Major Al-mustapha: Nigeria’s First Ever Military Intelligence Officer.
By Adamu Yalwa Gabi
Soldier come,soldier go,but barrack remains -Phrase.
“Brave men rejoice in adversity just as brave soldiers triump in war”- Lucius Annaeus seneca.
“People sleep peacefully in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf” Richard Grenier.
The first lead quote of my piece is a phrase as rightly put and very common to the Nigeria’s populace which had gotten into the ears of almost everybody.
Lucious Annaeus Seneca, is a Roman philosopher, orator, politician and tutor to the emperor nero who stands in a bowl of warm water, preparing for death.Though,retired from public life, the spanish-born ‘Roman Socrates’ had been implicated in pisonian conspiracy of AD 63 against his former pupil.
Richard Grenier was a neoconservative cultural columnist for the washington times and the new york times. The forbes media guide five hundred 1994 states: Grenier’s maniac often barbed style is an acquired taste not recommended to those who prefer polite commentary. He died on 29th Jan,2002 at the age of 68 in washington DC,united states.
These are some of the maxims with a peculiar usage in the military terrain just as that of every discipline or profession that can hardly be understood by a layman who is not in the circle of that spoken language no matter how clever he is without any expanciation from the speakers as a form of mother tongue in their official field of endevours learnt, assimilated and adopted by the users to disguise themselves for others to be lost.
Yobe state, was a carve-out from the neighbouring headquarters of the former northeastern states, Maiduguri capital of Borno state,during the first republic and it had made its name by way of producing some national figures the likes of Adamu chiroma of blessed memory;a historian who turned out to be a one time Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria from the Editor/MD of the defunct New Nigerian,three time minister in both military and civilian rule,two time presidential aspirant in the NPN in 1979 where he lossed his ticket to Shehu Shagari and the second attempt under NRC in the year 1992 whose election was cancelled by then military head of state Gen.Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida regarded as the maradona and the wazirin Fika,Alhaji Adamu Fika who was HOSF in the 80’s, pioneer chairman federal character commission and salaries and wages commission respectively after which he served as the chairman board of trustees Arewa Consultative Forum.
Away from the olden days, prior to the independence anniversary, the state also put to bed another indigene with his divine natural heritage in both military and security intelligence career at the Nigerian Army that had and still competing favourably with his counterparts across the globe. As the wise saying; once a soldier always a soldier and is no other person than the agile and tactical Major Hamza Al-mustapha (rtd), the CSO to General Sani Abacha who instituted the word TAZARCE with his style of dressing in the shiny, long sewed ghalila shadda; meaning continuity by attempting to dump his khaki to contest for the presidency with a view to enjoy the leadership position beyond his predecessors from the military to the civilian rule but to no avail,as the saying goes man proposes while God disposes, making history to be the second military head to die while in power after the assasination of General Murtala Ramat Mohammed on his way to juma’at prayer by some hoodlums in the first FCT, Lagos.
Though, todays’s write up is not only intended for drawing political recognition to the retired but not tired military intelligence officer per excellence, but to also rekindle his name in the public domain and pave a way for him as he deserves to be accorded all human sympathy and support by the citizens for him to actualize his political ambition for the honesty,sincerity and optimum loyalty exhibited to his late boss, the man General Abacha tranceeding to the deceased survivors and for taken off the eyes to inherit office of the head of state after his sudden demise, being the first to know about the final exit, thereby making all the neccessary contacts and arrangements using the northern elements with former military ruler General Ibrahim Babangida on who to be saddled with the responsibility of ruling the country and fate brought in General Abdulsalami Alhaji Abubakar who spent less than a year and transited power to a democractically elected dispensation.
At a particular point in time, I had to shed tears when i read in a daily trust publication where his daughter at her early age during the first days of his captivity wrote an open letter to president Umaru ‘Yar adua seeking for his release while asking him to imagine it was his child demanding such a pardon or justice to prevail on him as a biological father without knowledge of her father’s where about until at the age of sixteen while coming back from secondary school and glancing through the caption boldly writen on the dailies from newspaper vendors ; “Al-mustapha still in prison custody” “Awaiting trial”or “under arrest for years” before he was subsequently freed at the tail end of President Jonathan’s tenure.Pherhaps, to some extent i expect Major Al-mustapha to have been planted in the presidential villa shortly after his release from persecution just as what was demonstrated to General Obasanjo whose jail term did not even last like that of the later.
Wonders shall never end in Nigeria’s context,where our forefathers and we as a breed from the last generation all emanated from;upon all the truths besieged the gentle and young Nigeria’s military intelligence officer,he was sentenced to a prolong jail term while undergoing various degree of humiliation and torture in prison custody even for his smartness in presenting some visually recorded personal evidences using a pen,wrist watches or belt to the oputa panel as the one who single handedly brought Abacha’s successor to occupy the Aso rock villa but finally ended up incarcerated for over a decade at the Lagos kirikiri prison instead of retaining him at least on a different portfolio to continue tapping from his vast experience as a reward with garland until the time he was given an automatic clemency by the Goodluck Ebele Jonathan’s administration.
My self as a young writer,now in my early fortys and whose pieces on the nation’s building with unity of purpose amongst the diversed ethnoreligious background had spread across most of the national dailies and a united kingdom’s online medium. Permit me, at this juncture to use a journalistic word ‘commend’ to on behalf of other well meaning Nigerians especially the northerners, to appreciate former president Goodluck Jonathan from a minority tribe and borrow another one from the military to remain at ease on his effort for setting free life of the retired Major Al-mustapha who the entire country is proud to be blessed with,which even our elites whom he gave them access to the country’s corridors of power and had done favours to were timid to speak on the incidence that befell him following Abacha’s death by turning their deaf ears and kept mute despite allegations levelled against the innocent victim as the CSO to the C- in- C of the Armed Forces Of The Federal Republic Of Nigeria.
While both the socio economic human rights and that of your immediate family had been entrenched in the past and now that you continue to hustle in the struggle to achieve a different milestone as a presidential candidate under the Action Alliance Party, whose action in curtailing security challenges imported by some external forces through their cronies in our midst speaks louder than his voice and above all,a person with good blueprint on the country’s security architectural frame work which if fully implemented without recourse to fear or favour would bid a total fare well on the artificial insecurity bedveiling our entire territory including the land borders by throwing a metal to whoever tends to throws a stone on him and the country at large.
Confidently enough,similar cases were recorded in the past by the Africa’s history where the first black anti apartheid activist and a nobel laureate that fought for racial segregation in the continent,Nelson Mandela was detained on treason for twenty seven years and later became the first South African elected president after serving his jail term and a close case study of Nigeria by General Olusegun Obasanjo who also from prison went back to the presidency and enjoyed an uninterupted 8 years of democratic rule.Therefore, there is no two way on the fact that Allah bestows power to whom he wishes and believe me, your flag would definitely fly at full mast now or in a short time to come as additional big compensation from the Almighty Allah here or in the hereafter.
Gabi,a journalist wrote from Bauchi and could be reached on:+2348033990884,adamumgabi@gmail.com