Word: abubakar
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National unity had been the question ever since the nation won independence in 1960, and it was no less a question after the rebels swept away the government of Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa. Ironsi proposed to deal with the old bogy of tribal rivalry by demoting Nigeria's four semiautonomous regions to "provinces," and by banning the old regional parties. The new provisional military governors cracked down on "laziness" in the civil service, restricted the use of government vehicles, opened drives against bureaucratic corruption and bribery. One provincial governor even decreed that "everybody should love one another...
...Then, in simultaneous strikes throughout the nation, they killed or kidnaped Nigeria's most powerful feudal lord, the Sardauna of Sokoto; its two most corrupt politicians, Finance Minister Chief Festus Okotie-Eboh and Western Region Premier Chief Samuel Akintola; and its most prestigious international figure, Prime Minister Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa...
...exclusive lagoon-front district of Lagos, the commander of the presidential guard led a handful of troops to the homes of Prime Minister Balewa and his Finance Minister. Sir Abubakar, summoned from prayers, told his servant that "this means there is trouble," but submitted with dignity. He appeared fully dressed, arms above his head, wrists together, ready for handcuffs. Not so Okotie-Eboh, known throughout Nigeria as the king of "dash"-the word used throughout West Africa for the ever-present bribery. Producing a thick wad of bills, he tried to buy off his captors, then, dressed in pajamas...
...Abubakar himself was widely respected as a man who sought to bring the feuding regions together. He was also one of the continent's leading moderate statesmen, opposed equally to colonialism and to Kwame Nkrumah's brash brand of African nationalism. But many of the men in his government, especially the northerners, ran roughshod. The government was widely suspected of tampering with the 1963 census figures to ensure northern control in the federal parliament. In 1962, it jailed Chief Obafemi Awolowo, the anti-north Premier of the Western Region, and installed its own man, Chief Akintola...
...they were not "free and fair." The Constitutional Convention did not meet. As a result, the Azikiwe-Balewa compromise has failed and the "showdown" has come in a violent manner, precipitated by men who have grown tired of the broken promises of the politicians. The Sardauna and Sir Abubakar have been murdered, as has their ally, Chief Samuel Akintola, Premier of the West, and their friend Chief Festus Okotie-Eboh, the incredibly rich Federal Finance Minister who held the key to the balance of power in the Midwestern Region. Only the Ibo East has not lost a major leader...