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PEOPLE AND POLITICS BY MOHAMMED HARUNA
Responses on "Al-Mustapha, the canary"
Sir,
Chief Abiola died on 7/7/98 and not on 7/7/99, as stated in your column (entitled “al-Mustapha- the canary’s song this time”) in The Nation of 24/8/11. Barka da Sallah. Mr C.O.Ngwaba.
I stand corrected. *************
Sir,
(Major)Hamza (al-Mustapha) is on trial for the murder of Kudirat. But trust him for being the stupid canary that he has become. What is the relevance of the song of this canary to the charges before the court? Assuming but not conceding that the revelations are true, in what way does it exonerate Hamza of the murder of Kudirat Abiola? In other words, what is the relevance of the canary’s song to the canary’s trial?
Picture this; Mr. Z is on trial, accused of raping a 6 year old girl. In the course of his trial, Mr. Z presents evidence to the effect that the chief of his village is an armed robber. Whether such evidence is true or not, it is irrelevant to the trial and does not in any way exonerate the accused person.
In essence all of Al- Mustapha’s revelations amount to nothing. His defence team should focus on the substance of the charge and realize that Hamza alone is on trial, not General Abubakar or some Yoruba leaders. When an army major starts singing like a canary, you know there is a problem somewhere. Given the tough mien of Hamza in his hey days, one had expected him to be a hard nut to crack, but since his detention he has shown us that he is a coward.
Yes, Hamza is a true coward. Only cowards sing. When they have a gun, or see a defenceless man, or a weak woman, they appear strong, but immediately they are overpowered they start singing like nursery school pupils. When Abacha was king, Hamza was a tough soldier, now look at him. Shame on the Nigerian Army for decorating dullards. It seems they do not teach the boys anything about strategic thinking and taking responsibility.
When it comes to strategic thinking Hamza is an olodo, a daft. Given the inglorious role he played during Abacha’s reign of terror, an intelligent Hamza would have fled the country immediately Abacha was pronounced dead. Every idiot knew that the senior officers Hamza used to trample upon would get their own pound of flesh back, because history is replete with such instances. But good old Hamza, obviously not a good student of history, thought otherwise, and so he stayed behind. So the first mistake of the canary was his failure to read the writing on the wall and bolt.
If the canary refused to bolt, perhaps he was ready to face the music and take full responsibility for his actions. Truth is Hamza saw himself as indispensible, the only person capable of holding the office of chief security officer. General Abubakar started well showing Nigerians his regime would not be a continuation of the Abacha era, and wisely posted Hamza out of Aso Rock. At that point an intelligent Hamza would have realized that as is typical with military regimes, a great purge might be on the way, and taken to his heels. Running away is not necessarily an act of cowardice; it may be a smart man’s attempt at self preservation. But Hamza stayed behind like a brave man.
Then came the arrest, and shortly after, the Oputa panel. When Hamza appeared before the panel, he started the song of the canary to the joy of some Nigerians, and the eternal shame of all soldiers. For Pete’s sake what happened to good old defiance? I may not be a fan of the late Slobodan Milosevic but I sure admire his defiance before the UN War Crimes Tribunal. Like Hamza he sure committed atrocities, but unlike Hamza he refused to sing. He took it as a man and died defiant.
Only little kids and fools think that there is sense in singing like a bird. As a primary school pupil, I got to realize that once you are caught in any act of mischief, say very little, and take the punishment. At boarding school I learnt from my junior days that if you are caught alone in the act, naming your partners in crime only worsens the situation. Unfortunately for Hamza he passed through the Nigerian Defence Academy without learning those elementary lessons.
I think there was the smart one among the Abacha boys, one (Colonel) Frank Omenka, who did not wait to hear the outcome of Abacha’s death. Now he’s a free man in some foreign country, unlike his brother Hamza who is in chains. Omenka realized that given the excesses they committed under Abacha, there was no way more senior officers would tolerate them in the new look army, so he took the cheetah’s option. He ran away as fast as he could. Obviously this wise soldier had a plan B all along. But Hamza stupidly chose to stay.
If Hamza thought Obasanjo would release him from jail, then he was a mad man. What role did he play in OBJ’s incarceration and Shehu Yar’adua’s death? Come on, who was ever going to forgive Hamza? Certainly not OBJ. So the song of the canary before Oputa was balderdash. With such poor judgement could Hamza have led troops into battle, or served as a spy? Incompetent Hamza, who rose to the rank of major but obviously was an empty tin? Sir, please forget Hamza and his dance of idiots and cowards. General Abubakar’s legacy especially with the Nigerian worker will not be forgotten in a hurry. The revelations of a foolish prisoner can never tarnish the reputation of one of Nigeria's finest. Hamza is the victim of his own conceit. Hamza is the soldier who shot himself on the foot. Let the canary rot in jail, because the canary is stupid.
James Dikam *************
Re: Christian clergy and the Islamic Bank
My Dear Malam Mohammed Haruna,
My attention has been drawn to your column ‘Christian Clergy and Islamic Banking’, (August 3) in which you, after following our different takes, opined that “The rejection of Islamic banking by the Christian clergy is clearly irrational, as we shall see presently. It also shows the clergy’s disconnect with its laity”, among other issues.
Let me make clarifications, we are not against Islamic Banking or Muslims and also not irrational. We are only conscious and not oblivious of Nigeria’s manipulation of religion. We have shed innocent blood and destroyed mutual relationship; that we don’t know when solution will come, and in between we see religious manipulators smiling to the banks and followers of our religions wallowing in abject poverty and squalor as an aftermath of their inability to read in between the lines. And the search for true nationhood continues to evade us.
Again, we only want a thorough debate that will bring about genuine and sincere understanding of the whole proposal, because we have a culture of not concluding debates on sensitive issues like this. Rather we are often tormented with painful consequences in the future.
For instance, during the Constituent Assembly of 1978 in Lagos, Dr.Chris Abashiya raised the following five major questions on the Sharia debate: Can we have Sharia up to the federal level without running two legal systems in the country? If the Muslims have the Sharia, how do we deal with the possibility of the proliferation of demands by all other religious groups across the country? If we are all in one country, should we not seek to have law for all? Should the Sharia cover only personal matters or criminal matters also? Is it possible for us to have one legal system with sub-divisions?
After about many years after the Sharia unfinished debate, did this country not shed blood in 2000? Would we not have saved the country much if we had become more thorough and unbiased in our critique? When has being logical for common good become being irrationality? Have we not witnessed various forms of religious manipulations in this country in the past and are still witnessing it? Should we not be critical and our people properly educated and assured that there is also nothing wrong in doing business with commercial banks? For example, what is the guarantee that when a crisis erupts, non- Islamic banks will not be targets along with their non-Muslims staff?
There is nothing wrong or perceived hatred when people seek deeper understanding to grasp what seems to be complex and hazy based on the country’s religious and political history. You may not appreciate my take but posterity will judge us in due course.
Do the Nigerian Muslims and Christians see themselves as equal in God’s creation and divinity?
May peace and harmony dwell in our country. Amen. ************* |