The Gun Hegemony: Nigeria’s military history from the pen of a victim
Prior to his latest effort, Ayo Opadokun, Secretary of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) and former Secretary of Afenifere, had written two books. One he titled as Freedom Jail, his
Prior to his latest effort, Ayo Opadokun, Secretary of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) and former Secretary of Afenifere, had written two books. One he titled as Freedom Jail, his prison memoir, the other Aristocratic Rebel, the biography of the country’s former Inspector General of Police, Alhaji M.D. Yusufu.
However, The Gun Hegemony, launched in Lagos on Thursday, January 15, may just be his biggest project. And it is not just the fact that in size and volume, 427 pages, The Gun Hegemony dwarfs those earlier books.
The Gun Hegemony comes out as a very daring book by a very audacious Author. It weighs the Nigerian Military on the scale of history. In the eyes of Opadokun, how does the institution measure up?
Opadokun writes not just as a historian, he writes as a victim. Those know who know. This Lawyer, Journalist, former Teacher, former Secretary, Activist, Nationalist and Elder Statesman collaborated with the likes of Anthony Enahoro, Abraham Adesanya, MKO and Kudirat Abiola, Adekunle Ajasin, Dan Suleiman, Arthur Nwankwo and Ndubuisi Kanu, in the struggle against the Military’s annulment of the June 12, 1993 elections. As NADECO scribe and spokesman, the Offa, Kwara State-born Activist had his home bombed. He was driven underground. He was arrested and severally detained in prisons by the Military junta of General Sani Abacha. Opadokun paid these prices for his role in the epic struggle. So he was a victim of the Military, as it were. What victim would write a kind word about his tormentors?
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From the grinding stone of a writers’ objectivity, an oppressed victim and a participant observer, Opadokun succeeds in churning out a book that paints a realistically holistic picture of the Nigerian Military since the colonial era to contemporary times. He produced The Gun Hegemony as a historical project that chronicles, perhaps like no other book, the origins, the odyssey and the achievements of the Nigerian Armed Forces. Guess what. He makes a success of his venture.
Beyond just beaming his light on the Military’s organic history, Opadokun explores the relationships that the institution forged with civilians.
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Interestingly, he says that the first coup ever planned to overthrow a civilian regime in Nigeria was not the ill-fated attempt on January 15, 1966 by the “Five Majors,” whose leadership has since historically been credited to Major Chukwuma Nzeogwu by several authors, writers and chroniclers.
Who in fact planned the first military coup in Nigeria? Opadokun’s The Gun Hegemony gives that credit to no less a personality than Chief Obafemi Awolowo. Although initiated by civilians, the Awolowo plot can be safely regarded as the culmination of Nigeria’s first coup plot. Opadokun credits credible sources with that information. In Awo’s famous 1965 treason trial, the government built its case on the accusation that the Action Group (AG) leader and his party trained fighters in Ghana; and that they tried to bribe Nigerian Army officers to rebel against the Northern People’s Congress (NPC) regime. But Awo always denied he planned any such insurrection! He maintained that position of innocence throughout the treason trial and the denial formed the butt of his defence.
However, in his book, Opadokun (who would later in the Second Republic serve Awo as Personal Secretary and UPN official) now quotes Awolowo’s Co-Accused (who escaped from Nigeria rather than face trial), the AG General Secretary, Samuel Goomsu Ikoku (S.G. Ikoku), who decades later confessed to the crime:
“We were fed up with the way the Nigerian system, the Nigerian state and the Nigerian government were operating, we were deeply committed to a change of government and we saw that waiting for elections would not produce any solution to the problem. This is what we did. We started preparations for it and the preparations had gone very far and I believe we would have pulled it off. But unfortunately for us, our leader was so kind to the Nigerian police that he has a police informant among his planners and so the police knew every move we were making. And so it was easy to trip us up. Well, after the act, people have been saying there was no coup because we went to court, there was no plan to overthrow the government. Naturally, if you catch me over a coup plot and take me to court, I have to enter a plea of not guilty, I did not do it. This is normal…. Our leader even became the number two citizen in the country. I felt it was time to tell the country the truth, so that our history would be correct. So, all I am saying is that, yes, there was an attempt to overthrow the government. Yes, I took part in the attempt. Yes, it failed, thanks to people like M.D. Yusufu and Co.”
Ghana’s former President Kwame Nkrumah was also involved in the plot and provided S.G. Ikoku and co-conspirators with training camp and everyday comforts. To strengthen the story, when Major Emmanuel Ifeajuna fled from Nigeria, after the January 15, 1966 coup failed, Nkrumah accommodated him and lodged him with Ikoku in Ghana. This narration Opadokun’s book places on record.
Even more historical revelations, several eye-popping and astounding, one will find in this book. Many of these facts are coming to light for the first time.
The book shows painstaking detail in its chosen subject. Do you know the first coup in human history? Readers will find it in Appendix 1 of Opadokun’s book, devoted to a chronological listing of not only successful coups but failed ones. Its list covers ancient times to this millennium, 876 BC through 2019 AD. The list begins with the 876 BC revolt by Zimri, a Military commander of Israel, who killed his King Elah and took over the throne. Zimri later committed suicide to avoid being overthrown in a counter-coup by his own commander Omri. The second happened in 860 BC by Duke Hu of Qi who was overthrown by his half-brother Shan.
An overall readable and instructive book, The Gun Hegemony has a 15-chapter structure, covering:
• Objective State Of The Nation Before The Army Struck On January 15, 1966
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• Historical Background Of The Military Institution
• Preparation Of The Military Politicians For The First Military Coup d’état Of January 15 1966
• Maiden Coup Speeches
• Military Impacts On Socio-Political And Economic Landscape
• Impact On Social Services And Infrastructures
• Military’s Impact On The Judiciary
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• Military Impact On The Nigerian Police
• Impact Of Military Rule On The Military
• Abuse Of Human Rights, Repression And Abuse Of Citizens’ Right
• Impact Of Military Rule On The Media
• Military Transitions To Civilian Government
In The Gun Hegemony, Opadokun has succeeded in synthesising exclusive information with verified history to create a delightfully authoritative book on the romance between Nigeria and her Military and the unhealthy fruits of that marriage of convenience that each has forced upon the other to the detriment of both.
