On January 17, 1966, two days after Nigeria’s first military coup, five young soldiers gathered at the old Government House in Lagos.
Their task was unprecedented: run a nation of 55 million people.
The meeting, the first of the Supreme Military Council, was chaired by Nigeria’s new Head of State, 42-year-old Major General Johnson Thomas Umunnakwe Aguiyi-Ironsi.
With him were the four new military governors:
– Lt. Col. Hassan Usman Katsina, 33 – Northern Region
– Lt. Col. Adekunle Fajuyi, 40 – Western Region
– Lt. Col. Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, 33 – Eastern Region
– Lt. Col. David Akpode Ejoor, 34 – Mid-Western Region
None had any prior experience in civil administration.
Recounting The Coup
According to accounts documented by author Frederick Forsyth in his biographies of Ojukwu, much of the meeting was taken up with each officer explaining where they had been during the January 15 coup, what they had witnessed, and how they responded.
When the round of explanations ended, Aguiyi-Ironsi gave a direct instruction: return to your regions and resume administration.
But before the meeting closed, Ojukwu asked for clarity. He wanted to know what policy framework the new military government would adopt to govern the country.
Lt. Col. Katsina reportedly broke the tension with a light remark in Hausa, roughly meaning _“the Englishman with his long words,”_ drawing laughter from the room.
Aguiyi-Ironsi did not laugh.
He turned to Ojukwu and said:
Ironsi: “You are an army officer?”
Ojukwu: “Yes, sir.”
Ironsi: “You know your duty?”
Ojukwu: “Yes, sir.”
Ironsi: “Then go to Enugu and do it.”
That short exchange became the directive for all the governors. Go back to your regions and govern.
From Barracks To Government House
It was an extraordinary transition. Five career officers, all trained in the British military tradition and aged between 33 and 42, were suddenly responsible for running Nigeria’s regions at one of the most volatile moments in the country’s history.
The coup had toppled the First Republic and ended civilian rule. Political parties were banned. Public trust was fragile.
Upon returning to Enugu, Ojukwu moved quickly to widen consultation. He set up an Advisory Committee and a Council of Chiefs and Elders to guide governance in the Eastern Region. It was an attempt to bring civilian input into a military administration.
A Defining Moment
That first Council meeting captured the central challenge of Nigeria’s early military rule: soldiers trained to command troops were now expected to manage schools, roads, budgets, and politics.
Aguiyi-Ironsi’s response to Ojukwu “go and do it” — reflected both the urgency of the moment and the lack of a clear political blueprint.
Within six months, Ironsi himself would be killed in the July 1966 counter-coup. The country would then slide toward civil war.
But the Lagos meeting remains a key reference point. It was the moment Nigeria’s military, for the first time, had to shift from seizing power to exercising it.
