Emeka Esogbue

 Analysing the Long-Debated Question: Who Was the Leader of the Jan 15, 1966 Coup – Major Nzeogwu or Major Ifeajuna? By Emeka Esogbue The question of who truly led the January 15, 1966 coup between Major Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu and Major Emmanuel Arinze Ifeajuna remains one of the most contested subjects in Nigeria’s political history. More than half a century later, historians, eyewitnesses, and surviving conspirators continue to offer conflicting narratives, each shaped by personal memory, regional loyalties, or ideological interpretation. This article revisits the long-debated issue by examining primary testimonies, the strategic design of the coup, and the divergent events in Lagos and Kaduna, in order to provide a nuanced and evidence-based understanding of a question that has resisted easy resolution. It is apt to begin with brief biographical notes on the two principal actors. Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu was born on 26 February 1937 in Kaduna to Anioma parents from Umuomake vill...

  Revisiting the Anioma Traditional Rulers Rejection of their Relocation to the East Central Region: History as a Repetition -        Emeka Esogbue Not many know that in history, the present Niger State, one of the nation’s 36 states in the North Central part of the country was originally intended for the Anioma people of Nigeria. In 1975, there was an agitation for the creation of more states in the country and a group started a rigorous campaign in which they sought to relocate the Anioma people from their Midwestern Region to the East Central to share a geographical space with other Igbo-speaking people but the Anioma traditional rulers rejected their relocation as well as a share of state with people who are not Anioma of the present Delta State. It was a firm decision taken by Anioma traditional rulers which eventually dissuaded the then Head of State, His Excellency Gen Yakubu Gowon from uniting the Anioma people with the Igbos of today’s S...

  Asaba Division Massacre: A Murtala Injustice Yet to be Recognized as a National Tragedy -        Emeka Esogbue It is 55 years since the series of massacres perpetuated in the defunct Asaba Division now the Anioma area. Today, nearly every Nigerian citizen, and Africans interested in conflict resolution has heard of the Asaba Massacre but it is not yet declared a national tragedy by the Federal Government of Nigeria. For this reason, it remains an irony still living with the Anioma people today. The Anioma people, found in Delta State of Nigeria today are a group of people that comprise the Aniocha, Oshimili, Ika and Ndokwa/Ukwuani. The region is known for its richness in human resources, producing some of the famous soldiers that fought on the sides of both Nigeria and Biafra during the Nigerian Civil War but majority of the brightest soldiers identified with Biafra. They include Major-General Alabi-Isama who fought on the side of Nigeria and r...