By Col Olusegun Oloruntoba
In Nigeria’s history, certain years stand as stark reminders of the nation’s aspirations and its darkest hours. The year 1993 is etched in the collective memory as a period of immense hope when civilians dared to envision a future free from the shackles of military dictatorship. Within the army ranks, whispers of a return to democratic governance echoed with growing fervour.
Yet, as many would later realise, the boundary between hope and despair is perilously thin. For those who dared to dream, their aspirations were brutally extinguished when a new regime of tyranny seized power, plunging the nation into an abyss of uncertainty and fear. Accusations of coups and “phantom coup plotters” became the chilling refrain of the regime, leading to the imprisonment of countless civilian and military figures.
While some, like ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo, would later find their path to power paved by the very suffering they endured under the despot, many of us remain left to languish in obscurity, their pleas for justice unanswered, their lives irrevocably scarred.
Now, decades later, as President Bola Tinubu is in the mantle of leadership, a flicker of hope ignites once more in the hearts of our long-suffering souls.
Festering wounds
The wounds inflicted during the infamous General Sani Abacha regime run deep, leaving scars that time has been unable to heal. The years since our callous and unjust imprisonment have been a relentless cycle of hope and disappointment, of promises made and broken. We have witnessed successive democratically-elected administrations come and go. Each of these governments (from Obasanjo to President Umaru Yar’Adua to President Goodluck Jonathan to President Muhammadu Buhari) offered a glimmer of hope, only to ultimately fail to deliver the justice we desperately seek.
Our files of reparation gathered dust in the archives for years, and our pleas for redress fell on deaf ears. We were left in the lurch. The sense of betrayal was particularly acute among those of us who considered ex-Obasanjo a comrade, a fellow victim of the same oppressive regime. Yet, despite his own experiences, Obasanjo’s administration did not fully implement the recommendations of the Oputa panel, leaving many of us feeling abandoned and forgotten.
As the years turned into decades, the hope for justice dwindled, replaced by a growing and gnawing sense of disillusionment and despair. Buhari’s recognition of MKO Abiola as a national hero and the declaration of June 12 as a nationwide public holiday had fuelled our hope. Yet, despite these promising signs, the wheels of justice turned slowly, and the files that held the key to their exoneration remained unsigned, leaving the Oputa recommendations unfulfilled.
Now, with the ascension of President Tinubu, a new chapter begins. We believe we can hope again.
“This is it,” said one of the coup plotters who did not want his name mentioned, expressing the views of many of his comrades that if anybody would come to their aid at all in the worst of situations, it must be President Tinubu. Though time and pain have unsettled our once steady gait, leaving us limping amid the uncertainty and failure of the past, we feel compelled to feel this is the time for reparation, and it is within the grasp of President Tinubu to give the order for immediate reparation without any further delay. Yes, Mr President can do it.
Asiwaju can be trusted. Our President is a symbol of hope. We cannot stop to hope. President Tinubu wears the badge of honour. Hope is a beautiful possession. With President Tinubu, our hope of reparation is even renewed. With his assumption of power, our thoughts and feelings no longer vacillate between angst and deja vu. We are hopeful of a final and happy denouement.
The Oputa Panel recommendation
We hope President Tinubu will consider their plight and grant them the long-awaited reprieve. They point in the direction of the clear-cut facts and resolutions contained in the Oputa panel. They are convinced that justice delayed, which has left some of them deceased and others disconsolate, should not be justice denied.
The Council of State approved the compensation for the victims of the phantom coup allegations, first in 2009 and later in 2011. In our enduring demand for justice, we hinge our hope on President Tinubu “to right the wrongs of the past, heal past wounds and wipe off sorrows and bewilderment from the life of the said victims of rights violations and abuses.”
We are seeking promotions to the ranks that we would have attained had our careers not been unjustly truncated. In addition to compensation and promotions, we seek a formal apology from the Federal Government for the injustices we have endured. The Oputa panel made several recommendations regarding the phantom coup plotters, including:
- A formal apology from the government
- Compensation for their suffering
- Restoration of their ranks and benefits
- Promotion to the ranks they would have attained
- Comprehensive rehabilitation
This is an urgent appeal to President Tinubu to immediately and fully implement these recommendations. It is 30 years of waiting in anguish. For our labour not to be in vain, we are seeking prompt action, appealing to President Tinubu to endorse the reliefs and compensation recommended by the Oputa panel, its white paper (Council of State Memo June 23, 2009, Council of State Memo March 13, 2013, and Nigeria Official Gazzete NO 33, VOL. 86, dated 26 May 1999, in favour of the military and civilian victims to alleviate our nearly 30 years of trauma and psychological stress).
Col. Olusegun Oloruntoba (retd.) was one of the military officers arrested, jailed and tortured by the regime of Gen. Sani Abacha for the 1995 phantom coup
