The Nation Newspaper

Category: Weekend Treat

  • Biafra did not surrender – Achuzia

    Biafra did not surrender – Achuzia

    Col. Joe Achuzia was one of the major figures that held Biafra together while the Nigerian Civil war lasted. He commanded almost all the major sectors in the Biafran Army and also ensured that discipline was enforced throughout the duration of the war. Before the war ended, he was in charge of operations in the whole enclave called Biafra. This position made it possible for him to begin the necessary overtures to end the war. While Ojukwu was away, he took over control of the forces and then made the appropriate contacts to bring the war to an end. In this interview with Edozie Udeze, he debunks some of the claims made by Gen. Alabi Isama and Gen. Alani Akinrinade in their recent interviews.

    Gen. Alabi Isama in his latest book on the war alleged that Mid-western officers were alienated. Is it really true that as the Commander-in-Chief of the Biafran Armed Forces, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, did not trust some of the Midwestern Igbo officers while the war lasted?

    It is not true. Why I say it is not true is that for Biafra to have lasted so long, it was as a result of the efforts of the Mid-western officers. This was because Biafra was really being hard pushed until the mid-west operation began.

    And the Midwest officers that were supposed to go across, Alabi-Isama was one of them. Even then my own journey into the mid west when Banjo crossed into Mid west, Alabi too was one of those that I contacted. But somewhere along the line, after our meeting, after we gave him some instructions to follow across, Alabi defected. And he didn’t come back. So, for him to say that Ojukwu didn’t like some Mid west officers couldn’t be true. This was so because it was the Mid-west officers, all the way to the lower ranks, that really held Murtala from crossing over the bridge thereby entering Biafra.

    This was when Murtala started his so-called operation to cross the Niger. It was mid western officers who fought and sustained the momentum. These were the 52 and 57 brigades that are also manned by the Mid west officers. It is unfortunate that many people from hindsight now after over 40 years of the war are writing books on the war. This is an after-thought after having read over other people’s works on the war, reading newspaper comments and other people’s statements and interviewing people. Now, they have got themselves in the position as being authority on the war.

    I wouldn’t take Alabi’s document as a serious one. The only aspect of his statement that really deserves comment and which shows his inability to appreciate the war situation and reporting it as it were, was his reporting what did not happen in his presence. He talked about the end of the war, mentioning the participants. He is not in the position to say what he said about the end of the war. He wasn’t there.

    The first person who was there was General Alani Akinrinade. Also Tomoye. Then Tomoye was not a substantive colonel. The command that reached Orlu was Tomoye’s command. And it was Tomoye’s officer that my men and in a night operation and captured them that made it possible for me to take the step I took by declaring that everybody should lay down their arms. Then I said we could be announcing it until I was able to bring Akinrinade into my headquarters. The narrative by Alabi shows ignorance of what happened that day. That’s what I can say about that. The only person that many a time I look at and say let sleeping dogs lie is General Akinrinade. This was because of his behaviour from the moment we met was officer-like.

    And he conducted himself in a way that endeared him to me that up till date, we are still friends. Alabi, however, was right in one thing that the war had already ended before General Obasanjo came into the picture. And he came on the scene after I allowed General Akinrinade to make a call to him. And he told him that if he didn’t come, he might stand to lose his officers who were under my control then. When Akinrinade came, he came with only a few soldiers. We met at Orlu, I didn’t go to Owerri to look for any of them.

    Now, we told Tomoye to phone him because Tomoye stood to lose all his officers and in Brigade they ventured into our territory near Orlu.

    We assured Tomoye that we had already started to take steps to bring the war to an end. His officers that were collected were already deposited near my office in Igbo-ukwu. As a result, it wasn’t proper for me to claim that I went to Owerri looking for who to surrender to. Surrender who or what to who? After all, it was in my house while discussing with Akinrinade that we decided that in that instance we were bringing the war to an end. There was indeed no winner, no vanquished. The war had deteriorated into a state of stalemate, whereby we were trading one bullet for another.

    By this time our men were crisis-crossing the war front because both the Nigerian soldiers and our soldiers were tired of the whole thing; the whole episode.

    Could you please elaborate more on the last days of the war?

    Let me also elaborate more on the events of the last days…

    I read in the internet Akinrinade’s rejoinder. So I asked for it to be printed out. Akinrinade is the last person I expected to sanction what Alabi-Isama wrote or said about the end of the war. Isama wasn’t there. Akinrinade was there. Tomoye was there. The rest were just junior officers. Those collected that night of 11th were junior officers and they were in charge of a battalion which made it possible for us to move. It was almost a disaster. We could have capitalised on it but we were on the quest to bring the war to an end. Hence, we detained them at the DMI office in Igbo-ukwu, got them to send a message to their commander, Tomoye. Tomoye replied that he would contact Owerri. The officer at Owerri tactical headquarters, Col. Oni who replied that Obasanjo said he would send his chief-of-staff, Akinrinade, to come and negotiate with us.

    That was how Akinrinade came to the scene. And we asked when would this be? He said that myself and himself should meet at Orlu. Hence, I left, heading to Orlu with my own escort, while he was coming with his own escort. We met at Orlu, greeted one another and I asked that he follows me to Igbo-ukwu. If it was a war situation and they had the advantage they would have arrested me and held me hostage. But we were already holding their men hostage. That was how we came to my home and I am glad that Alabi confirmed that because Akinrinade told him.

    So, I had to do what I did because I was in full control of the situation. There was no way Akinrinade could have reached me in a hostile manner. I was the one who would have shown hostility but my mission was to bring the war to an end.

    I would have handed over to Bisala. Bisala’s men were at Awka, which as you know, is closer to my headquarters. When we concluded no winner, no vanquished affair with Obasanjo, treachery came into it. While we were all celebrating at Owerri, Obasanjo came to me and said whether he could talk to General Effiong and I said yes. Anything? He said no, just to discuss for old time sake. And I said okay, you can go ahead with him.

    So, they went out to discuss. It was Col. Anwuna who called my attention and said why did you allow Effiong and Obasanjo to meet alone and I said well, they are old friends. He said no, you better intervene. Obasanjo said ah, I am not eating your officer; we were just talking about old times. But the damage had already been done. On our way back to Uga, because that was where we took off from, it was then that Effiong told me and the rest of the people that he had promised Obasanjo that we would be going to Lagos to see Gowon. I said no, you don’t play a record we didn’t participate in crafting. He said it was necessary that we senior officers go with him; that they would provide the flight so that we and Gowon could see, that he had the final say for them. I said okay if we must go, all of you must go and put on your uniforms. Then he turned around and told me he also promised him we should go in mufty. So, I said in that case, I will not go. That was why I wasn’t in the entourage that went to Lagos. He said that it was important that I should go; that he even mentioned the names of the officers to go. I said, I will not go, I will not leave my troops undefended.

    Col. Ogunewe, he was of the same stature with me, said please colonel you have done so much. Give me your French suit, we are of the same size.

    So, he went in my place and that was why he was part of the team. I escorted them all the way to Owerri with reinforced company of soldiers. When we got to Owerri, Obasanjo and his men, with Col. Oni took over. They left from Port Harcourt. Instead, as they left from Port Harcourt, I continued with my company of soldiers all the way to Port Harcourt. Akinrinade will attest to this.

    When we got to Port Harcourt, I reported to Col. Oluleye who was the war commander. We booked in at the Presidential Hotel with my men surrounding me. It was in the morning, they had gone to Lagos, finished and Obasanjo brought them back and I was quite sure Obasanjo was monitoring what was happening and had been told by Akinrinade that I was in Port Harcourt with my troops. So, he arrived early hours in the morning with Effiong and the rest and they left for Owerri. Then he sent Akinrinade to call me. He came to the hotel and told me that Obasanjo was back and wanted to see me.

    I went with my troops to Owerri and we met and greeted. So, he said to me, was there any need for me to come with my troops?. And I said no. it was necessary for me because it was the cream of my men that you collected. Then we saluted and they escorted me across the Imo River at Owerri Nta. From there, I proceeded back to my home. Now, is that the position of a defeated army? If they want us to tell the truth about what happened, we’ll tell the truth. But for a group of people trying to make it look as if Biafra looked like a lily-livered army or a rag-tag army, no. No rag-tag army at all could hold a well-equipped army like Nigerian army to ransom for three years.

    The only thing, I repeat, is that the ground strategy adopted by Biafra made it possible for Nigeria to remain till today.

    In the face of all this, how did you warm your way into Ojukwu’s heart to become his favourite among other officers from the Mid-west?

    I don’t know about being anybody’s favourite. All I know is that each time Ojukwu gave me order I obeyed it. That people consider me his favourite, well why should a commander-in-chief, have a favourite? All his officers were his favourites. For anybody to consider himself not to be a favourite of the commander-in-chief he must have been harbouring some disloyalty attitude in his mind towards the commander-in-chief.

    But was Alabi-Isama fighting on the side of Biafra initially?

    No! He was one of the Mid-west officers in Benin. He was in Benin at the beginning.

    Now, let us look at another issue. Is it really correct to assert that while the federal troops had prisoners of war, Biafran soldiers were busy killing indiscriminately?

    Let me ask you, when Nigeria claimed that they won the war, were there any exchange of prisoners of war? Because that would have been the situation. There wasn’t. By the time the matter got to Lagos to Gowon, the war had been over. It was more of war of attrition at a point and so as it was on the Federal side so it was on the Biafran side.

    But why did you call for an end to the war when you did?

    We did so because of the situation we found ourselves. Certain things were happening at the time which up till now we haven’t told our people. For instance, they said Ojukwu left because the war was closing in on him and the entire Biafra. That also is not true. We had several options then. One of the options was to break out of the Biafra enclave to cause confusion. But we had studiously maintained that we were not trying to create a civil war but we were still being attacked based on the perceived situation that brought about the pogrom.

    Good enough, it was the pogrom that chased people out of the North. And when our people left the North, the pogrom continued and this made it impossible for our people to find relief in the West. There was no other alternative than to say, ‘to your tents oh Israel.’ So, our people left and came home. And even when organising the military defensive activity we still had it in mind that we couldn’t abandon a country we helped to build.

    But we couldn’t in trying to maintain the status quo we helped to build allowed ourselves to be exterminated. No. Consequently, we retreated. By retreating, regrouping, we said we will not carry our military exploits beyond our shores. Otherwise, as it were, we had several options. Take a brigade and break into Nigeria and cause havoc. That would have made the war total, but instead under the counsel of our commander-in-chief and our elders, we maintained an operational balance.

    It was for us to defend ourselves within our soil so that nobody could accuse us of either precipitating the war or as they try to accuse us that the coup was tailored against the North, an Igbo coup. If such a coup that had a universal acclaim could later change into an Igbo coup, what then would have happened if we had carried the war right into the North. The possibility was there and we didn’t do that.

    But then when Igbo officers and men crossed into the West why were they not coordinated, allowing soldiers scatter into different directions?

    No! No!! You see the war,… Every war produces certain actions and reactions. When it became clear after the second division of Nigerian army crossed over and attacked Biafra, we already heard that they were going to use the Mid-west whom we thought was the buffer zone between us and them. But the rampaging Nigerian army did not honour that. We were not prepared to allow them because once they did, it meant that they had three-quarters of the totality of the land in Nigeria. And that would have been very difficult for us.

    We were also mindful of the fact that during the pogrom in the North, the majority of the soldiers as far as the North was concerned, Midwest was an Igbo land. It was in fact an afterthought when they tried to woo the Benins, the Urhobo’s and so on, forgetting that the Benins and Urhobos were some of those they killed during the pogrom.

    So, ranging them against us by pacifying them as they did when they created Cross-River and Rivers States, it was not done to appease the North. No. it was done to range them against the Igbo people by telling them that they were sufficient to be on their own as states. And that they should not be an appendage of the Igbos. They even forgot that we could have done the same by moving into the North, bringing the Middlebelt against the Fulanis.

    But we didn’t do that. So, that was what it was like.

    Okay, were all these part of the blunders that prolonged the war?

    Of course, yes. If we had played the game the way Nigeria played it, we would still be in the battle field today. But our people have a saying that the hen with so many chicks doesn’t know how to run in a battle situation.

    At what point did the Biafran high command begin to consider some of the officers as saboteurs and what did it take one to be so considered?

    In many war situations, the word sabotage is a constant and recurrent decimal. This is so because not all believe in the cause that brought about the war situation. People have different ideas and ideals. And some people, according to their belief, put themselves in the position where they were either the loyalists or considered anti-war efforts. This was what gave rise to the word saboteur. So it happens everywhere and it occurs everywhere.

    You have nicknamed the Air Raid. How did this name come about?

    Oh, no, no. I can’t continue to dwell on this.

    But you’ve not told it to us before?

    Okay, why I say so is that soldiers, especially in a conflict situation have the tendency for giving one name or the other to their officers, depending on the situation they find themselves. So, they did that when they wanted.

    You didn’t start out as a commissioned officer, but rose to be a force to reckon with. How did it happen?

    No, no. you see, people don’t seem to understand that soldiering is an art. Just like engineering or medicine, when a doctor is made to be so. You cannot just go into an operating room, pick up your instruments and begin to work, if you haven’t been trained. So also in a war situation. You cannot go into battle field and carry out all the norms necessary for an officer who had been trained over the years.

    A civilian cannot plan war and execute war. It requires a trained military officer to confuse and configure the situation and operate. That is why many a time people say what they like and I don’t care. It doesn’t affect people like me; I am not interested. The situation occured within the purview of my duty and I operated just to show what I was trained for. After that I retired into a civilian life.

    What really happened – did you actually kill Haliday, the owner of Silver Valley Hotel in the presence of his wife and daughter as alleged by General Alani Akinrinade?

    That’s a lie. You see, when the war ended, Nigerian officers didn’t know what to do about me. First, they couldn’t reach me. Every effort made to kill me did not succeed. Haliday was a friend. My house, before the war started, was a stone’s throw from Chief Haliday’s house. If such a thing happened, why was it only at the end of the war that we started hearing that I was the one that killed him?

    I commanded; I took over in Port Harcourt, when Port Harcourt was falling. And all that participated there will give testimony that I never picked a gun and shot him. I never picked my gun and shot at somebody. Why should I? I had soldiers who could do that. But instead, they tried to foist the death of Haliday on me. That exactly was what they’ve been saying; that I had been killing people indiscriminately while the war lasted. That also is not true. It took the way the war ended for most Biafrans to realise that it was really a lie that whenever I saw somebody I’d shoot. Shoot for what? For what purpose? And if that was the case, would I lay my life on the line to bring the war to an end? After all, the people who asked that the war be brought to an end are still alive. People like P.K. Nwokedi, a former justice of Enugu. Louis Mbanefo too. These were the people who came to my house and pleaded that I should try to stop the war.

    Normally, I would have called for their arrest, because they were members of Biafran Exco. They were party to the last meeting we held with Ojukwu to ask Ojukwu to go to the conference that was to hold in Monrovia, Liberia. That conference was engineered by Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe.

    It was this meeting that we arranged laboriously for where Ojukwu could stay so that there won’t be any sabotage against us. Hence, Felix Houphet- Boigny was one of those that recognised Biafran efforts. And the French were also partially assisting us.

    So, from Liberia, it was planned to move Ojukwu to Gabon and then to Ivory Coast. But we hadn’t settled down in Ivory Coast in readiness for the meeting when members of the EXco came requesting that I should bring the war to an end.

    How come then you were the man everybody wanted to see to end the war?

    I was the person in charge of operations. I was also visible. Yes, I was.

    Do you think because the Yoruba officers were the ones that saw to the end of the war, it has caused any friction between them and the Igbo people?

    No, because a day after my declaration, I started the announcement from 9a.m. Every 15 minutes, my broadcast was on. Sir Louis Mbanefo crafted the statement that we gave Philip Effiong to read. After it was read, it became necessary because in my broadcast, we said we had sent emissaries to various Nigerian military formations to inform them that we had decided to end the war.

    It is only people with authority who could do that. Any army on the run will not make such statement. So, we did it on a friendly basis. Today Akin is still my friend. We meet from time to time. He visits me here too. No, it has not caused any friction at all.

    Why was it possible for the Owerri battle front to be inclusive as it were?

    First and foremost, to take over Owerri was impossible. Owerri is the heartland of the Igbo nation. The heart land of our domain. Enugu is our foremost town which was prepared by the colonial masters as an administrative headquarters. Just as Lagos is to the West, even though Ibadan was the heartland of the Yoruba. So, also in the North, they have Kaduna State, which now they have Abuja, even though they have Sokoto, Maiduguiri and those other places.

    Nigeria is centered on a tripod, whichever way you push it, all that come to the surface are the Hausa nation, the Yoruba nation and the Igbo nation. Each of these nations has minorities. Today, all that people talk about are the minorities within the East, within the Igbo nation because of economic interest. If oil has not been the main source of income for the totality of Nigerians, nobody would care how the Ijaws, how the Itsekiris, the Ibibios, Kalabairis, the Efiks and so on, are faring. This is so because they’ve been in existence before the arrival of the Europeans.

  • My husband has other women maybe because I’m not good in bed

    I am a good cook and dress moderately, but i’m not good in bed. I have once told him to teach me any style he enjoys or to buy sex film we can see together. If my hubby is going to Oyo, he would tell me it is Ondo. Yes, he has many women. Deola, please tell me, is it right for me to fight any of the girls\women because there is this particular one I fought via SMS. He never appreciates me, my cooking or dressing. He never takes me out and the outings we attend together are his family parties not mine. He has never given any gift except the ones given to him which he doesn’t like or says it looks feminine. He never remembers my birthday. Please help me; I so much love my husband.  Please my sister, advise me now on what to do to make my marriage enjoyable.

    My dear sister, the most important of all you wrote is that you love your husband and you would really like to make your marriage enjoyable. God bless you. I haven’t met you, but speaking with you has given me a glimpse into your mind – the mind of a very good woman. I say God bless you again.

    I’m glad you know some of the areas where you may have missed it in your marriage. Good sex is very important, and most men will go out to seek for it if they think they cannot get it in the home front. The truth is that most men are polygamous in nature, so they rush out to other women under any excuse to seek for sweeter juices. Don’t worry, you won’t lose this marriage. You may wonder how I know. I’ll tell you. That he still tells you he’s going to Oyo when it’s Ondo means he still has respect for you and doesn’t want to hurt you with the blunt truth.

    During our telephone conversation, I told you that it was wrong of you to have contacted the other woman with abusive words. There’s no point fighting with a fellow woman over any man. You must play your part and leave the rest.

    Yes, it’s bad that he doesn’t remember your birthday. That can hurt. It’s bad that you don’t go out as couple and it’s unfair that he doesn’t appreciate your gifts. These are fundamental crisis in any marriage and I know how you must he aching. It’s okay. Since he still comes back home and you still talk and make love, all these would be addressed. I have promised you a personal session free of charge, so, we’ll go over all the grey arrears together and you will win back the love and bring back the smiles I’m sure you once had.

    Below are some tips from other people about how to make your marriage exciting:

    Telling it like it is: Whether it be married couples, or those in a long-term relationship with a significant other, it should be understood that happy and healthy relationships take a lot of work. The effort involved with deepening the connection between the couple can be enjoyed by both husband and wife (or significant other), thus developing a close intimate bond unlike any other.

    Begin each day with the question, “What can I do today to show my husband/wife how much I love him/her?”

    Grooming: You would be surprised how many people have mentioned basic grooming habits being a problem in their relationship. Brush or comb your hair, brush your teeth, take a bath or shower every day, put on some makeup, get rid of those old nasty sweats and put on an outfit that shows that you care about your appearance. You know that old, worn out “favorite” shirt you’ve been hanging onto for years? Get rid of it! There isn’t much that can diminish the romantic feelings between husband and wife than to see your spouse looking frumpy and disheveled.

    Ladies, put your hair up in a nice clip instead of a “scrunchy”, or take the time to curl your hair and make yourself look nice for your husband. Get rid of the granny panties and wear some underwear that is attractive and sexy for your man.

    Physical Touch: Begin each day by physically touching your spouse with hugs and kisses. Hold hands while sharing a cup of coffee or tea together; place your hand on your spouse’ leg while sitting together watching the morning news; gently caress your spouse’ face and say “You’re so beautiful, I love you”. Physical touch is very important in creating romantic atmosphere in the home, so when you arrive home from work be sure to hug and kiss your spouse, and continue physically touching each other throughout the evening.

    A common problem in many marriages is where there is virtually no physical touch throughout the day and evening, but as soon as the children are in bed and the couple retires to the bedroom, there is an expectation that hot, sizzling sex is going to miraculously heat up the bedroom. Not! Frequently offer foot massages, shoulder massages and full-body massages to your spouse.

    Listen: Pay close attention to subtle hints and comments about something your husband or wife wants to buy for themselves, and purchase it for them as a surprise. It doesn’t have to be anything expensive, but if your wife sees a purse she likes or a set of earrings she wants, make note of it and stop by the store and pick it up for her. If your husband mentions wanting a new tool for his toolbox, or mentions wanting a new gadget of some kind, take the time to go buy it for him as a “just because” gift. Pay close attention to clues for birthday, holiday or anniversary gift ideas, making a point to write them down so you won’t forget and end up struggling to find a gift your spouse really wants.

    Communication: Make time during the day to call or text message your husband or wife to let them know you are thinking about them. Don’t use that time to complain about the kids, or the in-laws, or bills piling up. Text message your husband or wife with a little naughty message in the middle of the day, with a teaser of what you have planned for the two of you once the kids are asleep in bed. Brag to your friends, family and co-workers about how lucky you are to have found such a wonderful, loving and supportive husband or wife. Talking in front of your spouse about your partner’s good qualities is romantic; notice the way your partner’s face lights up when you speak well of them to others.

    Couples often complain that they don’t have much time to really communicate with each other, not with taking care of the kids, holding down one or more jobs, doing household chores and paying bills. If your children don’t have a normal bedtime routine, make one. Putting the kids to bed at a reasonable hour gives parents time to unwind from their day at work or other family responsibilities, allowing couples the needed time to focus attention on each other and the marriage.

    Romantic Atmosphere: Make the home atmosphere as peaceful and romantic as possible. Turn off the TV. Make the dinner time meal with the family a peaceful and calm one, rather than using that time to complain and gripe about how the kids upset you, or how the “honey-do list” is still untouched. Keep a ready supply of scented candles to make the home smell nice, turn on some soft romantic music and dim the lights. (I sell scented candles and oils o).

    Keep the home clean, toys picked up and put away, so your husband/wife doesn’t come home and wonder what you’ve been doing all day.

    Sex, Sex, Sex Baby!: Make sex and romance fun in your marriage. Buy some naughty adult sex games to play when the kids are asleep. There are many intimate games for couples available to spice up your sex life, regardless of whether you are married or not. Christian couples want and need sex in their marriage too, and by the way…, Adam and Eve had SEX, and SEX for married couples is talked about in the Bible too!

    Create your own private collection of sex toys and change up the routine of when or where you have sex, because your sexual health and wellness depends on finding creative ways to spice up your marriage and your sex life! Have a playful pillow fight, chase each other around the bedroom (if there’s enough room), turn the game of Scrabble into a striptease game.

  • Happy Eid el Kabir to Alhaji Aliyu Abubakar and to you all!

    Phew… I actually just sucked in a big breath and then I exhaled. It’s been 29 long days… My days in the last one month were so packed that I had to keep telling myself to take it easy. Thank God, we’ve all come to the end of the fasting period. During the Ramadan period, I was visited by personal grief, but I was able to handle the sadness as I held on to God in prayer. Yes, I cried many times and I held my pillow at nights asking ‘why’. I found it difficult to handle the fact that the friend I shared so many happy memories with in London and a die-hard fan of the Hearts page, Bola Gbadebo Adegbenro would die of malaria fever; just like that! And to think she died with a much-awaited pregnancy a few hours after she had a plate of hot amala. My head was still spinning when the news came that Tunde Ogundoju, a charming boy that grew into a fine young man that grew before my eyes had been gunned down in front of his house in Surulere, Lagos. Oh God, I cried. Yes, I cried.

    Then Sallah came and God in his way of making us know that He is watching over us brought so much joy through Alhaji Aliyu Abubakar popularly known as AA Oil.

    I had been inundated with demands here and there from known and unknown people and as the fasting period was coming to an end, the demands mounted. I watched helplessly as men and women bowed down to the financial crunches being felt everywhere in Nigeria at the moment. I woke up every morning to telephone calls I couldn’t ignore, but ones which I had no words of hope to offer. I waited for a miracle to know where to go to. Then help came in the form of Alhaji AA.

    It was a chance meeting at my place of worship. I was with my resource person, Bashiru Oyinlola (Arabambi Abuja), and we were in a corner, talking about how I was going to meet all the needs before me. I said aloud that I felt like running away. A friend whose wife just abandoned their children on him in his joblessness had called earlier that he was thinking of suicide. A friend whose daughter was dying was crying out that I should help. An old classmate and a dear friend became partially blind due to an illness and she needed help for her hospital visits. Songs of agony rebounded from all around me, but there I was, unable to help even myself. I conveyed my pains to my companion that I felt like flying to an unknown place to hide from all the demands I was unable to meet.

    And like it happens in films, somebody had heard me and the message reached Alhaji Aliyu Abubakar, who, unknown to me was also at the place of worship at that period in time. There and then, the cries of most of those who had been crying turned to joy. My friend’s daughter is getting the treatment she deserves as I type this. My jobless friend has enough food for his two kids now and they’re having a good celebration. Even my driver, Amisu went home with joy to his pregnant wife. My blind friend is yet to get any help and as for me, I do not have more than the laughter on my face for the beautiful deeds this man has done through me to those I could reach.

    As I consider the giant and out-of-the-world structures Alhaji AA is erecting in Abuja, I cannot but see why some people are so blessed. It is because they bless other people.

    To those I’ve not been able to reach, I say Happy Sallah with a heart filled with love. And to you, Alhaji AA, I say Happy Eid el Kabir with appreciation!

  • The tycoon’s son (6)

    Lexie made his plans quietly and carefully to ensure the success of the ‘deal’. To him, there was no room for failure. It was a ‘do or die’ affair as he knew the implication of not succeeding. With the assistance of a banker friend, he was able to secure an offshore account where the money totally about four hundred million naira would be paid into. His travel documents were ready. All that was left was for his father to go abroad for his annual vacation and medical check up before making his move.

    There was only one hitch in the carefully laid out plans. His father wanted Selina to accompany him on the trip stating that he would miss her too much if they were separated.

    “That’s impossible. There’s no way you can go with him. It will spoil our plans,” Lexie protested when she informed him about his father’s request some days later.

    Selina nodded.

    “I know. But what can I do? He has already made all the travel arrangements. If I refuse to go with him, he might think I want to stay back in Nigeria because of another man. You know how jealous your dad can be,” she pointed out.

    “Don’t worry about it. I will think of something,” he said.

    Two days before Chief and Selina were to travel, he sat in his private sitting room and study going through some files. He wanted to put his business affairs in order before leaving. That way, he would not have to worry too much about work while he was away. The few weeks vacation he took yearly was the only time he had for himself, when he could get away from the hassles of running his large business empire which kept growing by the day.

    He removed his reading glasses, yawned and flexed his arms to loosen his shoulder muscles which felt stiff. Just then, Selina came into the room. She wore a short blue night-gown with a matching blue wrap wrapped round her shoulders to ward off the chill night air.

    “Ah! Chief! You are still working! Do you know what time it is? It’s nearly midnight! Leave the rest for tomorrow and come to bed!” she said. She went to the table, and closing the file he had been reading, took his arm.

    He stood up, then hugged and kissed her lightly on the lips. Then cupping her face in his hands said:

    “You are so caring. That’s one of the things I like about you…you are always concerned about me.”

    “I have to Chief. Your wellbeing is important to me. You work so hard. I don’t want anything bad to happen to you. Remember what the doctor said, that you need to reduce your workload, take things easy a bit because of your health…” she said.

    “I know, my dear. That’s why I want you with me on my vacation. I know you will help me unwind,” he said. Then noticing her outfit, he added: “You are looking very sweet tonight, Selly baby. Are you planning to keep me awake all night?” he asked teasingly.

    “No o! You need rest. I will sleep in my room tonight,” she stated.

    “Says who? We are going to my room. Come,” and holding her by the shoulder, they walked out of the study…

    The following morning, they were having breakfast when Selina’s mobile phone rang. Picking it up, she listened to the voice at the other end before exclaiming:

    “What? Papa? In the hospital? What happened?”

    Chief stopped eating when he saw the worried expression on her face.

    “What’s wrong, dear?” he enquired when the call ended.

    “That was my younger brother Osas. He said my father collapsed early this morning and is in a coma. He’s in the hospital right now,” she stated in a worried tone.

    “I’m sorry to hear that. I hope he will be alright,” Chief stated. He reached across the table and took her hand in his.

    “I pray so. He has been having these health problems lately…something to do with his heart,” Selina said. Then getting up announced:

    “Chief, I may have to go home and see how he’s doing. And also give my mother moral support. I know she will be so worried.”

    “Ok, dear. I will call David to book a flight for you and make other arrangements,” Chief said, getting up from his seat.

    About two hours later, Selina was ready to go to the airport to catch her flight to Benin where her parents lived.

    “Call me as soon as you arrive,” Chief told her. They were outside at the large courtyard of his home. They stood watching as one of his drivers who was taking her to the airport placed her small traveling bag in the boot of the sleek, black SUV that she used whenever she was in his house.

    “I will do that, Chief. Thanks for your concern,” Selina stated. She hugged him close and gave him a peck on the cheek before entering the car.

    She waved as they drove towards the gate of the large compound. As soon as they were on the main road outside the gates, Selina brought her cell phone from her bag and quickly sent a text message to Lexie.

    After the driver had dropped her at the departure lounge of the airport and left, Selina stood at the entrance and scanned the throng of travelers in the hall. She spied Lexie standing in a long queue of people waiting to buy tickets at the counter of a popular airline.

    He smiled when he saw her.

    “The plan worked. I told you not to worry,” he said as they made their way outside.

    “You are right. Chief believed the story and he even made all the arrangements for me to travel. He just wasted his money booking a flight I won’t take,” she stated with a wry grin.

    The truth was that there was nothing wrong with Selina’s father. He was neither sick nor in the hospital. It was Lexie who had called her during breakfast pretending to be her brother. It was all a ruse, a lie planned by Lexie so that Selina would not be able to travel with his father for his vacation.

    In the cab they took into town from the airport, they finalized their arrangements for the next few days which were crucial to their ‘project’.

    “You have to lie low until my dad leaves town. You are supposed to be in Benin so you must not be seen around town,” he told her.

    He had booked accommodation for her in a very secluded hotel where she would stay for a few days. Lexie left after dropping her off, promising to call her later in the day.

    Airport showdown

    “I’m sorry Chief. I was really looking forward to being with you on your vacation. But with the way things are…” Selina said. She had just told Chief on the phone about her father’s ‘condition’ which she said was critical. “Though he has regained consciousness, the doctor said, they need to observe him for sometime as his situation is still critical,” she added.

    Chief was sympathetic, telling her to ensure he was in a good hospital where he could get the best medical care.

    “Don’t worry about money. I will take care of all medical expenses,” he told her.

    It was later agreed that he would still proceed on his trip as planned while she could travel to join him later.

    “I promise to join you once my father’s condition stabilizes a bit,” she said before hanging up.

    “Alright dear. Love you,” said Chief.

    “Love you, too,” Selina responded.

    ‘Travel to join who? I will be far far away in a place where you can’t reach me in some days time. Yeye man!’ she stated with a smile after the call with her rich lover ended.

    The following day, Chief travelled out and Selina was able to move about freely. She went to her apartment and packed all her belongings. She got a safe place where she moved them to, leaving the few bags she would be traveling with out of the country with Lexie once their scheme had been concluded.

    Some days later, early in the morning, Lexie and Selina went to the bank and paid in one of the forged cheques from his father worth about N200m. He had earlier opened an account specially for that in one of the new generation banks.

    From there, they moved to another branch and paid in the second cheque. While Selina worried incessantly while they waited for the cheques to clear, Lexie was calm. He trusted the man who had forged the cheques, though he still prayed silently that all would go well.

    His prayers were answered for a few days later, the two cheques were cleared.

    “Wow! We did it! We are rich!” Lexie exclaimed. They were in her hotel room where she planned staying till they jetted out of the country in a few days.

    “Yes! The plan worked. Congrats for such a brilliant plan,” Selina enthused.

    She brought out some chilled bottles of wine and they sat toasting and drinking till very late, celebrating their success and making plans for their bright and happy future abroad…

    Lexie transferred the bulk of the money into his offshore account, while he paid the rest into another account. As he left the bank with the teller, he felt a sense of satisfaction, that he had at least done something worthwhile for his community, a place that had suffered so much through the greed of people like his own father and uncaring public officials and others.

    The itinerary for their trip included a stop-over in Dubai as Selina wanted to do some shopping. “I want a completely new wardrobe. A total make-over,” she had told Lexie. From there, they would leave for the Carribbean for a holiday before finally settling in Canada.

    Lexie looked forward to his new life with some excitement. The only downside was that he would be separated from his mother whom he loved so much.

    ‘Anyway, she can always come over for visits,’ he reassured himself. She was unaware of what he had done to his father as he knew she would not approve of such a dubious scheme.

    He had only told her he was traveling to London to see an old school mate who had invited him over.

    The day of their trip came and Selina and Lexie were at the airport on time for their flight. After checking in their luggage and going through passports control, they sat chatting while waiting for their flight. Later, Lexie went to the rest room, leaving Selina by herself.

    She was checking her phone when some one tapped her on her shoulder.

    Two men she had never seen before stood, looking grimly down at her.

    “Are you Miss Selina Daniels?” one of the men asked gruffly.

    “Who wants to know?” she retorted, looking at her watch. It was nearly time for their flight to be called.

    He reached into his breast pocket and brought out a card.

    “We are from the Police Headquarters. We have a warrant of arrest for you. You are under arrest for forgery, conspiracy, obtaining under false pretenses and other offenses…” the first man stated while his colleague brought out a pair of handcuffs.

    “What do you think you are doing? You must be mistaken! I’m not…” Selina began to protest while fellow passengers in the lounge looked on curiously. Just then, Lexie, unaware of the unfolding drama came out of the toilet. Seeing the police with his cohort, he tactfully withdrew and made his escape. As Selina was being led by the police into a waiting vehicle, he quickly left the airport and taking a cab disappeared into the city.

    Epilogue

    Chief cut short his holiday and returned to Nigeria a week after Selina’s arrest. Lexie, meanwhile had disappeared completely, leaving no trace behind. Chief was not bothered about his errant son. He would deal with him later whenever he showed up as he surely would one day. It was the conniving ‘snake’ as he now referred to Selina that he reserved all his wrath for.

    “After all I did for her, she could treat me this way. Gang up with my own son to dupe me!” he ranted when he heard about the scam. To think he was even planning on making her his wife! It was due to the vigilance of one of his accountants who had noticed the huge withdrawals from his personal accounts in his absence that had exposed the fraud. The security cameras at the bank had revealed the identities of the fraudsters.

    “Make sure she’s not released from that cell until I say so,” he told the police officer in charge of her case. The man nodded, thinking of the large envelope stuffed with Naira notes that Chief’s man had given him earlier. He would lock her up for life if that was what Chief wanted. Though that would be such a waste as she was such a beauty…

    Meanwhile, the people of Igen were in a joyous mood. An unknown benefactor had just donated over a hundred million naira to the community towards some developmental projects. Igen sorely needed the money as things were no longer the same after the discovery of oil in their land. None of the promises of the oil company to execute projects that would benefit the community were fulfilled. Worse still, their land was being despoiled by oil exploitation activities. Even their own son, Chief Agbah was rumored to be conniving with the oil company to defraud the community of royalties due to them. But the people were helpless, too weak to fight the oil giant and their other oppressors.

    They saw the donation as a godsend to ease their many years of suffering…

    •Concluded

    •What should Chief do to Selina and his fraudulent son, Lexie?

    •Send comments/suggestions to 08023201831(sms only) or psaduwa@yahoo.com

    •Names have been changed to protect the identities of the individuals in the story.

  • I know my bounds at home as a soldier’s wife —Olufunke Adekoya, SAN

    I know my bounds at home as a soldier’s wife —Olufunke Adekoya, SAN

    Mrs. Olufunke Adekoya is Head, Dispute Resolution Practice Group at AELEX, a firm of legal practitioners and arbitrators. She was appointed Notary Public in 1986 and elevated to the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) in 2001 (the fifth woman to be so elevated). She has been a member of the Body of Benchers since 1999 and was elevated to a life bencher in March 2007. In the field of arbitration, Mrs. Adekoya represents both local and transnational parties as counsel in both domestic and international arbitration proceedings within Nigeria and abroad, and has acted in numerous disputes as either-party appointed arbitrator, sole arbitrator and presiding arbitrator.  In this interview with Assistant Editor, LINUS OBOGO, the wife of Air Vice Marshal Oluwole Adekoya (rtd) speaks on the rise of women on the Bench, corruption in the judiciary, as well as the balance between her role as a lawyer and wife to a soldier. Excerpts:

    DOES coming from a family of lawyers mean anything special to you?

    My father was a lawyer, I am a lawyer and my daughter is also a lawyer. The one thing I could say I gained from having a father who was a lawyer is that I had to explain and give reasons for every demand that I made of my father. For instance, if I needed N100, I had to explain to him why and what I needed it for and how I was going to spend it. That was the kind of man my father was as a lawyer and a father. But if it was just any other man, he could say okay, here is the N100 or that he does not have exactly N100 and if I could manage N50.

    So, for my father, everything was in debate and in discussion. He taught me how to think logically and to be able to explain my actions at all times. There was no time I needed to go out and to return at say 8 pm or 9 pm, that my father would not insist on me explaining to him in detail why it had to be that time.

    As a lawyer married to an army officer, what was the atmosphere like in the house, given that in the military, there is this command and obey structure, or ‘obey before complaint’?

    As a lawyer married to a military officer, I knew and still know that I could only be a lawyer in the office and not in the house. Also, sometimes when there is a discussion between my husband and me, as a lawyer, what I usually say is ‘let’s reason it out, this is what I think should be done’. But as a military man, he will say ‘no, this is how I want it to be. I will say okay, you are the boss. So if it turns out the way I had earlier suggested, next time when such situation arises, he will remember and align with my position. But if he does not remember, we will do it his own way again until such a time that he realises that we may have to try my own point of view.

    Over a period of time, if I hold a view contrary to his, he will listen and engage my own view. There is the tendency for him to look at issues from the angle of the military, while I will like to consider the same issue from the position of law. That is how we have managed ourselves over the years; 35 years to be exact.

    What would you consider your most embarrassing moment as a lawyer?

    My most embarrassing moment was not exactly in court. It was in the office of my principal in Kaduna, where I started practising as a lawyer. We were the second set of youth corps members then. It happened that a male client walked into the office and demanded to see my principal. He was not only surprised to see a woman but one he actually regarded as a Nyarinya (young girl) as a lawyer. When I wanted to attend to him, he said ‘no, I want a lawyer’. He probably thought I was a secretary. Even when I told him I was a lawyer and that I was assigned to his case, he said no; that he wanted to see my boss who he thought was probably the only lawyer in the chambers. I went in to tell my boss that Alhaji did not want me and that he said he wanted a lawyer. Unfortunately for him, my boss led him out of his office with his file, and asked him not to come to his chambers any longer. He told him he was not handling his matter and that he could go elsewhere. The man started trembling.

    My boss told him that if I was the one handling his case and he did not respect me, it also meant he did not respect or have confidence in him (boss). Eventually, he allowed me. That, to me, was very embarrassing; for somebody to walk in and assume that because I was a woman, I was supposed to be a secretary and I could not be a lawyer, and he wanted to see a lawyer. Not even when I had told him I was a lawyer. He said ‘no, I want to see a lawyer, a man.’

    I went home that day and reflected on what being a woman was. For the first time, I was confronted with the issue of being a woman and actually came to terms with the gender issue for the first time. The assumption then was that as a woman, you could never be a lawyer.

    How do you relax?

    I read novels. And if I have the time, I go to parties and dance. That is just about it.

    If you were not a lawyer, what would you have been?

    If I was not a lawyer, I would have been in Nollywood as an actress. When I was in the university, Ife (OAU), to be precise, I used to be very active in the theatre. I was in the drama group, acting plays. We used to travel to Dakar, Senegal. During the holiday, I used to act in the now rested Village Headmaster. So, if I was not a lawyer, I would have been an actress.

    What would you consider as the most expensive piece of apparel in your closet?

    Honestly, I am not into fashion and so, I cannot see any expensive clothing in my wardrobe. What I have are just my office wears. I am not a style person. Rather, I am a functional dresser and I wear what I am comfortable in at any given time.

    What would you regard as your worst habit?

    What I will consider as my worst habit is perhaps the fact that I do not give much attention to myself. I am always busy doing one thing or the other for one person or the other without giving much attention to myself. I would not know if that is a habit. If it is, then, that may be my worst habit.

    With the elevation of a woman as head of the country’s apex court and with more promoted as justices of the Supreme Court, would you say the women are finally assuming their right of place, particularly in a sector dominated largely by men?

    Sincerely, I will say yes. The women are assuming their rightful place in the judiciary. Having said that, it is pertinent to point out that we have had women chief judges at the state level, in the northern, western and eastern part of the country. It is only at the Supreme Court that we are finally getting to the apex. Again, I will say that it is only a question of timing, because as we all know, from Justice Aloma Muktar’s CV, she has been in the profession a long time.

    However, I want to say that women in any career will also know that it takes a longer time to get to the height of their career than their male counterparts. This is because women have additional responsibilities as wives, mothers, other obligations and family commitments to take care of. So, while we are balancing all these various roles, one thing will take precedence at a particular time and another will take precedence at another time. Therefore, it generally takes a woman a little bit longer to rise to the top than it does take a man. And this is not any different in the legal profession.

    What, in your view, would you consider as challenges likely to constrain women, who have risen to the top from succeeding, whether in the judiciary or other sectors?

    Whether one succeeds or not, having climbed to the top has nothing to do with gender. Anybody who has risen to the top has the same responsibility to use the time to make a mark, to be different and stamp her own imprints on where he or she finds herself at that point in time.

    Maybe for Justice Aloma Mariam Muktar, I think because she happens to be the first woman to have risen to the position of Chief Justice of Nigeria, all eyes are on her. Also, given the state our judiciary has found itself at the time she assumed office, there will be a little bit more of the searchlight and the spotlight on her as people will expect her to be a magician and move mountains. But this may not be possible in the two years she has to be in office.

    But so far, she is doing her best and most people are quite happy with what she has been able to do. She has a two-year-tenure because she has to retire at 70 years.

    A lot of people would want to imagine that judges should be full of wisdom as they get older. Does it not amount to robbing the country of the wealth of experience and wisdom, when judges are statutorily stampeded into premature retirement at the age of 70 years?

    Absolutely! But while I wouldn’t link tenure to age because we have people who are well over 70 years and who are still very active. If I had my way, I would rather that at that level, it should be tenure than age. For instance, the late Justice Kayode Eso was well over 80 years, yet he was still very active at the arbitration community, even though he had retired from the Supreme Court. Conversely, we have people who are under 50s and 60s, yet they are already tired and finished. So, I would want to suggest that tenure should perhaps be reviewed to some renewable terms, in the same way that we have four years renewable term for the presidency. This is worth considering to have the chief judge of a state or the chief justice of the federation to have a four-year-tenure, during which if he or she fails to perform, he goes back to being part of the Bench and someone else takes over. But if you perform, your tenure should be renewed for as long as you are physically able to perform. I do not subscribe to the 65/70 years retirement age for our judges. If as a judge, you do not perform, you should rather return to the Bench, because leadership skills are not the same as the skills to judge or decide a case.

    Someone could be good at judging a case which makes him or her a good judge, but because by seniority you become the chief justice or the chief judge, if you do not have the administrative and leadership skills, you may not be able to lead. Apart from being a good judge, you need management skills as well. And if you cannot balance the two, in a situation where you have a good judge who is good at judging cases in leadership position, one of either will fall apart. The administration will suffer. So, if you cannot be the administrative head, you might as well go back to the Bench and someone else becomes the chief judge.

    There is this refrain that has gradually acquired a dated appeal, which is that ‘the judiciary is the last hope of the common man’. Today, the common man’s hope is irredeemably dashed, no thanks to obvious institutional corruption that has held the senior officers of the bench captive. Who, in your view will bell the cat?

    I must say that the Chief Justice is doing her best to face up to these issues. Additionally, the Bar also needs to face up to these issues. On our part, we are also trying to do something by setting up the anti-corruption committee. But on the whole, we really need to engage with the populace. Just like the SERVICOM, we can also have complaint boxes in the court rooms and court premises, where people can write and drop their complaints about corrupt legal officers. There can also be a website where people can send posts about legal officers demanding bribes to facilitate or obtain justice.

    Honestly, I think we are getting to a point where we must face up to the issues that confront us both as members of the Bar and the Bench. Hopefully, things will change if we continue like that. Obviously, the Bench is disciplining itself. Even in the profession, we have gotten to a point where we have said that as a legal profession, we are also involved. Some of our members are not helping the situation by corrupting the judicial process.

    We can also see that the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee is becoming more active in publicising it activities. And once the public gets to know that once you make a complaint, there will be a quick decision, confidence will definitely return. That is what we are trying to do.

    The trend all over the world today, is in the direction of how to settle dispute outside the usual court method through arbitration. Why is the emphasis still more on litigation in Nigeria than arbitration?

    I think that firstly, the arbitration community or practitioners in Nigeria have woken up to the fact that we are losing focus. People go to arbitration because they want a quick decision and they do not want to go to court. But we find a situation where people get a decision and yet they go to court to challenge that same decision. What the arbitration community has decided to do is to educate ourselves and secondly the judiciary. To educate ourselves as lawyers is to explain to our members that look, today you are in court and tomorrow, you are before the arbitration. If you appear before the arbitration and you are not satisfied or successful and you take the case to court, at the end of the day, you have destroyed 50 per cent of your potential income. For instance, if those who are bringing arbitration matters to you think that at the end of the day they will still end up in court, they will rather not bring arbitration matters to you.

    So, we are actually cutting down our own practice. Secondly, they may decide that they are not going to court at all. They may decide to leave the country and forget about the whole matter entirely. Alternatively, they may decide to take the arbitration abroad. What we are trying to do therefore, is to tell our members that in arbitration, you must choose the correct person as your arbitrator and once the correct arbitrator has given you the right decision, accept it and let your client accept it.

    We are also talking to judges to explain to lawyers what arbitration process is and that we are both partners working together, so that when arbitration matters come to their court, they should dispose of them quickly. And over a period of years, people will come to appreciate that it is not worth going to court to prolong what ordinarily should have taken a short time to resolve.

    How can arbitration be made accessible to the ordinary man without undue financial encumbrances to him and in a binding manner?

    Well, one of the things, for instance, that the Lagos State Government has done is that from January 2012, if you file any paper anywhere in court, the court will decide if it should go for mediation settlement or arbitration, and why it should not come into the full courtroom. That is one of the ways in which many cases will be resolved at the arbitration stage, or even mediation, trying to negotiate a settlement between the parties. Many of these instances will affect smaller disputes where you will not have to spend a lot of money and time in court.

    Courts also have mediation courthouses attached to them. You will find this in Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt, where you also have arbitration courthouses or court annex. Here, if you have a dispute, you just pay a small amount, after which they will collect your paper and call the other party and help settle the matter.

    Arbitration appears to be narrowly skewed in favour of a few privileged lawyers, despite that it is somewhat an integral part of legal service delivery, why the seeming segregation?

    You are not totally correct. In the law school, every single student takes a course in arbitration. In fact, it is called Alternate Dispute Resolution, ADR. It is arbitration, mediation conciliation and negotiation. Every law student takes the course. What has happened is the mentality of a typical Nigerian lawyer to want to try something new.

    In our part of the world, we have always been brought up to reason in a way that unless you put on the wig and the gown and go to court, you are not a lawyer. And this is what we have been trying to preach to everybody that arbitration is open to every lawyer. It is not restricted to select privileged lawyers in a way you are trying to paint the picture. If you want to be involved as a lawyer in arbitration, it is simple. If you have a dispute, do not try to rush to court. First and foremost, you have to check the agreement. If the agreement has an arbitration clause, you commend the arbitration proceedings.

    Sadly for many lawyers, when they have a dispute, they want to prove they are lawyers by rushing to court first before considering other options. That is what we are trying to explain to lawyers who think that arbitration is only for privileged lawyers that once you have taken that route of first going to court, you cannot go back to arbitration. You have to first think arbitration and it is only when that fails that you then explore the option of court.

    You recently chaired a workshop organised by the Centre for Corrections and Human Development (CCHD), an advocacy group against human and child/sex trafficking. What do you imagine to be the underlying motives behind the trade and the constraint in arresting the boom?

    It is purely economic. Both the trafficker and the trafficked are involved purely for the fundamental reasons of economic. Those engaged in human and child/sex trafficking do so purely for money and nothing else. They prey on the fact that the women and the children they are trafficking also want to make money. The workshop which was very well attended was an eye opener. It was the general observation that many of the women and the girl child do not go into it with the knowledge that they are going into prostitution or human slavery. They are usually told to begin fending for themselves soon after they leave secondary school and with the prospect of furthering their education apparently bleak. They are baited with fantastic pictures of European countries and the abundant job opportunities. The young hapless women see the opportunities as one to better their lives and they unknowingly jump on the chance. It is the same story with the woman in the village who begs a city woman to take her child to Lagos or Abuja to be assisted with one form of trade or the other. By the time the child gets to Lagos, he or she literally becomes a slave without the parents knowing it.

    The challenge, essentially, is to persuade people not to believe everything they are told. Many Nigerians are engaged in one form of menial job or the other in Europe and the U.S. without those back home knowing what they are into. Occasionally, they will send home a few dollars and some good photographs. Their innocent parents hardly get to know that their son or daughter wakes up as early as 4.am to clean the toilets for a white man or wash plates at the restaurants.

    The only way out is that we must make our economy as buoyant as possible to make our people stay back in Nigeria. The economic environment must be made conducive so that people do not fall victim to human trafficking. We need this kind of workshop from time to time to sensitise the unsuspecting and gullible public.

    As head of AELEX, a firm of legal practitioners and arbitrators, how is it like managing over 40 lawyers?

    It is all about being focused and knowing what it is that you want. You have to be prepared to make the compromises necessary. Managing a chamber such as ours is like marriage. Today the man wins and tomorrow the woman wins. That is it. It is also like putting yam in oil or putting oil in yam. As long as both come together, that is what is important. That is how we balance things in our chambers, among the partners and even among the lawyers. We understand and agree that we are looking at a common goal, which is to improve the profession and improve ourselves as lawyers. I think that women are better managers and administrators than men. As women, we have to manage our children, our husbands, our brothers and their wives and that makes women better managers.

    Speaking of women being better managers, why has it taken the women lawyers so long to rise to the headship of the Nigerian Bar Association, many years after Mrs. Priscilia Kuye, who was the first female NBA President?

    Well, I am aspiring to that position in the next election. But I do not think being the NBA president is an issue of gender. Rather, it is about whoever wants to be the president must be for a reason. You must have objectives or goals you think can be done differently or that can be achieved either differently or even better. We have a lot of women who are actively involved in the activities of the NBA. We have women who are chairmen of branches.

    But I think in the same sense in which before the CJN could rise to the top of her profession and become the CJN, this takes time because of other commitments. It is the same for women, even within the bar association. You cannot rise at the same as the men because you have other commitments and you have to do the balancing acts. But then, we have a lot of women who are actively involved in the Nigerian Bar Association.

    As for the next NBA presidency, I will put my hat in the ring when the time comes. But I will not say more than that so that I will not be accused of campaigning ahead of time.

    The NBA used to be known for its radical socio-political and economic activism. But same cannot be said today with allegations of the association reportedly becoming a willing tool available for hire by politicians for rallies. At what stage did the NBA sink to this level?

    Well, I am not really aware of the NBA being rented for rallies at any given time. NBA, like any association, has to move with the situation in which it finds itself. The stance of the NBA when we are in a military regime will be different from when we are in a civilian regime. So if you say we are no more radical, it is because if we were in a military regime, we may have to be a bit more vocal and more radical because you are confronting a regime, which from the point of view as a lawyer, does not have legitimacy and it is more likely to trample on the rule of law because of the manner of its training.

    In a civilian regime, you need to be a bit more circumspect to ascertain that the position that you are trying to put forward is one that has democracy behind it. If we all agree that democracy is government of the people, by the people and for the people, and if everybody says ‘that man is a thief, but we want him as our leader’, that is the voice of the majority, even when you as a lawyer would want to say this is wrong. So, one must be more circumspect. The role of the Bar association in a civilian regime is more of a partner with the government, the civil society and with the people to elevate everybody’s standard. Yes, we should speak out when we should, particularly when the government is not doing what it ought to do. But at the same time, we are expected to educate the populace about their rights.

    To say we are not radical may be as a result of the change of regime because we are no longer in a military regime. But having said that, I think we can do better and engage more.

    Some lawyers, not long ago advocated for the scrapping of the award of the Senior Advocate of Nigeria, arguing the award tends to confer undue privileges on the bearers of the title and which in turn tilts the balance of justice. Do you agree with this?

    I think SANship is still relevant and I do not subscribe that it should be scrapped. What I think should be done is for the process of elevation to be reformed. I feel it is relevant because everybody needs something to aspire to. Otherwise, we will become complacent in our comfort zone.

    Even in the media, a correspondent in the newspaper wants to be chief correspondent, a sub-editor wants to be editor, a publisher wants to be a proprietor etc. In every profession, there should be something for everyone to aspire to. In our profession, the privileges that we are given are for a reason. The major privilege is that your cases are often called first when you get to court.

    For me, my understanding is that even the courtroom is supposed to be a learning experience so that the younger lawyers who are there can acquire and acquire some level of additional knowledge and erudition from the senior lawyers who are Senior Advocates.

    Like every facet of our national life, the elevation procedure has its problems and this needs to be reviewed. I do not think that the award should be done by age or length of practice. As we speak, there are lawyers of forty years who have never practised, but have been doing tenancy agreement for the last forty years.

    Meanwhile, a lawyer of ten years may have been at a point where he is negotiating transactions with international lenders or international financial institutions, which brings us to what is called exposure. With that being said, we need to reform the award procedure and make it more transparent. This will bring back the prestige and the glamour.

    Also, among the Senior Advocates, we need to look at ourselves and tell each other the home truth that even as SANs, we are not performing up to the level expected of us as SANs. There are many Senior Advocates today who, having been made SANs, no longer go to court. It has become like a chieftaincy title to them. They are alright being addressed by the title and nothing more. They no longer lend their intellectual capacity to lift the younger lawyers. The process needs to be reformed but not scrapped. It should not be something of a monopoly. There is the notion that once you are made a SAN, it is million, million all the way. It is not true. The experience is that once you become a SAN, the first casualty is that you begin to lose your clients. Those who could afford your services before you became SAN will tell you, look, I can no longer afford your services. Having lost some of your clients because of SANship, you begin to build a new clientele all over again. I became a SAN in 2001 and I experienced it. I lost some of my clients who thought they could no longer afford me.

  • Nigerians need to pray for the mental stability of their leaders —Dickson

    Nigerians need to pray for the mental stability of their leaders —Dickson

    Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State has been saddled with the responsibility of heading a committee that will oversee the reconciliation of dissenting voices within the Peoples Democratic Party. In this interview with newsmen in Abuja last week, the governor explains why another committee is needed to look into the crises plaguing the party in most states, noting that the focus will be on non-PDP ruling states with the hope of presenting a cohesive party during the general elections. Managing Editor, Northern Operations, YUSUF ALLI and Deputy Editor, Nation’s Capital, YOMI ODUNUGA, were there. Excerpts:

    What does your committee hope to achieve?

    Ithought we should begin by looking at a few of the challenges that we are trying to solve arising from the mandate given to us by the working committee of our party. Already, as you may be aware, we have taken several steps to address some of the issues in the state chapters of our party. You will recall that the focus of our mandate essentially is on non-PDP states—reconciling the various factions and stakeholders and some members in the states that are not under PDP control for now. That in itself is challenging, and those states are about 13 or so in number. We have held series of meetings since our inauguration and because we are aware of the Independent National Electoral Commission’s guidelines released on the Anambra elections, which has made it imperative that actions must be taken immediately, we are taking that as a priority. In fact, I have just signed a circular calling a meeting for the members of the working committee of their state chapter and they have to be recognised by the national committee. As regards Anambra, we know there are so many factions, there are so many court orders and situations to resolve but we are starting from the known to the unknown. I think a day or two ago, the national committee recognised one of the factions and we want to start our interactions by engaging them and thereafter we will also have a section with all aspirants under the platform of our party. These series of interactions will take place from Thursday at Legacy House, which is the official secretariat of this committee. We also intend to interact with the chairman and members of our working committee in Ekiti State. You will recall that in the last couple of days and weeks, events in some state chapters of our party is fast deteriorating from bad to worse and we don’t want it to get ugly. So, it has become necessary for us to take some proactive measures and step in. So what would then be the immediate objectives of your committee? Of course, in all of this, the ultimate objective is to reconcile various stakeholders so that they can now understand the commonality of interest that should exist in a political party. In a party, we know people take personal interest too far. Inasmuch as the personal interests are legitimate, the party itself has its interest and that is what we are there to promote. We want to see how we can bring them together, play by the rules and then see how they can maintain a united front going into the general elections in Ekiti State. We hope to do so in almost all the state chapters, particularly state chapters that are not under the control of the PDP. As states that have PDP governors, that is a different challenge and that is slightly outside the area of our immediate focus even though it still falls under the general umbrella of some kind of reconciliation. For those cases, I think we need to work with other stakeholders and senior members of the party and maybe a different approach will be required because we have sitting governors who are also leaders of their party in those states who will also need to be part of the reconciliation effort. And that is why, in the wisdom of the National Chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, and the Working Committee, we have been told to focus on the non-PDP states. Since you have harped on the need to reconcile your party members in 13 non-PDP states while the PDP is already controlling the levers of government in 23 states, is the ultimate objective of this reconciliation to win more states? As a loyal party man, I believe in the capacity and potentials of our party to provide leadership in more states than we currently do have. But, as a democrat, it is my hope and belief that every party will sell its message as best it can and follow democratic due process and the best organised party with the best candidate should, at the end of the day, emerge. Again, as a democrat, the product of that outcome is what we will respect and work with. So, let the best party win. That is why we are democrats. Yes, it is my duty as a loyal party man to work for my party, advance the work of my party and its candidate duly selected and talk about the programmes and potentials of the party. I won’t stop without adding what is unique about the PDP. It is the party with the greatest potentials for uniting our diverse nation. The party, from pre-independence politics till now, is the only party that has provided a common platform for all Nigerians. It is the only platform that is not built on the fault lines of our nation, be it ethnicity or religion. It is the only party that has made it possible for a so-called minority to emerge as president. That is akin to what the Democratic Party did in the United States of America by sponsoring the first African American in the person of President Barack Obama. These are the unique features of the PDP. Other political tendencies are legitimate but we know that a number of times, they are built on the fault lines of our country. Whether fault lines of ethnicity, religion or even regionalism. The PDP is not an insular party, it is not a religious party and when the campaign starts, I expect that that message will sink. Yes, I will work for my party and we expect to win more states but we should win it fairly. Others also have the right to sell their message but we should respect the choice that Nigerians make because politics, as they say, is a market place of ideas. You have reconciled some aggrieved members. What were their grievances and how were they convinced to drop the case in court? Well, some of the operations, by virtue of oath we took, are confidential. Some of the grievances I have listened to were given in confidence and we will take them up with the appropriate authorities and address them. Members of a party have a right to their expectations, aspirations and views. I am a political liberal and therefore, I am in support of protecting the sanctity of individual opinion. But the party is a collective and so there comes a time when your individual’s views and opinion are subjected to the collective overall goal of the party. We are doing some of these things quietly. The important thing is that the gentlemen have submitted their grievances to the party under this committee and we are very grateful. I want to commend them again for that act, for realising that there comes a time individual expectations and aspirations end and the collective interest begins, otherwise there will be no organised society. So, this is what the gentlemen have done and my committee and I are looking at it and we will pass our recommendations to the appropriate authorities to address. Fundamentally, our appreciation is to them for withdrawing their case. If you said you have reconciled and the parties have agreed to withdraw the case, how come the lawyers refused to agree in court and the judge did not give a verdict that aligns with that line of thought? Well, let me say this. Firstly, it is not the duties of lawyers to take matters to a court for adjudication. It is also not their duty to take or resolve these matters out of court. That is the prerogative of the client. A lawyer is only a facilitator of process. Now, it is an on-going proceeding in a court and I will not want to go into the merits and demerits of the proceedings in court. I also don’t want to comment on what the judge should have done or shouldn’t have done but I know that the party will resort to the rule of law, follow due process to handle the challenge. Fundamentally, once you establish a desire on the part of a litigant to withdraw, from that time the desire is indicated to the court, the matter is dead. All that you have is a question of procedure. So, these are minor procedures because the cause of action is gone once a man says ‘I have withdrawn my case.’ The world is even moving towards Reconciliation and Mediation now. It is called Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) and that is what every court exists to facilitate in the first place. It is only when that fails that you go for litigation. I think it is a major success because the parties have communicated the desire to withdraw the matter at the court. I know, as a lawyer, that there are some rules about how counsel is changed and those ones are technical legal things that don’t affect the fundamental issue which is that a man who has gone to court is at liberty to say, ‘judge, I have settled my matter.’ For me, that case is dead and because they have a right to counsel, that is a good thing with our constitution. The right to counsel is sacred; they can go to court with you and decide to change their mind. Still on reconciliation, is your committee looking at the larger picture especially now that some PDP governors appear to be engaged in a war of words with national leadership of the party? With the adversarial role being played by the Chairman of your party, how does that help the reconciliation effort? As I said earlier, you can only have too little reconciliation, we cannot have too many reconciliation. We have to reconcile, reconcile and reconcile. The Chief Tony Anenih-led committee is doing a great job which we are also going to look at. I am saying that in the context of the remark I earlier made that our primary focus is the non-PDP states and we are doing so precisely because of this issue. In the PDP states, we have governors in charge and therefore, if there are differences as there should be, we can always resolve them. We need to be clear about this. Maybe because of the long years of military rule, we have this attitude to politics that is not democratic. In a party, there must be allowance made for differences of opinion because democracy thrives on diversity of views. But when you have all these diverse views, the party is there to harmonise them and hold them together. I know that the Anenih committee is doing a lot of work in terms of engaging the governors and I am not aware of any PDP governor who is not happy with the party. All of us are in the party. Yes, there may be one little complain but these are all legitimate because politics allows for that. The important thing is how we reconcile all of these. There are efforts going on by the Anenih’s committee and the Ekwueme’s report and I believe that, by the end of the day, you will have a truly reconciled set of governors because they are major stakeholders in the party and none of them will want the party to disintegrate contrary to what you hear. We are colleagues and we talk. They all want a strong PDP but they are also entitled to their expectations and even when there are ambitions tied to it because it is politics and also because, sometimes in this game, you have got to manage differences of opinion, ideas and sometimes a clash of interest and sometimes even a clash of ego. So, all of that is part of the game. So I think, with what the senior members of the party are doing and I am happy that the seniors drive some of these efforts with our little humble support, we will resolve the problems. I don’t think it is true that the national chairman made the kind of comment that you talked about. It is very possible he was quoted out of context because the national chairman is the head of our party and subjected to the person who is the overall leader, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan. You are also aware that the President himself, a few days back, engaged some of the governors you are talking about. I am also in touch with some of them because they are my leaders and I am privileged to work with some as colleagues. What you read does not matter, we meet at different levels and all share common idea of a united strong party. At all times, we should be united by national interest. Differences of views are allowed but you do all of that within the context of a common view about the national interest. A few weeks ago, a workers’ union described you as an absentee governor, how far have you gone in piloting the affairs of Bayelsa State? No comments on that because everybody knows what I am doing in Bayelsa and the absenteeism has nothing to do with what we are doing. I am okay when people disagree and criticise. It is all part of it but I cannot be an absentee governor when we are building primary schools, secondary schools and roads. We have done a lot of things in the state and I like situation where people visit and see things for themselves because I am not a propaganda governor. I am addressing the real challenges of development of our people. There is the challenge of providing security such that, in one year, Bayelsa has become the safest state. We are also turning Bayelsa to become a tourism destination, to be an investment destination within our country and within our sub-region and I have just started. I keep telling the people of Bayelsa that they have not seen anything yet. When I was campaigning, I told them to get ready for a big bang and they knew that what was coming their way was big and revolutionary. We are fighting poverty, we are addressing issues of human capacity development and we are at the same time transforming the rural infrastructure that we met on ground. We want to modernise it and then get it to be a springboard for the industrialisation that we seek. You know, Bayelsa is a state where we have deployed CCTV cameras and in the next couple of months, you are going to see a model society emerge. In the health sector; we are building hospitals and then the health insurance: it is an overall comprehensive development. We are building the first storage pharmaceutical centre in this country so that you will not talk about fake drugs in Bayelsa. We are investing a lot in tourism and very soon, you will not need to go to Dubai. The infrastructure must be provided, the atmosphere must be created for that and I think in no distant time, we will extend an invitation. In fact, when people visit, they cannot understand how we are able to put all of this within a short period and they keep asking themselves, ‘if this was possible, why was it not done before now?’ Why are we talking about free education now when in one year, we have sent over 100 Ph.D scholars across the world? In one year, we have selected primary schools pupils into boarding schools all across the country, in one year; we have built constituency secondary schools with boarding facilities. And they have not seen anything yet because I know that education is the most realistic tool anybody can use in transforming any society and I want that society transformed. Not only while I am there as the governor but even when I am out because I don’t want the society to be a breeding ground for militants, criminals and people who have no capacity to take part in their own economy. I want to arm them with the tools, skills and confidence that they must have in themselves to make a difference. Now, what is going on in the state is a revolution. It is something that you need to be there to understand and appreciate. What we have in the state is what is possible when there is leadership and commitment. This office that I hold is by the grace of God and the support of my people. There is enormous potential for good in every state and that is what I am demonstrating. When these secondary schools start, because we are building 30 secondary schools with boarding facilities because what has happened in this country is because we have neglected human capacity development. Even schools like Barewa College that has the honour of producing the first president of this country, we have allowed all those schools to die. Schools that Soyinka and Achebe attended, I am sure it is now in shambles. In this country, education is the key. Sometimes people tell me that I am investing too much on education and I tell them I have not even invested enough. When these schools are finished, you will see that it will be compulsory boarding from SSS1. I will take the children and put in these schools, that is why I am building schools close to the communities and they will be fed at the expense of the state. Now, they don’t pay school fees, they don’t pay for WAEC or JAMB, I pay because I proclaim free education and I meant it. I buy textbooks, uniforms and sandals; for a government in one year to build 400 schools, it is not a joke. I am building teachers’ quarters because when I send teachers out there, I don’t want to hear that they have no place to stay and the key to all of this is the Teachers Training Institute that I am building. You cannot be a teacher in Bayelsa without going through that school, I will say no to it. Yes, there are constraints I am dealing with. I have not imposed any new tax but I told them, they should all pay according to federal tax. Before now, workers in Bayelsa were paying 10% of tax and they feel it is too much money and I said no, everybody must pay his own part according to the federal law. That is, the Personal Income Tax Act. I have also done the welfare bill where, for the vulnerable members of our society, I give them stipends of N5000 once they are up to 75 years, the state maintains you. Also, the disabled and handicapped, the state has a responsibility. I am a people politician. I am in this game for service to the people. To make a difference in their lives and I am determined to make them have the highest possible best from their government and I am institutionalising these things. I am setting these things based on laws so that when I am gone, the laws are there. Just as I am doing on transparency, it’s a law because I don’t want any governor to take us back to where we were. Every month, the governor will do what I am doing. Today, I was happy when a local government chairman was doing his transparency programme to his people because for you to be a chairman in Bayelsa, you must announce what is coming to your people every month. Very soon, because of the terrible rot we inherited, you will see the benefits of what we are doing. We are doing a lot and we need support and understanding of our friends because for a long time, that place was like a dumping ground, nobody cared. Big men stay far from home. We are wiping all that and giving government back to the people. Like the criminals and cultists that renounced, after coming up with a law and enforcing it well, we will address their condition because, as a governor they are my people too. So, we have made it possible for their rehabilitation. You talked about the pension funds in Bayelsa, and there are speculations that you did not really deduct their envelopes well before taking the step. Sir, would you confirm to us that you don’t really know what happened to some pension arrears in the state? Let me tell you, pension arrears were owed for five years before my government came in. They had not paid pension liabilities for five years and I know who was governor for five years in case you don’t. Now, that is criminal. You cannot allow old people who served to go home without their entitlements. I came up and set a small administrative panel and they came up with unpaid pension of about N4bn. People are taking advantage of the weakness of institutions and laws in this country. So, the pension arrears were not paid and every month when I came, I made it a policy to save in addition to paying loans and facilities of about N4 bn every month. That is what Bayelsa sets aside to service loans and useless liabilities. In addition, I said these people are in this situation due to no fault of their and so, we must address it. And so I began to save N250m every month to address to backlog. So you see what I am doing that was not done before? I have paid over N1 bn. Later I said I will not pay the N250m again and I will set up a commission that will tell me when the payment of the pension arrears stopped, who were at fault, and my concern was to really find out what went wrong. And I am going to find out. It is not a question of not reading large, no. You see, the problem is that people thrive on propaganda and blackmail and I hope that we don’t promote criminals to take over leadership in this country with the way we are going because it is the criminals and despicable elements whose voices are heard loudest. It is a major challenge to our democracy. I know we are all savouring our new found freedom but we have to be very careful because people should be asking questions that they need to ask. So, I want to establish facts and then introduce measures that will prevent a repeat of this. I hate what has been done to these old people. My own small gratuity for the ten years I served as a police officer, I get it. I want to sanitise the pension system and when the result comes out, with the kind of interest you have, I am sure you will know. Still on the reconciliation, Nigerians expect that your committee will do all the reconciliation and go the whole hug. Nigerians expect that your committee will come up with a solution to the Rivers crisis. So, what is your committee doing to bring peace to Rivers? On Rivers State, I don’t want to talk about developments in Rivers State because I don’t even know the basis. But for you to say I started it because I am an interested candidate, I am not. I am interested just as other Nigerians are and nothing beyond that. It is not the duty of my committee unless there is a specific referral from the national leadership. It is not our intention to go into Rivers scenario reason being that we have so many matters in court and we have intervention by the National Assembly and there is an international dimension also coming up with people granting interviews to the international media. The only thing I can say is that Nigerians should pray for the mental stability of their leaders because it is part of what they owe us. They should pray that all those who take executive decisions should have stable mindset with which to do their job. When you say leaders should have mental stability, are you suggesting that they should undergo psychiatric test before aspiring to political office? I won’t say our leaders should undergo psychiatric test but I know it is a suggestion that has been made by so many people but I think in the light of some of these developments, it is something we need to discuss.

  • State of emergency should cover more areas —AVM Ararile

    State of emergency should cover more areas —AVM Ararile

    The Ovie of Umiaghwa-Abraka Kingdom in Ethiope-East Local Government Area of Delta State, His Royal Majesty, Lucky Ochuko Ararile, Awaeke 1, is not just another traditional ruler. He is a retired Air Vice Marshall (AVM). His military involvement in Chad, Liberia and Sierra Leone and at home largely served as the basis for his appointment as the pioneer Coordinator of the Federal Government’s Amnesty Programme for ex-militants. He spoke to Osemwengie Ben Ogbemudia on his life as a traditional ruler, his military years and the security challenge in the country.

    The Amnesty Programme that you started, can you tell us how you got involved in it, and are you satisfied with where it is today?

    I can say that since I left the amnesty programme in 2010, they have made quite an effort. The second phase which is the demobilisation and reintegration is very challenging. One thing is to train them, and the other one is to get them employed and we are talking of about 30,000 persons. When I finished the disarmament, we actually had 20,000 plus but subsequently more were added and it is now about 30,000. We are only talking about people who carried arms or purportedly carried arms. We have a lot of youths, millions of them, that are yet be attended to in the Niger Delta. And if they are not taken care of, they might think the only way government responds to issues is when they get violent. That message need to be avoided, the youth problem must be addressed holistically in the Niger Delta and indeed Nigeria.

    Can you tell us your challenges when you started the Amnesty Programme?

    O yes! There were lots of problems, serious logistic problems. For example, there were no camps to keep the ex-militants. Funds were not released on time to pay their stipends until they started to riot. It appeared to me that those that thought out the programme did not believe it would work. There were even deliberate attempts to sabotage the programme. Some preferred the military option instead. These were the contending forces one had to out-manoeuvre to achieve whatever level of success we were able to achieve.

    Would you say that when you entered the creeks you were apprehensive that anything could happen to you?

    Of course, anything could have happened. We were ready for anything. It will interest you to know that three of the four helicopters belonging to the Nigerian Navy and OAS which we used during the amnesty have crashed. I condole with the families of these gallant pilots who displayed exceptional courage during the disarmament exercise. Well, these crashes could have happened then and that is the risk of the job.

    From your present status as  a traditional ruler how best do you think government  should tackle the security challenges facing the country, especially the Boko Haram problem?

    Well I am happy that President Goodluck Jonathan has gone ahead to declare a state of emergency in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states. However, if I were to advise, I   would have recommended that Bauchi, Kano and Gombe be included. This is because as the operation in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa progresses, there will be relocation of Boko Haram elements to these other states. Having said that, I think it is necessary for us to really analyse Boko Haram. After the fall of Hissen Habre in Chad, some renegade Chadians occupied Bama and Baga areas where coincidentally the Boko Haram is concentrating its efforts in the latest insurgency. Gen Buhari led the operation to flush them out. The Maitatsine sect with similar religious and operational doctrines unleashed mayhem on Borno, Adamawa and Kano. President Shagari at the time ordered the military to deal decisively with them. Subsequently, the whole of the North East became insecure due to the activities of nomadic Chadians and others. So, it appears to me that Boko Haram, by their modus operandi, are not Nigerians. There may be a few Nigerians who are in nominal leadership positions, I do not believe that Nigerians will indiscriminately be killing Muslims, Christians, burning down schools and hoisting flags. People who are taking this as religious are missing the point, so I support the President’s action completely. But for his decisive action, Boko Haram would have spread to Sokoto, Kebbi, Taraba, Kogi etc by 2015 and most of the so- called northern elders would have  been dealt with by Boko Haram.

    The best strategy really in dealing with Boko Haram is to cut off their sources of funding and target the leadership.

    As a traditional ruler now, how are you coping with the needs of your people and the pressure that comes with leading the community as opposed to the regimented life in the military where you came from?

    Leadership in whatever form, whether as a monarch or a commander, is all about the people and use of resources. In the military you have what they call institutional power. You have the power by law, the authority. But as a monarch it is the people themselves that give you the authority. You don’t have any coercive instrument, so you must persuade. Once you are able to explain to them, you don’t have problems.  I don’t take any decision on my own.

     How much of your privacy has your new status as traditional ruler taken away?

    Not at all. In the palace I am not under any restriction. There is nothing that I am forced to do. I still go and play my golf, visit my friends and if my friends want to visit me, they visit. No restriction whatsoever.

    Did you have the premonition that one day you would be a traditional ruler?

    No, No, No. When I wake up I still wonder how I got to this place. I had retired for almost a year before I was called to be king. It is a noble and humbling experience.

    How is life after military service?

    Well, it has been quite an experience and challenging too: two different ball games. It demands different approaches and competencies in dealing with human beings.

    Let’s look at the regimental life in the military. How was it?

    One is grateful to God. Looking back, one served for over 35 years- from the age of 20 years. So a very substantial part of my life was spent in the military. My story is essentially the military part of my life. I went to the Nigeria Defence Academy (NDA) for the basic military training and thereafter went to various flying training schools of  the Royal Air Force as well as the United States Air Force. Subsequently, I participated in many military operations both within and outside the country. I participated in the OAU Peace Keeping Operations in Chad in 1980; ECOMOG operations in Liberia and Sierra Leone from 1990 to 2000, among others. Internally, I was involved in the Joint Task Force, Operation Restore Hope in the Niger Delta and then the Amnesty Programme. So it was a very busy engagement while it lasted.

    Could you recall  your most memorable moments  in the Air Force?

    Easily the most memorable for me was the operation to insert Nigerian troops into Lungi Airport in Freetown, Sierra Leone, to counter the coup by Major Johnny Koroma. It fell on me to take the Air Force C130 airplane, with a crew of nine, to airlift some troops from Liberia to Lungi. At the time of the coup, only the Air Force had about 30 personnel on ground. We had earlier moved our war planes to Guinea immediately the coup was announced. We used to operate from Sierra Leone to Liberia. The situation on ground was dire. The Air force personnel were low on ammunition, food and other supplies. The Sierra Leonean army occupied the southern end of the airport including part of   the runway while the Nigerian Air Force personnel occupied the northern end. As a result, we had to use half of the runway that was occupied by our troops, landing and taking off in opposite directions in order not to overfly Sierra Leonean positions. We deceived the Sierra Leonean Army into believing we had authority from Major Koroma to land. By the time they realised what we were up to, we had inserted about a company of troops led by then Lt Col Kwaskebe, with two MOWAG armoured fighting vehicles, four jeeps and enough ammunition and food to sustain operations for two weeks. The same night we completed the mission, the Sierra Leonean army attacked our troops. Their barrack by the airport was overrun by our soldiers and the airport was secured for the subsequent operations by Brigadier General Maxwell Kobe. Without that airlift by the air force, it would have been impossible to overthrow Major Johnny Koroma. So I was happy to have participated in that operation.

    Looking back  at your role at that point which seemed to have changed the whole game, would  you say that you are happy today?

    Yes, I am happy about our contribution, even though it’s unrecognised. It is not in the nature of the air force or indeed the military to advertise the roles they play, but we all have our stories to tell.

    You also saw action in Liberia. Various stories have been told about what happened there concerning Nigerian troops. Tell us more about Nigeria’s role.

    I was a pilot, I flew in from Nigeria. Sometimes, I spent a week or more in Monrovia depending on the nature of ongoing operations but I was not directly involved in army type of operations on ground. So those who were responsible for physical security and the fighting on ground will avail you with the facts more than me. But I am aware of what happened but I cannot be categorical.

    As a pilot, how do you feel when you hear of plane crashes in the country. Are they caused by pilot’s error or mechanical problems?

    A lot of things could lead to air crashes.  It could be pilot’s error; it could be technical problems; it could be procedural errors. It could be a problem with  inadequate infrastructure: no radar, no radios, control procedures,  et cetera. So each crash must be investigated and the causes or findings released to the public for the benefit of all. To tell the truth, things are much better now than in our time.

    The Air Force Dornier that crashed carrying military personnel I learnt you were supposed to be on that aircraft?

    Those were my pilots.  I was their commander at 81 Air Maritime Group. So I knew them. They were fine pilots and gentlemen. At the time the accident happened I had left the unit and was in Abuja.

    Were you surprised when you heard of the crash and you must have been used to that aircraft, could it have been a technical error?

    There was no problem with the aircraft, that particular accident was weather related, it had nothing to do with technical fault and the pilots were ok, but they ran into very severe weather which led to the crash, it had nothing to do with the condition of the airplane or the pilot.

  • She would have spent the night with the guy if he was a woman like her?

    Madam Adeola, good afternoon. Please Madam, what does it mean for girl that someone likes to say she would have spent a night with the guy if he was a woman like her. Thanks, Fb.

    FB, she meant exactly what she said. You’re not a woman like her so she won’t spend the night with you. Oh, you think she must have been using style to invite you? If she wanted to spend the night, she wouldn’t even wait for an invitation. So, she knows what she means. Don’t go pestering the poor girl to come and sleep with you.

  • My rival happens to be my younger sister’s classmate in secondary school

    Hi Aunty, I am Lucy from Ibadan. I am dating a guy who says he loves me but he is dating another girl and whenever she is around, he tends to avoid me. Whenever I tell him that I can’t share him with anybody that I want to end the relationship, he will then apologise and say if he didn’t love me, he wouldn’t have introduced me to his parents and that I should try and understand that he is dating her because of me and this girl happens to be my younger sister’s mate in secondary school.

    Oh yeah! So he’s dating her because of you. Really? Many years ago, whenever our fathers wanted to take a second wife, they would announce that they were getting a helpmate for our mothers – somebody to help wash plates and clothes around the house. So, your boyfriend is getting you a helpmate even before marrying you. That’s n-i-c-e!!

    My dear, you’re the one he’s avoiding here, not the other girl, which means that she’s the favoured one and the one whose emotions need to be protected. You’re the one who would understand and you’re the one he’s not afraid to lose even if you know. Forget about him introducing you to his parents. It is possible he has introduced her to them too with some explanations about why he’s about to dump you.

    From the tone of your mail, I could see that this other girl doesn’t live where you and the guy live. So while she’s away, he needs a human blanket to keep him warm. You can decide from now on if you want to play the second fiddle or you want to move on. It’s really not wise fighting over this guy, so move on if that’s what your mind is telling you.

  • We were least prepared for war when Biafran soldiers attacked my command in Ore — Major Iluyomade

    We were least prepared for war when Biafran soldiers attacked my command in Ore — Major Iluyomade

    We were least prepared for war when Biafran soldiers attacked my command in Ore Major Iluyomade
    Interviewing Major Raphael Iluyomade was an alluring mission prompted by information supplied by Brigadier-General Godwin Alabi-Isama in his recently released war memoir, The Tragedy of Victory On-the-Spot Account of the Nigeria-Biafra Civil War in the Atlantic Theatre. In the thorough tome, Alabi- Isama named Iluyomade as the soldier who led the fighters that foiled the Biafran rebels in their ambitious march toward Lagos, the then federal capital. This episode of the civil war was momentous and memorable. Indeed, in popular lore, so fierce was the combat at this front that it created an immortal expression in Yoruba language, Oleku Ija Ore, meaning, the battl of Ore was tough like no other. So, when Iluyomade surfaced at Alabi-Isama’s well attended book launch in Lagos on July 18, it was an opportunity to ask him for an interview, which he readily agreed to. Four days later, in the war veteran’s tranquil home in Ibadan, Oyo State, it was time to relive his experience at Ore as well as other combat situations during the hostilities that spanned 1967 to 1970. Just before the interview in Iluyomade’s spacious sitting room, the 76-year-old retired soldier from Ondo State demonstrated his enthusiasm for books, especially those that had to do with warfare, by opening his equally roomy and impressive library to the visitors. This unexpected excursion spoke volumes about the man, and validated his nickname, revealed by Alabi-Isama at the book presentation. Iluyomade, known as Hitler by his colleagues, had a rich collection of books on the German megalomaniac, and said he must have read no fewer than 23 books on the infamous war lord. There was no dull moment during the interview as Iluyomade served his narrative with arresting spice, punctuated by one or two occasions when he went to the library and then upstairs, first to fetch a Bible to back his credibility, and then to get pictures to buttress his claims. He spoke to two members of The Nation Editorial Board, comprising its chairman, SAM OMATSEYE, and FEMI MACAULAY; and BISI OLADELE, Oyo State Correspondent.

    What would you say were your most memorable recollections of the Nigeria Civil war?

    I have a very vivid account of how I participated, beginning with the Ore battle. I was the only officer that commanded the troops there, and they were very few on the ground. In actual fact, we did not prepare for any war then because we were not aware of Ojukwu’s intention to invade Lagos and the West.

    I had been sent there with about 32 soldiers two weeks before then. I was a full lieutenant. We had gone there to conduct internal security, just to make the villagers aware of the federal presence. There were no road blocks. We were just there, moving round, marching here and there.

    Some of the villagers hadn’t seen soldiers for some time because there had been no military base at Ore. Ore road was constructed as far back as 1961. That was my last year in secondary school. It linked Ijebu, Sagamu straight to Benin. It is good for the economy of the country.

    The road must have been narrow…

    Yes. And it was so commercially based. A lot of vehicles were plying the road. So, by the time the Nigerian problem cropped up, Ore was a strategic village. I took my 32 soldiers there. That was a platoon. A platoon comprised three sectors, and nine men made a sector. So, we were moving up and down. We didn’t carry any riffle; we didn’t mount road blocks. Some of the villagers were familiar faces because my home town was only a few miles away.

    The battle started immediately Ojukwu declared the State of Biafra. There was panic all over the country. Immediately he declared the State of Biafra, level headed people knew that war must follow, because it was not the intention of the Head of States then, General Yakubu Gowon, to have his own country broken into pieces. The moment that was allowed, other people would pull out of the federation and armed struggle would definitely be the result.

    At the time the State of Biafra was declared, General Obasanjo was in Ibadan. We hadn’t formed the second division then. So, I moved. Then Gen. Obasanjo called me on the radio or telephone that I should not allow anybody to come from the Midwest, and that if anybody came from the Midwest, I should arrest and treat him as a prisoner of war. But by then, all the Igbo people were moving out, including their families and their cartels. They were moving through the Midwest to the East.

    How was it like when the Igbo were moving? Were there incidents?

    There were no incidents. They were going peacefully because they had been called home by Ojukwu, their leader. So, every one of them from Lagos, and even Ibadan, started moving towards the East Central State. The moment they called all the Igbo back home, I knew that something dangerous was in the offing.

    What did you observe as they were moving back home?

    It was peaceful. They were moving peacefully because they couldn’t afford to fight. They had no weapons, nothing. They were moving with their families. It was peaceful. There were so many vehicles; I couldn’t count them.

    When Obasanjo said you should not allow anybody through, was he talking about civilians or soldiers?

    Anybody! You don’t know who a spy can be. A spy can be a labourer. He can be crossing on a bicycle, but he has an agenda; maybe a camera, powerful weapons and so on. So, definitely, you don’t give chances to such people. He told me that immediately I saw anybody from there, the person should be taken as a prisoner of war.

    In what capacity did Obasanjo call you?

    As the GOC; the commander of the unit in Ibadan. Well, we can call him area commander. He was in charge.

    So, did you see anybody coming from the Midwest?

    There was nobody except the people that were moving towards the East.

    You were to prevent people coming from Midwest to where?

    To the West. So, he told me that I should move my headquarters and my troops to Ofosu. Then I told him that I was very thin on the ground with only 32 soldiers, myself being the 33rd. What could we do in case they wanted to cross over? He promised to send some troops to reinforce me, and he sent about 150 soldiers, mainly from the second battalion based in Lagos.

    What was the ethnic composition of the troops you had?

    (Sighs) The first batch of 33 we were all Yoruba, and we were young, duly trained soldiers. We took them from the Iwo Road barracks, which was created by Adebayo. He allowed a Grade 11 teachers training college to be converted to a barrack. There was a small history behind that. So, we created the first 150 soldiers of Yoruba origin that passed out from The Nigerian Army Training Depot in Zaria. I was the first to command them. Those were the people I moved 32 of them to Ore before I was reinforced.

    Was it the training college that metamorphosed into the current 2nd Division?

    Yes. Because of what happened when they attacked us on 8th of August, which was a Sunday.

    What year was that?

    1967. After the reinforcement, they joined me there and the Midwest was invaded by the Igbo. They possibly wanted to use the Midwest as a buffer, so that by coming to Midwest, if any attack happened, the region would bear the shock before it got to the East Western states or Igboland, starting from Onitsha. So, we bore the brunt of the fighting; only very few soldiers. By the time I counted the number of soldiers, it was 179.

    You talked about 32 of the soldiers being Yoruba. What about the others?

    Yes. I couldn’t determine or find out where they came from, but there were so many Hausa among them.

    The point was made that at the beginning of the hostilities, the position of the Yoruba was not known and was not sure, because nobody was sure where the loyalty of Awolowo and the Yoruba leaders of thought was going to be. So it is believed that because of that, the central command quickly sent a lot of Hausa/Fulani soldiers into the West so as to compromise the position of the Yoruba. Would you say that meant you had a lot of Hausa/Fulani soldiers with you?

    Precisely! I think that was exactly what happened. Prior to the outbreak of hostility, there were minor but annoying things that had happened in Ibadan here, if I can go into the depth, because I was involved and I knew exactly what happened. The barracks here in Mokola was the Third Infantry Battalion. So, the northerners were harassing the Yoruba because it was one of the wishes of Ojukwu that every soldier should go back to his own state of origin: the Midwesterners should go to the Midwest and the Yoruba people should stay in Ibadan. The northerners should go to the north so as to accomplish the Aburi convention requested by Ojuwku.

    So, when every soldier is in his own state of origin, Ojuwku would be confident to come and have a meeting with General Gowon. They (northern soldiers) refused to go. And by that time, there were threats to Yoruba officers by the Hausa/Fulani, particularly myself, because the battalion commander then, Major Sotomi, didn’t know what to do. Every now and then, he would call me to go and speak to the Hausa soldiersI don’t want to use the wrong wordso I would go there and talk to them as directed. They refused. They would say no. So, every day, they were arming themselves with rifles and ammunition inside.

    You mean the Hausa/Fulani soldiers?

    Yes. They were carrying ammunition with weapons, which meant that if any war broke out, they were at advantage, and they could shoot the whole of us.

    Who was giving them instructions? Were they reporting to their immediate officers?

    They were becoming unruly and they were not listening to instructions, except it was from their own people.

    Which officers do you think were giving them instructions from the higher command?

    There was one Captain Bugaji who was the adjutant of the battalion. He was a pure northerner. He himself disappeared during the war. He was one of the people captured, and we can’t trace his whereabouts any more. There was a day Gen. Hassan Usman Katsina came to Ibadan to speak to the troops. The governor, Gen. Adeyinka Adebayo, was with him. Some people from the army headquarters in Lagos were also with him. They did not allow any journalist to enter the compound. Then he spoke to us in a bad and undiplomatic way. He said that the (Hausa/Fulani) soldiers would not leave Ibadan and that if they were threatened, he would use 40 soldiers to defeat the Yoruba.

    So, he boasted and boasted, saying, ‘Give me the green light, I’m going to produce Ojukwu himself.’ He hammered on that. He came with two other officers. Three Yoruba officers were theremyself, Makanjola who is no more now, and Adedipe, who is still alive. He lives at Iwo Road (Ibadan). What type of threat to a whole nation by a single man? We looked at ourselves and said we were done for, if we didn’t do anything or if our leaders didn’t do anything.

    But Chief Awolowo was in Lagos. Maybe he heard what happened. And that was the only man we trusted. That was the only man. The military governor then, Adeyinka Adebayo, was (shaking his wrist) you understand what I mean?

    You mean he was afraid?

    He was perturbed. He didn’t know what to do except to report what had happened. But Gen. Usman Katsina came to Ibadan, maybe with the permission of Gen. Gowon who was the head of state then. Maybe he took permission from him to say what he said, nobody knew. As I said, I was a full lieutenant, so a junior officer. But I have every detail in my head, and that’s what I’m reproducing today.

    Were the soldiers of northern extraction more in number?

    They were more in number because the infantry soldiers, those who carry guns, those who fight the real battles, were predominantly northerners. The soldiers of Yoruba origin and those who came from other parts of the country were clerks, medical men, administrators and supply and transport officers in the petrol depot. So, when they ran away from the north, I was the one that trained them and converted them into infantry men, so that if there was a threat, they had to fight. I thought them the way to handle the rifle, tactics and a lot of things. I was the one nominated to train them, and I really did.

    The intimidation by Usmam Katsina could be considered an affront on the Yoruba. What did the leaders do? Did you get the sense that the Yoruba leaders had their feet in their mouths?

    As I said, journalists were not around. It was you journalists that would have brought this type of thing to the public domain. A lot of them did not know what really happened within the barracks. I was there. Makanjuola, who is late now, Adedipe and a few other Yoruba were there. So, the thing did not filter to the public. But maybe eventually, Gen. Adebayo told some men. But he would not state the details in order not to annoy the northerners. You understand my point? I’m boldly saying this, and nobody can contradict me because I was there. I was mature enough.

    Many times, I would not sleep in the barrack because they (Hausa/Fulani soldiers) were carrying rifles. I didn’t want them to surround me and shoot me at night, because nothing would happen if they did. So, I had to go outside and sleep several times. There was a day my wife refused to follow me, insisting that whatever happened, she would sleep in the barracks (Iletimo barracks). It was like that until the whole thing started escalating and I was sent to command the troops at Iwo road. We called it 11 Battalion. I was the first person to command the place until they sent a senior officer, Olu Bajowa, to take over, and I became his adjutant. From there, a detachment of 32 soldiers was given to me to go to Ore.

    Since there was no overt threat, what informed his decision to send you to safeguard the West? The war had not broken out, so to speak, and he couldn’t have read the minds of the Biafrans who were trying to come to the West?

    It was a crisis situation and we did not know how it was going to end or how it was going to be quelled. There was a sort of indiscipline in the barracks. What I mean by indiscipline is that soldiers were allowed to carry weapons with ammunition attached to their rifles, which meant they could cock and fire at any time. They were ready for battle, but some of us were not.

    But your station, so to speak, was on the federal side. One would have thought that you would have a sense of safety?

    Yes!

    Why then would Obasanjo ask you to safeguard the West from people coming from the Midwest because the Biafrans were still fighting?

    By that time, they hadn’t declared a state of Biafra. But normally, as I said, to make the federal presence felt in Ore, they dispersed people there. I did another one immediately after the counter coup of July 29, 1966. One Lieutenant Obeya and myself were dispersed to Makurdi. We left Makurdi and went to the East and North border to find out or to enquire whether there were clandestine movement of the easterners towards the north to build bunkers or to make some military installations and so forth. We went to so many places. We did our jobs until bloodshed occurred again and a lot of people, particularly the easterners, were killed when they were going home in the train.

    Remember they killed a lot of people in the north on July 29. They killed a lot of them. Two of us participated: myself and Colonel Yakubu Anifowoshe. Two of us were the only officers to join them when they held a conference to nominate somebody that would represent our unit. I represented the Third Battalion. Anifowoshe also came. So, we met at the brigade headquarters in Kaduna then. It was there the acting brigade commander, Major Abba Kyari, announced that Fajuyi had been killed and the head of state then, Ironsi, was killed. What would you say? Then someone said he felt sorry that Fajuyi was killed.

    Who?

    Abba Kyari. He felt sorry. Then I put up my hand and I said, ‘Sir, when you know that you were not fighting with the Yoruba, why should you kill that man? He’s their popular governor.’ I said the only thing you can do is to free Awolowo to please the Yoruba and Fajuyi’s death would be another thing. They would want to welcome their leader. That same night, Chief Awolowo was released.

    There is this question about Awolowo’s release; we need to go back to that issue about the tension between the Yoruba and the Hausa, because in the military, there was tension but in the outside world, outside the military in Yoruba land, the Yoruba were not sure what was going on. They were not devoted to Biafra and they were not against Biafra. That was when Awolowo made that famous statement that if the east was allowed to go by any means, the west would not have any option. How did the west move from the position where it was harassed by the north to the point of fighting, as it were, for the northern cause?

    Yes! That question can only be answered by the people in power in Lagos, especially Chief Awolowo himself. He was the second in command of the federal executive council. He was next to Gowon. Maybe the decision came between them and few Yoruba leaders. So, that one is outside my knowledge. So in actual fact preceding the war, lots of soldiers ran from the north to come to the west.

    What sort of soldiers?

    Yoruba soldiers: clerks, paymasters, those who are not fighters but they handle administration in the army. So, when they ran, they came here. We had to create that battalion plus 150 soldiers who were trained in the north. Recruits, I took part in their recruitment. They were trained and they came back. We did not want them to mix with 3rd Battalion. So, Gen. Adebayo created that place. He told me to go and put all the soldiers there at the Grade Two teachers training college. The Grade Two teachers training college was moved out to Molete, so the place was vacant and we occupied the place. I was the officer to handle that place, and by that time, we had no rifle, no weapon at all. So, what I did: we went to the bush, we cut trees and used them as weapons. We did some training with them: how to pick up a rifle and how to do bayonet fighting. We did exercise with them. That was tremendous courage. So, until things came up, we heard what Chief Awolowo said, we were all jubilating then. Another person you can interview is Wole Soyinka. I know the reason why I said so and I won’t divulge it.

    Could you tell us why?

    He was brilliant; an intellectual. He wanted to go and convince Odumegwu Ojukwu to change his mind about seceding from the country. He went there. By the time he was coming back, I saw him at Ore. I knew the type of car he was using. He was dressed in a round neck singlet with a towel around his neck. The car he was using was Fiat. I can’t remember the car’s registration number because I saw him at Ore heading towards Ibadan.

    He was one of the few you allowed to come back from the…?

    Yes, before the proclamation of Obasanjo. He came out. He’s a Yoruba man; a prominent Yoruba man too. I wouldn’t ask him to go back. He wouldn’t even obey me (laughter). So, that was the case until eventually the Aburi convention collapsed. Ojukwu refused to come and he went back. Many international people intervened but to no effect. He had made up his mind. In actual fact, the killing in the north was too much. The bloodshed was heavy. I witnessed a lot and the way they were killing people was barbaric. How can you kill a pregnant woman? After killing her, you take a bottle of beer and put it in her private part? My landlord, Mr. Edward, his throat was slit as if you wanted to…

    Edward what?

    I can’t remember the surname.

    Where was he from?

    He was from the east.

    Did you witness this?

    I witnessed it. I was in his house. I rented a room from him. They just killed him and left him there in the gutter.

    They cut him into pieces?

    Well, not cut him into pieces. But they slit his throat. Then I came back. One sensible officer then was Abacha. Then they arrested all non-Yoruba and the Igbo. Even if you were a Midwesterner then, you would be arrested. They put them in the car at the Third Battalion in Kaduna. Then they came with lorries. They were pushing them in tens, twenties, forties in a lorry, and took them to Jos Road where they were massacred just like Adolf Hitler killed the Jews.

    With the Yoruba people too?

    No, not Yoruba.

    You mean the Mid-westerners and the Igbo?

    Yes. If you could not pronounce toro, they do not know you to be a Yoruba man, you were done for. So, on one of these occasions, I was broke and needed money. I dashed to the bank. Mind you, I said I was the only officer and Anifowoshe to come out to join them. Anifowoshe, I can show you his office. He will tell you the real story, corroborating what I’m telling you. I went to the bank. That day, I took three pounds and came home to give it to my wife.

    Then Abba Kyari stopped the killing. He said the killing was too much, they should stop. He even employed Ferret, that’s the armoured vehicle without tyre. The one we were using was Salladin. Ferret was predominant in the army then and Abba Kyari used few of them to go and stop the killing. Then after that they were still bringing some people out. Then Abba Kyari who knew this shouted against further killing. But coming out from the bank, they thought I was the one that went to reveal the secret at the beginning to the headquarters. So, I was arrested.

    Who arrested you?

    The Hausa soldiers. They took the people I was commanding. They arrested me, Omolade, Ukpong , Adedipe, Makanjuola, I think about five of us. We were arrested in front of our company headquarters and they made us to sit on bare floor. Then they surrounded us with their rifles. If you made any false move, they could shoot. This was in 1966. So, it was Abacha that came in the nick of time. He saw us and came out from his Land Rover. He said, ‘What is this, gentlemen? What is this? Come on, get up and go home. Leave these officers alone.’

    Then he told the soldiers to disperse and we were released. Sani Abacha and Babangida were my mates in the military. We joined the army the same day, attended the same training. I went to India with Babangida and Abacha went to England. We all came back to be officers of the Nigerian army.

    How did it get to a situation when from harassing the Yoruba, the same Yoruba soldiers had to fight for the northern cause?

    By that time, Chief Awolowo and Gowon must have held protracted meetings, because it was dangerous. The Yoruba couldn’t fight. We had no soldiers of our own. If you move all the Yoruba soldiers in the army then, we could get about 1000. And this 1000, about 800 of them would be servicemen, no infantry. Very few. But some officers who were Yoruba were many in infantry. But the officers couldn’t fight this. We had to command some men, move to the field, but these men were not there. As I said, I was the one that converted some of these men to pure infantry. I trained them because I had been a trainer for some time. So, eventually the discussion on the political disagreement between Gowon and Chief Obafemi Awolowo came to the limelight.