I’ve forgiven Buhari, says Tunde Thompson, journalist jailed under Decree 4
0
By Our Reporter on January 11, 2015 COVER

■ ‘Lets rally round and support him’

BY OLAKUNLE OLAFIOYE

Just like in his previous outings, the ghost of Decree 4 of 1984 is haunting General Muhammadu Buhari(rtd), presidential candi­date of the All Progressives Congress (APC), as he once again takes another shot at the presidency. The infamous decree which made the duo of Tunde Thompson and Nduka Irabor of The Guardian newspaper the first victims of military law, has in recent weeks gained cur­rency with political rivals using it as a weapon against the former military head of state.

But Tunde Thompson believes Buhari’s op­ponents are deliberately confusing and mislead­ing Nigerians . In this interview, he lays bare the issues surrounding their detention as well as unmasked those behind their ordeal. Excerpts:

Did they count the number of days you had spent in detention before you were actually sentenced?

They were not interested in doing that. The sen­tencing was in July and we were released the fol­lowing year.

So, how did you feel?

In prison? I wrote a book, Power of the Press, and it’s based on the experience and all the points that were made by the late Chief Rotimi Williams that I could recollect. The arguments of the pros­ecution and defense counsels were presented from my point of view and the analysis of the ethical is­sues involved and the publication of the statement I made and questions they asked me. I had to respond to an article that claimed some journalists asked for something but when they were not given they started making accusations against some lead­ers claiming that they didn’t keep their promises. I had to respond to that article about two years ago in The Sun on the comment by General Buhari, be­cause I believed he was misled into thinking that those of us, The Guardian staff, who were involved in the Decree 4 matter wanted something from the government but because we were not obliged, we decided to write stories. That is not possible.

I responded that the journalists involved didn’t do that kind of thing; they were not thinking about material promises made by anybody. As a matter of fact, nobody made such promises. What happened was that stories were written and sources were de­manded and were denied because it was not ethi­cal. But when you look at it now, this is 2015, about 31 years later, I have also reflected on the matter especially when I wanted to do that rejoinder to the comment made by General Buhari that some journalists made some demands, that the demands were not honored and they started blackmailing them.

I have seen that time is a healer of certain wounds because people are still asking that the man who jailed you wants to become the president that what do I feel about it? They asked if I would vote for such a man. [b]I want to say categorically that Buhari as the head of state at the time, didn’t order the de­tention of Mr. Tunde Thompson and Nduka Irabor.

He never did. Even Idiagbon did not. It was the head of NSO that ordered our arrest. That was the file my colleague saw when he was brought in to see Rafindadi after I had briefed him. And that was an order that they complied with. Buhari was not responsible for our arrest, so I do not see why at this time, people are trying to make political capital out of what happened in 1984. Apart from that, it was an issue in 2011 election. Between 2010 and 2011 people kept saying this over and over again. I think it’s now over 30 years, people should learn to be charitable; they should learn to forgive and let bygones be bygones especially when we know the truth about who did what. I will like to say that Buhari didn’t order my arrest, so I bear no grudge against him.

Are you saying if there was any hurt he’s been forgiven?

Left to me, the hurt was inadvertent; it was aimed at protecting the government. I know it was not for journalists alone, there were other professional groups other than journalists that the decree was targeted at.[/b] I am very happy that we faced the bullet and the bullet was deadened at our end. The press and the government are rivals in the search for in­formation. They are also rivals in secrecy matters. The government wants to keep its secrets secret and we want to make the secrets open because we want to inform our audience. That’s why we always quarrel and that’s why I believe the govern­ment and the media need more fora to understand themselves. There are hostilities because we don’t understand ourselves.

[b]Are you saying you wish General Buhari well as he aspires to rule Nigeria?

Yes, as far I am concerned now and considering the fact that there is an order that the Minister of Petroleum should not appear before the National Assembly to defend her conduct [/b]and considering the fact that the Naira had been further devalued. Now listen, in Ghana the Cedi we used to mock, the Rupee we used mock and the Yen. The Naira is just not there again. We say revalue the Naira but they said they cannot because we only have one commodity. The government has been saying a lot about agriculture. Cocoa provided the mainstay of the defunct western region under Chief Obafemi Awolowo. Groundnuts provided the mainstay of the defunct northern economy under Sir Ahmadu Bello. Have our farmlands suddenly become infer­tile? We have solid minerals; we have gold in Ilesa. What I am trying to say is that if we look critically, we have other commodities and if they are har­nessed we will be able to say we have more than oil. I appreciate what the Minister of Agriculture, Akinwunmi Adesina is doing now. Rice is be­ing produced on massive scale but the problem is mechanization. They are trying to see if we can grow wheat here. I believe enough efforts have not been made to find alternative income-generating activities.

Some even seem to be too powerful. They are sacred cows and they cannot be tamed. Is that not dangerous? I believe that a person like Buhari at this time can call anybody to order and some people are afraid of that.

The fear of a few people who have plundered the treasuries of this country should not be allowed to hinder our economic progress and political trans­formation. I think Buhari is humble. How many times did Abraham Lincoln run for presidency of United States? Was it not about 11 times? But Bu­hari is running for about three, four times and peo­ple are saying he is too old. He is not too old. Let them go to India, let them go to other places there are examples. I will not like people to use Decree 4 as an excuse to deny somebody, who can help bring discipline through democratic means, to Nigeria, another opportunity of getting to the position of president of this country. I think God is getting tired of the injustice in this country.

That is why some of us are seeing the reason to rally round the man and support him. The Sun is not a newspaper for any candidate, it is a national newspaper. I am very happy that you raised the is­sue about what my position is on somebody who put me in jail. I think 30 years is long enough, we should forgive and forget and let there be progress. Those who are ready to continue confusing issues out of their ignorance should be pushed aside and let us do what our conscience dictates. Except we want to suffer for another four or eight years, it will be costly to make a wrong decision again.

http://sunnewsonline.com/new/?p=99656

Nigerians !!!!!
Digging out infos since 0.00BC

When you forgive people a burden is lifted off your shoulders, let's take a cue from this man and forgive one another.

Well said. I and a good number of other people have both benefitted and suffered from the corruption in the land, but now that i know i can change that and guarantee better terms for my children and future generations, I'm ready and willing to pay the price for a better country.

At least let my children know that their father contributed in trying to fix his dying country.

#Gej

Gej can go and kiss transformer

Right on the money!!! From the horse's mouth himself!!!

Let me see how the children of anger spin this one.

Let's hear what saTANists would say now...


ifeBUHARi 2015

They will say he was bribed.

omenka:
Right on the money!!! From the horse's mouth himself!!!

Let me see how the children of anger spin this one.

They will say money don change hands.

tobex23:
Let's hear what saTANists would say now...


ifeBUHARi 2015

#GMB15

Mr Moderator Please move it to the front page, This is a germane issue.