On Tuesday, December 24, 2004, politicians, members of the academia, journalists and other categories of stakeholders will gather in Owerri for the unveiling of the biography of the late elder statesman, Dr. Basil Nnanna Ukegbu, at a colloquy to remember the contributions of one of Nigeria’s most pragmatic and patriotic politicians. Dr. Ukegbu, who represented the Owerri Southwest federal constituency in the Federal House of Representative in the first republic, was known for his boldness and courage as a parliamentarian.
The attention of participants at the forthcoming Owerri event is most likely to be centered on some of the controversial outings Ukegbu had as an active player in the politics of the first republic, as highlighted by the book titled, “The Purpose Of My Life”: The Amazing story of Dr. Basil Nnanna Ukegbu, written by veteran journalist and award-winning author, Dr. Ethelbert Okere, who, however, wrote under his penname, E.T. Okere.
In Chapter Nine of the book, for example, the author dwelt on the lingering debate on whether or not Ukegbu had prior knowledge of the January 15, 1966 coup, which was the first coup in Nigeria. The then Mr. Basil Nnanna Ukegbu had, while contributing to a debate on the crisis in the then Western region on January 12, 1966, moved for the passing of a vote of no confidence on the federal government for its “poor” handling of the matter. Ukegbu had noted that: “the country was sitting on a keg of gun powder with fire, that it was sitting at the edge of a precipice and closing its eyes”.
According to the book, Ukegbu’s call for a vote of no confidence, however, came indirectly as he had “tactically” called on the federal government to initiate a vote of confidence on itself “and watch members’ reactions”. The book quoted extracts from the Daily Times, Nigeria most influential and most widely circulated newspaper then, wherein he said “because members would have no opportunity of moving private members’ motion on the Western Nigerian situation during the current sitting … It will be a failure if this house rises without debating the situation in the country and especially the Western region … This country is on a tinder box and at the age of a majority of precipice. Are we blind to ourselves by walking into a precipe”. Ukegbu’s speech was said to have caused an uproar on the floor of the House and for more than half an hour, “business in the House was interrupted as members from all sides engaged in heated exchanges”.
The book revealed that Alhaji Shelu Shageri, then Ministry of Works in his reactions accused Ukegbu of “seizing the opportunity to introduce a smear campaign against the government and having imputed motives and shown categorically that he and members of his clique have no confidence in the government.” Another member of the parliament, and Minister of Mines, Maitama Sule, and who had been Ukegbu friend right from their days in Kano when they formed the Nigeria Inter Tribal Friendship Society, was reported as saying. “I hate to feel that some members are determined to incite members of the public…”According to the author, Ukegbu’s presentation “was the first time any Nigerian was coming out boldly to warn, in a very strong and unequivocal language, of an imminent political upheaval in the country”.
Three days later, on January 15, 1966, the first military coup in Nigeria occurred and promptly Ukegbu’s colleagues accused him of having a prior knowledge of it. Their claim was based on the fact that out of the Five Majors that masterminded the coup, three were Ukegbu’s students at St. John’s College Kaduna in the1950s. They were Major Chukwuma Nzeogwu believed to be the ring leader, Major Emmanuel Ifeajuna and Major Philip Anuforo.
Even though the matter – of Ukegbu’s alleged prior knowledge of the coup – later became submerged in the ensuing crisis and civil war, his friend, Sule, brought it up again after the war; and that led Ukegbu to later offer an explanation. The book recounts Ukegbu’s explanations thus: “A few days after the military intervention, I had, like other members of parliament gone back home from Lagos. One day, as a bolt from the blues, I saw a fugitive, Major Chris Anuforo, a friend and former classmate of Major Chukwuma Nzeogwu both of whom I had thought in St. John’s (now Rimi) College, Kaduna. Major Anuforo’s home town is Obibi, across the river from my secondary school, the Owerri Grammar School, Imerienwe. When I saw him, I exclaimed, “Chris, I am sure you are not in this thing”.
His answer: “Sir, I will tell you”. I took him upstairs. He told me that when the leading newspaper in Nigerian, the Daily Times, published my speech in parliament on its 13th January 1966 front page, with a banner headline. “Uproar In Parliament,” one of the “Five Majors”, Major Emmanuel Ifeajuna, wanted to make sure that he had not leaked their plan to their old teacher. His answer was, “Nnanna Ukegbu is like that and I have not seen him for many years”
Ukegbu’s explanations notwithstanding, the answer to the questions posed in Chapter Nine of Okere’s book remained a “Yes” and “No” since then. But it seems the current reopening in his latest book, “The Purpose Of My Life ….” has finally put the matter to rest. Writes Okere: “Thus, in spite of the pin-point accuracy of Ukegbu’s ‘Prophecy’ about a country sitting on a keg of gun powder with fire”, the answer to the question, “Did Ukegbu Have Prior Knowledge Of The January 15, 1966 Military Coup?” is a capital No. Ukegbu was too patriotic, so to say, to have concealed the slightest knowledge of the coup He would have brought the matter to the floor of the federal parliament without any hesitation”.
Finally, the author proceeded to quote Ukegbu on his feelings about the coup and subsequent development: “I must, however, acknowledge that full political rationalization might have emerged in Nigeria from the situation if the young army officers with misdirected ambitions, or perhaps more correctly, with erroneous concepts of their patriotic and professional roles, had recognized the wisdom and national necessity of leaving civil politicians and the civil electorate to develop elective democracy by making their own mistakes and learning from those mistakes as is the case in all other sections of human activity …”
Author Of The Book, Ethelbert Okere