Chief Dele Momodu, a veteran journalist and Director of Strategic Communications for the 2023 Atiku Abubakar Presidential Campaign Organisation, speaks with SAM NWAOKO on several national issues including the crisis over the control of local governments in Osun State.

You made a social media post on the recent local government election in Osun State. What is your takeaway from the entire process, especially considering the involvement of the federal government and some of its agencies?

I try to be very objective but I cannot say I am totally objective because I come from Osun background, though my father came from Edo to settle in Ile Ife, long before it became Edo State. My mother is from Gbongan in Osun State, also close to Ile Ife. I was born on May 16, 1960. The governor of Osun State, Senator Ademola Adeleke, is my very good friend. Everybody knows that; in fact he calls me ?Ekeji mi? that I?m his twin brother? So naturally, I will have a love for him and for his administration unless I am a wicked soul. You cannot be that close to a man and you will not wish him well. I wish him well at all times.

However, with regards to the local government elections in the state, I think he has done the right thing. He took the right decision. Nigeria is a mafia nation; Nigeria is a country of might is always right. So, the federal government that says Osun State cannot conduct election forgot that INEC does whatever they like at the federal level. OSSIEC will do their own at their own level. It was the prerogative of the Osun State government to make sure that that election took place. I read various legal submissions on the matter including the one written by Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN). Of all that legal angles, I have not seen one that said the state government did wrong by conducting an election. You must fill a vacuum if there is a vacuum. There should not be a vacuum in governance. So, Governor Adeleke did the right thing challenging the bullying of those who wanted to use ?federal might?. I believe that former Governor Oyetola is a gentleman who should think more about legacy than power. If he was that good, the man would not have trounced him the way he did. Osun State is such that is almost absolutely and totally PDP in Yorubaland. So my attitude to it is that the governor did well and he maintained peace. For me peace is everything.

I think what is happening right now is that APC is already preparing for 2027 presidential election and Tinubu believes that if he does not control the entire South West very aggressively, that his presidency might be in danger. That is what is going on, nothing else. And, since Tinubu is said to be originally from Osun State but has adopted Lagos as his origin, which is allowed, I guess he also wants a stake in the land of his ancestors which is Osun State. However, it can be done in a subtle way, make sure that the people of Osun see the impact of your presidency but today, that is not happening and Governor Adeleke is almost in absolute control of Osun State and that is what APC has to live with. Besides, I have not seen a politician of note in Osun who says he wants APC back.

You were very close to Tinubu during the June 12 era and he is the president today. Looking back, would you say democracy has rewarded you adequately, Sir?

I didn?t go into democracy for me to be rewarded. I am very passionate and very fanatical about journalism and making my mark and leaving my legacy. That is why I am a part-time politician, I am not a full-time politician. A few days after INEC declared that we lost the election in 2023, I was back at my desk in Ovation. When I went to the primaries of the PDP and I didn?t make it I was back at Ovation. When I lost the presidential election in 2011 on the platform of the National Conscience Party, I returned straight to Ovation. So I have a job waiting for me at all times but most politicians abandon everything that ever made them who they were. I cannot do that. So, I am not a career politician and that is one of the things I admire in Atiku Abubakar. The fact that he left power in 2007 and is still surviving on his businesses speaks a lot; not many politicians can survive like that. He still maintains his personal lifestyle, he is still employing so many Nigerians. He does not practice thuggery and you will never find a thug around Atiku. When you talk to me about democracy that is what democracy is all about, it is not about gangsterism; it is not about what would scare people ? you can?t vote because of where you come from or because of religion or they can?t vote because you must be the winner at all times. For me, that is not my idea of democracy. When we fought the military we were fighting for a Nigeria which would be a land of freedom but today, Nigeria is not a land of freedom.

Talking about Nigeria, the Tinubu administration has awarded itself a pass mark in a number of areas, especially in the economy. Their position is that Nigeria is in good hands and in the right direction. What do you think about this administration, especially in terms of the economy?

Did Tinubu not promise to continue the legacy of Buhari? Are they not the same people now blaming Buhari for everything? Politicians would say anything to curry favour and that?s okay. When tomorrow comes, you will see that the same APC blaming Tinubu for everything. I will blame him, for example, for putting Nigeria in jeopardy from Day One of his administration. I?ve never seen a place ? on a day when people should be rejoicing and jubilating ? and you just come and say I?ve removed subsidy just like that. Nigeria has not recovered from that. Even if they were going to remove it, he had not been in power and he had not seen why Buhari, who was a military man, could not remove the same subsidy and he kept pushing it. So, to show that he is a strong leader and a macho, he just announced a policy. But sometimes, you need to take your time. You need to weigh your options. It is like going to the doctor with a headache and instead of the doctor to ask you for some side symptoms and background questions, he just slams you with injections and send the patient into a coma. That is what Tinubu did, Nigeria just went straight into coma and we haven?t recovered.

There are movements among politicians already. There is cross-carpeting already and we expect this to heighten in the coming months. Would you move from the PDP, considering what is going on?

I told Alhaji Atiku the last time I visited him, I could have left since because I don?t have stomach for rubbish. I can see that a lot of our leaders at the top are shaking with trepidation and I don?t know why. They are shaking and have allowed one young man, who made everything from PDP, to control PDP and they have no solution to how to get rid of him. It is like a boil on your body, you must seek the best solution whether it is surgery or whatever. I believe if this situation persists and our leaders are not able to wriggle out of it, then PDP will die a natural death and those who are hoping to profit from its death also would perish with it ultimately. It is just a question of time. I know as a student of history that nobody can hijack an entire political party for himself and hope that it would remain like that. Now they are being protected by the government of Tinubu, there is nothing special about them. It is not that they are super human beings. The day they leave power they would find out because it suits Tinubu now to use them ? they are using Tinubu and Tinubu is using them. At the end of the day nobody can trust a man who slaps his mother in the marketplace.

The crisis in your PDP is the veritable reason members are leaving the party. Why have you been largely quiet about the crisis?

It is because I have not attended any of the meetings. I am aware and I interact with the relevant people. Don?t forget that I was the Director of Strategic Communications for the Atiku Presidential Campaign Organisation. My job is strategy and a man of strategy cannot be talking every day. I watch carefully and I act behind the scene. There is no Nigerian leader right now that I don?t have access to; there is no traditional ruler in Nigeria that I don?t have access to. So, God has placed me in that strategic position and I can?t afford to be making noise everywhere. There are people who are career politicians who go from TV to TV talking every day. I speak only when it is necessary.

The launch of General Ibrahim Babangida?s book has stirred a lot of conversation. What do you think about the outing?

With the benefits of experience and exposure, I?ve realised that all battles in life must end one way or the other. It might not be forgotten, but it would end somehow. We?ve seen apartheid in South Africa, Nelson Mandela came out of prison after 27 years and he was never vindictive about it. Imagine a man wasting 27 years of his life in solitary confinement, he came out and was not very bitter about it. That is why he could be considered for the Nobel Peace Prize among others. Those of us that spent a week or two in detention, we know how we felt and the ugly experience has been with us forever. I was in Detention Camp III at Alagbon and it has never left my body. Imagine a man who spent 27 years in detention! I also have been to Rwanda and I often imagine how the Rwandese could do it, that they could forgive one another and live in peace. Today in Rwanda, you cannot say somebody is a Tutsi or that somebody is a Hutu. It is not allowed. If you go into their genocide museum, you would see thousands of people who were killed and their families visit and bring flowers and so on. But they have moved on. Likewise Germany which used to be East Germany and West Germany? They have reunited and become one and have moved beyond the wounds of the past. So, for any country to make progress there must be full and unconditional reconciliation. Those who have committed crimes against humanity, there are ways of dealing with them, especially if you apply to the world crimes tribunal. In the case of Babangida, I believe the reason he is still very powerful is that everything about him was not totally bad. I was a great admirer of one thing about him and which I will also admire in any government I see in Nigeria today: I am a fan of star-studded cabinets. A country cannot make progress if you saddle your government with unknown quantities where people are not distinguished, where people don?t even know their name. If you ask me the members of the cabinet (of Tinubu) today, I?m sure I cannot even name 20 of them. Under Babangida, we all knew Bolaji Akinyemi, Olukoye Ransome-Kuti, Alex Akinyele, Chu Okongwu, Kalu Idika Kalu, Olu Falae and so on. It was the June 12 issue that killed that legacy; it was like giving birth to a baby and you then bring a cutlass and slash that baby?s neck. That is why nobody has forgotten about June 12, and I believe what has prolonged June 12 is the fact that Babangida and his military supporters have refused to offer an unadulterated apology to Nigeria and Nigerians.

I have not read the book but I have seen its excerpts from here and there. When I was invited to the book launch, I was in America. I came back through Ghana, but somehow I missed my flight from Ghana. The impression I got was that that day was going to be a day of reconciliation, a day when everybody would get their apology but unfortunately my expectation was misplaced. Yes, Baba as we call him IBB admitted to his fault and took responsibility for the unfortunate annulment and whatever happened thereafter, but he never really apologised directly. If I was one of his speech writers or one of the very close aides I would have told him, after reading that that script must not go out like this. You must offer unconditional apology not just to Nigerians but to specific people; families, organisations that lost everything because of June 12. I was fortunate to have survived. It wasn?t easy to go into exile when I never planned to go abroad. In my wildest dreams I never planned to leave Nigeria but man proposes God disposes. So, it happened and it had happened; what do I do? Do I live with the bitterness forever or as a Christian, my religion teaches me that I should forgive 70 x7 times. It was the same thing with Chief Abiola though he was a Muslim. Abiola was never a vindictive man, he forgave easily. In fact, there was a letter that was published by Tempo News when Abiola reached out to Babangida that he would not want this thing to affect their friendship and he tried to reconcile with him. I know because I was actively involved; I was the one that Chief Abiola sent to reach out to Mr. Bayo Onanuga and others not to publish that letter, but it was published. Chief Abiola took it in his stride. He was a man of peace. If he was alive he probably would have also won the Nobel Peace Prize. Since I was his disciple, we followed and obeyed his principles and beliefs.

Many Nigerians have also expressed the desire to read memoirs from people like General Yakubu Gowon and some others. They think their books might bring a closure to some of the events causing disaffection in the country.

No book can bring a closure to this matter. If you like, let?s go and exhume the body of General Sani Abacha to produce a book, it will still not bring a closure because books are usually subjective. There is not one book that has not got critics, some people even argue with the Holy Bible and the Holy Quran. These are spiritual books that are not supposed to generate any controversy, yet people raise objections about their contents. So with regards to his book, hate him or love him, Babangida remains one of the most popular and one of the most influential leaders of all time in Nigeria.

Some see you as one of the ?big boys? and by that they see you as one of the ?oppressors?. Do you get to hear people express these kinds of sentiments and do they get to you?

Nobody can call me an oppressor, though I have the look of an oppressor. By the nature of my work, I am a celebrity reporter. I report the lifestyle of the rich and famous and when you report the lifestyle of the rich and famous, it will rub off on you. When people see you they will begin to imagine that you too must be a billionaire and rub shoulders with them. People say ?you hobnob? and I ask: what would I do? Would I interview them without talking to them? Would I do Ovation Magazine without covering their events? I will have no business and the same people will not feed me. If I fail, they would say ?ah, Ovation has failed, he cannot do ordinary entertainment well? so head or tail, you lose. I?ve heard it many times, they say ?Oh you criticise them?. People don?t have a sense of logic again. It is more logical for people to say ?you criticise people you hobnob with?, what is more difficult than criticising people who can turn you to a billionaire? There is nothing more difficult than criticising your own friends. If all of us can tell the gospel truth to our friends, Nigeria will be a better place. Today I criticise Tinubu, there are not many people closer to Tinubu than myself when we were in exile. We had tremendous regard for each other. I love him as a big brother and all that but I cannot stand certain political liabilities that I see in Nigeria and it is affecting everyone in Nigeria. I won?t say because is Tinubu is president then I will see things going bad and I won?t talk about it. So, I deserve some respect for being consistent. I?ve been in opposition since 1982 that I?ve been in politics, I?ve never been in any government. Yet people don?t see that as a sacrifice. However, I don?t owe it to anybody to praise me, it is my own personal decision.

If you are to advise, what would you say is the way forward for Nigeria, considering the debate on whether Tinubu is living up to expectation or not?

If you profit from a government you can say whatever you like and if you don?t, you can also attack the government. They always blackmail us that we are not supporting them because they didn?t give us appointment. I have never sought for appointment from them. If I was interested in appointment, I would have joined them, they won?t chase me away. If I wanted to be in government the first thing to do would have been to join the party in power. But I have not done that and I?m not going to do it. They will wait forever, it?s like Samuel Becket?s Waiting for Godot. I?m not interested in joining them because I am not proud of what they are doing. People think power is everything, it is not, it is just a means to an end. It can?t be an end in itself. (Saturday Tribune)

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