I have mulled over whether or not to lend m voice on this issue. Not because I am bereft of what to say, rather because I feel nauseated about the recent tantrum by Mallam Nasir el-Rufai on my brother Lt.Gen. Onyebo Azubuike Ihejirika (Retd) as his own way of flexing political muscle and heating up the polity. Permit me to establish two premises ahead of my opinion on this: First I have had a long-standing loathing for Nasir and his band of political misfits in the APC. I have written severally about his and his ilk to the extend he blocked me on twitter (his favourite tantrum tool). I loathe him even more as he continues to spew rubbish which has in no way helped the Nigerian nation, either in political or national growth. I have always assumed him to be worse then a rebellious teen bereft of direction and panache. Secondly, apart from being Abian, Gen. Ihejirika hails from the same local government as me. His country home is just about 3 kilometers from mine and in spite of the fact that we have never met before, I couldn’t be prouder of having a kinsman so distinguished. He broke an age-long jinx and had a meritorious service to boot. Now having said these, I believe my sentiments will not becloud the fact I hope to put forward. That a certain self-styled negotiator postulated his take on the current insurgency in the North East Nigeria on television, with varied versions of his account puts question marks on his character and reliability. It presents him as a man who is bitter and has ulterior motives which are yet to be revealed in their truest form. For one the first rule of intelligence gathering and hostage negotiation is confidentiality. What deals are reached, especially in such high level and precarious situations are best left to the highest authority in the land and released on a need-to-know basis. Imagine if the full details of the ceasefire in Ukraine just completed yesterday were to be revealed, the world would probably erupt in a war. Even our dear Nelson Mandela commenced a reconciliatory move with the apartheid government more than 2 years before he was released from prison. Every party to the negotiation held their position in utmost secrecy. Dr. Davis therefore showed himself, even if hired by the Nigerian Government as a negotiator, to be both obtuse and an enemy of the Nigerian State. By his utterances alone, he deliberately set tinder to a keg of gun-powder with blatant lies of which the major doubt is his real motive. But first let us examine the antecedents of Mallam el-Rufai and General Ihejirika to see if we can make the connections stated by Dr. Davis Mallam el-Rufai admitted that the PDP Government he served for 8 years was a cesspit of corruption but he forgot to resign or speak out while in it. He was in line for a ministerial appointment with the government of Umaru Musa Yar’Adua before he was sidelined and subsequently turned renegade swearing to ‘deal’ with PDP. He is said to hold a first class degree in Quantity Surveying (a field which obviously has had little impact on his intelligence, considering the scope of the field is to count cost and intelligently and diligently apply the best approach to achieve desired results). He is a Fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Quantity Surveyors, FNIQS and was nicknamed “Giant” by his contemporaries in allusion to his diminutive stature. He is a frontline member of the APC; A party which has been known for being extremely irresponsible with their utterances and mannerism which have only gone to show an acute thirst for power at all cost (including subversion and subterfuge if need be). He is known to have been one of the most corrupt Ministers to have run the affairs of the FCT. He has often declared his sympathy and affection for the Boko Haram insurgents and had once asked President Goodluck Jonathan and Gen. Ihejirika to be tried for war crimes by the ICC for their use of force to crush a murderously insurgent Boko Haram. Lt. Gen OA Ihejirika hold the Grand Service Star (GSS); the highest medal in the Nigerian Armed Forces. He is a Fellow of The National War College having passed with dagger (The best in his set). He is a Fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Quantity Surveyors (FNIQS). He is the immediate past Chief of Army Staff. Under his watch, The Boko Haram insurgency suffered their worst defeats and were pushed back until their activities were limited to the Lake Chad Basin region. He reclaimed most of the towns sacked by Boko Haram. He established several military formations and tactical units which effectively crushed kidnapping in the south east and beat back insurgency in the north east. He has never been investigated nor indicted for corruption or any such related matters. He retired meritoriously and returned to his community to enjoy his final days on earth as a civilian who has paid his dues to the Nigerian society. Having said these, let me now tie all these facts together to show, if we may, how pathetic el-Rufai’s accusation really is. It is often held that truth is defense against defamation. The onus is always on the accuser to prove his accusation before they can be entertained against the accused. Several indices therefore must suggest, even if tacitly, the existence of fact, logic or truth especially when accusing a man of crime and crime, in this sense being of this magnitude. There has to be a motive, reward (or profit), character, precedence and evidence to build such an accusation. What has lacked so far, are a link to any of these to Ihejirika. But let us look at this matter a little bit more critically. Motive: Ihejirika is not from the North East; The region is one of the poorest in Nigeria. Apart from Agricultural Produce, there is hardly any natural resource in contention in the region. He is not vying for political office in any of the North Eastern State. He is not running for president or any national office that may benefit from an insurgent North East. He is not even a Muslim (the predominant religion of this region) and not aspiring to create a caliphate. Nasir of the other hand is a Muslim, has interest in a national public office. He is from Northwest which shares both culture and proximity. He has severally asked government to pay insurgents or at least shown sympathy to them. One may not be far from making a connection on a financial or fraternal motive from him to Boko Haram. Character: Nasir is known to be inanely garrulous, loquacious and cantankerous. He has been indicted in the past for corruption and has made countless hate speeches towards Southerners, The Government and Christians. He has incited violence and discord among many Nigerians. He has openly admitted to being extremely corrupt (by continuing to work in a government he labelled to be insanely corrupt while he did). He has shown he is willing to do anything to grab power. Ihejirika on the other hand has been known as a man of few words. A gallant soldier who has served without blemish, an officer and a gentleman whose only proximity to power was his service as COAS and the recent hush-hush that he might be in the guber race for Abia State. Reward: A destabilized North East can help el-Rufai consolidate on his power in the region. It can give him the leeway to rig elections in the region. It can pay him financially. It can help him propagate his religion albeit, through violence. It can generate the tension required to help him sow discord among Nigerians. Ihejirika surprisingly has NONE. No rewards whatsoever! Precedence: Ihejirika has never been linked to any acts unbecoming of an officer. He has not shown any amount of incompetence in discharging his duty. Nasir on the other hand has been known for embellishment, corruption and subversive acts. It will not be out of character for him to foment trouble since he seems to get his juice from it. Evidence: Not one shred of evidence has been offered by the so-called negotiator. It has simply been the words of a state criminals and personae non-grata (Boko Haram Sect) that Nasir has based his accusation on. It is worthy of note that in one of his videos, Abu Shekau listed Abraham Lincoln and Ronald Reagan as the enemies of Islam that he is fighting. This is the same man that offered Ihejirika’s name that Nasir and his ilk are peddling. Even if it is not desperation, the idiocy contained in the admission of fact from criminals who have shown they will stop at nothing to destroy Nigeria including mass murder, rape, arson, kidnap, terrorism etc, in the form of their word without tangible, verifiable evidence, is only acute in elephantine proportions. Nasir makes mockery of his education and enlightenment if he continues to push for this accusation. No link has been made of the presence of Ihejirika with the insurgents or their agents either. In summary, only a pathetic and obtuse fool will dare accuse Ihejirika of any links to Boko Haram. On the contrary, Nasir el-Rufai has all to gain by both the insurgency and spreading falsehood thereto. He has the character, the proximity, the precedence and the motive to occasion such. He has done similar things in the past and will still do so again. He has insulted not just Ihejirika but the entire Igbo race considering that Ndi Igbo has suffered the worst of the insurgency. He has also rubbished his education and should return all his certificates with apology (except perhaps his First School Leaving Certificate where rightly, his level of exposure terminated). If I were in Ihejirika’s shoes, I would sue him for his worth but then again, “it is not every rain that falls that we set out our receptacles for”. It is however important that we point out the facts first whatever the case may be. El-Rufai has exhibited the height of his idiocy and the foolish horde of imbecilic followers cheers him on. A mad man of course, always enjoys the music the spirits play him with effusive dance step. It is however disheartening that in this malady, he had attempted to touch one of our illustrious sons! I am Obinna Mgbeahurike. @TheArchcardinal on Twitter and a citizen of Isuikwuato LGA, Abia State. Share this message if you are truly an Igbo man and if you have the guts to stand up for truth.
Posted on: Sun, 07 Sep 2014 06:02:29 +0000
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