30 Years Ago Today, An Abortive Attempt Was Made To Dislodge The Babangida-led FMG From Power. It Was Profound Mayhem In Lagos
On the hustings at the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria, Lagos was an armoured corps officer of the NDA's Regular Course 12 intake, Major Gideon Gwaza Orkar. He was the public face of the coup but not it's organisational or intellectual engine room.
Orkar had some coursemates who would later attain positions of great significance in national life such as Gen Andrew Azazi, Colonel Sambo Dasuki and Colonel Lucky Mike Torey
The most senior officer in the coup plot was a certain officer of the Regular Course 9 officer of the Corps of Engineers named Lt Colonel Tony Nyiam. He was mates with Al-Mustapha Jokolo, UK Bello (Babangida's ADC who was killed on the day), Joseph Owonibi, Cletus Emein et al
The intellectual engine room of the plot was Major Saliva Mukoro, by history and by acclaim, the Nigerian Army's first-ever PhD. Mukoro belonged to the Corps of Military Police. On the day, he was a few weeks subordinate viz seniority to a certain AB Dambazau of the same corps
That means Mukoro, a short service commissioned officer ab initio, ranked behind RC 17 officers such as Dambazau + Rear Adm James Jonah (ex deputy governor of Bayelsa) and ahead of Gen Ihejirika and Sultan Sa'ad Abubakar of Sokoto, both RC 18 officers
Some other leading partakers were the RC 14 duo of Majors GTO Edoja and CO Obahor. Both used to be mates with the now-deceased former COAS, Lt Gen Luka Nyeh Yusuf, a man who uniquely had successive stints in command of the Liberian Armed Force & the Nigerian Army in that order
*Saliba* (autocorrect overzealousness)
