Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi
Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi (* March 3, 1924 as Johnson Thomas Umananke Aguiyi Ironsi in Umuahia , † July 29, 1966 in Ibadan ) was a Nigerian politician and 1966 President of Nigeria .
soldier
Ironsi belonged to the Igbo people , most of whom live in southeastern Nigeria. He was born in Umuahia in what is now the state of Abia . He joined the army in 1942, still during colonial times, and was partially trained in Great Britain . In 1948 he served in the Royal West African Frontier Force and became a second lieutenant promoted in 1953 to captain and in 1955 to Major .
In 1960 and 1961 he was Lieutenant Colonel Commander in Chief of the Nigerian Contingent in the United Nations Operation in Congo (ONUC), and from January to June 1964 he was in command of the entire mission. In March 1965 he was promoted to major general and replaced the previous British commander of the Nigerian army .
president
After a bloody military coup against President Nnamdi Azikiwe on January 15 and 16, 1966, Ironsi became President. President Azikiwe was hospitalized in London at the time. Ironsi is said not to have participated in the coup himself, but afterwards took over the leadership of the country as the highest-ranking and most respected officer.
Many leading figures from the north of the country were murdered in this coup, including Prime Minister Abubakar Tafawa Balewa . In March, Ironsi attempted to transform Nigeria from a federal to a centralized state by decree , which aroused fears of Igbo dominance among peoples in the north. As early as July 29, 1966, he was overthrown and murdered in a renewed coup, which was mainly carried out by representatives of the Islamic north. The putschists, led by Murtala Mohammed, appointed the Christian Yakubu Gowon as the new president.
meaning
Ironsi's importance lies less in his brief tenure than in the fact that the January 1966 coup was the first in Nigeria and the military coup was the most common form of presidential change for the next thirty years or more.
The first coup with the murder of numerous prominent people led to pogroms against members of the Igbo in the rest of Nigeria after the counter-coup of July 1966 , which in turn led to the Biafra secession and the Biafra War, which lasted from 1967 to 1970 .
See also
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Aguiyi-Ironsi, Johnson |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Ironsi, Johnson Thomas Umananke Aguiyi (maiden name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Nigerian politician and 1966 President of Nigeria |
| DATE OF BIRTH | March 3, 1924 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Umuahia |
| DATE OF DEATH | July 29, 1966 |
| Place of death | Ibadan |