Tough Soldier Leads Nigeria

Press, Volume CV, Issue 30961, 18 January 1966, Page 12

Tough Soldier Leads Nigeria

(N.Z. Press Association—Copyright) LONDON, January 17. The man who will try to bring back peace to Nigeria was trained in the British tradition that soldiers do not meddle in politics.

Once order is restored to Nigeria’s 55 million people, the Chief of the Army, Major-General Aguiyi Ironsi, can be expected to step aside for the politicians. A tough, no-nonsense soldier who made his name in the chaos of the Congo, General Ironsi was a private in the British Army’s West African Regiment during the Second World War.

He commands an army of 8000 men who behinc. his back call him “B'g J >hnny Ironsides.” General Ironsi went to the Congo as a major with the United Nations force. He rose to command the entire force and returned to Nigeria a hero.

A year ago he became the first Nigerian to command the Nigerian Army, previously commanded by wh..e officers from Britain. Has Courage

He is a big man, well over 6ft, and has the courage to match his frame. Once in Leopoldville he routed a Congolese mob by beating the leaders with his swagger stick and roaring “Be off with you.”

The mob didn’t understand a word of English—but they got the message.

Less spectacularly, General Ironsi in the Congo won a reputation as a sound administrator.

He once summed up his military philosophy this way: “If you are a good soldier, you take no nonsense from anyone, white or black. Set your sights, be sure of your purpose, get on with it.” General Ironsi was born in the jungles of Eastern Nigeria and had his first schooling at a Roman Catholic mission. When Nigeria neared independence he was singled out for promotion and brought to Britain for officer training. For a while he was military' attache at the Nigerian Diplomatic Mission in London. This job brought him into frequent contact with the Queen, who appointed him an equerry for her State visit to Nigeria in 1956.