Daily Independent (Lagos)
Victor Ugborgu
3 November 2008
Lagos — Jeremiah Useni, a retired Lieutenant General came to national limelight in January 1984 when Major-General Mohammadu Buhari appointed him military governor of the defunct Bendel State following the ouster of Shehu Shagari's government. He later served in various capacities as Minister of Transport, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and Quartermaster-General of the Nigeria army between 1984 and 1998. Useni is among the legion of army Generals that embraced "agbada", the symbol of Nigerian politics after disengagement from the military.
Since he leapt into the murky waters of Nigerian politics, he seems to enjoy more of "dishing out blows" as his contribution to finding solutions to national issues. He appears, at times, to take pleasure in opening old wounds in a bid to remain politically relevant.
Useni stirred the hornet's nest last week when he justified the killing of renowned playwright and Ogoni rights activist, Ken Saro-Wiwa in 1994 by the Sani Abacha government. The General said the Abacha regime was justified to have killed the leader in view of the gruesome killings perpetrated at that time by Saro-Wiwa's supporters at the time. "They would put spear in the anus of their victim and remove it from the mouth. So the regime was justified to have killed him," Useni said.
He claimed that the outcry by the Western countries over the hanging of the renowned playwright was because they were against the Abacha regime, which had refused to take loan from them and forced them to close their offices in Nigeria. It was the same comment that denied Ambassador Ibrahim Gambari the opportunity of chairing the Niger/Delta Economic Summit. Useni's remark has expectedly drawn the fury of both human rights activists and politicians of the Niger Delta extraction.
Marvin Yobana, leader of Ogoni Youths Council (OYC) on October 28, gave Useni a seven-day ultimatum to either apologise over his reported justification of the killing or face legal action for the murder of the late activist. Yobana said Ogoni youths were not surprised that he could make such a statement since Useni was part of the conspiracy that led to the killings of their prominent men. He insisted that the only thing that would assuage their anger was for Useni to make a public apology, renouncing his unfortunate statement against the spirit and soul of their loved and respected ones.
"We are giving Jeremiah Useni seven working days to tender his unreserved apology to the Ogonis and the entire Niger Delta, otherwise we will institute a legal proceeding against him at the international and national courts for him to be arrested and tried for human rights violations and for his part in the crime of judicial murder of Ken Saro-Wiwa and the others, " Yobana said
The Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP) also described Useni's statement as most unfortunate for a person of his standing, describing it as "disappointing and irresponsible." Bari-ara-Kpalap, MOSOP Information Officer insisted that there was no way the extra-judicial murder of Saro-Wiwa could be justified. He said the repulsive remark would make it difficult for the wounds of the past injustice to the region to heal. Steven Uzoechi, an Owerri-based journalist urged the Niger/ Delta activists to ignore Useni in order not to make him look relevant in the democratic setting.
"He is one of the discredited military officers who should hide their heads in shame and never be heard in public. Despite his long stay in power, Useni offered Nigerians nothing except confusion. Even Modibbo Umar, former FCT minister traced the abuse of land processes and allocation in the FCT to Useni. His tenure is synonymous with lawlessness. Nobody should take him seriously," Uzoechi remarked.
Born on February 16, 1943 in Langtang area of Plateau State, Useni studied in Nigeria, Britain and India. He joined the Nigeria Army as an apprentice driver/mechanic and rose to the rank of Lieutenant General. He was a member of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) and now chairman, Democratic Peoples Party (DPP).
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