₦airaland Forum

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WAEC and their candidates
A few weeks ago when I was reading the papers, I came across accusations and counter-accusations between the West African Examination Council and the candidates that patronized them recently. The council was pointing fingers at the students

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One-time Super Eagles’ combat midfielder, Mutiu Adepoju, is distressed by the state of local league despite the opinion held by many that it has improved tremendously. Adepoju, who is the general manager and technical director of Shooting Stars Sports Club (3SC) of Ibadan, believes there is very little on ground

Former Minister of Internal Affairs and ex-member of the defunct Armed Forces Ruling Council (AFRC), General Abdullahi Bagudu Mamman, has beaten his chest that he actually saved former military President, General Ibrahim Babangida from disgrace by prevailing on him to drop out of the 2007 presidential race.

In an exclusive interview with Saturday Sun in Abuja, General Mamman, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Chairman of the Federal Capital Territory Muslim Pilgrims Directorate, also expressed confidence in President Umar Musa Yar’Adua’s ability to take Nigeria to greater height.

He, however, said that Yar’Adua “may have good intentions, but he is surrounded by masquerades pursuing goals parallel to anything good for the generality of our citizens.”

The retired general, who said he had to leave the military prematurely because Babangida imposed his junior as Chief of Army Staff, also disclosed that although he loved his career he never liked the military men governing the affairs of Nigeria.

He spoke on these and other things.

Satisfied with Nigeria ’s current position politically and economically?
Speaking as General Abdullahi Mamman, a Nigerian who has a stake in this country, if you asked me whether I am satisfied with the situation in Nigeria as it is today, I dare say boldly no. Things, to my mind, are not going to the expectation of most of us. One would have expected that at age 48, Nigeria would have gone beyond where it is today. If it is the wish of Allah that we remain where we are, so be it, but I don’t think that Allah, being so loving to human beings, would like us to stagnate so badly.

What is responsible for this?
I don’t know. I can only assume that may be we have not been patriotic enough. We‘ve not been honest enough, and we’ve done too much of lip-service towards most of the things we have been asked to do. I also want to believe that the political era is yet to settle down. Having said that, I believe that those playing the game of politics we have imported from America into this country should have known that in America you play politics not because of the benefits that would accrue to you financially. You would have made money outside before getting into politics.

They play politics to make name as well as to impact on the lives of their citizens. However, the reverse is the case in Nigeria and, therefore, it will take a long time for things to straighten up here. We buy positions in Nigeria. Again, we are paying too much premium, too much emphasis on political patronage in the appointment of people into sensitive areas and by doing that some of the targets you wish to achieve will again take much longer time, because anybody who is conversant with the Nigerian system of politics knows that you spend a lot of money to get a political position, either elective or appointive. So, the first thing that occupies the mind of such a person is how to recoup what he had spent or ‘invested’ in the process. This is exactly what is happening in Nigeria and how do you record quick and good results in this manner?

Yar’Adua is chained by masquerades. The president may mean well, but he is just one individual; the people who surround him are something else; they are masquerades. Mr. President may have positive programmes, but how many of those who are surrounding him wound carry out his order to the letter? He is alone.

Did you advise him?
I made an attempt to see him when he was first elected into office, but I can assure you I became convinced that it is much more difficult for the elephant to pass through the eye of a needle than seeing him. So, I gave up.

You could have gone through Minna Hilltop or Ota Farm?
Oh yes, I knew all that, but there are certain things you can pass through a third party to Mr. President and there are things that need no third party at all. There are things you need to tell him personally. Those things that I could do through a third party, I did by writing here and there, to say things that should be done this way or that way, but the rest I keep to myself.

Babangida and I
I make friends to keep, not friends to kick. Good or bad, friends to keep are needed when the need arises. And I do advise him in truth and no matter how bitter that truth is, I tell it to him. He either takes it or leaves it.

Babangida’s quest for the Presidency
I told him there was no need for him to go back. Ask him anytime and he would tell you I am one of those who told him the bitter truth, because that is what friends are made for. I asked him what was in the leadership of this country that he hadn’t seen. And I also told him that if it was a matter of do or die, on what platform was he thinking of contesting the Presidency? He said PDP and I said, with due respect to you, don’t do it; they would only disgrace you, because they would send you out there to go and conduct primaries with people who should be answering your ‘boys.’ people he made; because he was going to contest with Ali Gusau, the present President (Yar’Adua) and several state governors then who had indicated interest.

And as if to back what I said, the chairman of PDP at that time said they would want, if it were possible, to get their candidates among the serving governors at that time. Then I think he took that advice and withdrew honourably. So, I saved him from the disgrace that would have come with the denial of the PDP ticket.

Does this mean you will never contest in politics?
In fact, I am even surprised that I attempted playing politics, because I grew up as a military man, and the military is an organization that is surrounded and guided by discipline, and to come into politics where anything goes, I saw myself as a misfit. But friends said look, if you all run away from politics, who would then sanitize the political arena? That was why we ventured into it in the first place.

Were you in PDP?
Yes, I still am, one leg in one leg out… (Laughter)

What do you want to become in PDP?
Nothing. Just let politics be played the way it should be played. I am 67. What do I want?

People over 70 want to vie for…?
Good luck to them. I am I; they are they.

What of political appointment, won’t you accept?
Yes, but with a condition. If the appointment were made with the intention that I could contribute something towards making the nation better and they think that I have something to offer, I think it would be morally wrong to refuse. But if it just for political patronage, I would say no thank you.

Being from the FCT, if by coincidence, you are appointed FCT Minister, what will be your priority assignment?
Well, I know what the founding fathers of the new Federal Capital Territory had in mind. I think we should go back to that original intention for the FCT, where travelling from any part of the country will be an equal distance, where justice and equity shall prevail and by that I mean people should be allowed to know that it is wrong for anybody to say Abuja is a virgin land; when it was given, nobody had lived there, that is not true. If it is a mistaken assumption then, that has to be corrected. If the exigencies of our time have made certain people to be resettled, to give way for proper planning, then they must be duly compensated, otherwise what is happening in Niger Delta may be a child’s play when our people are forced to accept injustice.

When they decide to react, I am afraid…because, you see, there are claims in certain quarters that everybody who was an indigene of FCT was resettled and compensated. But I am a typical example of those who were unjustly treated; nobody gave me a kobo, and I am still where I am.

But you are believed to be one of those given the responsibility of compensation?
Well, I am telling you now that being one of those who were supposed to be beneficiaries, who never benefited, that no money was given to resettle. The only two places that an attempt was made was Wuse and Garki village. There was a partial attempt at Karshi, and that is why today there are two Karshis, two Wuses and two Karus because the compensation was not fully implemented.
Sections of those areas compensated are the Wuse, which relocated to Kaduna road, now in Niger State; the same thing applied to the Karshi, along Keffi road in Nasarawa State and of course, Garki II. This is a long story that I can’t finish in hours to come. In fact, in 1976, the amount of money involved in resettlement was so colossal that if government had that kind of money it would have ploughed into the development of the capital. The money was melted into the development of the Federal Capital, at least, that is what they said.

How did A.B. Mamman grow up?
Alhamdu Lillah (thanks to God), whichever type of growth I went through, I remain grateful to the Almighty Creator. However, I got the rough type. In anything that happens to a human life, there is something to gain. I am not one of those who had emerged from a well-to-do family. My father never owned a donkey, which was the easiest form of transportation, not to talk of the tyre of a bicycle. In fact, I lost my father at an early age, when I was just 10 years in 1951.

And from that point on, my education was almost truncated because we couldn’t pay my school fees then right from primary. It was an uncle of my mother who took over the responsibility, and he too failed half way in my secondary school education; the fees of about three shillings per annum and later it became three pounds per annum was to big to pay. Finally, I was charged ten pounds, which he could not pay. So, what I did, through God’s wisdom, was to write to the native authority telling them that I was not doing badly at school, and narrating my problems.

I stated that my education was almost terminating because of reasons x, y, z. I asked for a kind of scholarship even if there was a condition.

My mother was not in any meaningful trade at that time to handle the problem; so the native authority agreed with the condition that I would come and work for them. After finishing my education, I went back to the native authority and told them I was ready for them, but they asked me to wait, that they would call me. I left and then joined the army in 1963, reason being that the army was a government of its own, having branches of several professions. The idea was go there and then further my education. So, I specialized in Artillery. That was because they did special mathematics that I loved and I was good with figures. So, I decided to go and read surveying.

Sojourn in government
I was in government by accident, not by design. I had virtually held every military post commensurate with my rank. I was a member of the Armed Forces Ruling Council (AFRC), the highest decision-making body of the military government then. I didn’t want to have anything to do with military government. But in 1987, under General Babangida, by virtue of my military posting as the Corps Commander Artillery, I was an automatic member of the AFRC. Otherwise, whenever I heard there was a take-over, I prayed to Almighty Allah they should not remember my name for any appointment in that government.

And then came 1990 when we were shown ‘the stick’ in a sublime way. General Babangida, as President, instead of taking somebody from our course or a course ahead of us, he went and took somebody from below us to be the Chief of Army Staff. And, apart from the military consideration I have personal pride and ethical responsibility to observe. I may make things difficult for this man chosen as the Chief of Army Staff, because he could not operate comfortably seeing that there were seniors around; so I chose to quit. Babangida said he still wanted my service, and I said I would give him that outside the uniform. I was thereafter appointed Minister of Internal Affairs and later Minister of Industry and Technology.

Life in the military
I think that’s a misconception people have, that one goes into the army and become something else. No! I think it’s wrong. Like every career, the military was also a career, just we cannot all be permanent secretaries, doctors, lawyers and engineers; so also we cannot all be military men, only some of us would be, and that is the way I saw it. So, I did not believe that in the army you must be a rascal, enjoying only in the company of free women, alcohol and smoking. I think it’s a misconception; otherwise, I would have been a drunk now.

With the falling prices of crude oil in the international market, the Federal Government may consider a downward review of the prices of petroleum products in the country.Clues from the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) hinted that government may have, in fact commenced work. e go better o

Thirty-eight years after the civil the principal secretary to the then Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon, has made a startling revelation about what transpired.

In his memoirs, Apostle Samuel John King, who in the privileged position, had an insight into the General Gowon’s secret in the prosecution of the civil war, said he influenced the creation of 12 states.

King, who died recently at the age of 80, revealed in his unpublished memoirs written 10 years ago: “In my 70 years on earth, I have encountered trials, temptations, persecutions, hatred and envy. I have come face to face with death. But in all the cases, the good Lord is always by me…

During the civil war, I played a vital role as a result of my privileged position as the principal private secretary to the then Head of State, General Yoruba Goon. I influenced the creation of the 12 states structure.

For security reasons, I stop at that. The noble role of the civil servant is to be felt and not be heard.”
In the memoirs, details of which was corroborated by his son, Epidemic King, an Assistant Comptroller of Immigration (ACI) and Public Relations Officer of the Nigeria Immigration Service, the late King wrote: “People didn’t understand Gowon while he was Head of State; people looked at him as a very quiet person, that he wouldn’t hurt a fly; that he was not fully in charge of affairs. In my association with Gowon, I realized they had a wrong impression about him. Though a gentleman, he also acted the military part of his life.”

Besides being the first principal secretary to Gowon, the late King, whose remains would be buried on November 22, in his country home at Ekpene Ukpa, Etinan Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State, had a rosy career as he was saddled with several national and international assignments, including the establishment of the first state liaison office of the South Eastern State in Lagos, in 1968, a task he described in his memoirs as a “hostile venture.”

His words: “The first liaison office in the federation was opened by me in Lagos; it was a child of circumstance, being the outcome of the civil war. For the new state to survive, the South Eastern state, it was imperative that an office be opened in the federal capital of Lagos to oversee events that would promote the growth of the new state. Based on my performance, when I served in Lagos and contacts with all facets of government, the diplomatic corps and the business community, it fell on my lot to take up the assignment. The then military governor, late Brigadier U.J Essuene and the Secretary to the State Military Government, the late Michael Ani, picked me to open a liaison office in Lagos. The South Eastern State liaison office was a hostile venture.

“The people of the state and federal officials saw it with jaundiced eyes and nicknamed it an embassy within the country. But by dint of hard work and dedication to duty, the success of the South Eastern State liaison office became a reality worthy of emulation. The 12 states acknowledged the need for a liaison office in Lagos and the Federal Government embraced the venture and allocated land in Lagos for the 12 states to build their liaison offices.”
The other details in the memoirs are:

Life as Gowon’s principal secretary
I was recommended to Gowon to work as his principal private secretary from the Ministry of External Affairs, where I served at that time. I had a lot of friends in the Foreign Service, who recommended me. These include people like Olisa Emeka and Ambassador Hamzad Ahmadu. When I was in the State House, I lived at Ikoyi in Lagos, which was then the federal capital. As principal secretary to the head of state, I knew that Gowon was a very firm person, a trait a lot of people didn’t know. If you did something wrong, Gowon would tell you straight to your face, and he won’t be nice about it. So most times, we had to watch his mood before telling him anything. What Gowon liked at that time was working with intelligent people, people who would contribute to governance. So if you were older than him, as I was, but you gave him good advice, you were his friend. But if you were full of mistakes, he won’t condone it, and he wouldn’t mind shouting at you no matter your age.

I had to watch his mood before saying anything because apart from being a gentleman, he was a military person and he acted the military part too. When the civil war was on, I was deeply worried over the safety of my own father. The masterstroke that ended the civil war was the creation of 12 state structure.

Son’s testimony
Speaking about his late father, ACP King revealed the last moments:
“We had always celebrated his birthday, especially as from when he turned 60. And so, on July 2008 when he clocked 80 years, I called my brothers and sisters in preparation for the celebration of his birthday. We made all necessary arrangements and arrived home in Akwa Ibom State for the celebration, for which he also invited most of his friends who he had not seen for many years, and they all came. For the first time, we had all the traditional council members in the village attending the celebration; it was a big party and my dad was so happy.

“Then, I remember that after he had cut the birthday cake, I hugged him and said ‘daddy, next year (2009), we all want to be here again to celebrate your birthday.’ He smiled. But the way he smiled told me he was laughing at us. And immediately after the birthday party, on the same day, he took ill. I initially felt maybe, it was as a result of the excitement and attendant fatigue. However, because we really didn’t joke with such things, we quickly called my cousin who is a medical doctor and he immediately came in his own car to pick my dad and took him to his private clinic. My dad was there with him for two weeks until his condition became stable. He was okay. But then, after one week in the hospital, whenever I called on phone to speak with him, my dad would say he wanted to go home.

“My cousin, the medical doctor, asked him if he was not comfortable with him, and my father said he wanted to go home because he has completed everything he came to do on earth. He was eventually discharged because his condition was okay, and he went home. When he got home, the following day being a Thursday, he called one of my brothers to read the whole of John chapter 19 in the Bible for him, and it was read to him.

Thereafter, he kept quiet. The next day was the first Friday of the month of August, and we usually fast and pray every first Friday of the month. So on that Friday morning of August 1, 2008, my brother was there; my aunties and other church members were there with him, they were praying together when he passed on.

“Though it is painful to lose a loved one, I am so happy for him because when I look at myself, my sisters and brothers, there is something he taught us before he died. He told us how to live with our wives, husbands and neighbours as well as how we should relate to our bosses in the office. He told us it that he was loyal to the system, to his bosses.

He said in our places of work, according to the scriptures, we should not do things just because we are seeing our bosses, just to impress them; he admonished us that rather, we should do our work as if we are working for God who we cannot see. If there is anything that gave my dad joy so much until he died, it was having his children around him. When he retired from the civil service as a permanent secretary in 1976, apart from his first daughter who was in the university, the other six children were not. They got admission into the university when he had retired, and he single-handed saw all of us through the university as a pensioner.”

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