Word: balewa
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...diplomats and VIPs assembled at Lagos' Tafawa Balewa Square for Nigeria's 25th Independence Day celebrations last October, a sudden downpour sent many notables scrambling for cover under the grandstand. Within moments, ordinary Nigerians in the bleachers were soaking wet. So was a bullish army officer striding across the parade grounds. Spurning an aide's offer of an umbrella, Major General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, 44, continued to inspect a military honor guard in the rain. The crowd roared its approval and gave a standing ovation to the new President of Africa's most populous nation...
...casualties among Africa's first generation of leaders have been heavy; Nigeria's Sir Abubakar Balewa, Togo's Sylvanus Olympio, the Congo's Patrice Lumumba were all killed. Ghana's Kwame Nkrumah was overthrown in 1966; Kenya's brilliant young Tom Mboya was assassinated...
...persistent enmities among four major tribes-the Moslem Hausas and Fulanis in the North, the Yorubas in the West and the clever Ibos in the East. In January 1966, five years after independence, a group led by Eastern army officers toppled the Northern-dominated regime of Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa and exposed the raw nerves of those ancient rivalries. Northerners countered with a coup that installed Gowon, and their pent-up fury exploded in the massacre of thousands of Ibos living in the North...
...month agreed to start mending the broken fabric of national unity with a week of mourning. For two days, the whole nation flew its flags half-mast for Ironsi. For the next three-in the North and West at least -there was mourning for ex-Prime Minister Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, the Northern Moslem who was killed when Ironsi carried off his coup a year...
...cool regional passions, declaring an end to the old federated government, tightening the powers of the central administration. All the while, he was gaining enemies and losing friends. The Moslem North resented its sudden loss of power - not to mention the assassination of Prime Minister Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa and the Sardauna of Sokoto, the two most powerful Northern leaders. In the South, the young Ibo officers who had led the military coup accused Ironsi of appeasement when he refused to allow drastic retaliation after an abortive Northern uprising in June...