Posted by Pan African News Wire on June 20, 1998 at 18:35:52:
Pan-African News Wire ac6123@wayne.edu
Distributed By: THE PAN-AFRICAN RESEARCH AND DOCUMENTATION CENTER
211 SCB BOX 47, WAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY
DETROIT, MI 48202
E MAIL: ac6123@wayne.edu
Vanguard Transmitted 18 June, 1998
Beko: I was put in a small cell By John Ighodaro & Anayo Okoli
HUMAN rights activists, Dr. Beko Ransome-Kuti, rejoined his family in Lagos yesterday but not until he had visited the grave of his elder brother, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, who died last year when he (Beko) was serving a jail term at the Katsina prison.
Beko drove straight from the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Ikeja to the "Kalakuta Republic" on Gbemisola Street, Ikeja to pay his respects to the legendary Afrobeat king.
He arrived his Anthony Village home in Lagos to the warm embrace of friends, well wishers and reporters.
An unrepentant Beko told reporters that he was happy to be released but said he owed government no gratitude for his release.
His words:
"I feel happy to be out. I wish you people were not suffering what we were undergoing. We heard that this man (Abacha) said he was going to release people (detainees) in November but after sometime he just stopped."
Asked how he received the news of his release, he said, "I didn't believe it at first until it was confirmed by somebody."
On the news of Gen. Sani Abacha's death, he said "at first I thought it was somebody trying to pull my legs until it was confirmed. I was extremely happy at his death. Anyway, he could have been removed but that is very satisfactory."
On his impression of the new head of state, Dr. Ransome-Kuti said, "I feel happy but not grateful. Grateful for what? The military has stayed enough. They should quit and get back to the barracks. They have done too much damage."
He dismissed the idea that his release was a gesture from the new administration. "What kind of gesture is that? He asked.
Asked to comment on his experience in prison, he responded: "This is very unfair. You want to know about my experience without going there yourself. You have to be there to experience it. I was put in a small cell. I had one mattress with me which someone gave to me at Kirikiri prison."
Calling on the military to leave governance, he said, "let them go and manage their own house instead of mismanaging everybody. We just have to find a way of getting rid of them."
Arguing that the struggle for democracy must continue, he said "you cannot hide from it." Apparently referring to the June 12 election, Dr. Ransome-Kuti asked the new administration to handover to somebody who had first won an election."
He wished that former military leaders would have a taste of the prison experience he had.
"It's nice and I wish Abacha didn't die so he could taste it and also Babangida and Buhari- that one who always feels so self-satisfied."
Lagos lawyer and human rights activists, Chief Gani Fawehinmi, who was also on hand to welcome Dr. Ransome-Kuti described him as "one of the great pillars of the movement. We are happy he is back."
Addressing Dr. Ransome-Kuti, Chief Fawehinmi said, "I am so happy to see you after such harrowing experience. We are very pleased to see you."
Turning to Miss Nike Ransome-Kuti, Chief Fawehinmi said, "like father like daughter. We are very happy that a great leader is out of the gulag. Now the struggle will be intensified. Now that a great leader in the calibre of Beko is out you can expect that the struggle will be intensified. Until there is political sanity, real democracy based on June 12 because we need June 12."
Continuing, he said: "We don't need any other transition, the transition has died with Gen. Sani Abacha and the military junta of Abubakar must recognise that chaos and instability can only be removed if June 12 is actualised.
"We don't want any other military government. We don't want any extension of Abacha's transition. We want June 12 to be actualised and the dynamics of doing that will be explained later," he said.
Nike denounced military dictatorship, saying: "I have no faith in any military regime. I am not impressed by the release of the activists. It is just a cosmetic PR job."
On his prison experience, he said: "I kept myself busy in the cell playing electronic chess. I had in the small cell a mattress somebody gave me at Kirikiri. I was kept in solitary confinement and one of the greatest offences one could commit in there was to be caught reading newspapers. I had no access to newspapers. I was not allowed to interact with inmates."
Dr. Ransome-Kuti arrived Lagos from Kaduna at about 8.30 a.m. yesterday aboard a Chanchangi plane.
He looked pale and weak and did not talk much to a dozen reporters who besieged him.
He was in a black pair of Jean trousers and a long sleeve shirt with a pair of bathroom slippers.
At the airport to receive him was Nike, his eldest daughter.
Obasanjo: I thank God By Kolade Larewaju, Abeokuta
FORMER Head of State, General Olusegun Obasanjo, basking in the air of freedom, was full of gratitude to God and all Nigerians yesterday as he arrived his Abeokuta country-home after three years in prison.
"I thank God and all those God used for my release. I thank friends and loved ones and those who have supported me and my family all these days. God be with you all," Gen. Obasanjo told well-wishers and reporters who thronged his Ita-Iyalode residence in Ogun State capital.
He had arrived Abeokuta at about 5.00 a.m. catching everyone including his neighbours unawares.
Most people had expected him to be at his Otta farm where government said he would be restricted to.
Sources said yesterday that Gen. Obasanjo arrived his Otta farm in the dead of Tuesday night before departing for Abeokuta at about 4:00 a.m. As soon as he got there he held a special prayer session with his family and farm workers. He personally led the prayer. He wore a pink guinea brocade when newsmen arrived his residence at 9:00 a.m. yesterday.
Although he has lost some weight, Gen. Obasanjo appeared healthy.
He told reporters: " I thank you for coming. I thank all Nigerians. I thank God."
He declined to answer questions from the reporters. His encounter with them lasted less than two minutes.
His Abeokuta home guarded by four armed mobile policemen, however, became a beehive of activities as eminent citizens including Obas and chiefs trooped to the house to welcome the former head of state.
The Alake of Egbaland, Oba Oyebade Lipede arrived the house at about 9.00 a.m. with a number of his chiefs and conferred with Gen. Obasanjo for about 40 minutes before leaving.
The Olowu of Owu, Oba Adisa Odeleye leading two other obas- Osile of Oke-ona, Oba Dapo Tejuoso and Agura of Gbagura, Oba Halidu Laloko- arrived later.
Other eminent citizens at Gen. Obasanjo's house were former Minister for Fiance, Dr. Onaolapo Soleye and former Attorney General of Ogun State, Chief Adisa Adewolu.
Visitors to the house were served cold minerals by Gen. Obasanjo's stewards and relations who were beaming with smiles. Gen. Obasanjo was initially in buba and sokoto but later put on an agbada. At a point when he was seeing off visitors, Gen. Obasanjo told reporters: "I am back, I am at home."
"I am happy to see you too. Thank you very much. We will talk later. Thank you," he said.
Anyanwu speaks on prison experience By Segun Orisajo
MRS. Chris Anyanwu, publisher of the Sunday (TSM) released along with eight others on Monday recounted her prison ordeal yesterday describing it as "waste of time and personal frustration."
Answering questions on the Voice of America (VOA), Mrs. Anyanwu said "each passing day you spend in the prison is a waste of time, because you are virtually doing nothing.
"Professor Wole Soyinka was a lucky man. He wrote the book "The Man Died" while here in Kaduna Prison. Honestly it `s killing to have to go through the prison experience like the one l had.
"Everyday you kept asking yourself, am l dreaming, is it real? What am I doing here ?"
Mrs. Anyanwu was serving the 15 year jail term in Kaduna over the 1995 alleged coup plot to overthrow the government of late Gen. Sani Abacha when freedom came her way on Monday.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---
Our prison ordeals
Kokori: Soldiers guard me naked By Funmi Komolafe, Labour Editor & Austin Udueni
TRADE unionist, Chief Frank Ovie Kokori just released from detention yesterday wept for the failure of the labour movement to play the lead role in the struggle for democracy.
Chief Kokori, general secretary of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) who arrived his Surulere, Lagos residence, in the company of his wife, Esther and son, Efe at about 1.20 p.m. looked frail and aged. He looked more like a man of 65 than a man of 54 that he actually is.
Chief Kokori who had been detained without trial since August 20, 1994 had grown a lot of grey hair. He asked journalists to join him in singing "We have decided to build the nation, we have decided to build the nation, we have decided to build the nation, no turning back, no turning back."
Kokori who repeatedly asked "what happened to organised labour?" thanked the press and pro-democracy groups, human rights activists for the role they played in getting him released.
Chief Kokori continued: "What happened to organised labour? But let me thank first of all, since labour betrayed this country, the militant press and when I talk about the militant press, let me not fail to mention the Tell people, the Tempo people, the liberal press let me remember the Punch people, the Guardian people, the Vanguard people and all the other liberal press.
"Let me thank Gani Fawehinmi, the Senior advocate of Africa, God bless that man. What happened to organized labour? ( He begins to weep).
"I was locked up and the labour movement in this country could not save me (he weeps louder) but God saved me.
(Still sobbing) "I thank the press, I thank the press, I thank the international community, nobody should have been able to remove Abacha. I thank NADECO. I thank those people, those old people, I thank Enahoro, I thank Soyinka (still weeping) who should have been enjoying their retirement. I thank all of them.
"What happened to organized labour? These people who stood against freedom and human democracy, the Nigerian labour movement, the leaders not the people, not the masses, the masses were ready to fight, the leaders betrayed them.
"I thank NUPENG, God bless NUPENG, ( journalists responded Amen), God bless PENGASSAN (journalists responded Amen) .
"Oh God! You journalists, God bless all of you (Amen). You have done wonderful things. God lives and there is God. I knew Abacha would not release me. I never wanted to be released under Abacha's compassion, even with all my hardship and struggles and pains. I never knew God would intervene in this terrible way. God is great.
"You see, when my story will come to this country, my story will be told very soon. My autobiography was going on- NUPENG was my life. They know (pointing to journalists) some of them know about it but it won't come out now, another book is coming out and when it comes, Nigerians will read but there are still some few Nigerians who read.
"If I had betrayed, I should have got the whole world, anything I want in this world. I stood for principles and when my book will be out , people will know that this country was ruled by brutes for the past five years.
"But God says enough is enough. But as I have well said, the leadership of the Nigerian labour movement, I always say what happened to organised labour? What happened to organised labour?
"Labour leaders standing against freedom and human democracy. What are we trained for? The labour movement is an egalitarian movement. We are supposed to be on the side of the people not on the side of the oppressor. Look at where I stay. In a humble place like this, which other Nigerian has the contact I've had in this world. If I wanted pleasure, should I be staying here?
"I told Paschal (the then NLC president) just before I was picked up. I said let us be on the side of history. Paschal said no, he does not care, what part of history he belongs to.
I said Paschal, let us be on the good side of history. We shall fight this battle and we shall win. But the military at that time, were even scared of labour if not that black legs went to betray NUPENG, they were already falling.
"So, we leave that for now, gentlemen of the press."
Mrs. Kokori interjected and said: "You have to thank the new head of state."
Her husband responded, saying: "Normally, General Abubakar was brought in by God to do a job. I will thank God for using General Abdulsalam to do certain things for this country.
"I believe God brought in Abacha to do some thing for this country. You see, in situations like that, certain animals are brought into a generation to do certain things, to expose the people.
"If M.K.O had formed his government in 1993, it should have been a government of charlatans. Because if you now imagine that people like Jakande should have played a big role, people like Babatope and others should have played big roles but today, we now know who is who. God is great.
"Like I said, we have decided to rebuild the nation. No going back. The people will overcome. Nigeria is a great country and what has happened brought the incident of these past few years. If I'd been given the opportunity in 1993 but today, I'll be an excellent leader. In other words, from today, I will know how to respect every individual in this world. From today, I will take every other person's opinion into consideration.
"From today, let me tell Nigerians, you people, material wealth is nothing. It means nothing. I have one of the strongest pains.
"I know there is God. When finally, the junta decided to take me to the hospital on the 10th of November last year (1997), the medical doctor had recommended since February 1996 that I should be taken for specialist care for my waist and my spinal cord, because I can't sleep, I can't do anything. The prison authorities wrote many times to Aso Rock. They refused. From February 1996 to November 1997 that is almost 20 months, I was not taken to the hospital. When finally, I was taken to the hospital, there was a platoon of the military, armed to the teeth. "A platoon from Bama and they surrounded me. Could you imagine me, being stripped naked and soldiers with armed guns looking at the doctors when they were examining me?
"Over 10 armed soldiers but finally, the doctor said, Chief you don't have any terminal illness. The medical director of University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital examined everything. Every test was done. In other words, Aso Rock dramatised my entry into the hospital. So because of the dramatisation, everybody was now working. Because when you now see your hospital occupied by a platoon, armed with automatic weapons and everything, and when they examined, the chief medical director of University Maiduguri Teaching Hospital said look, we know you are in pains but you will remain in pains until you leave this hospital.
"He said nothing terminally is wrong with you. Given your spinal problem, everything is intact. It is just that you were kept in that place for too long. So, the only thing I can tell you is that when you leave that place, you will regain your health. And everything about this world, you now remember God.
"The press you've done wonderful job because when every other sector had been brutalised, the judiciary had been reduced to nonentity, the labour movement had been disbanded and the venal leaders there, they've sold out the country. Student unionism had been reduced to nothing. So it was the press that remained and God will bless all of you ( journalists said Amen) .
"There is no freedom for Nigeria without freedom for M.K.O and his people's mandate. We say that there can never be freedom. I'm happy I'm here but there can never be freedom for this country unless there is freedom for M.K.O. and his people's mandate.
"Well, as I said, General Abubakar, I will only advise him that God has brought him in to do certain jobs. He should now release every other Nigerian that is in detention, political prisoners, prisoners of conscience.
"I salute the human rights movement. They've done wonderful things. I remember before I went to prison, in the heat of the June 12 struggle, Gani Fawehinmi, Frederick Fasheun, Beko, Falana, they would come to my office to hold meetings with NUPENG and they would be thanking me.
"I said don't thank NUPENG, let me thank you people. Here is NUPENG, we are fighting a battle with a sword. We still have a sword. You people were fighting with hands, ordinary hands. The labour movement has a sword but they could not use it. I was always thanking them. Those men were great men. These human rights people, they tried and God bless all of them.
"Well, I will undergo full medical check up, locally then I will after sometime, go abroad for another medical treatment.
" I will rest but I know from now on Nigeria will move forward and never again in the history of this country will this type of thing happen again.
"We will never accept it again in this country. The rest years I have on this earth, I will devote it to the struggle to make Nigeria a better place.
"We will never give any dictator any chance again. We will never give any tyrant any chance again and Nigeria will move forward and will be a great country.
"I thank all of you and God bless you all."
Vanguard Transmitted 18 June, 1998
+----------------------------------------------------------+ | victor aina | e-mail: aina@sfu.ca | fax:(604) 291-5944 |