Posted by By Chiagoziem Otuechere on
Thirty-eight years after, the ghost of the January 15, 1966 coup of the 'five-majors" is yet to be exorcised.
Thirty-eight years after, the ghost of the January 15, 1966 coup of the 'five-majors" is yet to be exorcised.
The daughter of Brigadier-General Samuel Ademulegun, the then GOC Ist Division, Kaduna, has narrated how Nzeogwu made her and her siblings orphans during the ill-fated coup. Today, Mrs. Solape Ademulegun-Agbi, proprietress of Hillcroft Schools, may be a fully-grown woman. But the trauma of having both parents shot in her presence has left an indelible mark. Reacting to a story captioned, Return My Son's Body, Nzeogwu's Mother Begs Obasanjo, recently published in Saturday Sun, Ademulegun-Agbi said that Nzeogwu's mother wanted her son to be treated as a hero, whereas he could actually pass as a villain.
But her sores were made the more painful when she recalls that Major Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu was a welcome guest who always relished a meal of pounded yam any time he came calling at the Ademuleguns.
She spoke to Daily Sun. Excerpts:
General Ademulegun
My dad is everything you would love in a father. Very caring, hardworking and dedicated. He was in love with horse-riding and he made sure I owned one. I named my horse Santana. I used to ride Santana to school in those days, so when the Volkswagen Santana came into the market, it really brought back memories of those days. As a typical Ondo man, my dad was fond of eating pounded yam with the full complement of cow-leg. Generally, he was a wonderful father who more often than not, hoisted me on his broad shoulders. These are some of the memories that have kept me going all these years.
The 1966 coup
My parents, Brigadier-General Samuel and Hajia Latifat Ademulegun were killed during the 1966 coup. That particular experience was quite traumatic and I have never been able to overcome it. At a point, I had phobia for anything military. My dad was the then General Officer Commanding (GOC) 1st Division, Kaduna and his army number was N3 which makes him the third highest-ranking officer in the Nigerian Army. Major Nzeogwu was a welcome guest in my parents' home. He will always come to our house for steaming hot meal of pounded yam. Being Ondo State indigenes, pounded yam was a regular meal in my mother's kitchen. On the day of the coup, Nzeogwu came calling with some other soldiers in the wee hours of the day. I think they were about six soldiers. As an impressionable young girl of six, that was quite a number. There were guns everywhere. I remember vividly that I was down with chicken pox, so I had the opportunity of sleeping in my parents' room. My immediate younger brother was also sleeping soundly in a cot in the same room. But when Nzeogwu came in, there was little talking. I even called him uncle, but he was the one that shot my mother in the chest. She didn't die immediately, but she was rolling on the floor, gasping and bleeding. With the last ounce of her breath, she was calling 'Kole, Kole" (my immediate elder brother whose room was nearby). But my brother never heard because he hid under his bed when the gunshots were booming. I don't know who killed my dad because he was dragged out of the bedroom. The batman, who was in the boys quarters polishing my dad's shoes, and our housemaid, one Gbelle, shepherded us out of the bedroom. These memories are ever so green in my heart. A child remembers bad things more than the good.
Life after the coup
We were really devastated by the events that took place, but the Army rallied round us. Major-General Aguiyi Ironsi's wife came and took us away from the house. From there we were taken to Lagos. The military catered for our upkeep right to our first degree in the university. Since then, we have not fared badly. My elder brother, Group Captain Frank Ademulegun, now deceased, was the only one who joined the armed forces. My other siblings are doing well both in private and government circles. The military officials and the Ondo State government really tried for us. I also give them a pass mark for immortalising my father's name. My dad has a street named after him in Abuja and the Ikeja Cantonment. There is also a cenotaph in his honour in Ondo Town. At an auspicious time, we plan to chronicle a biography of our parents.
Nzeogwu and family
I am not supposed to harbour grudges as a Christian. But the fact will always remain that Nzeogwu was instrumental to the death of my parents in the ill-fated coup. Nzeogwu's mother wants to portray her son as a hero, while in some quarters the word villain is actually apt. I don't know what the hue and cry is all about. The government too buried my parents. I actually commend the government for burying him (Nzeogwu ) since he died in active service, so to say. Now, we are talking of exhuming a body some 30 years after. It is ridiculous. The family should let sleeping dogs be. Nzeogwu's mother should just relax, hoping for a re-union with her son some day, if such a thing is tenable in the spirit world. I think we should just move on. We have the retrogressive penchant of dwelling too much in the past.
Military rule
A lot of shine has been taken off the military. In the past, the military man was someone to be admired, a gentleman to the core, one to be emulated. But things are no longer the same these days. To me, it doesn't matter who rules as far as there is safety of lives and property; freedom of speech and movement. Democracy is good, but it comes with its own problems. During the military regime, there was sanity in the land. Things were done right with military precision. But since it is a mark of civilisation to be democratic, then so be it. But to me, it doesn't really matter who rules as far as the machinery of government is oiled effortlessly to the benefit of all citizens.