My Dilemma On Sambo Dasuki - Dr. Nura Alkali

I have a confession to make: I don't know whether to celebrate, to rue, or to be neutral on the ongoing trial of former NSA Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd), charged with illegal possession of firearms by the DSS.

According to popular opinion, Sambo Dasuki it was who, along with Cols. Dangiwa Umar, Lawal Gwadabe and David Mark, arrested then Head of State Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari at his bedroom on the night of Aug 17, 1985. However, so far President Buhari himself has never said a word in public about the events of that night, except to tell the remote causes of the coup.

I know that as a Buhari supporter, i have hated Dasuki on that ground alone, regardless of his role in the GEJ government which reduced Nigeria to a laughing stock in the international community, reduced northerners to a second class status in their own country, and reduced the BH crisis to a fight between good and evil in which Dasuki was another name for Lucifer - thanks to the way his office misappropriated defence funds meant for fighting and defeating Boko Haram.

On the basis of those beliefs, i have made write ups to castigate Dasuki and paint him as the devil incarnate.

Now, two weeks ago, Retired Col. Abdulmumin Aminu challenged my intellect by claiming his colleague Col. Dasuki was not part of his team which arrested Buhari at Dodan Barracks on 17 Aug 1985. According to Aminu, his accomplices were Cols. Yuhanna Madaki (now late) and Dangiwa Umar (still alive).

My quandary is this: Was Aminu telling the truth? If he was, would i have hated Dasuki so much if i had this information earlier when he was Jonathan's NSA? If i won't have, was i blinded by my misplaced hatred of Dasuki when the DSS charged him to court for gun possession even as most of his colleagues are likely guilty of similar crimes, but are now free because they didn't step on Buhari's toes?

If you have additional information that could shed more light on this subject, your comment is welcome, please.

Comments

State House of Assembly collected bribes from commissioner nominees

An N2.4 million bribery scam is rocking the Delta State House of Assembly. SaharaReporters learned that the Speaker, Monday Igbuya, and other members of the State House of Assembly allegedly collected N200,000 bribes from the twelve commissioner nominees forwarded by Governor Ifeanyi Okowa for “screening.” Confiding in a SaharaReporters correspondent, a senior management staff person of the State’s House of Assembly who did not want to be named disclosed that one of the commissioner nominees told him in confidence how the twelve nominees’ arms were twisted to pay N200,000 each. The ultimatum was that without the N200,000 none of them would be cleared by the lawmakers. However, the source said, “If you were around during their screening on the floor of the House, you would have noticed that all the nominees were only told to take a bow” and to go. An aide to one of the commissioners who pleaded anonymity confided in SaharaReporters that the money was definitively give...

EFCC Arrested NAFDAC DG

Two weeks after whistleblowers at the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) wrote a powerful petition to President Muhammadu Buhari alleging monumental fraud and waste of funds by its Director-General, Dr. Paul B. Orhii, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Monday swung into action. Dr. Orhii was grilled for several hours on issues relating to fraud and misappropriation of funds worth billions of naira, a source told SaharaReporters. The petitioners had accused the Director-General of awarding frivolous contracts and supplies; manipulating NAFDAC publicity and donations; international air travel racketeering; and compulsory recertification by bottle and sachet water producers. The complaint listed 14 companies that are being used in the money games at NAFDAC. An EFCC source said Orhii was granted “administrative bail”...

BUHARI: TURNING APPOINTMENTS INTO DISAPPOINTMENTS

By Jaafar Jaafar Ponder over this Hausa proverb: “sawun keke ba’a gane gabanka”, which roughly translates to “a bicycle’s contact patch does not tell where it comes from or where it heads to”, and see how it aptly describes Nigeria’s president, Muhammadu Buhari. Bearing in mind the current realities in our polity, how would you, in your wildest dream, think the Secretary to the Government of the Federation will come from the North? The very North that has a President, a Senate President, a Speaker, a Head of Service, a Chief of Staff, a Chief Justice, and what not? While Mr. President is likened to the proverbial “sawun keke”, the pigmentation of his appointments may be likened to “birgimar hankaka”, literally meaning the wallow of a pied crow. When a pied crow wallows, the Hausa say, you will see both the white patch on its gullet and the black plumage that covers most of the bird’s body. In the appointment of the GMD of NNPC, President Buhari showed Nigeria...

Extra Reporters

Search This Blog