It was neither luck nor destiny nor fate that made Major General Yakubu Gowon to appoint Lt.-Colonel Obasanjo, the pontoon layer, as the GOC of 3rd Marine Division in May 1969, but failure of judgment caused by the usual Nigerian intrigues and disregard for merit in official appointments. How the gluttonous hyena came to seize cheetah's prey was narrated by Olusegun Obasanjo himself thus, "..... on 13 January (1970), I made straight for Owerri, and from Owerri to Orlu. At Orlu, I was told that Lt.-Col. Akinrinade and Major Tumoye had made contact with senior rebel officers and had gone to see them but no one knew where exactly they went. I followed with my escorts in the general direction of Nkwere and Uga. After going for some distance, I decided to enquire but nobody could give me an answer as to their whereabouts. .... On reaching Uga airfield without seeing my two officers, I turned back. Very near Orlu I met a junior officer who claimed that he knew which way the two officers had gone. He led the way while I followed. Soon we met the two officers feeling rather happy and elated and pleased with themselves. They told me they had just met Effiong and a group of rebel officers and civilians and had arranged a further meeting with me for the following day. I insisted on being taken there and then to where these senior rebel officers were. .. //.. On my insistence we all made for Amichi where we met Effiong in Biafran Army uniform on the first floor of the house of Odogu, the head of Biafra's directorate of military intelligence. All the other officers were in mufti. On the way Lt.-Colonel Akinrinade had briefed me on his short meeting, in company of Major Tumoye, with the group (p. 123-124, My Command, by General Olusegun Obasanjo)." That tells so much about the quality of the General Officer Commanding the third Marine Division who did not know the exact place where his field commanders were in a final battle with the surrendering secessionist military officers. However, the background to the appointment of Obasanjo as the GOC of third Marine Division in 1969 had its origin in the bad relationship between the war front's Division Commanders and the the Supreme Headquarters led by General Yakubu Gowon.
When the July 1966 military counter coup occurred, not less than ten Lieutenant Colonels (including Ojukwu) were senior to Lieutenant Colonel Yakubu Gowon, besides a full Colonel and a Brigadier, all of who were southerners but were superceded by Gowon because the infantries contained mostly Northerners and especially from Benue and Plateau. The Governor of Northern Region (province), Hassan Katsina, was promoted to the rank of a Lt.-Colonel after the January 15, 1966 coup by General Ironsi so that he could be in the same rank with his military governors' counterparts in southern regions (provinces). Besides Gowon and Katsina who were Lieutenant Colonels as at July 1966 coup, the following Northern officers in rank and order of seniority existed: Joseph R. Akahan (Major), I.D. Bissala (Captain), Muhammed Shuwa (captain), and Muritala Mohammed (Captain). Following the July Coup, it was reported that Captain Muritala Mohammed had challenged Lieutenant Colonel Yakubu Gowon for the leadership of the Army but he did not get the support of the infantries in Lagos. From then onwards, it would appear that the personal chemistry between Gowon and Mohammed was altogether different. When the war between Nigeria and Biafra broke out Mohammed Shuwa was Commander of the first Division while Muritala Mohammed Commanded second Division and Benjamin Adekunle Commanded the third Division. Characteristically, Mohammed and Adekunle as soldiers have something in common, they would not postpone till tomorrow what could be done today. They wanted the war to end quickly but the Supreme Military headquarters headed by General Yakubu Gowon deliberately prevented them from accomplishing quick victory.
It was Muritala Mohammed, commanding the second infantry division, that flushed out the invading Biafran troops from the Mid-west State in September 1967 and thereafter unilaterally appointed Major Samuel Ogbemudia as the State's administrator which was subsequently confirmed by the Supreme Military Council. Mohammed requested from the Supreme military Headquarters in Lagos for supplies of military hardware to enable him cross river Niger from Asaba to Onitsha but he was denied. Consequently, Mohammed division was forced to go through the Northern border in order to cross River Niger at Idah, in Lokoja to march his soldiers on the road to capture Onitsha on March 23, 1968. After capturing Onitsha against the wish of Gowon, Mohammed lost confidence in Gowon and suspected that he desired to prolong the war. According to Obasanjo, Muritala Mohammed asked to be discharged from the Army and applied for his terminal leave. Before he could get any reply Mohammed went abroad on leave and Gowon appointed Colonel Ibrahim Haruna to take charge as Commander of the Second Infantry Division (p.57-58, My Command). As it turned out, Mohammed and Adekunle wanted to defeat the Biafran army quickly but Gowon in Lagos was hoping for peaceful negotiation with Ojukwu who was holding only Owerri province out of his original Biafra as at the end of April 1969. Despite the fact that Adekunle of the third Marine Commando had the same problem with Gowon on the prosecution of the war as Mohammed yet, he managed to capture Umuahia in April 1969 while simultaneously he was forced to withdraw tactically from Owerri which, even as at that, was within the artillery range of Adekunle's soldier.
It needs to be recalled that in October 1968, Gowon had announced that the promised early return to civilian rule had been delayed and a new date would be set after the war. Six months later, precisely 19 April 1969, General Yakubu Gowon got married to Victoria Hansatu Zakari in an elaborate state wedding. To Gowon at that time, the war had reached a stage where the rebels sooner or later would either engage seriously in face-saving peace negotiation or surrender and for that to happen Gowon was prepared to wait for eternity since it would perpetuate his military rule. The only obstacle to Gowon's intention was Colonel Benjamin Adekunle of the third Marine Commando who was replaced with Colonel Olusegun Obasanjo in May 1969. (To be continued)
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