Memoir of Mixed Blessings

Description

The memoirs of Theophilus Oluwole Akindele tell the story of a man whose life took many interesting twists and turns to bring him to the pinnacle of the telecommunication industry in Nigeria. …he joined the Colonial Civil Service as a principal telecommunications engineer in charge of the Lagos territory. He rose through the ranks to become Director-General of Communications. Akindele’s account of key events in the political history of Nigeria, being close friends with Ademulegun, Ironsi, and Ogundipe in particular, bring new insights to the turbulent events of the first republic and the subsequent military regimes (Aguyi-Ironsi, Gowon and Murtala Mohammed’s). His role in telecommunication during the civil war gives us fresh insight into important events of that period. Most interesting, however, was the battle of wills that occurred, when he was pitted against Murtala Mohammed, over the signing of the ITT/Radio Corporation of Nigeria contract. This saga eventually cost him his job and could be said to be one of the factors that precipitated the coup of 1976.