigerian to bag PhD in Education. Thus, he was the third president of the Senate, which automatically positioned  him to take over from his mentor in 1965, when the then president travelled to the United Kingdom for medical treatment.

 

In chapter 28 of Liberty or Chains: Africa Must Be, Orizu recalled: “At exactly 12.15pm on Saturday, October 16, 1965, at the Lagos House, I was sworn-in as the Acting President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria before the Chief Justice of the Federation, Sir Adetokunbo Ademola.”

 

The circumstantial bestowal made him the man at the centre of the storm, after the failed coup of January 15, 1966. He continued the introspection, as he recalled a meeting with Mr. A.K. Disu, State House Secretary, after which he asked him to invite the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Dr. Teslim O. Elias, to his office. He stated; “And also present were the General Officer Commanding (G.O.C) Major-General J.T.U Aguiyi-Ironsi and Deputy Defence Minister Galadima of Sokoto. And according to West Africa magazine of January 1966, “two important meetings were reported during the day: one was at police headquarters, attended by two prominent NPC members – Alhaji Zana Bukar Dipcharima (senior cabinet minister, in the absence of Defense Minister, Alhaji Inua Wada, who was in Zurich) and Foreign Minister, Alhaji Nuhu Bamali and the Attorney-General, Dr. T.O Elias as well as Gen Ironsi, senior police officials and the British High Commissioner, Sir Francis Cumming-Bruce….”

 

Although the coup had been quelled at this point in time, Ironsi has not yet become the Head of State and commander-in-chief, lest taking over government. As a result, the two ministers and state House Secretary advised the acting President Orizu to appoint a Prime Minister. In his capacity as Attorney-General, Dr. T.O. Elias specifically advised: “That he (Orizu) was the constitutional head of state; That he (Elias) was among those who saw the G.O.C (Ironsi) that day with the ministers; that the G.O.C stated he was put in a difficult position; Cited section 92 of Nigerian Constitution to show my powers to appoint a Prime Minister; Advised that I summon heads of the forces (including Ironsi); That I have all the full powers of the president to make decisions on this matter without depending on anybody, because I was not deputising but acting president with full powers…”

 

Based on the foregoing advice, Orizu, as acting president, summoned a meeting of the service chiefs: G.O.C. Nigerian Army, Ironsi; Navy Commander, Commodore Akinwale Wey; Inspector-General of Police, Louis O. Edet, and Commander of the newly created Nigerian Air Force, a whiteman. All, he recalled, attended the summon in their official regalia and saluted him as their commander-in-chief.

 

He added: “By 8pm all the service chiefs and their aides-de-camp, no more armoured cars, arrived. Among the ministers who came were Alhaji Dipcharima, Shehu Shagari, Dr. Elias, and some others. No ministers from the East. I, therefore, asked my orderly to go and summon K.O. Mbadiwe immediately – and he joined. The head of the Air Force was a whiteman. He read text of what they (service chiefs) prepared. There were two points for which I did not accept the document initially: they suspended the parliament and presidency, and not the regional governments (second), they also asked me to hand over power to the armed forces.”

 

Not satisfied with the document, he asked them to go and effect the necessary corrections, which they did.

 

“They want away, and came back (later), and we resumed discussion. I wanted them to choose to whom power should be handed over. I saw they failed to specify (in the amended document) to who exactly I should hand over. I put this to them. They indicated the head of the military -  Aguiyi-Ironsi. He whispered to me that he was not prepared to take over and run this government…”

 

While the nation waited in suspense that fateful day, relevant public officials worked assiduously to effect a handover procedure, while northern leaders were also making consultations with a section of the military. Orizu’s introspection continues with an excerpt from his broadcast speech of midnight January 15/16, 1966: “I have tonight been advised by the council of ministers that they had come to a unanimous decision voluntarily to hand over the administration of the country to the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria with immediate effect… I will now call on the G.O.C, Major- General Aguiyi-Ironsi to make a statement on the policy of the new administration …”

 

The above broadcast was aired on the Nigeria Broadcasting Corporation (NBC), Ikoyi, Lagos. The Lagos /South West press and powerful Radio Nigeria, Kaduna, all had access to the foregoing details. In summary, the elder statesman also quoted Major-General James Oluleye, as having stated elsewhere: “This was the solemn surrendering ceremony marking the advent of the military era.”

 

Given the foregoing scenario and the spiteful outburst that greeted Achebe’s accurate recall of a statement Chief Obafemi Awolowo never refuted in his life-time, the questions arise: Can we ever have an unbiased and factual account of the nation’s political history? Why did the military, the media and intelligentsia conspire to black out Dr. Nwafor-Orizu’s earned status, as a former Head of State and commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces since he was formally sworn-in by the serving Chief Justice of the Federation,  three months before the coup?

 

The Seventh National Assembly must find a way to correct the anomaly. The military leadership should equally cooperate because he gave an honest account of the take-over, which presents the military, as disciplined officers and gentlemen.

 

• Nwafo writes from Lagos; chi_dafo@yahoo.com    

 

Source: Sun