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| Kudirat Abiola; The Woman who died for her husband in a Political Struggle |
I could not
sleep. I could not even lie down. All I did was walk around my room that night.
I wanted to go outside to jog but was scared to do so. This was my happiest
moment during my trip. The thought of seeing my father in less than twenty-
four hours was overwhelming. My brother, who is more religious than I am, was
praying so that things would go according to plan. I prayed as well but stopped
every now and then because I had prayed a lot before coming to Abuja and was convinced that my prayers
had already been answered.
day I did not eat in the morning. I was not hungry at all. I began pressuring
the others for us to go to the officer by 7 a.m. I was so adamant about leaving
that the old man laughed at me. “Do you
think you are in America? Over here, no one in that position comes to work
before 10 a.m. That is because they work till late at night”.
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| The Author, Jamiu Abiola with brother, Lekan (r) in a presidential encounter with President Yoweri Musoveni of Uganda |
that he was right but I still wanted to leave early. “What if we go and wait for him? We have nothing to lose. Or better
still, my brother and I will go now and you can join us whenever you are
ready”.
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| MKO’s Scion, Lekan Abiola joined his brother and Author of the book, Jamiu Abiola to serch for Dad inside Abacha’s gulag |
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| The Book of MKO according to Jamiu Abiola |
that suggestion. “No way! We came
together and we will do everything together. Don’t forget that all this
progress was my handiwork. After all, I was the one who introduced you to the
man who gave you the idea to see this officer who has now made you grow wings.
You now think you can dump me”
speechless then I burst out laughing when I realized that he was joking from
his facial expression. I decided to be patient, and since I was still restless,
I went to the hotel restaurant and forced myself to eat. After I was done, on
my way back to the room, I saw the others at the lobby. They were ready to go.
I was already dressed so I followed them to the car immediately.
“I wanted to tell him that he was a hypocrite
despite the fact that he had a conscience. I wanted to tell him that people
like him were the tools through which evil people like General Abacha carried out their devilish machinations. I wanted to
tell him that if all people in positions of authority like him had stood by the
truth, General Abacha and his
corrupt crew would have been as useless as cars without petrol”.
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| General Sani Abacha…Played 419 on MKO Abiola |
parked in front of our car, making it impossible for us to move out. We had to
wait for a long time because we could not find the owner of the vehicle. But
just as we were about to hire a hotel taxi, the driver showed up and we were
able to move our car out. We got to the police station in less than eight
minutes and walked straight into the officer’s office.
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| General Abacha’s 2nd in command, Genere Oladipupo Diya (His Hands were tight on MKO Abiola’s Case) |
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| MKO Abiola the Enigma |
It was hard for
me to get a hold of myself. I was too excited. But just as the old man had
predicted, the officer had not yet arrived. His secretary led us to a waiting
room where we waited for him for at least three hours. It felt like three days.
But by the time the officer finally came to the waiting room and I laid my eyes
on him, I knew that something was wrong. His gaze was heavy with guilt and his
body seemed lifeless, unlike the previous day, as he sluggishly shook my hand.
He told us that he would see us after five minutes but he did not send his
secretary to call us till after more than an hour.
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| MKO Abiola…The Star Boy from Egba Land |
were ushered into his office, he did not ask us to sit down. He stood up and
remained standing in a clumsy manner as if he was about to fall down. It was
also as if he wanted our stay to be as short as possible. After I had greeted
him twice, he finally said something. “Timing.
Those entitled to make a decision on your matter don’t have the time to do so
at this time. State matters have overwhelmed them so it is the timing that is
the problem, not them. If you had come last week or even the week before,
things would have been different. That much I know”.
a machine. His voice was cold but his look was gentle and full of guilt. What a
contrast! I was devastated. Was my father still alive? If he was then why was
it so difficult for anyone to see him? Probably feeling uncomfortable about the
lingering silence in the room, he added. “But
on my own part, I can still do something”. For a split second I thought he
was going to smuggle us to my father’s location. “I can take a letter from you to him. Yes I can. Then I can also bring
a letter from him to you. That is almost like seeing him, isn’t it?” He
tried to force a smile but failed. “At
least you will be communicating, which is in essence the purpose of your visit
to Abuja”.
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| The Author Jamiu Abiola tells the GDA more story of how his father fell for Abacha’s dirty deal |
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| MKO & Kudirat Abiola; First Nigerian Couple to die for Democracy on a joint fate |
I looked at him
deeply. Controlling my rising anger was indeed an epic battle. I wanted to tell
him that he was a hypocrite despite the fact that he had a conscience. I wanted
to tell him that people like him were the tools through which evil people like General
Abacha carried out their devilish machinations. I wanted to tell him
that if all people in positions of authority like him had stood by the truth, General
Abacha and his corrupt crew would have been as useless as cars without
petrol.
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| The Author; ‘The President Who Never Ruled’ Jamiu Abiola says ‘The Best legacy i owe my father is to write this book’ |
keep my mouth shut. Giving him a piece of my mind would have been meaningless
since he was merely a puppet and would likely continue to be one. “Okay, we will write him letters. Can you
give us some pieces of paper?”
of that day, I believe that my mind must have been working on its own because I
was too dazed to think. He rushed to his desk and quickly pulled out some paper
for my brother and me. He was so excited that it was as if he truly believed
that writing letters would have mended our hearts that had been broken. I took
the paper from him without looking at him then I went to the corner of the
office to write a long letter to my father. My brother did the same then we
handed the letters over to our host who forced a smile and promised to deliver
them to our father.
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| Jamiu Abiola wants the World to read about the true story of his dad |
farewell and just as we were about to step out of his office, he said
something. “Make sure that you come
tomorrow. They might be a letter from him for you. I am sure there will be
because he will certainly write … And maybe soon you will all meet and never
part again. With prayer anything and everything is possible”.
sounded distant. It was like an irritating noise coming from somewhere far
away. I was too disappointed to respond. But I managed to wave. I did not ask
him when I should come the following day because I no longer cared.
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| The Author Jamiu Abiodun Abiola & Sister, Hafsat during Launching of ‘The President Who Never Ruled’ |
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| Dignatories @ the Launching of ‘The President who Never Ruled’ |
the book, The President Who Never Ruled by Jamiu Abiola; get copies
in any book shop across the world or write Jamiu Abiola through jamiulinguist@yahoo.com. Read “Abacha, a third world criminal” in our
next post on this blog)
