AN ABRIDGED HISTORY OF CHRISTO/ISLAMIC & CORRUPTLY-GOVERNED NIGERIA(1)

[Salimonu Kadiri]

​Since independence in 1960, Nigeria has been governed by a coalition of avowed Christian and Islamic religion believers. When a set of Christian military Majors decided to terminate the life of the Christo/Islamic coalition government in Nigeria, on 15 January 1966, they told the world that their action was necessitated by the prevailing ten per cent demand by the day's public officials on government's contracts and services. However, a Christian Major General upstaged the Majors stole their revolution and fumbled with it. Thus, on 29 July 1966, another Christo/Islamic group of military men overthrew the Government of the Christian Major General, Johnson Thompson Umunakwe Aguiyi Ironsi, in a bloody coup. A Christian, Captain Theophilus and a Christian, Sub-lieutenant Jeremiah abducted a Christian Major General Johnson Thompson and a Christian Lieutenant Colonel Francis and the Christian abductors acted contrary to the Biblical Decalogue as commanded by God in Exodus 20 verse 13.  Johnson Thompson was succeeded by a Christian Lieutenant Colonel from the North named 'Jack' Yakubu Gowon. Yet, the Northern Christo/Islamic intellectual tribalists incited tribal killings of the people from the same tribe as the murdered Ironsi. Although, Lieutenant Colonel Yakubu Gowon shoved aside a Brigadier, a Colonel, and seven Lieutenant Colonels who were senior to him by virtue of dates of promotions to the rank of Lieutenant Colonels, Gowon attributed the supersession of his seniors to power as an act God. That became known when the murder of Southerners, especially of the Igbo people, escalated in the North and Gowon appealed for the stoppage of the killings in his noon broadcast over Radio Kaduna on 1st October 1966 thus, "God, in his power, has entrusted the responsibility of this great country of ours, Nigeria, to the hands of another Northerner," as if the murder of innocent Igbo people would have been justified if power had not been seized by another Northerner. After nine years as a military dictator, General Yakubu Gowon who presided over the Nigerian civil war was himself overthrown in a bloodless coup in July 1975 by yet another Christo/Islamic military officers. Gowon was succeeded by Murtala Mohammed who instituted enquiries into the financial mal-practices during the time of his predecessor in office.

Although Gowon, who was then in exile in London, was not found to have stollen from the state's cover, all the 12 military governors that served with him, except Oluwole Rotimi of Western State, were found guilty of corrupt enrichment. The Military Governors who were found guilty of corrupt enrichment and dismissed from the Army then were, Audu Bako, Kano State; Abba Kyari, North Central State; Samuel Ogbemudia, Mid-Western State; David Bamigboye, Kwara State; Alfred Diete-Spiff, Rivers State; Udoakaha Esuene, South Eastern; Joseph Gomwalk, Benue State; and Usman Faruk, North Western State. Specifically, the dismissed Governors of the then, Midwestern State, Samuel Ogbemudia, was made to forfeit 11 landed properties in the state, while Audu Bako of Kano State forfeited 23 properties in various parts of the country; Joseph Gomwalk of Benue State forfeited six developed plots; Alfred Diete-Spiff of Rivers State forfeited 18 developed plots in Port Harcourt; Bolaji Johnson of Lagos state forfeited nine plots of land in Lagos; David Bamigboye of Kwara State, Usman Faruk and Abba Kyari forfeited four landed properties each, while civilian administrator of the East Central State, Anthony Ukpabi Asika, forfeited five landed properties. Besides, Udoakaha Esuene refunded N25,672 while Usman Faruk lost 14 buildings. As Murtala Mohammed was set to wipe out corruption and dereliction of duty by public officials in Nigeria he was assassinated on Friday, 13 February 1976, by a group of military assassins led by Lt. Colonel Bukar Sukar Dimka, who justified Mohammed's murder for his introduction of communism into Nigeria. His successor, General Mathew Olusegun Obasanjo, stage-managed a handover to a weak civilian regime in 1979 which was later overthrown by another set of a military group that tossed up the duo of Muhammadu Buhari and Tunde Idiagbon at the end of 1983. Their attempt to copy Murtala Mohammed's anti-corruption war ended in their being overthrown on 27 August 1985. Since then, corruption has not only proliferated but has grown cancerous in the body of the Nigerian nation with which every successive government has engaged in shadow boxing. Corruption reached its climax under the Islamic/Christian military regimes of Generals Ibrahim Babangida and Sani Abacha. While Abacha was preparing to convert himself into a civilian president, he died suddenly on 8 June 1998, and his successor, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, ruled for 11 months before handing over to a democratically(?) elected government on May 29, 1999. The Christo/Islamic civilian presidency that emerged after the federal election of 1999, was contested on a joint ticket by a former Military Head of State, the retired but not tired Christan, General Mathew Olusegun Obasanjo, with the Muslim Atiku Abubakar, a former Deputy Director of Nigerian Customs. In his inaugural speech as president on 29 May 1999,  Mathew Olusegun Obasanjo, asserted among other things, "Government officials became progressively indifferent to propriety of conduct and showed little commitment to promoting the general welfare of the people and the public good. Government and all its agencies became thoroughly CORRUPT and reckless. Members of the public had to bribe their way through in ministries and parastatals to get attention and one government agency had to bribe another government agency to obtain the release of their statutory allocation of funds. The impact of OFFICIAL CORRUPTION in Nigeria is so rampant and has earned Nigeria a very bad image at home and abroad. Besides, it has distorted and retrogressed development (p. 3)." Further on page four Obasanjo pointed out, "No society can achieve anything near full potential if it allows CORRUPTION to become the full-blown cancer it has become in Nigeria. One of the GREATEST TRAGEDIES OF MILITARY RULE in Nigeria ..... is that corruption was allowed to grow unchallenged and unchecked ... The rules and regulations for doing official business were deliberately ignored, set aside or by-passed to FACILITATE CORRUPT PRACTICES." Towards the end of his eight years presidential tenure, Obasanjo wrestled with his deputy, Atiku Abubakar, in the public over who amongst them was the more corrupt than the other. Let us not forget that Mathew Olusegun Obasanjo was a Christian while Atiku Abubakar, the vice President was a Muslim. After Obasanjo and Abubakar, another 8 years rule of amalgamation of Muslims and Christians in the persons of Umaru Musa Yar'Adua and Goodluck Jonathan, as well as, Goodluck Jonathan and Namadi Sambo followed. Corruption which is euphemism for stealing public funds in Nigeria attained plague level, especially in the last four years of Jonathan's rule, and that paved way for ex-General Mohammadu Buhari to win the 2015 presidential election after he had based his election campaigns mainly on the promise to fight corruption and insecurity if elected. Buhari won, but would he be allowed to uproot corruption which is the taproot of every social and economic insecurity in Nigeria?

On 11 August 2015, the former Military Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, led a group of self-appointed National Peace Committee to meet with President Muhammadu Buhari in Aso Villa. Other members of the Committee were Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Matthew Hassan Kukah; Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa'ad Abubakar; the President of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor; the Primate of Anglican Church of Nigeria, Nicholas Okoh; retired Justice Rose Ukeje, Prof. Ameze Guobadia, Publisher of Vanguard Newspapers, Mr. Sam Amuka; Dame Priscilla Kuye, Senator Ben Obi, Dr Yunusa Tanko, and Dr Arthur-Matin Aginam. What did National Peace Committe have in mind to tell Buhai? (To be continued).

S. Kadiri 

[Femi Segun]

Alagba Salimonu Kadiri,

As usual, this is a great but painful historical account of missed opportunities for development. But we must ask if Ogun, Sango  worshippers or other members of secret cults and confraternities have behaved differently when they hold positions in Nigeria. I agree  that adherents of Christian and Islamic  religions should demonstrate piety and act ethically as prescribed by the books they read. I have once raised a pertinent question as to why the  Christian revival in South Korea contributed  to morality, ethical rebirth and productivity. but not so much in Nigeria. One can also ask why Muslims in the Middle East, especially the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and so on have invested so much in building human capability, while Nigerian Muslims in the North have largely failed to do the same. Should we  not look beyond religion and possibly explore culture as a causative factor in our unending contradictions and predicaments?

Femi Segun

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[OLAYINKA AGBETUYI]

From the Horses Mouth: How Military Leaders Lie

Omoba:

I want to invite you and other members to compare Yakubu Gowon's narrative in the Youtube interview ' How Yakubu Gowon Was Overthrown as Head of State'  with Baba Kadiri's narrative here.

We have a military officer who led the soldiers who quelled the coup in Lagos after Ironsi alerted him of the coup, to the officer who accepted to be Ironsi's Chief of Staff Supreme Hedquarters.

The same officer heard of uprisings in Ilaro Barracks where Igbo officers had intelligence that soldiers of northern extraction were planning uprisings there as part of coordinated movements and tried to pre-emptively disarm them only to find them turn such arms on the Igbo officers and massacred them in cold blood with nothing happening to the them from the Chief of Staff Supreme Headquarters.

We have the same Officer who said he pledged his double loyalty to his GOC turned Head of State yet heard that as part of the coordinated movement mentioned above his head of state and host had been abducted ( while he wished they would not be harmed.)  They were murdered, he emerged head of state yet retained the murderers of his Commander in Chief in the army and promoted them rather than court martial them and make them face firing squad. Yet his lame interviewer could not press him on this.

And he wants the world to believe he was not part of the whole grand vendetta plot from the start, which was hatched because as he revealed his senior officers from the North had been killed by the January coupists.

Unknown to him the American intelligence shared in this forum will reveal his yearning for military dictatorship in Nigeria even before the 1966 January coup, so he went on glibly when he heard of tales of coups in neighbouring African countries he thought it would never happen in Nigeria and if it did patriotic officers like him would make sure it did not succeed.

He felt in 1974 Nigeria was not yet ripe for democracy in 1976 because successful democracy meant the nations economy must be radically transformed first to eradicate poverty!

( Over an hour long!  Happy viewing.)

OAA

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.

-------- Original message --------

From: Femi Segun <solor...@gmail.com>

Date: 15/01/2021 15:33 (GMT+00:00)

To: 'Chika Onyeani' via USA Africa Dialogue Series <usaafric...@googlegroups.com>

Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - AN ABRIDGED HISTORY OFCHRISTO/ISLAMIC  & CORRUPTLY-GOVERNED NIGERIA(1)

This message is eligible for Automatic Cleanup! (solor...@gmail.com) Add cleanup rule | More info

Alagba Salimonu Kadiri,

As usual, this is a great but painful historical account of missed opportunities for development. But we must ask if Ogun, Sango  worshippers or other members of secret cults and confraternities have behaved differently when they hold positions in Nigeria. I agree  that adherents of Christian and Islamic  religions should demonstrate piety and act ethically as prescribed by the books they read. I have once raised a pertinent question as to why the  Christian revival in South Korea contributed  to morality, ethical rebirth and productivity. but not so much in Nigeria. One can also ask why Muslims in the Middle East, especially the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and so on have invested so much in building human capability, while Nigerian Muslims in the North have largely failed to do the same. Should we  not look beyond religion and possibly explore culture as a causative factor in our unending contradictions and predicaments?

Femi Segun

On Fri, Jan 15, 2021 at 8:55 AM Salimonu Kadiri <ogunl...@hotmail.com> wrote:

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