Though I begged Major Nzeogwu not to stage 1966 coup, he ignored me –Gen. Olutoye

 

Maj-Gen. Olufemi Olutoye (retd.)
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Maj-Gen. Olufemi Olutoye (retd.), one of the first graduates to join the Nigerian Army, shares his life experiences with ADEOLA BALOGUN

Now that you have retired fully, what does your day look like?

When I wake up, there are a few formalities which I have to perform every morning before I come out of my room – like having my quiet time. After that, I come out and have breakfast with my family and then the day begins. As much as possible, I try not to leave home without breakfast. I can forgo lunch but not breakfast. When I was in the military, you could never be too sure of lunch, but you had the best of breakfast and dinner; and at times, breakfast could be the meal you had for the day.

How was growing up like?

I was born in Ido Ani. I grew up a little before I went to Owo where I was till 1937 before I went to Benin. I grew up in Benin properly and that is the language I speak so well.

Why were you moving like that?

My father was a headmaster but in addition to that, he was a catechist of the CMS church. So, I had the advantage of both worlds, the church and the school.

We learnt too that you started as a teacher.

Oh yes, that was after I left university. I did my primary education in Benin and went to Government College, Ibadan in January 1945 and had my school certificate in December 1949. I entered University College, Ibadan as it was called then in September/October 1950 and graduated in June 1954. I went to Cambridge for a brief spell and when I came back home in 1956, I settled down to be a teacher at Olu Iwa College, Ijebu Ode (now Adeola Odutola College).

But why did you choose to be a teacher even with such a prestigious degree in those days when you could easily have enlisted in the civil service?

Very true. Unlike today when teachers are well paid, in those days, they were not well paid. We were told in those days that teachers’ reward was in heaven and I am sure my father believed in that very strongly. When I was admitted to UCI, six of us were admitted to read medicine. I think I was the only person who could not afford the fees but I was lucky that at that time, the Western Region government had started what was called Regulation 17. It provided an opportunity for anybody who was willing to study for a degree and be ready to go and teach. That was how I seized the opportunity so that I did not miss the admission. So, instead of medicine, I did Science.

Missing medicine must have been so disappointing.

Of course. It was natural, especially when you saw people who were not as good as you doing it, all because their parents had money. I did exactly the same subjects that I would have done if I had gone in for medicine.

But was it not possible then for your parents to sell whatever they could, at least to get the fees paid?

My father had to write to the university registrar to see if it was possible to defer the admission by a year to enable him to rally round for the fee. But I was very reluctant to spend one year at home. I was sure I would not have felt comfortable during the long vacation when my old classmates would come back home. But fortunately, the university replied that I did exceptionally well in the entrance examination and narrowly missed being a college scholar.  They told us about Regulation 17 and I was prepared to accept it. Regulation 17 enjoined whoever enjoyed that privilege to serve for a number of years. It was a sort of scholarship but tied to a particular condition. So, I had to go and teach and I taught for a number of years before I went into the army. It was the university that also told us that Olu Iwa College, Ijebu Ode required a graduate science teacher and asked me whether I would be interested.

We learnt that you rose rapidly at Olu Iwa College to become an acting principal. How did it happen?

In those days, schools were being opened in various parts of the region, so if you were a graduate of two years, you could become a school principal. When I was at Olu Iwa, before five years, I was acting principal when the principal left. I thought all these things were sufficiently attractive to keep me there but I decided to go. I had already reached the limit and it was embarrassing to be at the top as a very young man in those days. You remember one man called Chief S.O. Awokoya, who was the education minister under Awolowo. He later left for the civil service and he was also a science teacher just like myself. When I was in Olu Iwa College, he was principal in Molusi College, Ijebu Igbo. Because of politics, he left and became a minister in Awolowo’s government. He left that and joined the Federal Civil Service. His first assignment was to start the School of Science in Lagos in those days where young Nigerians were taught just science. He was made principal of the school and when he heard that I was about to leave Olu Iwa, he invited me to come and teach Chemistry with a fantastic salary. But I just didn’t like teaching anymore. I had a few other offers to be principal of some schools.

But we learnt that you didn’t like the way you left Olu Iwa. What happened?

The proprietor decided to bring in an expatriate who was junior to me both in year of graduation and experience and made him principal over me. I didn’t like that.

But we learnt that you were accused of influencing the admission of some pupils…

They brought me before the governing council of the school and brought the bursar as the accuser. It was meant to be a blackmail; in the belief that by so doing, I would remain, because I had already dropped my resignation letter. The charge they brought against me was that I admitted students without writing entrance examination. So when they brought me before the board to defend myself, I thanked them even though I was not aware of the charges before. It is true that I admitted students, but I admitted only two who did not sit the entrance examination with the others. The first one turned out to be an Ijebu Ode boy living with his guardian in Ibadan. He obtained the form but the same day we were conducting the entrance examination was the same day that Ibadan Grammar School was doing theirs. And being in Ibadan, he preferred IGS where his classmates chose and he was admitted by Venerable Alayande. But when his guardian discovered this later, he raised hell, that he, an Ijebu Ode man, wanted his ward to attend Olu Iwa. When he approached me and pleaded, I admitted the boy for some reasons. The boy passed and if he was good enough to be admitted in IGS, he was good enough for Olu Iwa. Two, his brother was the minister of education and I believed it was an act of respect to admit the boy. The other boy purchased his form in Benin, but being the only person that did so, it was not economically viable to have a centre in Benin because of him alone. But his father, who happened to be a police ASP in Ijebu Ode, appeared in my office one day to complain, expressing his desire for the boy to attend Olu Iwa College. I called the senior tutor to conduct a test for the boy and he passed exceptionally well, even more than some of those we admitted. Apart from doing well, the pupil would live with his father as a day student, so it would not affect the number of those we could cater for in the boarding house. But more importantly, I guess they thought I got money from those people. I then asked them – including Chief Odutola – whether anyone in his right senses would demand a bribe from an ASP in the year 1958. So those were the charges against me.

When you were putting in your resignation letter, was getting enlisted in the army on your mind?

The day I dropped the letter, I had no job in mind but I had several offers from schools who wanted me to be their principal. It was that time that Nigeria started something called Nigerianisation policy, in anticipation of the departure of the colonial officers at independence. As someone adequately qualified, having held Scale A job for five years, I went to the Nigerianisation office in Lagos to say that I wanted a job. The man in charge there then was one Mr. Nwokedi and he promised me SAS salary which was three times more than what I earned at Olu Iwa. But when I asked what my job would be, I was told that I would be a clerk carrying files and I didn’t want a life of boredom. Not too long after, I went to the army headquarters in Apapa and said I wanted to join the army. There, I learnt that Emeka (Chukwuemeka Odumegwu) Ojukwu had just been employed as a graduate. When I was finishing my postgraduate studies at Cambridge, Ojukwu was just graduating in Oxford and he was introduced to me when I went to visit some friends at Oxford. They said I could start the following day and when they looked at my papers, they said I would make a good Director of Army Education in the rank of a captain, having been an acting principal. But I told them that what I wanted was infantry. They were annoyed and said it meant I was going to start from the scratch and I said I was ready. I showed them my car and told them that I did not come to them because of any salary. The following week, I was sent to Zaria for training.

Did you inform your parents about this and why did you insist on being an infantry soldier?

Well, there comes a stage in your life that you want something for what it is, not for any pecuniary advantages. The money to me then was nothing. As a teacher, I was very comfortable getting £888 per annum. From £888, I would have gone up to £2040 if I accepted the Nigerianisation job and I would have gone to £1400 if I had accepted Awokoya’s job. If I had gone to be principal somewhere, apart from salary, I would have been provided with accommodation and other allowances. But my emphasis was not on money. I was more interested in the excitement of being in the army. When I was in Cambridge, I had the opportunity of spending a few weeks in the public school where they had a cadet corps made up of students all dressed up in army uniform. They performed every week. That attracted me a lot and when I was at GCI, we used to go to the army barracks in Ibadan to watch the soldiers perform. I liked how they were impeccably dressed. Then above all, the disciplined life of the military was something I liked. I wanted a job where I could look forward to something like promotion and where I could account for every minute of my life. This was why I opted for infantry and when I started, my salary was £17 monthly. It was so small that I could not afford to pay for my mess bill at the end of the month at the officers’ mess where I was to live in Zaria for the first few months. The authorities wrote off the bill and the £17 became my pocket money. So, I could send something home to train my younger ones. And from there, we went to the UK to train as officers.

At UCI, we learnt you played student union politics.

I contested for the presidency of the students union but my friends said they would not vote for me. They feared that I might be distracted from my studies because in those days, you would be sent away if after the first two years you did not measure up. They said I was sent to school to obtain my Bsc, notto become president.

You also trained with the late Major Chukwuma Nzeogwu.

Since we didn’t have a staff college in Nigeria, we were sent overseas for staff training. In my own time, they sent three of us. One Major Gabriel Okonweze, an Asaba  boy, Major Chukwuma Nzeogwu and myself. Nzeogwu was the most junior and we were sent to India for training in 1964.

But not long after you came back, he staged a coup. Didn’t he mention it to you or did you participate in it?

He did mention it to me. There was no doubt that he showed signs of being interested in those things, but I told him I would not participate in a coup which would involve killing any Nigerian. Nzeogwu definitely told me (about his plan to stage a coup) but I told him that if there was any other way I could help him, I would willingly do so. But when he told me how he was going to operate, I told him sorry, I would not participate in killing any Nigerian. I said I didn’t join the army to kill Nigerians. I suggested other ways to deal with the politicians, but he didn’t agree and then came the parting of ways.

As a senior army officer, were you not involved in all the coups that took place?

No, I did not participate based on what I have just told you. First of all, I had a policy of not visiting anybody; I had no friends and I am not ashamed to say that. I dealt with officers formally. Nzeogwu became friendly because we were together on a course for almost a year and you can imagine sleeping and waking up together. Being a younger boy, he took to me very well. We became friendly and he was able to bare his mind.

Was he an eccentric?

Well, there was no doubt he had traces of eccentricity but he was a very good person. He was very kind and truthful. When he had a point and was convinced, he would stick to it. That was one policy he had.

Did the coups and counter coups put you in any precarious situation and how did you deal with them?

I was lucky in a way that by the time a coup took place, if you remember, most of the senior officers who were killed were of certain ranks and above. But because I wasn’t too much in the good books of some people, I was not promoted. So I was not always in the hierarchy of those to be eliminated. If I had gone to the staff college the time I ought to have gone, maybe the story would have been different. In 1962, we had written captain to major examination and Gen. Webby Everald who was the GOC then came to address us that nomination and selection for staff college would be based on the result of the promotion examination. That was the first time in the history of the Nigerian Army that a written examination was used for promotion from captain to major. Only six or seven of us passed and I was then hoping that I would be one of those selected to go to the staff college. But to my surprise, it was not so for reasons best known to those in charge. But then, those who were selected to go to the staff college and got promoted were those who were wiped off during the coups. I would have been one of them.

But eventually, you were put in charge of army education, something you turned down initially.

Oh yes, when I came back from Staff College, they put me there and I had no choice. At that time, the white folks were being replaced and they put me there because of my background but they didn’t promote me. I did my best to improve education standard in the Nigerian Army. When I came in, I organised distance learning. Any soldier who was interested in learning did so and I saw to it that the army paid. Most of those involved were later made military governors through the scheme. The Nigeria Military School in Zaria was upgraded to a full secondary school rather than being a trade school. Just a year or two after that, the Nigeria Defence Academy was established and the boys coming out of the NMS were given the opportunity to apply for admission into NDA. If you look at the army officers in my time, more than 80 per cent were products of the NMS, except those who were handpicked politically from various schools in the North. People like Joe Garba, who became foreign minister, was an NMS student and most of the military governors too were from there. I also made it possible, by the grace of God, for army officers interested in attending universities of their choice to do so. Fortunately at that time, my wife was in the university and we knew how to help.

Eventually you became a minister of youth development.

I became a minister but it was with great reluctance. That was the time Murtala and Obasanjo took over from Gowon and because of that, many people were retired. Those in my set were retired but I was the only person not retired. I felt embarrassed, in a way, being the only highest ranking infantry officer left because both Murtala and Obasanjo were junior to me. I even told Murtala when he said I would be minister to let me go. He then said I shouldn’t go because the boys won’t understand; but I told myself I would stay for just six months. But by the time the six months lapsed, Murtala had been killed and I was in a quandary. Should I leave only for Yorubas to say I didn’t want to work with Obasanjo, a fellow Yoruba? So that was why I stayed till March/April 1977, then I would have shown that I had no problem working with Obasanjo.

Did you have any problem working with Obasanjo who was your junior in the army?

Well, I don’t want to say anything about Obasanjo because he has apologised and I have forgiven him and I don’t want to remember anything about the past.

When did you think of settling down for marriage?

When I was in Ijebu Ode, that was when I met this young pretty girl that eventually became my wife. My upbringing did not allow me to mix much with the opposite sex. Among those of us who attended Government College in my time, nobody moved with girls. We considered it as something that must not be done. I was almost finishing my course in the university before I ever danced with a girl. I used to help organise dances and so on. I was a member of Sigma Club in UCI, but I was almost finishing before I had confidence to dance with a girl. I believe some people had in-built inhibition; what would I tell my father? When I was going to school, my father told me, ‘ranti omo eni ti iwo nse’, (remember the son of whom you are) and he didn’t spare the rod. Don’t forget too, I was the only son and in Benin, the only son of the family has a special place and you don’t joke with him at all. When I was at Olu Iwa College, I was everything; I was the choir master, the pianist, the game master and everything. We were holding the end of year activities and we invited all the girls’ schools around and that was how I saw the girl. When I saw her, something just struck me like lightening and that was how it all started.

Recently, some people disowned you as a member of the ruling house in Ido Ani when you indicated interest to be the traditional ruler of the town. What happened?

Not only did some people say I am not a prince, they said I am a Fulani from Ilorin. What happened was that my late grand father went to Ilorin where he embraced Islam and brought it to Ido Ani. He refused to be an oba as a result of that. He named his son Oluwatomiloye, which is shortened to Olutoye. My own father was invited but he declined because of his own vocation as a catechist. In 1978, I was invited to become oba but because I just left the service then, I told them I would not make a useful Oba because of certain things I wanted to bring to the community like the Federal Government College. I am a prince and those who are saying I am not one are in the minority but very vocal.

So, you have given up on that?

No way, I can’t withdraw now. According to the saying; forward ever backward never.