July 29: How the Coups That Removed Aguiyi-Ironsi and Gowon Reshaped Nigeria

July 29 holds a painful place in Nigeria’s political history. On that date in 1966, Major-General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi was overthrown and killed in a violent counter-coup that targeted many southern, especially Igbo, military officers. The crisis deepened ethnic tensions in the army and set Nigeria on the path to the Civil War. Nine years later, on July 29, 1975, General Yakubu Gowon was removed in a bloodless coup while attending an African summit in Uganda. Gowon, who became Head of State after the 1966 counter-coup at age 31, went into exile after his removal. The two coups had sharply different outcomes, but both reshaped Nigeria’s leadership, military structure and national history. This retrospective revisits the officers, decisions and tensions surrounding one of the country’s most consequential dates.

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