How I stopped Murtala, Adekunle from arresting Ojukwu — Gowon

Former Nigerian Head of State, Yakubu Gowon, has revealed how he restrained some senior military officers from arresting the then Military Governor of the Eastern Region, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, during the tense political crisis that preceded the Nigerian Civil War.

Gowon disclosed that several officers within the Nigerian Army were angered by Ojukwu’s posture during the period and were eager to take decisive military action against him.

According to Gowon, one of the officers pushing for Ojukwu’s arrest was Lt. Col. Benjamin Adekunle, then Commanding Officer of the Second Battalion in Enugu.

“His posturing did not go down well with several officers. An example of a few of these officers was the Commanding Officer of the Second Battalion Enugu at the time, Lt.Col. Benjamin Adekunle, whom I liked to call ‘Zomo’ because of his big, protruding ears,” Gowon wrote.

“He ceaselessly sought my permission to advance from the barracks to the Government House, Enugu to arrest Ojukwu. Lt. Col. Murtala Mohammed, on the other hand, could barely contain his zeal to capture Ojukwu without fanfare.”

The former Head of State said he resisted the pressure because he did not want the crisis to be interpreted as an attempt by the Federal Military Government to impose unnecessary authority on the Eastern Region.

“I firmly calmed the angry officers down because I did not want the situation to be misconstrued, moreso as we did not aim at imposing unnecessary authority over the Eastern Region or any other,” he stated.

Both Murtala Muhammed and Benjamin Adekunle later emerged as prominent commanders during the civil war that lasted from 1967 to 1970.

Adekunle became widely known as the “Black Scorpion” for his role as commander of the Marine Commando Division, while Murtala Muhammed later became Nigeria’s Head of State in 1975.

Gowon also revisited the long-standing controversy surrounding military seniority between himself and Ojukwu, a disagreement that deepened tensions between both officers before the outbreak of the war.

According to him, Ojukwu always believed he was senior despite evidence to the contrary.
“He preferred to believe he was my senior, never minding that I was commissioned two years before he received his commission,” Gowon wrote.

The former Head of State explained that he was commissioned into the Nigerian Army in 1956 with service number N/20, while Ojukwu, with service number N/29, was commissioned in 1958 as part of the first set of university graduates recruited directly into the military.

Gowon further argued that possessing a university degree was not unusual among officers at the time, listing other graduate officers including Victor Banjo, Olufemi Olutoye, Oluwole Rotimi and Ahmadu Ali.

He noted that although both men attained the rank of Lieutenant Colonel on April 1, 1963, subsequent appointments placed him above Ojukwu in the military hierarchy.

According to Gowon, he later became Adjutant General of the Nigerian Army while Ojukwu served as Quartermaster General.

Following the January 15, 1966 coup, Ojukwu was appointed Military Governor of the Eastern Region, while Gowon became Chief of Staff to the General Officer Commanding the Army, Major General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi.

“In strict military hierarchy, therefore, I was senior to him by my appointment, yet Ojukwu refused to recognise me as such,” Gowon stated.

The rivalry and disagreements between both military leaders eventually escalated into the Nigerian Civil War, one of the most significant and tragic episodes in the country’s post-independence history.