About the Author -- Preface -- Major Nigerian Languages -- Map of Nigeria, 1966, Four-Region Structure -- Map of Nigeria, 1967-1976, Twelve-State Structure -- Map of Nigeria, 1976-1987, Nineteen States -- Map of Nigeria, 1996-Present, Thirty-Six States -- Africa and Nigeria -- Chapter 1. The Pre-Coup Days: Politics and Crisis -- Independence -- Igbos -- Corruption -- 1964 Federal Elections -- The Wild West -- Chapter 2. The Nigerian Army: The Way Things Were -- Nigerianization -- The First GOC -- Maimalari -- Ademulegun -- Aguiyi-Ironsi -- Ogundipe -- The Army under Aguiyi-Ironsi -- Chapter 3. Soldiers and Politics -- These Bookish People -- The Inner Circle -- Method of Recruitment -- A Man Called Kaduna -- The Awolowo Factor -- Unheeded Warnings -- Chapter 4. Enter "The Five Majors" -- Towards the First Coup -- January 14 1966: Friday Night Party at Brigadier Maimalari's House, 11 Thompson Avenue, Lagos -- Saturday Morning, January 15, 1966: "Plenty Plenty Palaver" -- Events Overnight -- Kaduna - Northern Region -- Brigadier Ademulegun -- Colonel Shodeinde -- Strategic Locations -- Ibadan - Western Region -- Lagos - Federal Capital -- Strategic Locations -- Ikoyi Hotel -- Back to 11 Thompson Avenue: Brigadier Maimalari's House -- The GOC in Town -- 3:30 a.m. -- 2nd Battalion, Ikeja, Lagos -- Back to the Federal Guard Barracks - Lagos -- 2 Brigade Headquarters, Apapa - Lagos -- Back to Abeokuta - Western Region -- Enugu and Benin - Eastern Region and Mid-West Region -- Kano - Northern Region -- Back to Kaduna - Northern Region -- Chapter 5. From Civilian to Military Rule: History in the Making -- Reaction to the Coup -- Saturday January 15, 1966 -- 9-10 a.m., 2nd Battalion Headquarters, Ikeja - Lagos -- Police Headquarters, Moloney Street, Obalende - Lagos -- Midday -- Ademoyega and Anuforo on the Loose.

Saturday January 15-Sunday January 16, 1966 -- Sunday Evening, January 16, 1966, Cabinet Office - Lagos -- A New Political Order -- Thursday, January 20, 1966: A Grisly Discovery -- Friday January 21, 1966 -- Chapter 6. A New Type of Government -- Governing Organs of the Military Government -- Reaction to the new Regime -- Legal and Constitutional Basis of Military Rule -- Military Governance -- Unification Decree -- The May 1966 Riots -- Fear of an Igbo Planet -- Was Aguiyi-Ironsi an Accomplice? -- Provocation in the North -- Chapter 7. The Army Implodes -- 4th Battalion - Ibadan, Western Region -- Reshuffling the Pack -- Telling Tales -- May 1966 Army Promotions -- The January Detainees -- Between a Rock and a Hard Place -- Chapter 8. The July Rematch -- Plotting the Counter-Coup -- Abeokuta: The Catalyst -- Abeokuta Garrison, Western Region - Thursday Night, July 28, 1966 (Almost Midnight) -- Lagos, Overnight - Thursday July 28-Friday July 29, 1966 -- Federal Guard Barracks - Ikoyi, Lagos -- 2nd Battalion, Ikeja, Lagos -- Ibadan, Western Region - 4 a.m., Friday July 29, 1966 -- Ibadan, Western Region - 5 a.m. -- 8 a.m.- 9 a.m. -- 9 a.m. -- Back to Letmauck Barracks: 4th Battalion Headquarters, Ibadan - Western Region -- Back to Lagos - July 29, 1966 -- Kaduna, Northern Region -- 1 p.m. -- Late Night, Friday July 29 1966 - 3rd Battalion, Kawo-Kaduna, Northern Region -- Kano, 5th Battalion - Northern Region -- Enugu - 1st Battalion, Eastern Region -- Benin - Mid-West Region -- Chapter 9. Mutineers in Power -- Ogundipe in Distress -- Northern Secession: Araba -- A Three Day Debate in Lagos, July 29-31, 1966 -- The Role of Civil Servants -- August 1, 1966 - Good Old Jack -- Coup or Mutiny? -- Chapter 10. The Killing Continues -- Collapse of Discipline: The Inmates Take Over the Asylum -- The 4th Battalion Again -- The Role of Southern Soldiers.

Yoruba Soldiers -- Back to Kano - Northern Region -- September-October 1966 - Things Fall Apart -- Pogrom -- Chapter 11. Legacy of the 1966 Coups -- The "Five Majors"? -- Who Was The Leader? -- The Majors' Coup: An "Igbo Coup"? -- A UPGA Coup? -- The Majors' Objectives -- The "Classmate Syndrome" -- A Culture of Betrayal -- Long Lasting Effects Of The July Counter-Coup -- Chapter 12. Aburi: The "Sovereign National Conference" That Got Away -- The Road to Secession -- Between One Ambitious Man and the Rest of the Country -- The Reunion -- Coup Plotters: Ojukwu's Prophecy -- The Star of the Show -- The Constitutional Debate -- Chapter 13. Murtala Muhammed - Human Tempest -- The Early Days -- Confrontation in the Mid-West -- The Civil War Years -- Chapter 14. The Post War Years: Civil and Military Discontent -- Beyond Biafra: Forgiveness and Reconciliation - The African Lincoln -- The Curse of Oil -- Want in the Midst of Plenty -- The Military and Civil Society -- Chapter 15. Another Army Plot: Another Military Government -- Another Coup Plot -- The Brigadiers Approached -- July 28, 1975 -- Colonel Walbe's House -- Military Coups: Backing the Right Horse -- The New Leaders -- A No Nonsense Leader -- Murtala as Head of State -- Military Governors -- The Mass Purge -- Creation of States -- Foreign Affairs -- Abuja: A New Capital -- Budget Strains -- The Beginning of the End -- Chapter 16. Friday the 13th: The Watershed Coup of 1976 -- Defense Headquarters and Bonny Camp -- The Contribution of Babangida -- Babangida and Dimka at the Radio Station -- Firefight at the Radio Station -- Succession -- Diplomatic Rifts: Confrontation with the UK and the United States -- Fugitive -- Chapter 17. Crime and Punishment -- Anatomy of a Plot -- The Plot - The Government's Case -- Treason and Other Offenses (Special Military Tribunal) Decree 1976.

The Special Military Tribunal -- Dimka's Confessions -- Bisalla's Case -- The Verdict -- Executions -- Life After Murtala -- Murtala's Family -- The "Coup Widows" -- Appendix 1 -- Table 1: Nigerian Military High Command as of January 14, 1966. -- Nigerian Army Hierarchy, January 14, 1966 -- Table 2: Senior posts in Nigerian Ministry of Defense as of January 14, 1966. -- Table 3: Nigerian police hierarchy as of January 14, 1966. -- Table 4: Military Redeployments after January 15, 1966 Coup -- Nigerian Army Hierarchy, following post-January 1966 redeployments -- Table 5: Decimation of Military High Command after the Two Coups of 1966 -- Sample of Northern Participants in January 15, 1966 Coup -- Appendix 2. Speeches -- Speech of Major Nzeogwu - Declaration of Martial Law in Northern Nigeria, January 15, 1966 -- Major-General Aguiyi-Ironsi's Inaugural Speech as Head of State, January 16, 1966 -- President Azikiwe's Statement to the Press: Reaction to Nigeria's First Military Coup, January 1966 -- Inaugural Speech of Lt-Colonel Yakubu Gowon as Head of State, August 1, 1966 -- Inaugural Speech of Brigadier Murtala Muhammed as Head of State, July 30, 1976 -- Appendix 3. Casualties of the 1966 Coups -- Casualties of January 15, 1966 Coup -- Officers Killed During July/August 1966 Counter-Coup* -- Appendix 4. -- Table 1: Fate of January 15, 1966 Coup Participants -- Table 2: Fate of July 1966 Coup Participants -- Table 3: List of those Executed for Their Role in the Coup of February 13, 1976 -- Table 4: List of those Imprisoned for Their Role in the Coup of February 13, 1976 -- Appendix 5 -- Glossary -- Nigerian Military Officer Ranks (in order of decreasing seniority) -- Nigerian Military NCO Ranks (in order of decreasing seniority) -- Bibliography -- Books -- Other Publications -- Newspapers and Periodicals -- Official Memoranda and Publications.

Map of Nigeria, 1991-1996, Thirty States -- Index.