I heard of Asaba massacre only after civil war – IBM Haruna

By Kabiru A. Yusuf 

General Ibrahim Bata M. Haruna (retd), popularly called IBM Haruna, has gone through a lot in the last 81 years of his life as a soldier, administrator and lawyer. In this interview with Trust TV monitored by Daily Trust on Sunday, he spoke on key points of his military sojourn and life afterwards. 

What circumstances made you one of the first boys that went to the Nigerian Military School – the first 30 children who went into the military. Was it by accident or something just happened at that stage of your life?

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At that stage of my life, 1954, I was 14 years old and fitted into the criteria for the selection and recruitment of young children of veterans. My father was one of veterans; he served in the Second World War. He was demobilised and returned to the Nigerian police.

He was in the Nigerian police in Zaria when it was muted that children of veterans of that age could be recruited. And I was in my Roman Catholic School in Zaria, that was St Patrick’s, which was just lying on the fence of the army barracks. So it was easy for me to walk over and present myself for recruitment.

On that fateful day we presented ourselves and we did medical test examination and other things, questions and so on. However, I was lucky to be one of the 30 boys that were recruited. 

Can you recall others?

There were quite a few – 30. I am one of the surviving boys. There is another surviving one called Emmanuel Ekpe. Musa Usman, who has passed on, became our parade commander on passing out. There are only two of us who are surviving. 

Did you at any stage regret the decision to go into the army so early in your life?

No. I did not have the exposure to critically make such choices. When my father was demobilised and returned from World War II, we came to Kaduna and I knew only Kaduna and Zaria. We were there long enough until the extension of Constitution Road was built.

When he was posted to Zaria, we followed along and started school in Wusasa. But my mother wasn’t quite agreeable with the hardship; that was why I got back to the barracks. I needed to go to Sabo Gari to attend the military school and we were accommodated in the boys company in the disused British quarters. 

You received a very good training after the military school. You were also in Ghana; tell us a bit about that period of your life. 

Ghana was tough; it was strengthening, so you needed stamina, determination and courage. Everything must have been done to test your leadership quality and character. But fortunately, out of 100 or more candidates that started, from Nigeria, I think we had less than 20. 

Then we had the largest number of RMA cadets, which used to be about 4. We were 8 at that time – 1959. We were called Regular Officers Special Training School and my set was ROST 11, where we had some famous generals like Murtala Muhammed.  

It was a lucky date to be selected at that stage because your future education must have been ruptured because we have done the qualifying examinations, which was for school or college certificate. And if you failed you would probably end up as an ordinary rank or soldier so as to try the opportunities again. So, one was lucky to have flown through the first attempt. After that, we had to go through the Short Service course, another reorientation. 

This was also in England?

Also in England.  The second training was rigorous. It was on works, academics and military. There were tough times when you had to go on training in remote places like Scotland and Ireland, where you only had hard times. Through the winter we would go through war exercises we never had before.

Immediately after your training, it seems you had to fight in the civil war. 

Yes. My set was commissioned in June 1961. It was a two-year course. From 59, we were there through 60 and 61 and we were commissioned into the Nigerian army. We were cadets when we partook in the parade in London to herald the independence. 

What was your experience during the civil war?

When the civil war came, I was among the very few officers who were recalled from Staff College. I was attending the Joint Services Staff College, which subsequently became the National Defence College. I was recalled but I didn’t find my way back to that college until 1973, after the civil war. 

At the beginning of the civil war, I had trained in my first posting, after commissioning as an ordinance officer. Most of my mates had been sent to one battalion in Enugu. General Murtala was sent to the signals in Lagos. I was also sent to the ordinance in Yaba, and from there, I attended the ordinance training, involving storekeeping, accounting, financial accounting with ammunition and vehicles and armaments, vehicle management, supply calculation.

So, at the beginning of the civil war I was in the ordinance. I was the chief provision and account officer in the accounts unit. Just before the civil war, I became the commanding officer of the Ordinance Depot. Things moved so quickly and I became the chief ordinance officer, and as a result. I found myself very deep in the provisioning and calculation of logistics for the preparatory stages, making sure that the bulk of the military was based in the North had ordinance support.

So it became very evident that the Kaduna depot, which was then a sub-depot, had to be upgraded, and therefore, more stocks had to be stored there, more personnel had to be trained, security of control weapons and sensitive weapons became very critical.

The logistics to support the preparation for the civil war had to be based mostly in Kaduna as the main supporting depot and Makurdi as a sub-base; then consequentially, I became the rear commander in Kaduna. Shuwa was my contemporary and partner. We had Captain Yakubu and some other officers I can’t easily recall their names. That was after we had set up the line of support and reinforcement. 

So rear means you have never been on the frontline? 

Yes, rear means that you exercise subordinate command to the warfront commander and provide him his logistics support. You have to foresee what is going on and plan; not only plan but more provision of enforcement of material requirements. 

As a rear or base commander you have subordinate units and the stores. Essentially, rear troops were to be with the administration, governance and the security of the base to make sure we were receiving and passing to the main commander. 

Did that role ever change?

For that time, I was also the security commander in Kaduna base. We worked hand in laws with Hassan Katsina, who was the governor of the North. As things progressed I was posted back to Lagos. 

I asked about the frontline role because your name is associated with the Asaba massacre.

I am coming to that. From Kaduna, we went back to Lagos, and when the Mid-West crisis erupted, I was in Lagos. Apart from my role as an ordinance officer, I was also serving as a rear commander to Adekunle’s team when it started; and subsequently , the involvement of the warfronts.

Again, I had to do the role of mobilising troops and logistics from Lagos to support the force that was to be deployed to counter this intrusion, which I did in Lagos.

And, in fact, when we were threatened by the troops coming to Ore, I had reinforcement from Kaduna and Lagos. 

It wasn’t long after that and Murtala was appointed as commander and had to form the second division to advance the war. 

It was long after engagement in Asaba and subsequently in Onitsha when I was appointed to take over from the acting GOC, Colonel Jalo.

The success in Mid-West battle and crosses in Onitsha had been recorded before I was posted; it was just a fighting force that was arranged into the various attempts to cross into River Niger at Asaba. And subsequently, we turned around to Awka.

At that point, I took over to reorganise and stabilise the division and ensured that the Mid-West was fully secured and the troops there were organised and there were some disciplined and recognisable units. I was with my headquarters in Onitsha, with the sector that was rear, to ensure that the defence and security of Onitsha were consolidated. 

So this so-called massacre was just you doing your job?

There was no massacre; if there was, I was not involved.  I told you that I took over the division after Onitsha had been ravaged. I never heard of massacre until after the civil war. 

I went there as a General Officer Commanding (GOC). I took over during the so- called massacre. It was in the process of taking over Asaba and subsequent crossing of the troops to Onitsha.

I heard all these stories after the war; my name was even brandished. In fact, there was an occasion not long ago when some two professors from the United States came to conduct enquiry into this matter extensively, on behalf of the International Criminal Court and I told them that I was not there. I never heard of it. And when I did, it was a very unfortunate incident. 

Was there a massacre, what happened there? 

As far as I am concerned, I was not there, so I cannot vouch for what happened. But there was a battle there and people have expressed their views about it, saying it was a massacre. All I can say is from reading reports years after the civil war. I particularly got a little bit irritated when people were mistaking me for Ibrahim Taiwo. I did not enter the civil war until Onitsha was captured. 

My civil war front line engagement was when we were consolidating on the Mid-West and Onitsha as an organised military formation. So there was no real battle engagement except when we were in defence of Onitsha. In the Mid-West, we were also consolidating and ensuring that the political integrity of there was maintained. 

So I don’t know where this story about massacre started, but I hear that as part of war efforts. We were in relationship with sympathetic heroes to the Biafran troops, who were causing an alarming fear of losing the front of the division in Onitsha and ensuring that they were not cut off from the Mid-West and the rest of the command logistics chain to Lagos.

We had a process for the war. Some saboteurs who were sympathetic to the other side were rounded up and shot. I read in some books that in the process there were people who were in an American Catholic school or so, and those who were in the environs were making life really containable for the division. 

I am talking about what I heard and read, I was not there, I was not a witness. The troops were not in my command. Our orders and operations were very clear – consolidating the military command in the Mid-West and ensuring that we did not lose ground in Onitsha while the main thrust into the Biafran area was going on. 

After the war you became minister of information and culture. Part of what you were remembered for in that period was that you initiated the formation of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) and the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA). But more controversially, I think you were an early advocate of the Nigerian Press Council, I wonder what you thought could be achieved by these organisations.

I think we should do this perspective one after the other, it is not as if it was related to the civil war; it was not. 

This was after how long?

Six years after. In fact, it was after Gowon’s coup, who was the commander-in- chief. This was actually also to say it was during the Murtala regime, which had the mindset of a revolutionary regime. The regime took some forthright steps with respect to political international relations and the internal administration, which resulted in many civil servants who were entrenched in the civil service losing their jobs. It was that kind of revolution and I was appointed minister of information and culture. 

So we are in a kind of atmosphere and environment of revolutionary posture, which required that as a minister of information you had to play some dynamic role that was not consistent with the normal run of events.

The regime decided to centralise formation on the basis of available new technology like the DoSat, which would enable the transmission to all parts of Nigeria through communication facilities. 

The NTA was formed as a result of that, and of course, the African continent as a whole was hungry for having an information system. Africa was determined to sell its own information because relying on foreign information as we did on the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) during the civil war caused a lot of problems because the other balancing sides of the stories were not told. 

So, in 1976, about six years after the civil war, we had to reinforce our sovereignty as a country and corruption. 

Looking back, would you still defend those hasty policies of the Murtala/Obasanjo government? People have been criticising them since then. 

Yes, the consequences were very severe but we supported it because we needed it. Perhaps they still don’t want it because we didn’t carry it through. But at least we established the motion that we were free to sell our own side of the story to our people and the world through the NTA and communicate our information through the NAN. And of course, to promote the black man’s culture, we stood by FESTAC 77, which brought the whole world to Nigeria. When I look back and see what is happening with the promotion of our culture and the pride of our people, I feel we have left something behind. 

Tell us about Murtala as your classmate and head of state. Was he really a revolutionary or a hotheaded person who wanted to bring change quickly? 

He was both. 

Was there a deliberate programme to move the country forward or it was just something that was rushed? 

Well, you will recall that he came into the scene as a result of coup. 

Did he lead the coup? 

I don’t know. I don’t have the evidence, but it is a fact of history that people organised it, rolled it on, it succeeded and he was appointed as head of state. There were options, including General Danjuma. 

Talking about that regime’s programmes, it was very evident that they were ambitious and committed to bring a change in Nigeria in the name of revolution. 

Since the regime lasted for about six months only, its intent, and perhaps, methodology and cooperation sort for were not delivered; therefore, there was the tendency to return to status quo. And this is where we have been – five paces forward, 10 backwards. 

You served both Murtala and Obasanjo, how would you compare the two? 

Strictly speaking, I did not serve Obasanjo’s regime, it was that of Murtala that I served. Thereafter, I did not hold any appointment. 

So you left after Murtala was killed? 

I retired in March 77, immediately after the Festival of Arts and Culture (FESTAC). 

After your retirement you studied Law. How easy is it for somebody who has spent all his life in the military to practise law? 

It is very easy. I am already used to discipline. If you have the mental disposition and intelligence you will commit yourself to a new assignment, which is self- imposed. Nobody told me to go back to the university. I advised myself and wanted to be a farmer, but the university authorities themselves assigned me to read Law. 

I have enjoyed it, except that I have never become a competent industrialised farmer as I wished to be because, after my retirement the first option was to go back to my ancestral engagement, which was farming. 

You are in Kongo, Zaria, do you really blend with the youth? How do your classmates view you?

Fantastic. I still blend. We are all friends; we communicate and they see me as an uncle. Many of them are in the frontline of the judiciary—all the courts. In fact, I am about to celebrate our 40th call to the bar with my classmates. By Saturday we will celebrate it. 

Tell us about your tenure as chairman of the Executive Committee of Africa and the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF)? How did you cope? 

It was an experience of brushing politics. There was no clear definition as to the route or function of the ACF. It was formed to create favourable opinions and support for those who created it in the background. So it was difficult 

Who are those people in the background? 

I don’t play politics. It was during the regime of Obasanjo and Atiku when they were facing general elections. And you know what happens in all our political experiences, especially when you are approaching general elections.

So it was a game, and the North is generally perceived as a balancing wedge in political terms. The North is always perceived to manipulate the political fortunes in their favour.

The politicians are not naive if they know how to manage the dynamics. The essence is to have a symbol that looks as if it is consolidating the North. And each one tries to use it. Whether you are in the main political leadership scheme or position, it is like we have a masquerade we can use, beat or blame.

We can say we moderately try to synthesize various views and allow politicians present their parties and programmes without blackmailing the ACF as a uniting force in a democratic system.

We presented what we thought was the best for the North, not dictating to them how to play their politics. They have to earn two third of votes in two third of the states, not only in the northern states or with northern politicians. 

You were notably neutral as ACF chairman; you tried not to allow politics to come into the Forum.  Did you really succeed?

I think we succeeded because we were preparing the atmosphere for a free choice, a display as far as it was possible within the democratic contest. 

When we started moving around to our leaders, we didn’t go empty handed. We told them to play their strategies, but this was what we wanted. We told them that we wanted education in the forefront and dam in Taraba, which had been on the drawing board since the First Republic, and other essentials we considered strategic development in the interest of the North. In that small pamphlet we had given them some statistics. And foreseeing the possibilities of real crisis, particularly in education and the children, we did not make political choices; we gave them strategic developmental choices and priorities for the North in the context of Nigeria. 

From your experience in the ACF, is it possible to really unite the North, which is inherently very diverse?

I don’t think the intent was to have one northern agenda. That is why we say that to manage our diversity, answers must be given to the problems we have—imbalance, equity and justice— to the different components. The intention has never been that we would evolve a common northern culture, people or political system, but to respect those diversities as we move on. But we know that if we are not patient to promote such policies, then we are not working for an equitable participation within the Nigerian states. 

What do you make of the agitations of today? Things are heating up towards the 2023 elections. There are demands that the country should be restructured, there should be zoning and rotation of the presidential seat. Are you worried about what you see going on in the country you fought for when you were young? 

Yes, I am worried about the fate of the youth. What is happening is very saddening. 

What should we do?

What is to be done is to stay on the track of democracy, dialogue to reach agreement; and for people to sincerely carry out their duties in good faith. 

Are there specific steps you think the current government can take to bring down tension and divisions?

The current government has to face laid down constitution processes. They have to strengthen the institutions to carry out their functions.

It is disheartening that the law is not applied equally to all. Political games are played to waste other people’s lives. 

Can you give an example of one of the incidents you are worried about? 

Kanu is an example. Leaders are asking that he should be released without trial; hence subverting the constitutional provision of the rule of law. 

Are you surprised that the president said he would look into their request? What does it mean? 

Well, he is the president. He is a politician. I will only warn that if the right things are not done, we will go back to the experiences we had in 1966, which led to civil war and loss of lives, as well as wastage of economic power. It is actually disappointing. 

The amnesty strategy started with the Niger Delta, but it is a wrong prescription, and we can’t continue with that because other people will ask for more and more. 

These agitations have continued to arise because the government lacks either the authority or proper use of the big stick of the law to rally people around the essentials of growing and developing a nation-state. 

And the reason the wrong prescriptions are made is because the leadership has been blamed.  They are probably shortsighted in how to fortify their position, which they perhaps believe they don’t merit, so they give up to anybody without really exercising their powers and the principles that should guide them. 

Retired generals like you are being called upon by the government to advise or help in the security situation bedeviling the country … 

I think the retired generals, air marshals and admirals are available if they are called upon, depending on the assignment they are given. But there’s always this lip service that they are in the reserve. We have no reserve engagement. If you call the officers today they would not know where to go. There is no institutional channel. So they are all in the same group poisoning the possibility of growing a healthy Nigeria. 

Would you like to talk about your family? 

Those pictures are of my wife and daughters. I am a polygamous Islamic man. I have produced children here and there. We are still a family even though we cannot accommodate ourselves in one place. But those pictures you see there are those who are around on my 70th birthday. 

You are now 81 and still strong. I think everybody knows you golf, do you think golfing has anything to do with keeping you going? 

Well, not golf per say. It is just one of the options. But you are advised to keep doing exercises, such as walking, riding a bicycle and horses.

Which ones do you do?

I have slowed down on playing golf because of the COVID-19 pandemic. In my younger days I played tennis, squash and so on. And they say that as you get older you get smaller, so I now play my golf. The best thing for retired people, if it is possible, is actually to farm. You can walk, play tennis or swim, all at your pace. 

But you don’t farm now. What are your hobbies? 

I have a farmland but I don’t farm; I don’t even garden. I think I have stressed my senses and body already. You know what it is to be a soldier at 14 and still be alive – you have run, jumped and climbed; and you have been shot at. 

So how do you spend your typical day at 81? 

I watch what you people do on television and know what is going on all over the world. 

Are there restrictions on your diet? 

Yes, because I was diagnosed of type 2 diabetes. It weakens me and affects my ability to stretch my energy. One of my most enjoyed time now is the opportunity to watch television. I also walk the stairs and down; and that’s good. Fasting and praying and good for the inside, but we don’t see it.

We have just introduced another television channel for you to add to your viewing pleasure. We wish you long life and happiness with your family, as well as service to the country.