Mamman Jiya Vatsa
Major General Mamman Jiya Vatsa
OFR (3 December 1940 – 5 March 1986) was a senior Nigerian Army officer and writer who was executed by the government of
Major General Ibrahim Babangida on 5 March 1986 following a military tribunal conviction
for treason associated with an abortive coup. He served as Minister of the
Federal Capital Abuja,
and was a member of the Supreme
Military Council.
Early life and education
Vatsa was childhood friends with Ibrahim Babangida and both men were peers who attended the same educational
institutions. Like Babangida, Vatsa attended the Provincial Secondary School, Bida
from 1957 to 1962 and started his career with the Nigerian Army by enrolling in the Nigerian Military Training College
(NMTC) on 10 December 1962.[1]
Military career
Since the NMTC was not yet an
officer candidate commissioning institution (it would later become one in 1964
when it was upgraded and renamed Nigerian Defence
Academy, the Nigerian government sent NMTC
cadets who had completed their preparatory cadet training to foreign military
academies for officer training and commissioning.[2] After
graduating from the Indian Military
Academy, Dehradun,
Vatsa was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Nigerian Army[1]
Vatsa commanded the 21 battalion
during the Nigerian Civil War and wrote academic articles about the operational aspects
of certain battles.[3] In 1970, Vatsa was an instructor at the
Nigerian Defence Academy, before being posted as a Principal Staff Officer at
Army Headquarters. Subsequently, he commanded the 30 Infantry Brigade (Ogoja)
until July 1975, 13 Infantry Brigade (Calabar) until February 1976, and the
Brigade of Guards until 1979.[3] It was during his tenure that the
HQ of the Brigade of Guards was moved from Dodan Barracks to its Kofo Abayomi
location in Victoria Island before transfer to Abuja.[3] Vatsa
subsequently served as Commandant of the Nigerian Army School of Infantry
(NASI) from late 1979. He, along with Lt. Col Bitiyong developed the Special
Warfare Wing and established the doctrinal basis for the establishment of the
82nd Composite Division of the Nigerian Army in Enugu. Vatsa was instrumental
in naming the Division "82nd Div" after the 82nd West African
Division in Burma.[3] During the latter part of President Shehu Shagari's government, Vatsa was appointed Quarter-Master General
(QMG), the post he held as of the time of the coup of December 1983. He was on
leave during the Buhari coup against Shagari and did not take part. During the
27 August 1985 Babangida take-over, General Vatsa was in Mecca with Major
General Tunde Idiagbon on pilgrimage. As of the time of his arrest in December
1985 on suspicion of conspiracy to commit treason he was the Federal Minister
for the Federal Capital Territory. He was a member of the AFRC, Federal
Executive Council and occasionally, the National Council of States, the only
military officer, other than the C-in-C, to be a member of all three ruling
bodies.[3]
Participation in the Nigerian
Counter Coup of July 1966
Vatsa, then a Lieutenant with the
4th Battalion in Ibadan, was one of the many officers of northern Nigerian
origin, who staged (and were led by Lieutenant Colonel Murtala Muhammed in) what became known as the Nigerian
Counter-Coup of 1966 because of grievances[4] they
felt towards the administration of General Aguiyi Ironsi's government which
quelled the 15 January 1966 coup. Other participants in the coup included 2nd
Lieutenant Sanni Abacha, Lieutenant Muhammadu Buhari, Lieutenant Ibrahim Babangida, Lieutenant Ibrahim Bako, and Lieutenant Buka Suka Dimka among others.
Role in the abortive February 13,
1976 coup
Then Colonel Vatsa, Commander of 13
Infantry Brigade in Calabar,
took to the airwaves to oppose Lt. Col Buka Suka Dimka's 13 February 1976 coup. During the Dimka coup
investigation, Vatsa served as Secretary of the Court-Martial Tribunal.[3]
Role in the 1981 Cameroon border
incident
In 1981, when Cameroon soldiers shot
and killed five Nigerian soldiers in the disputed Bakassi
area, then Brigadier Vatsa was named the Commander of the Joint Military Task
Force during the massive border mobilization along the entire length of the
Nigeria-Cameroon border. Vatsa developed the operational plan of attack through
Garoua in northern Cameroon, which was approved in principle by the National
Defence Council, pending the outcome of diplomatic efforts to resolve the
crisis.[3]
Vatsa the poet and writer
Vatsa was also an accomplished poet
and writer, publishing eight poetry collections for adults and 11 for children,
with titles such as Back Again at Wargate (1982), Reach for the Skies (1984)
and Verses for Nigerian State Capitals (1973). His books are about ordinary
people's lives and simple creatures, including the pidgin
collection Tori for Geti Bow Leg (1981), his cultural picture book in Hausa, Bikin Suna, and a charming picture storybook entitled
Stinger the Scorpion (1979).
Vatsa was a facilitator and patron
of the arts in Nigeria, where he organized writing workshops for his fellow
soldiers and their children and got their works published. He helped the
Children's Literature Association of Nigeria with funds, built a Writers'
Village for the Association of
Nigerian Authors, and hosted their annual
conferences.
The Writers' Village finally became
a reality on the 24 January 2013, when the National Executive of the
Association, led by its president, Prof. Remi Raji, performed a groundbreaking ceremony at the site. The
Village has been named in Gen. Vatsa's honour.[5]
Selected bibliography
- Verses for Nigerian State Capitals (poetry), 1973.
- Stinger the Scorpion - 1979.
- Tori for Geti Bow Leg and Other Pidgin Poems (1981), Yaba, Lagos, Nigeria: Cross Continent Press, 1985; illus. Ade J. Adeyanju.
- Bikin Suna
- Back Again at Wargate (poetry) 1982.
- Reach for the Skies (poetry) 1984.
References
- Abejide, Olusegun. IBB – Smart But Foolish: THE FALL OF A GOLIATH. Trafford Publishing, 2011. p. 55. ISBN 9781426955938. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
- Ogbebor, Paul Osakpamwan. "The Nigerian Defence Academy – A Pioneer Cadet’s Memoir". Vanguard (Nigeria). Retrieved 11 August 2015.
- Omoigui, Nowa. "The Vatsa Conspiracy (Part 2) - Some Biosketches". Gamji. Archived from the original on 25 January 2015. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
- Siollun, Max. Oil, Politics and Violence: Nigeria's Military Coup Culture (1966 - 1976). Algora. p. 97. ISBN 9780875867090.
- "Authors inaugurate Mamman Vatsa village", The Nation, 25 January 2013. Izuchukwu Okeke, "Befi tting writers’ village for Mamman Vatsa", National Mirror, 20 February 2013.
External links
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