The Federal Government has been advised to do the needful on the recurring clamour for the restructuring of the nation in order to forestall jeopardizing the unity of the country.
Giving the advice in this interview with ’TUNDE THOMAS, former NADECO chieftain, and Chairman of the presidential committee saddled with organizing the 2014 National Confab, Senator Femi Okurounmu, urged President Muhammadu Buhari not to ignore the strident calls for restructuring. He spoke on various issues.
How would you react to the claims in recent interviews by some prominent Nigerians including former Minister for Transport, Chief Ebenezer Babatope, Elder Wole Oyelese, a former Minister for Special Duties and also Major Al Mustapha that NADECO leaders prevented late M.K.O Abiola from taking conditional bail granted him by late General Sani Abacha’s regime?
Nigerians should not take these men serious. Babatope, Oyelese and Al-Mustapha are liars. They lied against NADECO leaders. One thing Nigerians must not forget is that these three men, Babatope, Oyelese and Al Mustapha had one thing in common. They were Abacha’s men. They were die-hard supporters of General Sani Abacha, a notorious ruler whose regime was renowned for killing and hunting down NADECO and prominent Yoruba leaders.
At a period when Abacha’s regime was on its killing spree of innocent Nigerians who demanded that Abacha, an usurper should hand over reins of government to the late M.K.O Abiola who won the June 12, 1993 presidential election annulled by General Ibrahim Babangida’s government, Babatope, Oyelese and Jakande were looking the other way and keeping quiet, because they were enjoying themselves in Abacha’s government.
Nigerians should also not forget that these men, Babatope, Jakande and Oyelese with Mrs Mobolaji Osomo and late Olu Onagoruwa were initially recommended by NADECO to go and serve in Abacha’s government when Abacha initially promised that he would hand over government in six months time to the legitimate winner of June 12, 1993 presidential election, Chief M.K.O Abiola. Even Abiola himself gave his consent that these people should join Abacha’s cabinet.
But when NADECO leaders and M.K.O Abiola himself realized that Abacha had his own agenda, that he wanted to perpetuate himself in office, and that he was not sincere in his promise, quickly NADECO asked Babatope, Oyelese, Jakande and others to resign from Abacha’s cabinet. In fact, the Yoruba as a race held an emergency meeting at Premier Hotel, Mokola, Ibadan where it was unanimously agreed that Jakande, Babatope, Oyelese, Mobolaji Osomo and Onagoruwa should resign from Abacha’s government. But they all turned deaf ears. They disobeyed Yoruba leaders.
Rather than resign from Abacha’s government, these people became die-hard supporters of Abacha and were promoting Abacha’s interests over that of M.K.O Abiola and the Yoruba as a race. Some of them started describing Abacha as a great leader and one of the best things to have happened to Nigeria and in the process sabotaging the political interests of M.K.O Abiola, and the June 12 struggle. Because of greed, these men betrayed M.K.O Abiola, they also not only betrayed the Yoruba and other Nigerians who as at that time were committed to the June 12 struggle, but they also betrayed their own conscience.
If it were to be in a saner clime, people like Ebenezer Babatope, Lateef Jakande and Wole Oyelese and Al Mustapha should not have been talking in public again. They played ignoble roles in the June 12 struggle, and no matter how hard they tried, they can’t re-write or turn down history on its head. But it is very unfortunate that they are trying to use propaganda to twist history or run others down, when in actual fact, they were the real villains of June 12 struggle.
But still on the allegation that NADECO leaders prevented M.K.O Abiola from taking that bail …
It is a big lie against NADECO leaders. NADECO leaders never asked M.K.O Abiola not to take the conditional bail offered him by Abacha’s government, but we were against that bail.
Why did NADECO leaders oppose that conditional bail? We opposed it on the basis of principle. We were fighting a principled battle with Abacha, because he had usurped M.K.O Abiola’s mandate freely given to him by Nigerians, and under that bail condition offered by Abacha, M.K.O Abiola was to give an undertaking that he would not talk about June 12 again. In essence, what Abacha and his cohorts were saying was that Abiola should not talk about actualizing his June 12 mandate again, that he should forego it, and that he should forget that he won any June 12, 1993 presidential election. But is this not an insult, a very big insult, and that was why NADECO opposed that bail.
NADECO leaders never discussed with M.K.O Abiola on the bail issue, and he too didn’t consult us or seek our opinion. Abiola was an adult, and perhaps, he took that decision not to take or accept the bail when he realized that accepting it would have meant giving away June 12, 1993 presidential election he had won.
People should stop saying what they don’t know. They should stop being mischievous, NADECO leaders never discussed the bail issue with M.K.O Abiola, the decision not to take it was his own. But also on our own path, we NADECO leaders rejected that conditional bail because we considered it as a Greek gift, and we supported M.K.O Abiola’s decision not to take it.
Like I said earlier, Oyelese, Babatope and Jakande should not try to rewrite history or turn it upside down. They were part and parcel of the Abacha’s evil regime, and the role each of them played is well recorded in history.
For somebody like Ebenezer Babatope, does he think Nigerians would forget that he was the one that sponsored the motion that all the five political parties formed during that period should adopt General Abacha as their consensus and sole presidential candidate?
Babatope sponsored that infamous motion. He can’t deny it. The late Chief Bola Ige described those five political parties then as five fingers on a leprous hand. Babatope and Oyelese should rather keep quiet and not try to hoodwink Nigerians. They were Abacha’s men. They served Abacha dutifully and loyally. They fell so much in love with Abacha to the extent that they forgot that they were in Abacha’s cabinet in the first place to help late M.K.O Abiola actualize the June 12 mandate. At the end, Babatope, Oyelese, Jakande and other Yoruba ministers that served Abacha helped the late dictator to bury June 12.
For Al-Mustapha, he should keep quiet. He is not a man of honour. His hands are full of blood of so many Nigerians that were sent to their early graves by Abacha’s killer squads. Al Mustapha was one of Abacha’s henchmen that was detailed to hunt down opponents of Abacha’s regime.
Al Mustapha should explain what he knows about the murders of Rear-Admiral Babatunde Elegbede, Pa Alfred Rewane, Alhaja Kudirat Abiola and others that Abacha’s killers squad terminated their lives. This was why he was put on trial over Kudirat Abiola’s death. It is only that Nigerians have short memory, anybody dealing with Al Mustapha is dining with the devil.
Babatope, Oyelese and Al Mustapha are birds of the same feather. They are all traitors. They should keep quiet. Rather then shamelessly trying to cover their acts of betrayal, they should cover their faces in shame. For their ignoble roles in Abacha’s government, some of these men have become irrelevant today.
But some Nigerians are saying that perhaps late M.K.O Abiola should have taken that conditional bail offer. given that he who fights and runs away, lives to fight another day …
Those who are saying that, what do they mean? What they are saying is that Abiola should have compromised and jettisoned his avowed principle to fight for the actualization of his June 12 mandate. If Abiola had taken that conditional bail, what it meant was that he had signed off and relinquished the June 12, 1993 presidential election he had won, and if he had done that, that would have been very unfair not only to himself, but also to other millions of Nigerians that voted for him.
M.K.O Abiola had become a hero of Nigeria’s democracy today because he didn’t compromise his principles. Although they killed him in the process of fighting for his rights, at least, M.K.O Abiola had become a universal hero today.
Don’t also forget that hundreds of Nigerians who were fighting for actualization of M.K.O Abiola’s June 12 mandate were also killed by Abacha’s regime, so it would have amounted to an act of betrayal if Abiola had jettisoned the June 12 struggle. Even in Lagos, we still remember how pro-June 12 supporters were killed by the military under Abacha, so it is only a man without conscience that would compromise and forget sacrifices others have made for him. Abiola was a true hero, and his place is assured in Nigeria’s democracy and history.
What’s your reaction to claims that NADECO leaders, especially Yoruba among them, were against M.K.O Abiola becoming President of Nigeria, because they felt he frustrated moves by late Chief Obafemi Awolowo to become President of Nigeria, when he was a member of the defunct National Party of Nigeria(NP N) during the Second Republic?
Rubbish. Those saying that are talking rubbish. They are peddling falsehood. Who worked more for Abiola’s presidency than late Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s aides and supporters who were in NADECO? None. Chief Awolowo’s aides and supporters led by late Chief Adekunle Ajasin mobilized support for M.K.O Abiola and that was the reason why Abiola won 100 percent of the votes in the SouthWest. Do you think that feat would have been possible if we, who were Awolowo’s supporters didn’t want Abiola to become president? The support given to M.K.O Abiola’s presidential project in 1993 by Awolowo’s supporters was massive. We had nothing against Abiola. We gave him our total and unconditional support. We were with him before, during and after the election. We didn’t betray M.K.O Abiola like others did.
There is this video which Major Al Mustapha has been claiming exposes NADECO leaders as double-dealing during the Abiola’s travails. Al Mustapha claimed that during the day , NADECO leaders claimed or professed to be Abiola’s sympathizers, but in the night, they met Abacha’s officials, and that some even compromised taking pecuniary gains from Abacha’s regime; what’s your take on that?
Nobody should take Al Mustapha serious. He is a serial liar. The Al Mustapha I know through his character would have released such video if he has any. He is a liar. I challenged him to release the video.
Why didn’t he release the video during his trial for Kudirat Abiola’s murder? He is a liar. During his trial for Kudirat Abiola’s murder, he would have released the video. Al Mustapha is looking for cheap publicity. He thinks that any rubbish he says that the media will publish it. Mustapha is an attention seeker, a rabble-rouser who should be ignored.
But Al Mustapha seems to have become a popular public figure, he has even formed a political party with many prominent Nigerians as members, what do you have to say to that?
It is only people like Al Mustapha who will follow him. What does Al Mustapha have to offer Nigerians? It is only that some Nigerians have short memory, otherwise what would any reasonable Nigerian have to do with Al Mustapha? Have we forgotten so soon the role he, alongside people like dreaded Sergeant Rogers, played in Abacha’s killer squad that eliminated several prominent Nigerians like Pa Alfred Rewane, Rear Admiral Babatunde Elegbede, and Alhaja Kudirat Abiola just to mention a few? Nigerians should also remember that many eminent citizens like Commodore Dan Suleiman, Lt-General Alani Akinrinade, Chief Cornelius Adebayo and hundreds of others have to run into exile in order to escape from Abacha’s killer squad.
Any Nigerian, especially a Yorubaman that romances or join Al Mustapha’s party is not a true Yorubaman, such should re-examine himself or herself and think whether what Al Mustapha did to M.K.O Abiola and his wife who were both murdered under a situation in which Al Mustapha was a key player was evil or not, and let posterity judge.
But your own good friend and associate, Dr Fredrick Fasehun has been one of the notable Yoruba romancing Al Mustapha who has even described Fasehun as his godfather, what’s your reaction to that?
I’m shocked by Fasehun’s action. I’m not the only one shocked by his romance with Al Mustapha. Since Fasehun came to the public to declare Al Mustapha as his godson, I have severed my relationship with him.
There is no way light and darkness can co-exist. Al Mustapha is darkness, he is evil, I can’t have any relationship or anything to do with anybody that associates with him. I’m not the only one that has kept my distance from Fasehun, so many other notable Nigerians especially progressives have distanced themselves from him. Fasehun by his romance with Al Mustapha has become a big disappointment to the Yoruba race. The Yoruba can’t trust him again. Fasehun has become a chameleon, he is no longer a man of principle. I don’t know what went wrong with him or came over him that he has now become Al Mustapha’s new father.
There has been a sudden leap in agitations here and there with some new groups issuing eviction order on non-indigenes to leave their regions- e.g. Niger-Delta; a new group has also declared Oduduwa Republic, while the IPOB agitations for an independent state of Biafra has also been gaining momentum, some are saying that this might not be so if President Muhammadu Buhari had been around in the country, do you agree?
I don’t think so. Even if Buhari has been around, the agitations would have been louder and more persistent than this.
Buhari should be partly blamed for what is happening now. From day one, Buhari has declared that he preferred the status quo to remain, and I’m not surprised by his stand.
Buhari is a Fulani man, and he sees himself first as a Fulani man before being a Nigerian. Right from the time he was military Head of State, Buhari has shown himself to be too pro-North and he has remained so up till now. Buhari has scant or no regard for other regions, except for the North. We warned Nigerians on the dangers of voting for him and now we have been proved right.
All these agitations we are seeing here and there in different parts of the country are signs of bigger crisis to come. Whether those we call our leaders want to accept it or not, crisis is looming and if care is not taken, the crisis will lead to break up of Nigeria. It may even be during Buhari’s time that Nigeria will break up. Buhari is not helping matters. Rather than his government listening to the demands for restructuring, they are dancing around it. What we don’t know and realize is that we are playing with fire.
People from other regions of the country are prepared now to resist the North’s dominance. They are determined to shake off or remove the yoke of oppression and they are determined. By procrastinating, and running away from doing the needful, we are only postponing the evil day.
How can the situation be addressed?
The unfortunate thing is that Buhari’s government came on the premise of effecting change. But on getting to office, the same government that came to office on change slogan has been resisting clamour for change, and until these changes are effected, agitations will not go away. One of the changes is that he must return to a true practice of federalism. We must return to the constitution of the First Republic. Between 1960 – 1966 before the military took over the reins of government, we were practicing true federalism, and each region was developing at its own pace. There was healthy rivalry and fiscal federalism was also in practice. Regions were in control of resources in their domains, and you exploit resources in your region to develop your area. Regions only pay taxes on these resources to the central government, which in this case was the Federal Government.
But when the military came they changed the whole thing into unitary system, and right from that time, the North started dominating other regions, and not only that, resources from other regions like crude oil were being used to develop the North while the Niger-Delta that produces the oil remain underdeveloped. Is it not an insult that a state like Bayelsa State that produces oil through which Nigeria gets its revenues has only eight local government areas whereas Kano that is not an oil producing state has 44 local government areas, and thereby collects more revenue monthly allocation than an oil producing Bayelsa State that has only eight local government areas. These are some of the cases of injustices that need to be addressed.
Do you harbour any fear about the present situation in the country?
There is no way we can continue like this, something will happen. My fear is that Nigeria may break up if we refuse to do the needful now. But if that happens, Nigeria will not be the first country to break up. The defunct USSR, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia and Sudan are few examples, but my concern is that can break up take place peacefully without bloodshed? This is why President Buhari should act now.
He should have another look at the recommendations of the 2014 National Confab. That confab made good recommendations on how Nigeria can move forward, and many eminent people from the North were part of the confab. It is not as if the interests of the North were not protected in 2014 confab report.
What’s your reaction to the recent Senate’s rejection of devolution of power?
I’m not shocked by the Senate’s action. The Senate, and the National Assembly are part of Nigeria’s problem.The present constitution which Nigeria operates put the North at an advantage over the South, and that’s why you have the North dominating the National Assembly. It is because the North dominates the National Assembly, that’s why the Senate shot down and rejected restructuring.
The Senate did it deliberately to protect the interests of the North. The National Assembly is being turned into a tool to suppress the wishes of Nigerians. This is very sad and unfortunate.