A former Director-General of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Col. Peter Obasa (retd), has attributed the current insecurity and other national challenges to dishonesty, hypocrisy and past crimes against innocent individuals.
The ex-NYSC chief described his dismissal from the Army in the 1980s as illegal.
He urged President Muhammadu Buhari to revisit his retirement with a view to restoring his military honour and compensation.
Obasa spoke in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, during the launch of his book, titled: House of Exile.
The octogenarian said he had allegedly been constrained to live in stigma for 35 years.
The 81-year-old retired soldier, who served was NYSC DG between 1979 and 1984, said he had received no letter of dismissal from the Army to inform him of non-payment of his entitlement, 35 years after he was compulsorily retired by the military.
He described his trial by the Supreme Military Council (SMC), headed by General Muhammadu Buhari, as an illegality of 1984.
According to him, the SMC promulgated decrees that had a retroactive effect.
Obasa said: “The tribunal declared that I worked like an angel for three years. I would not dare compare myself with an angel, but the tribunal saw angelic qualities in me for three continuous years. The tribunal declared that in the fourth year, I mysteriously – note the word – changed course to accepting kickbacks. The tribunal chairman read their findings so the records should be available somewhere.”
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“They convicted me on mysterious elements. They framed me up, using a multiplicity of falsified documents, lies and false witnesses presented into testifying against me. They literally bound my hands and feet, gagged me and prevented me from defending myself. I was not even allowed to testify in my own defence. I was made dumb for as long as the trial lasted. I regained my liberty to speak at the end of the trial when everything had been tidied up and a pronouncement of guilty had been made. It was that bad. The tribunal agreed with me that, indeed, there were elements of mystery in my case.”
The House of Exile is a narrative about the author, who details his experience from July 1984 to late 1991, insisting that the truth shall prevail.
The book examines national issues and suggests the solutions to several matters that create injuries, most which the author says are self-inflicted.
Obasa noted that Nigerians should play their game in a demonstrably honest was.
The tribunals of 1984, according to him, were illegal structures erected on illegal foundations.
“From whatever angle you survey them, they were the heights of injustice. The book has a powerful spiritual base. It is hoped that Nigerians of all creed will find it interesting,” he said.
The book reviewer, Segun Bayode, represented by Prof A. D. Olutoba, said: “For history to maintain its aura of sanctity, it must be preserved. But unfortunately, history can also be distorted. When this happens, it is a total disservice to humanity.
“For this reason, the author of House of Exile wants to set the record straight by giving a vivid account of what led to his arrest in 1984 and the turn of events that followed up to late 1991. It is noteworthy to say that up until now, only the military tribunal’s side of the story was being circulated in the media.
“Narrating the encounter during trial by the tribunal, there were false accusations supported by false witnesses just to indict the author. Unfortunately for the tribunal, its implementation didn’t work according to plan. But the tribunal still went ahead to apply veto power in getting him incarcerated.
“The author is a lettered individual with a knack for continuous improvement. This he brought to bear in all the places he had worked. Being the kind of person he is, his period of incarceration was also a productive time; he was able to closely monitor and examine state of the nation as well as proffer possible solutions. Some of the solutions are well illustrated in the book.
“For the students of economics, it will be interesting to know that the author reeled out loads of economic data, supported by mind-boggling comparative analysis of the impact on state of the economy. His analysis is not complete without proffering simple, easy-to-implement solutions.
“One of the stories I found intriguing in this book is the profile of the late Sultan Abubakar Sadiq III, who passed on in 1988. I never knew this story until I read this book, and it is amazing to know that the Sultan was a man of impeccable dignity and a father of the nation. Although he did not occupy a visible political position in Nigeria, his de facto political influence was considerable: throughout his life, he worked towards the promotion of Nigeria’s unity.
“What caught my attention the most is the seamless fusion of spirituality into the whole experience. The author exhibits deep understanding of the Bible and Qur’an. His ability to reference the two holy books makes him uncanny.”
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