Nwafor Orizu
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Nwafor Orizu (1915-1999). was a Nigerian of Igbo origin and Nigeria`s first Senate President from (1960-1966) during the First Republic of Nigeria.
The President of Nigeria, Nnamdi Azikiwe, also of Igbo origin, had left the country in late 1965 first for Europe, then on a cruise to the caribbean, after allegedly being tipped off of the coup. Orizu Under the law, became Acting President and had all the powers of the President.
January 16th, a group of Nigerian army officers, under Major Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu, struck. The coup was planned by young military officers - lgbos and non lgbos - disgusted with the state of the Nigerian nation. The 1966 Nigerian nation had an Igbo President, an Igbo man as President of the Senate. It was the first coup d'état by the Nigerian military. In the confusion that followed, Nwafor Orizu, as Acting President, handed over power to General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi commanding the Nigerian Army.
At 11.50 pm, Dr. Orizu made a nationwide broadcast, reading a military prepared speech, announcing the cabinet's "voluntary" decision to transfer power to the armed forces. Major General Ironsi then made his own broadcast, accepting the "invitation".
Until recently, eye witness testimony made it apparent, it had always been assumed in the press that the hand-over was voluntary although unconstitutional. However, it does seem that as far back as 1969, the press has uncovered the involuntary nature of the so-called hand-over.
On January 17, Major General Ironsi established the Supreme Military Council in Lagos and announced Decree No. 1, effectively suspending the constitution. Later that day Major Chukwuma Nzeogwu, the leader of the revolt in the northern region negotiated a conditional surrender in which Ironsi agreed not to bring the mutineers to military trial. And although the mutiny was practically over, military rule had arrived. Nigeria's first democratic experiment was effectively over. This would setup the Biafran War.
Afterwards, Orizu faded from the political scene the moment he transferred power to Aguiyi-Ironsi. But an educator, he remained. Before the civil war he had set up a high school, the Nigerian Secondary School, in Nnewi, Anambra State. He remained its proprietor till, after the defeat of Biafra, the state government took over all the schools. After that he remained a teacher and an educator.
