The earnestness and seriousness of the author here is
striking; he is a very focused man, and a patriot to boot. Incredibly he hardly
ever jokes throughout this book ( 250 pages-plus); but then again it is not
easy to have been so close to death so many times, and be in jail for many years.
Such is the lot of this intelligent author.
We know of course that he was one of the major brains behind the first military coup in Nigeria which engendered so many deaths, massacres, horrors, including the civil war. In this work he remains intensely loyal to his comrades and aides, Nzeogwu, Ifeajuna, Banjo etc. But it is clear that he has little love for Ironsi, and his assassination. He writes: "it was the dramatic end of the regime of deceit, bad faith, ambivalence, misdirection and misrulership. Ironsi's regime was a colossal failure" (pg 165)
The author had been through a lot - as if his travails re the first coup were not enough, he finds himself involved in the Biafran war, reluctantly fighting for the rebels though he is beleaguered. And incarcerated once again. We read about the horrors and pains of imprisonment, especially hunger whilst he was trapped in Biafra and had to "manage" non-existent food.
He survives through prayers, hope, yet even after the war is over he continues to be imprisoned - later under brutal conditions. His revulsion over the execution of Ifeajuna, Banjo etc is crystal clear - allied to his shock when he learns that Nzeogwu has perished. Despite all the blood spilled in the course of these events, we find out that we retain a lot of respect for the author as an unwavering man of integrity and purpose.
This book stands permanently as a chronicle for researchers and scholars in respect of a turbulent time in Nigerian history
We know of course that he was one of the major brains behind the first military coup in Nigeria which engendered so many deaths, massacres, horrors, including the civil war. In this work he remains intensely loyal to his comrades and aides, Nzeogwu, Ifeajuna, Banjo etc. But it is clear that he has little love for Ironsi, and his assassination. He writes: "it was the dramatic end of the regime of deceit, bad faith, ambivalence, misdirection and misrulership. Ironsi's regime was a colossal failure" (pg 165)
The author had been through a lot - as if his travails re the first coup were not enough, he finds himself involved in the Biafran war, reluctantly fighting for the rebels though he is beleaguered. And incarcerated once again. We read about the horrors and pains of imprisonment, especially hunger whilst he was trapped in Biafra and had to "manage" non-existent food.
He survives through prayers, hope, yet even after the war is over he continues to be imprisoned - later under brutal conditions. His revulsion over the execution of Ifeajuna, Banjo etc is crystal clear - allied to his shock when he learns that Nzeogwu has perished. Despite all the blood spilled in the course of these events, we find out that we retain a lot of respect for the author as an unwavering man of integrity and purpose.
This book stands permanently as a chronicle for researchers and scholars in respect of a turbulent time in Nigerian history
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