General musa bamaiyi biography examples

Running from Obasanjo's own Shadow: Cleaning the Nigeria's Augean Stable

The current efforts of the Obasanjo administration in Nigeria’s crackdown upon corrupt political actors, no matter the nature of its selectivity and noxiousness, would have ordinarily merited great appraise. However, that is not yet the case. It is becoming glaring that “corruption” is an ideological tool of perpetuating self-interests in deluding and distracting the nation. We have seen this happened before. Even the late despotic tyrant, General Sani Abacha, presented such a face when he went against people and institutions he termed as corrupt, with virulent antics and rhetoric that sent many to Alagbon close confiscating their properties. Today, we know that Abacha, moral or economic reformist as some sectors of the Nigerian media labeled him them, was just a bandit with a thievery hand and consciousness.

Today, even President Obasanjo has shown how his lack of imagination and power to reorder the Nigerian social and political systems has become his greatest challenge. Thus, he runs far away from his own shadow, trying to allow the Brits to do Nigeria's dirty laundry. In such an attempt, he comes cheap, scripting his argument against a corrupt Nigerian that the Nigerian judicial system should amply deal with, predicating his argument on the tenor of the present war on terror, knowingly the West’s present worst nightmare. Unfortunately, he has forgotten to note that even for the First World leaders pillorying the war on terror, it is no longer such an easy sale at home, for their internal (domestic) audience and populations.

Only time will fully reveal the legacy of Obasanjo and only history will deliver a veritable verdict on his intentions and actions. That time is not yet now, so until then, it seems that President Obasanjo is running away from his own shadow, his past and his inaction, especially regarding his pigeon-ho

Col. Gabriel Ajayi, one of the military officers roped in by former Chief of Army Staff, Gen. Ishaya Bamaiyi, in the 1995 phantom coup tells BAYO AKINLOYE that Bamaiyi is a snake in the grass

When did you join the Nigerian Army?

I joined the Nigerian Army on June 27, 1971. I was part of the Regular Course Number 10 of the Nigerian Defence Academy.

What was the first brush you had with the military authorities as a soldier?

Let me state that before I went to the NDA, I had already made up my mind – because I had two and a half years experience in the newspaper industry and I undertook a lot of things knowing that I was academically better than my colleagues. I was far ahead of them in perception and in understanding of everything that was going on in Nigeria and beyond. In Kaduna, there was a time we went for a road march, and we were singing that we were Kaduna soldiers – that was in 1971. So, when we came back, I and two other cadets wondered whether we were actually Kaduna soldiers. We were supposed to be cadets for the Nigerian Defence Academy. We sought audience with the then Lt. Col. Solomon Omojoku, who was an instructor in the academy. But he was busy. We therefore went ahead to see the chief instructor, Lt. Col. Pius Eromobo. In response to our observation, he sent us away regarding us as unserious fellows who had nothing to do. Something else happened while I was in Ibadan – the heartland of Yorubaland. During a conference, soldiers began speaking Hausa. Then, I queried the switch from English to Hausa. My punishment was 15 days in detention.

In Nigeria, we have two armies: the army of the North and the army of the South. The army of the North was peaceful, friendly and was like a family  and there were no intrigues or scheming. We had a great relationship with civilians unlike what obtained down South where soldiers will get into public transport

Nigerian News Du Jour ISSUES
November 22, 1999
ISSUE - General Bamaiyi and His Many Troubles

Features:

1. A Season of Prison Notes
2. My Testimony (Against Bamaiyi) - Brig.-General Marwa
3. Marwa Berates Bamaiyi Over Allegations
4. Fighting for Freedom
5. Bamaiyi's Self-Serving Claims - General Sami (Retd.), Sardauna of Zuru

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Nigeria
A Season Of Prison Notes
The News (Lagos)
November 22, 1999
By Tayo Odunlami

Lagos - Abacha's henchmen, most of them facing government
investigators, mount image burnishing missions

It is a season of prison notes and denials. Since the
begining of probes and trials of persons believed to be major actors in
the dastardly activities perpetrated during the regime of late General
Sani Abacha, the media have been awash with stories of
self-righteousness.

Conspicuous in the self-cleansing are Gen. Ishaya Bamaiyi
(retd), Lt-Col. Ibrahim Yakassai and Major Hamza Al-Mustapha. The three
are all former henchmen of the late tyrant. Late last year, Yakassai, a
member of Abacha's dreaded Strike Force was reported to have detailed
how Al-Mustapha, the influential Chief Security Officer (CSO) to Abacha
connived with Alhaji Ismaila Gwarzo, former National Security Adviser,
to hasten the death of Gen. Shehu Musa Yar'Adua.

Yakassai was alleged to have killed Yar-Adua by injecting
him with a lethal dose of poison. He has already been charged to court,
together with Al-Mustapha, for the murder of Yar'Adua. In his prison
notes, Yakassai denied the allegation.

Al-Mustapha, now reduced to jelly, has also been whinning on
his "innocence." To the Nguru-born former demi-god, whatever he did
while serving Abacha was done purely in the course of duty. His sole
responsibilit

Musa Bamiayi (1948 - April 17, 2007) was a retired Nigerian Army Major General who headed the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA). He was older brother to former Chief of Army Staff, Lt-General Ishaya Bamaiyi. Musa Bamaiyi was also acting Governor of Benue State in 1984.

NDLEA Chairman[]

The NDLEA, under Bamaiyi's tenure arrested Fela Anikulapo Kuti for the possession of illegal drugs. About 100 or more people (including minors) were arrested when the NDLEA raided Fela's popular shrine location. Bamaiyi noted that the NDLEA tried to rehabilitate Fela during a live television broadcast where Bamiayi and Fela disagreed on the harmful nature of Indian Hemp. Fela Kuti filed a $1.2 million lawsuit for his "unlawful arrest and detention" by the NDLEA and reportedly has an unreleased composition titled Bamaiyi, presumably about his encounter with the NDLEA and Musa Bamaiyi.

Sibling rivalry with Ishaya Bamaiyi[]

Musa Bamaiyi reportedly feuded with his younger brother, Lt-General Ishaya Bamaiyi for years and sought redress from the Human Rights Violation Investigation Commission (HRVIC) Panel, headed by Justice Chukwudifu Oputa.

Death[]

Musa Bamaiyi died on April 17, 2007, aged 58.

References[]