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June 12: FUTA Young Democracy Activists 30 Years After: Ondo Uncelebrated heroes of June 12

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           By Tope Babatola
The annulment of the presidential election held on 12th June 1993, by self-styled military president Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, sparked a chain of events that began with civic uprisings in Lagos and across Nigeria. That criminal annulment of the sovereign wish of the masses is 30 years old.
Many are aware that the turning point in the June 12 Struggle was the hijack, by four teenagers, of a Nigerian Airways plane on October 25, 1993 in protest against the annulment of the presidential election won by the late Bashorun Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola. The youngsters primarily implicated in that plot were Richard Ogunderu, Kabir Adenuga, Benneth Oluwadaisi, and Kenny Rasaq-Lawal – all members of the Movement for the Advancement of Democracy (MAD).
The Nigerian Airways flight was initially scheduled for Lagos to Abuja route but was diverted at gunpoint by the hijackers, a first of its kind in the history of Nigeria. The gun was later discovered to be a toy. The quad after being arrested in Niamey following the storming of the plane by Nigerien forces, were remanded in custody in Niger Republic and were only released in 2001.
While the government of the Republic of Niger, for reasons best known to it, refused to release the suspects to the Nigerian junta as requested by Abacha, unknown to Nigerians, the Abacha junta expanded its dragnets at home in search of a Jerry Yusuf who was claimed to be the mastermind of the plane hijack plot. In doing this, for inexplicable reasons which perplexed the management of the Federal University of Technology Akure (FUTA), agents of the junta arrested and hounded into detention not less than four students of FUTA with the false claim that they were part of the plane hijack plot. The students were Tunde Ibikunle, Tunde Adeagbo, Tunji Ariyomo and Niran Kueminu. The first set of arrests was that of Adeagbo, Kweminu, and Ariyomo. Each student was kept in solitary confinement with daily sessions of interrogations. The trio was only released upon the ceaseless intervention of the university’s then Vice Chancellor, Prof. Albert Ilemobade, and senior management staff, A. W. O. Attoye. Tunde Ibikunle was arrested separately and was released much later after suffering extensive academic deprivation.
Yet, investigations have revealed that FUTA students were not part of the plot in any way but had their names corralled unto the suspects’ list because of the institution’s budding fervid democratic nationalism as a citadel of learning. In 1993, FUTA was a twelve (12) year-old relatively young university. Regardless, every single radical national organization such as the Campaign for Democracy (CD), the Committee for the Defense of Human Rights (CDHR), etc, all had their active students’ wings or branches in FUTA. This also meant that the covert operatives of the military junta would maintain an active undercover presence in FUTA to keep their eyes on the budding student nationalists.
In retrospect, Tunde Adeagbo’s true offense for instance was strong support, at students’ congresses, for concerted protests by students against the annulment of the election whilst Ariyomo’s offense was starting a daily anti-annulment barrage of campus asymmetric journalism to sensitize students to their power to remain in defiance of the illegal annulment. In other climes, such students would be considered exemplary heroes and not listed as furtive rogues marked for secret detentions or elimination. Indeed, the activities of this duo were not different from those of other audacious students across university campuses all over Nigeria who rose to the extraordinary call to save their nation from military arbitrariness. Their courageous response was surely disconcerting enough for the military junta to zero in on them with the trumped-up charge that they were part of a plane hijack plot.
It’s been 30 years since that experience. Many across the nation did not survive the military experience during the June 12 imbroglio. Bagauda Kalto, a journalist with The News and Tempo magazines, was believed to have been murdered by a bomb. Alhaja Kudirat Abiola, the wife of the winner of the presidential election, was assassinated in broad daylight in Lagos on June 4, 1996. Her Personal Assistant, Comrade Akinola Orisagbemi, was shot repeatedly.
The number of those killed during the June 12 struggle remains under-reported, as only the prominent elite that were victims of the totalitarian regime made the headlines. Many other campaigners for the validation of the democratic expression of the people died unsung and largely unnoticed through agents of the state, police, and undercover agents, as well as goons hired by the military junta who laid siege with the intent to subdue and annihilate the promoters of the quest for democratic rule.
30 years after, the people have survived. Many known henchmen of the military junta who heartlessly offered themselves as shameless tools of terror against the people died miserably. Democracy wins!

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Opinion

Desperate Aiyedatiwa bares fangs inside Govt House chapel

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  • Appoints Self General Overseer
    Installs Indian Marabouts As Clergymen
    Stops Pastors from Wearing Cassocks

Nebuchadnezzar, infamous figure immortalized in the Bible, commands recognition as the Babylonian monarch whose relentless conquests laid waste to the temple of Jerusalem, seizing its sacred relics as spoils of war.

Nebuchadnezzar dreams of a great tree that shelters the whole world. But an angelic “watcher” appears and decrees that the tree must be cut down and that for seven years, he will have his human mind taken away and will eat grass like an ox.

 

The holy Bible generously describes and expounds a Chapel or Temple as the hallowed sanctuary of the Almighty. It is reserved for the reverential observance of sacred rites and solemn covenants deemed too divine for mundane settings. In all Chapels or Temples all over the world, these consecrated edifices are sanctuaries apart, shielded from the profane clamor of the secular world.

 

But an archetype of Nebuchadnezzar may have surreptitiously crept into Ondo without anyone noticing. While asking questions on what motivated the biblical Nebuchadnezzar to desecrate the holy Chapel or Temple of God, we are compelled to confront the actions of His Excellency (Hon.) Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa vis-à-vis the recent happenings inside the Government House Chapel.

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In a bold and audacious move that is only comparable to that of Nebuchadnezzar, Governor Aiyedatiwa decreed that ordained priests, including Rev. Babalola of the Anglican Communion and Canon Enoch Adeleke of the Methodist Church, discard their traditional vestments, known as Casoc, in favor of resplendent native attire—Agbada & Sokoto—during sacred ceremonies.

 

This sweeping directive challenges the entrenched doctrines upheld by Orthodox Churches, igniting a maelstrom of doubt and apprehension. Many ponder whether this decree signals a bid to sideline and subjugate Christians within the precincts of the Ondo State Government House, potentially paving the way for the infiltration of unfamiliar beliefs.

 

It is important to note that the Government House Chapel predates Governor Aiyedatiwa’s tenure. It is equally worthy of note to state that none of his predecessor, be it an Executive Governor or Military Administrator, had dared to enact such a seismic shift from the norm.

 

The questions presently agitating the minds of Christians within and outside Ondo state is if the Governor would have dared to wield such authority within a Mosque?

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In response to this seismic upheaval, Christians across Ondo State and beyond are implored to maintain vigilance. The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) must rise up against what is perceived as a grievous affront to the tenets of Christianity.

 

Adding to the intrigue, Aiyedatiwa proclaimed one fateful morning that he had been anointed by God to assume the mantle of General Overseer (GO) of the chapel. His subsequent participation in conducting last week’s Sunday service casts doubt upon his jurisdiction in matters of faith, casting a pall of uncertainty over Orthodox Churches.

 

But beyond this, the governor is said to have imported some strange-looking Marabouts to form part of the. An inside source disclosed that the men were indeed imported from India as part of a larger team of prayer warriors ahead of the governorship primary election of the All Progressives Congress.

 

An elder in the chapel, who pleaded not to be named, said the governor has become paranoid about how church matters are are run in the chapel.

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“It is surprising what is driving the governor recently. He is carrying out changes that are aliens to the order of service in the chapel. Recently, some strange people were brought into the chapel. Some people said they were part of of his prayer warriors. It was later that we gathered that they were from India. We have never seen anything like this before,” the elder said.

 

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Opinion

Ondo 2024: Aiyedatiwa gets desperate, dangles Port Ondo contract before prominent Yoruba monarch for presidency support

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  • Promise of 25% equity stake
    Desperate to meet Tinubu and Southwest governors for support.
    Top Ondo Obas frowns at the idea

Ondo State governor, Lucky Ayedatiwa has become hyper desperate ahead of the the governorship primaries of the All Progressives Congress ( APC) in April.

Inside sources have revealed that the governor, as part of his desperate search for the party’s ticket, has made the contract for the construction of Port Ondo as a bargaining chip to the Oni of Ife, his Imperial Majesty, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, Ojaja II, to help secure the support of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR and the South West Governors.

 

The deal, according to impeccable sources, was brokered by the two prominent Yoruba politicians (names withheld) who had stood with Ayedatiwa in his recent political battle against his former boss and benefactor, late Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, SAN, CON.

 

Reports have it that, Aiyedatiwa became desperate after several failed attempts to get the President’s attention over his ambition. He reportedly ran to a former governor of Ondo State, who according to information, has become his godfather and Chief Strategist.

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The former governor was said to have secured the assistance of an Osun State-born former Secretary of the APC. At the meeting, which was held at the private quarters of the Oni of Ife, he was asked to provide an opportunity for Aiyedatiwa to meet President Tinubu and the governors of the South West.

 

Among the issues discussed at the meeting was how to overlook Aiyedatiwa’s alleged ‘sins’ to Akeredolu, during and after his death.

 

However, as at the time of filing this report, some prominent monarchs in Ondo State are said to have gotten wind of the plan and are said to be spoiling for a fight.

 

A source, who did not want to be metioned, said the action of the governor is already causing a lot of anger and bad blood among the monarchs in the Sunshine State.

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Opinion

OF OTA-FRIENDS AND ORE-NEMIES OF AKETI- END OF THE EMERGENCY BEARD OF LUCKY AYEDATIWA

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By Sola Ajisafe, Esq

” The worth of a man is not in the vastness of his estate or the fatness of his vault but in the totality of his character and serenity of his inner being” – Anonymous

 

Last week, I called out our Governor about the whereabouts of his wife, our First Lady and why the “Oza room” had been empty. Nothing of note came out from him or his aides that tends to answer the relevant question. This is a common practice in the media orgy coupled together currently around the Governor. They will “leave ete to be treating lapalapa”.

 

Just like the ridiculous Press Statement about the clownish violence perpetrated on his other contestants during the President’s visit or the anti- Aketi executive poorly put together by Lucky. Wetin be my own? Today, my attention is to ask Mr. Governor ” Where is your Aketi beard?

 

The disappearance of Lucky’s beards is a significant pointer to how fake, unreliable and fluid our Governor is as a person. The open celebration and association with Aketi arch enemies, betrayers and discredited individuals in his newly inaugurated Executive is a pointer to what to expect in that government. Aside from a few individuals, that teal lack character and content. Anyway, (10) months no be anybody’s friend. E no dey play o.

 

Mr. Governor, it was not news that on your return from your long Abuja trip with your “Abuja activists”, the first thing Ondo State people noticed was that you have changed your looks and the Aketi beard had disappeared. If there was anything to point to the fact that the romance between you and your boss had ended, it was that change of personality. When on the day you addressed a press conference asking for forgiveness it was clear that you were playing with our intelligence as a people.

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I know as of a fact that in Nigeria of today, everything is cruise, just like most politicians in Nigeria are petty traders. They lack originality, political ideology and are bereft of sound intellectual understanding of what it means to be politically straightforward and upright. They are duplicious in their actions and profoundly vague in their thoughts. They are not better than Aba/Onitsha or China ( Chinco) products usually referred to as ” baruf” (fake) during our secondary school days.

When the going was good

I said Nigerian politicians are cruise chasers. The current vogue of wearing Awo or Afenifere cap remains a valid example. At a point in time, every manner of persons adopted it as their passport to enter the progressive palour. As they come in many colours and shapes so are the baboon elements and their virtues. They only take to mind the shapes and the embossed scollopings. They do not come an inch close to what it represents. Many of them and the ” alright sir boys” around Alagbaka government house/office have the same mental attributes except that one give alms while the other takes. All na same.

 

Just like the Awo cap, some elements within the Akeredolu government picked up the tendency of wearing beards immediately Aketi came on board in 2017. Not long after some of them could not maintain the discipline and tenacity that came with having the Fidel Castro or Che Guevara beard. That was what Aketi carried as far back as his days in the University or shortly thereafter. Time and age enveloped it and turned it to a Father Christmas on him.

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Our Governor, Hon. Lucky Ayedatiwa was one of those that started the culture of wearing beards like Aketi. He was helped by time and age so he does not have to add anything to make it white. Yet, “abinibi” is quite different from “ability”. While Aketi’s beard was custom made, those of the copy cats were as fake as the products of “Yaba Apa Otun, Katangua or Oshodi under bridge”where tokunbo clothes and materials are sold.

With Aketi’s beards
The story here is not just about wearing a beard to look like your boss. I used to pity these imitators in those early days of the Aketi government. They do not carry those beards because it fits them or that they were comfortable. They carried it to show off their loyalty. I have seen people move from one politically exposed person and one party to another wearing the badge of their loyalty like an insignia of office only to take to flight immediately something happened. I have heard people tell me ” I will read Aketi like a book for eight (8) years, only to take to flight having realized that the man is nearing his end. They divulged his medical history to his ” ota-friends” and ” ore-nemies”.

 

For instance, who would believe that Hon. Lucky Ayedatiwa will so soon return almost clean shaven from his haitus in Abuja without the ” emergency beards” that he wore so much and faithfully when he was stalking Aketi and his family to get political relevance. Immediately he got what he wanted and he learnt from the snitches who report every action of Aketi to him he “dis-beard” himself from Aketi and became the Lucky of the emergency activists both in Abuja and in Ondo State.

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For me, loyalty is not something to be worn like a badge or rendered like a song. Loyalty does not mean you cannot quarrel or disagree on principle. It also does not mean you should be a slave. However, loyalty means “one for all, all for one”. When it’s comfortable or not comfortable.

 

Every leader and influential person must learn something from the life and times of Aketi. Human beings love what they can get from you. They do not care about you so soon you are no longer useful to them or you no longer posses the capacity to do things for them.

 

I call on everyone that still has a dint of humanity in them and felt a hunch for Aketi and decided to stay with him during his trying period and are been persecuted to know that a new dawn is in the offing. And for those who benefitted from Aketi but contributed towards his death by their actions and deeds or are determined to destroy his legacy or are willing to forget the good old days to note that Karma is a bitch and so unforgiven. Just take note of my words.

The disappearance of Lucky’s “Aketi beard” was too sudden. It showed there was no altruism in it in the first place.

 

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