Dodan Barracks is a
military barracks
Barracks are usually a group of long buildings built to house military personnel or laborers. The English word originates from the 17th century via French and Italian from an old Spanish word "barraca" ("soldier's tent"), but today barracks are u ...
located in
Ikoyi
Ikoyi is the most affluent neighborhood of Lagos, located in Eti-Osa Local Government Area. It lies to the northeast of Obalende and adjoins Lagos Island to the west, and at the edge of the Lagos Lagoon. Popular with the extreme upper class res ...
,
Lagos
Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the List of cities in Africa by population, second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national ca ...
,
Nigeria
Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...
. The barrack was the Supreme Military Headquarters during the
Nigerian Civil War
The Nigerian Civil War (6 July 1967 – 15 January 1970), also known as the Nigerian–Biafran War or the Biafran War, was a civil war fought between Nigeria and the Republic of Biafra, a secessionist state which had declared its independence f ...
and from
1966 to 1979 and
1983 to 1985. Dodan Barracks was the
official residence
An official residence is the House, residence of a head of state, head of government, governor, Clergy, religious leader, leaders of international organizations, or other senior figure. It may be the same place where they conduct their work-relate ...
of the
military heads of state of the
Nigerian military juntas of 1966–79 and 1983–99
The military dictatorship in Nigeria was a period when members of the Nigerian Armed Forces held power in Nigeria from 1966 to 1999 with an interregnum from 1979 to 1983. The military was able to rise to power often with the tacit support of t ...
, and also the Supreme Military Headquarters from 1966 until the move to
Abuja
Abuja () is the capital and eighth most populous city of Nigeria. Situated at the centre of the country within the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), it is a planned city built mainly in the 1980s based on a master plan by International Plann ...
in 1991.
Name
The name "Dodan" originated from the site of a battle fought during the
Burma campaign of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
by the
82nd West African Division
The 82nd (West African) Division was formed under British control during the Second World War. It took part in the later stages of the Burma Campaign and was disbanded in Burma between May and September 1946.
History
Formation
The inspirat ...
.
Military headquarters
Dodan Barracks was one of the bases of a group of
Nigerian Army
The Nigerian Army (NA) is the land force of the Nigerian Armed Forces. It is governed by the Nigerian Army Council (NAC). The Chief of Army Staff is the highest ranking military officer of the Nigerian Army.
History Formation
The Nigerian ...
majors who overthrew the First Nigerian Republic in
January 1966. The coup was suppressed by the army, whose commander, Major General
Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi
Johnson Thomas Umunnakwe Aguiyi-Ironsi (3 March 1924 – 29 July 1966) was the first military head of state of Nigeria. He seized power during the ensuing chaos after the 15 January 1966 military coup, which decapitated the country's leaders ...
, then became head of state. In July 1966, Dodan Barracks became the seat of power in Nigeria after a
counter-coup in which Ironsi was killed and his chief of staff, General
Yakubu Gowon
Yakubu Dan-Yumma 'Jack' Gowon (born 19 October 1934) is a retired Nigerian Army general and military leader. As Head of State of Nigeria, Gowon presided over a controversial Nigerian Civil War and delivered the famous "no victor, no vanquishe ...
was made head of state, moving into the Federal Guard officer's mess. The Barracks was the location where Gowon received the formal
Biafra
Biafra, officially the Republic of Biafra, was a partially recognised secessionist state in West Africa that declared independence from Nigeria and existed from 1967 until 1970. Its territory consisted of the predominantly Igbo-populated form ...
n surrender at the end of the
Nigerian Civil War
The Nigerian Civil War (6 July 1967 – 15 January 1970), also known as the Nigerian–Biafran War or the Biafran War, was a civil war fought between Nigeria and the Republic of Biafra, a secessionist state which had declared its independence f ...
in January 1970. Subsequent rulers kept their base at the barracks for the next quarter of a century.
Gowon was overthrown in a
July 1975 coup, succeeded by General
Murtala Mohammed
Murtala Ramat Muhammad (8 November 1938 – 13 February 1976) was a Nigerian general who led the 1966 Nigerian counter-coup in overthrowing the Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi military regime and featured prominently during the Nigerian Civil War ...
. In
an attempted coup in February 1976, Murtala was killed when his convoy was ambushed. Obasanjo moved into the barracks for security reasons.
[
In 1977, troops invaded the compound of the influential musician Fela Kuti, called the father of ]Afrobeat
Afrobeat is a Nigerian music genre that involves the combination of West African musical styles (such as traditional Yoruba music and highlife) and American funk, jazz, and soul influences, with a focus on chanted vocals, complex intersectin ...
, who was critical of the military regime. They beat up the men, raped the women and threw Fela into detention. His 78-year-old mother died later of injuries from being thrown from a second story window. On his release, he recorded an album titled ''Coffin For Head of State''. Fela and his supporters marched his mother's empty coffin to Dodan Barracks and left it there to shame Obasanjo. The Dodan Barracks was the location for a meeting in April 1978 between US President Jimmy Carter
James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he previously served as th ...
and Olusegun Obasanjo.
In the successful December 1983 coup, when General Muhammadu Buhari
Muhammadu Buhari (born 17 December 1942) is a Nigerian politician and current president of Nigeria since 2015.
Buhari is a retired Nigerian Army major general who served as the country's military head of state from 31 December 1983 to 27 Au ...
seized power from President Shehu Shagari
Shehu Usman Aliyu Shagari (25 February 1925 – 28 December 2018), titled Turakin Sokoto from 1962, was the first democratically elected President of Nigeria, after the transfer of power by military head of state General Olusegun Obasanjo in ...
, the troops in the barracks initially resisted, only to yield the day after. A palace coup in August 1985 orchestrated by General Ibrahim Babangida
Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (born 17 August, 1941) is a retired Nigerian Army general and politician. He served as military president of Nigeria from 1985 until his resignation in 1993. He rose through the ranks to serve from 1984 to 1985 as Ch ...
, seized power from under Buhari. In January 1986, a Special Military Tribunal was established to try suspects accused of plotting to overthrow General Babangida. The tribunal conducted the trial at the Dodan Barracks, finding 17 of the defendants guilty of treason.
Dodan Barracks was one of the key locations seized in the April 1990 coup attempt by Major Gideon Orkar Major Gideon Gwaza Orkar (October 4, 1952 - July 27, 1990) was a Nigerian military officer who staged a violent coup against the government of General Ibrahim Babangida on April 22, 1990. Orkar and his conspirators seized the FRCN radio station, v ...
against General Ibrahim Babangida. Babangida was resident when the barracks were attacked, but escaped by a back route. The guards thwarted the coup attempt, losing five members in defence of Dodan Barracks. Babangida's wife, Maryam, who was also present with her children at the time of the coup attempt, recalled that when she moved into the barracks in 1985 she had to arrange for considerable renovations to make the rooms more suitable for formal receptions.
Civilian rule
After the move of army headquarters to Abuja in 1991, and the resumption of civilian power in 1999, funding for maintenance of the barracks was greatly reduced. By late 2003 the grounds were dirty and unkempt, sewage was leaking from broken pipes, the walls of some buildings were cracked and most were abandoned.
In 2004 the then civilian President Olusegun Obasanjo
Chief Olusegun Matthew Okikiola Ogunboye Aremu Obasanjo, , ( ; yo, Olúṣẹ́gun Ọbásanjọ́ ; born 5 March 1937) is a Nigerian political and military leader who served as Nigeria's head of state from 1976 to 1979 and later as its pres ...
- as a gesture of a departure from past military dictatorship finally ordered Dodan Barracks and all other military barracks not in use across the country be handed over to the country's Police Force.
In August 2006, the Lagos Environment and Sanitation Network identified a heavily polluted drainage channel in the Obalende mammy market, behind the State House and Dodan Barracks. An August 2007 analysis found the water was heavily contaminated with faecal material. People living and working in the market, Dodan Barracks and the State House were at risk from diseases such as typhoid fever, diarrhoea, dysentery and cholera. In January 2009, it was reported that President Umaru Yar'Adua
Umaru Musa Yar'Adua (16 August 19515 May 2010) was a Nigerian politician who, was the President of Nigeria from 2007 to 2010. He was declared the winner of the Nigerian presidential election held on 21 April 2007, and was sworn in on 29 May 20 ...
would spend part of his vacation at the barracks.
References
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Barracks in Nigeria
Residential buildings in Lagos