IN the name of the Supreme Council of the Revolution of the Nigerian Armed Forces, I declare martial law over the Northern Provinces of Nigeria. The Constitution is suspended and the regional government and elected assemblies are hereby dissolved.
All political, cultural, tribal and trade union activities, together with all demonstrations and unauthorised gatherings, excluding religious worship, are banned until further notice.
The aim of the Revolutionary Council is to establish a strong united and prosperous nation, free from corruption and internal strife. Our method of achieving this is strictly military but we have no doubt that every Nigerian will give us maximum cooperation by assisting the regime and not disturbing the peace during the slight changes that are taking place.
I am to assure all foreigners living and working in this part of Nigeria that their rights will continue to be respected. All treaty obligations previously entered into with any foreign nation will be respected and we hope that such nations will respect our country’s territorial integrity and will avoid taking sides with enemies of the revolution and enemies of the people.
My dear countrymen, you will hear, and probably see a lot being done by certain bodies charged by the Supreme Council with the duties of national integration, supreme justice, general security and property recovery.
As an interim measure all permanent secretaries, corporation chairmen and senior heads of departments are allowed to make decisions until the new organs are functioning, so long as such decisions are not contrary to the aims and wishes of the Supreme Council.
No Minister or Parliamentary Secretary possesses administrative or other forms of control over any Ministry, even if they are not considered too dangerous to be arrested.
This is not a time for long speech-making and so let me acquaint you with ten proclamations in the Extraordinary Orders of the Day which the Supreme Council has promulgated. These will be modified as the situation improves.
You are hereby warned that looting, arson, homosexuality, rape, embezzlement, bribery or corruption, obstruction of the revolution, sabotage, subversion, false alarms and assistance to foreign invaders, are all offences punishable by death sentence.
Demonstrations and unauthorised assembly, non-cooperation with revolutionary troops are punishable in grave manner up to death.Refusal or neglect to perform normal duties or any task that may of necessity be ordered by local military commanders in support of the change will be punishable by a sentence imposed by the local military commander.
Spying, harmful or injurious publications, and broadcasts of troop movements or actions, will be punished by any suitable sentence deemed fit by the local military commander. Shouting of slogans, loitering and rowdy behaviour will be rectified by any sentence of incarceration, or any more severe punishment deemed fit by the local military commander.
Doubtful loyalty will be penalised by imprisonment or any more severe sentence. Illegal possession or carrying of firearms, smuggling or trying to escape with documents, valuables, including money or other assets vital to the running of any establishment will be punished by death sentence.
Wavering or sitting on the fence and failing to declare open loyalty with the revolution will be regarded as an act of hostility punishable by any sentence deemed suitable by the local military commander. Tearing down an order of the day or proclamation or other authorised notices will be penalised by death.
This is the end of the Extraordinary Order of the Day which you will soon begin to see displayed in public. My dear countrymen, no citizen should have anything to fear, so long as that citizen is law abiding and if that citizen has religiously obeyed the native laws of the country and those set down in every heart and conscience since 1st October, 1960.
Our enemies are the political profiteers, the swindlers, the men in high and low places that seek bribes and demand 10 percent; those that seek to keep the country divided permanently so that they can remain in office as ministers or VIPs at least, the tribalists, the nepotists, those that make the country look big for nothing before international circles, those that have corrupted our society and put the Nigerian political calendar back by their words and deeds.
Like good soldiers we are not promising anything miraculous or spectacular. But what we do promise every law abiding citizen is freedom from fear and all forms of oppression, freedom from general inefficiency & freedom to live and strive in every field of human endeavour, both nationally and internationally. We promise that you will no more be ashamed to say that you are a Nigerian.
I leave you with a message of good wishes and ask for your support at all times, so that our land, watered by the Niger and Benue, between the sandy wastes and gulf of guinea, washed in salt by the mighty Atlantic, shall not detract Nigeria from gaining sway in any great aspect of international endeavour. My dear countrymen, this is the end of this speech.
I wish you all good luck and I hope you will cooperate to the fullest in this job which we have set for ourselves of establishing a prosperous nation and achieving solidarity.
Our enemies are the political profiteers, the swindlers, the men in high and low places that seek bribes and demand 10 percent; those that seek to keep the country divided permanently so that they can remain in office as ministers or VIPs at least.....
The tribalists, the nepotists, those that make the country look big for nothing before international circles, those that have corrupted our society and put the Nigerian political calendar back by their words and deeds.
Same problems then, same now and so will it seemly remain.This contraption is not working.So Nigeria seriously needs to redefine its nationhood.
Salewa97: Foolish Nzeogwu that truncated a working system.
Did he tell you that he planned the coup to become the Head of State?
No.Infact what attracted me to Nzeogwu at the early stage when the coup was being planned was that I asked him if he was going to make himself the Head of State and he said no. He said he was going to bring a civilian who was more knowledgeable and who had what it took to make Nigeria great.
I then asked him who that person was and he said the man was in Calabar prison. I said is it Chief Obafemi Awolowo? He said yes. That was why I gave him my support but when he told me it was going to involve killings, I said no I was not interested again.
If the coup had been successful, do you think Nigeria would still be where we are today?
Because I happened to have known the whole genesis of the coup, my answer to that question is, Nigeria would have become a changed place now. Nigeria would have been one of the top countries in the world today.
When he informed me about the plan when we were in India, I brought him to my room & asked many questions. I asked him why he wanted to do such a thing, what he hoped to achieve and he made some very good points.
I then said let me help you write out some things.Our plan for education then was superb, same thing for industrialisation and other good plans for the country.
[s]Did he tell you that he planned the coup to become the Head of State?
No.Infact what attracted me to Nzeogwu at the early stage when the coup was being planned was that I asked him if he was going to make himself the Head of State and he said no. He said he was going to bring a civilian who was more knowledgeable and who had what it took to make Nigeria great.
I then asked him who that person was and he said the man was in Calabar prison. I said is it Chief Obafemi Awolowo? He said yes. That was why I gave him my support but when he told me it was going to involve killings, I said no I was not interested again.
If the coup had been successful, do you think Nigeria would still be where we are today?
Because I happened to have known the whole genesis of the coup, my answer to that question is, Nigeria would have become a changed place now. Nigeria would have been one of the top countries in the world today.
When he informed me about the plan when we were in India, I brought him to my room & asked many questions. I asked him why he wanted to do such a thing, what he hoped to achieve and he made some very good points.
The usual rubbish statement of doing it for Awolowo from some deluded folks.
If Awo was not in prison then, they would have butchered him too like they did to the rest.
The same Awo that the drunkard Ironsi can’t even release from prison is the one Nzeogwu was saying they planned it for.
How Nzeogwu will skip ZIK who was the ceremonial president and Nwafor Orizu the senate president to install Awolowo a supposedly opposition leader and a prisoner still baffles me till today as to the sanity of the people pushing the Awo story.
Simplyleo: Stop disturbing our cyberspace with endless nonsense.No single non-igbo is stopping you.In your next ummuna meeting, discuss this issue extensively with your leaders at all levels of govt and take a unified decision. Evertime, is Nigeria this or that, is anyone forcing you to stay in Nigeria? Igbos are still found everywhere in Nigeria doing business but these ones will be all over the cyberspace typing nonsense up and down.No go find work to do.
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"President Muhammadu Buhari has thrown his weight behind the people of Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic(SADR), otherwise called Western Sahara, stating that NIGERIA WOULD ENSURE THE REALIZATION OF THEIR SELF-DETERMINATION AND INDEPENDENCE(from Morocco).
Nzeogwu also provided the military intelligence that was used in the tribal politics that unjustly jailed Awolowo in 1962 while Nzeogwu was stll a Captain
It was not BBC Hausa that painted the Coup as Sectional.
Ironsi's failure to announce the names of the dead showed that he was hiding something,
Ironsi knew the killings were too heavily tribally biased to be announced
The problem of those Soldiers who dealt with Akintola and Sardauna was that they somehow forgot to deal with their own Politicians too afterall Azikiwe and NCNC were part of that same Government
Salewa97: Rubbish! The usual rubbish statement of doing it for Awolowo from some deluded folks.If Awo was not in prison then, they would have butchered him too like they did to the rest.
The same Awo that the drunkard Ironsi can’t even release from prison is the one Nzeogwu was saying they planned it for.How Nzeogwu will skip ZIK who was the ceremonial president to install Awolowo an opposition leader and a prisoner still baffles me till today as to the sanity of the people pushing the Awo story.Radarada
How does this justify them releasing Awo or the tribally biased coup that Nzeogwu masterminded?
Some people supported the military then because the narrative pushed is that the civilian government is corrupt BUT the bone of contention is that Nzeogwu banked on that and carried out a ethnically biased coup which is what led to the counter coup and subsequent massacre.
Had it been the coup is balanced, it wouldn’t have resulted in a counter coup and that much animosity between tribes.
One thing is clear from the video of Nzeogu's interview,that,the murderers that killed sardauna and Co in kaduna and the those that killed balewa,Akintola and co at Lagos and south west are the same. He made it clear that Nronsi was his boss and they are in the same mission.Thank God their children are paying the price and will continue to pay forever.
The usual rubbish statement of doing it for Awolowo from some deluded folks.
If Awo was not in prison then, they would have butchered him too like they did to the rest.
The same Awo that the drunkard Ironsi can’t even release from prison is the one Nzeogwu was saying they planned it for.
How Nzeogwu will skip ZIK who was the ceremonial president and Nwafor Orizu the senate president to install Awolowo a supposedly opposition leader and a prisoner still baffles me till today as to the sanity of the people pushing the Awo story.
Radarada
My broda, leave him in his deluded mindset. You know one thing that is a standard to @Racoon and amongst people like him? LIARS. They cannot help it, they lie, lie and lie. Why do you think, the WEST refused to support them in all their ambition and their fight and clamour? why do you think Biafra failed and the agitation continues to fail and their leaders are always running away? Because it's all based and founded on LIES. Nzeogwu that is a trusted member of the palace, he is like a son to the Sardauna, however the animalistic instinct in him came out full force and he went in their and shot the Sardauna over the eastern mindset that everyone is stealing and cheating them, Sardauna was owning the bank from loans he'd collected earlier. Balewa was shot and his body was thrown by the way side by Ifeajuna over rumours of embezzlement. Now, this Racoon of a guy is trying to say Nzeogwu wanted to hand over to Awolowo. Well, news for you @Racoon, Awo is a disciplined Gentleman, he wouldn't have accepted a Presidency where blood was spilled over lies, rumours, deep seated hate, betrayal, stubbornness, brazen madness.
I thought we are moving forward, @Racoon, why will you bring this story you and your generation ought to be ashamed of? Again, stop the lies, the Politicians back in the day were way way better political servants of the people. Learn from the mistakes of those traitors.
My broda, leave him in his deluded mindset. You know one thing that is a standard to @Racoon and amongst people like him? LIARS. They cannot help it, they lie, lie and lie. Why do you think, the WEST refused to support them in all their ambition and their fight and clamour? why do you think Biafra failed and the agitation continues to fail and their leaders are always running away? Because it's all based and founded on LIES. Nzeogwu that is a trusted member of the palace, he is like a son to the Sardauna, however the animalistic instinct in him came out full force and he went in their and shot the Sardauna over the eastern mindset that everyone is stealing and cheating them, Sardauna was owning the bank from loans he'd collected earlier. Balewa was shot and his body was thrown by the way side by Ifeajuna over rumours of embezzlement. Now, this Racoon of a guy is trying to say Nzeogwu wanted to hand over to Awolowo. Well, news for you @Racoon, Awo is a disciplined Gentleman, he wouldn't have accepted a Presidency where blood was spilled over lies, rumours, deep seated hate, betrayal, stubbornness, brazen madness.
I thought we are moving forward, @Racoon, why will you bring this story you and your generation ought to be ashamed of? Again, stop the lies, the Politicians back in the day were way way better political servants of the people. Learn from the mistakes of those traitors.
The aim of the Revolutionary Council is to establish a strong united and prosperous nation, free from corruption and internal strife. Our method of achieving this is strictly military but we have no doubt that every Nigerian will give us maximum cooperation by assisting the regime and not disturbing the peace during the slight changes that are taking place.
It's a FACT that of all the three regional parties then, only the NCNC wanted a "united" country and here we have a purportedly leader of an ostensibly revolutionary coup, mimicking the same sentiment.
The man that later on truncated the coup, in no time proceeded to pass military decrees that placed great emphasis on the "unity" of the country.
