Remembering Mrs Victoria Aguiyi ironsi 💔 Victoria Aguiyi-Ironsi (1923–2021) Nigeria’s first military First Lady held the role for just six months, January to July 1966. Victoria was Born in 1923 in Umuahia,Abia state.in 1953,she mārrîéd a young army officer, Johnson Thomas Umunnakwe Aguiyi-Ironsi, By 1965, he had risen to become the Nigerian Ârmy’s top commander. On 16 January 1966, after Nigeria’s first cōüp toppled the civilíân gôvernmëñt, he assumed power as Hëad of Stãte. With that, Victoria became First Lady. Her time in the role was brîef and mostly ceremonial. But it coincided with one of Nigeria’s most türbülënt moments — the cöllâpse of the First Repûblic, the introduction of military rule, and growing regional tensions. On 29 July 1966, a coûñter-cöûp claimed the livës of Major General Aguiyi-Ironsi and Colonel Adekunle Fajuyi in Ibadan. Widōwed at 42, Victoria witnessed the viôlëñçë that paved the way for dëçāde of mîlitáry göverñmëñts and, soon after, the Nigerian Cîvil Wâr (1967–1970). She néver returned to public lifè, instead raising her eight children through years of upheaval. Her widowhööd lasted 55 years, across both mîlitáry and civilíân eras. Victoria Aguiyi-Ironsi dîëd on 23 August 2021, aged 97. Her life remains a reminder that behind Nigeria’s political history are families and individuals who bore its deepëst cõsts. #fblifestyle