BURATAI, DUBAI AND SAHARA.

Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai was promoted to the rank of Major General in December 2012 and soon after that assumed the role of commandant, Nigerian Army School of Infantry. From all indications, Lt Gen Buratai was still the commandant of that school in January/ February 2014. It is not clear to me exactly what the general was deployed to do at Army headquarters prior to May 2014 but what is clear is that he was appointed as the Commander of the Multinational Joint Task Force to combat Boko Haram in May 2014, a position he occupied till July 2015 when he was appointed the Chief of Army Staff (COAS).

According to the petition referenced by Sahara reporters, the COAS and his two wives were said to have paid for a property in Dubai in one transaction; the money for the purchase was stated to have most likely come from a vehicle contract scam which occurred when Buratai was the Director of Procurement at the Army HQ. This in essence means that whatever money Buratai  waylaid happened during the probably less than 3months period between when he was still the commandant of the School of Infantry and May 2014 when he assumed his command position of the Joint task force in Niger republic.

In the petition allegedly written by “concerned soldiers and officers from the Northeast,” a certain Usman Gamawa of Baggash Investment Ltd got a contract from the procurement unit of Army HQ to supply vehicles and motorcycles. It was stated that this company got in second hand automobiles from Niger Republic and refurbished them. The petition also elaborated on the Dubai property and financial maneuvers of the General since he assumed the office of the COAS in July 2015.

The Buratais were said to have reached an agreement with a Dubai based real estate company Sigma III limited on January 13, 2013 to purchase a property which was part of their ‘Project TFG Marina Hotel.’ Unit 2711 was quoted to be worth N120million of which N115.6million was accepted as full payment as a sign of goodwill for early payment.  One of the documents provided by Sahara reporters was a letter dated August 20, 2015 with a faded inscription of Sigma printed at the top. This letter contained the names and passport numbers of the buyers as well as details of the Sales Purchase Agreement which was signed on January 13, 2014. Also seen in the poor quality photocopied letter was an indication of full payment for the Project TFG Marina Hotel unit 2711 property while a separate sheet had the signatures of the representative of the seller and the three buyers. SR however stated that this document dated August 20, 2015 was signed on the 13^th of January 2014.

There was no scanned document of the general’s international passport data page but those of his wives were available. The similarity between the signatures on the passports with those on the purchase agreement can be disputed in a law court. Another document provided in the story was a scanned Skye bank lodgment voucher dated 10-8-15 which the petitioners claimed was proof of several huge deposits paid by the general’s middle men into his Skye bank account. The Army has released a statement since this story broke and part of the information they provided was that Buratai does not operate any Skye bank account.

The voucher had “TFG Real Estate” as the account name and “1770380452” into which a cash payment of 10million naira in N1000 bills was allegedly paid on the stated date while the name of the depositor was simply “Tukur”. How exactly does TFG Real Estate translate to mean Tukur Buratai? There is clearly something amiss with this information as TFG real estate refers to the “TFG” in “Project TFG Marina Hotel” sold by Sigma III. The information about a certain Major Adegbola whose number was on the deposit slip cannot be said to be significant enough to nail Buratai. Nothing on that scanned voucher which had an almost completely faded cashier stamp points to the COAS. I attempted to add the account number as a beneficiary on my GTBank mobile banking platform but could not get a feedback from the host bank perhaps suggesting that such an account never existed or was recently closed by a company which is actually legitimate. I believe a wired money trail would have been more useful in exposing any illegal moves by anyone associated with Lt Gen Buratai.

A quick search through google revealed one interesting reference to Sigma III and the operations of The First Group (TFG) in Nigeria. A disgruntled Nigerian man Agbons Umweni Washington was sued to court by Sigma III sometime in July 2013 for breaching agreements in the contract he had signed with TFG real estate limited to continue payment for Unit 2212 of “TFG Marina” in Dubai. This prospective hotel project with 497 guest rooms and 251 luxurious suites was billed to commence in 2013 and completed sometime in 2016 and the staff of the company responsible for this ambitious project sought to woo prospective investors who would pay to own hotel rooms or suites based on the terms of their respective sales purchase agreements.

Mr Umweni who was referred to as a business man was introduced to the project and entered into an agreement in December 2012 at the Abuja office of the TFG real estate Ltd to pay N48.4million installmentally. Unit 2212 surely sounds like Unit 2711 of the Buratais which was quoted at N120million. This client was said to have been convinced to venture into this deal after a visit to Dubai where he saw signs of ground work ongoing at the site. He however developed cold feet on another visit about six months later on another visit when he did not see the same machinery at the site and this was compounded by the presence of a signpost which indicated a name change from TFG Marina to WYNDHAM Marina. He returned to the country and demanded for an explanation which he did not find satisfactory. He was sure that he did not plough N9.8million into a project with plenty consonants he could not pronounce and this was worsened by a Sales purchase agreement draft handed to him that was printed on a Sigma III letter head.

Mr Umweni demanded for a complete refund of his N9.8million but the company could only agree to a 70% refund. He rejected the deal and threatened to take the matter to the corruption fighting bodies in Nigeria. This prompted Sigma III Ltd and TFG real estate Ltd to sue him to court for breaching the details of his signed contract with them and refusing to pay his scheduled fees. According to the report, he refused to pay into a Dubai based account belonging to First Homes Worldwide LLC due to the perceived uncertainty and was instead provided with a Skye Bank account operated by TFG Real Estate the same account name on the alleged Buratai voucher.

The First Group is a British real estate developing company with many offices around the world. Some of their ambassadors are sports stars like Michael Owen, Kanu Nwankwo, Bryan Habana and Andriy Shevchenko. There is a story on their website from May 2013 where they reported a signed agreement between one of their subsidiaries in Dubai Sigma III Ltd and Wyndham Worldwide Corporation to develop and manage a hotel project which was called the Wyndham Dubai Marina, the name change which apparently got Mr Umweni confused. The Wyndham Corporation is reported to be actively involved in the development and operations of over 7,000 hotels globally. I do not know what transpired afterwards from that conflict but Mr Umweni seems like a ghost on what seems to be his LinkedIn and Facebook profiles; virtually inactive and a company attributed to him on LinkedIn leads to apparently nowhere.

I do not believe that an Army general can afford homes, hotel rooms or suites worth between 48million and 120million naira through honest means but I may be wrong. It just does not add up and should be investigated if that is the case. We do not quite know for certain the actual type of properties owned by the COAS in Dubai; I am not sure that the link to Sigma III is foolproof considering that the supplied documents by SR and the petitioners have significant inconsistencies. There is a chance that whatever Buratai owns in Dubai may have actually been obtained through honest means. However, this case should be investigated for its merits and demerits to ensure justice is served.

Some have attempted to use this story to justify or explain the enormous wealth which has been ascribed to the likes of Aydele Fayose and the former petroleum minister Diezani Allison Maduekwe. They ask why we can easily explain away Buratai owning property from his ‘meagre’ earnings as a soldier and refuse to understand that a whole second term governor based on his earnings can sit on over a billion naira and a former minister and Shell Executive Director can fly in private jets and build mansions anywhere she chooses. They fail to understand that Fayose is governor of one of the least endowned states in Nigeria and has been governor for approximately 5years cumulatively. How much is the salary of a governor when added to all the allowances such get? Diezani on the other hand commenced work with Shell in December 1992 after earning a Bachelor’s degree abroad. She did not become an Executive Director until April 2006 and she occupied this position until July 2007 when she was appointed the Minister of Transport. She waltzed through 3 different ministries over the next eight years and I am sure she was not earning Aliko Dangote’s monthly profits during that period. Many who have almost popped their carotids are those who would readily mock Sahara Reporters if they went after their beloved and sacred idols or benefactors. The same people who call Sahara Reporters and Channels TV APC sponsored media outfits are lauding the exploits of SR in seemingly exposing the corruption in President Buhari's government irrespective of whether the alleged vehicle scam and property purchase happened during President Jonathan's reign.

Some of these individuals have screamed from the rooftop while assuming that Buratai is a card carrying APC member worth ridiculing. The man is a professional soldier and if he is proven to have used army procurement money to purchase properties when he was not yet a Director in Army HQ; then he should be hung out to dry. There is no one greater than the Federal republic of Nigeria. In the meantime, I think the “Concerned soldiers and Officers” should consult Fayose and Lere to tweak their petition. It is just too porous.

http://thenationonlineng.net/firm-businessman-in-court-over-dubai-hotel-project/
http://www.thefirstgroup.com/en/developments/dubai-marina/
http://www.thefirstgroup.com/en/about-us/ambassadors/

TY Buratai 

PS: I later confirmed that the Skye Bank account is indeed operated by TFG real estate. (137/2016)

SLEEPING ON DUTY.

I walked past a pickup truck this afternoon which was parked under the bridge at Jibowu. The hustle which went on outside this vehicle (one of the many handed over to the police by Governor Ambode after he took his oath of office) did not seem to disturb the two occupants of the vehicle. One policeman was in the passenger seat while another laid supine with his knees flexed in the back seat. Both men were apparently deep in sleep while on duty.

I actually felt very sorry for them and wondered what they and others like them go through on a daily basis to keep the inhabitants and citizens of Nigeria safe. I do not know the daily routine and schedule of the average cop in Nigeria but from what I have observed, both men probably share a service vehicle with at most two other men and would have to ride together all day without a decent break or handover. I do not think the living condition of these offices and their family members has improved dramatically despite 17 years of democracy. One can only wonder how uncomfortable their homes are and how exposed to the elements and communicable diseases they are. I doubt if these men are able to have the space and time to rest even in their own homes or whatever structure the force provides for them.

It is more than providing uniforms and inappropriate firearms for these men to carry out their duties; it should entail giving them real hope and the possibility of a future especially one for their family members peradventure they get maimed or lose their lives in service to the nation. It is my belief that this lack of clarity contributes in no small way to the decadence we have in the Nigerian police force today. It is a reason why they are unkempt and indulge in all sorts of vices just to get by. They have children who are in need of the basic essentials of life and spouses who need some ounces of peace in their lives. This is not to provide an excuse for erring cops but we cannot talk about fixing a problem if the right diagnosis is not arrived at.

The NPF appears to me as one stuck in time and without much use for the female gender. The structure is archaic and what we have is a rat race to climb up the tree to a point where juicy fruits abound at least. Where such fruits are scarce, the officers concerned get to scrounge for their own external supply to squeeze out whatever quantity of pulp they can. High ranking police officers have always played key roles in every administration in this country; such is the enormity of their responsibility but this valuation at the top ironically does not get reflected all the way down the command chain. The senior officers look like princes while their subordinates... well, that is better left to imagination. I can just imagine if or how officers jostle to get 'juicy' slots at embassies, airports, events or anywhere compensation gets handed out. While some get favors from their superiors, there will be those who will be permanently condemned to patrol duties irrespective of whether they get sufficient rest or not.

The only women I see regularly in the force rarely have weapons with them; this is not to suggest that the situation with the military is markedly different. They are usually deployed behind desks across diverse government establishments, as traffic wardens or at force headquarters where some really dashing ladies can be found. I know there is a female police commissioner in one of the Southeastern states and more than a handful of public relations officers but I believe the force can do more with respect to wooing really brilliant females even directly from our higher institutions. Should we consider police and military enlistment in place of the mandatory one year national service?

The need to urgently review the command structure of the force cannot be overemphasized. General Murtala Muhammed retired 94 top ranking police officers on the 18th of August 1975 in a bid to sanitize the system but his move also involved the strategic promotion of the older brother of Lt Col Bukar Dimka who eventually assasinated him. We should not deceive ourselves that the rise of President Buhari automatically translates to the demise of corruption in our structure as a nation. The police, military and civil service are corrupt while the citizenry have been fed from the milk of corruption. It will take time to effectively subdue this scourge and the incumbent administration has been reasonable by not crudely eliminating the police hierarchy like Murtala did however; it is important that the system which has ensured that officers who are very close to retirement become the inspector general of police needs to be reviewed. 

The force needs to be decentralized and state governments and regions should be empowered to take responsibility for security. The police should be regarded as an industry to attract the brightest Nigerian minds; this is 2016 and not the era of constables wearing shorts. To the people, let us assist this men and women in uniform. The guns they carry can bearly protect them to stay alive long enough to protect you. A kind word here and a good gesture there can go a long way in improving their psyche. These are some of the people our legislators ought to be advocating for instead of seeking immunity and life pensions for themselves. 

Before you hiss for MOPOL, remember say e fit be say na on top iron he sleep for night after him no see correct wackis chop. Be wise.

Police is your friend.

"CODE BLUE": Ekiti and her insanitarium.

Am I shocked by the recent events in Ekiti state?  Absolutely not. 

The ongoing situation comedy emanating from the Ekiti state ministry of drama and produced by Irólèrè studios can only be termed as tragic. At times it appears one is watching something from the stables of Mount Zion films while at other moments the plot would change to a classic scene from the American television series "Cheaters ".

How can any reasonable Nigerian justify the utterances and actions of the Ekiti state governor Ayodele Fayose?

How can anyone who sat for English comprehension papers in secondary school read his rants about the wife of the president as well as the documents he cited to accuse her of involvement in the former US congressman William J Jefferson's scandal and still hold on to the belief that Fayose is stable?        

It is a tragedy indeed that such a man occupies the office responsible for the welfare of thousands of human beings and not poultry? The self crowned emperor must certainly derive pleasure from watching his subjects roll on the floor before him in worship and utter surrender. He must be really deceived by his height and whatever extraterrestrial powers in his possession;  how else  can one explain the bewitched loyalty elicited from his die hard supporters and gladiators?

Mr Fayose recites his right to "enjoy" immunity at any opportunity without any processing at the level of his cerebral cortex.  As far as he's concerned and according to what the constitution stipulates; he's above the law and beyond the reach of justice even if he commits a treasonable felony. This is undoubtedly the drawback of the brand of democracy we practice in Nigeria where elected officials join in a race to establish fiefdoms while trampling upon and crushing the heads of the masses in the process.  These emperors also use the blood and the flesh of the people they ought to serve as lubricants for their individual contraptions. Their unborn great grandchildren already have  dinner served while those who empowered them continue to groan in poverty and starvation while shedding the blood of their brothers.

In a fully sane country,  emperor Ayodele Fayose would already be sweeping the courtyards of Kirikiri maximum prison or telling moonlight fables of his exploits to fellow inmates at Kuje but our case is unique in Nigeria.  There are those who see this man as an orator who is bold as ten lions; the scourge of the north and the phoenix to herald the return of the now moribund People's demoncratic  party (PDP).

The audio recording from Ekitigate should have nailed him and all others whose voices were heard or those implicated. He ranted and shook his tail feather enough to rile those hostile to the Nigerian state to rise to his defence.  He succeeded in selling the dummy that president Buhari through the nation's security and intelligence agencies were  after him for speaking truth.

He carried on from his pre election tactics of predicting evil for the president to antagonising any and every step of the incumbent government.  He blamed his failure to pay backlogs of civil servants' salaries on the central government and on the immediate past administration of Kayode Fayemi. The vehicle of the economic and financial crimes commission  (EFCC) was driven through the land recently and unfortunately broke down in Ado-Ekiti. 

Governor Fayose in a letter dated 20th June 2016 was notified by Zenith bank Plc of restrictions placed on three accounts controlled by him "in line with the provisions of section 38 (1) of the EFCC establishment Act 2004". Two of the accounts are in his name while the third has Spotless investment limited as account name.

Fayose went out as usual to act out the script put together by his illusionists to deflect attention from himself by accusing the freezing agency of victimisation and witch hunting despite the presence of many like him with oil stained hands and bibs. He also went on the insane run to associate the president with Jefferson who is currently cooling off in jail.  His highly gullible multiethnic fan club without any hesitation lapped up his innuendo and went about broadcasting the persecution of their hero and savior of Nigeria's democracy. Some even suggested that his life was threatened because of his feeble jab at the president's wife. 

Ogbeni Fayose did not stop there;  he gave perhaps the most ridiculous explanation to the origin and insertion of whatever monies were frozen in his three  Zenith bank accounts.  I really do wonder if he has accounts with other banks and how much could be lodged therein if he indeed has others.  Fayose concluded that his case was definitely about campaign funding and not about the Dasuki-gate. He boldly told those who attended his press conference  that Zenith bank financed his election and then went on to lie to the EFCC that the money came from the office of the former national security adviser Lt. Col Sambo Dasuki. 

His Majesty Ay Fayose still wasn't content with the twist in the plot of the drama he was staring in; he instructed his master story teller Lere Olayinka to throw a curve ball to confuse even the other Co-stars. This is when the drama transposed from Mount Zion to reality television cheaters style. 

Four men in crisp suits and designer ties had come to see him perhaps on his request or as instructed by the hierarchy of Zenith bank. A top manager,  an executive director and the local branch manager were with the 'Emprenor' in what looked like a living room when some young men armed with cameras and other recording devices stormed the meeting area Cheaters style like they were about to uncover the greatest sex scandal of all time.  

Fayose didn't budge from his relaxed position while the aspiring reality TV crew went on to bombard the Bank ED with questions amidst flash photography on why the bank said XYZ  and OPQ  to EFCC and if they indeed funded  Fayose's campaign.  Just a few yards from that mayhem was the subdued frame of a grown man with his hands clasped behind his back.  The average height man had a mini afro and negroid skin with a very high melanin content.  One could have thought he was a man servant in the Fayose household but his dark suit and dotted tie with his Identity card hanging anteriorly from the left side of his trousers told a different story entirely. 

                    

Olubunmi Falana from his LinkedIn account is listed as a branch manager and it can be accurately inferred that he is the custodian of the three accounts who must have failed to give his benefactor any signal that the EFCC was after him.  Mr Falana was definitely born at a time when black and white photographs were solely used in Nigeria and he has been married since 2005 and has three children.

A quick glance through his Facebook page gives a glimpse of who he is.  Good cars, nice clothes, regular holidays and a beautiful wife characterise his Facebook profile. Who he really is is up to how different people interprete what they see and if they are already familiar with him prior to this. What is really alarming to me is how such a man who is somebody's son, sibling and husband can be pictured stuck with his knees apposed to the ground seemingly without any sense of shame.  

Fayose and his aides claim the Zenith crew were there to plead with him but only a cowered branch manager suggests that any such thing happened. Fayose ambushed grown men and decided to use the recorded material to launder his  shameless image without their consents (perhaps he had Mr Falana's) and some folks have hailed that as a master stroke. The gates to the asylum in Ekiti are definitely broken and the most insane has undoubtedly usurped the King.   

Fayose has mocked his people;  he has mocked their famine and loyalty. The state is at great risk and the men who ought to assembly at the gates to rescue the state are lying drunk in the emperor's backyard. There is money lodged in his accounts which obviously did not proceed from Zenith's generosity  (Nigerian banks are actually shark tanks )  but many of his people yet hail him as a hero because he feigns 'parapoism' with them. The source and effect of this witchcraft is mind numbing; insanity prevails in the land and many dance naked on the streets to the beat of a truly devious and erratic one. The people need to urgently wake up from this slumber to liberate the state from the hands and jaws of these imposters and con artists. 

For those who still think president Buhari became president because he had more money to spend or due to lies he told to discredit the young Jonathan; they should realise that the younger man simply failed and got evicted.  For those insisting that we move on to elected younger people into office;  they should realise that intense scrutiny of our supposedly young folk is not negotiable.  Mr Falana is an example of one who is deeply compromised and has surrendered his life to be perpetually used by people like Fayose. Doyin Okupe may have laid prone before President Obasanjo but God forbid that we continue to breed lily livered men and women who cannot take responsibility for their actions and inactions but will subject their peers and children to continuous abuse by a few elitist minded individuals. If a bank branch manager can be captured on his knees, what his staff members at his branch do to get ahead is better left to imagination.  

Greed has brought us here and this is highlighted by our banks that have traded our present and future for luxuries. The already exposed activities of banks such as Zenith, Fidelity and Union is clear indication that the entire structure needs urgent overhauling.  These sins cannot just be swept under the carpet; their deeds have directly or indirectly caused the death or displacement of many human beings and justice needs to be served. 

If you say to yourself or openly on social media and in conversations with others that Ayo Fayose speaks your mind and is fighting for Nigerians against corruption; I'm afraid to let you know that you have serious issues and a deeply flawed foundation.

The remedy will be to return to nursery school or go to every institution of learning tuition was paid on your behalf and demand for refunds. When you get those monies; start a business to hawk Dangote cement in traffic.

Bunmi Falana in utter surrender?

“ONE FOR ALL…”

The US ambassador to Nigeria petitioned the Speaker of Nigeria’s House of Representatives on the alleged misconduct of three members of the lower house in Cleveland Ohio a few days/ weeks ago. Ambassador James Entwistle regrettably informed the Speaker Yakubu Dogara that three (3) able bodied and testosterone secreting young men from the green room were not interested in  watching LeBron James dunk the basketball but tried to get mates to play ‘bedminton  and waistlifting’ with. The three men  Mohammed Garba Gololo, 41 (Bauchi APC), Samuel Ikon, 43 (Akwa Ibom PDP) and Mark Gbillah 44 (Benue APC) were said to have solicited for prostitutes from hotel parking assistants and one of them was said to have made attempts to palpate and/ or percuss intercontinental bosoms.

We do not know if these allegations are true but the ambassador stated that they indeed painstakingly investigated the complaints received on the matter. I’m sure this would have involved debriefing all witnesses and reviewing surveillance footages where available. I really doubt if these claims from the American Embassy are spurious and just a case of ‘oversabi’. I understand that Mr. Gololo has since issued a statement demanding for an apology and retraction; he has also demanded for video footage to back the allegations and likened the situation to a case against a former IMF boss caught up in a sex scandal backed by video evidence. I hope Gololo is sure of himself and realizes that ‘NEPA doesn’t take light there’. He also said he is ready to sue and thereby take on the mightiest nation on the earth to save his marriage and reputation. 

All three men have Bachelors and MBA degrees so if the accusations are genuine; we cannot simply say they stooped low (if true) because they lacked basic education. From their profiles on the National Assembly website, Gbillah is a builder listed as chief executive officer of one company and consultant for several companies including Huawei ( I don’t quite know exactly what he did or does for those companies) while Ikon is an economist listed as managing director of companies. Gololo simply had a 1996 reference to a maritime job he did two years after he left secondary school. These are young men who are potential future presidential or vice presidential candidates especially in a rotational system. Some have suggested that we permanently did away with our septuagenarians and allowed the “yoot” steer the Nigerian ship; these same folks accused of these kinds of things?

I believe one thing we should not get carried away with is physical appearance. That a man or woman is 35 years old does not mean that such an individual cannot reason like a relic. The Nigerian parliament is perpetually dominated by individuals who are there for personal profit and for the early phase of their retirement after being governors. They are obviously crown princes like the character Hakeem of the fictional Zamunda kingdom in the feature film ‘Coming to America’. These men and women are capable of misconduct (just like most Nigerians are) but are also too stupendously rich to indulge their extravagant lifestyles. It does not matter to me what party politicians and government appointees come from; anyone who breaches the laws ought to dance to the tune of justice. None is bigger than Nigeria; we have laws in need of enforcement which we must do.

The current hostility towards the current administration from certain quarters is totally unnecessary. Many times, this hyperventilation distracts us from knowing who the true enemies of the state are.

There are good and bad people from every part of Nigeria and the misdemeanor of one person should not lead to branding an entire ethnic group, religious body or socioeconomic class as what they are not. Ten (10) lawmakers went to Ohio but 3 were accused of misconduct; we should continue to drum it into the oscicles of our people that we are all responsible for maintaining the image of our nation both at home and abroad. It is just these accusations we have heard about; I am certain there are much more complicated stories. I hope this case is properly investigated and not just get rebuffed like we usually do in Nigeria. These men if  found ‘guilty’ will probably continue on as if nothing ever happened and the people must resist this and support whatever tool we have to continue cutting the National assembly to size beyond mere “common sense” rhetoric. 

Let us learn to support what or who is good to ensure good continues. To those going on about how Nigeria needs young blood; the young men and women are on their way but we must understand that many are already corrupted or possess the ‘corruption oncogene’ which only needs an external force to activate. We cannot just dislike a man because of his accent, age or educational background. If it was all about giving younger people a chance, Americans would not be going to the polls later this year to vote a 69 or 70 year old first time president 23-24 years older than when the outgoing president took office.

Let me help Gololo, Ikon and Gbillah with a defence if indeed they are guilty; they should write a joint letter to Mr Ambassador and ask him to mind his business and that of the potential incoming first man of the US (FiMOTUS) who had White house interns like biscuit only a few years ago.

WE NEED NEW HEROES- 1

Nigeria is a sick nation and there is no denying that fact. Human beings get sick from time to time but there are those who were born with genetic defects which render them more susceptible to certain conditions. Nigeria was forged defective but this is not a quality unique to the largest black nation on the face of the earth; just about every nation was cast with bubbles within.

The separate groups which constitute Nigeria are formidable indeed; I do not believe those who structured the Northern and Southern protectorates thought that one side was destined to subdue the other like a parasitic twin. In the 1940s-50s, Nigerian leaders like their counterparts in other parts of Africa joined in the clamor for an end to colonial dominance in their respective nations. This Pan-African wave was partly initiated by elites who had experienced various degrees of western education as well as exposure to the prevailing ideologies of those times. The agitation was widespread and the colonialists must have realized that the game was up but most of these nations remained connected to the former masters.

Kwame Nkrumah led the charge in Ghana and ensured that the British gave up the Gold Coast earlier than advised. He was well travelled and bagged several degrees including one in theology; he also interacted with Marxists and revolutionaries which ensured that the intelligence agencies of the USA and the United Kingdom hovered around him. The truth is that the young nation which gained independence in 1957 was not equipped with the quality leadership and followership required to thrive. It appears whatever Nkrumah picked up along the way through his sojourns in America and Britain went out the window when tribalism pulled Ghana apart. The nation’s constitution was amended and Nkrumah’s party had sole rights to the presidency.

Emmanuel Ifeajuna, one of the main casts of the January 15 1966 coup in Nigeria was said to have escaped after the coup failed and was welcome into Nkrumah’s country. Nigeria’s military in the early 1960s was like a baby learning to crawl. The fast-tracking of indigenous officers through the ranks must have exposed them to a few radical views at the time during their training. Two teams led by Ifeajuna and Kaduna Nzeogwu took out four of the top ranked Northern officers, two top ranked Western officers, one Eastern officer, the Prime Minister who was from the North, the Western region premier and the minister of finance. The tone of the coupist was revolutionary and they probably had socialist themed programs lined up for Nigeria if they had succeeded or did they actually succeed?

Prime Minister Balewa had visited both Presidents Eisenhower and JF Kennedy prior to his assassination; he appeared to be on the same page with both men as well as with the Commonwealth on issues such to strengthening economic and political ties. On his trip to meet Kennedy in July 1961, the agenda from declassified documents contained discussions on Communist China getting a seat in the United Nations, Cuba, Angola, Congo and South Africa. They also discussed special bases to be set up by US agencies in Kano and Kaduna. There is no doubt that these two global powers had Balewa in their camp and he went about his Rhodesia mission with zest. Nigeria phased out British control over the military in 1963 and with Awolowo in jail for treason and conspiracy to overthrow the government aided by Nkrumah; the young men who had been literally handed the keys to the Brigades’ armories took apart the nation albeit with the aim of reassembling her. They were young and must have thought their mission was important enough to spill blood for.

A dangerous chess game was started that bloody morning and by February 1966, Kwame Nkrumah’s reign ended in Ghana when he had embarked on trips to communist North Vietnam and China. His primitive military with officers fast-tracked to oust the British like it was done in Nigeria took him out of the equation in a palace coup. This coup was apparently backed by the Americans just like eliminations were done few years before that in Congo (1961) and South Vietnam (1963). Many of us who stayed in the Independence Hall of the University of Ibadan may have never thought deeply about the nickname of our hostel when we lived there. That hall of residence was called Katanga republic and it was named after a secessionist region which contributed to the Congo crisis of the early 1960s and cost the life of the UN secretary general of that time.

Congo Kinshasa gained independence from Belgium in July 1960 and in about one month, the constituent groups of the new country reverted to their default settings and two regions with significant mineral assets declared secession leading to a rift between the President Joseph Kasa-Vubu and the 35yrs old Prime minister Patrice Lumumba evidenced by both men announcing his rival’s removal. The situation was also complicated by a mutiny in the army and the man appointed by Lumumba to arrest the situation turned around to apprehend the PM instead, Mobutu eventually handed Lumumba to the breakaway Katanga authorities and he was summarily executed in January 1961. What happened to all their education and Pan Africanism rhetoric? Lumumba called for the help of the UN and then the Soviet Union but he was let down. It seemed everything was all about Uranium, such as was used to build the bombs which were dumped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. There was no way the US and her allies were going to let the Soviets get their hands on the prized raw material and Lumumba was the ‘small’ sacrifice to ensure that. Mobutu Sese Seko cannot be said to have practiced democracy in his Zaire but he met with the Queen, Kennedy, Nixon, Reagan and Bush Snr. Ibrahim Babaginda also met with the Queen after toppling Major General Buhari.

Everything appears to have been a supremacy battle between capitalism and socialism hence the constant jostling for control over Africa and her resources. Africans looked upon their elite as their heroes but even these men (mainly men) seemed to be only whitewashed tombs embalmed within by tribalism and other like vices. Coups and counter coups became rife and trigger happy young men became readily available to do the bidding of external forces plunging their nations in most cases down really dark pits. The reprisals of July 1966 in Nigeria must have been so gory that I believe participants still alive from that time are ashamed to talk about it. The war came about a year after that and must have provided some justification and local anaesthesia for the heavy-handedness of those few weeks in 1966; after all is fair love in war. The face of the July 1966 coup became the supreme commander in July 1975 and embarked on an aggressive campaign to strengthen Africa; it was not unusual then to tackle the US on the small matters of Rhodesia, South Africa and Angola. I am certain some major players were not comfortable with Murtala Mohammed’s backing of a particular rebel group in Angola and Nigeria’s monetary and material largesse to Angola. A couple of planes and tons of meat later, the 38yrs old Murtala was assassinated in February 1976 with only of the assassins Buka Dimka alleging that it was all for the restoration to power of Yakubu Gowon who was more favorably disposed to the British.

Organized religion had not really played a role in determining the course of Nigerian affairs until probably sometime in the late 1970s (I may be flat wrong). The unfortunate affair of the Nigerian-Biafra civil war did not appear to have been fed by any religious feeder vessels although the Biafran propaganda machinery may have solicited for help based on certain religious ties. Nigeria had a ‘christian’ Supreme commander and was backed by the British but those who fought the war on the federal side did not assembly based on religious affiliation. It is important that all the angles of this ‘avoidable’ war be examined whenever it is discussed in this present age to allow for objectivity. The genetic makeup of this potentially great country was distorted during those dark days and the truth is that all parties had scores to settle even if we agree that a particular people were unjustly treated before, during and after the war. I do not think it will be wise for any aggrieved party to demand for one thing or the other from the others without the willingness to place any deal on the table. That may just be the only way to achieve true reconciliation and free the current and unborn generation of this recycled and stale animosity. Some nations who went through significant chaos and bloodshed have since moved up even if delicately in some cases.