In April 1990, the whole country was jolted with martial music that always heralds taking over government forcefully by the Military otherwise known as coup de tat. But one of the principal actors of the efforts to push the then regime of General Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida (IBB), aside, Colonel Tony Iyam said it was not a coup but a pro-democracy action. RAZAQ BAMIDELE brings the excerpts from the chat he had with journalists recently. My Military background

I went through St. Patrick Primary School in Yaba, which is now St. Dominic Primary School.

The Dominican fathers gave us a good education, a good religious education. I was baptized and confirmed in St. Dominic Catholic Church, Yaba. We had our sister school, St. Agnes, which is still there. That school and the teaching of Jesus which I had from that school nurtured my mind to have not only fear, but the love of God.

It was from that school that I took the common entrance like every other pupil to different schools, and I elected to go to the Nigerian Military School, Zaria. I went to the school because my father had been a soldier who fought the Second World War. He was part of the contingent that went to Burma. His contemporaries then were Aguyi Ironsi, who later became the first General Officer Commanding (GOC) Nigerian Army, people like Col. W. Bassey who was the officer in the Army and that is why his number is N 1, the late Oba Adeyinya Oyekan of Lagos, S.B. Bakare, were his contemporaries. These were the set of learned people who went into the Army and were taken into the clerical corps, trained. A number of them went to Burma.

It was from this group that those who decided to stay back in the Army became the first officers in the Army, like Aguyi Ironsi, like Bassey. People like my dad, like SB Bakare and Oyekan opted out.

So, I was influenced by the stories my dad used to tell me about how honourable the military profession is. Also, I lived close to the barracks and had friends whose parents were soldiers. All these made me, as a little boy, to like the military and that was why I elected to join the army.

The impact the military training had on me is still one of the greatest gifts I’ve had as a young man. The military training really is a kind of religious training in that the military training takes you away from the mindset of what you think are your limitations and tries to break you free to realize that you can actually do more than you think. The training was very good. The training has helped me to adapt to any situation. The training has taught me to be strategic in the way I look at things.

One of the officers I met who had impact on me was my first principal of the military school, Gen. T.B. Ogundeko, who incidentally we celebrated his 80th birthday anniversary a couple of weeks ago in Ijebu Mushin. He was such a honourable man who gave us the best of education, he tried to inculcate in us the art of self discipline. Here was a man who before Federal Character was ensuring that students from all parts of the country were given a chance, and those from the more academic areas like the far North, he ensured that he gave them the necessary assistance.

Marginalization/deprivation in the Army

Everything was going on well until after 1967. After the coup of Chukwma Nzeogwu, there was a retaliation coup which killed Aguyi Ironsi. After that coup, what we started experiencing was that officers from a certain part of the country started arrogating power to themselves, and thus were depriving people from other parts of the country chances.

On 1990 coup

Let me again correct, as I’ve always corrected, I did not take part in the coup, because by definition, a coup is a move or a putsh against an elected government. I think it’s the duty of any officer to resist and to knock off any unelected man who assumes office. And what we did was more of a pro-democracy action against an unelected military government that usurped power from civilians; to take the power back to civilians. In that sense, I would like to correct that, that was not a coup. It was a pro-democracy action.

My involvement

I was actually not involved in the beginning. There were young officers who had been planning for over eight or nine months. And in February of 1990, the officers, from what they told me after, had observed my position on certain things, then approached me and told me of their grievances, and they went further to say that they were not going to accept this illegal government of Babangida anymore.

At that point, remember I was approached in February and the action was in April. At that point, I had the option of going to report these chaps which is what is expected in the military, but because these young men were honourable in their intention, even though they could be said to be overzealous in some aspects of how they were going to operate, I could never have betrayed my conscience, so I joined them.

Excision of some states from Nigeria

No. Like I said, there were some conditions at that time that some states were working in conjunction with the military junta to erode the cultural basis of the emirateship, because this was when they were trying to install a sultan against the wish of the kingmakers. And also these were the people who had hijacked power and felt they were the only ones that could govern. And so we now said we would only allow these people to be there except these oligarchs, these oppressors were no more in control of the areas.

This particular issue of excision is something that was a mistake and we have apologized. And like I said of recent, I and General Babangida have since realized our mistakes and we’ve moved forward. We’re in good terms.

Family reaction

I am blessed with a family that respects fighting for honour; the same with my wife’s family. So, they took the action with all the sacrifices it entails. It has not been easy but they have taken it well.

That action was not a failure

To say the effort failed is to judge things superficially. Do you remember that since the 1990 action, the then cabal has never stood up again? Do people realize that it is because of the action of 1990 which incidentally majority of the officers were from the Niger Delta that today Jonathan is the president? Do people realize that it was because of the 1990 action that MKO was given a chance?

Prior to this action, those who would rule this country for the next 100 years had been anointed as it were. So, to say it failed is incorrect.

Some of the problems we itemized then, are we not seeing them rearing their heads now? You now see the self-determination groups, don’t you see the connection that the fact the issues we raised in 1990 were unattended to are still there just like the Aburi accord was not honoured? This is the price we are paying.

I think because our action was one of the first to embolden Nigerians to rise against the oppressors, the action also demystified the invincibility of some people riding on the horse of being in the military to oppress the people. With these, nobody can say it was a failure.

The other key part of the 1990 action is that people did realize that most of the key participants were either civilians or retired officers, because then, most of the military men had been bought up so we had to resort to civilians and retired soldiers to the extent that we were able to wake Nigerians from their slumber not to accept continued oppression.

And to the extent that we forced the government to relocate to Abuja, you cannot say it was a failure.

In effect, one way of looking at it is that those who now pride themselves as sitting in Abuja should realize the feat was necessitated by our action.

Moreover, many states including Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom, Osun have been created after our action.

It may be a failure to anyone that is ambitious to be a leader, but to the extent that we offset the mindset of Nigerians I won’t say it was a failure.

Why I didn’t join politics

When I came back in 2000, going by my military training, the first thing I did was to study the ground. Remember that I was in exile for 10 years, between 1990 and 2000. I was invited and I became part of Obasanjo’s think tank and campaign group, but when I saw that we were putting the cart before the horse, I was not attracted to go into politics?

I was not impressed with the fact that a democratic government accepted a military decreed constitution hook, line and sinker rather than improving on it. I realized at that time, and the same thing still obtains, that no matter how good you are, you cannot serve well in the context of this constitution.

This is evident in why somebody like Ngozi Okonjo Iweala is having problems. With all her wealth of experience, she’s not succeeding in Nigeria because the enabling structure is flawed. One example I will use is that if you put a gold fish in muddy water you will not see it. I saw it long before that I cannot play politics the way it is being played here.

Politics, as we have now is what the elder statesman, Alhaji (Shetima) Mongunu has described as demo-corruption. It’s no more what Fela called demo-crazy; it’s now demo-corruption. To get to an elected office, from where I come from, you spend so much money, and when you get there you want to repay your sponsors. This is a corrupt system and I don’t think I can function well in such a system.

My concern for now

The fact is that we elect a government without seeing its benefits. What I’m focusing on now is why we continue to pay lip-service to restoring Nigeria to genuine democracy and true federalism.

Hence, I’ve been doing some studies and I’ve just finished a write up on what I call ‘A constitution maker’s aide memoir’, a kind of document that will remind our leaders about certain basics of governance. It is sad, with all humility that certain basics that one would have thought that our leaders know about governance, they do not seem to know. And even those who know, do not transmit them into actions.

A government is primarily to provide security for the people and provide for their welfare. To do this, two things are imperative; making laws and enforcing those laws. Any government that cannot make laws or is not in position to implement the ones made is no government. You only have our state governments in names not in action.

And we carry on as if we have a government. Rather than democracy, what we have in place is government of the oligarchs, government of cash and carry; government of the highest bidder.

The same thing goes for federalism. We only have federalism in name again. We lack a political order which gives rise to, and nurtures institutions that will facilitate genuine democracy and true federalism.

Dialogue

We need to have a national dialogue through which the people’s approved, democratic and federal constitution will emerge. The significance of this cannot be oversized. This should have been a priority since 1999.

What the Senate is now embarking on in the review of the constitution is very important. But as usual, we’re not paying enough attention to it. People are rather worrying about the next election, and that is why I’m saying this now.

I may not agree with members of the National Assembly arrogating power to themselves to rewrite the constitution, or to carry our major reform on the constitution because what they want to do now is not a mere review but a reform, if you look at the list of items they are considering.