Abubakar's Clemency saved me from execution , is not the same as a State pardon from Jonathan.......Gen Oladipo Diya
Late Gen Sanni Abacha
There’s difference between clemency and state pardon, says Diya •Urges Jonathan to implement Oputa Panel report Former Chief of General Staff (CGS), Gen. Oladipo Diya (Rtd), who was implicated in a phantom coup attempt in 1997, was pardoned recently, along with others, by President Jonathan, whom, he says he owes a lot of appreciation, and to millions of Nigerians, and the Almighty God, who stood by him and his colleagues during their trial. The former Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) spoke to reporters in Lagos. DID former Head of State, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar, grant you pardon? Some people mix up the meaning of clemency and state pardon. What Gen. Abubakar granted us was clemency, which was different from the state pardon President Jonathan granted to the others and me on Tuesday, March 2013. The cmency was the authority vested in the Head of State to release us from our various places of detentions. I was released from the Potiskum Prison. If there were no clemency, the sentence would still have been on, which was execution.le Our ranks were not restored neither our entitlements. If what Abubakar granted us was pardon, immediately we were released from prisons, all payments due to us would have followed but that was not done. Even my personal security, the one for my family and my house would have been returned through pardon and not clemency. I would like to appreciate the role of the Inspector General of Police, who has been providing me with police security wherever I go. It is not his duty to do that but he exercised that power through the permission of the President. Do not forget that I am a former Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) and that, by interpretation, is the highest you can attain professionally in the armed forces. If you become CDS, you are like the commander of the armed forces exercising your powers through the president. Up till now, policemen are still guarding me and not soldiers; even the security meant for my house and my family, as a former CDS, had not been restored but now that a pardon has been granted, I would not be surprised if a formal letter is written to me as a former CDS and everything will take proper and official shape from the very date the letter stipulates. Why did you choose to serve under such a tyrannical government headed by Gen. Sani Abacha? Permit me to use the word of my friend, Chief Ebenezer Babatope, who said that he would have regretted if he did not serve in that government. I am also saying that the administration of Gen. Sani Abacha assembled one of the best cabinets that had ever been assembled by any government in this country. Name any gentle and credible character that did not participate in the government? Are the likes of former governor of Lagos State, Alhaji Lateef Jakande, Dr. Alex Ibru, Chief Olu Onagoruwa, and respected and prominent people from the northern part of the country and other credible characters? I can never see anybody that will say it was an error for him to serve in that cabinet. I do not see anything that was wicked and tyrannical in that government but we are all human beings. It got to a point that we looked at the situation in the country and we had to make some suggestions but unfortunately, our suggestions did not go well with some people and that was why, during my trial, I made that statement: “Where is so and so? Oh! This is a conspiracy and I am the target.” I said it openly and I knew what I went through that night after the speech. Anyway, that experience is now history but I am now referring to the Oputa Panel Report. Of course, the government did not publish the report but it was on the Internet and everybody read it. I want President Jonathan to implement the recommendations made in the report. I am saying this for the benefits of a lot of civilians, who went through torture during the period. The panel listened to everybody that was involved and made recommendations. I am pleading that the president should unveil and implement it. If I may draw a parallel between the Oputa Panel and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission set up in South Africa to look into several issues relating to what we went through, the South African government implemented the recommendations of the commission and this really did a lot to strengthen the relationships among the peoples of the country and made them to be peaceful. The South African government, on its own, did a lot to appease the people and this went a long way in stabilising the country and putting them on the path of development. It is unfortunate that many civilians were framed into the 1997 phantom coup just because of me. Honestly, I had never met many of them until we got to prison. I never knew many of the junior officers; they may have known me being a senior officer but I never knew them. For instance, I never met with the late Col. Akiode, who died in prison and yet, he was tried along with me for alleged coup. All theses issues were dealt with in the Oputa Panel report. It was a panel set up with public funds and it sat for almost three months in Abuja, Lagos and several other places. Why should the report be kept unattended to? Do you hold any grudge against the people that implicated you in the phantom coup? As a Christian, I don’t. Our Lord Jesus Christ taught us in the scriptures to forgive those who offended us so that our Father in heaven can also forgive us. I thank God that I am still alive and my families, too, are alive. Honestly, I don’t hold anything against anybody because if I do, I will not have the free conscience to continue to thank God for saving my life. As a matter of fact, one of the victims of the phantom coup told me during our travails that one thing he was sure of was that I would not die. The person told me while we were in the detention that he was sure that I wasn’t going to be executed. I really want to appreciate President Jonathan and all those who stood by us during the period. I want to say thank you to all the people of Nigeria and those in the international community for the kind of support they gave during the period. I am even told that one of those, who stood face to face with me during the ordeal, is now paralysed and any time I kneel to pray, I always remember him and beg God to forgive him. I never pray for anybody to be in that situation. Now that you have been granted pardon, are you nursing any political ambition? Of course, no! I do not have any political ambition now. I wouldn’t say I am not into politics because all Nigerians, who make observations about the situation of development in the country, are in a way or the other involved in politics. If I say I am not in politics, then I wouldn’t have the right to make comments on any issue, but I do not intend to go into partisan politics at least for now. As a former Chief of Defence Staff, what do you think about the security situation in the country? I am not in the position to assist in the security situation in the nation. During my time in the army, there was nothing like Boko Haram; there was no serious internal threat to our security then. If you ask any infantry soldier today, he will tell you the basic military tactics to deal with an enemy is fire and movement. You fire the enemy and move ahead. But now, when you fire and the person that you fire is coming towards you and he will not run or bulge, that requires another tactics entirely. The type of enemy we are talking about is even ready to die; he has already wired himself with explosives and doesn’t care if he explodes and perishes with you. I believe President Jonathan is putting his best together to address the situation and if he discovers there is need to change whatever tactics he is currently using to address the security situation, he will definitely do that. The president is in the best position to decide on what to do. If you recall Mamman Vatsa found himself in a similar situation , but he was not as Lucky as Diya as he was slayed by his Bosom friend I.B.B.  |
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