The Irony of Nzegwu Kaduna: A Different perspective from a Younger Generation Northerner
By Muhammad Kabir Yusuf “He was a man full of life, and he obviously wanted to live a full life; but he saw no contradiction in denying others theirs when according to him, they stood in the way of national progress. That was the irony….” Obasonjo Nzegwu Kaduna Chukwuma Nzegwu Kaduna Chukwuma was the young military officer who permanently changed the cause of the political history of Nigeria. The guy is being remembered in the East as a hero for an attempt on an abortive coup d'etat which favors the Igbo people. In Northern part of Nigeria Nzegwu’s name is synonym to betrayal, remembered for having assassinated the northern premier, the Sardauna of Sokoto, Sir Ahmadu Bello, the then Governor of the Northern Region who stood to the northerners as the statue of the very core essence of the progress of the North. In between the two extreme ends of the continuum, with Nzegwu the hero at one end and Nzegwu the villain at the other lie a lot of contradictions and con...