BY BASHORUN J.K. RANDLE
PART I
Exactly sixty years ago our beloved nation, Nigeria took us by surprise—soldiers led by Major Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu and Major Emmanuel Ifejuana (the Olympic/Commonwealth Games High Jump champion) announced the termination of the civilian government led by Alhaji (Sir) Abubakar Tafawa Balewa.
I was in London, aged twenty-two years, and I was almost halfway through becoming a Chartered Accountant. My daily routine revolved around learning the rudiments of value proposition, change management, feasibility reports, succession planning, risk assessment/Risk Management; Strategic Thinking; Checks and balances, simulation, critical path analysis, proof of concepts, environmental impact assessment, visioning, planning memorandum, financial modeling, etc. None of these seemed to matter to the coup plotters—the “Five Majors”:
Major Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu
Major Emmanuel Ifejuana
Major Timothy Onwuatuegwu
Major Chris Anuforo
Major Don Okafor.
In their radio broadcast, the coup plotter addressed only one item – their mission which was to liquidate the civilian government that commenced on 1st October 1960. That was the beginning of their trouble with Comrade Ayo Opadokun!!. He has waited these past six decades to retaliate and surprisingly he has chosen the same January 15 to return fire for fire. His verdict on the military is well documented in the riveting book:
“THE GUN HEGEMONY”
which we are here to launch today while we relive our anguish over the orgy of bloodshed of that Friday night/Saturday morning followed six months later by the counter-coup of July 28 1966.
I suggest that many of you would have noticed that on the invitation cards and advertisements for today’s event, all the names (except mine) have job titles. In order to address that omission permit me to disclose that I have been practising as a Chartered Accountant (I spent thirty-four years at KPMG Nigeria and for eleven years I was the Chairman and Chief Executive).
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However, what is far more relevant is that I have been a newspaper columnist for almost six decades and I have written twenty-five books of which the best known are:
My books deal with the same issues which are captured in“The Gun Hegemony” but from a different perspective – that of four generations, starting with my great grandfather, Thomas Randle, my grandfather Dr. J.K. Randle; my Dad, Chief J.K. Randle and my humble self.
Collectively, we have been on active combat duty for almost two hundred years not with guns but with selfless service; passion; compassion; integrity; knowledge; philanthropy; and unflinching loyalty to the Nigeria Project. Alas, our reward has been dismal. Mostly antagonism. Anyway, that is a subject for another day.
For now, let us at least acknowledge that the MUSON Centre where we are today was originally “The Love Garden” which was donated by Dr. J.K. Randle over a hundred years ago “for the recreation and peaceful enjoyment of the people of Lagos” Next door was the Dr. J.K. Randle Swimming Pool where most Lagosians of my generation learnt how to swim.
It was handed over to Lagos Town Council as a gift in 1928. The Dr. J.K. Randle Swimming Competition which commenced in 1928 is the oldest sporting competition in Nigeria.
It was my grandfather who as a medical doctor appealed to the British Colonial Government to provide public water toilets and refuse disposal houses (which were being enjoyed exclusively by white colonialists) for entire Lagos. The Colonial government refused. There was no budget allocation for them.
Dr. J.K. Randle decided to build them with his own funds. They are still with us, after a hundred years, at Ita Faji; Ajele Street; Olusi Street; Igbosere Street (behind King’s College); Cow Lane; Marina (opposite the Cathedral Church of Christ); Iddo Motor Park; and several other locations.
Anyway, next door to the Dr. J.K. Randle Swimming Pool was the Chief J.K. Randle Memorial Hall which was built in memory of my father in recognition of his selfless service to the nation – in sports, politics, philanthropy, racial/ethnic/religious harmony etc.
To my utter horror and surprise, it was a civilian Governor of Lagos who ordered the bulldozers accompanied by armed soldiers and battle-ready policemen to raze the Dr. J.K. Randle Swilling Pool to the ground. It was like a bomb site afterwards by the following day all the debris had been carted away.
The date was September 24, 2016. The civilian ruled by force and fear.
However, on one momentous occasion, our Ambassador in Rome, Italy refused to be cowed. Canon J.S. Furlong was a much loved former school teacher. General Yakubu Gowon was one of his students and he was adored by successive military governments. He was a non-career Ambassador. However, he had a drinking problem.
Anyway, during the Buhari/Idiagbon military regime December 31,1983 to August 27,1985 which had launched WAI (War Against Indiscipline), the very stern Major-General Tunde Idiagbon was scheduled to stop over in Rome en route Moscow
The Embassy staff went to great lengths to ensure that Ambassador Darlong was not served any alcohol while he was in the V.I.P./Diplomatic lounge. Unfortunately, Idiagbon’s plane was late. In the meantime, the stewards in the V.I.P. Diplomatic lounge finished their shift but forgot to warn their replacement that alcohol was not to be offered to the Nigerian Ambassador.
The new stewards apologized profusely to Ambassador Furlong for not serving him alcohol and offered him any drink of his choice. Consequently, by the time Idiagbon arrived, the Nigerian Ambassador was thoroughly plastered. Drunk. Legless.
When, Idiagbon’s plane eventually arrived, Ambassador Furlong could barely stagger to the plane. As the very tall Idiagbon came down the stairs, our Ambassador delivered his unsolicited audit report:
“Dogo (tall man) so you are the man that everybody in Nigeria is afraid of. Me, I am not afraid of you at all.”
Needless to add that, that that was the end of his diplomatic career.
Also, under General Idi Amin Dada of Uganda was total fear of the murderous dictator. He kept the heads of his enemies in a freezer in the presidential palace. Anyway, he became so power drunk that at a Cabinet meeting he suddenly announced that he had decided to change the name of the country to IDI.
However, there was a problem – what would be the nomenclature of the citizens.? He asked for suggestions. There was dead silence. However, the Foreign Minister who had just received a call from Cyprus had the temerity to suggest that since the citizens of Cyprus are known as Cypriots, similarly the citizens of IDI should be tagged IDIOTS !! He was immediately escorted out of the meeting – never to be seen again.
As for Emperor Jean-Bedel Bokassa of Central African Republic, he insisted on being sworn in as Emperor at an elaborate ceremony.
He invited the President of France, Valery Giscard D’Estaing as his Guest of Honor The French Ambassador discreetly enquired what would be a suitable present from the President of France. Bokasa promptly disclosed that what he would really like was a medal – the Napoleon Medal in gold. No problem.
When the President of France, arrived in Bangui, capital of Central African Republic (CAR) he had the medal in his hand as he came down the stairs of the plane that brought him. However, there was a problem.
Emperor Bokasa who was waiting to receive him turned up in the military uniform of an Emperor. His entire chest was bedecked with all sorts of medals. There was no more room for yet another medal.
Without batting an eyelid, Bokasa turned his back to President Valery Giscard D’Estaing and demanded that the medal should be pinned on his back !!
Perhaps I should share with you the video of the President of Somalia and his Vice-President exchanging blows on a public stage.
As for Somalia, it has not had an election for sixty years. Its last president, Siad Barre fled to Nigeria in 1991 and died in exile.
The story of Sudan is equally sordid:
On 11 November 2024, Mo Ibrahim founder and chair of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, joined Comfort Ero, President and CEO of the International Crisis Group, at the Paris Peace Forum to address Sudan’s escalating conflict and humanitarian crisis. The discussion underscored the urgent need for international intervention and cooperation to halt the violence and alleviate the suffering of civilians caught in the crossfire.
During the conversation, both Mo and Comfort Ero emphasized the dire situation facing Sudan, where violence has claimed thousands of lives and displaced millions. To address this, the speakers urged stronger, coordinated efforts from international bodies like the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) and the African Union (AU).
The Sudan conflict has already resulted in a massive wave of migration, both within Sudan and across its borders, exacerbating instability in neighbouring countries. Mo warned that if the conflict is not contained, it could trigger wider regional unrest, fuelling further displacement and insecurity.
As for DCR (the Democratic Republic of the Congo):
The story of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is a tragic saga of extreme colonial exploitation under King Leopold II (Congo Free State), brutal Belgian rule (Belgian Congo).
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) today is defined by a severe humanitarian crisis, ongoing conflict in the minieral-rich East (especially the M23 rebellion), political instability, endemic corruption, and extreme poverty despite vast natural resources.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo faces one of the world’s most severe and long-standing armed conflict, political instability and natural disasters.
Attacks by armed groups and recurring inter-communal violence have threatened populations in the eastern provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) for more than 30 years. Over 120 militias and armed groups operate in Ituri, North Kivu, South Kivu and Tanganyika provinces, many regularly perpetrating widespread violations that may amount to crimes against humanity and war crimes.
In crafting our Auditors’ Report on “The GUN HEGEMONY” over the last sixty years, we are obliged to beam our searchlight beyond the Executive Arm to the other two pillars – namely The Judiciary and The Legislature.
As regards the Judiciary, here is a damning report
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As for the Legislature, let us confine ourselves to that memorable occasion in ………….when a former DIG (Deputy Inspector General) of Police, Alhaji Nuhu Aliyu declared in his maiden speech at The Senate:
“There is something strange here. Some of the people I detained at Panti Police Station, Yaba and AlagbonPolice Station, Ikoyi in Lagos for serious crimes – ranging from armed robbery to “419” fraud, currency trafficking and smuggling are in this chamber.!!”
I still have clear recollection of January 15, 1955. It was a Friday and my beloved cousin Adenike Martins who was a secretary at the Nigerian High Commission in London hosted a party at her flat in Fordwych Court, Kilburn, NW2 3NJ.
Then Colonel Robert Adeyinka Adebayo who was attending a course at the Defence Staff College, Abuja. was the life and soul of the party. He was thoroughly enjoying himself. The party was still going on when I left around midnight.
Hence, it was a complete shock to wake up the following morning to learn from BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) news that the military had carried out a coup d’etat in Nigeria and the whereabouts of the Prime Minister, Alhaji (Sir) Abubakar Tafawa Balewa and other leading politicians such as Chief Festus Okotie-Eboh (Minister of Finance); Chief S.L. Akintola (Premier of the Western Region) were unknown. Also, there were unconfirmed reports that the Premier of the Northern Region, Alhaji (Sir) Ahmadu Bello and senior military officers had been assassinated in Kaduna. The rest of the day was filled with gory tales of the bloodletting in Nigeria.
Thereafter, the Chaos Theory took over. “The Chaos Theory is a field of research in math and physics that studies the patterns of dynamic – or chaotic – systems to better understand and predict their behaviours. These patterns emerge from a relationship between these systems and related facets of math known as “strange attractors.”
“The Gun Hegemony” serves as confirmation that Nigeria has been clamped under a spell. For sixty years what we have witnessed is the mismatch (and mismanagement|) of the demand and supply equation for good governance/good government. The answer is zero.
Even as far back as 1898:
“Dr. John Kehinde Randle while recovering from a surgical operation in England in 1910, he read a paper in the British Medical Journal of 3 September 1910 on ‘Spread of cancer among descendants of the liberated Africans or Creoles of Sierra Leone’ by William Renner, a medical officer in Freetown.
Renner claimed that there was an increasing number of cases of cancer of various organs, especially of the breast, among the descendants of the liberated Africans or Creoles of Sierra Leone, where as cancer was rare among the aborigines of West Africa.
He concluded that the rarity of cancer among the latter group was because of ‘their primitive mode of living’ – eating mainly grains and vegetables – whereas the relatively well-to-do Creoles had adopted the civilized habits of Europeans, consuming, among other things, large quantities of meat.
Randle’s reaction was a lengthy essay, ‘Cancer among the African Creoles’, written from his sick bed and published in the British Medical Journal of 15 October 1910. In it he disagreed with Dr. Renner, arguing that cancer was seen less frequently among natives in hospital because natives with these diseases preferred to visit the ‘country fetish doctors whose stronghold amongst our people’ was considerable.
Randle made several donations to Lagos, to Regent, the village of his birth, and to Fourah Bay College as well as funding many scholarships for deserving students to study undergraduate medicine. He began the first annual swimming competition in Lagos in 1922, this remained the only public swimming competition in Nigeria.
Dr. John Randle died in Lagos on 27 February, 1928.”
The schism has taken a huge toll.
Between January 15, 1966 and now, that cataclysmic coup d’etat has served us with a steady diet of blood shedding and gun slinging. A case in point was the assassination of General Murtala Mohammed on Friday 13th February 1976. I had visited him in his house at 6 Second Avenue, Ikoyi on the previous day and had a long discussion with him while he kept top people in his government waiting.
His wife Ajoke, who is my dear cousin, was out of the country. I have written at great length about the shock and trauma of the dastardly and daylight shooting of Nigeria’s military Head of State. (July 29, 1975 to February 13, 1976).
General Olusegun Obasanjo became the new Head of State. Colonel Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida became a national hero for confronting (unarmed) Dimka at Radio Nigeria, Ikoyi where Dimka had held the Director-General, Dr. Christopher Kolade, late Mrs Tugbobo and other staff hostage.
General T.Y. Danjuma, (Chief of Army Staff) escaped assassination three times on the same day – at Queen’s Drive Naval Jetty; at Defence Headquarters, Marina; and at Bonny Camp Cantonment, Victoria Island.
Ironically, General Murtala Mohammed was alleged to havehad fore knowledge of the coup that toppled his predecessor, General Yakubu Gowon ruled from (August 1, 1966 to July 29, 1975) but had insisted that there must be no bloodshed.
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He was in London when on July 29,1975 General Gowon’s regime was terminated while he was attending an OAU (Organisation of African Unity) conference in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
All flights to Nigeria were immediately cancelled. However, the KLM flight on which then Brigadier Murtala Murtala Mohammed travelled from London was able to land in Kano. Also on the flight was his uncle Alhaji Inuwa Wada, the former Minister of Defence.
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