Former President Olusegun Obasanjo yesterday said exactly 50 years ago, the 1966 coup brought darkness to Nigeria, claiming the lives of Chief Festus Okotie-Eboh and others.
Obasanjo, who spoke in Lagos at the 50th memorial colloquium of Okotie-Eboh, also maintained that the event caused a huge monumental tragedy, noting that the coup was one of the events that shook the country to its foundation.
The incident second to that, he said, was the civil war, which ironically was a fallout of the 1966 coup.
Obasanjo, who chaired the event, noted that there was something to learn from yesterday’s lecture and prayed against a repeat of such incident in the country.
The former President stated that whatever the deficiencies of the leaders of the First Republic were, they gave the country the best.
On his part, the keynote speaker, Alhaji Maitama Sule, provided insight to the relationship that existed among the leaders of the political parties and how they did not allow their political differences to affect their relationship.
Sule recounted the attributes of Okotie-Eboh, his passion for service and seeing that Nigeria attained development.
He revealed that the night Okotie-Eboh died, he was with then Prime Minister, Alhaji Tafawa Balewa, discussing Nigeria’s unity and how peace could return to the Southwest, which was a troubled region.
Dr. Dere Awosika, who spoke on behalf of the Okotie-Eboh family, started her welcome remark with the gospel song, ‘To God be the glory. Great things he has done’, adding that they were happy to see the day come to fruition.
She also stated that the family cannot ask for a better day to put history right, thanking God for everything, because “He makes things beautiful.”
