Colonel Ibrahim Adetunji Taiwo (c.1940—1976), born in Wushishi, present day Niger State, was a Military Governor of Kwara State from July 1975 to February 1976 during the military regime of General Murtala Mohammed.
He was from Ogbomoso in Oyo State. Ditto Colonel Shittu Alao. Both were raised in the North. Taiwo was two years ahead of IBB, Abdulsalaam Abubakar, Nasko, Magoro, Vatsa, Sani Bello, Garba Duba and Sani Sami whilst they were in high school at Bida.
Col. Ibrahim Taiwo assisted in establishment of the University of Ilorin, which was founded by decree in August, 1975.
Taiwo joined the Army on April 21, 1961. Some of his coursemates were Inua Wushishi, Domkat Bali and Emma Nwobosi.
Col. Ibrahim Taiwo
During the Nigerian Civil War, as a Major, Taiwo was one of the key figures in the Asaba massacre of October 7, 1967. He also played a central role in the coup that ousted Yakubu Gowon and brought Murtala Mohammed to power, under cover of his Supply and Transport duties in the army, working closely with Lt. Col. Muhammadu Buhari.
Colonel Ibrahim Taiwo was murdered on Friday, February 13, 1976 firing a failed coup in which the then Head of State General Murtala Mohammed was also killed.
The Ibrahim Taiwo Road in Ilorin,Kano is named after him, as other monuments and places across Nigeria.
Col. Ahmed Taiwo says:” To me there is nothing in life that is worth mortgaging ones soul for”
He grew up in the North and was known as Ibrahim Kagara. His parents, Adeosun and Emily, were Christians and named one of their sons Sunday. Taiwo would later marry Olubunmi and Margaret Alamere who gave him five children. Many of the kids came after the genocide.
According to Vanguard, Taiwo was murdered by some of the soldiers who were on his side in 1967. On February 13, 1976, Major Kephas Ken Gagara ordered Lt. Obadaih Zagni of the Defence Company, 26 Infantry Brigade, Ilorin to go grab the Kwara State governor. Accompanied by Lt. Sunday Wayah, the young subaltern carried out instructions, abducted their target, took him to a bush in Amberi on the Ajase-Ipo/Offa Road and ordered Sergeants Ahmadu Rege and Bala Javan to fire.
His son, Ahmed, is a serving Brigadier General of the Nigerian Army and was aged only 6 when the father was assassinated in the botched 13 February 1976 coup bid.
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