ASARI and his fat mouth...

The Dangerous Script To Set Al-Mustapha Free

Anybody can be deceived by the well-prepared and well planned script of the notorious conman and serial killer, Al- Mustapha in the past few days just to get undeserved attention but I am not. I wrote the Book; Heroes of Democracy in 1999 and everything anybody needs to know about the lost years from 1985 to 1998 is well-documented for history and generations yet unborn. The Heroes of the renascent democracy we enjoy today were clearly identified as well as the enemies of democracy who are still ravaging the political landscape and calling the bluff of all us.

The game plan is to use the platform of the Lagos High Court and the presence of Nigeria’s huge media industry to raise wild allegations against the Heroes of the Yoruba Nation living or dead and the Media will simply go for it to sell their papers. The factional leaders of OPC, Chief Ganiyu Adams and Dr. Frederick Fasheun who have lost focus and ideas will lend credence to the spurious claims and unpardonable lies of Al Mustapha having been motivated or purchased to do so. Before you say Jack Robinson, the whole nation will be awash with the news of Al Mustapha’s gambit. Consequently, the hidden persuaders will begin to call for Al Mustapha’s release. But this is a familiar road and we understand the game very well.
While I admit that we have been wasting the precious gift of time to conclude this case, let me warn that those of us who were part of the struggle for democracy in Nigeria will resist every attempt to pervert justice in this case.
It is a well-known fact that Al-Mustapha used his undeserved position as Abacha’s CSO to coordinate a clinical and well-designed plot to decimate the Yoruba nation and their first class leaders for standing up for June 12 1993 Presidential Elections won by their great son, Chief Moshood Abiola. At a time in the history of this country, all Yoruba leaders were either in exile or in prison custody courtesy of Al- Mustapha and the forty thieves.
The late Chief Bola Ige told me that when all their evil machinations to provoke the Yoruba nation to war through deliberate and programmed incarceration of Chief Abiola and other Yoruba leaders failed, Al-Mustapha figured that the only way to achieve their diabolical desires is to kill Kudirat Abiola. Al- Mustapha and his partners in this heinous crime believed that the brutal killing will sufficiently provoke Yoruba to war and this will provide them with the ample opportunity to destroy Lagos within 12 hours. Those who can remember events vividly should not forget that it was the then Minister of Works , Major General Katangora who said in the peak of the crisis that Lagos will be destroyed within 12 hours if they so wish.
Today I hear that some purchased youths went to the Lagos High Court to ask for Al-Mustapha’s release. This is not only an absurdity but an attempt to render nugatory our judicial process and consequently pervert the cause of justice. Impunity has become a way of life in Nigeria and we are all the biggest losers. If Al-Mustapha and his gang, Ganiyu Adams and Dr. Fasheun continue to tell us that Chief Bola Ige and Chief Abraham Adesanya collected bribe to betray the struggle, then those who know the truth must speak out now. We have told those who care to listen that Al-Mustapha is no friend of Chief M.K.O Abiola or the Yoruba nation. If Al-Mustapha and company had their way, they would have wiped out the Yoruba nation as a result of greed, petty jealousy and envy. I enjoin those in the army, navy, air force, and the police etc who know Al-Mustapha heinous crimes to speak out. Evil triumph in every society when good men and those who know the truth do nothing. The late Dr. Nwafor Orizu taught me that the offended are not always so heartless to forgive but the problem is that the offenders cannot repent.
Al Mustapha was Abacha’s hatchet heartless liquidator. He called the shots and the world was at his feet. He decided those who must live and those who must die. He must have killed more than 200 people to sustain Abacha for 5 years in office. Other Nigerians may not know Al Mustapha, but we know him very well.
The World must know that it has been proved beyond reasonable doubts through Sergeant Roger’s empirical evidence that Al Mustapha gave him guns and money to kill Alhaja Kudirat Abiola to provoke Yoruba to war so that they can destroy Lagos. No power in the tongue of any man born of a woman can change this obvious and painful truth. And as we toy with this weighty case, let us not forget that Kudirat was killed, Chief Abiola was killed and his huge business empire destroyed by Al Mustapha and company. Let us remember the orphans left behind by Chief Abiola and Kudirat.
They are watching us and the World is watching us also. If a writer is silent, he is lying!

Joe Igbokwe
Lagos

How Notorious Al Mustapha Tried to Kill Me! By Alex Okiemute Kabba

It is no longer news that the notorious Major Al Mustapha, the former Chief Security Officer, CSO, to the Late dictator General Sani Abacha drove me into exile in the USA. What is news happened late last week when a Federal appeal court in Lagos, Nigeria freed Al Mustapha of all counts of Capital Murder of Kudirat Abiola, the wife of the late Chief MKO Abiola, whose annulled June 12 1993 election victory plunged Nigeria into political anarchy; which almost led to the break-up of the Country. During the reign of Abacha, Al Mustapha terrorized the country to no end. Even then, serving generals were afraid of him. Now a feckless appeal court and a bungling prosecuting team have freed this murderer, who wanted to kill me and hang my hide in ASO Rock for dart games is now breathing the air of freedom made possible by democracy, which he so persecuted us for because he wanted Abacha and the Military to rule forever.
Suspicion has arisen that this judgment which freed Al Mustapha may not stand the smell test. Consider what has happened since his freedom. The Military authorities in Nigeria have made it known that Al-Mustapha is still in the army and will soon be decorated with a new rank of Brigadier-General presumably the rank of his mates (since denied by the military). It cannot be said that the Military authorities will gleefully announce that a disgraced and fallen murderer would be promoted without ASO Rock having no inkling of the development. A man who pursued me in Abuja in 1994 to 1995 with Vengeance detaining me in Alagbon, (Lagos), Wuse, Kuje (Abuja), detention Centers and finally sending a 20-man Killer squad made up of soldiers, State security services , SSS, operatives and Policemen to arrest me and finish me off is now allegedly to be promoted to a two –star general for all the atrocities that he committed with his Boss, Abacha. Could this be a desperate political play by President Goodluck Jonathan’s 2015 calculations?
What do we tell the family of Bagauda James Kaltho, a Journalist Colleague of Mine at the Abuja Bureau of THE NEWS / TEMPO/ PM / News, who succeeded me as bureau chief after I fled to the USA, who was eventually murdered by the goons of Al Mustapha and his body dumped at the Durbar Hotel, Kaduna and destroying his name by blood-labeling him as a bomber?. I cannot believe that a civilian government will attempt to use a serial killer like Al Mustapha for any useful purpose in a democracy, which the Yobe-born Major fought so hard to abort. A military major who, on account of his activities, dislocated my life and that of my family and barely escaped his killers by the grace of God. We wait to see what the powers that be in Abuja are planning with the schemed release and probable elevation of Al Mustapha.
Since President Jonathan does not know history of those who fought for the democracy that he is enjoying now, I call on him to promote Al Mustapha to a four Star general and make him his chief of Army Staff so that he can make history to repeat itself.
A writer wrote that those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.
I hope Jonah is listening. Any role for Al- Mustapha so soon after his technical acquittal of murder of numerous Nigerians whom he killed in cold blood would make the Nigerian President an accomplice of Abacha and Al Mustapha, to be spitting on the graves of the heroic Nigerian fighters for democracy, many of whom lost their lives, and many scattered in exile un-rehabilitated.
Al Mustafa’s quick rehabilitation in the book of President Jonathan taught me two lessons: this kind of swift rehabilitation of murderers and criminals is the reason why not many are willing to die for Nigeria and which is why Nigeria under President Goodluck Jonathan has become one of open sesame of Looting, Kidnapping, and abuse of Presidential Power.
The Ingrates who inherited power have forgotten the blood and the suffering of the patriots who fought Abacha to a stand still to smoothen their way to Aso Rock and are now behaving like drunks who do not know how democracy came to the country. At the appropriate time we will tell them.

In Search Of Role Models By Ahmad Salkida

As my parents would say; when they were growing up and getting married in the 60s, they revered great leaders and wished that their children would grow up to emulate these leaders. They proudly recalled.

Nigeria's past heroes as if 'they once walked on water'.

The Sardauna of Sokoto, Tafawa Balewa, the Nnamdi Azikiwe and their likes were wonderful role models. Our parents looked up to them, and so do we today, because of their accomplishments. These leaders, it would appear, placed the needs of their subjects ahead of theirs and made selfless sacrifices their ethos in public service.

Great thinkers like Aristotle believe that we learn to be ethical (virtuous) by modeling the behavior of moral people, and depending on the role models we have, people can learn both good and bad habits.

Today, many Nigerians feel betrayed whenever our leaders stand on podiums to extol the excellent work of our heroes past. At the funeral of late Chinua Achebe, Nigeria’s literary icon, the follies of our leaders played out glaringly when President Goodluck Jonathan recounted reading 'Things Fall Apart' in 1971. Many in the audience that evening felt the President did not learn any lessons from the book.
And so, for me and numerous other countrymen, the question rings profoundly: Who are the role models in Nigeria's contemporary political leadership? There’s hardly any voice that speaks hope. Both from the camps of those occupying the various Government Houses today and the ones in opposition you routinely receive in different decibels the voices of deceit. There’s nothing in the open pointing towards affordable housing, healthcare, quality education, electricity, and access to potable water.

Steadily, it has been more of those that uphold ethical precepts that are routinely losing out, and those with dubious characters are heavily on the ascendancy. Merit and hard work are hardly any qualification for elevation in any field of endeavour instead nepotism and crass political patronage are the rule.

Journalism that ought to be the ground of cultivated values is up to the dogs, sadly.

This is the case in many spheres of our public life, where many that decided not to thread the path of corrupt and retrogressive leaders, and chose to adhere to the highest ethical conduct are silenced and hounded into submission or passivity. I have asked myself who among today’s rulers could inspire and not despair. Who could be a leader and not be a dealer? Who could be a real refreshing breath of fresh air, not a grandstanding, dubious claimant? I can only think of one or maybe two, but I couldn't think of a third person in a country with over 160 million people.

Although, a role model can vary from one person to another, however, my focus, here is; are today's leaders as selfless and committed to the overall good of Nigeria like what we see in some of the names mentioned here? Why is the disconnect between today's leaders and their followers so wide that they have to protect themselves with armoured vehicles and heavily armed guards? Can a leader serve without accumulating questionable wealth for himself and for his family?

Can we have a Madiba in Nigeria whose mission in governance was not the institutionalization of self, who served a single term and stepped down without being heckled? Who left power willingly for the younger generation of South Africans at a time he could command a landslide to win in any national election?
There was something about most of Nigeria and Africa's founding fathers that made them very special. They led by example, raised the bar for us, and we wish to be like them but today, I doubt if I want my children to be like any of the Governors or presidents that emerge today.
A look at one of my favorite pictures of our founding fathers, the picture of Nigeria's Prime Minister, Tafawa Balewa with his two children taking sugarcane in his farm. He sat on the mat with very modest clothes during a vacation in 1963. Such modesty was glaring when these leaders were found to have near empty bank accounts when they were killed in 1966.

Can our local council chairmen today live a modest lifestyle? Today's leaders at all levels of governance in Nigeria are in a race to have the fattest foreign bank accounts, the most palatial mansions, who will be treated in the best hospitals around the world when they or members of their families fall sick.
Today's leaders or 'bad' role models have no compunction with the way they globe-trot with their private jets amidst the squalor and indignation of the people they claim to be working for. Apart from the general despair of any likelihood that things will ever change for the better in our lifetime, the generality of Nigerians have not witness practical dividends of democracy other than the strange cute scorecards that are published regularly.Today, the absence of role models have made it practically difficult for our traditional rulers, religious leaders, elders, or political leaders to ask restive or irate youths to rest their fists and shun violence. Many youths will say; we have never seen your kids in the schools we attended, under trees, with no instructional manuals, no teachers, where we have to stay at home many times due to strikes. Many youths will say; how can they stop violence when, in fact, it was you, politicians that provided them with money to buy hard drugs, money for training, provided them with weapons and charms to kill or intimidate people, especially their opponents for them to win elections. Today's political elites erected high parameter fences around their houses, built private boreholes while the community in which they live is bereft of any public amenity. These rulers siphon the resources meant to build hospitals, roads and schools to support the industrialization drive and real estates of many developed countries and invested heavily in their companies and banks, while our industries that can provide jobs to teeming youths are in ruins. Nigeria is indeed, in need of role models.

Salkida writes from the United Arab Emirate and can be reached at

salkida@gmail.com / @contactSalkida

Nigeria Governors Forum Irrelevant, Says Presidency

PRESS STATEMENT BY SENIOR SPECIAL ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT (PUBLIC AFFAIRS) ON THE POLITICAL SITUATION IN RIVERS STATE



We are compelled to react to the unfolding political drama emanating from recent activities of some Governors from the northern part concerning political developments in Rivers State. These political moves, which are clearly intended to create fear, despair and sense of apprehension among the citizenry are grossly unfounded, misplaced and a deliberate over sensationalization of the situation.
We therefore wish to state as follows:

Insinuations and statements suggesting that Rivers State is on fire are grossly unfounded. So far, as is it evident to every discerning observer of political developments, the state is calm and peaceful. Residents of the state continue to go about their various businesses, religious, social and political activities under peaceful atmosphere. A key pointer to the prevailing peace in the state is the fact that Governor Amaechi, the Chief executive and Chief security Officer of the state, felt confident enough to travel to the United Kingdom on official assignment. It is doubtful he would have had the luxury of leaving the country if his state is in turmoil as is being canvassed.
The situation in Rivers State is purely a localized political matter and has no dangerous or far reaching consequences for the peace and security of the nation. Since our return to democratic rule in 1999, It is on record that not less than twelve states have witnessed incidents of attempted impeachment of Speakers of Houses of Assembly in Nigeria and none has posed any threat to peace and security in the country even when our democracy was not this established.
Developments in Rivers State do not pose any threat to our democracy. Our democracy remains robust, alive and well. In politics as in every sphere of human activity, different shades of opinion on issues are not uncommon within the polity but often get resolved either politically or through legal channels. It is therefore disingenuous for anyone to suggest that the political disagreement in Rivers State would imperil and ultimately derail our democracy. We recall that in Ogun State in 2010 after series of sustained fracas and attempts at impeachment and counter impeachment, the Inspector General of Police locked up the House of Assembly for several months. In all that time, nobody in the whole country suggested that the situation was a threat to our nascent democracy, and no state Governor went on any solidarity visit.

Nigeria is not in any way in disarray. As is the case in every country of the world, there may be conflicts of ideas and interests here and there, which in itself is the beauty of democracy and should not by any means be construed to mean that there is chaos in the country or that Nigeria is tilting towards anarchy as some people have claimed. Nigeria remains peaceful and is not and cannot in any way be threatened by political developments in Rivers State. It is clear that one of the most potent threats to our corporate existence and sovereignty since independence has been the Boko Haram insurgency. This menace has been confronted frontally with strong determination and focus, which has led to decisive action that has brought about the containment of the menace by the Nigerian military and other security agencies. Most reasonable Nigerians would have expected these governors to be deeply concerned and appreciative of the laudable effort of the Federal Government, which has brought reprieve from fear as well as comfort and solace not only to the people of the affected areas but also to the entire nation and international community. Surprisingly, they appear to be more interested in political maneuvering and grandstanding at the expense of the well-being of the people in their states and the stability of the nation at large.

The Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) issue like the political development in Rivers State remains essentially an affair of the 36 state governors. The outcome of elections in the body is inconsequential to the orderly governance of the Nigerian state by the Presidency. The choice of who becomes leader of the body clearly has no significant ramification on the wider political calculation of who becomes President of the country as events in our recent history bear out. We note that the chairman of the NGF in 2011 was clearly at odds with the President. He contested and lost the party’s presidential primaries to the incumbent President of the country who went ahead to be elected President by the overwhelming majority of Nigeria. It is clear therefore that occupying the chairmanship of the NGF does not in any way confer any political influence or advantage as regards who becomes President of the country neither will it be of any major political significance in the 2015 Presidential race as is being bandied about erroneously.

We therefore admonish Governors having serious issues with their party to take advantage of various channels within the party machinery to resolve it. Also, they may first of all try to show good example of their commitment to peace by working to put their own house in order through restoration of peace and consensus within the NGF. While we note their current political moves, they should be mindful that in all they do as political leaders, they ought to put the interest of the nation and our democracy first. This indeed, is the hallmark of true patriotism.

We note with satisfaction and appreciation, the subsequent visit by five governors and two deputy governors including Governor Fayemi, Governor Fashola, Governor Aregbesola, Governor Ajimobi and Governor Amosun, who demonstrated high and commendable sense of patriotism and genuine concern for the nation, with very conciliatory disposition and statesmanlike advise to Governor Amaechi towards finding a lasting solution to the political disagreements between the governor and members of the state’s House of Assembly.

We want to assure Nigerians that the Presidency is not involved in the dispute in Rivers State and will not deliberately engage in any act of destabilization of Rivers State or any state in the country neither is it interested for whatever reason, in destabilization of the NGF. In consonance with the dictates and practice of true federalism and the supremacy of the rule of law, it will be advisable that whatever political entanglements may still exist in Rivers State should be resolved politically or by employing due process of law, in the interest of peaceful co-existence and overall well-being of its citizens.
Dr. Doyin Okupe

July 24, 2013

GIFT FROM GEJ TO HIS DOG

For all his 'attacking' against perceived opponents of President Goodluck Jonathan, Dr. Doyin Okupe, also known as " Attack Lion " received a brand-new bimmer (BMW car) from president Goodluck Jonathan.

The new ride is already working wonders and Mr. okupe who recently went into recess on the account of low patronage
from the presidency has resumed his full attacking role.

NAMING OF THE ROYAL BABY

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, William and Kate have revealed their

new born son's name. Kensington Palace said in a short statement this evening:

'The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are delighted to announce that they have

named their son George Alexander Louis. The baby will be known as His Royal

Highness Prince George of Cambridge.

THE MAN BEHIND JULY 10,1999.... OAU5

A Petition to The Governors Of The State of Osun and Oyo State, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola and Gov. Abiola Ajimobi respectively, on the recent appointment of Prof Wale Omole as the Chairman Governing Council of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH).

Your Excellencies,

I am Adeleke Olanrewaju, a former Public Relations Officer and later President of the Obafemi Awolowo University Students' Union. I write to protest your decision appointing the erstwhile Vice-Chancellor of the Obafemi Awolowo University Ile-Ife, Prof. Wale Omole as the Chairman Governing Council of the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology

Your appointee, Prof. Wale Omole was the Vice Chancellor of the Obafemi Awolowo University from the year 1991 until his inglorious removal on the 13th July 1999, over the killing of five students' leaders of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife. The students are the then Secretary General of the Student's Union, George Yemi Iwilade, Ekede Efe, Tunde Oke, Yemi Ajiteru and Eviano Ekelemu. I was the primary target of the attack, but escaped by the whiskers!

It was during the tenure of Prof. Wale Omole that I had the opportunity to serve the students, and by extension the university community, for a period of two and a half years in the above stated capacities.
My protest to your Excellencies, is not unconnected with the performance of your appointee while he was Vice Chancellor of Obafemi Awolowo University, particularly the murder of the five students mentioned above, which till today remained unresolved despite overwhelming evidence pointing to the culprits.

As a first hand witness of all the events that took place in 1999, I make bold to say that a person under whose watch a university lost 5 promising youths in questionable circumstances, and who the arrested perpetrators named as the sponsor of the killings, is not fit to be Pro Chancellor of a University.
It is not accidental that Obafemi Awolowo University never witnessed such gruesome killings, till the coming of Prof. Omole, and none again, after his removal from office!
I attach herewith a publication of the students' Union of Obafemi Awolowo University, published 14years ago, giving detailed account of what happened , the book titled 'A Cry for Justice', and a copy of the Justice Etam's Judicial Panel of Inquiry's initial report, (a Judicial panel that was set up by the Federal government on the July 10 killings). I am sure these two documents would be of good use for your review.
The Panel of inquiry set up by the Federal Government chaired by Retired Justice Okon Etam, in their report, found against your appointee as follows:

"We find him culpable in three main areas:

1- Handling of the election of the students' Union and the non-recognition of the elected executives

2- The arrest and trial of the cultists of March 1999,

3- Handling of campus security and cult activities."

Please refer to Page 32 (10.02), Page 35 (10.06) and in addition to issues generated in the 'Cry for justice', the findings and recommendations in the Judicial commissions' report, essentially pages 32-39
The Commission further recommended that Professor Wale Omole should be "seriously reprimanded" for his high-handedness in the handling of administrative matters as well as Police investigation of issues directly affecting his involvement in the July 10, 1999 killings.
The further Police investigation was never done, and I think your Excellencies should know why!
Should this cord of suspicion of murder, to say the least, hang on a man's neck, and the Government which sees no reason to prosecute further, turns such cord into a medal, in getting the chairmanship of a governing council? Where lays the hope for justice by the common man!
May I equally remind your Excellencies, that the Osun's state House of Assembly under the leadership of Governor Bisi Akande at that time, sent a team of its members to see things on the campus during the tragedy, and with shocking revelations, the house members passed a vote of no confidence on Prof. Wale Omole's administration.
I had the opportunity of watching Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, on a national TV station during the unveiling of the multipurpose park at Gbongon junction in Osun State, in honour of the late Alhaji Alabi Hassan Olajoku. I was moved to tears when I heard how the man was murdered by political assassins. When the wife spoke, in spite of her attempt to make the issues so light I wept profusely, this was because I could deduce another trend of "Unknown Soldiers", "unknown killers" that has come to be associated with gruesome murders in Nigeria, thus making criminality, especially murder, look like acts performed by invisible creatures like the UFO- unidentifiable flying objects.
Your Excellency (Ogbeni Rauf), we share a common past in this regard. Like me, you were a primary target of assassination! You could have been killed by the UFO! Like me, your colleague and follower was murdered! And like you said on that day, I know where the attack came from, you got the clues!
But beyond clues, as in the case of Alhaji Alabi Hassan Olajoku, in the July 10 killings, we caught in a matter of hours, those who carried out the killings with their apparels socked with blood of the victims, and they voluntarily named Prof. Wale Omole as their sponsor.
Your Excellencies, it is my belief that in a society where moral values and good sense of justice holds forth, a person with such a record of the gruesome murder of 5 students under his stewardship; unceremonious removal from office; and a recommendation of further investigation by a judicial panel set up by the Federal Government should not be allowed to partake in the administration of a citadel of learning, not to talk of being chairman of its Governing Council.
Prof Omole as Vice chancellor, at a period that absolute military dictatorships of IBB/Abacha holds sway, was more than a willing tool of the then ruling military authority in the repression of the people. A situation which the likes of your Excellencies and so many of us vehemently resisted. I still remember how he severally plotted our arrest during the military era by men of the SSS.
He victimized via expulsion and suspension, affecting and ruining careers of scores of union activists agitating for better welfare, for holding rallies to protest the hanging of Late Ken Saro wiwa and the quest for democratic governance, up to the validation of June 12!. His record of poor financial accountability and non-conformity to due-process are shocking!

While the administrative in-adequacies and other lesser than acceptable values of Prof. Wale Omole, are worrisome, his involvement and culpable role in the murder of 5 innocent students is more worrisome. He is not fit and proper to hold public post, least to talk of becoming loco-parentis to young students. If he believes he has requisite character for social, public and political leadership, he should go and contest on his name! He should not be allowed to stain your banners.

More-importantly, criminal matters are never time-bound. The Federal Government can decide to institute a criminal proceedings against Prof. Omole to the utter embarrassment of your offices and States.

Your Excellencies, I see a situation in future, when the history of the Nigerian educational sector, especially tertiary education, shall be read, where this appointment could as well surface as part of administrative errors that fanned the flames.

Finally, I charge your Excellencies to display the un-Nigerian, rare, but godly and exemplary leadership courage in recalling this appointment. "Ipinle Omoluabi", as well as the ancient and historic Oyo state are blessed with abundant men of virtue, willing and competent to serve the people. Like I cried for Justice 14 years ago, I am still crying for justice! The families of these 5 students are yearning for justice, so also, the entire world that watched the events across the globe on CNN/AIT/Channels TV etc, are craving for fairness and justice!

Sincerely yours,

Signed.

Adeleke Olanrewaju (Lanre Legacy)

Who Killed Kudirat Abiola?

This should be the question on the lips of every man and woman of conscience, considering the acquittal last week of Maj. Hamza Al-Mustapha, Chief Security Officer of ex-military dictator, Gen. Sani Abacha. Al-Mustapha, until his acquittal, had been in detention since 1999 for the murder of Kudirat Abiola, wife of M.KO. Abiola, winner of the June 12, 1993 presidential election who himself died in detention in July 1998.

The state reception and effusive welcome party for Maj. Hamza Al-Mustapha must be gut-wrenching for any Nigerian who lived through the horrors of the Abacha dictatorship. As Abacha's Chief Security Officer, Al-Mustapha was the point man of the murderous triumvirate that comprised Ismaila Gwarzo, National Security Adviser and Frank Omenka of the notorious Directorate of Military Intelligence. They had as their henchmen Barnabas Jabila (a.k.a Sgt. Rogers), Muhammed Abdul (a.k.a Katako), Alhaji Danbaba, and Rabo Lawal amongst others.
The High Court of Lagos State under Hon. Justice Mojisola Dada had on January 30, 2012, found both Major Hamza Al-Mustapha and Alhaji Lateef Shofolahan, one of Kudirat’s aides, guilty of the offences of conspiracy to murder and murder of Alhaja Kudirat Abiola, contrary to sections 324 and 319 of the Criminal Code of Lagos State and accordingly had sentenced them to death by hanging. Justice Dada had based her judgment, amongst other things, on the strength of the testimony of two prosecution witnesses, Barnabas Jabila and Muhammed Abdul.
Both witnesses had testified that they were “directed to murder Alhaja Kudirat Abiola by Maj. Hamza Al-Mustapha; that they were given information on her movements by Alhaji Lateef Sofolahan; and that they, respectively, shot and killed Alhaji Kudirat Abiola and drove the Peugeot 504 car, which they used in trailing her car and bolted away, after killing her at the Cargo Vision Area of the Lagos end of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway”.
Justice Dada’s guilty verdict was reversed last week by the Court of Appeal. While lashing out at the lower court, Hon Justice Amina A. Augie (presiding justice of the Court of Appeal’s Panel), Hon. Justice Rita N. Pemu, and Hon. Justice Fatima O. Akinbami, based their ruling, amongst other things, on the “contradiction in the testimony of the prosecution witnesses” who had during cross examination and re-examination recanted, alleging that they were forced to implicate the accused persons.
It would be interesting to know why the learned justices of the Court of Appeal found it appealing (no pun intended) to believe the latter story of the prosecution witnesses. With the acquittal of Al-Mustapha, it seems the Court of Appeal wants to erase our memory and close a chapter in the sordid history of the Abacha dictatorship. That also means that not a single person will be held responsible for the political assassinations that took place under that regime. So much for justice!
Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso of Kano State has described Al-Mustapha as a “hero”. In a country were true heroes are in short supply, the governor may well be right. I would add that Al-Mustapha is also a “hero” for justice because in Nigeria justice is for the highest bidder. Alhaji Maitama Sule has asked Al-Mustapha to “forgive his detractors” who obviously were responsible for his “unjust” incarceration. The Nigerian Army should go ahead and promote Al-Mustapha to a general, pay him his salaries and allowances for the past 14 years – if they were ever stopped – and assign him a command to put into good use his experiences in the service of the fatherland.

Today, Al-Mustapha is a free man, free to run for governor of Kano State, senator or even the president of the Federal Republic. I hope he appreciates the value of life and liberty, things that he and his former boss denied Nigerians for five years.
If Al-Mustapha didn’t kill Kudirat Abiola or order her assassination, it would be nice to know what Al-Mustapha and the regime he served so faithfully did to find the killers of Kudirat, Pa Alfred Rewane and others murdered during the Abacha regime.
It is the same question that Gen. Babangida must answer concerning the death of Dele Giwa.

Jonathan and his small man Dokubo

Personally, I wrote this piece out of what I have observed, so I would like you to read into details and also reason with me and plan ahead concerning this country.

“Silence most times means acceptance” let us reflect on some of our actions, you would agree with me; if you do not, you could ask a lawyer. Many comments and articles have been written and said concerning the dangerous and scary statement of Asari Dokubo for 2015.

The Ijaw of the Niger Delta of diverse ethnical groups have of late been recomposing new songs of war, Asari Dokubo has voiced his recent terrorist thought that is nothing short of treason in every sense of the word. He said “whether we like it or not, whether ‘our oga at the top’ is presidentially performing or not, whether the people and masses of Nigeria are politically and economically unhappy or not with our current aso rock landlord/tenant, the status quo must remain what it is now come 2015. If not, Nigeria shall witness blood for blood, fire for fire, bullet for bullet. In short Nigeria will be history. He even dared the police arresting him. What does this statement mean? Any right minded person in his/her heart of heart will know this is war! We all witness the bokoharam mishaps in the north; one way or the other it has affected us if not as an individual, it has affected us as a country. If you have seen the videos sent online by these terrorists, the intonation of the voice used is not as scary as the one Asari Dokubo used. You need to listen to the scary tone used; it was shocking and needs attention. In any ways let us watch and see.

                There is one reason for this: President Goodluck Jonathan who is an ijaw man must remain in power, government and authority even if he is becoming an unhealthy example of Nigeria’s corpus vile. Where does the voice and vote of the people of Nigeria come in? Is this not an act of selfishness? Is it only one person that decides who the president of a country is? Where does the vote of the people come in?

                By the way did Asari Dokubo not long ago say and shout it to the hearing of us that Goodluck Jonathan should perish the thought of re-contesting the presidency in 2015? Did he not say it loud and clear that president Jonathan has failed all of us as Nigeria’s first minority president? WHAT WENT WRONG or BETTER STILL WHAT GOOD HAPPENED BETWEEN ASARI AND JONATHAN?

                Clearly seeing the relationship between the president and Asari, I find it hard to trust Jonathan for the growth of this country. Let us say he is not connected with Asari, how come the commander in chief or let me say the ‘chief security officer’ of Nigeria has not issued any statement or even acted concerning the threat statement of his fellow community man on the security of Nigeria. I think his silence means acceptance. What do we call this? Fear or Love for his fellow community man? Corruption? Or probably an uncaring mind for the people of Nigeria? What is exactly going on?