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I Regret Not toppling Obasanjo --Malu; His Comments Treasonable, Says
Presidency

Vanguard (Lagos)
NEWS
January 31, 2006
Posted to the web January 31, 2006

By Emeka Mamah & Rotimi Ajayi
Kaduna
FORMER Chief of Army Staff, General Victor Malu said, yesterday, he regretted
not overthrowing President Olusegun Obasanjo's government while he was in
service. Malu spoke at the General Assembly of the umbrella organisation of all
northern cultural unions, Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), in Kaduna. His speech
came against the backdrop of an appeal by the Chairman of ACF, Chief Sunday
Awoniyi, for the North to put its house in order for the good of the area and
Nigerians in general.
Malu said because of his loyalty to President Obasanjo and respect for
democracy while still in service, he refused to do "what he was supposed to
do." The former Army boss, however, blamed northern leaders for standing aloof
while their people were being prosecuted.
Excerpts: "Maybe because I was loyal to Obasanjo, I would have done what I was
supposed to do; but I believed in democracy. So, I did not organise to
overthrow him. Because I am a principled trained officer, I insisted on the
principles being applied.
"For that, I disagreed with Gen. Obasanjo on certain issues. I told him that if
he thought that he made me Chief of Army Staff as a favour, I think he should
tell me who to hand over to. I think it was a blessing that I was kicked out,
otherwise, I might have changed my mind from being a democrat to something
else.
"The public does not know this: We had a lot of disagreements. He was my
Commander-in-Chief. But for goodness sake, give me the credit having served the
army for 34 years.
"If I am not intelligent, I have the experience to count on. It was principally
on the issue of the Americans who were allowed to come in here and fraternise
with us, live in the barracks with us under the pretext of coming to train us
for peacekeeping.
"I can tell you with every confidence that if any country is to embark on the
training of others for peacekeeping, Nigeria should be doing that. Peace-
keeping is not nuclear warfare, it is not chemical warfare. It is a job that we
infantry people do and that is what we have been doing since the sixties.
"So, we are more competent in that than any other country. As a matter of fact,
when Americans came to Nigeria, they came because they were wondering how a
third world country, with all the sanctions would achieve the feat we achieved
in Liberia.
"So, they came to update their knowledge of the Nigerian Armed Forces... They
felt it was an opportunity and they found a willing tool in Obasanjo who asked
us to give the people access to everything.
"The point is that the results are already showing themselves. Now, we have the
Americans sitting at the backyard because of the oil in the Equatorial Guinea.
Government has been asking questions as if they didn't know such could be the
pattern. But the whole result of what happened was that, we are now so
vulnerable that a country like Benin Republic can disgrace us.
"We talk about the presidency. For God's sake, we have won the presidency over
and over again. I live in Lagos. Go to the South-West zone of this country and
see the economic empowerment of the region.
"We don't talk about what is happening to the North. We are talking about the
presidency. As a true Nigerian, I don't care if my president is from Cameroon
as long as he runs the country that will give us the honour and dignity we
deserve as a country.
"Things happen to some parts of the North and you don't hear anybody say
anything. Things happen to your clan from the North and you don't hear anybody
say anything. I specifically remember the case of the declaration of state of
emergency in Plateau State. That was an issue you all know was
unconstitutional. The northern leadership did not say anything.
"We waited and waited for your strong voice from the leadership of the North.
Besides the case of Plateau which is still going on, our children, sons of the
North are being used to bring us down to our knees.
"Why would the case affecting an individual or a government warrant the
freezing of the account of the whole government? Who is suffering? It is not
Dariye. Everybody resident in Plateau is suffering.
"I have not heard any opposition to that from the northern leadership and I
feel concerned. For the past
six years we have Dambatta, Muazu, Al-Mustapha, Gen. Bamaiyi in prison for
attempting to murder. I didn't know it was possible to keep someone in prison
for that length of time for attempted murder," he said.
On the N17 billion which former Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Tafa Balogun,
was said to have embezzled, Malu said: "This was the money that Tafa Balogun
got to rig the elections for Gen. Obasanjo. He did the job but in the process,
he was very selfish, he did not share the money with his commanders. They were
the ones who reported this case...to EFCC and by the time the truth came out,
it was too late for Obasanjo to stop the investigations.
"For stealing N17 billion, the man got six months and he has spent three months
comfortably in a hospital bed," he said.
Earlier in his remarks, Chief Awoniyi had spoken of the urgent need for the
North to get its acts together for the restoration of unity in the area.
Malu's statement treasonable, says Presidency
Meanwhile the Presidency yesterday took exception to the comments made by the
former Chief of General Staff, Major General Victor Malu (rtd).
The Public Affairs Assistant to President Obasanjo, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode,
said Malu's statement was treasonable.
He said: "Let me assure you that if he had tried that, he would have failed
woefully. Not only would he have failed but he would have been caught,
manacled, prosecuted and convicted for treason.
"Only an enemy of democracy with criminal intent can make such submission. It
is also a treasonable and utterly reprehensible submission. Let me assure you
that even if he had attempted to do so, he would not have succeeded because the
Lord is with Mr President and Nigeria.
"By the grace of God and will of Nigerian people, democracy is here to stay.
Whatever differences we have in this country, we must be able to settle within
the confine of democracy.
"It is really very sad no matter how bad anybody feels about anything, that
some people are thinking of coup and coups d'etat all the time, especially
somebody that had risen to the position of the Chief of Army Staff in a
democracy. But we are not in the least bothered by such statement and
sentiment," he said.

   

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