Grannie Ngwo Elizabeth Pam flew to Enugu in search of Major Humphrey Chukwuka, the man who led her husband, Col. James Yakubu Pam, to death on January 15, 1966. It was a mission that showed the humanity in the Pam family.
Mrs Pam went to Col. Patrick Anwunah and asked for Chukwuka. When the retired major arrived, what she did should be recorded for posterity. “I forgive you”, were the exact words of the widow who was left to cater for six children after that unfortunate January 1966 coup.
Solape Ademulegun was barely six years old when her parents, Brigadier Samuel Adesujo Ademulegun and Latifat Feyisitan Abike, nee Noble, were killed right before her in their bedroom. She grew up as an orphan and always cried as a school girl, when other students received their parents on Visiting Days.
The Pams and Ademuleguns represent some of the pains of the Nigerian nation. The coup that took away their parents redefined History as bloodletting continues to torment the nation, from the East, to North, West and down South.
A group of ill advised young majors turned the nation upside down, after a killing spree that cut across all divides but was erroneously tagged Igbo coup. The young officers did not represent any ethnic agitations and knew not the consequences of their action.
Curiously, the coup was foiled by Igbo officers, from Gen. Johnson Aguiyi Ironsi in Lagos, Col. Emeka Ojukwu in Kano, to Col. Alex Madiebo in Kaduna and Col. Conrad Nwawo who had to be flown in from the United Kingdom to lure Nzeogwu to Lagos, from Kaduna.
Painting the January 1966 coup with a black Igbo brush is like tagging all Kanuri Boko Haram or all Hausa and Fulani, Bandits and Killer Herdsmen. Criminals should be treated as individuals, it is even more criminal to condemn an entire ethnic nationality for an offence committed by a few.
There was a counter coup on July 29, 1966. The anger of January was carried too far. Innocent Igbo families were massacred in a pogrom that began in the North but later turned to Genocide through a Civil War, from 1967 to the beginning of 1970.
It was as senseless as the first. How does one describe the assassination of Lt. Stephen Ekundayo Idowu, at the Ikeja Cantonment. The plotters claimed they targeted Igbo officers but Idowu, father of four, was Yoruba. The truth was that his deputy did the dirty job and was going to clear the entire family until Idowu’s batman shot him to save the kids. The saviour orderly committed suicide after that.
Millions of Igbo lives were lost during the counter coup, pogrom and Genocide. Beginning with the first coup, blood has continued to flow and the wandering souls of the dead continue to haunt the nation. Unfortunately, our leaders care not about the trouble with Nigeria.
Prof. Ishaya Pam and his twin brother, Dr. Ishaku Pam, were less than two years old when their dad was killed in 1966. One would expect them to be bitter eternally. No, they are different. Unlike some Nigerian leaders, they have nothing against the Igbo even if their father was taken away by Chukwuka, accompanied by 2nd Lt. Godwin Onyefuru and four Igbo other ranks.
Their youngest brother, Ibrahim, who was about four months old at the time of their father’s death, is married to an Igbo woman. Prof. Pam still has Igbo friends and has visited Imo State severally. During a stop over at Owerri, he was ready to travel to Enugu by road on a Monday until a driver advised against that because of the IPOB Sit – At – Home order.
Mrs Pam did not distance herself from her husband’s Igbo friends. She even worked in the South -East during the Second Republic. She bore no grudges. Col. Pam was Berom, married to a Ghanaian, whose mother was a Muslim Fulani. That kind of man would not condone tribalism. At Barewa College, he was one of the brightest.
Brig. Ademulegun was a Christian but his wife was a Muslim. Some accounts say he was as good in poetry as in soldiering. And the senior officer did not brook indiscipline of any sort. Those who accused him of dining with politicians apparently knew little about their commander.
The Pams and Ademuleguns are reminding the government and people of Nigeria of the need to heal wounds, come together, as one, forgive the past and create a new order that will make the country greater. The first coup created problems, now some of the victims want us to learn from it.
My take is that the Federal Government should as a matter of national Emergency, establish a True Reconciliation Commission (TREC). This Agency must be headed by someone old enough to understand the dynamics of post Civil War politics. Membership could be drawn from characters filled with undiluted patriotism.
We have shed enough blood and told enough lies in this country. Let the truth be told, like Gen. Ibrahim Babangida did, so that Nigeria will be free. The blood of innocent souls, wasted from January 1966 till date is crying. Atonement beckons and there is no better time than now.
Those who set the country ablaze in January 1966, fuelled conflagration in July 1966 and caused more bonfire since 1967, are either dead or living dead. Many of them died during the Civil War or in subsequent plots. Some of them still with us, found themselves in maximum detention.
Politicians should stop deceiving the people. The first step towards Restructuring is Reconciliation. Until we set aside a day to appease the souls of millions of Nigerians wasted by inept leadership and wicked dictators, this country will know no peace.
I have an idea. January 15 should be changed from Armed Forces Remembrance Day, to National Reconciliation Day. We cannot be talking of dead soldiers without remembering dead women, children and the aged. A great man like Gen. Alani Akinrinade can chip in words to kickstart the True Reconciliation Commission (TREC).
