Standing true to one’s conviction, By Simbo Olorunfemi

I was supposed to be in exile from journalism, but during my visits to the front office, I was able to meet great Generals like Ndubuisi Kanu and Alani Akinrinade. The chairman will introduce me. Then, unannounced, he left Nigeria. I never saw him again. It’s so sad. May God Almighty comfort the family of the Great General, who at great cost, remained faithful to their beliefs.

There was nothing surprising about meeting Air Commodore Dan Suleiman for the first time. He was at the bank for a meeting of the Board of Directors, which he chaired at the time. I am in charge of Public Relations and my path always crosses with members of the Council, while doing my job.

Things will start to get interesting in a few years. We were facing a full Board crisis, with the Managing Director dismissed by the Board taking the Bank to court. At this time, the Board began to play a more important role in the affairs of the Bank and with that, I interfaced more often with the Chairman.

But just as it became more interesting in the bank, so it happened in the political arena. General Babangida, playing football with the political elite, kept changing the goalposts. They simply banned political parties and created two parties by fiat. MKO Abiola has emerged as the candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) after a fierce contest in Jos.

Soon, speculations abounded as to who would be MKO’s partner. One of the names mentioned is our Chairman, Air Commodore Dan Suleiman. Being a Christian from the North (Adamawa), it was thought that he would suit MKO Abiola who is a Muslim from the South, to balance the ticket.

Our hope rose when a few days to the announcement of his mate, MKO Abiola went to Archbishop Vining Memorial Anglican Church in the company of our Chairman to witness the wedding ceremony of our colleague, one of them is the daughter of Colonel Madaki .

Pressure from the governor, as usual, will force the hand of MKO Abiola, leading to the choice of the Chairman of the party, Baba Gana Kingibe, as a running mate.

June 12 is coming. History was made, but on June 23, the story was turned on its head. The country is on fire, because Babangida insists on doing so. The Interim National Government, an illegal apparatus, could not stem the tide. Then came Sani Abacha.

One day, I received a call from the Chairman, asking me to go to his house in Victoria Island. The crisis in the bank then degenerate. I thought the phone had something to do with it. But that is not the case.

A month before, General Abacha had taken power. There was a famous meeting between Abiola and Abacha, where some agreement was reached.

Sitting opposite him in the front office, he casually pointed to the phone on the desk, as he described how Abacha, who was a former colleague, had called someone on the phone to broker a meeting with MKO Abiola. A short video clip of the meeting will be shown by the NTA, which does not guard the country, sending mixed signals.

But as he gave his briefing that day, it was clear that the tone had changed. The possibility of making a deal is now off the table. Abacha had reneged on his promises to Abiola and his team when he took over and quickly consolidated his power.

NADECO was his response to Abacha who had just emerged. Together with others, they form a coalition. I was the protem Chairman and then was named Vice Chairman after some re-arrangement.

He taught me that day to make a press release. The only thing I remember from the document was the call for Abacha to step down in favor of a unity government led by Abiola. He went in and I went around the whole newspaper house.

That’s just the beginning. At some point, MKO Abiola declared himself president and then went underground for a while. He came out and was arrested. Then, there was a spate of arrests involving Tinubu and others. And attack; bombs, etc.

One day I arrived at the Chairman’s front office as usual, only to be told about the attempted bombing of the building the night before. I was shocked by what I saw, going around the house – petrol cans, hoses connected to AC sets. The plan was to bomb the house where someone was staying overnight. It is a miracle that they were able to find this before the plan could hatch. They survived.

After trying to survive, the Chairman was forced to go into exile, from where he continued his struggle, becoming the Chairman, NADECO Abroad, only to return to Nigeria after the death of Abacha.

As it turned out, the sole decision of Air Commodore Dan Suleiman to take the path of honor, stood firmly in defense on June 12, even though he had not been chosen as a MKO mate, even though Kingbe, the man. chosen instead he has come full circle, become part of the Abacha cabinet, will finally redefine Suleiman’s place in history.

He was a General. He has served as Governor of Plateau State, Federal Commissioner (Minister), member of the Supreme Military Council. He had been an Ambassador and played top roles in the business world in a personal capacity, but at the time of his death, he was largely celebrated as a pro-democracy activist and leader of NADECO.

I find a tribute by NADECO trenchant and especially fit:

“Our indefatigable leader, Dan was born in Guyuk, now in Adamawa State, in 1942, making him 81 years old when he transitioned to glory.

Cmdr. The life and time of Dan Suleiman (DS) was rich in good causes and service to God and humanity.

First, DS was a member of Murtala Mohammed’s Supreme Military Council (SMC) between July 1975 and March 1976 and was the Military Governor of Plateau State from March 1976 to July 1978 after the State was created from part of the old Benue Plateau State.

Secondly, he was appointed to the Cabinet of General Yakubu Gowon in January 1975 as Federal Commissioner for Special Duties, and he was instrumental in establishing the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). After the overthrow of General Gowon’s government by General M. Mohammed, DS was re-appointed as the Federal Health Commissioner.

Third, when General Babangida annulled Bashorun MKO Abiola’s victory in the 1993 Presidential Election and General Abacha eventually also established a military dictatorship, DS opposed and rejected the annulment and the new strongman.

Fourth, as the main light of the Leadership of the Middle Belt Forum, when the Forum decided in a meeting held at the home of Chief DB Zang in Jos to attend the preliminary meetings and consultations that gave birth to NADECO in Lagos, DS is one of the founders and titans. NADECO. He is a key member of the apex body, the Steering Committee, which is the Decision Making Body.

Five, as a result of his leading role, General Abacha suffered a lot from being a member of the DS NADECO and tried several times to win back the DS but failed. In fact, in several critical meetings held at DS’ Lagos residence in Victoria Island, General Abacha exploited the friendship between the late founder of the Guardian Newspaper, Chief Alex Ibru who was the Minister of Home Affairs to always reach out to NADECO through DS. But NADECO refused any formal meeting with the goggled General Abacha, insisting on having an agenda and each side notifying them of their position on the agenda. Even though NADECO proposed agendas and expressed positions on each agenda, General Abacha only sent the President of the Government jet to transport us to Abuja and we declined the offer.

Sixth, DS should be forced to go into exile in August 1994 when we have reliable intelligence information that General Abacha has spread a dragnet to arrest and or capture DS. It was a painful decision that we had to decide that DS should leave Nigeria at night. The decision was taken in my secret office which is Chief Olu Falae Osborne’s Office, Victoria Island.

Seven, DS became the first Chairman of NADECO Abroad, then based in London. He only returned home on October 7, 1998 after the death of General Abacha and the amnesty declared for all exiles by the government of General Abdusalami Abubakar. On his return, he joined the group that formed the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and held different positions including Nigeria’s Ambassador to the Soviet Union and President of the Middle Belt Forum. DS is a reliable, friendly and energetic leader whose void will be difficult to fill…

When my career in television, which, in fact, just began to take shape, took a detour in the direction of banking, little did I know where it would lead me. I’m just following Demosthenes’ lead that “a small opportunity is often the beginning of a great enterprise.” I was just walking around, and as it turned out, nothing could have prepared me for what the trip was like.

It was supposed to work in the corporate world of Broad Street, but it soon became one of working in an unspecified capacity with our bank chairman, risking everything to serve the country as a pro-democracy leader. I was supposed to be in exile from journalism, but during my visits to the front office, I was able to meet great Generals like Ndubuisi Kanu and Alani Akinrinade. The chairman will introduce me. Then, unannounced, he left Nigeria. I never saw him again. It’s so sad. May God Almighty comfort the family of the Great General, who at great cost, remained faithful to their beliefs.

Simbo Olorunfemi works at Hoofbeatdotcom, a Nigerian communications consultant and publisher. African companies. Twitter: @simboolorunfemi