15/01/2025
Today is a sad day in Nigeria’s history : On January 15, 1966, the skies turned gray, A nation’s dawn swept far away. Echoes of gunfire, dreams undone, Leaders fell, their battles unsung.A fragile hope, in shadows drowned, Unity lost, Betrayals were born ,no peace was found. Yet through the tears, we rise, we strive, To keep our land and hope alive.
On January 15, 1966, the Nigerian government was taken over in a military coup led by Major Kaduna Nzeogwu and four others .Nzeogwu ,wearing a Military uniform in the picture above.
The coup resulted in the deaths of 22 people, including Nigeria’s Prime Minister, Sir Tafawa Balewa, Ahmadu Bello, Ladoke Akintola, Festus Okotie-Eboh, and many other top politicians, senior Army officers, their wives, and guards on duty.
Imagine losing these great leaders in just one day. Truly, peace was shattered. This coup marked the end of Nigeria’s First Republic.
The coup plotters attacked the cities of Kaduna, Ibadan, and Lagos while also blockading the Niger and Benue River within a two-day timespan, before being overcome by loyalist forces.
However, they failed to take power. Instead, on January 16, Major General Johnson Aguiyi Ironsi, Commander in Chief of the Army, assumed power as Head of the National Military Government. His government announced the death of Prime Minister Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa.
In August 1965, a group of Army majors (Emmanuel Ifeajuna, Timothy Onwuatuegwu, Chris Anuforo, Don Okafor, Humphrey Chukwuka, and Adewale Ademoyega) initiated plans to stage a coup d’état against the incumbent Prime Minister, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa.
A Nigerian Ministry of External Affairs note of January 20 informed the U.S. Government that the Council of Ministers had “unanimously decided to hand over voluntarily the administration of the country” to the Army on January 16, that Nigeria would continue to honor its treaty obligations, and that it hoped to continue normal and cordial relations with the U.S. Government.
