- Continued from last week.
In his very brief appearance, former Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Jubril Ayinla insisted that he had never shown interest in participating in any coup nor seeking political appointment as Military Governor or whatever. Even after he was passed over when his junior, Vice-Admiral Mike Okhai Akhigbe was appointed as Chief of Naval Staff he was persuaded to remain in the force as the head of the Defence Academy reporting directly to the President, General Sani Abacha before becoming Minister for Commerce and Industries and eventually Chief of Naval Staff (from 1998 to 1999).
He made no secret of his long-standing relationship with Abacha going back to their days as youngsters in Kano/Jigawa. His final shot was that Abacha could not have stolen the kind of money he was alleged to have stolen. Then came the bombshell: “Abacha was planning to release Bashorun M.K.O. Abiola on Wednesday but he died the day before – on Tuesday 7th July 1998.” What was fascinating was that the last three people to see Abacha before he died were General Jeremiah Timbut Useni (the then Minister of the Federal Capital Territory), Dr. Sadiq Suleiman Wali (his Chief Physician), Major Hamza Al-Mustapha (Abacha’s Chief Security Officer) – according to Major Al-Mustapha. He omitted both Air Commodore Samson Omeruah the Minister of Sports and Lt. General T.Y. Danjuma.
According to the film, it was Abacha who had served under Danjuma who had been eager to give his old boss an oil block. He even sent General Jerry Useni as an emissary to General Danjuma to persuade the latter to apply. It took considerable pressure to get Danjuma to succumb. It turned out to be a goldmine and much more!
Indeed, T.Y. inadvertently gave the game away when he sold part of his interest to Sinopec (Chinese oil company) and pocketed a hefty U.S. $1.5billion. “I have far too much money. After making gifts to my family, I am going to devote the rest to charity.” He has been as good as his word.
According to Max Chuck Black, what galvanized his determination to make the film after several false starts was a chance meeting in Hong Kong with Donald Malvern who was the Consul at the American Consulate in Ibadan when the counter coup of July 29, 1966 took place. It turned out that the Premier’s Lodge where the then Head of State General Johnson Aguiyi Ironsi and his host Brigadier Adekunle Fajuyi were captured, was under surveillance by the Americans. It was from the old grainy photographs and recordings of gun shots that by skilful employment of digitalisation and computerisation he was able to recreate an unassailable record of the historic events – from the disarming of the soldiers guarding the Premier’s Lodge and the conversation that took place between troops led by Major T.Y. Danjuma and Ironsi/Fajuyi and the subsequent bundling of Ironsi/Fajuyi into a military vehicle for execution on the outskirts of Ibadan (on Iwo road).
Some of the faces captured apart from Danjuma, Ironsi and Fajuyi were Captain Sani Bello (aide-de-camp to Ironsi); Jerry Useni; Sani Abacha; Dickson and Walbe. It was the same technology that enabled the Turkish Government to record the hacking to death of Jamal Khashoggi within the Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Istanbul.
Some of the other captivating segments of the film were the speech delivered by General Murtala Muhammed delivered at the Extraordinary Meeting of OAU on 11th January, 1976 in Addis Abbaba, Ethiopia:
“Mr. Chairman, when I contemplate the evils of apartheid, my heart bleeds and I am sure the heart of every true blooded African bleeds. . . Rather than join hands with the forces fighting for self-determination and against racism and apartheid, the United States policy makers clearly decided that it was in the best interests of their country to maintain white supremacy and minority regimes in Africa… Africa has come of age. It’s no longer under the orbit of any extra continental power. It should no longer take orders from any country, however powerful.
The fortunes of Africa are in our hands to make or to mar. For too long have we been kicked around: for too long have we been treated like adolescents who cannot discern their interests and act accordingly. For too long has it been presumed that the African needs outside ‘experts’ to tell him who are his friends and who are his enemies. The time has come when we should make it clear that we can decide for ourselves; that we know our own interests and how to protect those interests; that we are capable of resolving African problems without presumptuous lessons in ideological dangers which, more often than not, have no relevance for us, nor for the problem at hand.”
General Murtala Mohammed was assassinated a little over a month after making this speech. This was in addition to taking on his traducers who alleged that he owned fifty-five houses in Kano in addition to other accusations relating to the Central Bank in Benin. General Murtala not only refuted the allegations he gave free rein to his accuser Dr. Obarogie Ohonbamu, a law teacher at the University of Lagos to publish his allegations in the press without fear beyond civil redress for defamation.
Other gripping highlights revolved around Brigadier Ibrahim Bako who was the ring leader of the 1983 coup that toppled President Alhaji Shehu Shagari. He is portrayed as a victim of friendly fire while approaching the official residence of the President although another version insists that he was actually shot by one of the soldiers guarding Shagari. In any case, following the elimination of Bako, the mantle of leadership fell on Brigadier Ibrahim Babangida. The rest is history. Just one bullet changed the course of history.
Some of the amazing episodes captured in the film were Chief Duro Onabule (the former press secretary of President Ibrahim Babangida denouncing General Olusegun Obasanjo: “Obasanjo is an ingrate. Whatever might be late General Sani Abacha’s faults, at least, he did not execute Obasanjo for treason rightly or mistakenly. Abacha merits that credit till today. If they changed positions, Obasanjo would have executed General Abacha if mistakenly as Obasanjo executed Colonel Waya in 1976, in defiance of the deadlock at Supreme Military Council.”
This was followed by a more recent event – how Dr. Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu became Minister of State for Petroleum Resources under President Muhammadu Buhari through the aegis of Lt. General T.Y. Danjuma (Rtd). Actually, it turns out that it was Musa Danjuma who introduced his bosom friend Ibe Kachikwu to his brother on whose 80th birthday he declared: “He is not only my brother, he is also my father who made me whatever I am today.” Where matters get tricky is the mapping of the undulating relationship between and amongst the generals. It is really fascinating stuff. When General Obasanjo stood for election as Presidential candidate in 1999, ninety percent of the funding of his campaign was provided by Lt. General Danjuma (and his associates, mostly Gilbert and Rowland Chagoury). He declared: “If Obasanjo does not win, I shall go into exile.” Obasanjo duly won the election and he appointed Danjuma as his Minister of Defence. However, the honeymoon did not last forever. The two generals fell out over Danjuma’s oil block which Obasanjo was plotting to seize. Matters got completely out of hand when Danjuma resigned as Minister and publicly declared: “Obasanjo will end up back in jail” This was regardless of the close friendship between their respective wives – Stella Obasanjo and Daisy Danjuma.
Even more intriguing is the special relationship between General Ibrahim Babangida and General Olusegun Obasanjo. Hence, it was a surprise when the film dug up the episode of Babangida’s reference to Obasanjo as a fool in retaliation for an unprovoked personal attack of Babangida by Obasanjo. This was in addition to a previous incident when Babangida’s son, Mohammed was detained during Obasanjo’s regime over allegations that he was a front for Otunba Mike Adenuga with regard to the shareholdings in the giant telecommunications company, Globacom whose licence Obasanjo threatened to cancel based on allegations that the licence had been obtained under false pretences.
Regardless, General Babangida still hero-worships General Obasanjo till today as his big boss who can do no wrong. A great deal of time in the film is devoted to the role played by General Ibrahim Babangida and General Aliyu Gusau (former National Security Adviser) in persuading General Obasanjo who had just proved that he had more than nine lives by surviving jail under General Sani Abacha, to leave his Ota farm and run for election in 1999. He was a very reluctant and traumatised candidate. In exasperation, his retort to the offer was: “How many times do you want me to be Head of State/President?”
The film took another leap of vibrant creativity and eloquent testimony of the current state of affairs between two generals with far more than nine lives between them. The trigger was General Obasanjo’s stirring of the hornet’s nest with allegation that Buhari is plotting to rig next the Febuary 23 presidential election.
Bashorun J.K. Randle
