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Aguiyi-Ironsi
Johnson Thomas Umunnakwe Aguiyi-Ironsi (3 March 1924 – 29 July 1966) was the first military head of state of Nigeria. He seized power during the ensuing chaos after the 15 January 1966 military coup, which decapitated the country's leadership. He ruled from 16 January 1966 until his assassination by a group of mutinous Northern Nigerian officers and men who were led by Major Murtala Mohammed and included Captain Theophilus Danjuma, Lieutenant Muhammadu Buhari, Lieutenant Ibrahim Babangida and Lieutenant Sani Abacha in a revolt against his government in what was popularly called the July counter-coup. Early life Thomas Umunnakwe Aguiyi-Ironsi was born into the family of Mazi (Mr.) Ezeugo Aguiyi on the 3rd of March 1924, in Ibeku, Umuahia, Noé in Abia State, Nigeria. At the age of eight, he went to live with his older sister, Anyamma, who was married to Theophilius Johnson, a Sierra Leonean diplomat working in Umuahia. Aguiyi-Ironsi subsequently took the last nam ...
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Victoria Aguiyi-Ironsi
Victoria Nwanyiocha Aguyi-Ironsi (21 November 1923 – 23 August 2021) was the second First Lady of Nigeria from 16 January 1966 to 29 July 1966. She was the widow of General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi who was the first Nigerian military head of state, he was killed in Ibadan in a counter coup led by Murtala Muhammed which led to the installation of General Yakubu Gowon. Biography She hailed from Ohokobo Afara in Umuahia North Local Government Area. She married Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi as a student of Holy Rosary Convent School, Okigwe in 1953. Following the death of Samuel Ademulegun and his wife, she moved his children from Kaduna to Lagos and cared for them. She had 8 children who were taken away and cared for by nuns in Ibadan under the direction of Adekunle Fajuyi during the Nigerian Civil War. She served as a commissioner of the Local Government Services Commission in Umuahia Umuahia () is the capital city of Abia State in southeastern Nigeria. Umuahia is located along th ...
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List Of Heads Of State Of Nigeria
This is a list of the heads of state of Nigeria, from independence in 1960 to the present day. The current constitution of Nigeria has the president of Nigeria as the head of state and government. From 1960 to 1963, the head of state under the Constitution of 1960 was the queen of Nigeria, Elizabeth II who was also the queen of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms. The monarch was represented in Nigeria by a governor-general. Nigeria became a republic within the Commonwealth under the Constitution of 1963 and the monarch and governor-general were replaced by a ceremonial president. Nnamdi Azikiwe served as the only indigenous governor-general of Nigeria. Since Nigeria became a republic in 1963, 13 individuals have served as head of state of Nigeria under different titles. While the incumbent president Muhammadu Buhari is the nation's 15th head of state, he served as the 7th head of state during a military regime between 1983 and 1985. Olusegun Obasanjo served as ...
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1966 Nigerian Coup D'état
The 1966 Nigerian coup d'état began on 15 January 1966, when mutinous Nigerian soldiers led by Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu and Emmanuel Ifeajuna killed 22 people including the Prime Minister of Nigeria, many senior politicians, many senior Army officers (including their wives), and sentinels on protective duty. The coup plotters attacked the cities of Kaduna, Ibadan, and Lagos while also blockading the Niger and Benue River within a two-day span of time before the coup plotters were subdued. The General Officer Commanding the Nigerian Army, Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi, was compelled to take control of the government of a country in upheaval, inadvertently putting Nigeria's nascent democracy on hold. His ascendancy to power was deemed a conspiracy by the coup plotters, who were mainly Igbo officers, to pave the way for General Aguiyi-Ironsi to be Head of State of Nigeria. Consequently, the retaliatory events by Northern members of the Nigerian Army that led to deaths of many innocent Igbo ...
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Yakubu Gowon
Yakubu Dan-Yumma 'Jack' Gowon (born 19 October 1934) is a retired Nigerian Army general and military leader. As Head of State of Nigeria, Gowon presided over a controversial Nigerian Civil War and delivered the famous "no victor, no vanquished" speech at the war's end in an effort to promote healing and reconciliation. The Nigerian Civil War is listed as one of the deadliest in modern history, with some accusing Gowon of crimes against humanity and genocide. Gowon maintains that he committed no wrongdoing during the war and that his leadership saved the country. An Anglican Christian from a minority Ngas family of Northern Nigeria, Gowon is a Nigerian nationalist, and a believer in the unity and oneness of Nigeria. Gowon's rise to power following the July 1966 counter-coup cemented military rule in Nigeria. Consequently, Gowon is the longest serving contiguous head of state of Nigeria, ruling for almost nine years until his overthrow in the coup d'état of 1975 by Bri ...
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Murtala Mohammed
Murtala Ramat Muhammad (8 November 1938 – 13 February 1976) was a Nigerian general who led the 1966 Nigerian counter-coup in overthrowing the Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi military regime and featured prominently during the Nigerian Civil War and thereafter ruled over Nigeria from 30 July 1975 until his assassination on 13 February 1976. This period in Nigerian history, from the Northern counter-coup victory to Murtala's death, is commonly associated with the institutionalization of the military in politics. Born in Kano, into a ruling-class religious family, Murtala served in the Nigerian Army as a cadet in the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst. He later served in Congo; eventually rose through the ranks to become brigadier general in 1971, aged 33, becoming one of the youngest generals in Nigeria. Three years later Murtala became the Federal Commissioner for Communications in Lagos. As a conservative and federalist, Murtala regretted the overthrow of the First Republic a ...
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Babafemi Ogundipe
Babafemi Olatunde Ogundipe (6 September 1924 – 20 November 1971) was the ''de facto'' second-in-command and first Chief of Staff, Supreme Headquarters from January 1966 to August 1966 during Major General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi's military regime. He was Nigerian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom from September 1966 to August 1970 during General Yakubu Gowon's military regime. Early life He was born on 6 September 1924 to Yoruba parents from Ago-Iwoye, in present-day Ogun State in western Nigeria. Military career He joined the Royal West African Frontier Force in 1941, serving in Burma between 1942 and 1945. He re-enlisted in the West Africa Forces and received a short service commission as a second lieutenant in August 1953. In December 1956, he was commissioned into the regular army as a lieutenant, with seniority from 21 January 1952. He was appointed Captain, with seniority from January 1955, in December 1956. On 1 October 1960, along with the majority ...
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Abia State
Abia State ( ig, Ȯha Abia) is a state in the South-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria, it is bordered to the north and northeast by the states of Enugu, and Ebonyi, Imo State to the west, Cross River State to the east, Akwa Ibom State to the southeast, and Rivers State to the south. It takes its name from the acronym for four of the state's most populated regions: Aba, Bende, Isuikwuato, and Afikpo. The state capital is Umuahia while the largest city and commercial centre is Aba. Abia is the 32nd largest in area and 27th most populous with an estimated population of over 3,720,000 as of 2016. Geographically, the state is divided between the Niger Delta swamp forests in the far south and the drier Cross–Niger transition forests with some savanna in the rest of the State. Other important geographical features are the Imo and Aba Rivers which flow along the Abia's western and southern borders, respectively. Modern-day Abia State has been inhabited for years by various e ...
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Military Dictatorship In Nigeria
The military dictatorship in Nigeria was a period when members of the Nigerian Armed Forces held power in Nigeria from 1966 to 1999 with an interregnum from 1979 to 1983. The military was able to rise to power often with the tacit support of the elite through coup d'états. Since the country became a republic in 1963, there has been a series of military coups in Nigeria. Background The military dictatorship in Nigeria began with the ''coup d'état of 1966'' which was planned and executed by a group of revolutionary Nigerian nationalist officers started as a small rebellion military cell under Emmanuel Ifeajuna. Major Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu was the face of the coup attempt, which involved five other army majors: Timothy Onwuatuegwu, Chris Anuforo, Don Okafor, Adewale Ademoyega and Humphrey Chukwuka. It operated as a clandestine movement of junior officers during the post-independence period of 1960–1966. The plot received support from left-wing intellectuals, who ...
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Chief Of Army Staff (Nigeria)
The Chief of Army Staff (COAS) has been the title of the professional head of the Nigerian Army since 1966. Prior to 1966, the title was General Officer Commanding, Nigerian Army (GOCNA). Since 1980, the post has been immediately subordinate to the Chief of Defence Staff, the post held by the professional head of the Nigerian Armed Forces. The position is often occupied by the most senior commissioned officer appointed by the President of Nigeria. The current Chief of Army Staff is Lieutenant General Farouk Yahaya, who succeeded Lieutenant General Ibrahim Attahiru, in May 2021 a few days after he died in an Air Crash. Role In the chain of command, the Chief of Army Staff reports to the Chief of Defence Staff, who in turn, reports to the Defence Minister, accountable to the President of Nigeria. The Statutory duty of the Officer is to formulate and execute policies towards the highest attainment of National Security and operational competence of the Nigerian Army. Chiefs o ...
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Nigerian Military Juntas Of 1966–79 And 1983–98
The military dictatorship in Nigeria was a period when members of the Nigerian Armed Forces held power in Nigeria from 1966 to 1999 with an interregnum from 1979 to 1983. The military was able to rise to power often with the tacit support of the elite through coup d'états. Since the country became a republic in 1963, there has been a series of military coups in Nigeria. Background The military dictatorship in Nigeria began with the ''coup d'état of 1966'' which was planned and executed by a group of revolutionary Nigerian nationalist officers started as a small rebellion military cell under Emmanuel Ifeajuna. Major Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu was the face of the coup attempt, which involved five other army majors: Timothy Onwuatuegwu, Chris Anuforo, Don Okafor, Adewale Ademoyega and Humphrey Chukwuka. It operated as a clandestine movement of junior officers during the post-independence period of 1960–1966. The plot received support from left-wing intellectuals, who rej ...
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Nigerian Army
The Nigerian Army (NA) is the land force of the Nigerian Armed Forces. It is governed by the Nigerian Army Council (NAC). The Chief of Army Staff is the highest ranking military officer of the Nigerian Army. History Formation The Nigerian Army traces its history to Lieutenant John Hawley Glover's Constabulary Force, which was largely composed of freed Hausa slaves in 1863. The Constabulary Force was established with the primary goal of protecting the Royal Niger Company and its assets from constant military incursions by the neighboring Ashanti Empire. This policing force would slowly grow in size and capability to meet the needs of the British Empire in its West African territories, and would later form the nucleus of both the Gold Coast and the Hausa Constabulary, both of which would become the Ghana Regiment and Southern Nigeria Regiment respectively by 1879. These regiments would be incorporated into the Royal West African Frontier Force (RWAFF) in 1900 by the Brit ...
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Nnamdi Azikiwe
Nnamdi Benjamin Azikiwe, (16 November 1904 – 11 May 1996), usually referred to as "Zik", was a Nigerian statesman and political leader who served as the first President of Nigeria from 1963 to 1966. Considered a driving force behind the nation's independence, he came to be known as the "father of Nigerian Nationalism". Born to Igbo parents from Anambra State, Eastern Nigeria in Zungeru in present-day Niger State, as a young boy he learned to speak Hausa (the main indigenous language of the Northern Region). Azikiwe was later sent to live with his aunt and grandmother in Onitsha (his parental homeland), where he learned the Igbo language. A stay in Lagos exposed him to the Yoruba language; by the time he was in college, he had been exposed to different Nigerian cultures and spoke three languages (an asset as president). Azikiwe travelled to the United States where he was known as Ben Azikiwe and attended Storer College, Columbia University, the University of Pennsylva ...
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