By Ikeddy Isiguzo

Let us admit it: many of us were waiting for General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida’s book majorly for two issues – the 12 June 1993 election and the 19 October 1986 parcel bomb that shredded the torso of journalist Dele Giwa, Editor-in-Chiefof Newswatch magazine. He died from it, and Moshood Kasimawo Olawale, MKO Abiola, winner of the June 12 presidential election died in detention 12 years after Dele Giwa.

In his book, Journey in Service, his much-awaited memoirs, which Babangida calls his autobiography, he did not let much out. He was faithful to his nickname, Maradona, executing dribbles that served no better purpose than to maintain the mystique about him being impervious though many know he is imperiled by his loyalty to friends.

The Argentine footballer from whom he picked up the moniker Maradona dribbled with a purpose. IBB is different. He prides himself on being Machiavellian. His intellectual group got him to explain his actions with his likeness to Niccolo Machiavelli, a 16th-century Italian diplomat, philosopher, and political theorist whose book The Prince was meant to be a realistic guide to new rulers.

Shocking as The Prince was even centuries ago, it was more shocking to modern readers of the book for Babangida and his loyalists to be proud of the fact that their leader was machiavellian. The key principles of Machiavelli are:
a. Consequentialist morality: Actions are judged by the supposed good consequences they bring to society, rather than by ideals. The end, the principle holds, justifies the means.
b. Mask intentions: Leaders should hide their true intentions from followers as well as critics. Isn’t that a dictatorship?
c. Avoid inconsistency: Leaders should be consistent in their actions even when they are on the road to doom.
d. Act against mercy: Leaders should act against mercy, faith, humanity, frankness, and religion to preserve the State which in any case is theirs.
e. Shape your own fortune: Leaders should use charisma, cunning, and force to shape their own fortune, rather than relying on luck. In all these, the leader thinks of himself first, always.
f. Be feared: Leaders should be dreaded to wade through complex corporate dynamics and destroy those who do not fear them.
g. Manage appearances: Leaders should manage how they appear to others (perception management) and also where they appear for these are among the surprises leaders use to keep their followers in awe of them.
i. Prioritise outcomes: Leaders should prioritise outcomes over other considerations. Nothing, no costs, would be deemed more important than what the leader wants to achieve.
j. Understand adversaries: Leaders should understand their adversaries to navigate complex corporate dynamics. A lot of time and other resources are used to identify enemies and checkmate their moves.

These are the principles IBB was proud to have used in running Nigeria. He was so unpredictable that he was no longer surprised.

Babangida wants to keep himself in the limelight in his twilight years. The crowds that practically shut down Abuja for his book launch were his loyalists who are proof that loyalty is meant to be forever.

Some also earn bragging rights from being seen around Babangida. Others are very grateful for the course that IBB set them on 40 years ago. They were the main cheerleaders on Thursday.

Also in that crowd were those who protested against Babangida’s policies from the Structural Adjustment Programme, SAP, to June 12 or encouraged others to do so.

They all spoke glowingly about Babangida.

IBB let the world know in his book that he was pained by Dele Giwa’s death because he was his friend, intelligent and more pained that people were trying to pin the death on the administration. He blamed Giwa’s lawyer, Gani Fawehinmi and Giwa’s colleagues for hampering investigations into Giwa’s death because they were pointing in one direction: IBB’s administration.

More interesting could be the June 12 election which IBB has just admitted that Abiola won. We knew that long ago. Prof Humphrey Nwosu, Chairman of the National Electoral Commission, told us so 32 years ago. Hundreds of thousands of Nigerians had copies of the result. IBB did not do what he should have done to make the results official, and Abiola, his friend, the President.

IBB staked his innocence through claims that strip him of the acclaim for his bravery, courage, firm control of his administration and the layers of intelligence he built around himself. How could he have lost control of the administration within hours of leaving Abuja for a condolence visit to Katsina?

He just denuded himself after 32 years of hiding behind his fingers.

Most principal characters in the Babangida story are dead. He can tell his story as he pleases. After all, it is his story. He is a great leader, everybody at that event said, particularly those who opposed him.

It was from Babangida that we learnt how powerful Nduka Irabor, Chief Press Secretary to Admiral Augustus Aikhomu, IBB’s Vice-President, was. Babangida said Nduka annulled June 12, reading from a “scrappy” piece of paper that had no presidential imprimatur. Nduka, who Maj-General Muhammadu Buhari jailed under Decree 4 of 1984, with Tunde Thompson, for writing a story Buhari’s administration considered embarrassing, out of jail had acquired enormous powers.

Nduka must have annoyed IBB with the “scrappy” announcement. Babangida retaliated with a national broadcast in which he claimed that the election was compromised, candidates spent over a billion Naira, and there was a conflict of interest among some people in government.

Another way of saying it is that Nduka, a non-member of the Armed Forces Ruling Council, AFRC, a mere civilian, had the temerity to announce the annulment. The announcement so infuriated Babangida that he confirmed it with a national broadcast since he was President, Commander-in-Chief, and Chairman of AFRC, the highest-decision-making body in Nigeria, in 1993.

One is also inclined to blame Nduka for developing Abuja and other otherwise great strides of the administration, which Babangida would deny?

With all the rejoinders IBB has issued to what many had thought was “a great job” that he did, less some raised issues, a better title for the book should have been, “It wasn’t me”, all credits to Shaggy and Rik Rok for that 2000 monster release that centred on a man caught cheating his girlfriend repeating, “It wasn’t me” to every evidence.

Finally…
REVEREND Father Jude Muokwe in Anambra State allegedly slapped and flogged a 50-year-old widow, who works in a school the priest superintends. Her offence? She was leading a meeting of teachers to articulate their demand for a pay raise.

I have heard defences of the priest. Just a question, is flogging a staff, the punishment for holding a meeting? The widow showed her injuries in a viral video on social media. The Catholic Diocese of Awka said it was investigating the incident.

SENATE President Dr. Obong Godswill Akpabio has run into another round of altercations with Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, who Akpabio walked out of the Senate during a row over re-allocated sitting arrangements. Akpabio and Akpoti-Uduaghan had a first clash in July 2024 when Akpabio said she spoke as if she was in a nightclub. Harsh social media reactions forced an apology out of Akpabio.

Earlier in the same month, Akpabio had stopped Senator Ireti Kingibe from moving a motion on the demolition of buildings in the Federal Capital Territory, which is her constituency. Akpabio, in addition, advised Chief Nyesom Wike, FCT Minister to ignore Kingibe. He was later to say the incident was “a miscommunication”.

PA Edwin Clark, elder statesman, a man of great convictions, whose services to Nigeria date back to Mid-Western State, passed on 17 February 2025. All those who hated his guts for fighting for economic, environmental, and social justice for the Niger Delta, now mourn him. Nothing in their mourning suggests that they are not still opposed to the creation of the South-South Development Commission for the Niger Delta. Nigerians know how to play it from all sides.

*ISIGUZO is a major commentator on minor issues

By Lasisi Olagunju

In five parts, thirteen chapters, six appendices, including an interview; a prologue and an epilogue, he sought to give a definite definition of himself. But, for me, the deepest insight into the person of General Ibrahim Babangida is not in his expensive book (it fetched him billions; I bought a copy for N40,000). The greatest revelation was at the launch of the book in Abuja. His comrade-in-arms and childhood friend, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, revealed that a cleric told them about 80 years ago that Babangida would one day be president of his country.

Now, when you, a seer, tell a child that he would be king one day, the palace cannot be safe until the child becomes man and he becomes king – or he dies. We read exactly that in Shakespeare’s story of the Scottish General, Macbeth. Three witches tell Macbeth that he will be King of Scotland. Macbeth becomes impatient; he kills the reigning king and takes the throne. Because of the security of his throne, paranoia pushes King Macbeth to take other desperate measures. People die; civil war erupts, and more people die. Darkness falls. Please, go back and read again your Macbeth.

My people have several proverbs and sayings on royalty and fate. They say one’s destiny makes one a king but one’s character dethrones one (Orí ẹni ni í fini j’ọba, ìwà èyàn ni í yọ èyàn l’óyè). Like Macbeth, IBB joined the army and rose to become a General. Again, like Macbeth, the Thane of Cawdor prophecy came true for Babangida and he became Chief of Army Staff. Finally, like Macbeth, he became king and pronounced himself president and proceeded to do as Macbeth did until he left almost the Macbeth way. If you had been wondering why the amiable General from Minna chose ‘president’ as his official title, now you know it was in fulfillment of a prophecy.

Babangida once named his heroes: Zulu’s Emperor Chaka and General Hannibal of Carthage. Read again about those Generals, their careers and their exploits, their end. Read page 121 of IBB’s book and decide if you are convinced by his reasons for not answering what all his predecessors answered: Head of State. He says in the book that he chose to be different not because he wanted to copy Turkey’s General Kemal Ataturk or Emperor Chaka the Great. He says he chose to be ‘president’ as a demonstration of his commitment to “our suspended constitution.”

Babangida’s feet walked corridors of power; he befriended, and ‘charmed’ power even before he installed Buhari as Head of State in December 1983. His feet took him, or he took his feet everywhere his inner head (his Ori Inu) could be found. He was intrepid, smooth and daring. I read Shehu Shagari’s autobiography, ‘Beckoned to Serve’ published in 2001: “In late October or early November 1983, Major General Babangida and Colonel Aliyu Mohammed came to the State House to see me and we had a long discussion. They did pay me such visits usually at night long before I became President.” Shagari had that recorded on page 497 of his own autobiography. You are likely to ask what IBB was looking for in Shagari’s home at night. The way Babangida walked hallways of power was the way persons kept awake by destiny walked, restlessly.

In the Foreword to Babangida’s book written by his boss, General Yakubu Gowon, we gain better discernment on the labyrinth called IBB. The older General describes Babangida as “a natural leader but also a devoted follower.” Sun Tzu, in ‘The Art of War’ tells Generals: “Appear weak when you are strong, and strong when you are weak.” Is that why President Babangida is read in the book bossing and, at the same time, bowing to his army chief, General Sani Abacha, in double-quick manner? Many commentators have said that his June 12 account is a mesh of courage and cowardice. ‘Abacha did this, Abacha did that but I regrettably take full responsibility for everything that happened’!

Here, before you abuse IBB as a General without biceps, know that he did not walk alone. Apart from Murtala Muhammed who came fast and left fast, every military regime we had had its internal tormentor. For Gowon, it was Murtala Muhammed who was both boy and boss to the boss. All accounts say Gowon ruled under Murtala’s shadows until the kingmaker said enough and took the crown from Gowon alias Jack. Read the Gowon/Murtala story in Theophilus Akindele’s ‘Memoir of Mixed Blessings’ – especially the contract controversies. In his own book, Babangida says Murtala Muhammed, in Gowon’s government, “was quite a handful in matters pertaining to control” (page 85). IBB himself played the Murtala role to Muhammadu Buhari, 1984-85. He made the lanky General from Daura sit on the throne then shoved him off the seat because of his “excesses.” It should, therefore, not shock the reader that Abacha was the captain of the ship who allowed IBB to be there until the groom was ready for the bride. Babangida’s ‘A Journey in Service’ tears the mask.

Somewhere in that book, like a river nearing its sea, for whatever reasons, IBB reproduced (introduced) a 1995 interview he granted TELL magazine, and it reads like a summary of the entire IBB story. At a point in the interview, TELL magazine editors remind him of how he dealt ruthlessly with them and their magazine, IBB asks “What happened to TELL? TELL? Seriously, what happened?” He is told that over half a million copies of TELL were seized, and some of the editors speaking with him there were arrested. His response: “You see, when I sat up there, I didn’t know most of these things that happened…At times, the information only reached me later.” If what he said here is true, for a man who boasted that he was trained to dominate his environment, the fact that big things happened in his government without his knowledge could only tell how hopelessly imprisoned people of power could be.

Some people’s luck or escape route is in dying young. One loud example is General Murtala Muhammed. Would he be the hero he is if he had ruled for three, four years? Nigeria would definitively have happened to him. Unlike Murtala, some other people are very lucky to live hard and live long. Babangida is one of such. He is 83 years old. Imagine if he had died when his enemy, Muhammadu Buhari, was president. He would not have made the loud statement he made in Abuja last week! Or worse, if he had died during the June 12 crisis. He lived those bloody moments and validated Musician Odolaye Aremu’s theory that “if we don’t die young, enemies of fifteen years will become our friends.” At his book launch last week, his enemies and friends dropped offerings at his altar. NADECO man, Bola Tinubu, described him as “visionary Babangida.” Gowon in the Foreword declares that “in the post-Civil War period, his (IBB’s) tenure in office is easily the most remarkable.” That is an interesting verdict. Almost five of those post-Civil War years belong to Gowon himself. Some people are very good at scoring own goals.

In language and structure, I find this book by IBB to be very solid and uncomplicated. But, certainly, the most contentious of the content of the book is the June 12 story. And, the author’s treatment of the matter is the most extensive – almost 40 pages. Very unlike IBB, he named his friend, Sani Abacha, as the head of the forces that cancelled the election. But the annulment was just a culmination of a long, dark, bad process triggered by IBB himself long before the election was held. He said he was away in Katsina when Abacha and his boys annulled the election. But IBB came back from Katsina; why didn’t he undo what Abacha did? If he did anything at all, it is not in the book. Instead, what we see are hand-wringing cliches on the annulment and its consequences. The Abacha family is angry, furious; Abiola’s people are not impressed; they wondered why he waited for ‘all’ his witnesses to die before coming out. But what he wrote is no news. What is news is that those facts are directly from IBB himself. Snippets of what he said were in the media of that period. And we heard all sorts of weird things in newsrooms, the scrambling for and partitioning of power. For instance, we heard (or read) that Abacha, one heated meeting day, followed General Joshua Dogonyaro to the toilet and told him: “Let IBB go and we remain.” And Dogonyaro’s reply was “Who are the we?” Soldiers are great followers of Sun Tzu: “in the midst of chaos, there is opportunity.”

Professor Omo Omoruyi was one of the key architects of IBB’s transition programme and, perhaps, the closest to IBB in the dark days of the annulment. In 1999, Omoruyi published ‘The Tale of June 12: The Betrayal of the Democratic Rights of Nigerians’. It is his account of the June 12 tragedy. More than twenty-five years after it was published, I have not read anyone that is mentioned in the book coming out to say the professor lied. So, I take Omoruyi’s account of the pre and post-annulment events as reliable. He claims in his book (page 37) that the June 12 election “was aborted by forces external to its design.”

He is more direct on page 257: “General Abacha felt humiliated when General Babangida yielded to the US pressure to order on June 11, 1993 that the June 12 election must go on. From that June 11, General Abacha showed no interest in the matter and waited for when it would crash…It was Lt.-General Alani Akinrinade, a former Chief of Defence Staff and an experienced professional officer, who read the situation right in the interview he granted to reporters in October 1993 when he said that ‘Shonekan is a mask…the masquerade itself is the armed forces and Abacha is the personification of that masquerade.’ See TELL, November 1, 1993. p.25.”

Omoruyi accuses IBB of betraying his country and its people with his disruptive handling of the last leg of the transition programme. He says IBB lost control of the military and the government soon after the election held. He said Babangida was in a fix as of 9.30 p.m. on 21 June, 1993 when he met him. His book (page 162 – 164) quotes the General copiously: “I see disaster for myself and my family. Where do I go from here?” Omoruyi quotes IBB as confirming that Abiola won the election but that “they” would kill him if he allowed the results to stay. Omoruyi wrote further that at the end of that outburst, Babangida made a telling remark. He quotes him as saying “I told you that I am a prisoner. What do I do? I think I need a psychiatrist” (page 171). Two days after all these, the annulment announcement was made via an unsigned, undated paper circulated to the media through the Vice President’s office.

Can we, at this point, ask journalist Nduka Irabor to come out and tell the world who gave him the unsigned annulment statement that he released to the world on 23 June 1993? He can no longer be quiet.

Now, if Abacha emitted such negative vibrations in his government, why did Babangida leave him behind after retiring himself and all service chiefs? IBB offers no cogent reason for this in his ‘A Journey in Service’. Instead, what we read is his admission of “a grave mistake” in retaining Abacha as chairman of the joint Chief of Staff and “as enforcer-in-chief for the new government” of Ernest Shonekan. Omoruyi addresses the same issue better in his own book (page 257): “In response to my question as to who would guard the guards after August 26, 1993, he (Babangida) said he would remove the operational control from him (Abacha) and assign it to Lt.-General Joshua Dogonyaro.” It is interesting that IBB thought that running into Dogonyaro’s fire was a better option to staying in Abacha’s fire. In any case, Abacha sacked Dogonyaro and all other “guards” soon after Babangida stepped aside. The other arms of the IBB boys, he used them to get rid of Shonekan and his Interim National Government (ING). He then cavalierly gave them the tissue paper treatment – he used, dumped and flushed them down the drain.

We saw a convergence of all the forces in Abuja last week. NADECO and the military factions swam in open adultery. They wined and partied and gave the General of Generals a generous pat on the back. One of my university classmates described the Abuja event as “not funny.” Her post to me dripped with so much pain. She told tales of death and dying and suffering. She gave accounts of personal experiences and sacrifices. She felt betrayed.

I begged her to let me include her tears here without mentioning her name: “I watched the launch of the book written by IBB and took a cursory look at the parade of eminent personalities in attendance. I listened to the speeches one after the other and saw them laughing. I was stunned that people therein, one after the other, eulogized IBB. I thought for a moment that I was in another planet or that I had mental issues by asking myself if these people were describing the same events that I witnessed as a 26-year-old spinster living in Lagos and trying to chart a course for the future. Significantly, I remember how I walked from Aguda in company of a friend to queue up and vote at Adebola Street, off Bode Thomas in Surulere, Lagos and walked back home.

I remember sitting at the reception of the school of nursing on Awolowo Road waiting to collect my sister’s transcript when an elderly woman fainted on hearing the news of the annulment. I recall her colleagues trying to revive her and crying at the same time that their hope for a better Nigeria had just been dashed. I remember having woken up early one morning to go to work and arriving in Norman Williams in Ikoyi only to realize that Lagos was on lockdown and going back home became an arduous task. I remember getting a ride through the Third Mainland Bridge to Obanikoro and walking back home in Aguda, dodging bullets and escaping area boys who took advantage of the situation. I survived but some did not. What I saw in that hall last week was a mockery of those who died and of those of us who did not die but are yet to recover from the trauma of that period. It is not funny!”

My friend spoke for millions seething helplessly in the dimly lit parlours of their lives. But, there must be a closure, and I think that was what that Abuja gathering thought it was doing. For those who are angry and crying betrayal, I give what I gave my friend – a quote: “Whatever happens, stay alive. Don’t die before you’re dead.” Some say the quote is from English writer, Virginia Woolf; some others credit Polish writer and Nobel Laureate, Olga Tokarczuk. Whoever the writer is between those two ladies gave a valuable advice. “Whatever happens, stay alive.”

Daedalus was a mythical sculptor who lived in Athens. In one desperate moment, the man threw a stone at a bird and killed it; the stone ricocheted and killed a second bird. With the feathers, he and his son created wings with which they escaped from detention in a high tower which they had helped their tormentor to design. That appears to be the objective of General Ibrahim Babangida’s autobiography. To kill many birds with one lone stone. Still all storms; settle all scores; explain all controversies; and they are many: OIC membership, Dele Giwa’s death, Mamman Vatsa’s coup, the C-130 Plane Crash, the Gideon Orkar Coup, June 12; the SAP riots, Gulf Oil Windfall. The author thoroughly explains and analyses these as “challenges of leadership” all across the 420 pages, some from page 203 to 220. But, has he succeeded in getting these cases closed? Dirty water may quench fire but if you want to fight fire, you don’t wear clothes made of dry grass. Has Babangida’s book helped him to calm or further enrage the sea? Well, in Chinua Achebe’s words, it is “morning yet on creation day.”

By Prof Chris Mustapha Nwaokobia Jnr.

As The Class Of True Patriots To Whom It Is COUNTRYFIRST Predicated On Justice, Equity And Fairness Thins Down. We Say Adieu Pa Ayo Adebanjo And Good Night Pa E.K Clark.

Waking up to the now common Valentine’s Day frenzy in modern Nigeria, just before the red and white, and the all red colours that define February 14th tore through the morning space; calls, messages and Breaking News of the passing of Pa Ayo Adebanjo tore through the Heavens validating Shakespeare’s age long quote, “when beggars die, there are no comets seen; the Heavens themselves blaze forth the death of princes”.

Pa Adebanjo loved his Country so much he fought for justice, for fairness, for equity and for an egalitarian society until he took a bow at the very ripe age of 96. He loved Nigeria so much his lifelong campaign was for a Society that works for all. He was a doyen of Justice, of Equity, of Fairness and of Inclusion. He loved us so much that our fault lines to him were manifest tapestry of the potentialities of a Rainbow coalition centred on the conquering and therapeutic force of True Love should our nation elect the egalitarian ideals of equity, of Justice and of fairness over our primordial fault lines and prejudices.

He was so much a lover of Truth and the beloved Community that he took a bow on February 14 ditto Lovers Day. Fare Thee Well Pa Ayo Adebanjo, we love you, and your unassailable legacies shall remain indelible.

Whilst we were yet processing the worthy words and trite refrain soothing the Iroko Pa Ayo Adebanjo, he called out from the yonder place to his friend and Comrade of several decades Pa E.K Clark, yes on the 17th of February, 2025 another doyen of the progressive left and leader of popular struggle heeded that call.

Was it the conspiracy of the gods or a coup hatched by the Universe that the nonagenarian pillars of the struggle for a nation that works for all chose to depart the stage 3 days apart? February the 14th and February the 17th, 2025 tore through a nation’s womb leaving a void, now we must recruit newer and younger progressive elements to whom COUNTRYFIRST must be a creed and a commitment. Now we must grow more Pa Adebanjos and Pa Clarks, and now we must rededicate ourselves to the unalterable task of building a nation that works for all.

I have read several tributes by several groups in honour of both paladins of popular struggle, and must I rehearse the nobility of their lives and the cause for which they stood tall? Must I preach about the preachments that kept them in the news until they passed at 96, and 97 respectively? Need I tell you that Pa Ayo Adebanjo was the living conscience of Afenifere speaking to a nation largely bereft of conscience, saying you must do right, you must imbibe the priceless ideals of equity and you must be JUST to all the peoples of the Republic.

Need I remind you of the extremely versatile Pa Edwin Clark who fought until his death for Restructuring, for True Fiscal Federalism, for Resource Control, for Inclusion, for Justice, for Equity and for Fairness to all. Need I tell of the resilience of the High Chief from Kiagbodo in Delta State, who challenged his nation to justice for her marginalized Oil Producing Communities? What more should I tell you about him that is possibly not out there? Should I remind you of his many efforts and interventions to inspire national cohesion and unity? Have you forgotten the several vehicles of collaboration under his watch including PANDEF the one he led until his light went out on the 17th of February, 2025.

Folks, at the core of this short tribute is the call for a new republic of Comrades, of Statesmen, of well-meaning citizens who will fill in the void, repopulate the vacuum they left behind, and commit to building a conscious mass to whom it will remain COUNTRYFIRST.

If we fail to live by the values for which we have written great words in honour of the duo, then we have a nation doomed to the invidious politricks of soulless and conscienceless power grabbers to whom all that counts is ME, MYSELF AND I. If we fail to grow a stronger and wider class of Patriots, then we are doomed to dark nights of hopelessness. And we are doomed to a cycle of egocentric politicians who prey on our nation’s fault lines to and for political profit.

This effort is a question mark on our collective conscience, if we ever truly love Pa Ayo Adebanjo, and Pa E.K Clark we must rise beyond the fine words of the season and the flowery tributes, and urge and nudge a massive surge in the ideas, ideals and ideologies of egalitarianism. We must put COUNTRYFIRST, and make the values of responsible and responsive leadership our collective minimum, such is the duty we owe our departed Titans.

Fare Thee Well great Paladins of Right, Goodnight Pa Adebanjo, Adieu Pa Clark… We shall yet make Nigeria Great.

Prof Chris Mustapha Nwaokobia Jnr.
Convener COUNTRYFIRST MOVEMENT. A Good Governance Advocacy Group.

By Tonye Clinton Jaja

Prof. Mike Ozekhome, SAN has recently called upon Nigerians to forgive former Head of State, General Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida (IBB). According to Prof. Ozekhome, SAN, IBB has demonstrated remorse as evidenced by his recent confessions about June 12, 1993 elections

It is instructive that Prof. Ozekhome SAN used a religious word or parlance: “forgiveness”.

Therefore, it is important to understand the meaning of “forgiveness” in the religious sense of the word and the pre-requisite requirement before forgiveness is granted.

“Absolution is a declaration of forgiveness, while benediction is a declaration of blessing.”

Absolution
In Christianity, absolution is a pronouncement of forgiveness of sins by a priest.

It’s a declaration of God’s promised forgiveness to those who repent

It forgives the guilt associated with sins…

Benediction
A pronouncement of God’s blessing upon us”.

So what is the pre-requisite requirement before forgiveness is bestowed upon IBB?

“In the Bible, Jesus told Zacchaeus to repay four times the amount he had stolen. Zacchaeus was a wealthy tax collector who repented after Jesus visited his home. (Luke 19:1-23)”

IBB needs to pay restitution to Nigeria before true forgiveness can be bestowed upon him.

Out of the ₦17bn that was realised from his recent book launch, he can submit a portion (₦10bn) to the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (PBAT) to utilise for distribution to the 87 million Nigerians that are classified as multi-dimensionally poor!!!

The foregoing is just being lenient for IBB in comparison to the abject poverty that IBB inflicted upon the majority of Nigerians during his tenure.

I was not even yet ten years of age when IBB introduced “the Structural Adjustment Program (SAP), which was a series of economic reforms in Nigeria from 1986 to 1988. The program was a response to an economic crisis caused by low oil revenues and high foreign debt.”

Yet I still remember the effect of SAP on our family.

Before SAP, my mother who was a school teacher on a salary of about ₦100 in the years before 1986 used to buy groceries for our house in wholesale quantity. Carton of peak milk, carton of sardines, big tin of bournvita, carton of St. Louis sugar, carton of frozen fish. All these were bought once in a month or so.

Then we lived near a bakery at Rumuokuta area of Port Harcourt, Rivers State and I used to buy a penny loaf of bread every once in a while to eat with a tin of sardines. I enjoyed dipping a chunk of bread inside the oil of the sardine and wash it down with a cup of warm bournvita with enough peak milk.

But when SAP started all that stopped. I still recall my mother cooking what she called groundnut soup, with grinded groundnuts instead of the usual egusi. I recall that garri was so expensive that we had to substitute with ground corn meal which was never as strong as garri!!!

As a precedent in restitution in the context of Nigeria in this regard, let him emulate the members of the House of Representatives, National Assembly whom it was reported took steps as follows:

“The House of Representatives will, on December 31, 2024, present the sum of N704.91m to President Bola Tinubu for the use of vulnerable Nigerians owing to the economic hardship occasioned by the removal of the petrol subsidy.

Recall that on July 18, the House resolved to slash 50 per cent of their salaries for six months to address the challenges faced by ordinary Nigerians following the adoption of a motion moved during a plenary session.

Following a motion by Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu, the House, in July, resolved to donate half of their salaries to meet the hunger needs of Nigerians as part of efforts to stop the end bad governance protest.

While moving the motion, Kalu said, “This government is doing its best, but one year is not enough to address the challenges of this country. I want to plead with our colleagues to sacrifice 50 per cent for a period of six months.”

Dr. Tonye Clinton Jaja,
Executive Director,
Nigerian Law Society (NLS).

By Chidi Anselm Odinkalu

I am grateful to Seyi Sowemimo, SAN, and Abdul Jinadu respectively for taking time to address matters of historical record from my column of last week. This column this week publishes their rejoinders (modestly edited for economy) without comment.  

____________________________________

My Father Refused to Swear in Muhammadu Buhari after the Coup of 31 December 1983

By

Seyi Sowemimo, SAN

I have in recent times come across two posts or write-ups put up by Professor Odinkalu containing some misinformation, which requires correction so that they do not become accepted for all times as the true versions of the events to which they relate.

The first has to do with the events of 31st December 1983 which heralded in the Buhari/Idiagbon Administration. From his account, the then Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice George Sodeinde Sowemimo GCON (who happens to be my late father) was out of the country at the material time. The Military in his absence then proposed to swear in Justice Aniagolu in his place as Chief Justice but the learned Justice declined the offer.

I have some personal knowledge of the events of that day and it has therefore become necessary to correct some aspects of your narrative. Firstly, the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Sowemimo was certainly in the country at that time. What actually happened was that on the night of the coup, the military officers sent the then Secretary to Federal Government, Mr. Gray Longe to CJN’s official residence to invite my father to their gathering at Bonny Camp. In panic, my late mother sent word to me to alert me of the development but happily by the time I got to the house, my father had returned from Bonny Camp.

What happened at Bonny Camp was that the Military Officers requested that my father swear him General Muhammadu Buhari, as the new Head of State and possibly thereafter accompany him to the Television Station where he was to make his maiden Broadcast. The Chief Justice refused and impressed on them the fact that they had by their actions suspended the Constitution and that he could not therefore as the Chief Justice legitimately swear General Buhari as the Head of State. The military officers were persuaded by this explanation and General Buhari thereafter proceeded with the takeover without formality of a swearing-in.

When my father got to Bonny Camp that night, he met some Judges at the venue but their presence has never been fully explained. I, however, believe that if such offer was ever made to Justice Aniagolu it would be easy for me to appreciate his disinclination towards the offer as judges of their ilk were not consumed by ambition and Justice Aniagolu would well have recognized that there were other Justices of the Supreme Court who were senior to him and that an acceptance of such an offer would have created a very awkward situation for the judiciary, especially at the level of the Supreme Court. Anyone familiar with the level of camaraderie which existed amongst the Justices of that Court at the material time will readily appreciate why such an offer would have been spurned.

The second post concerns the compulsory retirement of Hon Justice Yaya Jinadu from the High Court. An aspect of the narrative which is incorrect concerns the claim that Hon. Justice Adefarasin, the then Chief Judge of Lagos State, unilaterally withdrew the Garba case file from Justice Jinadu. The version that I am familiar with is that it was Justice Jinadu who requested that the case file be reassigned to another judge. The Advisory Judicial Council made up of the Chief Justice, the President of the Court of Appeal and several other Justices actually called for the case file and observed for themselves the minutes by Justice Jinadu requesting that the case file be assigned to another judge. It is therefore not correct or fair to give the impression that the case file was unceremoniously withdrawn from him by Justice Adefarasin, the Chief Judge. What infuriated members of the Supreme Military Council was the fact that the Judge had made those false claims against the Chief Judge. This was the background to the compulsory retirement of Justice Yaya Jinadu.

Finally, you described as infamous the judgment of Justice Sowemimo which convicted the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo. You referred to the judgment as “infamous”. This characterisation clearly ignores the fact that the judgment was in fact upheld and confirmed unanimously by a panel of five justices of the Supreme Court [in] Michael Omisade & Ors. v. The Queen (1964) 1 All NLR, 23.

The judgment in the Omisade case was in fact preceded by the judgment in the treasonable felony trial of Chief Anthony Enahoro, who was convicted and sentenced to 15 years imprisonment by Hon. Justice S.O Lambo on the very same set of facts, two weeks before the judgment in the Awolowo case. Chief Enahoro’s appeal was decided by another set of five Supreme Court Justices, who affirmed his conviction but reduced the sentence from 15 to seven years.

It is unfair in the circumstances to describe the judgment of the trial Court as infamous, considering the fact that 10 reputable Justices of the highest Court upheld the conviction of the accused persons.

Seyi Sowemimo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, practices law in Lagos

My Father was not Compulsorily Retired – A Response to Seyi Sowemimo

By

Abdul Jinadu

It was with some sadness that I read a document which had been apparently circulating written by a Mr. Seyi Sowemimo dated 18 February 2025 entitled “Rejoinder to Recent Posts by Professor Chidi Odinkalu” in which the writer professes to address “two posts or write-ups put up by Professor Odinkalu….”

It is ironic that in purporting to correct alleged misinformation, Mr. Sowemimo himself traffics in misinformation and what one may charitably describe as errors of fact. He deals with two issues: the events of 31^st December 1983 and the events surrounding my late father, Mr. Justice Yahya Abiodun Olatunde Jinadu’s resignation from the Lagos State High Court bench in 1984.

I have no particular position to take up with Mr. Sowemimo in respect of his first issue as I profess no particular knowledge of the matters which he discusses. However, I suspect that if he approached this first issue with the same standards of veracity and objectivity with which he addresses the second of his issues, Mr. Sowemimo’s account will be found to be somewhat lacking in fidelity to the truth.

I do take a firm position as regards Mr. Sowemimo’s comments regarding my father and the circumstances in which he resigned from the bench. It is lamentable, and perhaps indicative of the standards which currently obtain, that a member of the inner bar would display such poor skills as a legal researcher so as to assert that my father was compulsorily retired. If Mr. Sowemimo had carried out even the most basic research that one would expect of a first year law student at an average university, he would have discovered that my father resigned rather than bow to what he believed, and what history has confirmed, were egregious attempts by the Advisory Judicial Committee to interfere with the independence of the judiciary, all in the service of a military dictatorship. In his resignation letter (it is not clear on what basis one would write a resignation letter if he had been compulsorily retired) my father famously said that he was retiring “to protect his integrity and preserve the independence of the judiciary”.

I would recommend that Mr. Sowemimo search out a copy of the book “A Salute to Courage” written by Richard Akinnola and published by the late Chief Gani Fawehinmi’s Chambers which contains a more accurate account of the relevant events with reference to primary documents and interviews with some of the key actors. I am happy to provide Mr. Sowemimo with a copy should he so desire. The documents establish that Mr. Justice Adefarasin had unilaterally withdrawn the case file from my father on the instructions of the military dictatorship who were not pleased with the manner in which my father was conducting the trial. My father, long after he had retired, opined that he was aware that there was an attempt to use his court to wrongfully convict an innocent man and conscious of his judicial oath and his obligations as a Muslim mandated in the holy Quran that he abide no injustice particularly when he was appointed to the hallowed position on the bench, he was not going to allow that to happen. In my father’s words, the judiciary was the last hope of the common man.

This year marks the centenary of my father’s birth. He passed away five years ago surrounded by his loving family and confident in the judgment of history as still being the only judge in the history of Nigeria to have resigned on a point of principle.

It would have been a cause of immense sadness to him that an individual from the profession which he so revered and one who is the son of an individual who for a very long time he considered a dear friend would be the one attempting to rewrite history in this rather clumsy fashion. Fortunately, there are individuals alive today such as Alhaji Femi Okunnu SAN, who was one of my father’s closest advisors and confidants when this issue arose, who were first hand witnesses to the events in question.

Abdul Jinadu is a Barrister at Keating Chambers in London

By Sylvester Udemezue

I’m going through the CA judgment on Osun LGA. I plan to offer an opinion thereon.

But, in the meantime, I can tell you for free, that the reliefs sought at the FHC were/are outside the limited jurisdiction of Nigeria’s Federal High Court:

1. What exactly is the business of Nigeria’s Federal High Court with LGA elections in Osun State? How did the FHC assume jurisdiction over the case in the first instance?
2. What power does the FHC have to dabble into whether a State Independent Electoral Commission can or cannot conduct LGA elections or whether a State Independent Electoral Commission has met or has not met any condition(s) precedent for conduct of LGA elections?
3. Who gave Nigeria’s Federal High Court power to determine whether any LG Law of any state is inconsistent or not inconsistent with the Nigerian Constitution?
4. From where does the FHC get jurisdiction to sit over any case related to whether the office of an LGA Chairman has become vacant or whether the tenure of an LGA Chairman has or has not ended?
5. Where in our laws is any power or jurisdiction reserved for Nigeria’s Federal High Court to look into issues revolving around conduct of LGA elections or powers of a State Independent Electoral Commission?
6. I have a humble suggestion: It should be made a mandatory condition before anyone is employed as a judge of Nigeria’s Federal High Court, to sit for a mandatory examination on scope and limits of the jurisdiction of Nigeria’s Federal High Court. Unless you pass the exam, you’d not be employed. Such an examination is necessary now because, it appears, some FHC judges do not know the horizons of their statutory jurisdiction. This is why they accept and assume jurisdiction over all manner of cases that fall outside their jurisdiction. Or, could this be as a result of evil influence of some unscrupulous politicians who act in collaboration with unethical lawyers and judges?
7. Well, I’m still reading the CA judgment on OSUN LGA elections, and I will still go through the Osun High Court judgment, the statement by the HAGF and the statement by the Osun Government. Thereafter, I will offer a detailed opinion to represent my position on the issue. However, before i leave, the question is still burning in my head: Who gave Nigeria’s Federal High Court power over any issue relating to LGA elections? When would Nigerian lawyers and their collaborators at the Federal High Court bench appreciate that it is not the PARTY but the SUBJECT that determines jurisdiction of the Federal High Court? So, if you like, and with a view to bringing your matter before the FHC, add all federal government agencies to the originating papers, it’s still the SUBJECT MATTER, not the parties, that determines FHC’s jurisdiction.
8. NBA needs to start retraining Nigerian judges and lawyers, including me, on jurisdiction of courts and observance of legal ethics.
9. There’s fire on the mountain, especially at the Federal High Court.
10. When we were in school, we learned that the jurisdiction of Nigeria FHC (Federal High Court) is both LIMITED and EXCLUSIVE – LIMITED because it does not have jurisdiction to hear all matters save those assigned to it by law; and EXCLUSIVE because it has monopoly over the matters assigned to it by law. It is not an all-comers-affair Court, to hear all matters under the sun. Unfortunately, Nigerian lawyers (especially the Seniors who should know better) have turned the Federal High Court into a Court of unlimited jurisdiction. Besides, any FHC anywhere now hears any case from any state.. The aim of creation of Divisions of the FHC is now defeated by the shenanigans of some of our senior lawyers, some unprofessional and incompetent judges and their politician-influencers. President Buhari’s prophecy about “Nigeria: From Top To Bottom.” is coming to pass.
11. In Kano State, senior lawyers had dragged CHIEFTAINCY MATTERS before the FHC and the FHC welcomed it, and decided it; thank God, the Court of Appeal has set aside the illegal judgment of the FHC. In Rivers State they brought LGA Election matters before the FHC and the FHC happily decided it although the Court of Appeal has now thrown away that illegal judgment of the FHC. Ditto in Osun and in many places. In the case of Rivers State, senior lawyers deliberately took to an FHC presided over by Hon Justice Omotosho, an issue that is not in dispute at all in Rivers State, and the respected Hon judge decided it with happiness, handing the Claimants a huge CADMEAN VICTORY – the type of victory that is absolutely unhelpful for any purpose to the so-called victor. Federal High Courts judges in Abuja are hearing matters arising from Rivers while the Minister of the FCT is building Quarters for judges of the FHC, Abuja. 😂🤣🤣. There is total chaos in the FHC. A discussion for another day.
12. One thing is obvious, from the provisions of the Constitution and other laws:

🅰. Jurisdiction of the Federal High Court is determined primarily by SUBJECT MATTER, not by PARTIES. Thus, the mere fact you drag a FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AGENCY before the FHC is not enough legal justification to give the FHC any jurisdiction on your matter. For the FHC to have jurisdiction, the SUBJECT MATTER must be within its statutory jurisdictional competence

🅱. Jurisdiction of the Supreme Court is determined primarily by PARTIES, not SUBJECT MATTER

I shall make out time to contribute an opinion on this although i think most lawyers AND JUDGES know most of these but are only doing anyhow thereby killing the legal profession in Nigeria, because of:

1. MONEY (some place money and politics above legal ethics)
2. POLITICS (some are carried away by political leaning)
3. UNPROFESSIONALISM (many senior lawyers are shamelessly unprofessional) and
4. SELFISHNESS.
   Respectfully,
   Sylvester Udemezue (Udems),
   Legal Practitioner, Law Teacher, and Proctor of The Reality Ministry of Truth, Law and Justice (TRM)
   08109024556.
   [email protected]…