Emmanuel Arinze Ifeajuna (1935 – 25 September 1967) was a
Nigerian
Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was derived from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jo ...
army major and
high jumper. He was the first
Black African
Black is a racial classification of people, usually a Politics, political and Human skin color, skin color-based category for specific populations with a mid- to dark brown complexion. Not all people considered "black" have dark skin and ofte ...
to win a gold medal at an international sports event when he won at the
1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games. His winning mark and personal best of 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) was a game record and a
British Empire record at the time.
An
Igbo from
Onitsha
Onitsha ( or simply ''Ọ̀nị̀chà'') is a city on the eastern bank of the Niger River, in Anambra State, Nigeria. Onitsha along with various cities and towns in southern Anambra State, northern Imo State and neighboring Delta State on the we ...
, he was a science graduate of the
University College of Ibadan and became involved in
politics
Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with decision-making, making decisions in social group, groups, or other forms of power (social and political), power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of Social sta ...
. He later joined the military and played a role in the
1966 Nigerian coup d'état
On 15 January 1966, rebellious soldiers led by Kaduna Nzeogwu and 4 others carried out a military putsch, killing 22 people, including the prime minister of Nigeria, many senior politicians, senior Army officers and their wives, and sentinels o ...
.
Life and career
High jumping
Born in
Onitsha
Onitsha ( or simply ''Ọ̀nị̀chà'') is a city on the eastern bank of the Niger River, in Anambra State, Nigeria. Onitsha along with various cities and towns in southern Anambra State, northern Imo State and neighboring Delta State on the we ...
,
[Siollun, Max (2005-10-30)]
"The Inside Story Of Nigeria’s First Military Coup (I)"
''Nigeria Matters''. Retrieved on 2014-07-13. he attended Dennis Memorial Grammar School in his home town and displayed the characteristics that would later define his life. He trained in the high jump under his games teacher,
[Oliver, Brian (2014-07-13)]
"Emmanuel Ifeajuna: Commonwealth Games gold to facing a firing squad"
''The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
''. Retrieved 2014-07-13. and he also took part in a protest that closed down the school for a term. He graduated from high school in 1951.
[Onyema, Henry (2013-10-23)]
"EMMANUEL IFEAJUNA – The Man Called Emma Vancouver"
. Naija Stories. Retrieved 2014-07-13. Ilesa Grammar School also claims him as a past alumnus. This is disputed, although he did do summer school teaching at the institution.
The 1954 Nigerian Athletics Championships saw him establish himself among the nation's best high jumpers. A jump of 6 feet 5.5 inches (1.97 m) meant Ifeajuna was chosen to represent his country at the
1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games, alongside
Nafiu Osagie.
[ Nigeria performed well internationally in the high jump in that period – Joshua Majekodunmi had been runner-up at the 1950 British Empire Games,][Commonwealth Game Medallists (Men)]
GBR Athletics. Retrieved 2014-07-13. and three Nigerian jumpers made the top twenty at the 1952 Olympic high jump.
At the 1954 Games in Vancouver
Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...
, he competed wearing only his left shoe yet managed to clear 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m), which was both a Games record and a British Empire record for the discipline. The resulting gold medal
A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture.
Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...
made him the first Black African
Black is a racial classification of people, usually a Politics, political and Human skin color, skin color-based category for specific populations with a mid- to dark brown complexion. Not all people considered "black" have dark skin and ofte ...
to win at a major international sports competition.[ The high jump had an African sweep of the medals that year, with Uganda's Patrick Etolu finishing behind Ifeajuna and Nigeria's Osagie taking third place.][ Ifeajuna received a hero's welcome upon his return to ]Lagos
Lagos ( ; ), or Lagos City, is a large metropolitan city in southwestern Nigeria. With an upper population estimated above 21 million dwellers, it is the largest city in Nigeria, the most populous urban area on the African continent, and on ...
and was paraded through the streets before speaking at a civic celebration.
Politics and university
After his gold medal win, he ceased training in the high jump and did not return to the sport. He enrolled in a science degree at the University College of Ibadan in 1954 and became involved within the institution's student politics movement. He was also a member of the prestigious Sigma Club, University of Ibadan
The University of Ibadan (UI) is a public university located in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. Initially founded as the University College Ibadan in 1948, it maintained its affiliation with the University of London. In 1962, it became an independe ...
, a socio philanthropic student organization, organizers of the annual Havana Musical Carnival in the institution. While there he became close friends with Christopher Okigbo and J.P. Clark, both of whom would go on to become prominent Nigerian poets.["The Journey of a Manuscript"]
AuthorMe. Retrieved 2014-07-13. Ifeajuna was also a close friend of Emeka Anyaoku, later Commonwealth Secretary-General
The Commonwealth secretary-general, formally the secretary-general of the Commonwealth of Nations, is the head of the Commonwealth Secretariat, the central body which has served the Commonwealth of Nations since its establishment in 1965, and r ...
. He was deeply involved in Ibadan's Students' Union
A students' union or student union, is a student organization present in many colleges, universities, and high schools. In higher education, the students' union is often accorded its own building on the campus, dedicated to social, organizat ...
and became the organisation's Director of Information, encouraging protests.[ He was affiliated with the Dynamic Party, led by mathematician Chike Obi. Uche Chukwumerije, a contemporary and later a senator, remembered Ifeajuna being active in political agitation, but also claims that he was less willing to be involved in the protests themselves. Clark also attested to this, citing the example of a protest over a student hostel shutdown. The shutdown was prompted by the manslaughter trial of Ben Obumselu, the student union president and friend of Ifeajuna. Ifeajuna organised the protests but was not present during the subsequent clashes.][
Upon completion of his science degree he went into teaching, being posted at Ebenezer Anglican Grammar School in ]Abeokuta
Abeokuta is the capital city of Ogun State located at the south western part of Nigeria. It is situated on the east bank of the Ogun River, near a group of rocky outcrops in a wooded savanna; north of Lagos by railway, or by water. , Abeokut ...
. Ifeajuna remained in regular contact with Okigbo, who also went on to teach, and the two continued to discuss revolutionary politics.[ This culminated in Ifeajuna leaving the teaching profession to join the army in 1960. He underwent training at ]Mons Officer Cadet School
Mons Officer Cadet School was a British military training establishment for officer cadets in Aldershot from 1942 to 1972, when it was closed and all officer training concentrated at Sandhurst.
The training course at Mons was for National Servic ...
in Aldershot
Aldershot ( ) is a town in the Rushmoor district, Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme north-east corner of the county, south-west of London. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Farnborough/Aldershot built-up are ...
, United Kingdom.[ As a graduate, he rose quickly within the military ranks and reached the position of Major in January 1966. He was the brigade major in ]Lagos
Lagos ( ; ), or Lagos City, is a large metropolitan city in southwestern Nigeria. With an upper population estimated above 21 million dwellers, it is the largest city in Nigeria, the most populous urban area on the African continent, and on ...
.[
]
Coup attempt
Dissatisfied with the direction his country had taken during the First Nigerian Republic under Prime Minister Abubakar Tafawa Balewa
Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa (December 1912 – 15 January 1966) was the first and only Prime Minister of Nigeria, Prime Minister of Nigeria. A dominant figure of Nigerian Independence, he was a conservative Anglophile. His political career spa ...
, Ifeajuna became a conspirator in a plot to overthrow the government. Given his studies, Ifeajuna has been regarded as one of the intellectual drivers of the conspiracy and he wrote an unpublished manuscript on the reasoning for the 1966 Nigerian coup d'état
On 15 January 1966, rebellious soldiers led by Kaduna Nzeogwu and 4 others carried out a military putsch, killing 22 people, including the prime minister of Nigeria, many senior politicians, senior Army officers and their wives, and sentinels o ...
attempt.[ He scorned the corruption and anarchy that resulted from mismanagement of the government. Major Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu was the face of the coup attempt, which involved five other army majors: Timothy Onwuatuegwu, Chris Anuforo, Adewale Ademoyega and Humphrey Chukwuka.][
Ademoyega, Okafor, Anuforo and Chukwuka were the other majors based in Lagos, where Ifeajuna led movements. Ifeajuna led his brigade to the house of Prime Minister Balewa and arrested him. Meanwhile, Nzeogwu made public the names of who the coup aimed to kill and Balewa as a notable absence. Okafor sought to capture Brigadier Zakariya Maimalari, Ifeajuna's commanding officer. Maimalari escaped and upon finding Ifeajuna asked him for help. Ifeajuna killed Maimalari, which led to dissension among Ifeajuna's ranks, as he was a highly respected officer. Ifeajuna also shot Lieutenant Colonel Abogo Largema at a hotel in the ]Ikoyi
Ikoyi is the most affluent neighborhood of Lagos, located in Eti-Osa Local Government Area. It lies to the northeast of Obalende and adjoins Lagos Island to the west, and at the edge of the Lagos Lagoon. Popular with the extreme upper class r ...
district of Lagos.[Siollun, Max (2006-07-12)]
"The Inside Story Of Nigeria’s First Military Coup (2)"
''Nigeria Matters''. Retrieved 2014-07-13.
One of the coup's prominent targets, Major-General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi
Johnson Thomas Umunnakwe Aguiyi-Ironsi (3 March 1924 – 29 July 1966) was a Nigerian general who was the first military head of state of Nigeria. He seized power during the ensuing chaos after the 15 January 1966 military coup. Ironsi ruled ...
, caught wind of the plot and escaped capture. He then began to move against the coup conspirators. Ironsi eventually managed to prevent the coup and was later appointed to take over leadership and bring stability to the country.[ During these events, Prime Minister Balewa died while under the arrest of Ifeajuna. Official police reports into the circumstances of his death (which remain redacted) claim Ifeajuna shot Balewa while driving to Abeokuta and abandoned the body by the road. Some claim that Balewa was not deliberately killed (given that he was not one of the coup's stated assassination targets), but rather died of an asthma or heart attack during the ordeal. This subject remains an unresolved element of the history of the 1966 coup attempt.][
]
Execution and legacy
Following Ironsi's move against the coup, Ifeajuna's friend Christopher Okigbo helped him cross the border into Dahomey
The Kingdom of Dahomey () was a West African List of kingdoms in Africa throughout history, kingdom located within present-day Benin that existed from approximately 1600 until 1904. It developed on the Abomey Plateau amongst the Fon people in ...
(now Benin) and through to Ghana
Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...
where he was welcomed by its leader Kwame Nkrumah
Francis Kwame Nkrumah (, 21 September 1909 – 27 April 1972) was a Ghanaian politician, political theorist, and revolutionary. He served as Prime Minister of the Gold Coast (British colony), Gold Coast from 1952 until 1957, when it gained ...
.[Obasi, Emaka (2014-04-11)]
"Ifeajuna: A jumper’s January jeremiad"
. ''The New Telegraph''. Retrieved 2014-07-13. Nkrumah's regime was overthrown shortly afterwards and Ifeajuna returned to Nigeria after assurances from Emeka Ojukwu that his life would not be at risk. He again became involved in the military, this time within the Biafran Army – the Republic of Biafra declared its secession from Nigeria, beginning the Nigerian Civil War
The Nigerian Civil War (6 July 1967 – 15 January 1970), also known as the Biafran War, Nigeria-Biafra War, or Biafra War, was fought between Nigeria and the Republic of Biafra, a Secession, secessionist state which had declared its independen ...
. Ifeajuna, Victor Banjo, Phillip Alale and Sam Agbam were accused by Ojukwu of negotiating with the federal Nigerian officials, via British agents, hoping to bring about a ceasefire, overthrow Ojukwu, and gain prominent positions for themselves. They were hastily tried and sentenced to death by firing squad for treason. Ifeajuna claimed the plan was to preserve civilian life in Enugu
Enugu () verbally pronounced as "Enụgwụ" by the Igbo indigenes is a state in the South-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria, bordered to the north by the states of Benue and Kogi, Ebonyi State to the east and southeast, Abia State to the so ...
from an oncoming assault by federal troops. Ifeajuna and his three co-conspirators were executed on 25 September 1967.[ Enugu, the Biafran capital, was captured by federal Nigerian forces two days later.
Ifeajuna has had a mixed legacy. His unpublished manuscript has attracted much attention, including that of ]Olusegun Obasanjo
Chief Olusegun Matthew Okikiola Ogunboye Aremu Obasanjo (; ; born 5 March 1937) is a Nigerian former army general, politician and statesman who served as Nigeria's head of state from 1976 to 1979 and later as its president from 1999 to 200 ...
, an army general and now former President of Nigeria
The president of Nigeria, officially the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is the head of state and head of government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The president directs the executive branch of the Federal Government an ...
.[ The 1966 coup attempt is seen by many as an Igbo plot, although conspirators included non-Igbos, some coup targets were Igbos, and General Ironsi who prevented the coup was himself an Igbo. The manuscript is seen as a possible historical source for assessing both the racial element to the coup and Ifeajuna's role in it, which ranges from co-conspirator to intellectual leader.][
Ifeajuna has not featured prominently or favourably in the history of the Nigerian Civil War. While fellow 1966 coup maker Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu has been decorated as a war hero and had a statue erected in his hometown, Ifeajuna has received little posthumous recognition, even when calls were made for him to be honoured posthumously. Upon his death in 2011, former Biafran leader Ojukwu received the highest military accolades from Nigeria and his funeral was attended by the Nigerian President ]Goodluck Jonathan
Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan (born 20 November 1957) is a Nigerian politician who served as the president of Nigeria from 2010 to 2015. He lost the 2015 presidential election to former military head of state General Muhammadu Buhari and ...
In a 1992 interview, Ojukwu dismissed claims that Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu was the leader of the plot, as was widely believed. A Nigerian Police Special Branch report, its first part partially redacted and the second part missing, stated that Ifeajuna, Don Okafor and Captain Ogbu Oji were the creators and protagonists of the coup plot in 1965, with Nzeogwu only becoming involved at a late stage. Ifeajuna is seen by some as the assassin of Prime Minister Balewa, which brought down the First Republic and caused civil war.[ No autopsy was carried on Balewa's body and no proof exists that he was shot. Official reports document his body was found in a sitting position by a tree, next to the body of finance minister Festus Okotie-Eboh, who had been shot and was at the centre of corruption allegations.][Ogunseitan, O'seun (2010-09-05]
"Balewa was not killed by soldiers —Mbu"
''The Nation Nigeria''. Retrieved 2014-07-13.
Ifeajuna's legacy within Black African sports history has been overshadowed by his political actions following his feats.[
]
Personal life
During his time at university, Ifeajuna met his wife Rose in 1955. Four years later the pair married and went on to have two sons.[
]
International competition record
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ifeajuna, Emmanuel Arinze
1935 births
1967 deaths
People from Onitsha
Graduates of the Mons Officer Cadet School
Igbo politicians
Nigerian military personnel
Nigerian Army officers
Participants of coups in Nigeria
Participants in the January 1966 Nigerian military coup
People from Biafra
Nigerian male high jumpers
Igbo sportspeople
Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Nigeria
Athletes (track and field) at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games
Executed Nigerian people
People executed for treason
People executed by Nigeria by firing squad
20th-century executions by Nigeria
Military personnel killed in the Nigerian Civil War
Nigerian military personnel killed in action
University of Ibadan alumni
Medallists at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games
Biafran Armed Forces personnel
20th-century Nigerian sportsmen
Commonwealth Games gold medallists in athletics