THIS ARTICLE IS COPIED aND LONG AS WELL. Pls read for history and record purposes......... Yesteryears in Retrospect: Many things you never knew about the Dec 31,1983 coup that overthrew President. Shehu Shagari Yesteryears in Retrospect: Many things you never knew about the Dec 31,1983 coup that overthrew President. Shehu Shagari What is a coup detat? A coup détat also known as a coup, a putsch, or an overthrow, is the sudden and illegal seizure of a government, usually instigated by a small group of the existing state establishment to depose the established government and replace it with a new ruling body, civil or military. A coup détat is considered successful when the usurpers establish their dominance. When the coup neither fails completely nor succeeds, a civil war is a likely consequence. A coup détat typically uses the extant governments power to assume political control of the country. Military historian Edward Luttwak states that a coup consists of the infiltration of a small, but critical, segment of the state apparatus, which is then used to displace the government from its control of the remainder. There has been many coups, counter coups , attempted coups, imaginary coups and phantom coups in the history of Nigeria. The purpose of this article is not to talk about all the various types and histories of all coups in Nigeria. It is just choosing one, perhaps (one of the) least talked about coups and has been greatly misconceived as people say various things about the coup, mostly errorneous possibly due to lack of information or general misinformation. This article is not a campaign article for anybody. It is just setting the records straight. The most talked about coups in Nigeria are the Jan 15,1966 Kaduna Nzeogwu led coup and the April 22, 1990 Gideon Orkar coup (some say he wasnt the leader) . I have written very extensive articles on these two coups, giving many deep explicit details. Anybody can consult any of my previous write-ups on these. Now let me discuss the Dec 31, 1983 coup that overthrew Shagari government. THE COUP On the last day of the year 1983, a coup was in operation to overthrow the democratically-elected government of President Shehu Shagari. The most interesting thing about the coup was that even though it was neatly orchestrated by middle-cadre and top brass in the military, Buhari was not initially the person to become the Head of State. The person that was expected to become the new HOS after the coup was Brigadier Ibrahim Bako. Bako and his boys stormed the President’s residence to overthrow him. Shagari was woken up by his security team and alerted that Bako and his men were on their way to the State House to arrest him. Quickly, President Shagari was evacuated to a safer location and the stage was set for one of the most dramatic gunfights in Nigeria’s political history. To guard, protect and defend the Nigerian President then was the Brigade of Guards, headed by Captain Augustine A. Anyogo, an elite presidential bodyguard made up of some of the best-trained hands in the Armed Forces. They fought to the last and in the ensuing battle and under circumstances that are still not very clear, Bako, who was supposed to be the new Head of State was hit (IBB denies that Bako was to be the new Head Of State but agreed he was a chief plotter). He died. On Bako’s death, IBB would later say that maybe it was due to an accidental discharge. Hear him: Question:“…What really happened to General Bako?” Babangida: “..….when they went to Abuja for that operation, ….this thing happened in the night… you see, from the experiences we had from the civil war, we found out that soldiers sometimes panic and when they panic, there are dire consequences. So, it was in the night and there was what you could call accidental discharge and the first reaction of the soldiers was that they were being attacked and in situations like that, you could shoot anyway. It happened to us I remember, during the civil war. You get shot at in the front and the sound reverberates behind so the soldiers at the back believes that the person shooting is right there then they forgot that some 500 meters away are what we refer to as own troops, your own forces. Because of no adequate training, a soldier would just cock his rifle and start shooting only to discover that he is shooting his own people. During the civil war, we sustained lots of casualties as a result of this situation. So, my suspicion is that a similar situation must have played out during that operation in Abuja and a bullet hit the late Ibrahim (Bako).” Question: “So, claims that General Tunde Ogbeha may have pulled the trigger on Bako are not correct after all?” Babangida: “I would not like to say he did it, no. It was the situation they found themselves; it was dark and everybody was shooting anyhow.” In short, no one really knows exactly how Bako died. As at the time of the coup and following Bako’s death, General Buhari was commanding the Third Armoured Division of the Nigerian Army in Jos, Plateau State and he was far from the center of action in Lagos State. It is a norm that the top military commanders and the top brass of the military who are not involved in the coup are usually informed to know their opinion and get their invaluable support. Buhari was informed in Jos. He informed the plotters that he was not opposed to them and they had his support. He further suggested that the most senior military officer ( who happened to be Domkat Bali) should be made the new Head of State. How quickly things can turn. A yoruba adage says ori to ba ma joba,ko si ni, aa dade ( a person predestined to be a king will surely be crowned no matter the cruel situation he faced). A meeting was held to choose the new HOS since the original person ordained to be HOS - Brigaider Ibrahim Bako had been killed in action. The plotters held closed-door meetings to choose the new leader. But during one of the meetings to choose him, a mild drama played itself out.Some of the military officers wanted to select IBB as the new head of state but in a fit of fury, Mustapha Jokolo drew out his gun and said no one would leave that place alive if Buhari was not crowned the head of state, that IBB would become the Head of State over his dead body. Jokolo would later become the aide-de-camp (ADC) of Buhari and later the Emir of Gwandu in Kebbi State before he was deposed and banished from his own kingdom (Jokolo and Colonel Sabo Aliyu, who was heading the Brigade of Guard were captured the day Buhari was overthrown and were beaten to a state of stupor, the beating was so intense that rumours initially flew out that Jokolo was dead).An agreement was reached and Buhari was selected to become the head. A jet was on to Jos to later bring Buhari who was not in the meeting. To cut long story short…lol, Buhari was ‘elected’ as the Head of State and the Commander-in-Chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces and his appointment was formalized on the 1st of January, 1984. It would last until the 27th of August, 1985 when Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida and his cohorts like Abacha dem took over. The Supreme Military Council (SMC) was formed. Tunde Idiagbon, also one of the original coup plotters was elected to be Buharis deputy. Infact,it was almost as if they ran the government together because Buhari gave idiagbon a freehand to take many actions and sought his advice on many issues. Also,Idiagbon always took actions with his boss full permission and understanding. He never usurped his boss authorithy. No wonder it was labelled Buhari-Idiagbon regime. Like I said earlier,this isnt a campaign for Buhari but an attempt to set records straight. Buhari never plotted any coup nor did he truncate any democratically elected governmen. He was just a man of perculiar circumstances, ordained by fate to rule Nigeria at that time. It is cluelessness and gross ignorance to say Buhari plotted any coup or truncated democracy. He never plotted any coup nor did he truncate any democracy.I am not holding briefs for him but just setting records straight Thanks.
Posted on: Sat, 25 Oct 2014 08:32:43 +0000
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