The goodness of Dr Olusola Saraki
If the truth be told many wonderful things are often said and written about great and powerful leaders in Nigeria after their passing. Some of these things are true and some are not. Yet In Saraki’s case I assure you that these things are really true. The following story that I am about to share […]
If the truth be told many wonderful things are often said and written about great and powerful leaders in Nigeria after their passing. Some of these things are true and some are not. Yet In Saraki’s case I assure you that these things are really true. The following story that I am about to share with you is not only an eloquent testimony to that but it also proves the fact that Dr Saraki was not only a truly great, compassionate and kind man but that he was also selfless and sensitive to the suffering of others. In early 1998, during the turbulent yet dying days of General Sani Abacha, a promising and brilliant young journalist by the name of Mr Tunde Oladepo, who at that time was the Abeokuta Bureau Chief of the Guardian Newspaper, was brutally murdered by agents of the Federal Military Government in his home in Abeokuta and in the presence of his wife and two very infant children. The murderers wore masks and committed the crime in a terrible way that is best left to the imagination of readers. I will not repeat those sordid details here.
What I will say is that no-one deserves to die in that way. After butchering Tunde the three murderers went over to the wife and children, who had been in the same room whilst the killing was taking place and who witnessed the whole event, and removed their masks so that she could see their faces clearly. They seemed to relish in the pain that they were causing her and the fear that they were instilling in the children. The point that they were conveying to the young bereaved widow, like all predators and beasts often do after their kill, was one of total impunity. They were saying that ‘’we have done this to you and your family, you have seen our faces and yet you are utterly powerless to do anything about it’’. This was the height of cruelty and after their horrendous display of callousness and brazen power and control they left the house. Yet the torment for the Oladepo family had only just started.
A little background would be helpful here. Tunde had been murdered simply because of his stringent and uncomromising support for NADECO and the fight for the realisation of the mandate of Chief M.K.O. Abiola who had won a free and fair Presidential election in 1993. Nigeria was in turmoil in those days and there was literally a war going on between those that supported NADECO and Abiola and those that supported Abacha and military rule.
Thousands of young men and women, mostly unsung and unkown, were murdered, tortured and driven into exile by the Government of that day simply because they stood on the side of righteousness, justice and truth. Tunde was one of such people. He was a great supporter of NADECO and he took great risks for his country, the cause of freedom and the cause of democracy. Sadly, in the end, he paid the supreme price for his stand. It was in that context, for that reason and with that background that Tunde Oladepo was murdered. Yet the torment of the Oladepo family did not end with his murder. As a matter of fact it had only just started.
I say this because what happened next beggars belief. During Tunde’s burial ceremony many came to honour him and of course they were most welcome. However to the utter shock and chagrin of his young widow and two young children, the three butchers that had killed her husband and that had also shown their faces to her after the murder turned up at the burial as well. Not only did they turn up but they also went over to the young widow and, with a wicked smile, whispered their ‘’commisserations’’ into her ears. This was not only frightening, bizarre and macabre but it also had the intended effect. Mrs Oladepo was completely terrified and was frozen into silence by fear and trepidation. Had they come back to kill her and her children too?
Did they have unfinished business with them? Was the pain and torment that they had inflicted on her family not enough? These were the questions that shot through her mind. Yet she had the presence of mind, courage and discipline to hold her peace knowing that if she didn’t she may invite instant death upon herself there and then and upon her children. What a strong lady she was. Once again she got the message from her tormentors loud and clear. And the message was the following- ‘’we kill, we bury, we destroy, we are above the law, we are untouchable, we control everything, we can get away with anything and there is NOTHING that you can do about it’’. Such was the nature of those that killed for Abacha and such was the clime of those dark, evil and dangerous days.
After the burial and after all the mourners left Mrs Oladepo soon found out that she and her two young children were all alone in the world. Not only did she fear for her life but she also feared for the future of her children. She had no means to live, she had no business and she was finding it difficult to get all the dues that were owed her husband. Worst still all those ‘’big men’’ (and I have their names) that her husband had supported and fought for in NADECO and most of his old friends turned their back on her and offered her nothing in terms of encouragement, substance, protection or support. She had no money and no way of surviving in a country that was exceptionally dangerous and that was in deep conflict and turmoil.
Worst of all she knew that it was only a matter of time before the assasins came back for her and her children because she had been forced to see their faces, not once but twice. She and her two children were the only living witnesses to their homicidal butchery and therefore they presented a real threat to them. The ‘’system’’, like the mafia, does not leave witnesses alive for long and they always tie up loose ends. It was only a matter of time and she knew it. Her only recourse was to secretly flee from Nigeria, just as many other NADECO widows and fighters had done, and seek greener pastures and safety elsewhere until the evil had passed. Yet for this she needed resources and support and there was none forthcoming from anywhere.
She was literally in despair and every day was a nightmare for her. She was deserted by all and she literally had to fend for herself and her two little children on a daily basis. These were indeed difficult days for the young widow because she had no money and all hope seemed lost. All she could do was cry, hope against hope and pray to God. Then things suddenly changed.
She was sitting in her house one afternoon and there was a knock on her door. She welcomed the strangers in with some trepidation, not knowing who they were or who sent them. There were two men. They told her that they worked for Dr Olusola Saraki and that they had been sent to her by him. They said that he did not know her husband and had never met him before but that he had read about the murder and terrible tragedy in the newspapers. They said that he felt moved by the fact that Oladepo had left a young widow behind and two infant children and that consequently he had sent a token of sum of money to them to help them at that difficult time.
They handed over 250,000 naira cash to her (which was a lot of money in those days) and then promptly left. Mrs Oladepo was overwhelmed and she knew that this was an answered prayer. Now she had the resources to leave Nigeria and, with the support of the NADECO network, she could move to the relative safety of Ghana and from there, with the support of NADECO and the Canadian Embassy in Accra, get a visa to Canada and settle there permanently with her family. This was her dream and it was the only way in which she felt that she could survive and protect herself from the madnes that had gripped Nigeria at the time. She made all the necessary arrangements and effected her plan within a matter of days.
Mrs Oladepo was smuggled through the NADECO routes and arrived in Accra in early 1998. That is where I had the privilege of meeting her and hearing her remarkable story. She was taken care of in Ghana by a tightly-knit, dedicated and committed group of NADECO operatives there led by Mr Bunmi Aborisade and Chief Tunde Edu. Bunmi is a good friend of mine and he was a brilliant and fearless journalist in Accra who at that time the editor of the Ghanian Independent Newspaper. Sadly and ironically Bunmi’s own dear mother was also murdered in brutal circumstances not too long after this as well. Many have paid a heavy price for the democracy that we enjoy in Nigeria today and most of them are not appreciated. Yet patriots like Aborisade were rare and utterly fearless and selfless. Without them the struggle against Abacha could not have been kept alive and they, more than anyone else, with their strong links with the Ghanaian government, the Americans and the Canadians ensured that Accra remained a safe-haven for NADECO sympathisers and operatives and a tough and very dangerous place for the supporters of Abacha.
It was these same NADECO operatives that helped Mrs Oladepo to stay in a safe house in Accra, protected her, encouraged her, supported her and, most important of all, liaised with the Canadian Embassy over there to ensure that she got the necessary permits and visa to be able to relocate to Canada as a political refugee with her two children permanently. During her stay in Accra Bunmie, Mrs Oladepo and her two beautiful children did me the honour of joining me and my family in our home for dinner. As she told her story tears ran down her face, just as they did that of my darling wife Regina’s. We were all moved and as she spoke there was pin-drop silence at the dinner table.
The other reason that I have shared this story with members of the public is because it is a resounding and eloquent testimony to and proof of Dr Olusola Saraki’s generosity and kindness.
May the Lord reward him for his good works, may the Lord forgive him for his sins, may the Lord honour him with Heaven and may the beautiful soul of this kind, generous and charming son of Nigeria rest in eternal peace.
Fani-Kayode was Minister of Aviation and lives in Abuja.