Given the acrimony between both of you, if you meet Dr. Faseun now, will you shake hands with him?
Anytime I see Dr. Fasehun, I will bow, because Yoruba culture demands that you have to respect your elder even if he is wrong. That does not mean you will not tell him the truth. So, I will always respect and bow for Dr. Fasehun, not because of his character or integrity, but for his age. The last time I saw him was at the Obafemi Awolowo Foundation. I did not even see him before he called on me, “Gani”. I went to him, I shook his hands and I bowed.

What do you think has changed in Dr. Fasehun’s character given that both of you believed in the same cause at the beginning?
In actual fact, and with due respect, Dr. Fasehun is slippery, cunning and unpredictable. Besides, most of the things he says are falsehood. What we realised about him then was that if Dr. Fasehun had a meeting with seven different people of the same group, he would discuss seven different things with them. Also, he is the type who thrives on rancour, disharmony and is always creating suspicions to set people against one another. And you will never see Dr. Fasehun in any organisation in which he is not made chairman, leader or treasurer, and even if he stays in it, he will never be a committed member. I challenge anybody to trace his history. Besides, he is not someone who believes in any long-term goal and certainly not an achiever.
Dr. Fasehun has formed various organisations, which failed except the OPC we co-founded. You will see what will happen to the UPN he is talking about. Very soon, al-Mustapha will run away from him, because the Fasehun I know is a good starter, but never finishes. He was the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Labour Party, but could not contest before he disorganised the whole thing. It later emerged that General Ibrahim Babangida paid him so that he would not contest. Campaign for Democracy, CD, was very vibrant under the leadership of Dr. Beko Ransome-Kuti and immediately Beko was arrested, the leadership fell on Dr. Fasehun in acting capacity, because he was the oldest. But immediately Dr. Faseun took over, he caused ripples within the CD and disorganised the whole structure. The situation only normalised when Joe Okei-Odumakin took over as CD secretary.
He formed an NGO, called the Movement for Equity and Social Justice, MOSEJ, which was the organisation he represented in the CD. But today nobody hears anything about it. The organisation did very well when Dr. Fasehun was arrested in 1996 and Kayode Oladele had to take over. Dr. Fasehun was released in 1998 and he immediately took over the leadership of MOSEJ from Oladele and that was how the organisation died.
The point I am making is that he is not an achiever and there is nothing he lays his hands on that prospers. Even his business investments suffer the same fate. Go to Araromi where he has a huge hospital – Best Hope Hospital – you will find out that nothing is happening there. It is the same with his Century Hotel, which was contracted to different people, including the Chinese, to manage, but those people ran away from there. If not for my zeal at the time we formed OPC, it could have died.
Even the late Chief Gani Fawehimmi told them to leave the OPC for him and form another organisation, since I had teeming followers, but I said, ‘No.’ In fact, when the crisis started Gani, on the platform of the Joint Action Committee, JACON, wrote a book, titled, OPC Crisis, the Truth, and through the book a lot of people were able to see that Dr. Fasehun caused all the problems within the OPC. You know, I was so young then and there was no way I could match Fasehun in terms of publicity, because the media would not have believed me. Some of the media houses did not even publish our rejoinders to what Dr. Fasehun was saying. They could not believe me and Dr. Fasehun had said many negative things about me, even to the extent of lying that I drink blood! Apart from Gani, Justice Adewale Thompson also saw what Fasehun was doing and advised me to change the name of my own group, so that we would not be mistaken for those doing the wrong things. I replied the Justice the same way I did to Gani: “Sir, my followers said we should not change our name.” Assuming we changed the name then, there would not be anything called OPC today.

It is well-known that both of you are angling for a contract from the federal government to protect crude oil pipelines. Has that matter been resolved?
It is not a matter of whether it has been resolved or not. We were just out to make a point that anything that will benefit the OPC from the federal government has to be shared. Although Dr. Faseun applied for the contract first, some of his friends from the Niger Delta advised me that I should apply, too. In fact, one of the closest persons to him was the one who advised me to apply, because he said he knew I had a large following, while Fasehun does not. Besides, there was pressure from my members that I should apply and it took three-day marathon meetings for us to agree.

But how do you justify the fact that a group professing self-determination and sectional cause is the same demanding a contract from the government?
The truth is that we are in a capitalist world and there is no way you can fight the capitalists without having the resources to do so. You cannot even try to change society without having capital or resources to do so. It might have been possible in the past, but not anymore. And when NADECO was fighting its struggle, it had to raise money from different places, both locally and internationally. So there is nothing wrong if we get a legitimate job, not criminal, to repackage the organisation, empower our members and provide them with jobs. We are talking of security and Nigeria has lost about N1.8 trillion to crude oil theft in the last two years. So if we are given the contract and, by our effort the stealing is reduced, while food is provided in homes, then there is nothing bad in that. What is the total federal allocation shared to all the states of the federation compared to the amount we have lost to crude oil theft?

Has the contract been awarded now?
The contract has not been awarded, but it is in the process. Contract or no contract, OPC has done its best and we have been surviving. Besides, Gani Adams-led OPC has been providing security for a long time and for nine years, our former coordinator in Sagamu, late Imole Awosan, was the one securing the oil pipelines from Sagamu to Ore for eight years and they did not record any single case of pipeline vandalism. And after his demise, Shuaib, a.k.a. Chito, took over, until the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, started using the Police, which has resulted in many reported cases of oil pipeline vandalisation.
Just opposite my house here, you see an oil pipeline that runs through here to Ijedodo. So if I could protect that, why cannot I protect our commonwealth and prevent such huge loss of revenue to the activities of criminals and oil mafia? It is sad that after those criminals might have stolen crude oil and made huge money, they would use same money to contest for elections to emerge as governors or senators and, at that point, they transform from criminals to leaders.
So it is better we put a structure on ground which will complement the efforts of the security agencies in reducing crude oil theft. And it is not a job that we must necessarily carry guns to do. We believe in intelligence and information gathering, which is power. If Tompolo was given a contract worth about N8 billion, as well as Asari Dokubo and some unknown self-determination fighters in Bayelsa State, why not OPC? Even in Ondo State, a former militant, General Shoot-At-Sight, was given a contract to secure oil pipelines, which he used to empower many people. So, why should a Yoruba man try to prevent us from getting a contract when it will be an opportunity to empower our members at the grassroots? We are not contesting elections with the politicians, so I see no reason why they should deny us the opportunity to benefit from the Federal Government.
This is a country where some of the governors are involved in crude oil business, as well as owning construction companies, which they use to get contracts, but someone who paid dearly during the struggle is being denied an opportunity to benefit from the national cake. I have been to many detentions, police formations and about six different prisons. There is nothing wrong with us benefitting from the system now, but I will certainly not compromise our principles. The struggle is in the blood of my members, in their hearts and it has become their lives.

What is your position on the role played by Dr. Faseun since the release of Major al-Mustapha by the Appeal Court?
It is unfortunate that Fasehun is playing the deadly, inhuman and heartless role he is playing by shepherding Major Hamzat al-Mustapha. It is a role that looks like compromising the Yoruba interest. Dr. Fasehun gained prominence due to the annulment of the June 12 election, which was one of the reasons for the formation of the OPC.
There is no mincing words that the annulment and subsequent detention of late Chief M.K.O. Abiola, a prominent Yoruba son, was the reason for all the agitation which gave fame to many of us, including Fasehun. Besides, it was the struggle for the de-annulment of the election that led to the cold-blooded murder of Kudirat Abiola in 1996. Everybody knew the role of al-Mustapha in the regime of General Sani Abacha and it was undeniable that the regime was behind the murder of many people, including Pa Alfred Rewane, an Itsekiri; Arc. Lai Balogun, Suliat Adedeji in Ibadan, Sola Omotehinwa and TheNEWS correspondent, Bagauda Kaltho, among others. Alex Ibru was shot in the eye and he never recovered from the injury until his death. A lot of unnamed people also died in the struggle.
I remember a particular protest we did on Ikorodu Road, in which more than 37 people were killed. Sir Michael Otedola was the Governor of Lagos State then, and when he refused an order to unleash violence on the protesters, Abacha gave an order to the Police and Army to attack us. If Fasehun is a freedom fighter, as he claimed to be in al-Mustapha’s case, why is he not raising his voice to urge the federal government to probe the killing of many innocent souls; why is he not asking the government to probe the death of Abiola? Now, Fasehun is telling us that al-Mustapha was not the one that killed Kudirat Abiola, then he should tell us who did. Fasehun is saying that there is no evidence linking al-Mustapha to the murder, but it is worrisome that someone who claims to be fighting for the interest of Oodua and its descendants is the same person championing Mustapha’s cause.
Were Kudirat and her husband not descendants of Odua that Faseun claimed to be fighting for? Fasehun could have just shut up and remained silent, rather than turning himself into al-Mustapha’s lawyer and attacking court judgments. He did two-page advertorial in the newspapers to defend and analyse the acquittal of al-Mustapha. But when did Fasehun turn to Femi Falana or Festus Keyamo, that he is analysing court judgment in the newspapers?

To what would you attribute Dr. Fasehun’s love for al-Mustapha?
Given the Fasehun that I know, certainly money has exchanged hands. Fasehun was always attending the court sessions in al-Mustapha’s case, and calling press conference every four months to demand for his release. How many of his Yoruba kinsmen has he done that for?
Even when he (Fasehun) was arrested in 2005 and taken to various prisons, how many Hausa visited him or fought for his release? When Fasehun slumped during our trial at the Federal High Court, Abuja, we were the ones shouting ourselves hoarse that he should be released because of his health challenges. I was threatening the government that if he be allowed to die in detention, Nigeria would break. You can check newspaper publications of that period to confirm my claim. Dr. Fasehun was released after spending five months in detention, while we regained our own freedom nine months after.
I spent a total of 14 months in detention then. Even when he was granted bail on health ground, it was Chief Raymond Dokpesi who deposited the title document of his Abuja home to perfect the bail conditions. As old as Fasehun is, he stood as Mustapha’s bodyguard to Kano, waving his hand to the people in an open motorcade.
And when he returned and realised that people were angry about his Kano trip, he then said that he went to handover al-Mustapha to Governor Kwankwanso and the Emir of Kano. When he was released, why did we not see a Hausa man who would say, “I am taking Faseun to hand him over to the Osamawe of Ondo?” After three weeks, the same Fasehun followed Mustapha, again, to Rivers State to visit Asari Dokubo, and, later, to Bayelsa State. At his age, he should not be seen downplaying the Yoruba cause; it is either he stands for that known cause or he stands as a traitor.
When Fasehun started this rubbish, our friends from other tribes began to ask, “When did Yoruba lose their values?” Chief Abiola was killed, his wife was killed, and Fasehun’s conscience still allows him to do all of that? Even if al-Mustapha was not directly alleged to have killed Kudirat, the fact that he was involved in the system which committed the evil should have restrained Fasehun.
Why did he have to do that because of money and material gain? Fasehun has betrayed the oath he swore to because every OPC member swears to an oath to protect the interest of Oodua, and that we will not betray the interest and cause of the Yoruba people. I am not surprised, because Fasehun has always been slippery, cunning and untruthful.

Coming back to the OPC you are leading. Critics say that some of your members deployed for community security are not effective and often sleep on duty. How do you monitor their performance in that aspect?
I disagree. If some of them are found wanting in the duties assigned to them, that does not mean that many of them are. Besides, we do not encourage them to do street vigilance any more. OPC will be 20 years next year and it is important that our members move beyond just being used as security guards. Some of them are even richer than some of the people they are protecting, so what is the need? I know the public still has confidence in the OPC and I will give the information you just passed to me to the National Executive Council of the organisation.

You have been involved in cultural promotion in recent times, which makes many wonder if the OPC still believes in what it initially professed?
One of the fundamentals of self-determination is cultural promotion. There is no way you can succeed in a liberation struggle when you have lost your identity. You cannot emancipate your people if you have lost your identity, because it is an underlying factor in promoting unity, forthrightness and truthfulness.
That is the pride you have when you say, “Omo Oduduwa ni mi” (I am a descendant of Oduduwa). You must encourage your people to speak Yoruba language, wear Yoruba traditional attire, eat Yoruba food, among others. Yoruba people must not castigate Yoruba traditional religion, even if they do not believe in it. And again, when the western world went to China and India, they took three things to them–education, culture and religion.
The Chinese rejected the western culture and religion, but accepted their education, which engendered technology. Since technology is derivable through education, then we can say that the only thing the Chinese and the Indians took away from the West is education. So, why should we reject our culture in the name of western religions? China has a population of about 1.6 billion people, while India has about 1.3 billion, out of the 7 billion people who make up the entire world. But it is a known fact that about 75 per cent of Indians practice Hinduism, while their Muslim and Christian populations are about 15 and 7 per cent. But we know where India is today when it comes to technology.
In China, 98 per cent practise Buddhism, while about 75 per cent of Japanese do the same, yet the two countries are successful in technology and development. Look at Chinese influence in America, Europe and, now, Africa. You can learn technology through our traditional religion, because the 16 keys of Odu-Ifa are the same with the computer, and each of the 16 Ifa keys can be translated into millions of ways and things in research. So there is no way we can be successful if we neglect our tradition and cultures. If you do not believe in your culture and tradition, there is no way you can liberate your race. If you don’t have an identity, then you cannot achieve unity; and when there is no unity, then you cannot fight a cause successfully. This is why we believe that cultural revolution is key and part of our revolution.

Source: http://pmnewsnigeria.com/2013/08/21/fasehun-can-kill-destroy-for-power-money-and-women/

Wat do i say 2 u

I would have loved to know his perspective on the recent affront by the ibos.

I think this oil pipeline protection is rendering him 'fangless'.

Absolutely speechless!

Anyway sha, I like Dr. Fasehun.

Very interesting interview. Carry on Ogbeni Gani Adams, awa Omo Oodua wa leyin e bii ike. Fasehun is just an impostor, especially with his new-found romance with Al-Mustapha.