Chapter 1. The Pre-Coup Days: Politics and Crisis
Independence
Igbos
Corruption
1964 Federal Elections
The Wild West
Chapter 2. The Nigerian Army: The Way Things Were
Nigerianization
The First GOC
Maimalari
Ademulegun
Aguiyi-Ironsi
Ogundipe
The Army under Aguiyi-Ironsi
Chapter 3. Soldiers and Politics
These Bookish People
The Inner Circle
Method of Recruitment
The Awolowo Factor
Unheeded Warnings
Chapter 4. Enter “The Five Majors”
Towards the First Coup
January 14 1966: Friday Night Party at Brigadier MaimalariÂ’s House, 11 Thompson Avenue, Lagos
Saturday Morning, January 15, 1966: “Plenty Plenty Palaver”
Events Overnight
Brigadier Ademulegun
Colonel Shodeinde
Strategic Locations
Lagos
Strategic Locations
The GOC in Town
Chapter 5. From Civilian to Military Rule: History in the Making
Reaction to the Coup
Saturday January 15, 1966
Saturday January 15–Sunday January 16, 1966
Sunday Evening, January 16, 1966, Cabinet Office
Thursday, January 20, 1966: A Grisly Discovery
Friday January 21, 1966
Chapter 6. A New Type of Government
Governing Organs of the Military Government
Reaction to the new Regime
Legal and Constitutional Basis of Military Rule
Military Governance
Unification Decree
The May 1966 Riots
Fear of an Igbo Planet
Was Aguiyi-Ironsi an Accomplice?
Provocation in the North
Chapter 7. The Army Implodes
4th Battalion — Ibadan
Reshuffling the Pack
Telling Tales
May 1966 — Army Promotions
The January Detainees
Between a Rock and a Hard Place
Chapter 8. The July Rematch
Plotting the Counter-Coup
Abeokuta: The Catalyst
Abeokuta Garrison — Thursday Night, July 28 1966 (Almost Midnight)
Lagos, Overnight: Thursday July 28 — Friday July 29, 1966
Federal Guard Barracks — Ikoyi
Ibadan, 4 a.m., Friday July 29, 1966
July 29, 1966 — Back to Lagos
Kaduna
Late Night,Friday July 29 1966 — 3rd Battalion, Kawo–Kaduna
Kano, 5th Battalion
Enugu — 1st Battalion
Benin
Chapter 9. Mutineers In Power
Ogundipe in Distress
A Three Day Debate in Lagos, July 29–31, 1966
The Role of Civil Servants
August 1, 1966 — Good Old Jack
Coup or Mutiny?
Chapter 10. The Killing Continues
Collapse Of Discipline: The Inmates Take Over The Asylum
The 4th Battalion Again
The Role of Southern Soldiers
Yoruba Soldiers
Back to Kano
September-October 1966
Pogrom
Chapter 11. Legacy of the 1966 Coups
The “Five Majors”?
Who Was The Leader?
The Majors’ Coup: An “Igbo Coup”?
A UPGA Coup?
The MajorsÂ’ Objectives
The “Classmate Syndrome”
A Culture of Betrayal
Long Lasting Effects Of The July Counter-Coup
Chapter 12. Aburi: The “Sovereign National Conference” That Got Away
Between One Ambitious Man and The Rest of The Country
Secretaries
The Reunion
Politicians
Aguiyi-IronsiÂ’s Fate
Coup Plotters: OjukwuÂ’s Prophecy
The Star Of The Show
The Constitutional Debate
Chapter 13. The Tempestuous Life And Times Of Murtala Muhammed
The Early Days
The “Five Majors”
The Counter-Coup: Araba
Ikeja: Spotlight On Murtala and Gowon
Confrontation in the Mid-West
The War Years
Chapter 14. The Post War Years: Civil and Military Discontent
The Military and Civil Society
Seated from left to right: Mobolaji Johnson, Yakubu Gowon and Joseph Wey.Chapter 15. Another Army Plot: Another Military Government
Chapter 15. Another Army Plot: Another Military Government
Another Coup Plot
The Brigadiers Approached
July 28, 1975
Colonel WalbeÂ’s House
Military Coups: Backing the Right Horse
The New Leaders
A No Nonsense Leader
Supreme Military Council
Murtala as head of state
Military Governors
The Mass Purge
Creation of States
Foreign Affairs
Cement Chaos
A New Capital
The Beginning of the End
Chapter 16. Friday the 13th : The Watershed Coup
Defense Headquarters and Bonny Camp
The Contribution of Babangida
Babangida and Dimka at the Radio Station
Firefight at the Radio Station
Succession
A Diplomatic Spat
Fugitive
Chapter 17. Crime and Punishment
Anatomy of a Plot
The Plot — The Government’s Case
Treason and Other Offenses (Special Military Tribunal) Decree 1976
The Special Military Tribunal
DimkaÂ’s Confessions
BisallaÂ’s Case
The Verdict
Executions
Life After Murtala
The “Coup Widows”
MurtalaÂ’s Family
APPENDIX 1
Nigerian Army Hierarchy, January 14, 1966
Appendix 2. Speeches
Major-General Aguiyi-IronsiÂ’s Inaugural Speech on January 16, 1966
President AzikiweÂ’s Statement to the Press: Reaction to NigeriaÂ’s First Military Coup
First Speech of Lt-Colonel Yakubu Gowon, August 1, 1966
APPENDIX 3. Casualties of the 1966 Coups
Appendix 4.
Appendix 5. Treason and Other Offenses (Special Military Tribunal) Decree 1976
Glossary
Nigerian Army Officer Ranks (in order of decreasing seniority)
Nigerian Army NCO Ranks (in order of decreasing seniority)
Bibliography
Official Memoranda and Publications
INDEX
