Flashback: Fola Oyewole: My link with first coup and why I fought on Biafran side

Fola

Lt. Oyewole. Photo Credit Idowu Ogunleye

Lt. Oyewole. Photo Credit Idowu Ogunleye

Retired Lt. Fola Oyewole, 77, a Nigerian Military Officer of the Yoruba stock, fought on the side of Biafra during the civil war. Before then, he was, because of the first coup 50 years ago, imprisoned in Lagos and in Enugu but was released by Lt Col Ojukwu.

He wrote his own war account entitled “Reluctant Rebel”, which joined other civil war narratives like ‘The Biafra Story’ (1969) by Frederick Forsyth, ‘Why We Struck’ (1981) by Adewale Ademoyega, ‘Sunset In Biafra’ (1975) by Elechi Amadi, ‘The Nigerian Revolution And the Biafran War’ (1980) by Alexander Madiebo among others.

In this interview with Ademola Adegbamigbe and Femi Anjorin, the retired army officer narrated what happened during the first coup, his participation in it and why he, despite being Yoruba, fought on the side of Biafra like other non Igbo officers like Lt Col. Victor Banjo, Major Wale Ademoyega and others.

On January 15, it will be 50 years that the military struck, how will you assess the journey so far? Because there is always this stock phrase that the military spoilt Nigerian politics?

Well I don’t subscribe to that and maybe you will understand why I said that. I do not think that the military really spoilt Nigeria. More importantly, you will find out that right from Aguiyi Ironsi to the time the military sort of ended its intervention, if they had ended it at all, the military hadn’t any say in what was happening, it’s always the civilians dictating the pace, advising the military.

It was on the allegation that you were among the people that planned that coup that you were detained by the federal government… we want you to assess the situation then that really prompted the military to strike?

I was not one of the master planners of the coup. It will interest you to know that by half past eleven on the night of January 14th, 1966, I had no clue about the coup. No clue whatsoever.

So why did they link you?

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Precisely, I was friendly with Emmanuel Ifejuna who was the brigade general and then after they had planned and done everything possible as the saying goes, some of the people who agreed to what they had agreed decided not to take part, it was a matter of getting anybody who could help and by virtue of my position, I had a telephone in my house which was the same thing that happened to most people there. The original planners started telephoning. Where are you…? I want to see you. It was an emergency period. I was second in command to the Transport Brigade in Apapa and we were on 24-hour alert. (So, like they will say something like this… something is happening in Ogbomosho blah blah blah, can you help out? We did get instructions 24 hours).

It didn’t come as a surprise, so that is what happened. They drove to my house at about twenty five minutes to twelve and asked me to come to Ifejuna’s house. I got there and I saw a lot of officers, sitting down and they had even finished what they were talking about, and they said, you stay and I will brief you.

Were you effectively court martialled before you were detained?

No… No… No… there was no trial, no court-martial nothing. I tell you, I got picked up before 8 o clock on Saturday morning and a group of senior officers interviewed me. I told them what I know and they said go and wait, that was the beginning of it all.

There is a political tilt on how the coup was carried out and it has been generating controversy till today. Critics said the coup was lopsided. Ladoke Akintola was killed in the West, then Zik and Mike Okpara “were not around”. The argument was that they got wind of what was going to happen and left. There is this argument as to why were leaders from other parts killed and the Igbo leaders allowed to escape? What is your position?

I wouldn’t subscribe to that argument. They said Zik was ill, he was going for treatment and then he left the country and at the time of the coup, he wasn’t there, whether he got wind or he didn’t get wind of it, I would not know. Those who planned the coup must have taken a decision but it does appear that it was not in totality deliberate. I give you a specific example, the signal commencing the action in Enugu was delivered that morning and it did say: “Arrest, secure the key points and wait for further instructions”. And if you are in doubt, that was why Fani Kayode was arrested in Ibadan and brought down to Lagos, they wanted to kill him but what stopped them from killing him in his house in Ibadan was because of the instructions (waiting for further instructions) and he was brought down to Lagos.

Click to read the rest here: www.thenewsnigeria.com.ng/2016/01/fola-oyewole-my-link-with-first-coup-and-why-i-fought-on-biafran-side/

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