Sunday, July 29, 2012

I Would Have Shot Abdulsalami - Al-Mustapha



*Major Hamza Al-Mustapha's Prison notes
(Needs authentication)
Former Chief Security Officer (CSO) to the late Head of State General Sani Abacha, Major Hamza Al-Mustapha is apparently fighting a war he is ensnared in regrets.
Major Hamza Al-Mustapha
Mustapha narrates the happenings during the tenure he was the CSO to Gen. Abacha and how he would have gunned down the man who succeeded his boss, General Abdulsalami Abubakar.
Below is the first part of the note:
“My Boss, General Sani Muhammad Abacha, died at the early hours of Monday, 8th June, 1998. I had prepared him for a workshop organised by the Federal Ministry of Information for that day as he was expected to deliver an address as the Special Guest of Honour. His speech was drafted and fine tuned by the Chief Press Secretary, David Attah who had submitted it to the Aide-De Camp for vetting and necessary amendments by the Commander-in-Chief.
When I got to the bedside of the Head of State, he was already gasping. Ordinarily, I could not just touch him. It was not allowed in our job. But under the situation on ground, I knelt close to him and shouted, “General Sani Abacha, Sir, please grant me permission to touch and carry you.”
“Contrary to insinuations, speculations and sad rumours initiated by some sections of the society, I maintain that the sudden collapse of the health system of the late Head of State started the previous day (Sunday, 7th June, 1998) right from the Abuja International Airport immediately after one of the white security operatives or personnel who accompanied President Yasser Arafat of Palestine shook hands with him (General Abacha) I had noticed the change in the countenance of the late Commander-in-Chief and informed the Aide-de-Camp, Lt. Col. Abdallah, accordingly.
General Ibrahim Babangida (rtd)
He, however, advised that we keep a close watch on him. Later in the evening of 8th June, 1998, around 6p.m, his doctor came around, administered an injection to stabilise him. He was advised to have a short rest. Happily, enough, by 9p.m he was bouncing and receiving visitors until much later when General Jeremiah Timbut Useni, the then Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, came calling. He was fond of the General. They were very good friends. They stayed and chatted together till about 3.35a.m.
A friend of the house was with me in my office and as he was bidding me farewell, he came back to inform me that the FCT Minister, General Useni was out of the General’s Guest House within the Villa.
“I then decided to inform the ADC and other security boys that I would be on my way home to prepare for the early morning event at the International Conference Centre. At about 5a.m, the security guards ran to my quarters to inform me that the General was very unstable. At first, I thought it was a coup attempt. Immediately, I prepared myself fully for any eventuality. As an intelligence officer and the Chief Security Officer to the Head of State for that matter, I devised a means of diverting the attention of the security boys from my escape route by asking my wife to continue chatting with them at the door – she was in the house while the boys were outside. From there, I got to the Guest House of the Head of State before them. When I got to the bedside of the Head of State, he was already gasping.
Ordinarily, I could not just touch him. It was not allowed in our job. But under the situation on ground, I knelt close to him and shouted, “General Sani Abacha, Sir, please grant me permission to touch and carry you.” I again knocked at the stool beside the bed and shouted in the same manner, yet he did not respond. I then realised there was a serious danger. I immediately called the Head of State’s personal physician, Dr. Wali, who arrived the place under eight minutes from his house. He immediately gave Oga – General Abacha – two doses of injection, one at the heart and another close to his neck.”
 “This did not work apparently as the Head of State had turned very cold. He then told me that the Head of State was dead and nothing could be done after all. I there and then asked the personal physician to remain with the dead body while I dashed home to be fully prepared for the problems that might arise from the incident. As soon as I informed my wife, she collapsed and burst into tears. I secured my house and then ran back.
At that point, the Aide-de-Camp had been contacted by me and we decided that great caution must be taken in handling the grave situation. Again, I must reiterate that the issue of my boss dying on top of women was a great lie just as the insinuation that General Sani Abacha ate and died of poisoned apples was equally a wicked lie.
My question is: did Chief M.K.O Abiola die of poisoned apples or did he die on top of women? As I had stated at the Oputa Panel, their deaths were organised. Pure and simple! It was at this point that I used our special communication gadgets to diplomatically invite the Service Chiefs, Military Governors and some few elements purportedly to a meeting with the Head of State by 9a.m. at the Council Chamber.
That completed, I also decided to talk to some former leaders of the nation to inform them that General Sani Abacha would like to meet them by 9a.m. Situation became charged however, when one of the Service Chiefs, Lieutenant General Ishaya Rizi Bamaiyi, who pretended to be with us, suggested he be made the new Head of State after we had quietly informed him of the death of General Sani Abacha. He even suggested we should allow him access to Chief Abiola. We smelt a rat and other heads of security agencies, on hearing this, advised I move Chief Abiola to a safer destination.”
“I managed to do this in spite of the fact that I had been terribly overwhelmed with the crisis at hand. But then, when some junior officers over-heard the suggestion of one of the Service Chiefs earlier mentioned, it was suggested to me that we should finish all the members of the Provisional Ruling Council and give the general public an excuse that there was a meeting of the PRC during which a shoot-out occurred between some members of the Provisional Ruling Council and the Body Guards to the Head of State.
When I sensed that we would be contending with far more delicate issues than the one on ground, I talked to Generals Buba Marwa and Ibrahim Sabo who both promptly advised us – the junior officers – against any bloodshed. They advised we contact General Ibrahim Babangida (former Military President) who equally advised against any bloodshed but that we should support the most senior officer in the Provisional Ruling Council (PRC) to be the new Head of State.
Since the words of our elders are words of wisdom, we agreed to support General Jeremiah Useni. Along the line, General Bamaiyi lampooned me saying, “Can’t you put two and two together to be four? Has it not occurred to you that General Useni who was the last man with the Head of State might have poisoned him, knowing full well that he was the most senior officer in the PRC?”
“Naturally, I became furious with General Useni since General Abacha’s family had earlier on complained severally about the closeness of the two Generals; at that, a decision was taken to storm General Useni’s house with almost a battalion of soldiers to effect his arrest. Again, some heads of security units and agencies, including my wife, advised against the move. The next most senior person and officer in government was General Abdulsalami Abubakar, who was then the Chief of Defence Staff. We rejected the other Service Chief, who, we believed, was too ambitious and destructive.
We settled for General Abubakar and about six of us called him inside a room in the Head of State’s residence to break the news of the death of General Abacha to him. As a General with vast experience, Abdulsalami Abubakar, humbly requested to see and pray for the soul of General Abacha which we allowed. Do we consider this a mistake? Because right there, he – Abubakar – went and sat on the seat of the late Head of State.
Again, I was very furious. Like I said at the Oputa Panel, if caution was not applied, I would have gunned him down. The revolution the boys were yearning for would have started right there. The assumption that we could not have succeeded in the revolution was a blatant lie. We were in full control of the State House and the Brigade of Guards. We had loyal troops in Keffi and in some other areas surrounding the seat of government – Abuja. But I allowed peace to reign because we believed it would create further crises in the country.”
“We followed the advice of General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida and the wise counsel of some loyal senior officers and jointly agreed that General Abdulsalami Abubakar be installed Head of State, Commander-in-Chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces immediately after the burial of General Sani Abacha in Kano. It is an irony of history that the same Service Chief who wanted to be Head of State through bloodshed, later instigated the new members of the Provisional Ruling Council against us and branded us killers, termites and all sorts of hopeless names. They planned, arranged our arrest, intimidation and subsequent jungle trial in 1998 and 1999. These, of course, led to our terrible condition in several prisons and places of confinement.”


Friday, July 27, 2012

Handball Federation in African Club Championship fraud

Yusuf Dauda, HFN President
Pundits are getting worried stiff about the final death throes hanging on the frail neck of the game of handball with the massive scam allegedly unearthing from hosting the 33rd edition of the African handball championship played last year in Kaduna, north-west Nigeria.
Hamdala Hotel accommodated the teams. Handball Federation of Nigeria (HFN) were to deposit 50% of the N30m in advance and pay up the balance on arrival of the teams to the venue of the championships.
It is a tradition that teams participating in the championship pay per athlete and official for the duration of the championship. This reporter played in four editions of the championships with Niger United of Minna and Zamalek SC of Cairo winning twice and a third place once.
In the Nigerian event, Euros 60 was paid per head of participant. The competition had a full complement of participating teams. 12 male teams and 10 female teams. Each team is allowed a minimum 16 players and four officials. They can bring more. That gives an average of 20 persons per team. Therefore, no less than 440 persons paid Euors 60 per day for the 10-day event which held between 20th and 31st October 2011.
That amounts to Euros 264,400. At the prevailing average exchange rate of N200 to the Euro, N52.8m was raked in as income. How come Hamdala Hotel’s N30m could not be settled by the organizers, HFN and the franchise owners, the Confederation of African Handball (CAHB)? How were the funds managed that they accumulated an extra debt of N11m to Hamdala, if that’s the only debt incurred.
Added to the fact that the Kaduna State government dropped N3m and First Bank Plc also donated N1m. When the management of the hotel had exhausted her persuasive vote, they wrote the National Sports Commission on the 1st March 2012. They’ve not gotten a response yet.
The sum of N11m was paid with the Federation writing an undertaking on the 1st November 2011 to pay the balance in two weeks. It is yet to be two weeks since then. The hotel luckily got an additional N1.8m. The balance of N7.2m is still outstanding against the Federation.
It would be recalled that the Hamdala Hotel management had organized to stop the final of the tournament being played until the duo of Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Sports, Godfrey Gaiya (who incidentally hails from Kaduna) and the then acting Director of Elite Athlete department in the NSC, Yakmut Alhassan intervened.

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Fooling Nigerians in the Olympic spirit


NOC President, Sani Ndanusa
I can reveal with authority again that our officials are either deliberate liars who revel in fooling themselves thinking they are fooling the nation. Nigeria entered an unqualified athlete for the Olympics. I can also predict ahead that the athlete will NOT compete. I can also say that she will not even be in the Games Village as you read this report. I stand to be corrected.
The athlete is ESTHER OBIEKWE. On the list of the nation’s entry for the London 2012 Olympics, she was claimed will be competing in marathon. This athlete is not on the IAAF Top Athletes for Women Marathon. Infact, there’s no Nigerian in the list for both men and women.
The B standard for qualifying for London Olympic marathon event is 2.43:00. Please Sunny Oluku’s report (below) to see her records which is a far cry from the Olympic qualifier.
Secondly, I have gone to look at the requirements for qualifying for the event. (See Marathon & Race Walk below).
So, the issue is, who is deceiving Nigerians?

Marathon & Race Walk
A list of qualifying competitions for the Marathon and Race Walking events, which meet the IAAF’s
qualifying criteria, will be produced by the IAAF by 1 January 2011. The first 20 runners in the Men’s
Marathon and in the Women’s Marathon in the World Championships in Athletics of Daegu (Republic of
Korea) 2011 and the top 10 finishers at the IAAF Gold Label Marathons in 2011 and 2012 (held during the qualification period) will also be considered as having achieved the “A” qualification standard.


Nigeria's Obiekwe heads to 116th Boston Marathon 2012
By Sunny Oke Oluku |
Nigeria’s Esther Obiekwe, also known as "the Running Banker", is the sole Nigerian representative at the 116th Boston Marathon on Monday April 16, 2012.
Obiekwe will rub shoulders with 34 Elite Athletes from around the world, majority of them Africans in Boston. Reigning champions from Kenya, Geoffrey Mutai and Caroline Kilel, will defend their titles, but will be challenged by the fastest men’s and women’s fields ever assembled for the Boston Marathon.
The Boston Marathon is the world's oldest marathon, and also one of only 3 marathons in the world which require a qualifying time (along with the Olympics and World Championships). With 31 contenders setting their personal best time in the past two years, including eight men under 2:07 and ten women under 2:24, the race will prove highly competitive.
The Boston Athletic Association, which is the race organizer, has reviewed its records, and verifies Miss Obiekwe as the sole Nigerian participant this year, as she has been since 2000.
"I am deeply honoured to represent Nigeria after the country's extended absence in the Boston Marathon, and am excited to run a personal record," Obiekwe said.
She clocked 3:36:40 at the 42km Dubai Marathon early last year to improve on her previous time of 3:49:55. And at the 38th Berlin Marathon in September 2011, she lowered her personal best (PB) further to 3:28:00. At the 2012 Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon in January, she made some mistakes and finished at 3:49:40.
Obiekwe's coach, James Lafferty, a former CEO of Nigerian Bottling Company who now resides in The Philippines, said: "It is not reflective of the amazing breadth of talent in Nigeria that Esther is the sole participant from Nigeria this century.
"I believe it is more a matter of continuing to develop distance running in the country and to find more sponsors to defray the significant costs to send each athlete to Boston."
"Nigerians are strong and resilient and with proper support can compete with the East Africans that currently dominate the sport," he added.
Obiekwe's story indeed is impressive. The 36-year-old Banker, whose hobby is running, currently works at Fidelity Bank Plc, Lagos and uses her annual vacations to run marathons.
"I love running and I am lucky to run with other professionals in a local running club based in Ikoyi." Obiekwe stated.
"Most of us use our vacations to run marathons and I am thankful for my organization which also supports my active lifestyle. I was also discovered by the club Coach Jim Lafferty".
After adopting an early morning training regimen, she finished as the top Nigerian in the 2010 Athens Marathon, followed by continual improvements in Dubai and Berlin in 2011.
She is presently the top ranked Nigerian Female marathoner on the international circuit, on top of her demanding role as a corporate banker.
As Obiekwe says, "it’s a challenge to juggle a career and elite running career, but I thrive on challenges".

Monday, July 23, 2012

Don’t bank on these folks for medals II


I have received several calls from within and outside the sport of athletics over my yesterday's piece.
First of all, I am not an outsider to the sport. I ran the tracks too. I was Nigeria's junior 200m champion in 1979.
Ndanusa, NOC President
Secondly, all the data I used in the report were not manufactured by me. They are all derived from the IAAF, the global athletics body.
Thirdly, some people accused me of personal scores to settle with the President of the AFN, Solomon Ogba. If this is true, can they provide a reasonable and responsible, fair and just position to the cases below.
Seun Adigun and Peter Emelieze:
Buffs of the sport know that in an Olympic year, athletes who make the B standard but can’t replicate same in the Olympic year can sneak into the team. That is probably how and why Seun Adigun and Peter Emelieze (100m) got their berths.
Last year, Emelieze ran 10.18 secs, an A standard. The B standard is 10.24secs. He made it. This year, his best time is 10.29secs. He did not make it. Seun Adigun made a B standard last year with her 13.13secs in Daegu but could not make same this year. Their placement in the Nigerian trial this year could have fetched them the space to the Olympics. This is logical.
The 400m troika:
Now, let’s get to the 400m men. The B standard is 45.90 secs. Last year, Tobi Ogunmola  ran 45.82secs in Maputo on 13/09/11. Godday James ran 45.88secs in Calabar on the 23/06/12 while Abiola Onakoya ran 45.89secs. All these timing were B standard.
So, if the same rule that was used to accommodate Seun Adigun and Peter Emelieze were to be, nothing stops any three of Ogunmola, James and Onakoya from being registered in the 400m event of the London 2012 depending on their placement in the Nigerian national trial. So why were they not in the Olympic squad. Discretion of the federation?
This I also hope addresses the fears raised.Thanks God like Ogba and any of these athletes, if they meet me on the street don't know me.


Sunday, July 22, 2012

In Nigerian athletics, merit is an orphan


Sani Ndanusa, NOC President
·                   Don’t bank on these folks for medals
As the world gathers to compete in the Olympics in London, I sit in review from my vantage position and all I see in the Nigerian team, especially in athletics is fraud. Even in the choice of athletes for the global event, we did not present our best athletes.
Those who know claimed that the President of the Federation chose his ‘loyal’ athletes. A check on the list showed how true this can be. I checked Seun Adigun, the 100m hurdler. The Olympic A qualifier for this event is 12.96secs and the B standard is 13.15secs. Her best time this year is 13.38secs which she ran in Kumasi on the06/07/12. In Port Novo, she ran 14.03secs. Whereas, in 2011, she ran 13.20secs in Maputo. Ordinarily, she has no business in London except meeting the Olympic spirit and values of participation.
Assuming we have a responsible AFN, by the beginning of the year, they would have started to ask what factors is inhibiting this athlete’s downward performance graph instead of the graph line rising into the Olympic. This is the type of questions some of us ask and some ‘goons’ hate to be asked.
Let’s take a comparative analysis of 400m flat for Women as example. If the Olympics had been 2011, only Regina George and Endurance Abinuwa would have qualified by our national global rating:
Time
Athlete
Date and venue
Olympic qualifying
51.31
Regina George
Eugene 27/05/11
A
52.28
Endurance Abinuwa
Lubbock 22/04/11
B
52.35
Bukola Abogunloko
Calabar 24/06/11

52.59
Muizat Ajoke Odumosu
Calabar 24/06/11

52.71
Chizoba Okodogbe
Tucson 14/05/11

52.74
Omolara Omotosho
Calabar 23/06/11

52.77
Margaret Etim
Calabar 24/06/11


This is the 2012 rating for the same event.
Time
Athlete
Date and venue
Olympic qualifying
51.11
Regina George
Port Novo 29/06/12
A
51.28
Omolara Omotosho
Calabar 21/06/12
A
51.57
Bukola Abogunloko
Atlanta 12/05/12
B
51.67
Margaret Etim
Warri 06/06/12/12
B
52.09
Florence Uwakwe
Warri 06/06/12/12
B
52.31
Endurance Abinuwa
Calabar 21/06/12
B
52.34
Josephine Ehigie
Nsukku 21/04/12
NQ due to time
52.38
Idara Otu
Port of Spain 22/04/12
NQ
52.49
Patience Okon
Nsukku 21/04/12
NQ
52.96
Muizat Ajoke Odumosu
St. Martin 09/05/12
NQ
52.97
Tosin Adeloye
Port Harcourt 19/05/12
NQ
52.98
Olouma Nwoke
Port Harcourt 19/05/12
NQ

In the 4x400m relay, we are presenting 4 x 400m Women
1.        Regina George
2.        Omolara Omotosho
3.        Bukola Abogunloko
4.         Endurance Abinuwa
5.         Idara Otu
6.         Margaret Etim
How did Endurance Abinuwa and Idara Out got into the squad ahead of Florence Uwakwe? Please see the table.
This is what the rule says: “A country is allowed a maximum of three athletes that reach the 'A' standard in an event who meet or exceed this mark in the 18-month period prior to the Olympics. The 'B' standard is slightly easier to reach, but only one additional athlete per nation may be entered who has met the 'B' standard without pushing on to the 'A' standard.”
Conclusion: Why should we do well in London? Why must we do well? Can we do well with such standards where merit is not the basis of representing the country?