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Flashback on History: How Parcel Bomb Killed Dele Giwa, ‘The Flaming Journalist Who Gave Tyrants Nightmares’

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Dele Giwa
Yesterday, Thursday 19th October, marks the 31st remembrance anniversary of Sumonu Oladele ‘Baines’ Giwa (16 March 1947 – 19 October 1986); a legendary Nigerian journalist, died after he was killed through a parcel bomb.
In a 2016 article, Bayo Oluwasanmi described Dele Giwa as “a flaming journalist with a fiery message of rebuke” who had a “knack for packaging stories that injected sleeplessness and nightmares in the tyrants of his days…Click Here To Continue Reading>> …Click Here To Continue Reading>> READ FULL STORY HERE>>>CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING>>>

On Thursday, October 19, 2017, it became 31 years since Giwa, pioneer editor-in-chief of Newswatch, was assassinated.
Giwa was reportedly killed after he received a parcel bomb which detonated at his residence, then located at No. 25  Talabi street, Ikeja, Lagos state.
The journalist who died at 39 was known for exposing corrupt and illegal dealings of the government and this earned him recognition.
The assassination occurred two days after he had been questioned by officials of the State Security Service (SSS).
The Newswatch editor had just written an article on second-tier foreign exchange market (SFEM), a Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) policy introduced at the time.
Under the SFEM policy, the determination of the naira exchange rate and allocation of foreign exchange were based on market forces.
In the piece, Giwa said if SFEM failed, the people would stone “their leaders in the streets”.
Ajibola Kunle Togun, the then deputy director of the SSS, later met with Giwa and said he did not find anything offensive in the story.
But in a different turn of events, Ray Ekpu, a colleague of Giwa, said Togun accused the journalist of planning to publish the “other side” of the story on the circumstances that led to the removal of Ebitu Ukiwe as chief of staff to Ibrahim Babangida, former military head of state.
Giwa was also accused of plotting with the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and other groups to carry out a “socialist revolution”.
Around the same time, Giwa was quizzed by Halilu Akilu of the directorate of military intelligence (DMI) over an allegation that he had been heard speaking to some people about arms importation.
He appeared at the SSS headquarters on the matter on October 16, 1986 — two days to his assassination.
On October 18, Akilu called Giwa’s home and asked his wife Funmi for directions as he wanted to stop by on his way to Kano.
On the day of the assassination, the DMI official reportedly told Giwa over the telephone that the matter had been resolved after the journalist inquired about his frequent calls.
Not long after the call, a package was delivered to Giwa which severely wounded him. He was with Kayode Soyinka, London bureau chief of Newswatch, who narrowly escaped the blast after he excused himself to visit the restroom.
Giwa was taken to the hospital but later died from the wounds he sustained from the blast. He would have been 70 this year.
Although, Mohammed Buba Marwa, a former military governor of Lagos state, has been accused of being the courier of the bomb, no one has been convicted for Giwa’s murder.
Meanwhile on June 8, 2009, Professor Taiyemiwo Ogunade gave a bombshell interview in which he made startling revelations about those who killed Dele Giwa in 1986.
While speaking with SaharaReporters, he spoke specifically about the role of former military administrator of Lagos State Buba Marwa in the assassination of the journalist.
Dr. Ogunade disclosed that soldiers loyal to the slain General Mamman Vatsa identified Marwa as the person who delivered the parcel bomb that killed Giwa, the Newswatch magazine founder.
He said the revelation came from a confidential discussion he had with one of the military boys who came to the City University of New York (CUNY) to press the college to train Nigerian military officials in “Peace and Conflict Resolution”. He said that Vatsa gave a four-hour long testimony to the military tribunal that tried and later sentenced him to death for a phantom coup plot against former military dictator, Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida.
Here are the excerpts;
 
Do you know who delivered the bomb that killed Dele Giwa?
I believe that Buba Marwa did it. Some Mamman Vatsa boys told the full story in New York during a visit to my college to lobby our college to accept to train Nigerian military officers. Ambassador Olusola was on that entourage. [My informant] told me Dele Giwa was killed because he was in possession of a tape containing Vatsa’s testimony before the military tribunal. For four hours, Vatsa requested to tell the full story about how the Babangida regime was operating and his knowledge of the workings of IBB’s mind. He pointed out that after Halilu Akilu and Col. A.K Togun of the military intelligence prepared the parcel it was handed over to Buba Marwa to deliver to Dele Giwa. Marwa is a well–known “IBB boy”. But I was the one who gave Dele Giwa the tape.
 
How did you get the tape?
Vatsa had a copy made by his friends in the tribunal and smuggled out to me and I “loaned” it to Dele Giwa who got on the case immediately. I still don’t know how Dele Giwa found out that I had the tape till this day.
 
Do you still have a copy?
Yes, but you know I left Nigeria hurriedly after the death of Dele Giwa. I left [the tape] with my aged mother, who did not know the value then. I won’t say more, let the military release that tape to the Nigerian public.
 
Did Dele Giwa return the tape to you?
Yes, he returned it after 24 hours. Don’t forget that I loaned it to him; I think he went and played it to Babangida’s people and they eliminated him after they heard the tape.

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I Just Met This Guy, He Took Me To a Hotel When We Got There, What He Did Left Me Outraged

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I walked into an eatery one afternoon to order takeout. While I waited for my food I kept busy with my phone. A man walked up to me with determination on his face. He smiled and said “Hello my name is Victor. I have been trying to get your attention from my table over there (he points to a far-off table). READ FULL STORY HERE>>>CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING>>>

You didn’t even blink in my direction.” I looked at him and said “Sorry I’ve been engrossed with my phone.” He said “I can see that. I suppose that’s how to get your attention, through your phone. Can you give me your number then?” I didn’t mind giving…Read Full Story Here……..

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1999 Toronto Saga: How Former Speaker, Salisu Buhari, Declared False Age and Forged University Certificate

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On the 3rd of June, 1999, Salisu Buhari, a 29-year-old Nigerian businessman who made his fortune dealing in computers, was elected as the speaker of the House of Representatives in Nigeria, a position which constitutionally made him the fourth most important person in Nigeria.

Unknowing to his colleagues, the government and the whole of Nigeria, Salisu Buhari was not qualified for the office he occupied. Few weeks after he was elected, findings revealed that Salisu Buhari, the sixth Speaker of the House of Rep. forged his way to power…Click Here To Continue Reading>> …Click Here To Continue Reading>>

 

The News Magazine released an article on the 19th of July, 1999 claiming that Salisu Buhari is seven years younger than the 36 years he claimed to be and that he didn’t attend the University of Toronto in Canada not to talk of graduating from the institution. The News Magazine had more than enough proofs to back their claims thus suppressing all threats made by Salisu Buhari and his lawyers to sue them for libel.

Salisu Buhari
Salisu Buhari

It was made known to the world that Salisu Buhari, the self-acclaimed Toronto University graduate, was actually born in 1970 and not in 1963 which he claimed. This rendered him unqualified to be the Speaker as section 65 subsection 1 of the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria disqualified anybody under 30 years from contesting membership of the House of Representatives.

Also, it was made known that Salisu Buhari didn’t attend the University of Toronto in Canada not to talk of graduating with a degree in Business Administration in 1990. The University of Toronto, when asked, denied knowing Salisu Buhari. The management said they couldn’t find any record relating to the his name. Carlo Villanueva, an official of the Institution said,

Regarding your request for confirmation of degree for Mr. Ibrahim Salisu Buhari. We have searched our records and could not find anybody with the name you are inquiring with”.

Letter from University of Toronto
Letter from University of Toronto

Also, Salisu claimed that he did his national youth service at Standard Construction in Kano. This was proven false as records at the NYSC secretariat in Abuja could not produce his name among the 1991 corps members who served in the scheme. READ FULL STORY HERE>>>CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING>>>

Blocked in every way, he had no means of escape. After several open denial of the allegations and threats to sue The News Magazine, Salisu Buhari, on Thursday, July 23, 1999, eventually faced Nigerians and admitted declaring false age and forging certificate. In tears, he said,

“I apologize to you. I apologize to the nation. I apologize to my family and friends for all the distress I have caused them. I was misled in error by the zeal to serve the nation, I hope the nation will forgive me and give me the opportunity to serve again.”

He then resigned and walked into the shadows. In 2013, he made his return to the news and the public space when he was appointed as a member of the governing council of the University of Nigeria by President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration.

Normally, the move garnered a lot of criticism. In a feeble attempt to justify the appointment, the Nigerian government explained that Buhari’s apology had earned him a presidential pardon from President Olusegun Obasanjo.

 

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The Man Called Adegoke Adelabu ‘Penkelemesi’

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Joseph Gbadamosi Adegoke Adelabu alias Adelabu Penkelemesi was a colossal in the political arena of Ibadan and the then Western Region before the independence of Nigeria in 1960.

He was born in Oke-Oluokun, Ibadan, on September 3, 1915 to Mr. Sanusi Ashiyanbi Adelabu and Mrs. Awujola Adelabu. At the tender age of five, Adegoke Adelabu lost his mother and then lived with his paternal aunt. Adegoke Adelabu attended St. David’s C.M.S School in Kudeti, Ibadan from 1925 to 1929; CMS Central School, Mapo, Ibadan in 1930 and Government College, where he was a head boy, from 1931 to 1936…Click Here To Continue Reading>> …Click Here To Continue Reading>>

 

In 1936, Adegoke won a U.A.C scholarship to study commerce in Yaba Higher College but eventually left the college six months later to work as an assistant to the UAC Ibadan district manager. After working with UAC for sometime, he was promoted to an Assistant Manager due to his hard and clever work. However, he left UAC in 1937 to start a business of his own which was unsuccessful. He later took up a civil service job, then returned to UAC in 1945 only to leave after a short period to start a textile trading business which was successful.

After acquiring little wealth from his textile business, Adegoke Adelabu got involved in politics. The starting point of his political career was traced to the period when Ibadan lineage chiefs (Mogajis) rose against Salami Agbaje, the then Otun Balogun of Ibadan, from becoming the Olubadan of Ibadan. In 1951, during the local elections, Adelabu and some other political elements formed a new party called the Ibadan People’s Party to challenge the already established Ibadan Progressive Union and fortunately for Adelabu, the new party won all six seats to the Western Regional Assembly. READ FULL STORY HERE>>>CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING>>>

However, the Ibadan People’s Party broke apart after an informal alliance with NCNC was proposed by Adelabu. Adegoke Adelabu stayed with NCNC and became the secretary of the party’s Western Province Working Committee. In 1954, Adelabu became the chairman of Ibadan District Council. Also, in the Federal elections of 1954, Adegoke Adelabu won a seat to the House of Representatives and later became the First National Vice President of NCNC and appointed Minister of Social Services. He held this post along with his chairmanship of the Ibadan district council.

He later resigned from both positions after allegations of corruption by the opposition party, Action Group.
In 1956, Adelabu ran for a seat in the regional assembly as the leader of NCNC in the Western Region but his party lost majority seats to Action Group thus making Adelabu the leader of opposition in the Western House of Assembly.
Adegoke Adelabu alias Adelabu Penkelemesi was a strong politician, leader and had his ground, a firm ground, in Ibadan. He was found of using the phrase “Peculiar mess” whenever he address the public. The non-literate segment of his followers who had never heard of the words peculiar and mess and never knew its meaning Yorubanized the phrase into “Penkelemesi” and then added it to his name- Adegoke Adelabu Penkelemesi. The people so much loved Adelabu. He was indeed a ‘man of the people’. OldNaija gathered that when he became the Minister of Labour, he was given an official limousine car which he drove to Ibadan to show his friends and followers and declared that the car belonged to them, not him. Also, when Adelabu was given an official residence in Ikoyi, the most exquisite part of Lagos inhabited mostly by the British and French, he called drummers from his hometown to celebrate the success which the British and French residents found disturbing. Adegoke Adelabu simply said, “If they do not like noise and drumming, they are free to go back to their own country.” Adegoke Adelabu admitted being an egoist in a book he wrote in 1952 titled ‘Africa In Ebullition: Being a handbook of freedom for Nigerian nationalists’.

Adegoke Adelabu and Obafemi Awolowo
Adegoke Adelabu and Obafemi Awolowo

On March 25, 1958, at the age of 43, Adegoke Adelabu met his untimely death in a fatal car accident on the Lagos-Ibadan expressway. His death sparked protest and chaos in Ibadan as many of his supporters claimed he was assassinated by his opponents with juju. Several properties were destroyed and people also lost their lives. The police arrested over 500 persons of whom 102 was charged with murder and others discharged and some, jailed. It was indeed a big loss, a “peculiar miss” for the people of Ibadan.

 

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