MUHAMMADU BUHARI WAS NEVER A COUP PLOTTER HEAR HIM ON THIS HISTORICAL INTERVIEW ON 1983 C0UP (Q) Now, they said you were invited to head the government after the coup? (A) Yes. (Q) As the most senior officer? (A) Yes. (Q) What really happened because it was not a Buhari coup? (A) No. (Q) Could we say you never plotted a coup throughout your military career? (A) No. I didn’t plot a coup. (Q) You were not a coup plotter? (A) No. (Q) You were invited? (A) Yes. (Q) Where were you when you were invited? (A) I was in Jos. They sent a jet to me flown by one of General Gowon’s younger brothers. He was a pilot. He told me that those who conducted the coup had invited me for discussion. (Q) You went to Lagos? (A) I went to Lagos. I was flown to Lagos. Yes. And they said ok, those who were in charge of the coup had said that I would be the head of state. And I was. (Q) When you made that statement that ‘this generation of Nigerians has no country other than Nigeria,’ for me it was like a JFK statement asking Americans to think of what they could do for America. Twenty months after, your same colleagues who invited you sacked you. What happened? (A) They changed their minds. (Q) They changed their minds? So, what happened in between that, because part of what they said when they took over power was that you had become “too rigid, too uncompromising and arrogated knowledge of problems and solutions to yourself and your late deputy, Idiagbon. What really happened? (A) Well, I think you better identify those who did that and interview them so that they can tell you what happened. From my own point of view, I was the chairman of the three councils, which, by change of the constitution, were in charge of the country. They were the Supreme Military Council, the Executive Council and the National Council of State. I was the chairman of all. Maybe when you interview those who were part of the coup, they will tell you my rigidity and whether I worked outside those organs: the Supreme Military Council, the Council of State and the Council of Ministers. ON 1966 COUPS AND COUNTER-COUPS (Q) Where were you during the coups and counter-coups? And what rank were you in the military then? (A) I was in Lagos, in the barracks, as transport officer. I was only a second lieutenant. (Q)That was during the January 15, 1966 coup? (A) Yes, January 15, 1966. (Q) The coup met you in Lagos? (A) Yes. I think that was my saddest day in the military because I happened to know some of the senior officers that were killed. In the transport company, after the 2nd Battalion and we came back, I was posted to Lagos to be a transport officer and in my platoon, we had staff cars and Landrovers. So, I knew the Army officers, from Ironsi, Maimalari, because I detailed vehicles for them every working day. So, I knew senior officers. (Q) So, you were in contact with them? (A) I was in contact with them somehow because I was in charge of transportation. (Q) Where were you that night of January 15 coup? (A) I was in Lagos. (Q) Can you recall the circumstance, how you got to know? (A) The way I got to know was, my routine then was as early as about six in the morning, I used to drive to the garage to make sure that all vehicles for officers, from the General Officer Commanding (GOC), who was then General Ironsi, were roadworthy and the drivers would drive off. And then, I would go back to the Officers Mess in Yaba, where I would wash, have my breakfast and come back to the office. And around the railway crossing in Yaba, coming out from the barracks, we saw a wounded soldier. I stopped because I was in a Landrover. I picked him and asked what happened. He said he was in the late Maimalari’s house and they were having a party the previous night and the place was attacked. So, I took the soldier to the military hospital in Yaba and I asked after the commander. Maimalari, I think, was commander of 2 Brigade in Apapa. He was the 2 Brigade Commander. They said he was shot and killed. (Q)Then, you didn’t know it was a coup? (A) Well, that became a coup. That was the time I really learnt it was a coup. (Q) And then there was a counter-coup of July? (A) Yes, July. (Q) Where were you at this time also? (A) I was in Lagos again. I was still in Lagos then at Apapa at 2 Brigade Transport Company. (Q) And then, there was ethnic colouration and all that. And at a point, they asked some of you to go back to the North. Am I correct? (A) Yes, because I was posted back then to the battalion. That was in Abeokuta. It was first to Ikeja Cantonment, but after the counter-coup, we were taken to Lagos by train, the whole battalion. (Q) Did you play any role in the counter-coup? (A) No! Not that I will tell you. You know at 70, you are reminiscing. You are saying it the way it is, you don’t give a damn anymore… Well, there was a coup. That is all I can tell you. I was a unit commander and certainly, there was a breakdown of law and order. So, I was posted to a combatant unit, although 2 Brigade Transport Company was a combatant unit. You know there were administrative and combatant units and the service unit, like health, education. Even transport, there are administrative ones, but there are combatant ones also. (Q) The question I asked was, did you play any specific role? (A) No. I was too junior to play any specific role. I was just a lieutenant then. In 1966, January, I was a Second Lieutenant, but I was promoted, I think, around April, May, or June to Lieutenant. (Q) And what were your impressions of that period? (A) You see, senior military officers had been killed and politicians, like Sardauna, Akintola, Okotie Eboh. They were killed. And then in the military, Maimalari, Yakubu Pam, Legima, Shodeinde, and Ademolegun; so really, it had a tribal tinge. (Q) The first one? (A) Yes. And then, there was a counter. (Q) One mistake gave birth to another one? (A) Certainly, certainly. (Q) And then long years of military came? (A) Oh yes. (Q) From 1967-75, it was Gowon. At that point in time, where were you? (A) When Gowon came into power, I wonder whether I would recall where I was. It was July 1967 that Gowon came in. That was when I was in Lagos. I was again in Lagos, then in the transport company. (Q) Then he took over? (A) Yeah, Gowon took over or Gowon was installed. Well, more like you… (Laughs) Yes. NIGERIANS HAVE THE RIGHT TO KNOW THE TRUTH AND NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH.
Posted on: Wed, 29 Oct 2014 17:30:36 +0000
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