FROM PRIMARY TO TERTIARY, HERE IS MY DIARY. (PART 67)
Dapo Thomas
Seye, one of the best sharp shooters and snipers among the PBGs, saw me from their Central Monitoring Station (CMS) embedded inside one of the three bunkers in Dodan Barracks by Siemens. There were about ten operatives in bunker C from where they saw me. The other fifteen (they were twenty five all together in Dodan Barracks) had ferried the President to a more secure location or hideout through bunker A. The moment I came in through the "forbidden corridor", they knew it was me. They could see everything happening within the radius of 3 kilometres from Dodan Barracks. They deliberately left me for almost 15 minutes to see what I was up to. In a situation like this, nobody could be trusted. It was when they realized that I was "harmlessly stranded" (that was his language) that he was asked to come and "rescue" me and drive me far away from Dodan Barracks. According to him, they were sure there were no more substantial threats in Dodan Barracks as at that time having absorbed enemy fire in a bloody shootout for almost 7 hours. "We dealt with those bloody bastards", he said triumphantly as he drove me down to the tip of the bridge that leads to outer Obalende and Third Mainland bridge right in front of the school of Nursing with a warning that I should not come close to Dodan Barracks again until further notice .
He was not happy that U.K.Bello was killed. I screamed the moment I heard that because as at that time, no one knew what was happening inside Dodan Barracks. According to him, we told him (Bello) not to go out but he did. In giving me the details of the invasion, he stated that they had noticed unusual movements around Dodan Barracks since 12 midnight. They quickly took "logistics and strategic precautions" and made arrangements for IBB's safety. "We didn't think it was anything serious because all our communication lines were intact. There were no "alien interferences" on our system", he disclosed. In his words, "we knew that as far as "Oga's" safety was concerned, we have control of all "the channels". He didn't need to explain "channels" to me as an "embedded journalist". He was simply referring to all the bunkers inside Dodan Barracks. I was asking him for more details of the "enemy invasion" when he told me: "We are still at work. It is not over yet." Then, he turned back at the School of Nursing on Awolowo road, Ikoyi, driving back towards Dodan Barracks. Really, it was a poorly executed coup. I was wondering how Orkar and his fellow morons thought they could execute a successful coup against IBB without insiders' collaboration. They needed some insiders to work on communication demobilization inside Dodan Barracks. IBB was damn too smart and ingenious for the kind of mediocre coup planned by Orkar and his crew. The bunkers were comprehensively coded and panelled. It would take three or four Judases to kill IBB in Dodan Barracks. It was a safe haven. That was why the death of U.K. Bello, IBB's ADC, would forever remain a mystery. It was one of the intrigues that only "military politics" can explain.
I started walking towards the long bridge leading to the Third Mainland bridge and outer Obalende. I climbed the bridge from Awolowo road where Seye dropped me. He was the one who warned me not to go to Obalende under bridge through St.Gregory's College because "our men are there mobilizing for an attack on those bastards at FRCN". My plan was to get to Obalende under bridge to see if I could get to FRCN because as at that time the coup announcement was still being run on the radio indicating that the coup plotters were still occupying the Radio station. His car radio was on throughout our journey. I wasn't the only one on the bridge. There were other people trekking towards the same direction. But the moments people started hearing the sound of guns, they ran back. I kept going towards Obalende until I saw two of my colleagues in Newbreed, Festus Eriye and Toyin Egunjobi. They were on the bridge watching what was going on under the Obalende bridge. I joined them at that point. There were other journalists too. I could see Segun Ayobolu of Daily Times with two of his colleagues. From where we were, we could see the federal troop mobilizing themselves, ready to storm the Radio Station. None of us knew why it was taking them several hours to storm the Radio station but like all military operations, details of enemy's capabilities were necessary before any offensive operation could be carried out.
Suddenly, we saw a black Benz coming from the direction of the Radio station. It was moving slowly towards the Federal troop that had positioned itself desperately, strategically and dangerously all over Obalende. The entire Obalende under bridge had been condoned off around 8am. Those of us watching the live drama were on top of the bridge. As soon as the troop saw the Benz driving towards them, they raised their alert mode to red simultaneously. The driver of the Benz must be very knowledgeable in combat rules and engagement procedures. He was still 200 metres away from the troop when he stopped the car. He came down from the car, raised his two hands in a surrender mode. By this time, the officer leading the troop, wearing a white track suit, stood in front of the troop giving the necessary commands to the troop . The driver got back into the car, moved a few metres again , stopped the car again, came down, raised his hands as he did earlier. This procedure was done seven good times before he got to the troop. Even before he got to the troop under the bridge, myself, Festus and Toyin had recognized the car and the driver of the car. It was Chris Okolie, our publisher and Editor -in-Chief. His house in ikoyi was very close to FRCN. He was immediately arrested by the troop and taken to an uncompleted building under the bridge for debriefing. The calculation was that for him to have successfully passed through Orkar's men at FRCN, he must have an idea of the number of soldiers at the Station, the number of tanks and what he discussed with them. That must be the reason for the debriefing. About 40 minutes later, only the commander of the troop came out of the building. He marched from the building straight to the troop and gave out some drill commands. There were six armoured tanks committed for the operation. There were about 50 soldiers by the sides of the tanks and about 50 at the back of the tanks. The troop then advanced without retreating as they had been doing before. We didn't leave where we were but we could hear the exchange of artillery fire and gunshots from where we stood. Not upto an hour of storming the Radio station, there was jubilation everywhere because the coup announcement on the radio had stopped and was immediately replaced with the news of the arrest of the plotters.
In my office, there was jubilation everywhere as we celebrated our bravery and courage in journalism. The sensational part of it was that it was our own Chris Okolie who provided the Federal troop the clue that unlocked the mystery of the coup. There was, however, a paradoxical twist to the celebration of our collective bravery during the coup. Chris Okolie didn't believe that the three of us -Festus, Toyin and myself - deserved to be celebrated. He kept harassing and intimidating us but I was the most harassed. Despite my foray into the centre of the action, Dodan Barracks, on that day, Okolie believed that the centre of action was what he did at Obalende and FRCN. At a stage I could no longer tolerate the harassment. During an editorial meeting, he insinuated that I didn't bring any exclusive news from Dodan Barracks. I challenged him that the things I wrote on Dodan Barracks based on my 15 minutes visit to the place on the day of the coup were exclusive to me and Newbreed. I told him that I don't have to die to be considered brave. His argument was that I shouldn't have left Dodan Barracks at all on that day. I replied him that there was nothing going on there again. I was the only journalist in Dodan Barracks at that time. I had already covered what happened and how the President escaped. What was annoying was that the company was owing me 3 months salary. His arrogance irritated me and I stormed out of the meeting, went downstairs to write my resignation letter in a very rude manner. This was what I wrote on May 30, 1990: "Maduabuchukwu", goodbye. I used his middle name to hound his conscience. Maduabuchukwu means "Man is not God". Literally, what I wrote meant : "Man is not God", I hereby resign from your company." Dele Momodu, Editor Classique, celebrated it in one of the editions of the magazine with a screamer: "Dapo Thomas' weird resignation letter".
By June same year, I had been invited for a job interview by the Lagos State Civil Service Commission headed by Chief Christopher.O. Bajulaiye. It was a job I applied for in 1987 when I finished my Master's degree. I applied for the position of information officer. At the interview, the Commission wanted to know why I applied for a level 8 position if I had the cognate experience in journalism and a Master's degree. I told them that my journalism experience was with a private media organization and I never knew that the public service would accept it. They pardoned my ignorance and on their own upgraded my position from information officer to Senior information officer right at the interview venue. In their own words: "We are impressed with your performance in the interview, your experience in journalism and your academic profile, we are upgrading you to Senior information officer, a level 10 position." By July 16, 1990, I resumed as a Senior information officer at the Ministry of Information, Lagos State Secretariat, Alausa, Ikeja. I was deployed to Public Enlightenment by the Director General of the Ministry, Mrs Agbeke Ogunsanwo. My Head of Unit was Mrs Yemi Hamzat, wife of the former Commissioner for Transportation under Alhaji Lateef Jakande, Alhaji Olátúnjí Hamzat. As an Assistant Chief Executive Officer (Information) , she shouldn't be superintending those of us who were officers but we gave her the privilege of supervision as an elderly person. However, the two of us had a very turbulent relationship. As much as I was not interested in the headship of the Unit, I would not submit to a leadership that was yet to attain formal university education in order not to ridicule my academic orientation. I was not interested in the headship because at that time I was still covering Dodan Barracks for Tunde Olugbenle's London tabloid: "Nigera HomeNews".
Immediately I left Newbreed, I used my influence with "Double Chief" and my contacts in Dodan Barracks to personalize my accreditation. That was not a normal practice but they did it for me and I remained the Secretary of the Press Corps at the same time. The arrangement I had with Nigeria HomeNews was to be selling my Dodan Barracks reports, stories, articles and special reports to the tabloid. I enjoyed working with the following people in Nigeria HomeNews: Remi Akano, Tunde Fagbenle, Segun Odegbami, Biyi Bándélé-Thomas and Dickson Agedah. These were cerebral and hardworking people who laboured strenuously to make a success of the tabloid. Same for those in the Ministry of Information, Alausa. The likes of Mrs Abike Gbolahan-Alfonso, Segun Adedokun, Fola Adéyemí, Toyin Awosika, Mrs Ayo Samo, Gbemi Thomas, Adegbite Adejokun, Bolaji Uthman, Biola Fagunwa, Dupe Dina, Bola Akingbade. In my Unit, I had to work with another Bola (Akingbade). I was a very dedicated officer and the engine room of the unit. However, Bolaji Uthman was the resident archivist of our unit. His energy was egregious. Nobody, including my DG, knew anything about my Dodan Barracks shuttle because I would always finish all my official assignments with exceptional diligence. Despite being a civil servant, I always left the office very late in the night. As a very restless individual, few months after resuming in Alausa, the Civil Service job was no longer interesting to me. I began searching for another job that I could combine with my Dodan Barracks job. It was very enterprising to work with Bolaji Uthman and Bola but it was time to move on after a short stint in the Ministry and a nice time with Bolaji and Bola. When my DG read my resignation letter that was to take effect February 1,1991, she really felt bad. Notwithstanding my short stay in the Ministry, when I was departing, a big send-off ceremony was organized for me by the Ministry with all the directors in the Ministry in attendance. I was given a wall clock and a lavish coverage by Lagos Horizon, the government newspaper. I was treated like a staff that was retiring after 30 years of service when in fact, I only spent 7 months in the Ministry. In my response to all the accolades, I made a declaration that I would be back again but in a much bigger role. Besides, I left with a personal prayer for Bola: DunmininuOLUWA (Gladden my heart oh LORD).
Before I tendered my resignation letter to the Civil Service Commission which was acknowledged and replied to on April 8, 1991, I had been appointed as an Assistant editor in Daily Times on December 24, 1990. I was instantly deployed to Times Week, a new newsmagazine which replaced Times International, based on my experience in magazine operations. Challenged by the onerous task of injecting fresh energy and professionalism into all Daily Times publications, Yemi Ogunbiyi , the new Managing Director of DTN, removed Dayo Alao as the editor of Times International and replaced him with Soji Omotunde, a veteran journalist. As soon as I got into DTN, I sensed politics. Some of the old staff of the company were openly referring to us, the new entrants, as "aliens" while they called themselves the "indigenes". Most of the staff of Times International were scattered into different publications in the stable of Daily Times while those of us that Ogunbiyi recruited formed the new editorial team of Times Week. The new team comprised the following people: Soji Omotunde, Victor Awogu, Uzor Maxim Uzoatu, Dapo Thomas, Kodilinye Obiagwu, Louis Okoroma, Tony Iyare, Muyiwa Akíntúndé, Femi Olatunde, Kigho Oyolo, Rotimi Adebayo, Rotimi Ogunleye, Sam Egburonu, Reginald Opara, Bunmi Aborisade, and Funke Ajagunna. Others were Saka Ashimi, Chijioke Ibeleme, Census Ekpu, Uchenna Kanu, Inatimi Spiff, Gbenga Alaketu, Dehinde Adefarakan, Hidiat Adeyemi, Tunde Olaniyi and Sunday Ojelabi.
In Daily Times, professionalism suffered a downgrade in the hands of political professionals. There was room for a non-political professional to flourish in his trade but unfortunately, there was little or no space for non-alignment. When the upward or downward movements of professionals are indexed by primordial and primitive considerations and underlying externalities; when social affiliations and cultural salutations are used to determine efficiency; when filial subscription and eye-service investment receive promotion from establishment frontline managers, what you have are values erosion, glorification of mediocrity and business collapse. I saw it (my exit) coming but I underestimated the capacity of establishment rodents and uncircumcised emperors. When Soji Omotunde was fired by Tola Adeniyi, the new Managing Director, he was instantly hired by Chief M.K.O Abiola to replace Bayo Onanuga at the African Concord. He wanted me to follow him but I declined his offer on principle. He went to fill the space created by the sensational departure of four African Concord staff who refused to comply with Basorun Abiola's directive that they should apologize to Babangida for "an embarrassing publication". The four staff, Bayo Onanuga, Femi Ojudu, Kunle Ajibade and Seye Kehinde opted to quit African Concord instead of apologizing. I couldn't really say how close Soji was to all these people but I was very close to all of them. Kunle was my roommate both in our undergraduate and postgraduate days in UNIFE, Femi Ojudu was also my friend in Ife. We both belonged to the Association of Campus Journalists (ACJ) and Seye Kehinde was my junior in the University. We were in the same History Department. He was one of my campaign canvassers when I wanted to become the President of the History Society. Bayo Onanuga is a very close senior colleague in journalism. That was why I didn't follow Soji Omotunde to African Concord. I was not expecting it at the time it happened but it eventually happened. In a certificate of service dated 24th May, 1993, given to me by the management, the company, Daily Times of Nigeria (DTN) ended our three year relationship just like that.
By October 21, 1993, I was appointed a Senior Associate Editor by VIVA, publishers of VIVA Weekly. It was established by my two friends, Festus Eriye and Toyin Egunjobi. Viva was an ideal business set up. We all behaved like one family. There were people like Austin Iyashere, Mubo Okosun, Emmanuel Ado, Ayo Falodun, Paul Ogundipe, Dada Eriye, Tosin Ogunderu and Yemi Nwobodo. We had a very good incursion into the saturated market of tabloids et al. But things did not work out for us financially and I had to leave journalism to go into transport business which led to my driving danfo, picking and dropping off passengers at bus stops in the city of Lagos for one year and hobnobbing with garage boys for 365 days. There was a nostalgic euphoria about this new experience but such feeling was overwhelmed by "elite-trical mortification". It was really an experience in contemporary history. (TO BE CONTINUED)
