MONDAY QUARTER-BACKING: In Memoriam -
Eight Hours with the late Stella Obasanjo
By
Mobolaji E. Aluko, PhD
alukome@gmail.com
Burtonsville, MD, USA
October 31, 2005
Introduction
I value loyalty particularly in the face of deep crisis and grace under
pressure, and in a sense this essay is ultimately about loyalty and grace,
although several other issues will be touched upon.
During the June 12 pro-democracy movement arising from the cancellation of
MKO Abiola's presidential election of 1993, there were two women that I
came to know in connection with it and in relation to significant men in
their lives. The first was Ms. Morenike Ransome-Kuti [now Mrs. Nike Nedum]
on behalf of her activist father Dr. Beko Ransome-Kuti, and the other was
late Mrs. Stella Omotola Obasanjo, on behalf of her husband Olusegun Aremu
Obasanjo, now president of Nigeria. Both men had both been jailed in
mid-1995 on trumped-up coup charges by the Abacha regime, Obasanjo
(arrested March 13 and jailed July 14, 1995) allegedly for taking part in
the attempted coup and Beko (arrested July 27 and jailed on August 2,
1995) for being an accessory after the fact. They were not to be released
until mid-June1998 shortly after Abacha had unlamentably transpired on
June 8 1998.
During a three-year period, the two women had reason to come to the United
States repeatedly to plead for international pressure to get their
relatives released from prison. The Nigerian Democratic Movement (of which
I was president) had, along with the other human rights and pro-democracy
movements in the Diaspora, adopted both men (together with several others
like Ken Saro-Wiwa before he was executed in November 1995) as "Prisoners
of Conscience". I, as president of NDM (along with other members of the
organization's Executive), was on hand if needed to chaperone both women
around Washington DC's corridors of congressional and other powers. That
chaperoning occurred: for me with Nike several times, but with Stella,
just once, over an eight-hour period during one fine day in 1997.
Nike is a remarkable woman and, like Gani Fawehinmi once stated, is "like
father, like daughter." Very soft-spoken and probably no more than 25-27
years old at the time, you had to lean over to hear her words, but her
steeliness in rapping the oppressive regime of Abacha and pleading her
father's cause all over the world was a wonder to behold. She was the only
one permitted to see her father during his incarceration in far-away
Katsina, particularly after defiantly filing a petition with the Human
Rights Commission of Nigeria. She was always ready to take advice and bear
some discomfort as she pounded the corridors. There were times when I
looked at her and prayed that my daughters would be like her if I ever got
into trouble. She stayed at our home on some occasions, and my three young
daughters got to know her. When her father was released and I told him how
proud he should be of his daughter, he said, "I know, I know. I hear how
she pleaded my case."
Eight Hours with Stella
As I stated before, my activist interaction with Stella Obasanjo, then 51
years old, was only once, sometime in October or November 1997 when I got
a call from an alarmed friend of mine, Charles Oluokun, who had been going
around Washington DC's corridors of power with her for about two days
prior to his call. Charlie and I had been in Nigerian National Service
together in Imo State he at Owerri and I at Aba - in the 1976/77 NYSC
set. As one of only a handful of Youth Corpers then with a car (he had a
VW Beetle) and a three-bed-room apartment in Owerri (he was serving with
the Housing Authority or so), his house was a den for many Youth Corpers
and other hangers-on, male, female and in-between. We were re-acquainted
at Howard University in 1984 where I started to teach and where he was
then doing some part-time teaching.
His concern then with Stella Obasanjo was that in her naivete, she was
somewhat "spoiling" Obasanjo's case by not sufficiently "exaggerating"
Obasanjo's bad condition in prison when visiting these Washington
dignitaries. While all the news that we were hearing was that Obasanjo
famous paunch and cheek were withering in prison under severe physical
abuse (with slaps and kicks and malnutrition and imminent poisoning,
etc.), when she was asked to confirm such bad news by the Congressmen, she
would naively state that she saw Obasanjo only the week before or two, and
that he was in good health and spirits.
Lord have mercy !
Although she was born to Ishan (Edo State, Iruekpen home-town) parents,
Stella was culturally Yoruba, and her naοvete here was typically "Yoruba"
(or shall we say African ?) in that she did not wish to worsen any matter
by "naming" what was already a bad condition. "How are you ?" "Ko bad !"
("Not bad !") is a general Yoruba response when things could not be worse!
Charlie did not know how to stop her from giving such unhelpfully "cheery"
news, and asked me to come along with her and appropriately "intervene",
since he felt that I was more politically deft than himself to handle
that.
So I stepped in, not really telling her at first why I had been called
upon. Petite, beautiful, her voice permanently hoarse from maybe too much
late night-outs and wine (for which we had some reputation), Stella
traversed Washington DC on that day from about 10 am to 4 pm, with myself,
Charlie and her only son Olumuyiwa (very silently; I never heard a word
from him, except in the original greetings that we exchanged) in tow,
going from congressman to congresswoman Donald Payne, Nancy Kassebaum,
etc. narrating her story with regard to Obasanjo's plight, and me
tackling her whenever she strayed into her naivete ! She soon got my
message, and modified entreaties accordingly as the day went along.
The day ended at Howard University. I had first planned to have a very
large public event for her to speak to Nigerians in the Washington
Metropolitan area. But she quickly begged off that exposure, saying
perspicaciously in Yoruba "Se o mo pe awon Nigerians pupo o feran oko mi.
Mio fe wahala questions won !" ("You know that not too many Nigerians love
my husband. I don't want the trouble that their many questions will
entail."). She knew that many Nigerians were going to ask about military
rule, and Otokoto detention island, and Awolowo/Shagari elections of 1979,
and " MKO Abiola's is no Messiah" statement by Obasanjo in the aftermath
of the June 12 elections, his role leading up to the Shonekan transition
rule before Abacha took over, etc. So we had to confine it to a few
"friendlier" Nigerian professors at Howard University and pro-democracy
activists meeting her my Chemical Engineering conference room for about
two hours from 6 pm to 8 pm.
She was grateful.
I watched her closely during those eight hours from 10 am to 8 pm and
I saw a fiercely loyal, graceful and gracious woman who had stepped out of
her comfort zone to save her husband's life with all that she had. Like
Esther in the Bible, she must have told herself that she was made for a
time like that, and that if she died doing it, she died. What was
remarkable was that this was all after Alhaja Kudirat Abiola had herself
been assassinated by Abacha regime goons (Sergeant Rogers and co.) in
Lagos on June 4, 1996, for reasons that could not have been unconnected
with her also pleading her husband MKO's plight in Abacha's gulag. So
Stella could not have been unaware of the similar risks that she faced,
but it was unlikely that Abacha would have wanted the death of another
wife on his bloodied hands, and so she was allowed to travel in and out of
the country on behalf of Obasanjo.
Kudirat, in effect, created safe passage for Stella with her blood.
After our Washington meeting, I was to hear from Stella Obasanjo about one
month later, in a panicked voice from London, England. Olumuyiwa her son
had accompanied her to London to receive the Prize for Freedom Award given
by Liberal International, London England on behalf of her husband, and had
forgotten to re-endorse his I-20 student immigration form to let him get
back into to the United States to continue his studies at Morehouse
College, Atlanta and his exams were the following week. She had tried to
no avail to reach her husband's close friend Mayor Andrew Young (and
Olumuyiwa's mentor) in Atlanta and various American friends to assist with
her son's plight, and so she was frantically seeking Prof. Wole Soyinka's
phone number, which I obliged. Her son missed those exams, but I never
heard from her again. Olumuyiwa did finally graduate from Morehouse in
2000 or 2001 - so he must have been let back into the US !
Stella Soon After Obasanjo's Release
Soon after Obasanjo's release in June 1998 by the Abdusalami Abubakar
regime, a number of us met him at a Washington hotel room in September .
Prof. Wole Soyinka, General Alanni Akinrinade, Prof. Ladipo Adamolekun,
Mr. Dapo Olorunyomi, Mr. Charles Oluokun and myself were present; Chief
Anthony Enahoro (who then was still in exile in nearby Alexandria, VA,)
had declined to be in attendance. We had no idea then that Obasanjo had
presidential ambitions - in fact he vigorously denied any such ambitions
in a church service in Silver Spring, Maryland, earlier on that day - or
had been penciled down by the then-current Abdusalami regime as the only
Yoruba person that could be handed over to, willy-nilly, in the wake of
Abiola's June 12 debacle. Nevertheless, we all knew that he had a strong
role to play in the future of the nation somehow, so much of our
discussions centered on campaigning for his support for a Reconciliation
and Truth Commission; a Sovereign National Conference, as well as a
Government of National Unity. Obasanjo was generally agreeable to both the
first two, but was non-committal about the third.
Stella was a sociable hostess on the occasion, serving us some finger food
and drinks and chit-chatting as she flitted in and out of the room.
I remember Prof. Wole Soyinka remarking to Chief Obasanjo how hard Stella
had worked for him while he was in prison, to which Obasanjo responded
"Ah, Wole, mo gbo be, mo gbo be ! Iyawo gidi ni!" ("Wole, I hear so ! She
is a remarkable wife !") - to which Soyinka retorted, "Ehn, Segun, that is
the first time that I have EVER heard you praise ANYONE !" to general
laughter.
When we were leaving the room, I found short Stella on tip-toes draped
around tall Soyinka's neck in a corner of the room, whispering something
to him. All I heard him say was 'Maa se, maa se se !" ("I will do it, I
promise !"). Obasanjo also came around, and asked "Kini wa se o?" ("What
are you promising to do o?") to which Soyinka responded "Kilo kan e?"
("What is your business ?") . Obasanjo jovially replied "Ehn, ore e kuku
ni !" ("Ehn, I know that she is your friend !")
One could clearly see the camaraderie between the three of them I
understand that Soyinka and Obasanjo are tight friends and hunting
partners of beautiful "gazelles" of the animal and human kind and so I
was not surprised to read of some of what Prof. Soyinka had to say at
Stella's recent funeral.
President Obasanjo and the Death of Stella
I believe that once Obasanjo became president, Stella rightly felt that
she had earned the right to be First Lady with all its trappings of pomp
and power, despite the other myriad women in Obasanjo's life. Obasanjo,
having been told by a crowd of witnesses of her efforts on his behalf
while in prison, had no option but to oblige despite his initial threats
that no woman would live a first-lady life while he was in office.
Upon her death on October 23, 2005, I was
moved to read about:
- Obasanjo's many tears over Stella. No man is made of steel, and
despite his often-times steely disposition, he finally cracked and
should stay cracked as he deals with human beings in a more humane and
Christianly manner.
- The recent secret Catholic solemnization at Aso Rock of his marriage to
Stella (as recently revealed by the officiating priest Father Mathew Kukah)
after thirty years of living in sin together, with Stella reportedly
remarking that Baptist Obasanjo's surprising acceptance to take part in
the ceremony had allowed her once again to be able to take Catholic
communion and thus had "saved her soul." This premonition of her death is
remarkable. May God truly have mercy on her.
- Stella's only child Olumuyiwa's plea that her life be celebrated just as
she had observed that her late grandmother's life had been celebrated. [I
often wondered why she had only one child.] I join him in that
celebration.
- Obasanjo's confession that he felt guilty
that he was incarcerated and hence could not celebrate Stella's 50th
birthday with her in November 1995, and now, by a twist of fate, he feels
doubly guilty that he won't be able to celebrate her 60th due to her
death. Those facts alone can make any man cry.
When one knows that her death in a Spanish hospital (on October 23) and
those of the 117 plane crash victims the day before (in Lisa Igbore
village, Ogun State) were virtually simultaneous, one understands that
Obasanjo was faced with both a personal and a national tragedy from which
he must seek many spiritual lessons. The embarrassing circumstances
allegedly surrounding her death (complications arising from a Spanish
tummy-tuck operation); preparations for her impending 60th birthday on
November 14 (that promised to be outlandishly lavish and out of touch with
Nigeria's economic realities); and lax national aviation rules/management
(that may have led to the plane crash/inadequate rescue arrangements) call
for deep reflection. I mention only two lessons here: Charity must begin
at home anew, and the immediate welfare of the Nigerian citizens must be
paramount in all respects.
Enough said, as I urge that you all join in mourning a remarkable woman,
wife and mother called Stella Omotola Obasanjo (nee Abebe.) Yes, she was
born into privilege (not her fault), lived a privileged life (partly her
fault) and died under unfortunate yet privileged circumstances. Yes, she
was not perfect but who is ?
Rest in peace, Stella.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
http://www.africa.upenn.edu/Urgent_Action/apic_815.html
FREE BEKO CAMPAIGN
http://www.fes.de/interntl/humanr/hr-preis/obasa11.html
Statement by Chief (Mrs.) Stella I. Obasanjo
on occasion of a Freidrich Ebert Foundation "Human Rights Prize" award
(1996)
http://www.liberal-international.org/editorial.asp?ia_id=699&keywords=Obasanjo
Liberal International Prize for Freedom
(1997)
http://www.mumia.org/wwwboard/messages/1030.html
INTERVIEWS WITH SOME NIGERIAN POLITICAL
PRISONERS JUST RELEASED (Beko, Obasanjo, Kokori)
http://www.nigerianmuse.com/important_documents/?u=Bellview_crash_manifest_NMUpdates.htm
Updated Manifest (with commentaries) of
Bellview Plane Crash in Nigeria of October 22, 2005
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