Gani Adams
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How do you feel about the court judgment that freed Major Hamza Al Mustapha?
With our experience with June 12, I am
not happy with the judgment. Perhaps people have forgotten that it was
not only Kudirat Abiola that died as a result of the struggle; what of
people like Pa Alfred Rewane, Sola Omotehinwa? They were killed. Alex
Ibru was shot and he didn’t really get off the effect of the shooting
until he died. In the process also, Pa Abraham Adesanya was shot, even
though he survived it. Later, the symbol of the struggle, Chief Moshood
Abiola, died in mysterious circumstances. It was tragic enough that both
husband and wife died in the struggle. The judge said that there was no
enough evidence to link Al Mustapha with Kudirat’s murder; so the
question remains: who killed Kudirat Abiola? She was gunned down in
broad daylight and Sergeant Rogers confessed that he shot her but he got
orders from above to shoot her. That was during the regime of General
Sanni Abacha and don’t forget, Al Mustapha was a very powerful figure in
the government. Supposing MKO died but his wife Kudirat survived, do
you think his business empire would just perish like that? That is why
it is so painful that the family was left empty handed without justice. I
am sure that Chief Gani Fawehinmi would have filed a case immediately
Al Mustapha was set free if he was still alive. Unfortunately, those who
benefitted from June 12 apart from Dr. Fasehun kept quiet without
condemning the judgment. I condemned the judgment immediately even
though I don’t have any issue personally with Al Mustapha. I was made by
June 12 and if not because of it, there wouldn’t be anything like Oodua
Peoples Congress. The election was annulled in 1993 and OPC was formed
in 1994. Fasehun was one of the beneficiaries of June 12. How many
people knew about Fasehun as a figure in Yoruba before the annulment of
the June 12 election?
But the OPC was there shepherding Al Mustapha about when he was discharged.
It’s not correct to say OPC was
accompanying him about. It was Dr. Fasehun that you saw. Don’t forget,
we have two different organisations under two different leaders. Fasehun
runs his own organisation in Century Hotel while our own secretariat is
at Palmgroove. Dr. Fasehun leads his own OPC while I Gani Adams, lead
my own OPC and the two of us are not operating on the same principle.
Normally OPC could have been one but the old man has never allowed it.
Assuming I have not continued the struggle, Dr Fasehun would have sold
it. What is he looking for? Mustapha said that he paid a visit to
Prophet T B Joshua after he was released, did the prophet follow him to
Kano? He said he visited some Yoruba leaders in Ibadan, did he mention
their names? Why did Dr. Fasehun have to be there, even waving to the
people? You cannot compare me with Dr. Fasehun by any standard. I have
never done anything against the wishes of Yoruba race since we started
this struggle in 1993. I have never compromised the interest of the race
even when things were very rough. Even when Fasehun was in detention, I
refused to compromise; a lot of people wanted to hijack OPC then but I
did not. Then I was still in my late 20s with nothing whatsoever as
earthly possession. Then, the only thing I had were just four pieces of
clothing but I held on to the ideas of the struggle. It’s so unfortunate
that Dr Fasehun is behaving the way he is doing now. What does he want?
A medical doctor for that matter; he is one of the best doctors around,
acupuncture expert. I don’t know why he suddenly turned himself to be
Al Mustapha’s bodyguard. Is it because of material things that he wants
to destroy the image of Yoruba race?
Don’t forget, Dr. Fasehun is floating a political party, the Unity Party of Nigeria.
Well, if that is so, he is making a
mistake. A typical Hausa/Fulani would not join a core Yoruba party. We
still have tribal sentiment with us in Nigeria and we should stop
deceiving ourselves. Why did the Northerners refuse to join the Action
Congress of Nigeria until they called for merger? He is deceiving
himself if he thinks he can use Al Mustapha’s release to sell his UPN.
If you watched the event in Kano very well, the crowd were not cheering
him but their son, Al Mustapha. Maybe Mustapha has promised to help him
in politics but I know that there is more to it. Dr. Fasehun is saying
Yoruba should forgive and forget; if it was his wife that was murdered,
will he easily forget that? I know Dr. Fasehun very well, he will not
forgive you if you take away his N10,000. Mind you, he has been doing
something like this in the past. During the 10th anniversary of the
death of Sanni Abacha, he was in the same Kano where he said Abacha
could have been the best Nigerian leader if he did not die. This is
Abacha that has been adjudged the most corrupt Nigerian leader till
date. This is the same Abacha that gave instruction that everybody that
proclaimed anything about June 12 should be shot or detained. I was
lucky to interact with the late Kudirat Abiola; she remained the pillar
of the struggle when her husband was detained. She was the one
sponsoring the struggle then and Fasehun can not come out to say that he
did not benefit from it. The woman was the one coordinating the
struggle then and that was the reason she became the target and was
killed. Why should Fasehun, who benefitted from the woman now work
against her?
But the OPC may dissolve into UPN because the leader of the organisation is spreading the party.
That is what I am saying, it is Dr.
Fasehun, not me and my followers. If you go to Century Hotel now, there
is no structure of OPC there any more. The only people you see with him
are the UPN people, and he is still claiming that he is the founder of
OPC. You call yourself the founder of OPC, yet you are the chairman of
UPN, how will you run the two together? If he wants to go into politics,
let him renounce the struggle. If he is ready to compromise just to buy
the interest of the north because of his party, we will not allow him
to destroy the hope of the Yoruba race. You can’t be portraying yourself
as leader of OPC and working against the interest of Oodua. Kudirat and
her husband MKO were descendants of Oodua. What Fasehun is doing
negates the struggle in every way. Yerima Shetima is a friend and he has
spoken to me a lot about Al Mustapha and I told him that I would not
work against my race even with trillions of naira. Another prominent
football coach in Nigeria has equally approached me about Al Mustapha
and I told him to leave me out of it. Yoruba will not forget those who
betrayed them; they have not forgotten the issue of Awolowo and Akintola
or those who betrayed them during June 12. Supposing God did not use
me to keep up the struggle, where will OPC be today? People should watch
out.
Maybe Dr. Fasehun is doing all this because of the pipeline security contract.
What does becoming bodyguard to Al
Mustapha have to do with the pipeline contract? How much would they pay
him for the pipeline security? Most of the young boys who got contracts
worth billions of naira have not compromised the principles of their
race. Why would Dr Fasehun do so and this is a contract that has not
even been awarded. How much is the cost of the pipeline contract that
Fasehun wants to sell his race? How much of the money can he spend
before he goes away? This is a man close to 80 years. I don’t pray for
his death but he is an old man and should borrow a leaf from his
contemporaries like Chief Ayo Adebanjo, Chief Ajayi Olanihun and Chief
Fasoranti. Dr. Fasehun should not destroy the name before God calls him.
Yoruba value name more than money. The children of Obafemi Awolowo are
benefiting from the legacy of their father today. Even on the issue of
the pipeline, Dr. Fasehun has been selling forms to people promising
them job. And this is a contract that has not been approved.
Are you alleging fraud?
I don’t know but the information at our
disposal indicates that he has been selling forms, go and investigate.
He has been selling forms for N2000, N5000 depending on the location.
You want to give somebody job and you are taking money from him. He has
made millions from that. He sold forms even in Edo State which is not
part of the South West. The job we are bidding for does not even cover
the entire South West. Osun and Ekiti states are not part of it. It’s
only Lagos, Ogun, Oyo and Ondo but Fasehun has sold forms in Edo. He is
also selling form to mobilise people to the UPN; you can see how cunning
the man is. Why is he using the pipeline to cajole people? Fasehun will
never make friend for five years without crisis unless three things are
not involved; money, beautiful ladies and positions. Even those people
who introduced him to Al Mustapha, he has sidelined them. We have other
things that I can not tell you about his relationship with Al Mustapha.
Al Mustapha too should be careful. The feelers we are getting about this
issue are disturbing. His role in Al Mustapha issue is affecting my own
image because those who heard that the founder of OPC was in Kano with
Al Mustapha are disturbed and I have received a lot of calls from
prominent people regarding that. Fasehun is now calling Al Mustapha his
own son whereas he has never shown the world his own son who is almost
50 and very successful.
PUNCH
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