My book reveals Dele Giwa’s killers – Major Basorun Honour for Sale Former Spokeman for Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, Major Debo Basorun (rtd.), in his recently published book, Honour for Sale, reveals how and why former Newswatch editor-in-chief, Dele Giwa, was killed. In this interview with Sunday Editor, HABIB ARUNA, and Senior Correspondent, ISHAYA IBRAHIM, the retired military officer associates with top journalists of Giwa’s ilk says the book, which would be launched on November 22, reveals the real killers of Giwa. Excerpts… Major Debo Basorun Major Debo Basorun Why have you decided to come up with this book on Dele Giwa at this point in time? The reason being that it is now or never. I’m getting older by the day and I do not like to go to the grave with what I knew about the death of Dele Giwa. I will regret when I get to heaven or hell or wherever it is to remember that whatever was my duty on earth, I did not do it. This book is borne out of patriotism, out of loyalty to the country. It is a book borne out of the fact that I am a human being like the person who was assassinated. That is Dele Giwa. Are you mindful of the controversy this book will generate? Sure! I’ve weighed all the options before I decided to put the book out for the public. Definitely, it is going to generate a lot of controversy. But what you cannot take away from me are the facts. I have mentioned names there. They would be cross-checked. But I know we are fighting against a bigger enemy. Somebody that is very loaded, who has been very influential, has connection, has all the wherewithal. But we are not going to allow him. I know, by the time this book is out, you will see all sorts of hack-writers attacking me, especially from the South West region of the country. I know those who are still on the payroll of Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida till now, even after he had left office nearly 20 years ago. So it will not be a surprise that it will generate controversy. It will not be a surprise that people will come after me. It will not be a surprise that my life will be in danger. But I have decided to take the risk in the interest of the nation, in the interest of people who died after Dele Giwa. Many journalists have died and nobody has been brought to account. Is this how we are going to continue? It is one of my motivating factors. If after revealing all the things I know in the public and death comes, so be it. I am old enough. I have no regret. What are the areas the book covers? It talks about the geo-dynamics of this country. It talks about the politics in the military. It talks about politics in the country as a whole. It talks about corruption; it talks about all the vices you can think of. Do you have prior relationship with Dele Giwa before he died? Dele Giwa was my friend. So also was Ray Ekpu. So also was Yakubu Mohammed. So also was Dan Agbese. They were all my friends. Some people will say the book is your own way of hitting back at Babangida. I am not a bitter person. Thank God for his mercies. I am a contented person. I never stole money. But the facts remain that if I did not say it; if I hide it inside myself with the thought that it might be misconstrued, I will not be doing justice to myself and to the nation. I am not poor; I am okay – middle class. Others may say you were not being grateful to Babangida who made you prominent at that time. Prominent! Remember that the army is an institution. He too served under some people before he became prominent. General Danjuma was his mentor in the army. Danjuma actually made him what he is. While coming up myself, I have raised some people to become prominent. So nobody can attribute the army as his personal property. He too came into the institution. Like General Danjuma would say, “if the army doesn’t leave you, you will leave the army.” You were part and parcel of the military that contributed to the decay currently rocking the country. I am not trying to defend the military; but after 13 years that the military handed over, we are still groping in the dark. I am not absolving the military. It is a fact that we did not do several things right. But that is the nature of military regime. In some rare cases, the military have been the salvation for people’s suffering. I can cite South Korea where a General put up a marshal plan and the people were happy. Very closer to home, what Jerry Rawlings did in Ghana was something people appreciated. One cannot really say the military is totally bad. Some are saying that civilians have not done enough and by their inaction, they are creating room for possible military intervention. What is your opinion on this? Well, with my little intelligence, I want to believe that coup d’état is out of fashion now. It is something like a revolution that we see in other countries – spontaneous reaction. I hope that doesn’t happen in Nigeria. But if we don’t wake up, that is what is going to happen. In the motive for the killing of Giwa; some accounts have debunked the Gloria Okon angle. From my own standpoint, from my own point of view, from what I knew while I was in government, I am not telling you that Dele Giwa is a saint, but things of this nature are the handiwork of his detractors. They have eliminated him. He has no platform to reply them. That is exactly what is happening. They want to bastardise him after they had killed him without justification. They have come up with all kinds of stories against him. They knew he cannot come back and defend himself. Do you think this book will make Nigerians know the real killers of Dele Giwa? That is exactly what this book is intended to do. I intended to reveal the fact as I know it. I intended to prick the conscience of Nigerians. People like Bola Ige, Alfred Rewane, and very prominent people in this country have been wasted away and people are not asking questions. The book is my own little way of contributing to the debate that there should be sanity in this country; that this political system or whatever we are running should be sanitised. Look at so many journalists; Bagauda Kaltho and so many of them have been killed after Dele Giwa and nobody is doing anything. It could be you; it could be me; it could be anybody. My conscience is what has driven me to decide to publish this book. If I wanted money, some of the dramatis personae in the book would have given me money. But I rejected all of that. My conscience won’t allow me and I will not do it. What do I live as a legacy for my children? That I collected money from the devil?
Posted on: Wed, 20 Nov 2013 21:48:31 +0000