How do you feel to be back home?
It is very, very nice to be back, very good feeling of family,
camaraderie to be back in one's homeland. It is indescribable: the
reception, the joy of being back home. First, I want to say a big
'thank you' to all journalists. Without you, without your
steadfastness, your commitment to truth and justice, your tenacity,
the struggle would have been nothing. We are back to strengthen
that section of the press which stood for justice courageously. I
salute the religious leaders, particularly the CAN (Christian
Association of Nigeria) with honourable men such as Reverend
Sunday Mbang, Reverend Adetiloye and the rest of them. To have
seen this nation go through struggle without loss of lives in their
hundreds of thousands; without turning this Nigeria into Rwanda
or Burundi, was due to their prayers, and their courageous support
for justice and truth. We will continue to praise them and hold
them in the highest esteem. The history of this country will not be
complete without their names being written in gold.
Let us take you to the journey to exile. At what point, did it dawn
on you that you had to travel out of this country?
At the point that it was clear to me that my life was in danger. Yes,
after the annulment and we declared Abacha's regime illegal,
Senator Abraham Adesanya, Senator Kofo Akerele-Bucknor,
Senator Ameh Ebute, Senate president; Rev. Father Nwolu and
Senator Nweje were arrested initially. I went underground and was
being sought by the police and the authorities. Yet, I continued to
grant interviews to the international media and the local press.
Suddenly, on 9 October, my house in Victoria Island, Lagos, was
petrol-bombed and a call came in that 'you grant another
interview, you try to abuse this government again, you will be
miserable.' I was still taking those as mere threats until a friend
called to tell me that I should go deeper underground or leave the
country, that what will happen to me might be a send-forth to
eternity. The language he used, I mean the way it was used,
coupled with the fact that I was still on drips for jaundice and
typhoid, hit me hard.
Later, another friend phoned me that they were heading for my
house and I saw the signs. They didn't meet me at home. I headed
for the hospital where I received treatment. I left that hospital in
disguise because they were already at the door. They didn't know I
was the one.
My passports had been impounded. But I was assisted by some
embassies to procure travel documents with which I travelled.
went through Agege and the rest by commercial motorbike
disguised as a mallam (laughs). I even went to bid Kudirat Abiola
and the rest good-bye.
But I could not go to my mum, I could not say good-bye to
everybody else because at that stage, it wasn't safe to do so. So, I
left through the routes that became popularly known as 'NADECO
routes', out of the country. Sometimes, I had to hitch rides on
bikes.
I landed in Benin Republic and made a call to General Akinrinade.
As I was talking with him, they were right in front of his house. He
said they'd just arrived.
He was still in Nigeria?
He was still in Nigeria. And the informants had already told me that
Akinrinade was next. As I was talking to him, he told me that he
was just preparing his luggage. So, I gave him the information that
he should not come through the gate and he should not attempt to
go to Murtala Muhammed Airport. He later said he even had to
jump over his fence. He would be telling you his own story. He
said he would be connecting Dan Suleiman. Then I told them
where I was in Benin Republic. They sneaked out and joined me
later.
After some days, Akinrinade and Dan Suleiman left.
We will like to take you back to the June 12 struggle. When the
struggle commenced, we want to have a clear understanding of
what you faced then and what the military dictatorship did...
The intrigues are quite a phenomenon. It goes back to when
Yar'Adua was manipulated believing that the divide and rule game
played by Gen. Ibrahim Babangida was to make Abiola president
and Kingibe his running-mate, contrary to the promise made to
Yar'Adua that Atiku would be his running-mate. Abiola was
confused. He later went round and nominated Bafyau after the
threat from IBB that if he announced Atiku Abubakar as his
running-mate, he should forget about the presidency. Abiola was
worried. He got to Kaduna, Atiku was waiting for the
announcement. Abiola could not make it. He called an emergency
meeting and had to leave for Abuja. Babangida then asked him to
pick Babagana Kingibe.
In addition to that, there was pressure from the SDP governors for
Abiola not to pick Kingibe as running-mate.
Yar'Adua, of course, was angry with Abiola for dropping his man,
Atiku. Babangida played on that anger, got Yar'Adua to endorse
the interim national government and got Anenih to sign off the
mandate.
That was how Yar'Adua got to support the ING and reconciled with
Babangida by using Gen. Obasanjo. It's truth, Obasanjo did not
support June 12 It was a lie, a propaganda to say he supported
June 12. He supported the Interim National Government (ING). He
said it. They played on that intrigue that Yar'Adua would get that
lost chance if the ING was there; that he would be able to recover
all that he had lost, using his men nominated into the ING.
There were rumours making the rounds that there was a deal
between Abiola and Abacha.
An understanding.
Okay, understanding, a sort of agreement. You were one of the men
that accompanied Abiola to Abacha's place. What really
happened?
Until you have an understanding of what happened before then
you cannot have a clear understanding of what really happened on
the day of the visit.
What happened is...you follow the intrigue... The case that went to
the court, to Justice Dolapo Akinsanya was engineered and
proposed by me, as an elected representative of the people. I was
going to challenge the ING, its legitimacy, through Professor
Kasumu. Prof. Kasumu was never Abiola's lawyer. Prof. Kasumu
drafted the case on that day. We reviewed it. We were about to go
to court and I mentioned to Abiola, what I was about to do. Abiola
invited Prof. Kasumu to meet with him. Kasumu met with him. He
said we'll, maybe Abiola himself as the candidate, the custodian of
the mandate, should really go for it. We changed it overnight,
turned the case round. Eventually Abiola took the case to court.
Prof. Kasumu won the case. Justice Dolapo Akinsanya declared
the ING illegal. So, each time we condemn the judiciary, we have
to make exceptions. No one was anticipating the judgment. We
had made alternative plan: that if the judgment was in Abiola's
favour, he should take over that night, but if the government won,
we would find other means. Unfortunately, may his soul rest in
perfect peace, Basorun Abiola, was so trusting. He trusted Kingibe
so much. He had told him, we were going to court, he had given
Kingibe details of the action. The matter leaked to (Gen. Sani)
Abacha, who was then minister of defence.
When, the judgment came and the court declared the ING illegal,
and we were preparing to swear in Abiola, Kingibe was nowhere to
be found. Abiola was not ready to be sworn in without Kingibe. He
said it should be done in the traditional, normal way, two of them,
that he was not the only custodian. He said he had a running-
mate. Suddenly, a message came from (Gen. Oladipo) Diya that he
needed to see me. I then went to meet him at his house. They
already had the information that Abiola was to be sworn in
(laughter). Diya said 'you've got the judiciary supporting you, you
should now get the military backing. We are ready to back you,
let's go.' Diya took me to Gen. Abacha's house. There Abacha told
me, ' look, distinguished senator, you are the closest person to
Abiola. I voted for Abiola, I like us to handle the situation like
gentlemen. We heard of a plan that he was going to swear himself
in. In fact, the constitutional crisis that is on the ground now is a
big one. This is the ministry of defence, we will install Abiola and
put the military behind him. Now that we have this judgement,
Abiola should, however, not swear himself in.'
There and then, they called Abiola's son, Kola. They told him on
phone that, 'we have spoken with Bola Tinubu, and he is coming to
discuss with you.'
Were you aware that they were making the call?
I wasn't. They went into another room... Abacha's inner room. I
went back and discussed at 2 a.m with Abiola.
I told him I was not sure that these people were sincere. I cannot
forget the proverb that he used to explain his position. He said 'if
you have to fight somebody, you've got to get close to him. Even if
they are not sincere, he is the de facto head of state now, let me
listen to him. I'm ready to take him on.' It was the time they gave
us the date, and he said Abiola would not last. When Abiola met
with Abacha, they told us that Col.(Abubakar) Umar was planning
to topple Abiola. They listed about 17 officers, including Gen.
Joshua Dogonyaro and the rest of them, who they said, were
involved in the coup plot. They told Abiola, 'You won't be able to
stop them, you won't last four days.' They said they needed to get
rid of these dangerous boys in the military. Abiola became a little
jittery.
Abacha told Abiola that if by the third day, they could not swear
him in, in six weeks, six months when they have gotten rid of all
the mines that's the way Abacha described it the mines against
June 2, and that Abiola should not walk through the mines at all.
That if they couldn't do it in three weeks, to six weeks, the
maximum they would take was six months and they will hand over
to him. Kingibe agreed with the plan. Abiola was so trusting. On
the second or third day, Abiola said he wanted to consult the SDP,
the people. He did. We held a meeting in his house. We went back
to Diya after the discussion and raised a lot of questions. Diya got
angry because we were questioning their sincerity. He said he was
a man of honour and won't deceive Abiola. He asked Abiola what
he was to gain deceiving him. He said he had received severe
punishment and discrimination from Babangida because of June
12. He reminded us of his posting to Kaduna that is more or less a
demotion. He said it was Abacha's co-operation that got him to
the War College and that he believed Abacha could do what he said
he would and he (Diya) will do it with him. And then he got Abiola
and my side trusting him as a matter of fact. And, as a result of
that, Abiola decided to grant him the chance and opportunity to
actualise June 12, believing that he will do it.
Then, another turn came for Abiola to appear for discussion with
Abacha. They met that night with Abiola saying he was not sure of
what will happen with his mandate, that he could not trust
Abacha.
He told Abacha so?
Yes, he told Abacha that he wanted more convincing evidence. It
was then Abacha convinced him of the danger to his life if he
should go ahead to swear Abiola him. Then an emir who was a
mutual friend to Abacha and Abiola was brought in to persuade
Abiola to believe and to support Abacha. He swore under Islamic
and traditional oath, more or less, that he would not sit down there
and work against June 12that he had spoken to Alhaji (Lateef)
Jakande who would be Abiola's eye in government. Diya had
earlier called Jakande from his house that Abiola was on the way.
Abiola spoke to him. Jakande said he would stay awake until we
got there. We got to him at 2.30 a.m. When Abiola narrated the
story, the discussion with Diya and Abacha, he said, well, we
should go along with it and that he was going to take the
appointment in Abacha's cabinet and he could be trusted to work
for June 12. He swore he would resign if they reneged. There and
then we made a call to Papa Ajasin (may his soul rest in peace).
The old man said, 'no, don't near them. They are dangerous.'
Abiola vainly tried to persuade Papa Ajasin about the sincerity of
Abacha and Diya, but the old man was very angry. When we got
back to the car, I asked Abiola what he planned to do about what
Papa Ajasin said. He told me he would have to talk to Kudirat, to
talk to Papa.
Six months passed, no June 12. Abacha became hostile. I went to
Abuja to meet Diya in company of a prominent common friend of
ours. 'General Diya, sir, what about the mandate?' He said, 'We are
in crisis, we are still not stable, we have so much to do.' Then I
said, 'You probably have deceived us, six months have lapsed, and
your promise could not be kept.'
Therefore, I went to discuss with Abiola.The indications were that
these people were liars and they would not actualise June 12.
Then Diya's influence started waning. Abiola said the honeymoon
was over, he had to fight for his mandate. And it was then he
started putting together the People's Alliance for Justice and Unity
(PAJU). I think TheNEWS published those activities. I went to see
Abiola in the UK.
Casting your mind back to all that happened, could you have
adopted better strategies for the struggle, looking at the fallout
eventually?
Probably that was the best option we had. Different strategies
could have been employed. Abiola had too many advisers all sorts
of things were being suggested. One thing we must give him credit
for, Abiola remained steadfast, remained resolute that he would
not want Nigeria to go through bloodshed. He said 'look, the poor
masses, the down-trodden, would suffer if we allow this to
degenerate to serious crisis.' That is why he had negotiations with
Gen. Abacha. When there were protests and students were killed,
Abiola started fasting, started sending messages that it should
stop, that he would not want to ascend office on people's blood.
So, no matter what option he opted for, that peace and dialogue
approach was the best.
A number of progressives such as Jakande and Babatope were
eventually taken in by Abacha, how will you describe their roles?
The roles played by those people were totally dishonourable. They
betrayed the masses. Kingibe specifically played a pivotal role. He
served Abacha, held several ministerial posts and even now, he is
very close to the government.
You mentioned that Diya was getting sidelined. Was he aware of
what was happening?
I went to see Diya in Abuja in company of a common friend of
oursand I confronted him about these. He was not receptive.
Navy-Commodore Olabode George was there. We realized that
Diya was either overwhelmed or was sober. I told him, 'this is my
last visit to you, Mr. Vice-President, if you are not in this
government to actualise June 12, you have betrayed us, you have
betrayed the masses of Nigeria and you will not come back the
same.' He asked me whether that was a declaration of war
between the two of us and I told him to assume whatever. I was
bold and courageous enough to say that to him. That I will stop
believing him. He started giving excuses that it was Abacha that
was playing politics and that he was handicapped because of that.
He said he wanted to be careful, that he was still going to play the
role he was expected to play on June 12. He said he noticed that
Abacha himself was not sincere and I said, 'quit the government. If
you quit at this stage, the government will collapse. Quit.' He said,
'well, you are not my adviser. I will quit when it is necessary.' I
said 'it is better done now.' He said 'you don't tell me, senator,
what to do?
You noticed there was a transition in Abacha, from the gentleman
officer...
Yes, he went crazy. There is one big lesson. We have to
understand the antecedent of the military, particularly the Nigerian
Army. The military Generals were trained to deceive, they take
every opposition as enemy, and they deceive you. You have to be
cynical in every political dispensation or arrangement; you have to
distrust the military. In their professional calling, normal duty,
respect them. But in any political arrangement, don't ever rely on
any military 'friend.'
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