I have, like everybody else and his Nigerian mother, been following the Oputa Panel proceedings very closely, reading every bit of them that I can lay my hands on. I can't wait till that time when the full proceedings will be published, including the edited video of the sessions.
But today, I reflect on four people stand out in my mind in these proceedings so far:
Justice Chukwudifu Oputa Retired Supreme Court judge Chukwudifu Oputa has turned out to me to be a VERY WISE MAN indeed, who has a single mission: to get out as many FACTS as possible, without minding whether they are the TRUTH or not, and without worrying too much about who will or will not show up before him.
Here is a man who knows that he can get BOGGED down with trying to get ONE OR TWO OR THREE people - for example Babangida, Buhari or Abdusalami Abubakar - to show up, and thereby miss those who are so WILLING (and can be readily made) to show up - Diya, Mustapha, Tsav, Sabo, Barnabas Rogers, etc. He must have decided early to make a choice: whether he wants to get
something done, or merely to make a statement about his LEGAL prowess.
He decided that if he tried to make a statement about forcing certain people to come before, and he lost, others lesser beings could refuse to come too, and then he would get NOTHING done. So he decided to get some things done first, then maybe, maybe he will now use his legal (or public opinion) prowess to get the Reluctant Three to appear before him.
The Reluctant Three are already feeling the heat.
Oputa is the kind of wise man that I like, who focuses on his mission like a laser beam.
General Oladipo Diya I hate to be rude to an older guy, particularly an older Yoruba guy, but next to Abdusalami - and I will be coming to Abdusalami in a minute - Diya is the greatest loser of this Oputa panel! He just made himself look so real silly.
Here was a man who had the greatest opportunity to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, who could simply have exhibited bravado and finally say "Yes, I planned a coup against Abacha, ke. The country was going to the dogs, and I had to do something. Blah, blah.."
Even if that "something" was being concocted by somebody else called Bamaiyi! But Egbon Diya was still denying his hand in the "plot" even after Major Segun Fadipe, his former Chief Security Officer (CSO) said, "Ah, Egbon, a se coup o! We did it o! Bayi, bayi la ma se! We did this
and that", or when Adisa, in his characteristic candor stated "A se o! We plotted a coup! And I cried o - who wan die? Ok o, make you dey laugh for there - at least I am alive now!"
All Diya said was that "Ehn, Jesus wept too ke!"
What nonsense!
And I don't even want to remember his two wives wearing identical clothing to the proceedings, or Diya's request for compensation. I don't even want to remember those, to save me from throwing up.
Major Hamza al-Mustapha Now here is a dashing young man who can snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, with the Lagos girls (I hear) swooning over him, trying to get his autographs and press his flesh! All his words do not add up, but at least he has kept us fascinated with his teases about the evil machinations of his higher masters.
How a "common Major" could have terrorized so many higher-ups in our Nigerian military command is a wonder to behold, and a testament to the basal nature to which it had been reduced by years of tyranny and "chop-chop" governance.
My proclivity is to believe Mustapha - except, again, some things don't quite add up.
I just don't know what those things are at the moment.
General Abdusalami Abubakar Of all the people mentioned in connection with the Oputa panel, the greatest loser so far in terms of credibility is General AA - hitherto the "Gentle Giant" of Nigeria who, like Obasanjo before him, gave up power to civilians, only faster!
True, Buhari has refused to appear before the Oputa panel - because being a Fulani aristocrat, and being a former head of state, the laws that set up that panel should be changed in his own image. Hmmm....
True, IBB has refused to appear before the Oputa panel - but his reason is that after all, his lawyer has appeared on his behalf, so why need he, a former head of state! In any case, post-June 12, post-Dele-Giwa, post-Gulf-War-oil, post-this, post-that, his reputation cannot be much worse, so why worry? Hmmm....
I could care less whether Buhari or IBB reported before Oputa - everything in its own time. But Abdusalami Abubakar - has he refused too?
Abdusalami HAD better show up before the Oputa panel - and soon - because his public image has been battered and gone far SOUTH after allegations of:
his massive financial improprieties by one General Sabo;
his complicity in the coup fabrications against Obasanjo and Diya;
his complicity in the deaths of Abacha and Abiola, the latter two by "common major" Hamza al-Mustapha.
Man, I was a little bit stunned at these serious allegations against one man - and against a man who had presented such a gentle and friendly face before the Nigerian people and the world!
Or was I really stunned? While we must wait for his side of the story, I must confess that as far back as in December 1998, I wrote a piece called "This Man Called Called Abdusalami Abubakar." I reproduce it below, from my archives, because there was something about this man that made me queasy.
December 20, 1998
Since June 9, 1998, we have had a new military dictator at the helm of Nigerian affairs. His name is General Abdusalami Abubakar.
If you read the latest December 1998 Newswatch interview of Abdusalami Abubakar, you will see that this man is a smooooooth operator, an operator with a slight touch of humor, underneath which is a lot of - shall we say - cunning. He doesn't talk much, but nowhere near Abacha's morbid taciturni(ci)ty. But the little Abubakar says speaks volumes. ...>>>>click here to read the entire article
So there you have what I thought back in December 1998. I just hope that
Abdusalami finally proves me wrong.
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