These are indeed trying times when we must stay away from the usual local propaganda that will only harden the minds of those who should mean well for all of us. American president Donald Trump is on the same page with president Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
The big deal here is insecurity. Indeed Nigeria is under siege. Different terrorist organisations, about 22 of them, are home within our borders. Those who are shouting ‘away with the Yankees’, need to be yanked off our environment.
When Nigeria led ECOMOG to sanitise Liberia and Sierra Leone, compatriots did not see it as invasion.Officers like Max Khobe and Luka Yusuf headed the Armed Forces of those countries. In 1964, Sam Ademulegun led troops to quell mutiny in Tanzania.
On July 16, 2003, there was a military coup in Sao Tome and Principe. President Olusegun Obasanjo flew to that country, restored President de Manezes, lambasted the plotters and bounced back to Abuja. Heavens did not fall. Under President Muhammadu Buhari, Nigerian troops landed in the Gambia.
Tinubu is not isolated from global politics, bad advisers and followers are bent on distancing him from our common good. Trump has not threatened to invade Nigeria, he is only warning those who divide the country through religion. They know themselves, they have liquid cash and yield influence.
No nation is too big to benefit from foreign help. In 1976, Israel relied on Kenyan support to free their hostages held in Idi Amin’s Uganda. Operation Thunderbolt succeeded because their C – 130 aircraft landed and refuelled at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Nairobi.
It was near impossible to fly 4,000 kilometres, from Tel Aviv without foreign support. The Israelis did not claim superiority over Kenya whose Attorney – General, Charles Njonjo, played a significant role in the plot. One of the commando leaders, Jonathan ‘Yoni’ Netanyahu, lost his life.Today, his younger brother, Benjamin, is Prime Minister.
Nigeria is a secular society. Christians and Muslims lived peacefully until the Sahara Mafia got hold of power. In the past, we had Kaduna Mafia and Langtang Mafia. Presidents may have their Kitchen Cabinet but control is exercised by the Mafia.
Nigeria’s problem is not Fulani. Far from it. It does not have much to do with Uthman dan Fodio. Politicians boast a lot, just to tickle their supporters. PDP said they would rule for 60 years. Buhari announced he would defeat Boko Haram. The North is far from the problem.
Some of our best leaders, came from the Upper Divide. If Sir Tafawa Balewa reasoned like the Sahara Mafia, Zakari Maimalari would have been the first indigenous Chief of Army Staff. The same Maimalari advised the Prime Minister to choose Gen. Johnson Aguiyi Ironsi instead of Brig. Babafemi Ogundipe, as recommended by the British.
President Shehu Shagari’s first Service Chiefs, were all Christians. Two, Alani Akinrinade and Akin Aduwo, were Yoruba, from the South. Dominic Bello, Chief of Air Staff, hailed from the North. Even when Akinrinade was promoted to Chief of Defence Staff, his successor, Gibson Jalo, was a Northern Christian.
President Umaru Yar’adua was a man of peace and a true Nigerian. He chose to dialogue with Nigerian Delta militants instead of fighting what could have been an unending war that would cripple the economy. His death is part of our problem today, for his successor, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, did not reckon with the danger ahead.
The military dictators were more diplomatic than the Sahara Mafia. Gen. Murtala Mohammed’s Service Chiefs – Theophilus Danjuma, Michael Adelanwa and John Yisa Doko were Christians. Obasanjo, Chief of Staff Supreme Headquarters, is of the same faith.
Gen. Sani Abacha was liberal. Among his first Service Chiefs were three Christians – Mohammed Chris Ali, Allison Madueke, Femi John Femi. The Igbo had a Service Chief, for the very first time, since the end of the Civil War. The Chief of General Staff, Oladipo Diya, was also a Christian. Under Abacha, there were more Christian military governors than Muslims.
Religion began to torment the polity from the first coming of Buhari who picked a Muslim, Tunde Idiagbon, from the North as Number Two. We can excuse Ironsi who chose Ogundipe as Deputy because in the First Republic, religion was not an issue in the military, since the North, full of Muslims and Christians, spoke with one voice and had Gowon as Army Chief.
Buhari’s return in 2015 as a democrat, was all the Sahara Mafia needed to take absolute control. And they were enabled by Jonathan who should have quit early enough instead of going for re-election.
The ball is now in Tinubu’s court, to change Nigeria. The terrorists are all over the country. He needs American support.Nazi Germany would not have lost World War Two if American troops did not land in Normandy. In 1989, I accompanied Sports minister, Tonye Graham Douglas to the office of Air Chief, Ibrahim Alfa, who confessed that America knew everything about Nigeria. We should stop pretending.
Jagaban’s legacy should be to defeat terrorism, implement the recommendations of the 2014 Constitutional Conference, support his son, Seyi’s gubernatorial ambition and step aside honourably in 2027. The APC should bury this idea of Muslim – Muslim ticket. It is reprehensible.
Tinubu will walk the streets of Nigeria an eternal hero, by doing the needful. This country must be restructured. The Nobel Peace Prize is up for grabs. Tinubu will have it in his pocket by clearing the country of all fundamentalists. Trump has enough oil without depending on Nigeria. It has nothing to do with neo colonialism or the economy.
All those sponsored demonstrations in Lagos and Abuja, are not necessary. A safe Nigeria is good for the president. Tinubu has achieved his life ambition. He is a multi billionaire. I want him to end as our Liberator President. Yes, dinner with Trump, is not dining with the devil. It is a matter of national emergency.
