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Re: al-Mustapha, the canary
By Mohammed Haruna
Newsdiaryonline Tue Sep 13,2011
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,
THE CANARY IS STUPID
(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.
Rev Joseph Hayab.
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