HISTORY OF THE NIGERIAN ARMY BEFORE 1966
What is known today as the Nigerian Army was, before 1966, a part of the British West African Army called the Royal West Africa Frontier Force ( RWAFF ). This force included the armies of Gold Coast (Ghana) Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Gambia. At this time, there were eight indigenous Nigerian officers in the entire force, the rest being British officers. The role of an army in a developing country was not fully realized by the nationalist leaders struggling for independence, hence, there was no effective pressure on the British Government to train Nigerian officers in preparation for independence. Even at this stage, it was clear that the future stability of a nation such as Nigeria depended to a large scale on the existence of a reliable army. One result of this short - sightedness was that the first Nigerian to command the Nigerian Army - Maj Gen. J.T.U. Aguiyi Ironsi, was not appointed until 1965, nearly five years after independence.
At independence, it was also obvious that only the group that controlled the Army could aspire to run a stable Nigerian government. Either by coincidence or by design, almost all the military installations were concentrated in one area of the country - The North. To illustrate this fact, below is a list of major military installations in Nigeria and their locations before the January 1966 coup:
Northern Nigeria:
1. 3rd Bn Kaduna
2. 5th Bn Kano
3. 1 Field Battery (Arty) Kaduna
4. 1 Field Squadron (Engrs) Kaduna
5. 88 Transport Regt Kaduna
6. Nigerian Defense Academy "
7. Ordinance Depot "
8. 44 Military Hospital "
9. Nigeria Military Training College "
10. Recon Squadron & Regt "
11. Nigerian Air Force "
12. Ammunition Factory "
13. Recruit Training Depot Zaria
14. Nigerian Military School "
Western Nigeria:
1. 4th Bn Ibadan
2. 2 Field Battery (Arty) Abeokuta
3. 2 Recon Squaron "
Eastern Nigeria:
1st Bn Enugu
There were no military units in the Mid - Western Nigeria and those in Lagos were either administrative or ceremonial. Recruitment of soldiers into the Nigerian Army was based on ethnic quota system. Under this system Northern Nigeria provided 60%, Eastern and Western Nigeria 15% each and Mid - Western Nigeria 10%. This was done to encourage the Northerners who had not been interested in joining the Army initially. The standard of entry into the Army was as well lowered to favor the Northerners. As a result the North in 1966 had the absolute majority within the rank and file of the Army. The standards fell within the Army and the soldiers became more politically conscious. Madiebo pointed out "In order to ensure the loyalty of the military thus established, the criterion for promotion and advancement was based more on political considerations than efficiency or competence. (2:10)
The involvement of the Military in politics took a turn for the worse during the Western Nigerian elections in October 1965. The politicians openly courted the friendship of top military officers. Due to the chaos that characterized the general election of 1964 and the Western Region election of 1965, it had become clear that Nigeria was overdue for a change. By October 1965, rumors of an impending coup were already circulating in the country. It was therefore not much of a surprise when the coup was finally staged.
THE WAR PLANNING STRATEGIES NIGERIA MOBILIZATION
The declaration of secession made war not inevitable but imminent. At the dawn of 6 July 1967, the first bullet was fired signalling the beginning of the gruesome 30 month civil war and carnage, brothers killing brothers. Preparations for war had already been set in motion on the Nigerian side by May 1967. All the soldiers of Northern, Western, and Mid - Western origin had been withdrawn from the East and redeployed. Four of the regular infantry battalions of the Army were placed under the command of 1 Brigade and redesignated 1 Area Command. Mobilization of ex - service men was ordered by the Commander - in - Chief. Out of those called up, about seven thousand in number, four other battalions were formed. Increased recruitment from the personnel of the Nigerian Police Force was embarked upon.
The civilians were trained in civil defense duties. In mobilizing the people of Nigeria, the Federal Government had to make the war look a just cause to stop the disintegration of the country and in doing this a slogan was invented "To keep Nigeria one is a task that must be done." Even the letters of the Head of the Federal Government, GOWON was coined to read "Go On With One Nigeria" and became a very strong propaganda.
MILITARY
Delivery of arms and equipment for the Nigerian Army were hastened. Nigerian Army Headquarters (NAHQ) Operations plan envisaged a war that will be waged in four phases and that will be over within a month with The four phases were
(1) Capture of Nsukka, (2) Capture of Ogoja, (3) Capture of Abakaliki, (4) Capture of Enugu.
1 Area Command was to be the fighting force, 2 Area Command in Ibadan, Western Region, was earmarked for the defense of Mid - West and border protection while the Lagos Garrison Organization was earmarked for the defense of Lagos, the Federal capital.
The NAHQ assessment of the rebels in terms of men under arms and equipment did not give the NAHQ much concern. The total mobilization and the will of the people of the Eastern Nigeria to fight against severe odds was under estimated. Nigeria knew that the survival of Biafra depended on importation of material from abroad to sustain her war efforts and the only route was through the Atlantic Ocean. As part of strategic planning, the Nigerian Navy (NN) was to blockade the region from the sea thereby preventing shipment of arms, equipment, food and other war materiel and services into the East. At the same time all flights to the region were cancelled and the international community were informed that no flight to the region would be accepted without clearance from Lagos. The NAHQ did not pay any particular attention to strategic intelligence of the Eastern Region. In planning and concept the war was intended to be fought by the troops located in the North and to be supplied mainly from Kaduna.
Immediately secession was declared, Nigeria sent her war ships to blockade and secure all sea routes into the region. The Nigerian Air Force was tasked to ensure the control of the air space over the entire country. The offensive was to be a two prong attack, a combined arms mechanized infantry divisional attack from the north and an amphibious operation by another division from the south with the aim of crushing the Biafran army in between. The offence was to be supported by the Air Force and the Navy. A third and fourth fronts were introduced later in the war.
DIPLOMATIC
At the Diplomatic level, the Federal Government mounted a serious campaign to dissuade other countries, particularly the super powers, the USA, USSR, and the United Kingdom from recognizing the secessionist. The war was painted as an adventure by an individual. The government in Lagos continued to represent the entire country in the international organizations where a very strong propaganda was mounted to continue to portray the war as one to re-unite the country. This made it possible to win the support of the super powers and to continue to discredit Biafra. Through this support, Nigeria was able to import more arms and equipment from all over the world to prosecute the war. In order to show that she was prepared for a peaceful solution to the conflict, Nigeria continued to participate in peace talks organized by the international community.
PSYCHOLOGICAL
Realizing the importance of the support of the civil populace, Nigeria embarked on an elaborate psychological warfare. "To keep Nigeria one is a task that must be done" became a very popular slogan. Leaflets discrediting the Biafran Head of State, encouraging the Biafrans to lay down their arms with a promise of non-persecution, were regularly dropped in the East.
BIAFRA MILITARY
On the Biafran side, preparation for war was put into high gear as soon as the troops of non - Eastern origin withdrew from Enugu in August of 1966. Thousands of people poured in for recruitment. Training was embarked upon both for officers and soldiers who were mainly lecturers and university students. Before the outbreak of hostility, the Eastern Region had no sufficient arms since all the soldiers who returned to the region did so without their arms while the soldiers who were withdrawn from the East departed with their weapons. What was left of the Nigerian Army at Enugu barracks amounted to about 240 soldiers, the majority of them technicians and tradesmen and not all the soldiers had weapons. However at the outbreak of the war, the Eastern Region had succeeded in securing arms and ammunition from France, Spain and Portugal. Madiebo remarked, "When more weapons were received in May 1967, a decision was taken to form two new battalions to be called the 9th and 14th Battalions." (2:100)
Many pilots and technicians formerly of the Nigerian Air Force of Eastern origin returned to the region to form the Biafran Air Force (BAF). Two old planes, a B26 and a B25 were acquired with new helicopters. T he two bombers were fitted with machine guns and locally made rockets and bombs. The BAF also acquired Minicon aircrafts. A small Navy was established in Calabar with some patrol boat formerly used by the Nigerian Navy. More boats were later manufactured locally and these were armored plated and fitted with light guns and machine guns. A peoples army called, the Biafra Militia, was formed. Local leaders and ex - servicemen trained young men and women in the use of whatever weapon the indivIduals had. These weapons were mainly imported and locally made short guns. The militia were to provide a ready source of manpower re-enforcement for the regular army, to assist with military administration immediately behind the frontline, to garrison all the areas captured or regained from the enemy, and to help educate the population on the reason why Biafra was fighting.
An establishment known as the Administration Support was formed. Before the declaration of hostility, the small Biafran Army was almost completely administered and maintained by donations from the civil populace. This establishment was to muster necessary support particularly logistic requirements for the army and to run the administration since all the young and able bodied men and women were to be engaged in the fight. A Food Directorate, responsible for the purchase and distribution of all food, drink and cigarettes to the armed forces and the nation was formed. A Transport Directorate with established. A Petroleum Management Board was established for procurement, management and distribution of POL. The board designed and built a sizeable and efficient fuel refinery which produced petrol, diesel, and engine oil at considerably fast rate.
Several other directorates such as Clothing, Housing, Propaganda, Requisition and Supply, and Medical were established. Clothing in particular was very essential as uniform was unavailable in Biafra. The textile mills in the Eastern Region were reactivated to produce bails of uniform for the armed forces and the civilians. A Research and Production Board was established. This organization researched and manufactured rockets, mines, tanks, grenades, launchers, bombs, flame throwers, vaccines, biological and alcoholic beverages and so forth.
Women were not left out in the scheme of things. Women were trained in intelligence gathering and how to infiltrate into the Nigerian side. Women Voluntary Service was formed to assist in educating the women of Biafra on the cause of the crisis, keep women informed of developments, rehabilitation of war casualties, setting up of nurseries, orphanages,civil defense corps, and provision of cooks for the troops. An Advisory Committee was set up to plan and execute the war and to advise the Head of State on political and military matters.
What is known today as the Nigerian Army was, before 1966, a part of the British West African Army called the Royal West Africa Frontier Force ( RWAFF ). This force included the armies of Gold Coast (Ghana) Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Gambia. At this time, there were eight indigenous Nigerian officers in the entire force, the rest being British officers. The role of an army in a developing country was not fully realized by the nationalist leaders struggling for independence, hence, there was no effective pressure on the British Government to train Nigerian officers in preparation for independence. Even at this stage, it was clear that the future stability of a nation such as Nigeria depended to a large scale on the existence of a reliable army. One result of this short - sightedness was that the first Nigerian to command the Nigerian Army - Maj Gen. J.T.U. Aguiyi Ironsi, was not appointed until 1965, nearly five years after independence.
At independence, it was also obvious that only the group that controlled the Army could aspire to run a stable Nigerian government. Either by coincidence or by design, almost all the military installations were concentrated in one area of the country - The North. To illustrate this fact, below is a list of major military installations in Nigeria and their locations before the January 1966 coup:
Northern Nigeria:
1. 3rd Bn Kaduna
2. 5th Bn Kano
3. 1 Field Battery (Arty) Kaduna
4. 1 Field Squadron (Engrs) Kaduna
5. 88 Transport Regt Kaduna
6. Nigerian Defense Academy "
7. Ordinance Depot "
8. 44 Military Hospital "
9. Nigeria Military Training College "
10. Recon Squadron & Regt "
11. Nigerian Air Force "
12. Ammunition Factory "
13. Recruit Training Depot Zaria
14. Nigerian Military School "
Western Nigeria:
1. 4th Bn Ibadan
2. 2 Field Battery (Arty) Abeokuta
3. 2 Recon Squaron "
Eastern Nigeria:
1st Bn Enugu
There were no military units in the Mid - Western Nigeria and those in Lagos were either administrative or ceremonial. Recruitment of soldiers into the Nigerian Army was based on ethnic quota system. Under this system Northern Nigeria provided 60%, Eastern and Western Nigeria 15% each and Mid - Western Nigeria 10%. This was done to encourage the Northerners who had not been interested in joining the Army initially. The standard of entry into the Army was as well lowered to favor the Northerners. As a result the North in 1966 had the absolute majority within the rank and file of the Army. The standards fell within the Army and the soldiers became more politically conscious. Madiebo pointed out "In order to ensure the loyalty of the military thus established, the criterion for promotion and advancement was based more on political considerations than efficiency or competence. (2:10)
The involvement of the Military in politics took a turn for the worse during the Western Nigerian elections in October 1965. The politicians openly courted the friendship of top military officers. Due to the chaos that characterized the general election of 1964 and the Western Region election of 1965, it had become clear that Nigeria was overdue for a change. By October 1965, rumors of an impending coup were already circulating in the country. It was therefore not much of a surprise when the coup was finally staged.
THE WAR PLANNING STRATEGIES NIGERIA MOBILIZATION
The declaration of secession made war not inevitable but imminent. At the dawn of 6 July 1967, the first bullet was fired signalling the beginning of the gruesome 30 month civil war and carnage, brothers killing brothers. Preparations for war had already been set in motion on the Nigerian side by May 1967. All the soldiers of Northern, Western, and Mid - Western origin had been withdrawn from the East and redeployed. Four of the regular infantry battalions of the Army were placed under the command of 1 Brigade and redesignated 1 Area Command. Mobilization of ex - service men was ordered by the Commander - in - Chief. Out of those called up, about seven thousand in number, four other battalions were formed. Increased recruitment from the personnel of the Nigerian Police Force was embarked upon.
The civilians were trained in civil defense duties. In mobilizing the people of Nigeria, the Federal Government had to make the war look a just cause to stop the disintegration of the country and in doing this a slogan was invented "To keep Nigeria one is a task that must be done." Even the letters of the Head of the Federal Government, GOWON was coined to read "Go On With One Nigeria" and became a very strong propaganda.
MILITARY
Delivery of arms and equipment for the Nigerian Army were hastened. Nigerian Army Headquarters (NAHQ) Operations plan envisaged a war that will be waged in four phases and that will be over within a month with The four phases were
(1) Capture of Nsukka, (2) Capture of Ogoja, (3) Capture of Abakaliki, (4) Capture of Enugu.
1 Area Command was to be the fighting force, 2 Area Command in Ibadan, Western Region, was earmarked for the defense of Mid - West and border protection while the Lagos Garrison Organization was earmarked for the defense of Lagos, the Federal capital.
The NAHQ assessment of the rebels in terms of men under arms and equipment did not give the NAHQ much concern. The total mobilization and the will of the people of the Eastern Nigeria to fight against severe odds was under estimated. Nigeria knew that the survival of Biafra depended on importation of material from abroad to sustain her war efforts and the only route was through the Atlantic Ocean. As part of strategic planning, the Nigerian Navy (NN) was to blockade the region from the sea thereby preventing shipment of arms, equipment, food and other war materiel and services into the East. At the same time all flights to the region were cancelled and the international community were informed that no flight to the region would be accepted without clearance from Lagos. The NAHQ did not pay any particular attention to strategic intelligence of the Eastern Region. In planning and concept the war was intended to be fought by the troops located in the North and to be supplied mainly from Kaduna.
Immediately secession was declared, Nigeria sent her war ships to blockade and secure all sea routes into the region. The Nigerian Air Force was tasked to ensure the control of the air space over the entire country. The offensive was to be a two prong attack, a combined arms mechanized infantry divisional attack from the north and an amphibious operation by another division from the south with the aim of crushing the Biafran army in between. The offence was to be supported by the Air Force and the Navy. A third and fourth fronts were introduced later in the war.
DIPLOMATIC
At the Diplomatic level, the Federal Government mounted a serious campaign to dissuade other countries, particularly the super powers, the USA, USSR, and the United Kingdom from recognizing the secessionist. The war was painted as an adventure by an individual. The government in Lagos continued to represent the entire country in the international organizations where a very strong propaganda was mounted to continue to portray the war as one to re-unite the country. This made it possible to win the support of the super powers and to continue to discredit Biafra. Through this support, Nigeria was able to import more arms and equipment from all over the world to prosecute the war. In order to show that she was prepared for a peaceful solution to the conflict, Nigeria continued to participate in peace talks organized by the international community.
PSYCHOLOGICAL
Realizing the importance of the support of the civil populace, Nigeria embarked on an elaborate psychological warfare. "To keep Nigeria one is a task that must be done" became a very popular slogan. Leaflets discrediting the Biafran Head of State, encouraging the Biafrans to lay down their arms with a promise of non-persecution, were regularly dropped in the East.
BIAFRA MILITARY
On the Biafran side, preparation for war was put into high gear as soon as the troops of non - Eastern origin withdrew from Enugu in August of 1966. Thousands of people poured in for recruitment. Training was embarked upon both for officers and soldiers who were mainly lecturers and university students. Before the outbreak of hostility, the Eastern Region had no sufficient arms since all the soldiers who returned to the region did so without their arms while the soldiers who were withdrawn from the East departed with their weapons. What was left of the Nigerian Army at Enugu barracks amounted to about 240 soldiers, the majority of them technicians and tradesmen and not all the soldiers had weapons. However at the outbreak of the war, the Eastern Region had succeeded in securing arms and ammunition from France, Spain and Portugal. Madiebo remarked, "When more weapons were received in May 1967, a decision was taken to form two new battalions to be called the 9th and 14th Battalions." (2:100)
Many pilots and technicians formerly of the Nigerian Air Force of Eastern origin returned to the region to form the Biafran Air Force (BAF). Two old planes, a B26 and a B25 were acquired with new helicopters. T he two bombers were fitted with machine guns and locally made rockets and bombs. The BAF also acquired Minicon aircrafts. A small Navy was established in Calabar with some patrol boat formerly used by the Nigerian Navy. More boats were later manufactured locally and these were armored plated and fitted with light guns and machine guns. A peoples army called, the Biafra Militia, was formed. Local leaders and ex - servicemen trained young men and women in the use of whatever weapon the indivIduals had. These weapons were mainly imported and locally made short guns. The militia were to provide a ready source of manpower re-enforcement for the regular army, to assist with military administration immediately behind the frontline, to garrison all the areas captured or regained from the enemy, and to help educate the population on the reason why Biafra was fighting.
An establishment known as the Administration Support was formed. Before the declaration of hostility, the small Biafran Army was almost completely administered and maintained by donations from the civil populace. This establishment was to muster necessary support particularly logistic requirements for the army and to run the administration since all the young and able bodied men and women were to be engaged in the fight. A Food Directorate, responsible for the purchase and distribution of all food, drink and cigarettes to the armed forces and the nation was formed. A Transport Directorate with established. A Petroleum Management Board was established for procurement, management and distribution of POL. The board designed and built a sizeable and efficient fuel refinery which produced petrol, diesel, and engine oil at considerably fast rate.
Several other directorates such as Clothing, Housing, Propaganda, Requisition and Supply, and Medical were established. Clothing in particular was very essential as uniform was unavailable in Biafra. The textile mills in the Eastern Region were reactivated to produce bails of uniform for the armed forces and the civilians. A Research and Production Board was established. This organization researched and manufactured rockets, mines, tanks, grenades, launchers, bombs, flame throwers, vaccines, biological and alcoholic beverages and so forth.
Women were not left out in the scheme of things. Women were trained in intelligence gathering and how to infiltrate into the Nigerian side. Women Voluntary Service was formed to assist in educating the women of Biafra on the cause of the crisis, keep women informed of developments, rehabilitation of war casualties, setting up of nurseries, orphanages,civil defense corps, and provision of cooks for the troops. An Advisory Committee was set up to plan and execute the war and to advise the Head of State on political and military matters.
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