4th January, 2017
The PDP chieftain who disclosed this during an interview recently, described the experience as another story of his entirely life, adding that some lessons were learnt.
”My Kirikiri experience is another story of my life entirely; I learnt some lessons. God didn’t say we won’t have tribulations, trials and temptations, but if you trust in Him, all will be well. I preach that now at every opportunity I have, even to politicians. I have been there and what is encouraging. Nelson Mandela, in the last book he wrote, said the prison cell is the first place for you to re-examine yourself and rededicate yourself; to recommit yourself to the service of mankind and to God. There is nothing as encouraging as that. Chief Awolowo also went to jail for committing nothing.
”When we came out and I saw it; Nigerians are good people they know what is just. They know what is right; they know what is dedication and service to them. That was what kept me going and kept me interested in saying, no we cannot leave these people like this. The whole of Lagos that day was at a standstill.
”Right from the prison gate till we got to Christ Cathedral, people were there. In fact, my baby, her mother and my first daughter who were in the car were scared that people would overturn the car, but I assured them they wouldn’t do such. When we got to Christ Cathedral, the church was choked, filled with people. A classmate of mine who became rich because of oil allocation money became bloated and said they should not open the church door for me; I will save him by not mentioning his name. He has become too big for his shoes living on other people’s money. The Bishop, however refused to listen to him.
”In fact, Baba Obasanjo who came, couldn’t get to the church; he stopped at First Bank, Marina and trekked down to the church. And then at the end, what did he tell me? He said I was celebrating criminality. You have these experiences in life with your people, but I am happy because I worked with him, not because I needed anything from him, but because I believed in his cause. I was committed and I was dedicated, but all I got was Bode is celebrating criminality. I remembered a journalist came to ask me here if I heard what baba said and that people are waiting for my reaction. I said I don’t believe he said it and if he did, I leave him to our creator. Some of my other ogas, past Heads of State and so on, called me and said we read your comments and I told them respectfully, no more comments. This however is going into the memoirs so that we can learn how people behave and for us to know that the only man you can trust, no matter what, is God Almighty and not any human being,” he said.
Jamiu Yisa