Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi

Major General Johnson Thomas Umunnakwe Aguiyi-Ironsi (3 March 1924 – 29 July 1966) was a senior Nigerian military officer and second Nigerian Head of State. He seized power in the ensuing chaos following the January 15, 1966 military coup, serving as the Nigerian Head of State from 16 January 1966 until his murder on 29 July 1966 by a group of mutinous Northern army soldiers who revolted against his government in what was popularly called the July Counter Coup.

Early life

Thomas Umunnakwe Aguiyi-Ironsi was born to Mazi Ezeugo Aguiyi's on 3 March 1924, in Umuahia-Ibeku, present-day Abia State, Nigeria. When he was eight years old, Ironsi moved in with his older sister Anyamma, who was married to Theophilius Johnson, a Sierra Leonean diplomat in Umuahia. Ironsi subsequently took the last name of his brother-in-law, who became his father figure. At the age of 18, Ironsi joined the Nigerian Army against the wishes of his sister.

Military career

Aguiyi-Ironsi enlisted in the Nigerian Army on 2 February 1942 and was admitted to and excelled in military training at Eaton Hall, England and also attended Royal Army Ordnance Corps before he was later commissioned as an infantry officer with the rank of Lieutenant on 12 June 1949. He soon returned to Nigeria to serve as the aide-de-camp to John Macpherson, Governor General of Nigeria, and he was assigned as equerry to Queen Elizabeth II during her visit to Nigeria in 1956, for which assignment he was sent to Buckingham Palace to train. During the Congo Crisis of the 1960s, the United Nations Secretary-General, Dag Hammarskjöld, appealed to the Nigerian government to send troops to Congo. Lieutenant Colonel Ironsi led the 5th battalion to the Kivu and Leopoldville provinces of Congo. His unit proved integral to the peacekeeping effort, and he was soon appointed the Force Commander of the United Nations Operation in the Congo.

Podcasts:

PLAYLIST TIME:

UKRAINE WAYS

by: The Renaissance

I can hear Brazilian love songs, more every day
They seem stronger on the wind--you don't seem so far away
Someday I'm going to be there, someday I'll be
Standing on your highest mountain looking out across the sea
No longer here so cold and tired
I'm getting out today from Ukraine ways
From my childhood I've seen pictures, don't say a word
Decadent scenes of smiling people half the way across the world
When you live each day in colours of stone and gray
Feelings start to rise within you--steal the chance and get away
Much stronger now, I feel so inspired
I'm getting out today from Ukraine ways
I can feel your rhythm deep within me
I can see your people dance
Here I stand in the ice and snow
Warm where the cold winds blow
Colours that flash through my mind when I'm dreaming
Soon will be seen with these eyes of my own
Tropical days are the things that I live for
No more Ukraine ways
Instrumental
I can feel your rhythm deep within me
I can see your people dance
Here I stand in the ice and snow
Warm where the cold winds blow
Colours that flash through my mind when I'm dreaming
Soon will be seen with these eyes of my own
Tropical days are the things that I live for
No more Ukraine ways




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