₦airaland Forum

....Over NADECO Links

Marwa says military leaders wanted Tinubu blocked as Lagos governor over NADECO ties, but he insisted on a free election.


Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (rtd) has disclosed that the military hierarchy never wanted President Bola Tinubu to become the governor of Lagos State because of his connected to pro-democracy group, National Democratic Coalition (NADECO).

Marwa who admonished Nigerians to always remember that the country’s diversity is not a burden but a gift and a trust that must be safeguarded by all, said he took the pain to conduct a free and fair election in Lagos where the current president emerged the governor.

Marwa made the revelation on Saturday in Abuja, while delivering the keynote address at the public presentation of a book: Buni Boy, written by late legal luminary Niyi Ayoola-Daniels.

According to him, “Today holds a special significance for me due to the profound and compelling nature of this gathering. What moves me most is not only the book itself but also the life of its author and what that life represents. It speaks to the unity and strength woven through our diversity as Nigerians. To many people, the author’s narrative may seem distant, almost unreal, as if drawn from another world. Yet those of us who grew up in the 1960s know it as lived truth.

“The experience captured in the narrative mirrors the country we once walked through with unguarded hearts.

“The story stirs my memories and reminds me of a time when life was plain in its blessings and people showed more kindness in their daily dealings.

“This evening, I am not here to retell the story, for it stands strong on its own. Instead, I will reflect on its core theme, to remind Nigerians of this era that our diversity is not a burden but a gift and a trust we must safeguard.

“I have long been an advocate of unity in diversity and of the strength that rises from it. Hence, today’s occasion provides me an opportunity to further amplify the message. The Nigeria of my youth understood its own diversity, even in the troubled days of the 1960s when the civil war raged through this country. I recall my teenage years at the Nigeria Military School, NMS Zaria, where the pupils came from diverse ethnic backgrounds.

“It was never a school for northern boys alone. No, not a school for Hausa, Fulani, Kanuri, Tiv or Idoma. It was a school for all ethnic groups in Nigeria. Whether you speak Hausa, Yoruba or Igbo, we regarded ourselves as kin. Our teachers reflected the same broad mix. For instance, from 1966 to 1970, the Commandant of the NMS was a Yoruba officer, Col. T. B. Ogundeko, of blessed memory. We didn’t see him as a Yoruba man. We saw a Nigerian, a man with whom we have a shared identity.

“Before attending NMS, however, I had my primary education across four cities: Zaria, Enugu, Abeokuta, and Lagos. This was the result of my father’s mobile life as a soldier. Living in different sociocultural settings taught me early that people of other tongues and traditions are still my own. That truth has stayed with me ever since.

“The Nigerian Army, where I served for over 30 years, is built on a foundation of unity, and the ideal of one Nigeria shapes its work. That experience only strengthened my conviction. As an officer, I served across the country and built bonds that cut through the artificial barriers created by our sociocultural differences. In the army, intermarriage and close fellowship pushed us to look past ethnic lines and stand together as one.

“On a personal note, my life has taught me that the diversity of this country enriches us. It sharpens our understanding of one another. It strengthens the fabric of our shared existence. It unites far more than it divides, whatever the voices of doubt may say today.

“In my private and professional life, I have always embraced the full breadth of Nigeria’s diversity. My friends come from every corner of the country. I have worked with people of every ethnicity. The people around me, even today, reflect the wide spectrum of our multiethnic nation. The chieftaincy titles I hold, more than 30 in number, show that same reach. Even my own family reflects our national mix.

“Wherever I stand in this country, whether among the Ogoni, or Bachama, among Igbo or Idoma, anywhere at all, I am at home.”

Marwa recalled that as Military Administrator of Lagos state, the Yoruba people showed him great love and supported his administration despite their hostility to the government at the federal level then. He said the support he received from Lagos encouraged him to conduct a free and fair election that brought his successor to office.

He said: “Even though the Head of State then Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar did not interfere in my conduct of the governorship election, the military hierarchy did. After seeing the then Senator Bola Tinubu’s strong campaign and popularity, the military hierarchy instructed me to prevent him from emerging governor because of his pro-democracy activism in NADECO against the military government then but I chose to conduct a free and fair election that produced the most popular candidate as governor of Lagos state. The rest today is history.”

Marwa said Nigeria may have its peculiar challenges because of how poorly its diversity has been managed over the years, “but these difficulties cannot justify any idea of tearing the nation apart”, adding that “our challenges should instead push us to repair the fault lines and pursue greater inclusion.”

Speaking on the book, Marwa commended the widow of the author, Mrs Leticia Ayoola-Daniels for keeping her late husband’s memory alive. “Barrister Niyi Ayoola-Daniels is no longer with us, but his legacy lives on. The Buni Yadi Foundation keeps his ideals alive. I must say that the real-life story told in the book resonates deeply with me. This is not only because I once served as the military governor of the old Borno, where Buni Yadi was then located, but also because I have met the family of the noble Alkali, the judge whose sense of duty anchors the book and shaped the author’s life. It is also because the transformation of an eighteen-year-old boy in the 1960s and the wisdom of a judge who held firmly to justice reflect the very heart of the Nigerian spirit.”

https://www.arise.tv/marwa-military-hierarchy-tried-to-stop-tinubu-from-becoming-lagos-governor-over-nadeco-links/

And over two decades later, he had turned out to be the Paul Biya of Lagos State, refusing to relinquish power, suffocating the state, siphoning and milking the entire commonwealth of Lagosians for over two decades and counting, and empowering street urchins, thugs, hoodlums, and agberos.

If only he had been stopped, Lagos State would have been free from his evil stranglehold.

Of course there is strength in diversity when there is unity. Diversity can be exploited for nation-building and its prosperity. However, where there is a hidden agenda and insincerity, it becomes a weakness.

It is obvious, a new CHARTER is urgently needed to define and establish the terms coexistence and partnership among the ethnic groups and religious groups in Nigeria in order to take advantage and potential that diversity on offering.

In alternative, Nigeria should split and work as a CONFEDERATION because as it is now, the country is not working.

Lamba,,just eat and stop capping nonsense..All for eye service

Toh

The book wey get the juicy details should be on the way

So convicted criminal Bode George is now a court of law that whatever he declare is the law ?

Tinubu is Paul Biya yet Lagosians keep voting for his protégé every 4 years.

Pls what part of the Ea are you wailing n writing from ?!

Ofunaofu:
And over two decades later, he had turned out to be the Paul Biya of Lagos State, refusing to relinquish power, suffocating the state, siphoning and milking the entire commonwealth of Lagosians for over two decades and counting, and empowering street urchins, thugs, hoodlums, and agberos.

If only he had been stopped, Lagos State would have been free from his evil stranglehold.

As he is no praising the Agulu clown ba ?!

Edoreborn:
Lamba,,just eat and stop capping nonsense..All for eye service

Marwa's comments are self-serving and opportunistic.

Ofunaofu:
And over two decades later, he had turned out to be the Paul Biya of Lagos State, refusing to relinquish power, suffocating the state, siphoning and milking the entire commonwealth of Lagosians for over two decades and counting, and empowering street urchins, thugs, hoodlums, and agberos.

If only he had been stopped, Lagos State would have been free from his evil stranglehold.

chai agbero chairman nairaland branch yarimo and helinues won't like this

If they wanted him not to become governor, they would have achieved it.

Marwa just dropped some major revelations that are bound to ruffle feathers. Its all good though, we move.

Front0lane:
So convicted criminal Bode George is now a court of law that whatever he declare is the law ?

Tinubu is Paul Biya yet Lagosians keep voting for his protégé every 4 years.

Pls what part of the Ea are you wailing n writing from ?!

Of course, Paul Biya of Cameroon and his protégé are being voted for, and that is what has made them remain in power for over 42 years.

Front0lane:
So convicted criminal Bode George is now a court of law that whatever he declare is the law ?

Tinubu is Paul Biya yet Lagosians keep voting for his protégé every 4 years.

Pls what part of the Ea are you wailing n writing from ?!

For the records
The conviction has been overturned

https://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/12/supreme-court-discharges-pdp-chieftain-bode-george-corruption-conviction/?utm_source=chatgpt.com

Pablo Escobar was a democratic activist and also a CIA snitch. He was snitching on everyone. Marwa should go and sit down. If the military didn't want him, they'd not have approved the registration of his party the Alliance for Democracy, AD.

The military hierarchy knew that there was no way Marwa could rig the election against a popular candidate like Asiwaju Tinubu, so they resorted to trying to intimidate him. Thank you General Marwa for your patriotic service to Nigeria.

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