History truly matters. The legal luminary,
Chief Ajibola Ige was gruesomely murdered on the 23rd day of December 2001.
Unfortunately or maybe as a rebound of Kharma, Otunba Christopher Iyiola
Omisore who had been prior to that time, the estranged deputy Governor to Chief
Adebisi Akande was widely believed to have been responsible for the
assassination of the legal icon.
As is the characteristic of most Nigerians,
Otunba Omisore was widely condemned in the Court of public opinion, earning for
himself diverse name tags, from ‘killer’ to ‘tout’, to ‘murderer’ and their
more horrible cousins. It is however worthy of note, that till date, Omisore is
yet to be found guilty by any Court of competent jurisdiction and as such has
not been legally named the murderer of Chief Ajibola Ige. I believe in all
objectivity, that Otunba Omisore was easily singled out and consequently
imprisoned as the culprit because he was already engaged in a running battle
with the Afenifere leader. It was easy to believe he could kill Ajibola Ige
because it was possible for him to molest the old man and uncap him at an event
in Ile Ife just a few days to the gruesome murder.
One important fact that must however be noted
carefully is that Otunba Omisore was never declared guilty by any court of Law.
Yes, he has a long standing record of thuggery and hooliganism to his name, yet
he was not and has not been found guilty of that particular crime against
humanity. I guess he suffered for his previous misdeeds. What Omisore did not
know as of that time the accusations were hung around his neck was that this
single situation of public condemnation will cost him a future political
achievement – the Governorship seat in Osun State. If I heard correctly, 90% of
the reasons the APC campaigners gave against Omisore in the make-up to the
August 09 gubernatorial polls in Osun State was ‘do not vote in the man who
killed Ajibola Ige as the governor of your state’. Majority of those who voted
against Omisore in that election premised their decision on the likelihood of
his being the true culprit. Some other voters wrote him off because according
to them, ‘even if he did not kill Bola Ige, what of his other thuggery
antecedents?’ The population of the latter was somewhat higher, including yours
sincerely.
Of a truth, that Omisore lost the August 09
election was a welcome development to many, even though making do with ‘Ogbeni’
is like swallowing the ‘Oruwo’ concoction. It baffles me however how many
Nigerians now fail to utilize the same lessons of history in the reception of
the candidacy of General Muhammadu Buhari. If an event in 2001 could shape the
consciousness of voters in 2014, 13 full years after, why then should we block
our reasoning from the lessons of December 1983 to August 1985? If we could all
jointly condemn Omisore for crimes he was never found guilty of, why then do we
celebrate one who should be facing criminal charges in the International
Criminal Court at The Hague? Maybe history needs to be refreshed, for that
precisely is the aim of this piece – to freshen our consciousness and help us
focus on the truth about this self-acclaimed and blindly accepted General
Muhammadu Buhari.
Bernard Ogedengbe (29) was executed under General Muhammadu
Buhari for an office which at the time did not carry any capital forfeit as of
the time it was committed. The Buhari government stood in defiance of the pleas
of the international community, civil society groups and labour unions at the
time and pressed ahead with the ‘premeditated’ murder of the young man at his
prime. I believe that Ogedengbe fell because Buhari’s government needed someone
to serve as ‘scapegoat’ to other Nigerians. He needed to sacrifice the life of
a young, promising man just for the purpose of making Nigerians aware that they
cannot mess with his government. Do I need to remind us all, that in saner
climes, heads of State who commit such impunities are made to face the music
upon their loss of immunity? Do I need to remind us that such actions are
horrible crimes against humanity for which past leaders in more law-abiding
countries have been tried and condemned? We could easily overlook this crime,
but the criminal, General Muhammadu Buhari has stated time and again upon
leaving office that he does not regret this action and will do so again any
other day! Upon violating the fundamental human rights of a citizen of the
country, he still does not feel repentant and we are considering him as the
messiah we need? Tufiakwa....not with my voters’ card!
Chief Adekunle Ajasin was tried three consecutive times
and found ‘not guilty’ three times by the tribunal General Buhari concocted to
mete out punishments to perceived enemies of his government at that time.
Despite being found blameless, Buhari’s government riding on his determination
to jail the old man went ahead to jail him indefinitely anyway. As some
analysts will put it, Pa Ajasin was guilty by association. If that be the case
then, how did the likes of Chief Akinloye, Richard Akinjide and Umaru Dikko
escape the same punishment Adekunle Ajasin received? Does it not look to
everyone that the incarceration and punishment of Ajasin was a selective
crackdown on ‘enemies of Buhari’ while the friends were given opportunities to
escape the country? Again, a selective disciplinarian and hypocritical leader
is not exactly a messiah!
Let us quickly remind ourselves of the embarrassing
treatments meted out to the Ooni of Ife
and Emir of Kano over their visit to Israel. At the time, Buhari’s
government was pursuing certain foreign policies that were apprehensive towards
Israel. Unfortunately for the two traditional rulers, they had reasons to be in
that country at the time and the dictatorial General felt slighted. What was
baffling and unsettling was the fact that an ordinary Nigerian (let alone
traditional rulers) had the right even at the time to visit any country that
may be so willing to offer him a visa without worrying about what his
government felt about his trip. The consequent childish treatment of these two
royalties by the Buhari government was anti-people and insensitive. A messiah
cannot be the one who treats with disdain everyone who associates with those he
treats with disdain! A messiah cannot be one who has little or no regard for
our traditional institution because they are the protectors of our posterity.
I must quickly remind us of the ‘suitcase’
incident. As of the time and due to an exercise of changeover of the national
currency, all borders entering Nigeria were shut down unconditionally and the
implication was that nothing was to move in or out of the country until the
exercise was completed. Yet, some thirty-something
briefcases were smuggled into the country. As of that time, Alhaji Atiku
Abubakar, ironically was the Custom Officer who stood firmly against the entry
of that questionable consignment. The General in his characteristic
double-standard self quickly deployed his ADC to see through the entry of those
suitcases and ordered the prompt redeployment of that ‘stubborn’ custom
officer. Talk of a messiah with a double standard and you may begin to sound
contradictory!
Okay, if you still doubt that General Buhari
has been proved by history as a man of double standards, let us consider this.
Alhaji Alhaji, the then Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Finance was
found in huge possession of foreign currency in Austria around 1984. As at the
time, Buhari’s government had promulgated a decree that prescribed jail terms
to anybody found in possession of foreign currencies and multiple foreign
accounts. Against the clamour for justice by stakeholders at the time, Alhaji Alhaji was allowed to walk free
but, Fela Anikulapo Kuti was jailed
under the same decree for running foreign accounts. What kind of head did
Alhaji Alhaji possess that Fela Anikulapo did not have? Or was it a case of
selective dispensation of justice again as was in the case of Ajasin and Dikko?
What kind of messiah has a history of double standards? A fake one I hear
myself echo.
Let us ask ourselves, what was the offence of Chief Ebenezer Babatope for which he
spent the entire tenure of General Buhari in detention? He lost his father in
the process and was not even allowed to attend the funeral under guard. All because
he warned Nigerians about the nature of Muhammadu Buhari before the man became
the Head of State. This was not a case of double standard, but that of
victimization and the torment of truth. It is clear, that since the era of
Muhammadu Buhari has freedom itself been placed under serious attack while
truth has been locked in the dungeon of torment. How then can we hope the same
man who threw us into the abyss of power abuse be the one who will get us out
of it?
Omisore is perceived as a thug, a
yet-to-be-convicted murderer and a promoter of political violence. Buhari is a confirmed extra-judicial
killer, a leader with double and maybe quadruple standards, a dictator, and a
sadist who considers everyone who does not align with his school of thought as
his enemy. Where Omisore is yet to be found guilty, Buhari has been found
guilty without remorse.
If Omisore
and Buhari thus draw such
contrasts such that the much-condemned Iyiola Omisore begins to appear as a
saint and man of honour, at least better than the ‘evil messiah’, will
Nigerians be so gullible as to buy this bad product being peddled by the
power-greedy cabal? If Osun people were wise enough to reject Omisore at the
polls because of the aura of violence around him, will Nigerians be too foolish
to vote in a man whose dominant aura is that of murder, victimization and
hypocrisy?
I am glad, that for whatever truth I may have
said today on this free platform, I cannot be jailed, victimized or prosecuted
for this is democracy....except GMB becomes President, then shall we have an
agbada-wearing military rule and then I shall have to run away!
I shall stand watch with rapt attention and see
what becomes of history on February 2015....
Best Regards
DO
08067361945
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