On Awo's Pardon and Release from Prison
W. Azeez
The following is the government edict (Government Notice No. 1207/1966)
ordering the release of Awo on August 2, 1966.
By His Excellency Lieutenant Colonel Yakubu Gowon, Head of the National
Military Government, Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces of the
Republic of Nigeria.
WHEREAS Chief Obafemi Awolowo, having been duly convicted of the
offences of treasonable felony, conspiracy to commit a felony and
conspiracy to effect an unlawful purpose, and sentenced to imprisonment
for ten, five and two years respectively on all three counts:
AND WHEREAS the said Chief Obafemi Awolowo, having served a portion
of the sentence originally imposed on him in September 1963:
AND WHEREAS the Supreme Military Council after reviewing his case, is
pleased to remit the sentence and to grant a full pardon:
NOW THEREFORE, in exercise of the powers conferred by section 101 (1)
of the Constitution of the Republic and of all other power enabling it
in that behalf, the Supreme Military Council do hereby remit unexpired
portion of the sentence imposed on the aforesaid chief Obafemi Awolowo
and grant him a full pardon.
GIVEN UNDER my hand and the Public Seal of the Republic of Nigeria at
Lagos this 2nd day of August, one thousand nine hundred and sixty-six.
Source: Crisis and Conflict in Nigeria (vol 1) by A.H.M. Kirk-Greene
I had decided to reproduce this to end the argument on the person
who ordered the release of Awo. However, we needn't go this far
to prove by deductive reasoning alone that Ojukwu could not have
been the person.
1. Awo was a federal prisoner and no regional administrator had
a say in the affairs of this category of prisoners. Ojukwu did so
once (the release of the boys connected to the Jan 66 coup who were
imprisoned in the east), but this was shortly b/4 the war started
and when the East was already acting as if it were a separate
nation from Nigeria.
2. When Awo was released, Ojukwu was still busy fighting for his own
life. Following the July 29, 1966 coup, Ojukwu moved from the state
House to Enugu Police Headquarters (it was rumoured that he was briefly
in hiding at Onitsha but there is no record to prove this) on the
evening of July 30 for his own security. It was from here that he
carried out all his negotiations with Ogundipe and later, Gowon. In
order to return to the State House, he requested for the removal
of the Northern troops in the east and for the return of those of the
of the east serving in other parts of the nation. Subsequently,
this would be one of the key decisions adopted
at the regional representatives' meeting which took place in Lagos
on 9th August. It was only after this meeting and the subsequent
removal of Northern troops in the following days, that Ojukwu felt
safe enough to return to his State House.
3. Gowon went to meet Awolowo at the Airport, welcoming with the now
famous statement, "we need you for the wealth of your experience."
Note: I had mentioned Ikoyi prison (and I querried it) in the previous
rebuttal, which I wrote off hand.
Finally, let me state that one needs to be very careful with Ojukwu
statements. When he says, "good evening", one should open the window
and peep outside to make sure it's not early morning. IMO, Ojukwu is
incomparable among prominent Nigerians, dead or alive, in making up
stories. Also, the fact that somebody makes a claim in the newspaper
without any challenge does not make such a claim the gospel truth.
Those who are capable of giving the challenge may think that the
claim is so obviously false (as in this case), that its not worth the
time to bother about a rebutal. And sometimes, a rebutal could have
been published elsewhere. That one did not read a rebutal does not
constitute enough ground to assert that none was made.
Wishing you all a nice afternoon.
Wemimo Azeez.
>> In response to Wale Adewunmi, Kasirim Nwuke wrote:
>> >
>> >Sorry your facts are wrong. It was EMEKA ODUMEGWU OJUKWU WHO, AS
>> >MILITARY GOVERNMENT OF EASTERN NIGERIA, ORDERED CHIEF HEZEKIAH OBAFEMI
>> >AWOLOWO'S RELEASE FROM CALABAR PRISON. NOT GENERAL YAKUBU GOWON.
>>
>> Kasirim, this doesn't seem accurate. Off hand, I remember that
>> Gowon took over power on August 1, 1966. He released Awo the
>> very next day, August 2, 1966. Also, he pulled a publicity stunt by
>> going to Ikoyi prison (?) to welcome Awo. This shows that Awo could
>> not have been in Calabar Prison when he was released. Another thing,
>> Ojukwu, as the governor of the East, had no right to release federal
>> government prisoners. Granted that he did release Nzeogwu, Banjo and
>> co., but that took place in the heat of the confrontations b/4 the
>> civil war.
>
>Wemimo:
>
>This is a matter of historical records. Awolowo was in Calabar Prison.
>He was released by Lt. Colonel Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, military
>Governor of Eastern Nigeria. That is a fact. Pa Awo never contradicted
>this story. It is one of those facts of our history largely unknown to
>most of us. Ojukwu has stated this over and over in many interviews
>(Newbreed, 1983, Newswatch etc) and his claim has never been
>contradicted or denied.
>
>So please let us not argue over what does not to be argued over.
>
>
>Best wishes.
>
>
>okn
kasirim nwuke
Wemimo:
Thanks for posting. You ignored a fact or two. For example:
a) Could this Edict be an "after the fact" giving Awo's release
the force of law?
b) Could the Federal Government, at war with eastern Nigeria,
have promulgated this Edict to steal the thunder from Ojukwu? In other
words, could that have been a piece of Federal propaganda?
All I know is that Ojukwu has stated several times over that he released
Chief Obafemi Awolowo from Prison. I do not have the newsclips in which
he made the claim, but make the claim he sure has.
So there are here two competing claims to a historical fact. It is up
to the historians among us to clarify the matter. I have nothing
personal in this. Neither Ojukwu nor Awolowo is my hero, important
personalities in our nation's history though they both are.
okn
--------
Opinya Ekabo
What is all this Mr. Gowon and Mr. Ojukwu about? These gentlemen have their
appropriate titles, please use them; Dr Gowon or Gen. Gowon (Rtd) and Col.
Ojukwu (Rtd). A little respect won't hurt, regardless of how we perceive
the both them. Just thought I should add a little spice to this discussion.
Ciao.
OE
> Netters,
>
> I guess we are all now sure of who indeed release Chief Obafemi
> Awolowo from detention. History says Mr. Gowon did it. Mr. Ojukwu
> did not release Awo from detention. Mr. Ojukwu won't even dream of
> such an action during the turbulent days of the Lts. Muritala
> Mohammed/Theophilus Danjuma's counter coup that killed Major-General
> Ironsi, Colonel Fajuyi, and many senior officers. Mr. Ojukwu had
> neither the military clout nor the political will to ensure Chief
> Obafemi Awolowo's release and safety.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Ganiyu Jaiyeola
o. kasirim nwuke
Ganiyu:
You may well be advised to stop talking about Nigerian history,
especially the events of 1966 - 70 as if you are an established authority
in the area. You are not. None of us on the NET is (everyone refers
to Kirk-Greene). There is still a lot that we do not know. Hopefully some
day, some of the persons involved will write books and our historians can
dig deep into those events. Until then, we should recognize that there
is a lot we do not know.
Ojukwu has made his claim several times. He made the claim even while
Awolowo was up and about. I do not remember Awo disputing or
contradicting Ojukwu's claim (he may have, I do not know). Incendiary
statements such as you have resorted to do not help clarify the fact. I'd
have expected you, as a scientist, to recommend to the historians among us
to go look into the circumstances of Awo's release. It is possible that
the story is not as "clear" as some of us have been led to believe.
okn
-------
On Mon, 30 Dec 1996, Ganiyu Jaiyeola wrote:
> Netters,
>
> I guess we are all now sure of who indeed release Chief Obafemi
> Awolowo from detention. History says Mr. Gowon did it. Mr. Ojukwu
> did not release Awo from detention. Mr. Ojukwu won't even dream of
> such an action during the turbulent days of the Lts. Muritala
> Mohammed/Theophilus Danjuma's counter coup that killed Major-General
> Ironsi, Colonel Fajuyi, and many senior officers. Mr. Ojukwu had
> neither the military clout nor the political will to ensure Chief
> Obafemi Awolowo's release and safety.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Ganiyu Jaiyeola
>
>
> ______________________________ Reply Separator
_________________________________
> Subject: On Awo's Pardon and Release from Prison
> Author: CZ...@MUSICA.MCGILL.CA at internet
> Date: 12/29/96 17:13
Banji Ayiloge
Opinya,
Wasn't Ojukwu a Field Marshall or something like that ?. Why
limit him to the "victors" given rank when the record shows that he
promoted himself after declaring himself the de facto president of
Biafra ?.
Nwanoka, the curator of the Biafran museum of National History should be
of help here. My friend Nwanoka where are you ?. :}
IMODOYE
On Mon, 30 Dec 1996 17:14:49 -0400 Opinya Ekabo
<oek...@MIDWAY.UCHICAGO.EDU> writes:
>What is all this Mr. Gowon and Mr. Ojukwu about? These gentlemen have
>their
>appropriate titles, please use them; Dr Gowon or Gen. Gowon (Rtd) and
>Col.
>Ojukwu (Rtd). A little respect won't hurt, regardless of how we
>perceive
>the both them. Just thought I should add a little spice to this
>discussion.
>Ciao.
>OE
>