Oluseye Ojo, Ibadan
Chief Areoye Oyebola, former editor of the defunct Daily Times, holds a bachelors degree in Economics from the University of Ibadan, 1964 and postgraduate diploma in education in the same university before he proceeded to obtain diploma in journalism from Plymouth in England.
In this interview, he speaks on his encounter with the late Chief MKO Abiola, the acclaimed winner of the June 12, 1993 presidential poll that was annulled by the former Military President, Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida (IBB), his roles in National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) and how he was given the title of ‘Father of Investigative Reporting in Nigeria.’ Excerpts:
President Muhammadu Buhari honoured the acclaimed winner of June 12, 1993 presidential election, Chief MKO Abiola by declaring June 12 Democracy Day and a public holiday in the country. After the election was annulled, you were so much in the struggle for that actualisation of Abiola’s mandate through NADECO. What actually prompted you to join NADECO and what were the roles you played in the coalition?
Buhari’s action is a great thing for Nigeria because June 12 must be remembered and what he (Chief MKO Abiola) stood for must be implemented if Nigeria will move ahead from the perpetual confusion, which we are in. MKO Abiola was my good friend and the friendship started by the time he (Abiola) was living at Surulere area of Lagos, where his first wife, Simbiat, had a very big shop. We met actually and we became friendly. The friendship was trending when he was reading about my exploits in the newspapers, especially when I was doing investigative reporting. I was probing universities, public corporations like Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), Nigerian Airways. He read that the registrar of the University of Lagos then, Chief A.Y. Eke, called a press conference about a problem of the university that I did. He (Abiola) called me and said: ‘I did not know you are doing this kind of thing.’ I said: ‘Really, I have done that for the university I attended, which is University of Ibadan. And the registrar of UI then took a page in Daily Times, refuting some of what I wrote. After University of Lagos, I would do Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, then University of Ife. Then, that I would go to Zaria to probe Ahmadu Bello University, which I did. Then, he (Abiola) sounded very encouraging. I told him that when I go to Zaria, I will use the opportunity also probe the Nigerian Railways. I told him I would go by the Nigerian Railways to Zaria from Lagos. He said he was pleased with me that I could use my initiative to be doing that type of investigative reporting. And those who appreciate such initiative include my very good friend, who is a former governor of Oyo State, Alhaji Lam Adesina, who when I was 70 years, was the chairman of the ceremony. He described me as a father of investigative journalism in Nigeria. He cited examples. So, MKO impressed me as somebody who had clear ideas of how Nigerian could be great, how the economy could become buoyant. He said some of those things to me. Eventually, he rallied round SDP (Social Democratic Party). I was following his progress and his efforts. What struck me most was the fact that he was a man of wisdom because while that election was on, he told me on phone the arrangement he made, where he got university teachers from different zones of Nigeria, gave them something like computer to record details of voters’ actions – election, the number of votes people cast, the voters and so on. Then, he set up a system in Lagos, where the information were relayed to him. This was why while the election was on, he was even ahead of the electoral body, knowing the details, the number of voters everywhere. And the government became embarrassed on how he got the information, not knowing he had made the arrangements for that before the presidential elections. When they saw that he knew everything, they decided to stop the election, even before the final result was released. He was a man of wisdom and of acute intelligence. These made me to like him him more. It was when I was relating to MKO on telephone all the time on the election day that he explained to me the unique and thoughtful step he took in appointing highly educated experts to monitor the votes in all the zones of Nigeria and send their results to him and a team in Lagos for final minute-by-minute collation of the figures.
Can you tell us the particular role you played in NADECO?
Yes. I felt committed to NADECO activities and there was no meeting in Chief Adekunle Ajasin’s town in Owo, Ondo State, that I missed, and we met regularly. I used to go with my late friend, former governor of Oyo State, Alhaji Lam Adesina. At a stage, I was recommended to be chairman of an Espionage Committee, which was a spy. I was recommended, probably based on my background as an investigative reporter. I was made the chairman and I have two other persons in the committee, and we were meeting in my Ring Road House, Ibadan. The aim was for us to as much as possible find out the plans, the ideas and actions of the tyrant then, the president, who arrested the ‘elected president,’ and were doing that, we had contacts, unknown to the government in Abuja, in Aso Rock. We monitored Sani Abacha’s actions and activities for NADECO. I was very pleased to be involved in that. I think he (Abacha) was aware that through NADECO, people were very displeased with his tyrannical actions.
You were the chairman of Espionage Committee of NADECO, and you spied on the activities of former military Head of State, Gen. Sani Abacha. What were you able to achieve with what you did?
Well, it was discovered by NADECO that he was very desperate and he didn’t want to concede anything to MKO Abiola. He was even planning, which became known later, to be a kind of life president, to after some time, to continue to rule Nigeria. This information was passed to the Western world. We were able to know that. His outrageous stealing was made known too. But his, ambition, where he thought a man of his intellect, calibre, would rule Nigeria indefinitely was a big surprise to some of us. But we knew he was planning all that, and that he was adamant. Even, some people in the Western world knew he didn’t want to go.
You were very close to the late Chief MKO Abiola during his lifetime. After the annulment of June 12, 1993 presidential poll, Abiola met with former military President, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, who also happened to be his friend, what did Abiola tell you about the encounter with IBB?
A day after he came back from Babangida, who was then the military president of Nigeria, I went to his (Abiola) house in Ileja, Lagos. Then, there had been riots all over Lagos. But I thank God, the leaders of the rioting group knew me. They directed their followers to give way to me to pass. So, I met him in his house and he gave me a vivid account of what happened. He was persuaded to go and meet Babangida because he was his good friend. The purpose of meeting him was to ask him (Babangida) some questions bordering on the fact that he (Abiola) told IBB he wanted to contest the 1993 presidential election and he (Babangida) gave him a go-ahead. “If you did not give me a go-ahead, I would not have done so. Why did you change your mind? Why did you annul the election? Abiola told me that Babangida didn’t give him any meaningful answer. But something that struck him was that the wife of Babangida, Marian, was pacing up and down in the sitting room, where they met, saying ‘they want to take our job’ repeatedly. But he watched the countenance of Babangida when Marian was saying that, he seemed a bit embarrassed because it’s a display of their intention. So, Babangida didn’t give him any meaningful answer to any of his questions. Abiola told me the story.
Apart from being close to Abiola during his lifetime, you were also close to the family. Abiola’s second wife, Kudirat, was assassinated during the struggle for the actualisation of June 12 mandate. What did you find painful about how Kudirat was murdered?
It was very painful. Apart from meeting Kudirat, when Abiola was in exile, his number abroad that was functioning, she gave it to me. I phoned him regularly when he was in London. But occasionally, I decided to go and see Kudirat, to ask about how things were going, after MKO had returned to Nigeria and had been detained. When I got to Kudirat, she told me that in few days time, we would go and see the American Ambassador to Nigeria and British High Commissioner to Nigeria. She said she was going to ask them why they did not intervene in the detention of her husband, saying they were the one who told MKO to come back home that Nigeria is too important for him to be abroad on exile, for something worthwhile to be achieved. She said they were the ones who encouraged him to come back.
Then, she asked the British High Commission and American Consulate that “now that he is in detention, what are you doing? You are the ones, who encouraged him to come home.” She was exacting the questions on them. Unfortunately, I later realised that Abacha and his people knew the effect of the pressure she was bringing on American government. I feel that prompted Abacha to plan the assassination of Kudirat. When I heard that she was assassinated when she was going to the American and British representatives, it hurt me that it was because of this brave efforts she was making that possibly was embarrassing the British and American people, that made Abacha to eliminate her.
Some Nigerians have advocated the return of handing over day after every general elections to October 1 like it was in 1979 and 1983. Some said it should be June 12 and a number of people have said May 29 should not even exist as a special day in the country’s calendar. What is your take on the contention?
I support the move that May 29 should be ruled out. But what is most important is the landmark situation, which Abiola’s victory meant to the country, and which ambitious military people, who wanted to rule us perpetually frustrated, that Nigeria should be transformed by the goals he set for himself, to create a very prosperous nation, with the citizens, being among the most prosperous in the world. I think June 12 is very important.
If Chief MKO Abiola had become the president, what would have changed in Nigeria and what level would the country have attained in area of development by now vis-a-vis the quagmire the country has found itself now?
Definitely, if Abiola had succeeded, because of his exposure to the world, especially the developed countries, he would not tolerate anything less than active development and prosperity of our country. He would make sure we proper, we utilise our resources, and everybody would be happy. Nigeria is one of the richest countries in the world in terms of human and material resources, and natural resources. We have everything that could make the country great. But if the leadership could assemble great, visionary men, people of ideas, people with knowledge, not mediocrities, not people who are not exposed to what the rest of the world are making. They don’t know anything about China. They don’t know what India is doing. They don’t know what Germany, France, Japan and other developed countries are doing, that made them to be great countries. Abiola was a man of intelligence. He was so wise that he monitored the election up to the minutest details all over as the election was going on. He told me he put people in strategic positions, university men and they were using something like computer to send details to him, minute by minute from their zones to Lagos. He was a man of bright ideas and intelligence. We would have been better in this country. He did not surround himself with mediocrities. He would assemble correct people and he would utilise thoughtful and sound ideas, not just trial and error, fire brigade approach to development.
How did Abiola help you in achieving your goals in life?
When he heard that I have done investigation of University of Lagos on the improper things that were going on there at the time, and he read that Chief A.Y. Eke, the registrar of the institution, called a press conference about my reports and findings, Abiola was interested. He asked me if I had been in the Criminal Investigation Department before. I said no, it was my initiative. I told him that I had investigated the University of Ibadan, which is the university I attended. And that University of Ife, now Obafemi Awolowo University, would be investigated, and that I would go to ABU in Zaria and investigate it. He was so interested. He was very happy. He said it was a good initiative. Then, I let him know that I was doing indigenization report. I was probing big and foreign companies then, such as UAC, UTC, and Leventis, to know whether they attracted suitable Nigerians into their system, and whether they were indigenizing by putting our people in the right place. I resigned from Daily Times in 1975 and served as Commissioner for Internal Affairs and Information in the old Oyo State and when new Oyo State was created, I became Commissioner for Local Government and Information. I was appointed by the military government from 1975 to 1978. But what was more interesting was that when I settled down to publishing in Ibadan in 1978, I published many books apart from several books I have written. Abiola saw me in Lagos and asked me how I have been faring in publishing. I mentioned to him that one of my books and I am so proud to have written the book, ‘A Modern Approach to Economics of West Africa,’ which up till today, is the most comprehensive book on applied economics of the West Africa, which is 460 pages. I told him, among other titles, the book had been selling very well, among the first and second year university students, and we are having appreciable returns from it. I also told him, that students were buying the books. I also explained to him, that at that time, I have introduced two unique educational magazines, which we invited brilliant teachers to write, and it was published monthly. They are: ‘Sure Success in English’ and ‘Sure Success in Mathematics.’ They were very popular. I even explained to him Chief Obafemi Awolowo, when he sent copies to him, sent me a personal letter, congratulating me that he was very happy when he read the two educational magazines, and he wrote in his letter that ‘It is a worthy endeavour.’ So, I told MKO and he was very happy, and he said ‘I must encourage you to increase your wonderful pursuit of knowledge and educational progress.’ Interestingly, he sent to me a cheque through his secretary. That time, it was a lot of money, a cheque of N100,000 in 1978. He impressed me as a man, who was very generous, not selfish, though I have had a high opinion of him before. So, when the struggle for June 12 mandate came, I felt happy that he was very determined.
You said you probed University of Ibadan, the then University of Ife, University of Lagos and Ahmadu Bello University, what did you probe about them?
I found out irregularities. Like in University of Lagos, they built houses in the compound (campus), and they still gave people rent. So, some buildings were not occupied because it paid them to be given rent. I found out many other irregularities too. I felt with the economic situation then, the Vice Chancellor’s building was too extravagant. So, I went to the top of a bridge where I could have a view of University of Lagos then, with Daily Times cameraman. We took the photographs. I thought the universities should not be having grandiose projects and so on. Also, in the University of Ibadan then, I talked about admission irregularities and other points. The registrar then, Chief Adamolekun, took a page in the Daily Times, in which he denied some of what I wrote. He said some of the people, whose names were mentioned, responded illegally. He wrote in the advert that he felt sorry that an ex-student of the university has become a ‘newspaper reporter.’ Maybe he thought why should I, after graduating from the reputable University of Ibadan, become a reporter. Also, when I got to University of Ife, I brought out irregularities. It was interesting. People replied me and we published their reply. Then, I was the Assistant Editor of Sunday Times, and my Editor was Sam Amuka, the owner of Vanguard Newspapers. When he received the reply of University of Ife students, that said I have been an author, well known and that I was probing universities about. They said they were shocked that a man like me, a former author could become a ‘newspaper boy.’ The University of Ibadan registrar said a ‘newspaper reporter.’ So, Sam Amuka replied. He put in asterisk. He thanked the University of Ife students for the quality in quote of their reply. He wondered why they talked about me, being a reporter, a worthwhile job. I thank God for that. When I turned 70, my friend, the late Alhaji Lam Adesina, former governor of Oyo State, was the chairman for the occasion, and he said I was the ‘father of investigative reporting in Nigeria.’ He said I initiated something wonderful, prompting irregularities anywhere. It was interesting because when I was going to ABU in Zaria, I decided to probe the Nigerian Railway Corporation. I boarded the train from Iddo in Lagos to Zaria, discovered that beggars and all sorts of people would come and meet you in second class apartment and so on. I reported everything. I reported all sorts of irregularities to the extent that Nigerian Railway Corporation called a press conference, to reply to some of my allegations. Any opportunity I have, I probe Nigerian Airways. I saw confusion in Kano, where people could not even identify their luggage. I reported about it. So, I thank God that I used the initiative to pinpoint things that were good. Some people threatened to sue the Daily Times, about my writeups. But none of them succeeded in terms of libel or anything like that because I was always sure of my facts. That’s journalism with a difference. Something happened that I liked, which the head of Daily Times then did. University of Lagos knew I had investigated the place and we would publish it. So, they wrote to Daily Times and my editor, that somebody has been coming to the institution, asking questions about so many things. They said I was not sure of my facts. Both my editor and Head of Daily Times decided to publish that letter, and they captioned it: ‘How they tried to stop us’. And then directed readers to go to certain pages in the newspaper for the full report of the investigation. After the publication, Chief A.Y. Eke called a press conference, refuting some of my claims.