Interview with Major Nzeogwu, Another nugget from Nigerian history.

                                                     

This is the

text of Major Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu’s famous

interview with Dennis Ejindu in May 1967. This

interview took place just before the start of the civil

war. It is probably the most detailed question and

answer session with Major Nzeogwu. Enjoy….

Ejindu: I am glad to meet you, Sir. How would you

feel if you knew that you are being regarded as a

hero?

Nzeogwu: Very pleased naturally. But the truth is
that I am not a hero. If there was any famous Major
Nzeogwu, I have never heard of him.

Ejindu: It is rumoured that you have just finished
writing a book, what is it like?
Nzeogwu: Good gracious! Ninety-nine per cent of all
the stories you hear in this country are false. I have
not written any book because there was nothing to
write about. You can only write about a finished job.
It would have been a useful means of warding off
boredom though, but one did not do it for the fear
that the authorities might seize the papers. However
I had enough time to make detailed notes on what
happened, and one might use them if in future there
was any need to write something.
Ejindu: Before you went into prison, the cloud was
so clear above this country that one could see very
far into the future. Now that you are out, what do
you see?
Nzeogwu: A job very badly done. If I may borrow
your metaphor, the atmosphere is admittedly
somewhat cloudy. But I don’t think there will be
rain. Indeed if you look steadily up you will find that
the sun is not yet set and might still peep through.
The trouble is that people generally can’t tell which
is a rain cloud and which is not, and as a result
they tend to be confused. As you know there is too
much bitterness at present in the country, and in the
past people had imagined that they could
conveniently do without one another. But the
bitterness will clear in the end and they will find
that they are not as self-reliant as they had thought.
And they will long to be together…. The .same
applies to the Northerners. It may take ten or fifteen
years for them to come together again but there is
no doubt, as far as I can see, that they will. You
see, in this world of imperfection, it is sometimes
very difficult to capture the ideal. But we can, at
least start with the second best.
Ejindu: What is the second best?
Nzeogwu: A Confederation.
Ejindu: Before I come back to that, may 1 take you
back to January, 1966. What exactly happened at
Nassarawa (the premier’s residence at Kaduna) on
the night of the 14th?
Nzeogwu: No, no, no; don’t ask me anything about
that, I don’t want to remember it.
Ejindu: All right. A lot has been talked and written
about the January coup. But how tribalistic was it
really in conception and execution?
Nzeogwu: In the North, no. In the South, yes. We
were five in number, and initially we knew quite
clearly what we wanted to do. We had a short list
of people who were either undesirable for the future
progress of the country or who by their positions at
the time had to be sacrificed for peace and
stability. Tribal considerations were completely out
of our minds at this stage. But we had a set-back
in the execution. Both of us in the North did our
best. But the other three who were stationed in the
South failed because of incompetence and
misguided considerations in the eleventh hour. The
most senior among them was in charge of a whole
brigade and had all the excuse and opportunity in
the world to mobilize his troops anywhere, anyhow
and any time. He did it badly. In Lagos, even
allowing for one or two genuine mistakes, the job
was badly done. The Mid-West was never a big
problem. But in the East, our major target, nothing
practically was done. He and the others let us
down.
Ejindu: You must have anticipated that Gen. Ironsi
would let you down in the end. Why did you
surrender to him the way you did?
Nzeogwu: I was being sensible. The last thing we
desired was unnecessary waste of life.If I had stuck
to my guns there would have been a civil war, and
as the official head of the Army, he would have
split the loyalty of my men. Again, you must
remember that the British and other foreigners were
standing by to help him. Our purpose was to
change our country and make it a place we could
be proud to call our home, not to wage war.
Ejindu: It has been said that Gen. Ironsi set out to
complete your job for you. Was there anything you
did not like in his administration?
Nzeogwu: Yes, everything. First he chose the wrong
advisers for the work he halfheartedly set out to do.
Most of them were either mediocre or absolutely
unintelligent. Secondly, he was tribalistic in the
appointment of his governors. Thirdly the Decree 34
was unnecessary, even silly in fact.
Ejindu: But you wanted a unitary government?
Nzeogwu: No. Not a unitary government as such.
We wanted to see a strong centre. We wanted to
cut the country to small pieces, making the centre
inevitably strong. We did not want to toy with
power, which was what he did.
Ejindu: Tell me, what do you think of him as a
soldier?
Nzeogwu: I am afraid I cannot tell you that. But I
will say that as a person he was very well liked and
as the Supreme Commander, his orders were
promptly carried out.
Ejindu: If he joined the Army as a gunner, he must
have progressed as a military strategist?
Nzeogwu: Yes, if he had, he could have done so.
But he actually joined the Army as a tally-clerk and
was a clerk most of the time.
Ejindu: From the present chaos, what type of
Nigeria do you envisage?
Nzeogwu: In the first place, secession will be ill-
advised, indeed impossible. Even if the East fights
a war of secession and wins, it still cannot secede.
Personally, I don’t like secession and if this country
disintegrates, I shall pack up my things and go. In
the present circumstances, confederation is the
best answer as a temporary measure. In time, we
shall have complete unity. Give this country a
confederation and, believe me, in ten or fifteen
years the young men will find it intolerable, and will
get together to change it. And it is obvious we shall
get a confederation or something near it. Nothing
will stop that.
Ejindu: Do you think there will be any war?
Nzeogwu: No. Nobody wants to fight. The East
which is best equipped and best prepared for war,
does not want to attack anybody. The North cannot
fight. And Lagos cannot fight now. If they had
attacked the East in August or September, they
would have had a walk-over. Today, I think they will
be ill-advised to try.
Ejindu: An Englishman said to me the other day that
the best thing Ojukwu can do is to take over Lagos.
Do you think he can do it even if he wanted to?
Nzeogwu: Yes, I think the East is strong enough to
do it if they want to. But it will serve no useful
purpose. It can only serve to destroy life and
property. You see, the effective power does not lie
in Lagos but in Kaduna, and if you remove Gowon
somebody else will take his place. If you capture
the South against the North, all you can achieve is
civil war, disintegration and border clashes.
Ejindu: Finally, let me come to the controversy over
your release. Much as it has been a popular action
you have been released by the east government
against the wish of the federal government. What
do you say to that?
Nzeogwu: All I can say is that I am happy and
grateful to be out. We feel grateful to the Nsukka
students for their persistent demand, and to the
boys in the barracks for their pressure on the
authorities in the east. To be continued