Date Published: 09/28/10

The Balewa Saga and its lessons for the tragedy of Nigeria's History by Henry Chukwuemeka Onyema

Anyone who has closely followed the still unfolding drama that began on September 5 with the revelation of Matthew Mbu, Nigeria’s first high commissioner to Britain and a veteran of many ministerial positions in various Nigerian governments, about the death of Tafawa Balewa, the county’s first Prime Minister, will not fail to be astonished by this powerful thing called history. Since the drama began I have taken a front seat in the theatre and my mouth is agape as I contemplate the unsettling possibility that for the past forty-four years Nigerians could have been living a lie.

Someone may wonder: what is the big deal about how Balewa died? Does it matter if he died of bullet wounds or asthma or heart attack? Can’t we allow the man to rest peacefully and forge ahead with the great challenges that face us as a fifty year old baby crawling in diapers when our mates are flying in Superman capes? But such an argument misses the point. The dead will never rest in peace if their bones are buried in a heap of lies. Incalculable harm has been done to the worldview, psyche and education of millions of young and not-so-young Nigerians who have no access to the facts. I am not a spokesman for the coup plotters of January 15 1966 but the tar of evil many writers and analysts of their action have tried to stick on them has made many Nigerians continue to regard their brothers from certain parts of the country as vermin. Maybe the revelations about Balewa’s death can help change this mindset. As I wrote in an earlier article published in ‘Sunday Vanguard’ of 12 September, history can never be totally reproduced because of the inability of the historian/writer to reproduce all the details. New facts can change established positions. Permit me to quote the Nsukka doyen of history, Peter Olisanwuche Esedebe: ‘Are the conflicting explanations of the same historical events advanced by different historians equally arbitrary or equally objective? The answer is not as simple as the question itself. It depends on how one understands ‘arbitrary’ and ‘objective’ in the context. In the sense that the interpretations are invariably based on a fraction of the evidence, a part of the whole, they may be said to be equally arbitrary. But in so far as the arguments follow where the available material leads they are equally valid.’ Not everyone involved in the reopened ‘Balewa question’ is a historian but are they examining the facts for what they are? Believe this or not, many Nigerian lives are being affected or will be affected by the subject under scrutiny and its wider implications. So if Ifeajuna did not kill Balewa could it be the beginning of the end of the seemingly iron cast notion that once upon a time in this country the Igbo took it upon themselves to lord it over their brothers? It may help us re-evaluate the role of the British in our national life and realize how luciferic their imperialist designs were. Then our military can commence a real process of recovery, and the rather cult-like secrecy with which our national affairs are handled by self-seeking power-hustlers may be ripped to pieces once and for all.

The evidence is still flowing in. I commend ‘The Nation’ newspaper for its dogged investigation and presentation of different perspectives on the matter. I doff my hat for Chief Segun Osoba. Though I have reservations about Chief Femi Fani-Kayode’s submissions I am glad about the angles he brought to bear on the subject. Let those who know anything about what actually happened to Balewa speak up for God and history will never forgive them if they keep quiet. But let them speak in an environment devoid of intimidation; let no-one ethnicize the subject; let us bow to only honest and superior arguments; let us realize that we may not have the last word.

My questions remain unanswered:

If Ironsi and his men knew the fate of Balewa, Okotie-Eboh and other fallen members of the civilian government by January 17 1966, why did they keep quiet till January 22?

Between the time the journalist, Segun Osoba, saw and reported about Balewa’s body, and its movement and burial, what actually happened? Were bodies switched?

Where is the report of the Police on the discovery of Balewa and Okotie-Eboh’s bodies? Or was there no report?

How reliable is the account of ex-Army Captain Chris Israel Okigbo that the victims of the first coup were beheaded? (See ‘The Nation’ of 26 September, p.56). Okigbo participated in the coup in the Western region but how much did he know and to what extent was he involved?

I have seen sections of the official report of the Police Special Branch investigation of the coup and what I saw was incomplete. Agreed, anyone can paste anything on the internet. 44 years after the incident, such a weighty record ought to be declassified (if is still classified).

If there was no autopsy, where did the story that there was one come from? If it was done at LUTH, RECORDS MUST EXIST. Or was it done by Army medical personnel?

Just how many coup plots were being hatched between the twilight of 1965 and the dawn of 1966? What did the British know and when did they know it?

Some questions may not be answered either because those who can answer them are dead or alive but unwilling to talk. With the 2011 elections looming over Nigeria, some would want to let sleeping dogs lie. But only the truth can heal Nigeria.

Henry C. Onyema is a writer and historian. Email address:henrykd2009@yahoo.com