Q.
General, earlier on, you explained to us that one of the reasons that led to the decision to annul the election was the possibility of a coup d’etat. Of course, you had such a turbulent period while in power. One was shortly after you came to power, and the other was in 1990 during the Orkar coup. During the coup attempt, they made some allegations against your regime, to which, up till today, there has been
no official response. One of the allegations was that you were responsible for the assassination of the late Dele Giwa, and that has been hanging for quite some time. We just thought this was an opportunity to hear your reaction.
Ans. When you stage a coup, you have to tell the people what they want to hear so that you can get accepted. I think it is only fair to say that when they said what they wanted to say, they said it as a result of not knowing what to say. Instead, they tried to take advantage of current rumours. They talked about the late Dele Giwa, the caliphate and Northern domination, and the next thing was to excise five states out of Nigeria. So, I think any responsible government should not respond to stupid things. That’s the way we took the matter then.
Q.
But because these people had to make the supreme sacrifice for these things, don’t you think it should have required some explanation from your government?
Ans. Why? If you stage a coup d’etat, you run the risk of the consequences of failure. Let me tell you a story. One of my
juniors, the late (Colonel Ibrahim Taiwo), was travelling with me. On board the plane, he saw a young officer reading a book on How to Stage A Coup. So, he went to the young officer, tapped him on the back, got the book, opened a page, and said: ‘By all means, read this book, but when you get to this chapter, cram it.’ The chapter he opened was on the consequences of failure. Those boys did not make the supreme sacrifice in the nation’s interest; instead, they paid for their lives and personal interests.
Q.
But if they had succeeded…
Ans. Then, that is what a coup is all about. A coup never succeeds;
if it does, nobody calls it a coup.
Q.
But in the case of Dele Giwa, why might an explanation have been necessary? It seems your government obstructed an open investigation or treatment of the matter.
Ans. How?
Q.
Gani Fawehinmi obtained a Supreme Court ruling to try the people he had alleged to be culprits. Still, a state government headed by a military governor introduced a new law that made it impossible for Gani to proceed. Since then, Gani has been circumstantially or directly in trouble with your government.
Ans. If you had studied the whole case, maybe you’d have seen the 350 thing from a better perspective. I’m Not the Evil Genius.
Q.
Before we get over this Dele Giwa affair, the question is this: Are you not personally disappointed that our judicial system could not unravel the mystery surrounding Giwa’s death throughout the years you stayed in office, more so since the tragedy occurred during your regime?
Ans. There are many cases like this. Dele Giwa’s is not the only one. There are a lot of other cases. So, if you talk of disappointment, yes, the frustration is there because we’ve not been able to unravel, to quote you, the mystery of his death. So, this should not be treated as an isolated case. It is part of the total of such cases; I think it’s a pity we couldn’t do it.
Q.
What makes his case exceptional is the novel way through which he was killed, that is, through a parcel bomb. People are not used to that kind of murder, and it was a thing that jolted the whole nation.
Ans. Hmmm.. We are a very sophisticated nation in three ways: in advanced countries, in crime, in politics, and the press. (Laughter).
Q.
Well, it does not sound like a laughing matter, but what can we do?
Ans. But it is, indeed, serious
Excerpts from IBB’s Latest publication; A JOURNEY IN SERVICE (Pp.349-351)