Former military Head of State, Ibrahim Babangida, has revealed how the late Major-General Shehu Yar’Adua orchestrated the removal of Yakubu Gowon as Nigeria’s Head of State in 1975.
Babangida made this revelation in his autobiography, A Journey in Service, launched in Abuja last Thursday.
He said the relationship between General Gowon and Brigadier Murtala Muhammed was frosty, considering that Muhammed was seen as a ‘kingmaker’ in bringing Gowon to power, which did not help matters at the time.
“As young officers, we could see that Muhammed, idolized by many of us in the army, was quite a handful in matters pertaining to control!
“However, when the final decision was made in early 1975 to remove the Gowon administration, the feeling was that another military regime would take over and prepare the country for civil rule,” he said.
He said he was not surprised when Musa Yar’Adua pulled him aside and suggested that a government change was necessary to save the country and preserve the integrity of the military.
“After our meeting, Yar’Adua co-opted others, including Colonels Paul Tarfa, Alfred Aduloju, Lt-Cols. Muhammadu Buhari (then the director of supply and transport), Sani Bello, and Sani Sami. I recall that Brigadier Martin Adamu and General Gowon’s ADC, Colonel William Walbe, refused to be drawn into the plot,” Babangida added.
Media Talk Africa recalls that Shehu Yar’Adua was Chief of Staff, Supreme Headquarters, during the regime of Olusegun Obasanjo as Head of State.
