Article By Mathew Hassan Kukah
I
consider being asked to review this monumental book a great honour which I do
not take lightly. The size of the book may look intimidating, at over 800 pages
but believe me when I say that when you start reading it, you will not like to
put it down. It is a personal story told with sincerity and deep passion. For a
man who has come through the furnace of so much suffering and pain, one would
expect that the book will be the account of a man who has been a victim of
treachery, backstabbing, perfidy, intrigues, bitterness, anger, deception,
betrayal. So, one would expect the pages of the book to be dripping with the
vituperations of a broken soul.
The
reader will be right to expect that this book will be the biography to end all
biographies and accounts of Nigeria’s chequered history through three coups and
a civil war. If you are expecting any revelations from declassified documents,
private papers and notes, the reader might be disappointed. The reasons is
that, from the beginning, the author confesses that: I want to emphasise that I
am telling my story without access to my crucial personal records since many
important documents taken from my desk after my removal in July 1975 were
discarded by those who succeeded me. Other documents that survived were
destroyed by two fire incidents in Bakori and Kaduna(xxi). Yet, none of this diminishes the book which obviously
was written straight from whatever he could remember.
Reviewing
any biography is a real challenge for many reasons. Any reviewer of an
autobiography must be careful because the reviewer can easily be told off by
the author who might say, this is what I wanted to say as I saw and experienced
it. If you disagree with me, go and write your own text. However, biographies
of persons of the calibre of a former Head of State will naturally command
attention because what they did or did not do, what they said or did not say,
may have altered lives and careers.
The
book is made up of 36 chapters covering 850 pages. The real text ends on page
735 while the other pages contain Notes, Appendices and an Index. Chapters 1
through to 8 cover various themes from the author’s birth in Wusasa, his early
days through school to the beginning of his military career. Chapter 9 starts
with Aburi and its challenges and from 10 to 23, we have diverse accounts
covering different phases of the crises from the civil war through to its end.
Chapter 23 opens with the controversial declaration that 1976 was no longer a
realistic date for the military to hand over power. Many would argue that
perhaps this was the decision that created the conditions for the coup of 1975.
Chapters 24-33 carry a thematic potpourri covering the founding of ECOWAS, the
years of near homelessness, the story behind Abuja all the way through to
Bakassi. Chapter 34 renders an account of how the author fell victim to the
Babangida pie of Option A4 leading to people wondering what the General had
forgotten in State House. Chapters 35 restates the author’s passionate
commitment to a nation he had pledged to serve with all his strength. Finally,
chapter 36, titled, Moving Nigeria Forward closes with the two slogans: To keep
Nigeria one is a task that must be done and Go on with One Nigeria.
The
sheer size of the book suggests that one has to adopt a different strategy for
its review. As such, I have decided to review the book against five key themes
as follows: 1: Gowon and Three Coups, 2: Gowon: Times of Trials and
Tribulations. 3: Gowon: Truth and Redemption, 4: Victoria Gowon: Wife, Shield,
Diplomat and Chief Security Officer, 5: Nigeria: Who Next, What Next?
1: Gowon And The Three Coups
The
book opens with the author’s brief biography and much of what is here is
already known to most readers and those who know the subject. He opens with a
warning which says: I have tried to tell my story as truthfully as I know how
and see it and without any intention of claiming the glory for every
achievement or heaping blames on other people for perceived failures….I made a
conscious decision not to open new wounds but to clarify my thinking on
policies and plans at a period too often narrated by others (pxx).
Notwithstanding, most readers might be quick to say that perhaps had these old
wounds been opened, some form of healing might have occurred in our country.
Acknowledging the existence of the wound, no matter its age of state of
decomposition is still important for healing or amputation.
The
circumstances of the author’s emergence as the Head of State are already well
known to the average reader. However, the author offers the reader a rare pip
into many controversial activities and circumstances that have been addressed
by previous writers with differing emphasis. The major strength of a Gowon
biography is that it should be definitive, provide some finality to innuendos
and speculations, end disputation and interpretation, remove hagiography,
separate the chaff from the grain and closure if possible, bring us closer to
what one might refer to as the truth. Yet, as we know, history has no finishing
lines. Yet, since no one writes a perfect book, this work will serve as a major
landmark in our history.
For
example, one area of controversy that is addressed for the first time is the
professional relationship between Gowon and Ojukwu over the issue of seniority.
I recall that Ojukwu had often made the case of his seniority. However, the
author answers this question by presenting us the facts. While his military
number was N20, Ojukwu’s was N29! Whereas the author started Cadet training in
Ghana in 1954, he was commissioned in 1956! The author goes on to state that
Ojukwu was commissioned in 1958. He was later given a three-year seniority
because of his university degree! (p245). On April 1, 1963, both men received
their first senior postings, Gowon as Adjutant General and Ojukwu as Quarter
Master General.
According
to the author, after the announcement of their new positions, Ojukwu suggested
that they should both trade places! Naturally, the author refused. This little
detail is helpful for historians.
The
author experienced three coups. The intrigues around each of the three coups
have been discussed, written about and that will continue for a while. For
example, in popular public memory, the first coup of 1966 has always been
tagged an Igbo coup. The second coup has been tagged a revenge coup which the
northern military officers embarked on to avenge the killings of their leaders
and the apparent non prosecution of the culprits of the 1966 coup. This revenge
coup, sadly, claimed the life of the then Head of State, General Aguyi Ironsi
and others. Then there was the third coup which ended both his military career
and tenure as Head of State. The Dimka coup became a petard hung around his
neck. It would mark a defining moment in his life and relationship with his
country and his former colleagues.
These
coups and others that followed constitute one of the most controversial phases
of Nigeria’s tortured and beleaguered history. Taken together, their cumulative
impact has posed the greatest threat to national integration, development and
cohesion. A review of the literature of the intrigues, calculation, plots and
execution of these coups is subject for another day. However, whereas the
author opened the book with the intrigues and plots of the coup that overthrew
him, the story of the first coup of January 15th is told in chapter 6 titled:
“A Bloody Weekend to Remember”.
Attempts
at explaining these coups have left Nigeria with more questions than answers.
However, this book puts some form of closure to the speculation and popular
myths. What I think is left now is for scholars of Nigerian history to take the
search for answers into the classrooms and seminar halls of students of
Nigerian history and diplomacy. Yet, in all, there are still what the late US
Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld would have referred to as known unknowns.
On
July 31, 1966, the author took the reins of office. It was on this date that he
delivered what would turn out to be the most controversial speech of his
tenure, parts of which were fraught with grammatical distortions. Against the
backdrop of the tensions and anxieties, the author said in parts of the
speech: Suffice it to say that
putting all considerations to test-political, economic as well as social, the
base for unity is not there, or is so badly rocked, not only once but several
times. I therefore feel that we should review the issue of our national standing
and see if we can stop the country for drifting away into utter destruction (p218).
This is the speech that provided Ojukwu the ammunition for the Aburi debacle.
Amidst
the struggle to ensure there was no war, the next important phase of events was
the famous Aburi meeting in Ghana. There is no need to wade into the maze of
Aburi. What one can say is that with hindsight, both author and Ojukwu went
into the meeting with two different motives and had conflicting expectations of
outcomes of the meeting. According to the author, the idea of Aburi was to have
an exploratory event meant to break the ice, remove the veil of suspicion and
engender trust among the key actors, a sort of gentleman’s agreement (p240).
Ojukwu on other hand came fully prepared to extract a concession, namely, a
return to a loose federation that would more or less take us back to where we
were. While the author travelled without his key technocrats to Aburi, Ojukwu
was surrounded by some of the best brains whom he had persuaded to return home.
Thus, when Ojukwu said “On Aburi we Stand”, he knew what he was saying and why.
The rest is history and it is hoped that Nigerian scholars will continue to dig
and dig, not for whom to blame but for what lessons to learn in diplomacy,
negotiations and outcomes.
Fast
forward to the 1975 coup which opens the book. The story here is quite
remarkable because it shows the author as a man of faith who happened to be a
soldier, not a soldier who simply had faith. This will show in the decision
that he made in the face of the threats to his power base. According to the
author, when he heard the rumours of the planned coup, he asked his
Commissioner of Police and his Chief Security officer, M.D Yusuf of blessed
memory, to investigate the rumours. Yusuf concluded his investigations and
informed the Head of State: Yaran
mu ne (It is our Boys).
Almost
every Nigerian has an idea about what happens when any soldier is said to be
involved in plotting a coup, even by mere rumour. Yet, when the author was told
about a coup plot against him and that Col. Garba, (his blood relation,
townsman and fellow Christian, Commander of the Brigade of Guards, saddled with
protecting the Head of State) and others equally close to him had hands in the
plot, his response of resignation would leave you utterly baffled and cold. He
simply said: If you boys want to
take over, you can try. If you succeed, you can call this your revolution and
you can do whatever you want. If there was any truth, he would be
answerable to God and his conscience (p9).
As an
aside, Nigerians should know that imported marabouts, seers, astrologers, from
Senegal and Mali had already established a presence in Nigeria’s seat of power
right from the beginning (p8). Imported astrologers from Senegal and Mali also
warned him that there are plans to unseat him. He was warned of plots by
Murtala and Awolowo[p8]. The author is furnished with the names of the boys who
were up to something [Murtala, Garba, Ochefu] and yet he did nothing.
He
summoned Murtala and told him: For
God’s sake, just go back to your work and continue to work normally [p18].
He still decided not to cancel his trip to Kampala believing that whatever God
wants to happen will happen. His worst fear was the threat of loss of blood.
As he
prepared to depart to Kampala, his Director of Military Intelligence, DMI, Col.
Abdullahi Mohammed, who was to accompany him to Kampala, suddenly decided that
it would better for him to stay back, monitor things and then brief him through
the Chief of Staff, Supreme Headquarters, Vice Admiral Joseph Akinwale Wey. The
author accepted this excuse and let him stay back [p20].
The strangest of it all: Col. Joseph Garba, simply rang his Commander in Chief to say that he could not escort the Head of State to the airport on grounds that he had to represent the Governor of Lagos State, Brigadier General Mobolaji Johnson at a function in Lagos! Strangely, the Head of State agreed to this. As he headed off to Kampala, despite these visibly heavy threats of the clouds, the author said: I told him that he was excused but reminded him that further to our discussion on security, he should simply hand over in the event of a coup as I did not want him or any soldier to be killed on my account(p21). The coup happened and a new chapter opened in the life of the author.
Read the concluding part:
BOOK
REVIEW: Inside Yakubu Gowon’s “My Life Of Duty And Allegiance” By Mathew Hassan
Kukah (Part 2)
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