A TRIBUTE TO THOSE WHO DARE BY M A C ODU As far as I can read and judge, I am in unequivocal sympathy with Chief Frederick Fasehun, SAN. I am not one bit disturbed about his stance in the sensitive matter of the discharge and acquittal of Major Al Mustapha. He was dispassionate through his analysis of the travails of Al Mustapha in the years of his incarceration and trials for various felonies, which were trumped up and dismissed in series. He took his stand in total reverence to individual freedom in the matter of the experience of the victim of his own high-handedness. If Al Mustapha been a simple major in the service of a good leader, the experience he had for decades in jail may never have come his way. Yes, he played higher than his status by ridiculing the high and mighty above his rank like Gen Oladipo Diya. I do not think that that blight on his character can be washed away easily. I am a direct victim of this power drunkenness but I was not cowed by his threat. I had expressed an opinion about Abacha which he found vicariously resentful and sent me a word of warning through a kinsman. He was acting for a despot beyond his mandate. He certainly was enjoying his ride in power. But that should not make him subhuman. He should still be treated with some dignity even with his inadequacies. Chief Fredrick Fasehun stood gallantly behind him in the belief that justice should be done across the board. Fredrick rejoiced with him when justice was finally done in his regard. I do not see anything wrong with that. I give this tribute to Fasehun because he dared stand against injustice in spite of acquired prejudice. The prejudice against Al Mustapha was acquired from the stature of M K O Abiola and the hurt of Yoruba Race at his elimination. Fasehun stood above that prejudice and should be congratulated rather than maligned by his race. After all, I am witness to similar levels of nobility among actors of Yoruba race like Chief Bola Ige, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, Chief Abraham Adesanya, Chief Olu Faleye and patriarchs of Yoruba Race like them with whom I shared Alliance for Democracy. I believe that that crop of leaders were real democrats who were custodians of their peoples’ corporate will yet reverent to democratic principles and circumspect in their relations with affiliates. I have no reason to exclude Fasehun from that group of dedicated leaders. To consign him to the ranks of betrayers of the common will of Yoruba Race will be inordinate in the extreme. I hold the view that he had by his standing by Al Mustapha elevated Yoruba Race to a new pedestal. I do not even want to discuss the diatribe issuing from his protégé turned assailant in O’dua Youth Leader Chief Ganiyu Adams. Fasehun on the contrary represents a voice of sound reason that ought to form the template of right conduct and social responsibility. Truth and Justice are not variables. They are not subject to colour or tribe or creed. They stand immovable yardsticks for what would endure in contradistinction with what will pass away after the erosion of time wears other yardsticks thin and thereafter into nothingness. What is false will eventually lose value no matter what seems. Al Mustapha may be accused of complicity in the murder of M K O Abiola or his wife. He may not be guilty as conjectured emotionally on account of the magnitude of the earthquake his presence on the corridors of power generated. Guilt may not be an absolute item in the minds of worshippers of the icon of democracy which Chief M K O Abiola represents. But it remains an absolute item in the universal mind. I write from some knowledge of the corridors of power. A mere hint from a leader could motivate distortion of humongous dimensions like extra-judicial killings and upheavals of various kinds. Body language of a leader could send sparks of riots into crowds holding opposite views. People may be exterminated on mere assumptions of complicity with an opinion group that runs counter to assumptions of an afflicted group. What matters most is reality. The reality as I write this offering is that the courts did not find Al Mustapha guilty of the murder of Kudirat Abiola. The fact is that attempts were made to rope him into complicity. The attempts failed. Al Mustapha was discharged and acquitted. He should be celebrated for his long suffering in evident false assumption of guilt. His co-traveler Fasehun deserves to be celebrated not denigrated by his kinsmen who revere democracy. I do him this tribute in reverence. May justice be done in big and small issues in our land! May we grow from prejudice to undiluted truth in all issues no matter who is involved!
Posted on: Tue, 05 Aug 2014 17:07:28 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015