Baba Iyabo and history
By Sun News
Publishing
Sunday,
February 26,
2006
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•Obasanjo
Photo: Sun News Publishing |
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No one has a sense of history more than Baba Iyabo, and he is
sometimes gracious enough to lend a touch of humour to it. On
a good day, the number one man in Naija is not averse to making
fun of himself, raising a laugh here and there no matter the
company, and often at his own expense.
The c-in-c had cause to do this recently at a well attended
remembrance on a historic day, February 13. Now, most school
pikins in Nigeria know that General Murtala Mohammed was assassinated
on that day in 1976. Even those in Otakara schools know that.
But not many of them know, for instance, in what order people
in government then were to be killed by the coupsters.
Of course, Gen. Mohammed was number one on the list, and for
obvious reasons. He was the head of state. As such coups go,
his deputy should be number two in the hierarchy of those marked
down for death. OBJ was Murtala’s 2ic then. So, it stands
to reason that he should’ve been the second person to
be killed after his boss. But the coup planners apparently didn’t
think so.
By the time they finally priced the list out of Dimka and friends,
there was the mother of all surprise. Baba Iyabo’s name
was way down at number three, below Tee Y Dee, who later became
deputy to OBJ in the post-coup cabinet. It may have been known
in military circles for years, but it was only recently it became
public knowledge, and disclosed by the presido himself on the
21st anniversary of Murtala’s death.
“When we got the list of those to be killed from the coupists,
I was surprised that my name was number three after Theophilus
Danjuma’s,” he told a rollicking audience in Abuja
who were obviously enjoying the presidential jibe. “I
immediately took exception to their compilation. Why would they
make me number three in the list of those to be killed instead
of two?” he asked rhetorically.
Nobody had the answer to his question. But the coupists may
just have answered him with the compilation. At the time, Tee
Y Dee was seen as a stronger and more daring force than Baba
Iyabo. So, in the coupists’ reckoning, better to dispose
off first those likely to cause trouble for them then worry
about others later…therein is the lesson in history.
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