The Conspiracy of Slave gods Chapter two On Tuesday, February 9th 2010, The Nigerian senate passed a resolution making vice president Goodluck Jonathan, acting president and commander in chief of the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The House of Representatives followed suite with a similar resolution. The time was 13:24 and 13:32 GMT respectively. There was crisis of constitutional breach as section 145 (then un-amended) of the 1999 Nigerian constitution stated: “whenever the president transmits to the president of the senate and the speaker of the house of representatives a written declaration that he is proceeding on vacation or that he is otherwise unable to discharge the functions of his office, until he transmits to them a written declaration to the contrary, such functions shall be discharged by the vice-president as acting president”. None of these happened. But the senate postulated that it took the step under the “Doctrine of necessity” which requires that the necessary thing should be done when faced with a situation that was not contemplated. The theory of “necessity“ is spawned from professor Hans Kelson’s postulation on the grundnorm (basic norm). Legal validation is given to an extra-constitutional event, if it becomes grosso modo (By and Large) effective. As puzzling as Kelsen’s legal magic on “effectiveness” is, it has been applied to solve post-revolution legal problems. Necessity first crept into case law jurisprudence in 1954 in Pakistan; Muhammad Munir in resolving some difficult constitutional issues had validated the “extra-constitutional use of emergency powers by Governor-general Gulam Mohammed. He relied on the Henry de Bracton’s maxim: “that which is otherwise not lawful is made lawful by necessity” and the Roman law maxim “Salus populi est suprema lex” (the wellbeing of the people is the supreme law). The impeachment of acting president appears inhuman or else Yar’Adua would have been impeached for leaving his duty post for 80 days without any notice, but the Nigerian senate choose the more sensitive and humane path. The intervention of the Nigerian National Assembly (made up of the upper and lower houses) was by and large well received by majority of Nigerians. It was a long await relief from the unconstitutional 80 days rule of the selfish cabal. The survival of the commonwealth of Nigerian remains the supreme law and consideration. 19:15 Hours February 9th, 2010 Aso Rock, Abuja. Since the announcement of the resolution of the Senate and House of Representatives, acting president Good luck Jonathan has being receiving calls from various world leaders congratulating him and assuring him of their support of his new role. It has been a busy day for him though he never thought nor dreamt that one day; he would be stepping into his boss’s shoes even in an acting and temporary capacity. But here he was, that little boy without shoes or sandals from Otueke village in Ogbia, Bayelsa State, sitting on the throne of the Nigerian presidency. One of the first things he did was to institute a minor cabinet reshuffle in a bid to consolidate his authority in his new role as acting president. Folks have been calling, hailing him for the wise and courageous act of organizing a cabinet reshuffle immediately presidential powers were transferred to him. They just didn’t understand that he wasn’t interested in being president; he just wanted to do the right thing for the nation. He knew his boss Yar’Adua very well and knew in his heart that Yar’Adua would have transmitted acting powers to him if he was capable to do so before he was flown out, but the man was unconscious as of when he was jetted out of the country. So how on earth was an unconscious man expected to transmit a letter to the national assembly? The last major call he received was that of the U.S president, Barrack Hussein Obama, and it had being the most welcomed call. They had discussed extensively on the secured connection and it had being topped-off with an invitation by Obama to him to visit Washington D.C for more intensive talks. The U.S president had information about Yar’Adua’s health condition that he (Jonathan), Nigerians and most of the world didn’t have. A date was scheduled for the visit. April 18th, 2010 was that date. *********************************************************** 17th – 20th April, 2010 United States of America. The acting president of Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan, left Abuja on the 17th of April, 2010, on a presidential jet to Washington D.C. The flight took ten and a half hours on the direct flight route. The Nigerian acting president was accompanied on the trip by a handful of aides, ministers and two state governors. On the 18th he had a private meeting with the U.S president at the white house and they held talks on oil reforms, economic partnership, the amnesty programme of president Yar’Adua for repentant Niger-Delta militants and Nigeria’s political stability. The talks were revealing. Later that day, Jonathan had an interview with ace reporter and international correspondence, Christiana Amanpour. It was a joint programme between the cable power houses, CNN and ABC. In the interview, Jonathan fielded questions on the state of the Nigerian nation, sectarian eruptions and the Niger-Delta crisis. When asked if he was going to contest the 2011 general elections, Jonathan dumfounded many by leaving the question hanging in the balance with a Machiavellian answer. On the 19th, he met with representatives of the Nigerian community in the U.S, were he fielded many questions. Again, he was evasive in his reply about his role in the 2011 elections. After meeting with the Nigerian community in the U.S, he toured various states in the U.S.A and met with the state governors. On the 20th, he flew back to Nigeria. Throughout his sojourn and discussions in the U.S, Jonathan maintained an amiable countenance: smiling and waving at will, but behind this facade, he was a very troubled man. In his secret discussions with the U.S president, he was presented with information, one that shook him to the core of his bones. The U.S president gave him information about his ailing boss that got Jonathan flummoxed. He was in Aso rock with Yar’Adua and yet he knew nothing of what Obama told him. He returned to Nigeria and the dynamics changed. &&&&& May 26th, 2010 Abuja. The house under the scrutiny of eight pairs of eyes was a white painted duplex; it was enclosed by a massive fence that had creeping ivies clinging intimately to its walls. A lush green lawn encompassed the compound, with stone paved walkways crisscrossing through it. A gate-house stood to the left of the main entrance, and the paved driveway lead to the large car pack to the right of the building. A solitary palm tree stood sentry at the middle of the compound. The duplex was a seven bedroom affair; it had a kitchen, two en-suite bedrooms, a mini- sitting room, a store room, a mini kitchen and a balcony that lead out to the front of the building. The spiral staircases lead from the parlour on the ground floor to the mini-sitting room on the top floor. It had no basement but had an underground garage at the back of the building. This was “START’s” new Abuja office, located at #55 Uyo close, off Emeka Anyaoku street, Area 11 Garki, Abuja. The pairs of eyes staring approvingly at the duplex belonged to Hon. Akin Olufemi Badre (presido), Barr. Akpan Akpabio (Uncle Legal), Alhaji Remi Abubakar and Dr. Duke Ejiro (doc). The duo of Uncle Legal and Alhaji Remi had met Doc and presido earlier on at the piano lounge of the Transcorp Hilton hotel and the four of them had made for the new START office. As the four inspected the house, two weary eyes looked at them from the gate-house, while a scrawling mouth uttered obscenities in the Hausa language. These eyes and mouth belonged to Yaya, the maigida (gateman), he couldn’t fathom why the four were gesticulating and laughing gleefully like four infants presented with new toys. “Where are the rest of the crew?” Uncle Legal asked. His question was directed at Presido. “Professor Michael should be here soon. He called me earlier today to know my itinerary; I gave him this address and asked him to meet me here.” “Ha! The slim professor” Alhaji Remi chuckled, referring to the sobriquet Professor Michael Olufemi was popularly known by. “Presido, have you heard from Mr. Phillips Harcourt and Barrister Timi?” Dr. Ejiro inquired. “Yes, Doc, they’re together, they should be here at any moment…” Just as Presido was speaking, a commotion at the gate drew the attention of the lot. “Yaya, what is the matter?” Presido barked. “Oga, e get three abokina wey dey here. Dem say dem dey fine STAR and presidu. Me I tel dem say, kai maigida, I no know STAR for house, STAR dey for up and presidu e no dey here. Dem no gree comot. E bi like say I dey mad!” Yaya replied in a deeply accented Pidgin English. “One of dem e slim, I go beat am. Oga I dey fight?” Yaya asked. “That must be Professor Michael.” Uncle Legal pointed out. “No, Yaya, You are not fighting anyone.” Doc said, “Allow them to come in, they are my friends.” “Tor, Oga.” He replied, then turning to the fellows at the gate and said, “Oga say make I enter, maigida.” “This your maiguard is a clown.” Barrister Timi said in an amused tone, as he, Professor Slim and Mr. Harcourt walked up to the four laughing men waiting for them. “Where are your bags?” Doc asked. “Mine is in the trunk of the taxi outside.” Slim replied. “I guess Timi and Phillips also came with theirs. We arrived in separate taxi cabs.” “Yaya, get their bags from the taxis outside and bring it in.” Presido instructed. “Come fellows, I will show you your rooms.” And with that the seven of them proceeded into the house. *********************************************************** Later that day, at 2100 hours, the dark man who was also the head of The Committee sat in his office, staring at the computer screen on his desk. His office was in the presidential villa, and he had left instructions with his secretary that no one was to be allowed into his office, save the President and the Vice-President who rarely came to his office. He didn’t want to be disturbed. He stared hard at the message before his computer screen. EMAIL ABOVE TOP SECRET START TO THE UNDER-SECRETARY OF SECURITY CO-OPS FOR YOUR EYES ONLY SUBJECT: OPERATION UTHMAN DAN FODIO MESSAGE: START OP ACTIVATED NOTIFY THE ACADEMY, SSA, SALT, CO-OPS, DEPT. G FURTHER CORRESPONDENCE ASSUMED END OF MESSAGE He hit the reply button, typed in his messages, sent and deleted them. EMAIL ABOVE TOP SECRET ULTRA UNDER-SECRETARY OF SECURITY CO-OPS TO START FOR YOUR EYES ONLY SUBJECT: OPERATION UTHMAN DAN FODIO MESSAGE: ACKNOWLEDGED THE ACADEMY, SSA, SALT, DEPT. G BE DULY NOTIFIED EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY END OF MESSAGE *********************************************************** The organizational and hierarchical structure of the Nigerian Police Force (NPF) is provided for in Section 214 (2)(a) and 215 (2) of the 1999 Nigerian constitution and the Nigerian Police Act. According to section 7 (1) of the police Act, the Inspector General of Police (IGP) is the head of NPF. The next in line to the IGP is the Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG). Section 5 of the Act makes room for the appointment of as many DIGs as the Nigerian Police Council considers appropriate. The office of the Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) is next in rank to the DIGs as provided for by section 5 and 8 of the Act. But the unofficial second-in-command to the IGP is the Lieutenant Inspector General of Police (LIG). This position is provided for by an obscure section of the police Act, section 1711 (1), and he is in charge of Department G – the secret police. The Act provides for only one LIG. The NPF is administratively structured and divided into six official departments: A – F with each department charged with peculiar duties. The seventh department is classified and shrouded in secrecy. This is Department G – the silhouette secret police – the shadow of the NPF. Department A is charged with the supervision, direction and coordination of the various departments within the Directorate. It is the administrative department. Department B takes care of planning and organizing internal security measures, and monitoring the execution of such measures in times of grave emergency. It is the operations department. Department C handles logistics and supplies. Department D carry’s out investigations, intelligence, criminal prosecution, Interpol duties, crime prevention, narcotics, forensic probes and crime records. Department E is saddled with training and command. Department F coordinates research, management of information and method, and is also in-charge of the Inspectorate division. The opaque Department G controls covert operations, sabotage, air, sea and land manoeuvres; anti-terrorism, home grown espionage and internal spying, political disinformation, extra-judicial killing and assassinations. Department G is the division both the government and the police commission prefers to pretend does not exist. Lieutenant General Tunde Adekunle was the current LIG of the NPF and head of Department G. He was a stern man who thought it foolish for men to laugh for any reason. Laughing was a pastime of women. He nurtured a deep seethed but well disguised hatred and contempt for politicians. He truly believed that the soft bellied politicians were a curse to the nation, and for this reason he avoided political entanglements; preferring to stay hidden in his Byzantine and shadowy world bidding his time. The IGP’s office, police headquarters Louis Edet House, is located along Shehu Shagari Way, close to Mohammed Buhari Street. While Department G, the office of the LIG, is tucked away in a hidden corner of Wuse zone 7, in plot 3099, Masaka Close, slightly behind the office of the National Food, Drug Administrative Commission (NAFDAC). This hazy fortress sits astride fifteen hectares of land. Sitting inside his large but tastefully furnished office, secretly referred to as the palace by officers and men, the LIG was staring intently at the screen of his laptop. An email message held his attention. EMAIL ABOVE TOP SECRET UNDER-SECRETARY OF SECURITY CO-OPS TO LIG DEPT. G FOR YOUR EYES ONLY SUBJECT: OPERATION UTHMAN DAN FIDIO MESSAGE: START OP ACTIVATED PHASE ONE THE ACADEMY, SSA, SALT, CO-OPS, DEPT. G DULY NOTIFIED FURTHER CORRESPONDENCE ASSURED END OF MESSAGE The LIG deleted the message. There was no need for a reply. The code word “ASSURED” meant he wasn’t expected to reply. If any one had walked in at that moment, he would have been amazed to see the LIG smiling. *********************************************************** The Deputy Director (operations and intelligence) of the government agency known as The Academy was in his office at plot 199, zone L, Federal Government Layout, Banana Island, Ikoyi, Lagos. He was decoding an email that was similar to the one received by the LIG of police. *********************************************************** In #227 Gwani Street, Wuse Zone 4, Abuja, a non-descript edifice stands solitary in a barb-wired compound. The building is vast, covering fifteen hectares of land and having the longest corridor in any government block in Nigeria. In this mammoth complex is housed the State Security Agency (SSA). The SSA is one of the four successor organizations to the National Security Organization (NSO), dissolved in 1986. In June 1986, the then military President of Nigeria, General Ibrahim Babangida issued a Decree, Decree number 19, dissolving the National Security Organization (NSO), and restructured Nigeria’s security services into four separate entities under the office of the co-ordinator of national Security. The other three organizations are, the Department of State Services (DSS but popularly known as the SSS); the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA), and the National Intelligence Agency (NIA). The DSS performs the same functions as the American Homeland Security, the Secret Service and the FBI. The NIA is the Nigerian version of the CIA and Consular Operations, as they engage in espionage activities in foreign lands. The DIA coordinates intelligence amongst the various intelligence agencies of the military. The SSA is the only one in a class of its own as it has no jurisdictional limitations; its activities are beyond scope – the SSA operates both internationally and locally. It even spies on the other security apparatus. The SSA compound engulfs thirty-three acres of rocky land, and the massive office building contains 5,847 offices in its bowel. The gigantic building is a five storey affair; has thirteen thousand employees stalking its corridors round the clock. The SSA headquarters is sometimes referred to as a mini-city because it has living quarters for seven thousand staff; a clinic, six super-markets; two large gas stations; a primary and secondary school, far behind the main building, for staff kids; seven beauty saloons; eight restaurants and fourteen bars. On the fourth floor of the edifice, on the north wing, lies the office of Deputy-Director, operations and intelligence (o/i); a floor below that of the Director’s. “Helen, bring me a cup of coffee.” The o/i said as he passed his secretary on his way to his office. “Yes sir.” Helen replied and reached for the coffee maker. Inside his office, Brigadier General Ishaya James Alagoa Jang (the o/i) removed his black suit and loosened his red stripe tie. His computer screen showed that he had an unread email. He sat behind his desk and studied the mail. Sweat broke out on his forehead. A knock sounded on his door and Helen brought in a pot of coffee. On the other side of town, along Muhammed Buhari Way, is a firm known as ‘Instant Undertakers.’ A casual or detailed enquiry about the firm will reveal nothing more than what the name suggests: a success firm that deals on caskets, funeral hoarse and business of the interment of the dead. But this was a cover. The true operations of the concern lie in the covert realms. It is an arm of military intelligence but autonomous from the control and supervision of the DIA. Even the Defence Ministry has no true power or authority over it. It reports only to the Secretary of Security who then briefs the President, the Secretary of Defence and the Army Chiefs. Once, during a congregational hearing of the National Assembly, the Army was asked by the Lawmakers if such an organization existed. The Army answered with an emphatic ‘NO!’ The true name of this shadowy organization is SALT, and it stands for ‘Strategic Assault Launch Team’. Though the members of SALT are military personnel, their names do not appear in the payroll of any of the three arms of the military. Every member of SALT is listed as retired, MIA (missing in action) or dead. And they do not wear military uniforms. SALT is the deadliest of all the secret organizations of the Nigerian government. If not for SALT, Nigeria’s present democracy would have been truncated. Naval Captain Tope Monguno Bauko aka dead Raul strolled lazily along the outer corridors of Instant Undertakers. He was clothed in dirty, faded black jeans, a red polo shirt and black shoes; on his head sat a white face cap. To any observer, dead Raul was just another ordinary guy working in a successful undertaker firm. He had a silly grin on his face, geared to further deceive any onlooker. Once inside the inner corridors of the underground section, Raul’s demeanour changed: his face took on a stern and alert look; his walk became brisk, and his body posture assumed a ramrod style common among military folks. “Good day sir!” Officers and men saluted as he walked further into the belly of the silhouette SALT. “Good morning.” He grunted in reply, as he headed for his destination. “Sir.” He saluted, as he walked into the office of his boss, Brigadier General James Attah Ekpeyong, the Director of Operations. “Hello, Tope.” The General replied, smiling, “You can have a seat. I have got something for you.” “A most welcomed development, sir.” “Yes, you can say that again.” The General beamed, “Operation Uthman Dan Fodio has been activated. I have gotten hold of a copy of the directive.” Dead Raul smiled. “Your directive is simple, do not disappoint The Committee.” The General said with a knowing smirk. Dead Raul chuckled and replied, “I will not disappoint them sir.” &&&&&
Posted on: Wed, 12 Mar 2014 09:58:21 +0000
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