By Cosmas Omegoh
Aka Ikenga, the Igbo think tank, has called for the immortalisation of the duo of late General John Thomas Umunnakwe Ironsi and Col. Adekunle Fajuyi. It said their pride of place in history needed to be guaranteed as “detribalised Nigerians and rare breed of officers and gentlemen.”
In a statement to mark the 50th anniversary of the brutal killing of the duo in Ibadan, President of Aka Ikenga, Chief Goddy Uwazuruike, said both men “died standing on what they believed in.
“General John Thomas Umunnakwe Ironsi took over the rein of power in a perilous situation upon the collapse of the young majors’ coup on January 15, 1966. He made sure he carried along his two deputies: one from the North and another from the West. He empowered those who he believed were among the finest officers in the regions as governors. One of them was Col Adekunle Fajuyi.
“Ironsi and Fajuyi were killed for their belief. Ironsi’s idea of one Nigeria for which he died is the very same one his successors introduced 10 months later.
“Fajuyi refused to abandon his guest for which he too was killed. But both men have been treated as if they were villains! This nation must give the two men their pride of place.”