The first Prime Minister was from Bauchi State. that Friday and saw the two bodies placed in a ditch by the road side. Supposing he was trapped in the crossfire just like the then head of government of Cyprus was caught up in the coup because he was in Enugu on a tour of the country and a guest of Michael Okpara when the coup took place? At the moment, I have no information.”. He was a “cool figure” who preoccupied himself with integration of Nigeria’s over 250 ethnic groups as before and during his tenure. It was a funny situation there was a coup where Ironsi survived. Sam Omatseye, in his column, made a profound statement that there was a failure of intellectualism.   We had heads of government of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Britain and others from all over the Commonwealth gathered in Nigeria, yet the British intelligence didn’t know. Political Ideology. Wane darasi ne kuke ganin … DAGA Bashir Abdullahi El-bash. Your report of January 23,1966 has become a reference point on the death of Balewa. Share Facebook Twitter Google+ ReddIt WhatsApp Pinterest Email. “About 220 yards from Mile 27 on the Lagos-Abeokuta road, I saw the dead body of the former Prime Minister Alhaji Abubakar Tafawa Balewa and what appeared to me to be the body of Chief Festus Okotie Eboh on Friday evening. Tafawa-Balewa fell as Ifeajuna stared in horror at the darkness whether he got his target. And there was a general sign of grief in the villages around. He was born on July 18, 1912 to an Itsekiri chief, Prince Okotie Eboh, and got married to his wife, Victoria, an Itsekiri lady, in 1942. If people are enterprising enough, I think they should go to Ilogbo or Iyana Ilogbo, they would find people who saw the bodies. The circumstances of his death still remain unresolved. The prime minister fell from the bullet of Major Emmanuel Ifeajuna the day he was captured from his home. However, Ifeajuna replied by kicking the doors open with his boots. Hajiya Jummai Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, the only surviving wife of Nigeria’s first Prime Minister, late Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, is dead. The Head of Department, Community Medicine, College of Medicine, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital, Bauchi, Dr. Zuwaira Hassan, has been killed in a fatal crash. If such politicians ran away, what makes you think the other ministers would be around when they had already handed over power to the military and particularly at a time Major Nzeogwu was making serious statements on the radio that any major offence became death sentence? Adewale Oke Adekola FIStructE FICE CON (26 March 1932 – March 1999) was a Nigerian engineer, academic, author, and administrator. Abubakar Balewa was born in Bauchi, the son of a Bageri Muslim district head in the Bauchi divisional district of Lere. Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, a former minister of state in the ministry of transportation, did a two-part article on the controversy on the side of those who believed Balewa was killed by the coup plotters and his body dumped at a spot along Lagos-Abeokuta Road . How did his father manage not to be killed? The body was robed in a big white agbada with a cap lying at its feet. This Christmas season I had intended to engage in a critical investigation of religion given the powerful theological si... By Douglas Anele Ardent readers of the column, I am suspending continuation of the series entitled “The metamorphosis of... By Denrele Animasaun ‘The writer cannot be a mere storyteller; he cannot be a mere teacher; he cannot merely x-ray socie... Balewa’s Death Controversy: As an eye witness, the body I saw was fresh – Osoba. Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa is one of the only four Nigerian leaders that the media and everyday scorecards remain generally favourable to. And so that was how I took my Vespa which was like having a car then. The Daily Times, the leading paper in the country then, was there and The Pilot. Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa was born in December 1922 and was killed on January 15, 1966. The Right Honourable Alhaji Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, (December 1912 – 15 January 1966) was a Nigerian politician, and the first prime minister of an independent Nigeria. Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa’s decomposing body was found in a bush near a village along Lagos-Abeokuta road on January 21,… Read More » History. The Right Honourable Alhaji Sir Abubakar … Featured. I spoke with a lot of the villagers on the story. Nigeria. (1957) Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, “First Speech as Prime Minister” By 1957 Nigeria was clearly on the path toward independence. By Usman Abdullahi Koli Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa was born in December 1922 and was killed on January 15, 1966. Two students of Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, (ATBU) Bauchi have lost their lives in a ghastly crash.. January 10, 2021. He was overthrown and murdered in a military coup on 15 January 1966, as were many other leaders, including his old companion Sir Ahmadu Bello. Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, (born 1912, Bauchi, Northern Nigeria—died January 1966, near Ifo, Nigeria), Nigerian politician, deputy leader of the Northern Peoples Congress (NPC), and the first federal prime minister (1957–66). Abubakar Tafawa Balewa was born in late 1912 in Tafawa Balewa, North East State, (Bauchi) Nigeria. Creator: Alhaji Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Interviewer: Emmanuel Omatsola Date of Interview: May 7, 1964 Place of Interview: Lagos, Nigeria Length: 4 pages Biographical Note Balewa, Prime Minister of Nigeria from 1960 to 1966, discusses his memories of President John F. Kennedy’s (JFK) character, JFK’s influence on world affairs, and the He was killed on 15 January 1966 in Lagos. Teslim Opemipo Omipidan. Alhaji Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, KBE (1912-1966) was the first prime minister of independent Nigeria, serving from 1957 to 1966. Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa was born in December 1922 and was killed on January 15, 1966. It was already 6 p.m. that day when I heard of the news and my immediate reaction was to get there before dark ;so the question of looking for a photographer didn’t arise and, as Chief E. A. Oshunneye, another eye witness, his wife is still around, she can easily corroborate what I am saying, her husband would have recounted the story to her ;he was coming from Abeokuta and he told me that somewhere after leaving Abeokuta, on their way to Ifo, that he stopped and that they were all peeping from the window of their vehicle to look at the place where the bodies were kept. Buhari mourns death of Balewa’s last surviving wife. In the second article, he now changed ,saying the autopsy was done on the spot where the body was found. And he is getting emotional about it and the evidence he is producing are third party:’ General Danjuma told me,’‘ M.D, Yusuf told me’. The PUNCH learnt funeral prayers will hold at 1.30 pm at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital Central Mosque on Monday. The Golden Voice of Africa had been silenced. Most of the tarmac of the airport where the coffin was to be loaded into the plane was condoned off by armed soldiers. The presidency announced the death of Jummai Aishatu Abubakar in a statement on Sunday. How? Do Muslims display body like Christians? President Muhammadu Buhari has condoled with the family of Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, the late Prime Minister, on the loss of Hajiya Jummai Aishatu Abubakar, Balewa’s last surviving wife who died today at the of age 85.. And that this is why I think there was a foul play. Sambo said that the medical week which has the theme: “Strategies for Health System Recovery during the COVID 19 pandemic in Nigeria,” is dedicated to late Dr. Hassan, for numerous achievements in the health sector in the state. DATE OF DEATH January 15th, 1966. Prev Post. Education. Mid-night Flight Muslims detest marking of graves, Muslims detest having a statue on graves, they see it as paganism, they detest it. Quickly, he moved towards the still body of the prime minister and after confirming he was dead, dragged him to a tree trunk and rested the body in a seating position with his clothing still intact. The students who identified as Aminu Ahmed, a 500 level student of Electrical/Electronic Engineering and Abubakar, also 500 level, has died in ghastly motor accidents on Wednesday, September 2, and Thursday, September 3. Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa who was killed during Nigeria's first military coup in 1966, was the country's prime minister during the First Republic. But as an eye witness, the body (of Balewa) that I saw was a fresh body. The Golden Voice of Africa had been silenced. Today Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa has reached 55 years of death. Some armed robbers on Sunday night invaded the residence of the Director of Works of the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi, Engineer Hassan Sabo Jama’are and stabbed him to death. PAUL OMOKUVIE, BAUCHI. Jummai Tafawa Balewa, the last surviving wife of Nigeria’s first and only prime minister, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, was buried today in her home town in Bauchi following her death Sunday. Zuwaira's remains will be buried according to Islamic rites at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital central mosque. Political Ideology. He didn’t know that in those days, it could take three hours to develop a film. Teslim Opemipo Omipidan. President Muhammadu Buhari has condoled with the family of Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, the late Prime Minister, on the loss of Hajiya Jummai Abubakar, Balewa’s last surviving wife, who died on Sunday. The claim was disputed by those who held on to the view that Balewa had been shot dead by coup plotters who had abducted him ,among other political leaders of the country, on January 15, 1966. He was the first Nigerian dean of engineering and head of civil engineering at the University of Lagos.He was the founding vice chancellor of the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Bauchi and emeritus professor of the University of Lagos. Why is it that 44 years after, some people are now talking of their own story. M.T. JUST IN: Nigeria’s inflation climbs to 15.75%, Breaking: E.F. 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Then he and Okafor brought out Largema’s corpse from the boot of the car and laid it down beside Tafawa-Balewa’s body. Kabarin Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa. A school teacher, politician. After the coffin had been taken into the plane, it took off at exactly 30 minutes after midnight. Abubakar Tafawa Balewa was born in late 1912 in Tafawa Balewa, North East State, (Bauchi) Nigeria. Some unidentified persons on Sunday night stabbed to death Director of Works, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU) Bauchi, Engineer Hassan Sabo Jama’are at … The first Prime Minister was from Bauchi State. But the announcement came exactly one week after it had been officially stated that “in the early hours of this morning, Saturday, January 15, 1966, a dissident section of the Nigerian Army kidnapped the Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance and took them to an unknown destination.”, At his first news conference after he had been handed the Government of the Federation, Major General J.T.U. 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