How not to forget Obadiah Mailafia

LET me start from what many of us may have read: A year exactly to his death, Dr Obadiah Mailafia had reason to call for prayers for his life. He had requested: Please, pray for me. I have reasons to believe that some powerful political forces want to silence me forever for speaking the truth

‘For speaking on behalf of the Holy Martyrs-of thousands of innocent children, women, elderly and youths that have been killed in our beloved country’, were his wish. Exactly a year after, he is lying cold in an Abuja morgue.

He was a Nigerian development economist, international polymath, central banker, statesman and the 2019 Nigeria Presidential election Candidate of African Democratic Congress (ADC). Dr Mailafia was a former official of the African Development Bank Group, before he was made the CBN Deputy Governor.

He spent the latter part of his years advocating for a solution to the protracted killings in Southern Kaduna, which has been linked to armed Fulani herdsmen. He was also the Chief of Staff of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP), the 79-nation multilateral development institution based in Brussels, Belgium.

Those who heard of his death on September 19, 2021 were taken aback, but they remember the words of Senator Dino Melaye; who, when confronted with the realities he found himself in his political sojourn had said: If you speak the truth, you die. If you don’t speak the truth, you will still die; so speak the truth and die. After all, all men must die some day.

Recall how he spoke to power about the recurring attacks in Southern Kaduna, after which it became apparent that the powers that be were not happy about the allegations. ‘Here was a man being unjustly persecuted for crying out about the heinous, bloody brutalities being perpetrated against the people of Southern Kaduna and other ethnic nationalities in Nigeria while others who have openly come out to brag about masterminding terrorist acts against Nigerians are not only held up by their own kin as heroes, they are walking, swashbuckling, on the streets of Nigeria as and responsible citizens’.

This is sad. It is even sadder when one considers that ‘even as Mailafia is being paraded today as an enemy of Buhari’s Nigeria, and not one of those Fulani leaders has even been questioned by the security forces. And even contemplating any of them being brought before any court of law is completely out of the question’.

As a matter of fact, Nigerians know how openly Governors el-Rufai and Masari boasted to the world that they hosted and struck a deal with bandits in the past for them not to unleash any terror on the states. Here we are, today Nigeria is faced with myriads of security challenges to the point that these issues are the more laughable, when one considers the struggles by Dr. Obadiah Mailafia to let the world know that things are not working as they should for all.

Prof Jibrin Ibrahim, one of those who knew him for over four decades has this to say about him while he worked for the Central Bank of Nigeria: He was initially reluctant to accept the offer to be Deputy Governor of the Central Bank thinking his ambition should be more Pan African but he later took the decision that Nigeria is so important to Africa that helping push the Nigerian needle forward is in itself a fillip to African development. In the CBN, he was deeply engaged in the debt part-repayment and part-forgiveness from the Paris Club process, arguing it would free resources that could be used to place Nigeria on the path to people-centred development. Then suddenly, in a three hour-saga, President Olusegun Obasanjo and Charles Soludo conspired and bundled him out of the CBN. It was a huge blow to him, not because he needed the job, but because he felt that the opportunity to contribute to national development was cut in an unfair way and in a context where he had done no wrong. He did try to go back to the job for some time but it did not happen. It was at that point that he began to believe in some conspiracy theories’.

Those who know say, Obadiah genuinely believed in what he did and say, as many are wont to doing the opposite when in position. No wonder, he did not play politics with issues concerning the people of Nigeria. Genuinely committed to the cause of the country, he was deeply in a rush to ensure the salvation of those who found themselves in bondage. It is in the struggle that he had numerous linkages of people across the length and breadth of Nigeria for others to get to believe that the struggle is a huge part of his life.

Dr. Mailafia was a perfect gentleman. He was the man, ‘who out of patriotic fervor, summoned the courage to tell things as they truly are being maliciously persecuted like a common criminal’ in Nigeria. Those who think he is after all, out of the way, may have something coming for them. There are many who have sworn to keep his memory and work incandescent.

For the better part of 2020, he came face to face with the authorities as a result of his activism. That explains why at each point, he wanted the world to know what was laid on the road ahead of him.

His fearlessness was a result of what he believed was right. If he spoke truth to ‘power and the oppressors of his people with reckless abandonment’, it was because he believed it was right to do so; otherwise, society would be doomed. Seen from various angles and by many of those who came to appreciate his stance, he was a very loud voice for the minorities all over the country. His courage and fearlessness was second to none’.

“Dear comrades, beloved brethren, I have once again (for the 3rd time) been ordered to appear before the DSS at their Jos headquarters this Monday, 14th September at 11:00am. This is in addition to our battle in court as my lawyer appears before a Jos High Court today, seeking a restraining order against the DIG Criminal Investigations Department, who are also pursuing me.

“I spent over 20 years of my working life abroad as a university teacher, banker and international civil servant with unblemished record. I have no criminal record not even a parking ticket. Sadly, it is in my own fatherland that I’m being subjected to criminal investigation and such extreme political persecution. Please, pray for me. I have reasons to believe that my life is in danger and that some powerful political forces want to silence me forever for speaking the truth.

If anything, the death is painful to many who have been with him in the struggle. Even though there are different tales about his passage, what for me is important is that the accounts given by the Middle Belt Forum cannot be but pathetic and regrettable. Below, in part reads what you and I can decipher is the truth about the account.

‘The doctors in Gwagwalada refused all entreaties by the family members of Dr Mailafia to follow the advice of the foreign consultants, insisting that they have already pronounced him dead. Even when the wife could feel the pulse of her husband, the doctor flatly declared there was nothing they could do since they had already pronounced him dead.

‘While the above narration sums up the circumstances under which Dr Mailafia died, we still await the result of the actual cause of his death. As a nationalist and patriot that he was, Dr. Mailafia was completely dedicated to the emancipation of ethnic nationalities from the clutches of oppression. The economist was never afraid to speak truth to power just as he remained committed to the enthronement of justice and equity to all citizens across ethnic and religious divides.

‘In the twilight of his life, this consummate technocrat and global scholar of repute beamed his searchlight on the raging insecurity ravaging our country. He expressed regrets over government’s incapacity to rein in the activities of insurgents and criminal groups terrorizing the nation.

‘As a former presidential candidate in the 2019 poll, Dr Mailafia sought to deploy politics to bring about the dream he had for his country. Even after he lost the election, he never let down the bar in demanding for a fair treatment for all Nigerians.

‘The Forum recalls his patriotic zeal in standing up for truth and justice. He was never a letdown in being at the forefront of showing the way for national greatness as he was willing to lay down his life for Nigeria.

‘The Forum is inspired by his altruistic disposition and contributions to national development. We remain proud of his footprints on the political, economic and social sands of our nation’.

Painful as it came; one thing stands out for Dr Mailafia’s death: No matter the degree of involvement of those responsible, if it is natural; it was meant to be no matter the experts that were lined up to take care of him. However, if it was man-made, you can be sure that, the struggle cannot be truncated from its course. The people for whom he had struggled for have reason to ensure that the cause is not obliterated from their memories.

If anyone who thinks the cause for which he stood for can be stopped on account that some of the proponents are no longer alive, once there injustice is thriving in the land; one can be sure that those who feel short changed will rear their heads to continue with the struggle.