(Wait. Before you start, can I have your attention for a minute, please? This is a time when the Nigerian nation is deeply polarized between Buhari and GEJ camps and their fans are ready to insult or call anyone unprintable names. I am not for either, so do not get it twisted thinking this piece is pro- or anti- whoever. This piece is mainly a story of the life of General Buhari as one of .com's series on Nigeria's leaders. This clarification has to be made because there are some readers who may be harbouring some funny thoughts. I write it as it is. Don't waste your time labelling me as pro-Lagbaja or anti-Lakasegbe, I don't have time for that. I am not impressed by any of our so-called politicians. So please, read this with an open mind and your contributions will be warmly appreciated. Thank you. ™ )


He is bamboo-rod straight, his body frame is slenderized, he is of a meager weight, he is fair and in terms of height, he towers as one of the tallest of Nigerian leaders. His milky voice evokes no fear but do not be deceived, his uncompromising stance on issues stands him out. Millions of Nigerians adore and practically worship him as the only Saviour of the Nation, while millions despise him and see him as nothing but a reincarnation of the Devil. This man is held in great esteem by a vast swathe of the Nigerian population while some others seethe with scary bitterness and violent hatred at the mere mention of his name. But hate him or love him, you will agree that Major General MUHAMMADU BUHARI, Dogo Dan Daura, is the strictest Nigerian leader.

His regime was one of an unprecedented clampdown on indiscipline, corruption and corrupt people. Even his sworn foes agree he has an extremely inflexible stand and an incorrigible will against corruption - which ironically led to his overthrow. Today, 's lenses will zoom in on the life of this Daura-born Fulani general, a man many love with fanatical zeal, many hate with unspeakable fervour while many are not too sure whether to spew caustic hatred on him or shower him with adoration. Ladies and Gentlemen, General Muhammadu 'Leko' Buhari.

BIRTH AND EARLY DAYS
He was born on a Thursday, the 17th of December, 1942, (that makes him 70 years even though he doesn't look it). Unlike many other northerners who were born into aristocratic backgrounds and climbed up using the prestige of their families and the influence of their fathers, Buhari was born into a humble family, what we call pako background in my area. He lost his father at a very tender age (he was just four), both parents pampered him like a pet as he was their last child but he had about 20 other siblings whom his father sired with other women in previous marriages. His mum had given birth to a set of twins before Buhari but they both died shortly after birth. That explains one of his nicknames 'Leko' which means 'someone born after twins who died', something like 'Idowu' in Yorubaland.

His father was Alhaji Hardo Adamu and Hajiya Zulhatu (nee Musa) was his mother, the daughter of the Sarkin Dogarai, what can be translated as the head of the infantry who was in turn the son of the Kauran Daura Lawal, head of the Daura military forces. His paternal grandfather was a typical Fulani who lived the nomadic life but later settled for a life of farming in Daura, Katsina State. His mother would later die on the 14th of December, 1988, a few days to his birthday. Buhari, who had just been released from prison, got to Daura a few hours after the burial of his mother. He was not fortunate enough to witness her being buried. Please note that Buhari's mother was not Fulani but Hausa (Habe) and she was already a widow with seven children when she married Buhari's father who was the Fulani chief of the Dumurkol Village, near Daura.

As a child, he played round the dusty roads of the town and remembers clearly the time he fell of a horse during one of his recreational periods.

GROWING UP AND EDUCATION
A proper Katsina boy, he attended the Katsina Middle School and later proceeded to the Katsina Provincial Secondary School for his high education. From there, he went off to start his military education, like many boys of the north at that time.

IN THE MILITARY
In becoming a soldier, he attended the following institutions:

-Nigerian Military Training College (NMTC), 1962
-Mons Officer Cadet School, Aldershot, United Kingdom (1962-1963). Generals Sani Abacha (read about him here>>>http://.com/sani-abacha-nigerias-most-enigmatic-ruler/ and Obasanjo also attended this academy).
-Defence Services Staff College (DSSC), Wellington, Tamil Nadu, India (1973), Obasanjo also attended this college (see picture).
-US Army War College (1979-1980)

In the year 1962, he joined the Nigerian Army and rose steadily through the ranks.

-Commissioned 2nd Lieutenant, 1963
-Platoon Commander, United Nations Peacekeeping Force, Congo, early 1960s.
-Platoon Commander, 2nd Infantry Battalion, Abeokuta, Ogun State, 1963.
-Commander, 2nd Infantry Battalion, 1965-1967 (during the Nigerian Civil War too).
-Appointed Brigade Major, 2 Sector, 1st Infantry Division, April 1967.
-Brigade Major and Commander, 31st Infantry Brigade, 1970-1971
-Assistant Adjutant-General, 1st Infantry Division Headquarters, 1971-1972
-Acting Director, Transport and Supply, Nigerian Army Corps of Supply and Transport Headquarters, 1974-1975.
-Military Secretary, Army Headquarters, 1978-1979
-Member, Supreme Military Council, 1978-1979
-General Officer Commanding, Ibadan, Oyo State.
-General Officer Commanding, Jos, Plateau State.

From July 1975 to February 1976, he served as the newly-created Governor of the North-Eastern State under the regime of the late General Murtala Muhammed (read all about Murtala here>>>http://.com/murtala-muhammed-nigerias-most-popular-leader/ ). The North-Eastern State is what we know as Yobe, Borno, Adamawa, Bauchi, Gombe and Taraba States. Mehn, that's huge! See the picture below.

Later, after the assassination of Murtala Muhammed, he served as the Federal Commissioner (now Minister) for Petroleum, Energy and Natural Resources under General Olusegun Obasanjo. He was appointed to that post in 1976 and was there till 1978.

On the 1st of April, 1977, the Federal Ministry of Mines and Steel and the Nigerian National Oil Corporation were both merged together to form what is now the ultimate ATM machine for Nigerian leaders -the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). Buhari was appointed as the head of the NNPC in 1978 and was there till 1979. (The NNPC states that it's vision is to become a world-class oil and gas company driven by shared commitment to excellence while its mission as an integrated Oil and Gas Company is to be engaged in adding value to the nation's hydrocarbon resources for the benefit of all Nigerians and other stakeholders. I think that 'all Nigerians' should be rewritten as 'some Nigerians' while the 'other stakeholders' should be edited and become 'the cabal'. As an 'ordinary Nigerian', ayam yet to feel the full benefit o. Sorry for the 'digreson', e dey pain me for body ni, we were on Buhari shey....lol! )

Watch a video of Buhari swearing in the new governors here>>>
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_JjYG-ef8M

THE COUP & BECOMING HEAD OF STATE
On the last day of the year 1983, a coup was in operation to overthrow the democratically-elected government of President Shehu Shagari. The most interesting thing about the coup was that even though it was neatly orchestrated by middle-cadre and top brass in the military, Buhari was not initially the person to become the Head of State. The person that was expected to become the new HOS after the coup was Brigadier Ibrahim Bako. Bako and his boys stormed the President's residence to overthrow him. Shagari was woken up by his security team and alerted that Bako and his men were on their way to the State House to arrest him.

Quickly, President Shagari was evacuated to a safer location and the stage was set for one of the most dramatic gunfights in Nigeria's political history. To guard, protect and defend the Nigerian President then was the Brigade of Guards, headed by Captain Augustine A. Anyogo, an elite presidential bodyguard made up of some of the best-trained hands in the Armed Forces. They fought to the last and in the ensuing battle and under circumstances that are still not very clear, Bako, who was supposed to be the new Head of State was hit (IBB denies that Bako was to be the new HOS but agreed he was a chief plotter). He died. On Bako's death, IBB would later say that maybe it was due to an accidental discharge. Hear him:

Question:“…What really happened to General Bako?”
Babangida: “..….when they went to Abuja for that operation, ….this thing happened in the night… you see, from the experiences we had from the civil war, we found out that soldiers sometimes panic and when they panic, there are dire consequences. So, it was in the night and there was what you could call accidental discharge and the first reaction of the soldiers was that they were being attacked and in situations like that, you could shoot anyway. It happened to us I remember, during the civil war. You get shot at in the front and the sound reverberates behind so the soldiers at the back believes that the person shooting is right there then they forgot that some 500 meters away are what we refer to as own troops, your own forces. Because of no adequate training, a soldier would just cork his riffle and start shooting only to discover that he is shooting his own people. During the civil war, we sustained lots of casualties as a result of this situation. So, my suspicion is that a similar situation must have played out during that operation in Abuja and a bullet hit the late Ibrahim (Bako).”

Question: “So, claims that General Tunde Ogbeha may have pulled the trigger on Bako are not correct after all?”
Babangida: “I would not like to say he did it, no. It was the situation they found themselves; it was dark and everybody was shooting anyhow.”

In short, no one really knows exactly how Bako died.

As at the time of the coup and following Bako's death, General Buhari was commanding the Third Armoured Division of the Nigerian Army in Jos, Plateau State and he was far from the center of action in Lagos State. An agreement was reached and Buhari was selected to become the head. A jet was on to Jos to later bring Buhari who was not in the meeting. But during one of the meetings to choose him, a mild drama played itself out. Some of the military officers wanted to select IBB as the new head of state but in a fit of fury, Mustapha Jokolo drew out his gun and said no one would leave that place alive if Buhari was not crowned the head of state, that IBB would become the Head of State over his dead body.

Jokolo would later become the aide-de-camp (ADC) of Buhari and later the Emir of Gwandu in Kebbi State before he was deposed and banished from his own kingdom (Jokolo and Colonel Sabo Aliyu, who was heading the Brigade of Guard were captured the day Buhari was overthrown and were beaten to a state of stupor, the beating was so intense that rumours initially flew out that Jokolo was dead).

To cut long story short...lol, Buhari was 'elected' as the Head of State and the Commander-in-Chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces and his appointment was formalized on the 1st of January, 1984. It would last until the 27th of August, 1985 when Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida and his cohorts like Abacha dem took over. The Supreme Military Council (SMC) was formed (see the full cabinet list below).


LOVE, ROMANCE AND MARRIAGE

General Buhari’s first wife was the late Hajiya Safinatu (nee Yusuf) Buhari. He courted her when she was fourteen and married her at the age of eighteen. A very shy and conservative Muslim woman, she was not too visible on the social radar. They married in 1971 and the marriage was blessed with four children, all girls (Zulaiha Magajiya (the first daughter, and she was named after Buhari’s mother) Fatima, Hadizatu Nana, and Safinatu Lami). Buhari was so focused on salvaging Nigeria that he preferred to remain single throughout the Nigerian Civil War (1967-1970) and it was not until the war ended that he got married to his sweetheart, Safinatu. Although he was so passionate about his job that he was said to have being ‘married to the Army’, he always called his wife on the phone on a regular basis. As the First Lady of Nigeria, Hajiya Safinatu was not in the spotlight. Actually, she avoided the limelight for religious and cultural reasons, and coupled with the fact that her husband led a life free of ostentation, Nigerians do not know much about her.

After Buhari was released from jail, he divorced Safinatu for reportedly receiving financial assistance from IBB while he was in prison. Later in December 1989, he got married to Hajiya Aisha Halilu, a Fulani lady from Adamawa State.
Hajiya Safinatu later died in February 2006 from the complications of diabetes. The Hajiya Safinatu Buhari Foundation (HSB) was created by her late daughter, Zulaiha, in her honour. The foundation caters for destitutes suffering from diabetes (now, that’s a noble idea).

FAMILY AND CHILDREN
General Buhari’s children – Fatima, Hadiza, Zulaiha, Aisha, Safina, Halima, Yusuf and Zarah.

-On Friday, the 30th of November, 2012, the death was announced of Zulaiha, Buhari’s eldest daughter. Described as a most humble and gentle person by her friends, she was born on the 5th of December, 1972 and had her nursery school education in the United States where her parents were based then. Later, she attended the Air Force Primary School (AFPS) in Lagos and then to the prestigious Queens College, Lagos. In 1985, she continued in the second year at the Federal Government College, Kaduna and finished in 1990. For her university education, she attended the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria where she bagged a degree in economics.

Later, she finished her postgraduate studies in management in the same school and got a diploma. She worked at the Ministry of Solid Minerals and Steel in Kaduna until her demise shortly after delivery. Before her death, she was also the Treasurer of the Nigerian Institute of Management (NIM). An active community worker, she worked without making any noise in other non-governmental organizations in the country despite the fact that she had a long-running battle with sickle cell anaemia. Her sisters fondly called her ‘Yaya Babba’ and she is survived by her husband, Captain Junaid Abdullahi, three kids: Halima, Muhammad Buhari and the baby girl after whose delivery breathed her last at a private clinic in Kaduna.


HIS WORDS

-No nation can survive without a decent judiciary and effective law enforcement agencies. (2nd September, 2011).

-On why he did not promote himself General, retiring with the rank of a Major-General:

“It was the conviction of our regime that, being the Head of State and Commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces, does not mean that you are the overall General. My ultimate goal as at then was to ensure integrity, justice, equity, accountability and transparency in the system. That was why I did away with unnecessarily promoting myself to General.” At the launching of two books: “Nigerian Military in Politics: 1966-2011 and Politics of Transition to Civil Rule in Nigeria” in Zaria, Kaduna State, 5th July 2013.

WHAT OTHERS SAY ABOUT HIM
-Truth, like cork, cannot sink. It cannot be sunk. It always floats. Time will vindicate him. -Professor Tam David-West, Buhari’s minister of petroleum and energy.

-Buhari is a very likeable and honest person. You can always know where you stand with him on any issues, he is very straightforward. He is a man who adheres to principle. -General DOMKAT BALI.

JOINING POLITICS
A former military dictator, General Buhari has molded himself into a democrat and remains one of the most dominant figures in Nigerian politics. He has contested for the nation’s highest office three times -1999, 2003 and 2011 but lost even though the facts be stated, these elections were marred by all sorts of irregularities, and sure, that includes all the political parties involved in the race. So maybe, it is a matter of one outrigging the other. But, worefa…lolz! General Buhari is now of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) and from all indications, he will be pitching his tent against the incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan come 2015. As for me, I really don’t care who wins (okay, don’t let me lie, I actually do care and I will say let the best and most progressive team win even if I am yet to see one), all I want is for the politicians not to set the entire nation ablaze because one party has decided to fakekori and reject the results. This one that we are hearing all sorts of threats from the north to the south (is it Professor Ango Abdullahi’s own venomous vituperations now or Mujahid Asari-Dokubo’s obese statements?). We don’t want another civil war and it will be in everybody’s interest that these politicians give themselves brain. Ki won fun ra won lopolo gidi. Nigeria is greater than the aspiration of any single man, and that applies to all of them, including the incumbent and all those who will be doing the Presidential Olympic Games with him.


HONOURS, AWARDS AND LEGACIES
In 2003, after the presidential elections were conducted, which Buhari has lost to General Obasanjo, Buhari was awarded the highest national honour, the Grand Commander of the the Federal Republic (GCFR) but he did not show up at the award ceremony and he stated that the Obasanjo government was an illegitimate one and it would be improper for him to accept an award from such a regime.

CFR Commander of the Federal Republic
DSM Defence Service Medal
NSM National Service Medal
GSM General Service Medal
LSGCM Loyal Service and Good Conduct Medal
FSS Force Service Staff
CD The Congo Medal
-Doctor of Laws, (Honoris causa), University of Calabar, Cross River State.
-Doctor of Laws, (Honoris causa) Benue State University
-Doctor of Laws, (Honoris causa) Enugu State University
-Doctor of Letters (Honoris causa) (D.Litt), University of Ilorin
-Doctor of Science (Honoris causa), Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi

BUHARI TODAY & CONCLUSION
Today, the stage is set for a final showdown in 2015 between the old warhorse General Buhari and incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan. Buhari is generally perceived as a honest leader capable of stemming the tide of nonsense in Nigeria but some people are afraid and are not really sure if Nigeria will retain its secularity under a Buhari presidency. Some analysts also feel that his base is mainly in the North and he has to do his homework well in penetrating the south if he is to win. As for the other camp of GEJ, whether the Sun likes, it can rise in the west and set in the east, Jonathan will still win. They count on various factors like his achievements while others harp on his power of incumbency and others. But whatever will happen, I have just one prayer: may the Federal Republic of Nigeria survive 2015 and beyond -onto greater heights.

READ ALL AND SEE MORE PICTURES HERE>>>http://.com/muhammadu-buhari-nigerias-strictest-leader/

LOL! I hope he gives a 'damn' about this one o...lol

bella berry: Laws in Nigeria are only made to be broken. Even with this ruling, I doubt that Uncle Jonah will give a fc.uk. Quite sad

Maybe the President was wrongly advised.

Sam xiu lee: From 2008,why is it difficult for our leaders to just do the right thing?sending their names to the senate shouldn't be a problem.

Gbege! This one na gbese o! As in, gbese gidi!

An Abuja Federal High Court judge, Justice Adamu Bello, on Monday declared the appointment of all the service chiefs in the country as unconstitutional, illegal, and null and void.

The current service chiefs are the Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika; Chief of Air Staff, Air Vice Marshal Alex Badeh; and Chief of Naval Staff, Rear Admiral Dele Ezeoba.

Justice Bello also restrained the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Nigeria, from henceforth appointing service chiefs without the approval of the Senate.

The judge made the declaration while ruling in a case instituted in 2008 by a lawyer, Mr. Festus Keyamo, who asked the court to determine whether the President had the powers to unilaterally appoint service chiefs.

In the suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/611/2008, the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the Attorney-General of the Federation and all the service chiefs were listed as the defendants.

Keyamo had asked the court to determine whether, by the combined interpretation of the provisions of Section 218 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and Section 18 of the Armed Forces Act, Cap. A.20, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004, the President could appoint the service chiefs without first seeking and obtaining the confirmation of the National Assembly.

The court was also asked to determine whether the provisions of Section 18 (1) (2) of the Armed Forces Act, Cap. A.20, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004, was not in conformity with the 1999 Constitution, so as to fall within the category of existing laws under section 315 (2) of the 1999 Constitution that the President, may, by Order, modify its text, to bring it into conformity with the provisions of the Constitution.

In his judgment in the matter, Justice Bello answered both questions in favour of the plaintiff and as a result granted all the orders sought by the suit.

He made a declaration that the appointment of service chiefs for the Federal Republic of Nigeria by the President, without the confirmation of the National Assembly was illegal, unconstitutional, null and void.

In the same vein, the judge declared that section 18 (1) and (2) of the Armed Forces Act, Cap. A.20, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004, is in conformity with the provisions of the 1999 Constitution so as not to fall within the category of existing laws under Section 315 (2) of the 1999 Constitution, that the President, may, by order, modify its text, to bring it into conformity with the provisions of the Constitution.

Justice Bello also granted an order restraining the President from henceforth appointing service chiefs without first obtaining the confirmation of the National Assembly.

Meanwhile, President Goodluck Jonathan on Monday met with security chiefs to assess the security situation in the country.

The meeting which lasted about three hours was held at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

At the meeting were Ihejirika, Badeh, Ezeoba, the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar; as well as head of the State Security Service.

The National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd.); Minister of State for Defence, Olusola Obada; and the Minister of Police Affairs, Caleb Olubolade, were also in attendance.

Although the agenda of the meeting was not made public, it was held about 24 hours after a jail break in Akure, Ondo State. About 175 inmates fled the prison after dynamites were used to break a section of the wall.

Also in Plateau State, no fewer than 50 persons were killed during a weekend of attacks on communities.

None of those who attended the meeting spoke with journalists.

The Presidency on Monday, however, said it had yet to get a copy of a Federal High Court Abuja ruling that declared the appointment of service chiefs solely by the President as unconstitutional, illegal, null and void.

Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, said this in a telephone interview with our correspondent.

Abati said it would be wrong for the Presidency to comment on a ruling that was yet to be in its possession.

He however said upon receipt of a copy, the Ministry of Justice would study the ruling with a view to advising the President appropriately.

“No serious person will comment on a ruling he has not seen. We are yet to see a copy of the ruling. By the time we receive it, the Ministry of Justice will study it and advise the President accordingly,” the presidential spokesman said

.

But wait o, why President Jonathan too do this kain thin? No senate approval! Haaaa! Lobatan! What do you think go shele now? Fire them all and appoint new ones? LOL! I dey laff o

http://www.punchng.com/news/court-declares-appointment-of-service-chiefs-illegal/
http://.com/court-declares-appointment-of-military-service-chiefs-illegal/

I knew that while writing. Those were his own words not mine. But since they spent nine years and four months in jail, I assume there were times they were well-fed and starved at other times. That's why I left the two statements.

Great~Mind:
@OP...am surprise that after initially reporting that "they were poorly fed" and "had to contend with hunger sometimes" , you still went ahead to report that they miss their days in prison because "they had good diet" amongst others. I wonder how the conflicting reports add up in the story.

INTRODUCTION

Should I call them Nigeria's bravest boys or the most deluded youths of this Federation? Or place them in between? I really don't know but I am hoping that by the time you finish reading this, you will help me out. On the 25th of October, 1993, there was a fantastic drama high up in the skies of Nigeria. 30,000 feet above sea level, a commotion was in play. Four young Nigerian men (one of whom was a teenager) had hijacked an aircraft belonging to the Nigerian Airways with a toy gun, four litres of petrol and knives. The nation was spellbound and the entire world shifted its focus on the West African behemoth in a matter of minutes. The New York Times ran away with the news spreading the buzz of the four men while the Nigerian press went gaga. Rumour mongers had a field day spinning all sorts of tales. Coming at a time when there was a lot of political tension and social chaos in the land, many Nigerians were simply stunned while others stayed glued to their black-and-white TV sets, staring in disbelief. In no time, the hijackers had taken control of the aircraft, contacted the control tower, made confidently grand demands, held every single passenger on board hostage and threatened to set the aircraft on fire. No be shereshere o! But what actually happened on that Monday and what led to it? Let's go there...terror in the Nigerian skies, the scintillating story of the four hijackers.


THE AIRCRAFT
It was a big bird -an Airbus A310-200, a twin-engined widebody jet airliner (see pictures).

THE FLIGHT AND PASSENGERS
The exact number of the passengers varies slightly depending on your source. But according to the New York Times, there were 159 passengers on board. Some other records indicated there were between 135-137 passengers inside the plane. The plane's flight was supposed to be from Lagos to Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, a distance of about 509 kilometres. Inside the plane were top Nigerian government functionaries and businessmen off to Abuja for very important deals.

THE HIJACKERS

-RICHARD 'Richie' AJIBOLA OGUNDERU
In an interview with the Nation newspaper, Ogunderu revealed the intent behind their action and narrated their experience. He stated that the boys were 'meaningfully desperate' and they were truly frustrated by the annulment of the June 12 elections. He said that it seemed the nation was drifting towards the cliff of another civil war and he and his group had to do something to ‘send jitters down the spine of those in power.' to show that 'Nigerians were not everlasting dummies'. Well, I am not sure Governor Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi of Rivers State will agree with that last statement...lol! Hear Ogunderu:

‘We wanted change. Our action confirmed that when a system is inhuman, it could produce the extreme in all of us. A system that cares not, a system that does not listen to our cries and our woes, a system that wants to exterminate us does not deserve a day of existence’. He also stated that he was not afraid when the commandoes stormed the aircraft: We were on a mission, we wanted to show the evil regime that young people were prepared to go the extra length to free Nigerians from the yoke of military dictatorship. We were not afraid, at that moment, death meant nothing to us. They stormed the place and we were alarmed, we didn’t shoot, we tried to perfect our safety and the safety of the passenger.’ Ogunderu was the one in charge of the coordination of the hijack and was responsible for delegating to each of the hijackers, their duties and the steps to be taken during the hijack. He said: ‘We wanted freedom, freedom to choose our leaders. We were pushed to the extreme and we reacted in an extreme manner.'

Richard had just finished high school from Ondo State at that time and he was the one who got up first as the plane climbed and he approached the cockpit where he gave orders to the pilot and the co-pilot. You know, like a boss...lol! His father was arrested and detained by Abacha after the hijack and interrogated. Interestingly, Ogunderu was the youngest then, he was just 19.

-KABIR ADENUGA
The second of the hijackers, Adenuga said they carried out the hijack ‘to show the resentment against annulment of the June 12 election.’ He is still sad that today, the system has not changed. Were their actions in vain? He was 22 years old.

-BENNETH OLUWADAISI OSOSANYA
He was 24 years of age at that time.

-KENNY RASAQ-LAWAL
He was 23 at that time.

For the four hijackers, they were obviously inexperienced with the dangerous art of hijacking and for some of them, that was the first time they would fly in a plane.


THE HIJACK

Just as the bird was up in the sky, settling for the cruise phase, the pilot announced that passengers could unlatch their seatbelts. At that moment, the four young men gave signals to each other by blinking and in a flash, they took over the craft. They were armed with guns and knives. Ogunderu led the hijack team and he recalled: : ‘I walked into the cockpit and seized the process, and then the others followed me. Two of us stood in the plane to intimidate the passengers. We took over the plane and asked the pilot to head for another country.’

From the microphone, the leader of the strike team thundered:

‘Ladies and gentlemen, this plane has been taken over by the Movement for the Advancement of Democracy, remain calm, we will not harm you. You will be told where the plane will land you.’

According to Ogunderu, one of the four hijackers, the air hostesses were visibly frozen with fear and the terror in the faces was clearly palpable. O’boy, if na you too nko…lol! Ta lo ma ri iku to ma ping? LOL! They were threatened and told not to move if they do not want to be killed. One of the passengers who was inside the aircraft lavatory kuku decided to stay locked inside until Ogunderu went inside and pulled him out of the toilet….lmao!


LANDING IN NIGER REPUBLIC AND DEMANDS

Before landing in Niger, the aircraft made attempts to land in Ndjamena, the capital of Chad, and then head for Germany but were unsuccessful. Upon being diverted to Diori Hamani International Airport, Niamey, Niger Republic where they arrived in less than two hours later for refuelling. As they were landing in Niamey, Nigerien commandoes armed to the teeth were already on ground waiting for them and they could see them from the aircraft windows.

It is amazing to know that some of those released were the Vice President of China, Rong Yiren. Then the hijackers dropped the bombshell: they would burn down the aircraft within 72 hours should the Nigerian authorities refuse to accede to their demands. Una see sey e don tey wey FG don dey enter kasala. But what were their demand(s)?

-That the Interim National Government (which they termed ‘illegal’) of Chief Ernest Shonekan (read all about Shonekan here>>>http://.com/ernest-shonekan-nigerias-most-fugacious-leader/) should be dissolved with the abrogation of the Decree 61 that formed it and Bashorun Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola be declared the President of Nigeria. They called for the ‘the trial of all those who collaborated with the military regime‘ and the dissolution of the present government.”

-They also demanded that press freedom in Nigeria be guaranteed and that General Ibrahim Babangida be prosecuted on corruption charges.

-That ‘looters’ of the economy which “included 3,000 government officials who stashed away $33 billion in Swiss accounts” be fished out and all prosecuted.

In Niger Republic, the hostages then demanded that they be given enough fuel with which the aircraft be flown to Frankfurt, Germany. But why Germany? No one knows…lol! After their release, Ogunderu later revealed that they intended to also achieve the following goals with their action:

-The probe of the September 26, 1992 mysterious crash of the Nigerian Air Force C-130 Hercules transport plane in Ejigbo, Lagos where an entire batch of some of Nigeria’s most intelligent military officers perished.

-Full probe into the death of Dele Giwa, Nigeria’s foremost journalist who was blown to smithereens in October 1986 in Nigeria’s first parcel bomb attack.

You know the most interesting thing? The questions remain unanswered even decades after the events.

HOSTAGES

Kept inside the aircraft to witness all the horror as it played out were six officials of the Nigerian government and the six terrified crew members.


STORMING THE AIRCRAFT

On the 27th of October, the National Assembly called an emergency meeting and on the 28th, the Nigerian government gave orders for the aircraft to be stormed. Gegeun! Aptor and Bossi! LOL! In the dead of the night, Nigerien commandoes, assuming the hijackers would be asleep stormed the Nigerian Airways aircraft. It was not funny. They bombarded the plane, fired at the hijackers and successfully captured the four of them, their arms were flung to their backs, shiny handcuffs were produced and they would start their long journey into captivity. But it would not come cheap. In the ensuing fracas, one person died (the co-pilot was killed during the operation), a member of the crew, five other passengers and one of the hijackers were all injured. At the end of the operation, all the four hijackers were captured. Lobatan. Later on, the hijackers would say that they were not afraid when forces stormed the aircraft.

After days of negotiation, the gunmen freed all the passengers -except 39 who were kept as hostages after two hours of negotiating with government officials. The government of Niger Republic had to take it slow and steady as they were not too sure of how well-armed the hijackers were, whether they had explosives on board and the rest. They baited the hijackers promising them freedom if they do not harm any of the passengers but at the same time, secret meetings were being held by Niger’s security chiefs on how to storm the aircraft and even kill the hijackers if need be.


ABOUT MAD

MAD was formed in 1992 and the hijackers refused to name their sponsors (if any) or reveal the exact details of the hijack or their modus operandi. But they all claimed to have been motivated by the events of June 12. MAD was led by Mallam Jerry Yusuf from Offa, Kwara State. He was 42 at that time but today, he seems to have disappeared from the radar. Before the hijack in 1993, MAD was already organizing protests against the brutal regime of Nigeria’s military president, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida. They organized seminars and conferences at the National Theater, Iganmu, Lagos where they lashed out against the IBB regime. After the hijack, Mallam Yusuf, the leader of MAD said that they did so to ‘terrorize the few people who have terrorized us politically and economically, to recover the money stolen from us.’ Yusuf was born in Offa, Kwara State in 1952 and lived in Germany between 1973 and 1977, during which he was believed to have learnt German. He studied fundamental Islam and was also a businessman dealing in the sale of cocoa. After the hijack, he was picked up on the streets of Ilorin by secret operatives on his trail and handed over secretly to the Nigerien authorities even without any extradition request. Then, he was clamped into jail and throughout 1995, he was in Kollo with the four hijackers, his followers. Yusuf once stated that he had the ‘antidote to coups’. He embarked on hunger strike to protest his ‘arbitary detention’ in Niger. Now, that’s some mad stuff!

LOCAL AND INTERNATIONAL REACTIONS
Although the hijackers were acting to restore MKO’s mandate, Abiola condemned the action. Abiola described their action as being barbaric, he said: We should do nothing that will be interpreted as a resort to the law of the jungle. I appeal to them (the hijackers) to end the hijacking.”


AFTERMATH

After the four hijackers were arrested, they were taken to the Kollo-Zarma Prison, 30 kilometres south of Niamey. In a desert nation like Niger, daytime temperature was unbearable as searing heat could reach 55oC. Ogunderu recalled their nasty experience: ‘We were poorly fed. We could neither speak Hausa nor French and nobody spoke English to us.’ Mahamane Ousmane, then the President of Niger had to go on TV to announce to his flabbergasted citizens that the situation was under control. Then Abacha took over and just three days after he came to office, the hunt started for the leader of MAD, Mallam Jerry Yusuff, the mastermind of the whole hijacking operation. Secret security agencies and outfits across Nigeria were tipped. Not long after, he was abducted on the streets of Ilorin and whisked away. He was told that he would be bundled to Abuja for interrogation, only for him to open his eyes and meet himself in Niamey, Niger…lol! His abduction was a clandestine operation planned and executed by the governments of Nigeria and Niger. In Niger Republic, the President slipped while meeting with Association Nigerienne Por La Defense Des Droits Dehomme, a human rights group that had visited the Nigerien President on behalf of the hijackers and mistakenly revealed that Yusuff was already detained in Niamey, thus causing a major legal tussle in the arid West African nation. Some argued that Yusuff committed no crime in Niger and should be held in the territory. As the legal fireworks continued, Yusuff and his cohorts languished in jail.

While in prison, they had to contend with hunger atimes, heat, death threats, total lack of communication with their relatives and a culture that is totally alien to theirs. For nine long years and four months. But you know the interesting part? They never gave up. Richard took to learning French which he now speaks fluently but he said he is frustrated that he cannot find a job in Nigeria after his release (that was as at 2011).

In May 2000, a suit was filed exparte by Festus Keyamo before a Lagos Federal High Court, asking for an order of mandamus (judicial remedy) which would compel the Attorney-General of the Federation and the Foreign Affairs Minister to call for the extradition of Mallam Jerry Yusuf and others held in Nigerien prison. After their release and finally landing in Nigeria, just a handful of family relatives and friends were on hand at the airport to receive them. No high-sounding celebrations. No trumpets were blown. No bugle was sounded. Many did not even notice their return despite the fact that they had wasted away in a desert jail for almost 10 years…

…. Adenuga on his own part, sharpened his artistic skills of drawing while in prison while Rasaq-Lawal, a talented fashion designer kept on practicing. For Adenuga and Rasaq-Lawal, they had to return to Niamey since they could not find a job in Nigeria but Rasaq-Lawal later came back home. In Niamey, they found some jobs with some fair income, at least sometin to hold body and soul togeda noni. As for Richard, he still remains hopeful and undaunted. He even attended Alliance Francaise (I did too…lol!) where he perfected his French and even bagged a diploma. But he still hopes that one day, he will get a decent job, and wait for this: his dreams of becoming Nigeria’s President remains intact even if he has accepted that he cannot be a pilot again. Of late, he has been as a social worker with the Pro-National Conference Organizations (PRONACO). But there are times when he ironically misses the country where he was jailed. Richard said: “I’m already missing Niger Republic. During our stay, there was no light-out, water ran for 24 hours. We had a good diet while in prison. We also studied French while in jail”. Hmmm…

During an anniversary to celebrate the founding of MAD, the hijackers apologised to all Nigerians. Ogunderu, leader of the hijackers said before an international press conference in Lagos: Our intention was not to harm anybody and that they were not terrorist neither were they sponsored by any foeign body, but were energetic young men,full of ideas and burning with the desire to save millions of Nigerians from the trauma that the annullment of June 12 election had foist, a decison to decisively intervene with the view to bringing the crisis to an end.” During the event, he also blasted the Nigerian airport security officials who did not detect a thing while they all boarded like innocent passengers with all their weapons. He stated that they never made any material demands from the passengers. They were released from prison in Niamey on the 2nd of January, 2002.

CONCLUSION

Dear Esteemed Reader, I have a few questions for you: do you consider the Four Hijackers of Nigeria well-meaning heroes or ganja-inspired terrorists? Were they heroes ahead of their time or some misguided youngsters high on zealotry? Is it not better to die a martyr than to live as a slave under an oppressor? Should they be warmly celebrated or downrightly condemned? Are Nigerian youths of today this bold, courageous or coordinated? Are we going to ever get the Nigeria of our dreams? How? When? Think about these. Many Nigerians today keep shouting revolution (I don’t know if they mean revolution on Twirra…lol!), talk talk and no action and will definitely shudder after reading this story. I may not have labelled them the bravest in Nigeria’s history but for doing something (the correctness or moral bent is another issue entirely) and voicing out their frustration against tyrannical rulers bent on sinking the ship of the nation, they have my lasting respect. And remember that either we act or not, a nation will always get the kind of leadership it deserves. Yes, a nation of sheep will always be led by wolves. By the way, I just stumbled on this old song, it was very popular in those days, we used to gbadun it as the ‘national anthem’ then and I thorougly enjoyed it while penning this. It is titled Everybody Gyrate by Tony One Week (enjoy here>>>
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIpf8qhzuJQ ). Everybody gyrate, ja ja, gyrate…lol! #SigningOutToEnjoyTheWeekend!

THANKS FOR YOUR TIME AND ENJOY YOUR WEEKEND!.

™

SOURCE: http://.com/the-four-plane-hijackers-of-nigeria/

Donroxy, you can see that I ignored him. Please do not waste your precious time explaining to people committed to misunderstanding you. Abeg, check out the new post jare. Life is too short for pedantic nonsense.

donroxy: U see Jp,

English Language is a great problem to you, also u lack basic logical reasonings.

Let me show you where u erred and teach U how to be objective in life ::::::::

Denotative meaning of UNIQUE ; Unusual;Rare;Being the only one of its kind :::::::: simply put ; Different from the rest!!!!


When u compared issues,events,situations and conditions et all across board,the one(s) that stand out (distinguished/distinct) from normal/usual (expected) occurence can be said to be UNIQUE !!!

Therefore,Unique as used by seemed to be beyond your level of intelligence as well as knowledge of english language words, denotatively and contextually, simply because u believed Unique is only used to judge the BEST while u do not know we could have a ''Unique thief'' , ''Unique land'' , ''Unique water '' Unique whatever :::::: it only implied something(quality/quantity) is just different from others !!!! Someones or something,its way of operation differs !!!


Jp phillips, u would easily fail synonyms and antonyms cuz u would never considered the contextual usage of words in a sentence !!!


So,Jp phillips, Unique as used in describing Hajia Fati Abubakar doesn't make her the best woman Nigeria has ever produced neither the best military wife nor the most ''ideal'' FirstLady :::


Unique was only used to describe HER simply because she was reclusive,she deviate from expectation which is quite unusual judging from what has transpired during the years of those before Her (Since IBB) !!!


Ur problem, JP phillip, is; U did not know UNIQUE is only used to distinguished an unusual occurence;deviation from usual expectation;rare occassion !!!!


Next time Jp phillips, before u tonguelashed a fellow,get ur fact right as no human has monopoly of Knowledge,we are all learners ::::: and also,let insult be the last tool u would ever used in butressing ur points !!!


Also,a man could be devilish all through his entire life,but if he did even an atom of Goodliness,such deserved to be acknowledged!!! Thats how to be objective !!!



This thread has nothing to do with General Abdsallam Abubakar But Hajia Fati Lima Abubakar !!!

should not be insulted simply because UNIQUE was used in describing Hajia Fati !!!

Now,U shd be able to know who is Ok and NOT Ok between us !!!

I'm loyal, Boss!

dmj_shyne: AAA.....I double-sight u.....
Keep 'repping'

“Whether Shonekan likes it or not, God has ordained his regime as the shortest in history of Nigeria. And it will be suddenly terminated by God, because June 12 has a connotation and denotation which Nigerians have not understood. Until they know the extent of June 12, they will be beating about the bush…”

-The late Chief Gani Fawehinmi, September, 13, 1993, The African Guardian

OVERVIEW

INTRODUCTION

BIRTH AND EARLY DAYS

EDUCATION

CAREER

LOVE, ROMANCE AND MARRIAGE

FAMILY AND CHILDREN

BECOMING HEAD OF STATE

SHONEKAN’S CABINET

FOREIGN POLICY

THE PALACE COUP

ACHIEVEMENTS, EVENTS AND ACTIVITIES AS HEAD OF STATE

SUPPORT FOR THE SHONEKAN REGIME

CRITICISM AND CONTROVERSIES

HONOURS, LEGACIES AND AWARDS

LATER LIFE AND SHONEKAN TODAY

HIS WORDS
________________________________

For many of us (Nigerians), the name Shonekan is tied to June 12, Abacha and MKO. His fidihe (interim) government remains the shortest of any Nigerian Head of State. For this reason, many Nigerians look at the man and his regime with passing interest, if any. Some have even confined him to a corner in their mind thinking his regime was a drab and uncolourful one. But did nothing really happen in his three months in power? Okay, what happened? Any crucial events? Did you know Abacha was Shonekan’s vice president? Why an aircraft was hijacked by four Nigerian youths in their early 20s (one was a teenager) in his regime? Foreign policy? Drama? What Abacha did to him? Why Shonekan increased fuel prices by five times provoking mad protests all over the nation? takes you on a jolly ride as we take a peep together into the administration of Chief. Dr. ERNEST ADEGUNLE OLADEHINDE SHONEKAN, GCFR, CBE, the man who ruled Nigeria for 120,960 minutes. Enjoy!

BIRTH AND EARLY DAYS

Oloye (Chief) Shonekan was born on the 9th of May 1936 in Lagos, Nigeria. That makes him 77 years old as you are reading this. An Abeokuta (Yoruba) person by origin, his father was working in the civil service and he had five other siblings.

EDUCATION
Early schooling was at Nigeria’s oldest secondary school, Church Missionary Society (CMS) Grammar School, St. Finbarr’s College Road, Lagos (established 6 June 1859, so that technically makes the school older than Nigeria itself). He says of his days at CMS: In my days at the Grammar School, I am proud to say that we had the best of high school education. Teachers were qualified, highly motivated and ready to teach, the needed facilities were provided and students were also willing and ready to do serious learning. We received all round education including religious and moral instruction. Later, he proceeded to the University of London where he finished in 1962 with a degree in law. He is a member of the Nigerian and English Bars.

CAREER
He received training as a lawyer, business executive and industrialist. He would later have a stint as a politician. A consummate businessman, Chief Shonekan was jejely heading United African Company of Nigeria PLC (UAC) (a Unilever Group company) before he was drafted, abi before he drafted himself into politics. His career in the corporate world is an interesting one. In 1964, he joined UAC’s Legal Department and rose through the ranks as Assistant Legal Adviser, Deputy Adviser so that by 1980, he was already the Managing Director, with UAC then being the largest conglomerate controlled by an African south of the Sahara. UAC would also later sponsor him to the Harvard Business School where he completed an Advanced Management Programme.

LOVE, ROMANCE AND MARRIAGE
He is married to Chief (Mrs.) Margaret Shonekan, an anti-examination malpractice champion who contributed greatly to the development of education in Nigeria and the West African subregion as the Senior Deputy Registrar at West African Examinations (WAEC) where she headed the Nigerian National Office of the body. However, as First Lady, she was bitterly criticized for going to a ‘worthless cultural event’ in Seoul, South Korea with a 45-man contingent that started a shopping jamboree right from the moment they landed at the airport.

FAMILY AND CHILDREN

Some of his children include:

-ADEBOYE SHONEKAN (also known as AS, see pictures), a lawyer by profession and also responsible for overseeing some of his dad’s businesses (he was appointed the CEO of Nigerian-German Chemical, NGC) on April 27, 1999 where he was the Executive Vice Chairman since March 28, 1998.

He joined NGC in 1995 as an Executive Director and he was in charge of the Materials Management, Logistics and Import Financing Units. Before then, he was an Investment Officer at the International Finance Corporation of the World Bank (1990 to 1995). He also worked as a Director at his dad’s enterprises, UNIC Health and UNIC Insurance PLC. He also worked with Universe Reinsurance Limited, Virgin Nigeria Limited, Critical Rescue International and Intersource SA Limited. He finished from the University of Reading, Berkshire, United Kingdom in 1986 (LLB, 2nd Class Honours) and like his dad, also attended the Management Program at Harvard Business School in 1998.

-Another child is KEMI SHONEKAN (now Mrs. Kemi Shonekan-Olateju, see pictures), who got married in a high society wedding not too long ago at Four Seasons Hotel, Mayfair, London.

A Senior Manager at GE Corporate, she is a graduate of Syracuse University and University of Kent and had previous working experience as a Database Administrator at KPMG Advisory and Health Insurance Plan. She lives in New York and attended Roedean School.

BECOMING HEAD OF STATE

It all started with General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida. After eight years of dribbling Nigerians in a way that will make even Messi turn green with envy, IBB realized that the game was up. He just had to leave. But he was not going to leave without putting up a last fight. He propped up a civilian member of his dying government, to head the newly-constituted Interim National Government (ING) also known as Ijoba Fidihe. The man to head the ING was Ernest Shonekan, then a 56-year-old business executive. His tenure, the most fugacious in the history of Nigeria, started on the 26th of August 1993 and ended abruptly on the 17th of November of the same year, lasting a mere 84 days (just a little over 2,000 hours) or two months and 23 days. No thanks to General Sani Abacha and MKO…lol! Why MKO? Read on na By the way, read all about Abacha here>>>http://.com/sani-abacha-nigerias-most-enigmatic-ruler/

The civilian Transitional Council set up replaced the Council of Ministers. IBB dissolved his all-powerful Armed Forces Ruling Council (AFRC) and set up the National Defence and Security Council (NDSC) on the 2nd of January, 1993. The Transitional Council got its power by virtue of the Decree No. 54 of 1992 (Constitution (Suspension and Modification) Amendment) and together with the NDSC, started plans on how to ensure that power was peacefully handed over to the civilians. To ensure that MKO was boxed into a corner and eventually crushed, a barrage of decrees was released:

-Decree No. 39 (Presidential Elections Repeal Decree)

-Decree No. 40 (Transition to Civil Rule (Amendment) Decree)

-Decree No. 41 (Presidential Election (Invalidation of Court Order) Decree)

-Decree No. 59 of 1993 ended IBB’s junta while Decree No. 61 established the Interim National Government.

Mago mago don dey this we kontiri e don tey, just imagine: invalidation of court order, shooo! Lol!

On the 26th of August, 1993, at around 3.30 pm at the Presidential Villa, Chief Shonekan was sworn in as the new ‘Head of State and President of the Interim National Government’ by Justice Mohammed Bello, the Chief Justice of the Federation. But the intrigue did not stop there. The Decree No. 61 mentioned above stated that Abacha was going to be the ‘Vice President, Defence Secretary and Senior Minister’. The decree stated that the ‘Senior Minister’ would take over if anything unusual was to happen, instead of leaving the Office of the Interim President vacant.

On the 31st of August, 1993, Shonekan delivered his first speech as Head of State to the nation.

FOREIGN POLICY

In his maiden address to the nation, in which he called his government a ‘child of circumstance’, one of the things Shonekan mentioned was the planned pullout of Nigerian troops in Liberia. He said the ECOMOG intervention efforts were a huge drain on the Nigerian economy. Before he could do that, Abacha booted him out and continued with the ECOMOG activities.

THE PALACE COUP

Shonekan’s regime was supposed to end on the 31st of March, 1994. Everything played right into the hands of General Sani Abacha. An enraged MKO filed a suit to the court to declare ING illegal. The ING was eventually declared illegal and it was time for Abacha to spring into action. He approached Shonekan and told him that now that the ING has been declared illegal, the honourable thing would be to resign. Shonekan was wise, he did not argue. Get the full gist on how Abacha, Diya, Gusau and others stormed the Aso Rock Presidential Villa with army trucks full of fierce-looking soldiers to unseat Shonekan here>>>http://.com/sani-abacha-nigerias-most-enigmatic-ruler/

ACHIEVEMENTS, EVENTS AND ACTIVITIES AS HEAD OF STATE

-Although his regime was of a most fugacious nature and the political situation as at that time was extremely inflammable, Shonekan managed to do some things while in office. He released many political activists (and people like the late Chief Gani Fawehinmi, Dr. Beko Ransome-Kuti and Mr. Femi Falana who were advocates of the June 12 and organized protests) clamped into jail by Babangida, lifted the bans on journalists and allowed exiled opposition leaders back into the country.

-He also opened some of the universities that IBB had ‘padlocked’ and discussed with the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) to end the strikes.

-He also made attempts and lobbied for Nigeria’s debts to be cancelled while also repealing many of IBB’s brutal military decrees at home. One of the biggest challenges of Shonekan’s short-lived regime was the poor economic profile and spent considerable time pleading for debt rescheduling or total cancellation. He had inherited a carcass from IBB, the economy was in tatters and there was virtually nothing left in the foreign reserves. He also particularly promised to repeal the Decrees 2, 29 and 48 but before he could do that, the Kanuri General wasted no time in ousting him. Abacha later came and ‘dissolved’ everything in existence….lol!

-Shonekan’s government also tried to reduce the influence of the federal government on schools and negotiated with foreign governments like Britain to lift sanctions and ensure proper cooperation between the Nigerian educational sector and counterparts overseas.

-He also instituted that probes be launched into the affairs of government parastatals like the National Electric Power Authority (NEPA, now Power Holding Company of Nigeria, PHCN, not that the name change has eradicated the corruption o! Lol!), Nigerian Airways (already killed, dead and buried), Central Bank of Nigeria (coughs), the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC, more coughs) and the Nigeria Customs Service (licking Vicks Lemon Plus…lol!)

-Shonekan did not let the short-lived nature of his regime deny him of the luxury of foreign trips. On the 7th of October, 1993, Shonekan was before the United Nations General Assembly. He attended the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) (October 21-25), 1993 at the southern port city of Limassol in Cyprus. But while there, he got the shock of his life when the British Foreign Secretary, Sir Douglas Richard Hurd told him to go make a deal and incorporate MKO, hinting at Chief Abiola’s mandate. It becomes more interesting when you realize that a Nigerian, Chief Emeka Anyaoku was the Secretary-General of the Commonwealth. While in Cyprus, Shonekan knew the condition he left home that things were far from calm. He was constantly placing calls to his defence chief, General Sani Abacha to ask about things back home. But you know one thing with that man called Abacha? He plainly refused to pick many of the calls…lol! If you understand the game, Shonekan really had no control over Abacha, remember he was not sworn in as the Commander-in-Chief even if he was addressed as such (a plot that was not without Abacha’s fingerprints…lol). To worsen the matter, Shonekan was briefed about the numerous conspiracies brewing back home especially after the announcement made by the ING that the National Guard would be disbanded.

While Chief Shonekan was still in the cosy Mediterranean nation of Cyprus, something very crazy happened back home in Naija. It was the 25th of October, 1993 and the meeting in Cyprus was reaching an end. But some daredevil Nigerians had something else in mind that fateful Monday. There were four of them, all of the Movement for the Advancement of Democracy (MAD, quite an apt name I tell you) and they were led by Mallam Jerry Yusuff from Kwara State. A Nigerian Airways plane (an Airbus A310 numbered 5N AUH) carrying a total of 148 people (137 passengers and 11 crew members) on its way to Abuja from Lagos was hijacked by these dudes (and they were actually all youths in their early 20s, one was even a teenager). Yes, hijacked! Instead of landing in the FCT, the aircraft was diverted, tried landing in Ndjamena, Chad, was rebuffed and finally touched ground in Niger Republic! It would take the intervention of elite paramilitary commandos from the Niger Republic (not Nigeria) to take control of the aircraft. The four guys later spent a horrible nine and half years in prison in the deserts of Niamey. One of the hijackers was Richard Ajibola Ogunderu, who had plans to become a pilot. After his incarceration, he tried applying to an aviation college in Frankfurt, Germany but was turned down. He initially had plans to rule Nigeria by democratic means. Others hijackers were Kabir Adenuga, Benneth Oluwadaisi and Kenny Rasaq-Lawal. Watch out for the next piece from .com on the four hijackers and the incident that shook the nation. For now, our focus is on Shonekan

To some analysts like Nowa Omoigui, the Shonekan Presidency did not handle the hijacking incident properly. A team led by the Transportation and Aviation Minister, Alhaji Bashir Dalhatu was sent to Niamey to negotiate release of the hostages. At the end of the day, the whole rescue operation was neatly carried out by special forces from Niger Republic. As large and powerful as the Nigerian Armed Forces was, not even a single commando was involved in the rescue of our fellow compatriots. Shonekan received not a few knocks for entrusting the lives of his citizens in the hands of a foreign nation. However, if you look closely, you will see the handwriting of Abacha…lol!

At any rate, that was not the first time an aircraft would be skyjacked in Obodo Naija. The first time was back in April 1967 shortly before the Nigerian Civil War broke out.

-It is noteworthy to also point out that the legislature under Shonekan was a typical Fuji House of Commotion. There were two camps -one supporting the ING and the other doing everything possible to hasten the collapse of the Shonekan regime. Some soldiers too were actively involved in the plot to destabilize the ING while some others both within and outside the military wanted the entire political establishment dissolved, including the political parties. The tensions manifested on the floor of the National Assembly and eventually, on the 2nd November, 1993, the Senate President, Dr. Iyorchia Ayu was impeached and replaced by Senator Ameh Ebute. The late former Senate President and the Oyi of the Universe, Chief Chinwuba Wilberforce Okadigbo led the other Pro-Shonekan legislators to impeach Ayu. Interestingly, Okadigbo himself was charged with corruption in 2000 and impeached as Senate President.

-On the 8th of November, Shonekan made a move that many have condemned as a mistake and a wrong decision at a wrong time. He decided to remove petroleum subsidies due to declining oil prices on the international market. What happened next was that fuel prices jerked up from 70 kobo to N3.50, a whopping 500% increase! Nigerians went crazy! Protests broke out all over the nation and the confusion heightened. Lurking in one corner behind dark goggles was Abacha waiting like a tarantula, waiting for the right time to pounce on a dazed prey. Later on, years later, another Nigerian leader who must have missed this chapter of history, would do another abracadabra for us by suddenly removing the fuel subsidies triggering one of the most massive protests in the history of the country. Why you dey look me like that na? I mention anybody’s name ni?….lmao!!! #winks. On the 15th, the Nigerian Labour Congress declared a general strike and the next day, the National Assembly was forced to make moves to reduce the fuel prices. But it was all too little, too late.

-Just 48 hours later on the 10th of November, 1993 after increasing pump prices, Shonekan’s government suffered its greatest setback: a Lagos High Court presided by Justice Dolapo Akinsanya declared it illegal. Remember that as far back as October, MKO and his running mate, Baba Gana Kingibe had filed a suit before the court to declare the ING as lacking any legality, null and void. After the court judgment, it now fell on Abacha to assume the reins of power, remember the Senior Minister and Vice President clause in the Decree 61? The next day, people like Professor Bolaji Akinyemi begged Abacha to save the nation from plunging into chaos. Abacha, a most patient hunter, struck a week later. He did not even allow Shonekan spend any extra day in Aso Rock, Shonekan, Nigeria’s most fugacious leader, was treated in a gentlemanly manner, allowed to deliver a farewell speech and after that, Abacha made sure he was on the next plane to Lagos. No long thin! Lol! Abacha ti yayakuya….lol!

NB: THIS IS AN ABRIDGED VERSION, I WAS NOT ABLE TO POST ALL HERE, SAYS POST TOO LONG. READ ALL HERE>>>http://.com/ernest-shonekan-nigerias-most-fugacious-leader/

™

WOW! Don't let my head burst o...lol! Thanks a lot for your vote of confidence, this is very encouraging. I intend to put in my best. Thank you very much, my sincerest gratitude

Dudu_Negro: , there's an end of year appreciation in Nairaland Politics Section to people who have contributed most positively to the forum. We vote and nominate top three best contributors. So far at half point in the year, you have won my vote as the best contributor for the section this year.

We love to beat down on our leaders, you bring balance by giving to us a side of them we did not know. Great job and God Bless you.

Ayam flattered and humbled Thank you!

Andro Blaze:

She'll get my vote too.

Berem, you just melted my heart #Shy...lol! Thank you very much, Ma'am

berem: Can't some people just learn how to be civil for once? what's with the insults and calling of names? smh

@ , am reading the thread for the first time. you have won my heart with your interesting and educative posts. Am still expecting more of your threads. God bless you!

Matadaz, discouraged? Not at all, Sir. I have been busy writing the next post. Will put it up soon. Thanks for your kind words and support Sir, they mean a lot to me

Matadaz: @

a very interesting and educative write up.
pls,don't be discourage because we are expecting
more of these kind of write up from U.

takia

As for the names, your observation is PERFECT! 100% PERFECT!

donroxy: ahahaha that is Nairalanders for you ::::::: They would consider even letter ''A'' from Tribalistic view before concluding tis just an Alphabet !!!


,Sincerely,I adore the name ''Iyaniwura'' though I always appreciate the personality behind both Moniker ::::::::


Iyaniwura is gentle and meek,Only pass the views and ensure it is well concieved while could go to any length to defend and protect her children and Heritage!!!

Does the above have anything to do with ur change in moniker,is it cuz u wanna be more assertive than how ''Iyaniwura'' conveyed the messages thus metamorphosed to abi Oja gborogboro !!!

Da Don, you've said it all As for Flora Azikiwe, I was just mentioning examples that came to my mind in the write-up, you see I didn't even remember Victoria Gowon or Esther Obasanjo. Me I didn't know that forgetting to mention a name na crime o....lol! Thanks a lot for adding further clarifications, you've said it all, in a very concise manner

donroxy: ,U stepped on the toes of some N-landers by not recognising their ''WIFE'' as Firstlady ::::::: I mean Flora Zik ::::

Ur perspective is understandable as Zik was the ''Ceremonial'' Head of State while Balewa was the Head of Government who has the Real Power,Authority and influence as such His wife must be the First Lady (such Office do not exist then-1963-1966,abi ? )


I don't actually know whether it is Official but in Nigerian Case Flora Zik has been regarded as the inaugural FirstLady of the Federal Republic of Nigeria !!!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Lady_of_Nigeria?seg=1

From the Definition of FirstLady who is the wife of the President/Chief Executive of the State(Head Of Government) /Head of State .


We could decipher from the above definition that Either Zik's wife or Balewa's wives fulfilled the requirement to be tagged ''FirstLady(ies)'' because Zik was the First President while Balewa was the first Head of Government in a Parliamentary state(Nigeria) !!!


IMHO,There shouldn't be confusion nor ambiguity simply because the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria does not and Has never recognised,attached prominence nor responsibilities to the Office of the Firstlady ::::::::::::::::It was Nigerian elders/lobbyist/politicians creation !!!


And It is worthy of being noted that not until Maryam Babangida and till date,the Office of the firstlady does not have any prominence in Nigeria !!!


Therefore,conclusively,if we should attached prominence of today to the Firstladies of the 1960s, Either Balewa's wives or Zik wife qualified to be referred !!!

Great Ife!

Ola Johnson: I'm not surprised, OAU produces Nigeria's most radical and renown lawyers: Femi Falan, Itse Sagay, Akin Olujimi, O. C. J. Okocha, Mike Ozekhome, Fred Agbaje, Fatou Bensouda (Chief Prosecutor of the ICJ, the Hague), Olubunmi Oyewole (sentenced Bode George) etc.

Elena Ceaușescu, when did Nigeria become Romania? lol! Fatai? LMAO! I'm done with you.

jp philips:

take your write up to the Nigerian prison service or better still to the teaching hospitals which could not afford an ecg machine while fatai's husband was busy changing their family status with our money.

Fatai hero indeed, what role did she play at a time her husband was the looter in chief of our treasury?

write to Nigerians about Elena ceausescu and the roles she played against corruption in her husband's govt. if you really care to enlighten us.

How much were you paid for the article anyways??

The One and Only Don, Donroxy!

donroxy: Thanks !!!!

More Oyel to ur elbow

I have been wondering why the name of my street would be ''Umaru Audi'' and I have always been ''whodafuck'' is Umaru Audi,why would my street be named after unknown Aboki :::::::


Thanks for making me realised Audi fathered the most unique first lady; HAJIA FATI ABUBAKAR !!!!



o seun ooooo,ku ise takuntakun,mo n fi oju sona for another great piece !!!

I wanted to respond to you because I thought you knew what you were saying but I had no option than to stop when I saw you wrote General Abdulsalami is a fugitive on the run from American justice...lol! Anyways, the post is on Fati. You can keep digressing if you wish.

jp philips:


please dont mind that Abayomoron.
talk about the biggest corruption of our time and Abubakar has his finger prints all over it.

Abubakar was instrumental to the murder of Abacha and incaceration of his chief of staff (as testified by major hamza)

the halliburton bribery scandal which invariably earned him a fugitive status in the United states.

Abiola's murder nko?

over $6b of Abacha's loot returned to Nigeria under his watch developed wings till date.

according to the conveyner of the SNG, Abdusalami looted Nigeria worse than Abacha in his short stay as head of state.
he equally emphasized that by the time abubakar left office, he was worth over $13b in assets all over the world.

how did a general emasse that kinda wealth?

this is the calibre of politician whose wife is worthy of emulation by Abayomi's standard.
a legal luminary who swore an oath to protect and be impartial to justice in Nigeria.

Good for you.

Frankie9ice:

Now you equate the role of a First Lady to that of a Traditional Ruler? I clearly see where you are coming from now. For me, this is the end of the discussion!!!

Nutella....lol! No, it is actually Blue Band. I'm glad you got the point into your head. I am not a praisesinger. And I think you are the one with an over-rated sense of self-importance to assume your ranting here will change anything. I select my topics and I write. If they make sense to you, fine. If not, that's your cup of green tea. And you may want to try it with some Nutella. Yummy, I tell you.

Frankie9ice:

Sister you think too much of yourself if you expect me to read every article you write,...you be Pius Adesanmi/Okey Ndibe or Sonala Olumhense? I suppose this is how you get Nutella for your bread (because no man or woman needs to praise-sing to get butter for his or her bread),and so its pointless trying to persuade you to carefully pick subjects for yor articles,...if truly you aim to educate us

Don't deceive yourself, our First Ladies are part and parcel of our history. And who does not know their role is not mentioned in the Constitution? Their role, like that of the traditional rulers, is not stated or recognized in the Constitution but that does not mean they can be ignored. It is like saying you will write on the history of Nigeria and leave out the Sokoto Caliphate, Benin Empire or the Oyo Empire because traditional rulers are not recognized in the Constitution. Maybe you sort out your issue with Abati when you see him. Got nothing positive to teach 'us', I guess you are speaking for yourself.

Frankie9ice:

Sure Reuben Abati wasn't always like that,....do you read Okey Ndibe, Sonala Olumhense, Rudolf Ogoo Okonkwo, Ogaga Ifowodo, and Pius Adesanmi? (I mentioned these names to let you know am old enuf to talk about this...). Mind you,the 10-part series he wrote on Jonathan which paved the way for his appointment into GEJ's Govt was not done inside of one month,...what am saying is Abati gradually warmed himself to the heart GEJ. The honest truth is,all that time we thought Abati of Guardian & Patito's Gang was an upright moral crusader,he was just taking us all for a ride! I can bet my last dime on it,...he has always been a brown-envelope journalist,...like Smart Adeyemi.
How does praise-singing folks with questionable pedigree amount to educating and teaching us history in a positive way? If it is,then Yinka Ayefele, Dele Momodu and their likes must be the greatest historians Naija has produced.
If you must educate or teach us history,...then First ladies who dont have a place in our constitution,...and talkless the wives of dictators,....got nothing positive to teach us. Thats simply my point!

Nothing hypocritical here, you don't expect me to be eavesdropping on their conversations in the bedroom. Today, the topic is on Fati Abubakar, tomorrow, it will be the General.

coputa: Abubakar, her husband stayed in power for a very short time but he depleted our foregn reserve to zero dollar...why can't her unique wife,fati advise him,instead,she kept quiet and enjoyed the loot with her husband...,this is sheer hypocrisy ö the the part of the op...

Nothing hypocritical here, you don't expect me to be eavesdropping on their conversations in the bedroom. Today, the topic is on Fati Abubakar, tomorrow, it will be the General. quote author=coputa]Abubakar, her husband stayed in power for a very short time but he depleted our foregn reserve to zero dollar...why can't her unique wife,fati advise him,instead,she kept quiet and enjoyed the loot with her husband...,this is sheer hypocrisy ö the the part of the op...[/quote]

Funny dude.

jp philips:


then write on the walls of your kitchen or better still your bedroom away from the eyes if Nigerians who deserve better.
writting on a Nigerian forum on the heroism of thieves is an insult to over 1m Nigerians and friends of Nigeria visiting this site.

Nothing stops you from writing about Akinkumi and the rest you've mentioned. I write about the good, the bad and the ugly of Nigeria. Nuff said.

jp philips:


Nigerian youths are better off learning about the wives of people who have made genuine sacrifices for this nation, people whose blood and efforts gave us a sense of national pride.

The Abubakars are very far from that, it takes a stale mind to believe the crap abayamo is writing up there.

who are the heroes of the Nigerian civil war, people whose blood actualized the "one Nigeria" our founding fathers fought for?

who were the wives of heads of state who shielded Nigeria from the hegemony and economic terrorism of the IMF and world bank?

How many Nigerian youths know about TAIWO AKINKUMI?

How many Nigerians know the people in the front lines of disaster management in our country?

The Nigerian who rescued our soldiers from the west side rebels in Liberia.

it is deceptive write ups like this that skews the minds of our leaders to pass national honors to rifraffs who dont deserve it.

next you write about obasanjo's house girl who was silent when her oga was looting us dry as a sign of humility. crap.

There is no honour in what the Abubakas did to the Nigerian treasury and making a hero outta them insults the least moral left in my sensibilities.

No, she was selling ice cream before becoming First Lady not fish. Then Dame Patience was referred to as Mama Ice Cream. That has been discussed before in another thread.

Isiterere: I really wish our dear president's wife could borrow a cue from her; she still continued her profession despite the elevation of her husband.
TBH,is it really true na fish Dame patience Jonathan dey sell b4?

Abubakar's tenure was not the shortest. It was Shonekan's.

coputa: Abubakar's tenure was the shortest but he depleted our foreign reserve to almost zero dollar..where was this unique lady then,,probably enjoying the loot with her lucky husband..,if she was unique she would have urge her thiefng husband from ravaging nigeria foreign reserve..

, please. Not Abiyomo.

jp philips:

one of the most corrupt souls Nigeria has ever produced, abiyomo or whatever name u chose to bear, how can you write that belewa's wife was first lady at a time Zik was head of state?
was there something i missed from your verbose comments?

Nice point you have raised. But if you are familiar with my write-ups, especially on those close to power or Nigerians in government, I ALWAYS have a section on criticism/controversy on them because I believe there is always a negative side. But I am not expected to manufacture one on Hajia Fati Abubakar if I could not find any (this is the first time I think that will happen, I could not lay my hands on any scandal or sort like I did when writing on Maryam Abacha). If I find any, I always update my articles. Thanks for your time and suggestions, I really appreciate

iv4fb: @frankie9ce, I disagree totally with you about Reuben Abati. He was one guy that always hit government hard. If you were old enough and read his piece on Guardian, you'll understand that. We were always looking for his articles-he was objective and direct! He may have become an 'ass licker', he was not always like that.

About , she created a niche, her piece might be geared towards praising those folks, but she educate and teach us history in a positive way, aint u tired of all the negativity that abounds?

@, please remain 'unmovable' by all these talks and keep up your good work, just add a little more objectivity. You sometimes gotta talk about the bad sides too!

Mary Odili, why not add James Ibori? LOL! Call me whatever you want, if the post does not make sense to you, no need to read...lol! Honest, patriotic Nigerians....I guess you were asleep when I wrote on Wole Soyinka, Eugenia Abu, Alvan Ikoku, Flora Nwapa, Abimbola Awoliyi, Nigeria and West Africa's first female doctor, Herbert Macaulay, Professor Odeku, Nigeria's first professor of neurosurgery, Mama Ekundayo, Christopher Alexander Sapara-Williams, Nigeria's first lawyer, Blessing Liman, Nigeria's first female military pilot, Itunu Hotonu, Nigeria's first female rear admiral, Ladi Kwali, Nigeria's most famous potter who had global acclaim from her pottery skills, Evi-Edna Ogholi, Chinyere Kalu, Nigeria's first female pilot, Samuel Okwaraji and the rest.

Now that I have written about the wife of a former dictator, I am suddenly a praisesinger...lol! Just like some said I am Ayefele II because I wrote on Adenuga and Dangote...lol! Funny lot you are, ordinarily, I would have ignored your comment but I just need to let you know that you can say whatever you want to say, that will not stop me from writing about another of Nigeria's dictators or their wives. I know people like you. And you or your words don't move me. If you call the articles watery, it just shows you like running your mouth like water, just as Chidinma said in her song. You might want to look for it on YouTube...lol

Frankie9ice: Immediately I saw d title I knew it must be dt praise-singing Dele Momudu & Yinka Ayefele protege,...our own . So I didn't bother reading d watery stuff(I av read enuf of her materials to know that they are usually watery stuff).
What makes Justice Fati Abubakar any better than Maryam Abacha,Maryam Babangida,Stella Obasanjo or even Turai for dt matter? Soon am sure it's connection-made-justices like Mary Odili you wud begin to praise,....and not honest peeps who got to wia they r today by pure hard work,integrity,and honest living (patriotic Nigerians dt u can't find 1k of public funds in their wealth).
Anyway, we all remember too well that it is by publishing praise-singing articles like this dt Abati Reuben became 'made' (...the Man Jonathan,...part 1-10). Keep it up,soon u shall be rewarded too

There is no way you will mention Nigerian leaders without talking of the Great Zik and Balewa, the system we operated at that time meant we had two leaders at the same time, thought I mentioned that earlier. We also need to realize that the 'First Lady' craze did not really emerge until Maryam Babangida's era so ascribing First Ladies to leaders before IBB is for documentation purposes because Nigeria's earliest leaders did not really bandy around the 'Office of the First Lady' like we do today. Yes, Balewa did not put out his wives (not wife) as First Ladies, same with Shagari and Buhari, but not because they did not want to, it had more to do with their personal character and conservative background of Northern Nigeria where wives are not usually flamboyantly displayed and are seen as supporting their husbands from the background. Even when I was writing on the 36 State First Ladies of Nigeria, I had a lot of difficulty finding the ones in the North, like Sokoto where Governor Wammako actively hides his wives from the public. That does not mean we will not call them First Ladies, shey you get? Same goes for other popular leaders from the North: Sardauna of Sokoto, Sir Kashim Ibrahim, Shehu Yar'adua and many others. So, that Balewa (or Shagari or Buhari) did not put out his wives does not mean we cannot talk about them.

pheliciti:

Much as I do not like to derail this thread, may I ask that you list the names of Nigeria's previous leaders? Except we are about to start a voyage in revisionism, Zik (one of the greatest Nigerians that ever lived, and who would have been one of the greatest heads of the Nigerian State) was never head of state or president.
Secondly, I plead that when we criticize write-ups, we should keep out the abuse as it hinders and derails intellectual discussion. Interestingly, the Late Tafawa Balewa, never put anybody out as 1st Lady. The usage in 's piece was only referential to state that Hajia Balewa was one of those that did not enjoy the public glare as wife of the Prime Minister; I suspect that same historic reference could be made to Mrs Flora Azikwe, were the late Dr. Azikwe PM or President.

Kind Regards and do enjoy the weekend all.