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I warned obasanjo ...But he ignored my advice and retired me –Malu
Festus Owete, Abuja
As controversy continues to trail the United States Intelligence Council report on Nigeria, former Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Victor Malu, has said that he warned President Olusegun Obasanjo to guard against undue American incursion into the nation’s affairs.
Regretting that he was ignored and eventually removed by the president, Malu said that his stance had been justified by the controversial report, which he described as the continuation of a grand plan by the U.S to denigrate Nigeria.
Malu recalled that as Chief of Army Staff, he observed that the Americans kept seeking ways to soil Nigeria’s image in the international arena, adding that his resistance to this plot led to his untimely retirement four years ago.
A report prepared for the National Intelligence Council of the United States had predicted that Nigeria may break up because of the insistence of the nation’s leaders on a union, against the people’s wish.
It also warned about the possibility of a coup by junior military officers.
However, President Olusegun Obasanjo and the Senate have dismissed the report as an unfair representation of the situation in the country.
But Malu said, “The U.S does not mean well for us and for anybody. They want things in their interest and that is how they protect their interest. National security is above any individual. After many years in the army, I am in a position to analyse a threat to a nation and convey it to those who should know. But, when you don’t allow me to do that, that means you are not accepting that I am a Nigerian. And that was exactly what my president didn’t want.
“My retirement from the army was on the basis of that, because Americans told him that as long as Gen. Malu remained the Chief of Army Staff, they would not be with him. So, he had to get rid of me and in the process, he had to sacrifice the other two service chiefs. They didn’t do anything. I did something because I stood on my principle.”
Continuing, he stated that the “Americans did not come here to train us for peace-keeping. They came to get information on a country that, in spite of all the sanctions on it, could still achieve what we achieved in Sierra Leone. Fortunately, I was the one there. So, I talk from a very knowledgeable point of view. I didn’t want to put government on the spot.”
He recalled that former American ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Howard Jeter, produced a report, which rated Nigerian troops stationed in Liberia at the time as one of the best in terms of peace-keeping.
Malu, who said he was ECOMOG Commander at the time the former ambassador compiled the report stated, “Ambassador Howard Jeter represented the American government in the Liberian crisis. He produced an official report. They never knew he would ever come to Nigeria. He sent two copies of that report to me (As ECOMOG commander). And the recommendation was to the American government, not to anybody else, that in future, if they are contemplating assisting any of the regional groupings that has a peace-keeping outfit like we have in ECOMOG, they would not need to send soldiers, troops or anything else, because he had observed the operation of the Nigerian troops in Liberia and rated us as one of the best countries in terms of peace-keeping.”
He added, “We were working on foot; carrying ammunition on the head; using cutlasses and hoes and others. Which American soldier will come and do that in the African environment? We were sharing food. Those of them who were there saw what we were doing and commended us very highly. When we finished and came back, why did America come to train Nigerian troops? Why did America come to train our troops? Why was it not Ghanaian troops? Why was it not Sierra Leonean or Gambian or Burkinabe troops? Why was Nigeria most qualified for military training?
“And when they came, instead of joining us for peace-keeping, they were interested in finding out the amount of ammunition we had and where it came from. I made this point over and over but nobody cared to listen because they thought it was like confronting the president.”
“To be very sincere, I think it was the right time I left the service. I might have ended up in prison because I wouldn’t have accepted a situation where I was the COAS and a small country like Republic of Benin or Cameroun would be displaying arrogance.”
He noted that the military had not made remarkable progress since he left, stressing that four years after his retirement, the army was still using equipment bought by the regime of President Shehu Shagari.
•Full text of the Malu interview next Saturday
SATURDAY PUNCH, May 28, 2005
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