You are about to read the story of the man who adorned this exercise book years back......
The first time Emmanuel Ifeajuna appeared before a crowd of thousands he did something no black African had ever done. He won a gold medal at an international sporting event.
“Nigeria Creates World Sensation,” ran the headline in the West African Pilot after Ifeajuna’s record-breaking victory in the high jump at the 1954 Empire and Commonwealth Games in Vancouver.
He was the pride not just of Nigeria but of a whole continent.
His nine track and field team-mates won another six silver and bronze medals, prompting a special correspondent to write “Rejoice with me, oh ye sports lovers of Nigeria, for the remarkable achievements of our boys”.
Ifeajuna, feted wherever he went, would soon see his picture on the front of school exercise books. He was a great national hero who would remain Nigeria’s only gold medallist, in Commonwealth or Olympic sport, until 1966.
The next time Ifeajuna appeared before a crowd of thousands he was bare-chested and tied to a stake, facing execution before a seething mob.
He had co-led a military coup in January 1966 in which, according to an official but disputed police report, he shot and killed Nigeria’s first prime minister.
The coup failed but Ifeajuna escaped to safety in Ghana, dressed as a woman and was driven to freedom by a famous poet. Twenty months later, he was back, fighting for the persecuted Igbo people of eastern Nigeria in a brutal civil war that broke out as a consequence of the coup.
Ifeajuna and three fellow officers Victor Banjo, Phillip Alale and Sam Agbam were accused by their own leader, General Emeka Ojukwu, of plotting against him and the breakaway Republic of Biafra.
They denied charges of treason: they were trying to save lives and their country, they said, by negotiating an early ceasefire with the federal government and reuniting Nigeria. They failed, they died
The day of the execution was 25 September, 1967, and the time 1.30pm. There was a very short gap between trial and execution, not least because federal troops were closing in on Enugu, the Biafran capital, giving rise to fears that the “guilty four” might be rescued.
He and the other were executed.
Credit: Brian Oliver
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Such a great hero🕊️
ReplyDeleteWow
ReplyDeleteInteresting read
I was wondering whose is this person then on the note book oo
History good o..
May Their Souls Rest well
Hello iya Boys
I am here thinking how he switched from a respected gold medalist international athlete to the deadly Nigerian politics. What and how?
ReplyDeleteWondering the same thing
DeleteRead again.
DeleteTill date, there are some men that if you sit on their round table and disclose you're from Onitsha, they'll change seat, immediately.
You'll hear "na Ifeajuna brother o, okwa Onye Onitsha".
The hatred and battle for the sole of biafra and on Biafrans still rages on, if he wasn't a sell out,maybe just maybe...
The betrayal was LOUD.
Same reason,Bella Okagbue of BBN didn't get votes from the East.
It's persistent, silently persistent.
The one of marriage,inter Town is an issue of another day.
Methinks, people should forgive and Gov Soludo should honor him.
Same here.
DeleteHonor him for what please?. For being a sell out?. Make una dey try dey reason things oo. If someone stabs you in the back you will now honor him?. Hian
DeleteThis is not why Mrs ikoyi wasn’t voted. Heck the majority of voters don’t even know this story. In addition, onicha people would rather pass than see their kids marry from outside onicha. Not the other way round. Maybe you’re from onicha . That will make sense how you don’t know this
DeleteWow. What a story. I always see his pictures on the exercise book. Never knew who he was. May his soul rest in peace
ReplyDeleteFor many years I tried to decipher who the man was on my Olympic exercise book. Finally found closure today.
ReplyDeleteToday's exercise books are filled with short stories of tortoise and the hare . Or poorly written tales.
May he rest in peace. He shouldn't have dabbled into politics . 🙄
From what my mum said, he was a great super hero.
ReplyDeleteHe's actually my mum's Grand Pa
Na so e dey be. Abachas kids still praise him until tomorrow
DeleteTwo things can be right at the same time
DeleteWhat a sad way to die 😔
ReplyDeleteBack from Google where I read all about him.
ReplyDeleteSo he was an agitator right from his secondary school where he led a protest that shut down the school for a whole term. He was good in high jump and later won the commonwealth games.
After winning, he quit sports, got a degree in science from University of Ibadan where he also led protests as one of the leaders of the students union there.
He later joined the Nigerian military, got involved in a failed coup that killed the first Nigerian prime minister Tafawa Balewa, ran to Ghana, came back and joined the Biafran army. Ojukwu accused him and three others (who were also part of the failed coup) of planning to sabotage his authority by secretly negotiating a ceasefire with Nigerian government, they were convicted of treason and executed by Ojukwu.
I guess they were negotiating with the Nigerian government so they would forgive their past sins and give them a good position after they defeat Ojukwu.
In short, his later actions overshadowed his achievements in sports which prevented him from being recognized as a hero and honoured by the Nigerian government or even his people after his death.
So he got no honour in Igbo land, he got no honour in Nigeria as a whole.
In this life, let's be careful of our actions.
Chai , will come back to read later 🙄
ReplyDeleteOjukwu killed people that are better than him because he is paranoid ,that is the trait of my dictators always insecure ,talk of chairman mao,Putin,Tito,Hun sen of Cambodia and others always fearful and they run with iron fist because of fear but at long last they will still die
ReplyDeleteWhat a story.
ReplyDeleteMay his soul rest in peace