The NADECO story cannot be told by one man. No history era can. We all look at it from different perspectives, what materials we stumble on, what sides we witnessed, what heroics we can attest to. Ayo Opadokun has written a fascinating book but with a presumptuous title:The NADECO Story. The book presentation took place last week in Lagos. It was a well-attended fete to a time of turbulence. It was also a time to tell a few stories. Soyinka, ever a bard, led the way. Ever spry, Soyinka tells of a time in Paris when they had no money, and there was a teeming generosity by Nigerians who emptied whatever they had to help the struggle. He showed such munificence to Agbakoba. He did not say how much. Agbakoba tells me it was a hefty one thousand dollars. Soyinka then says, he also met Beko Ransome-kuti and spotted a weapon with him. The way Soyinka tells it, you might think the weapon was juju because it passed through all security checks. He asked Beko what it was for, and Beko said, to kill Abacha. It had only one shot. Soyinka looked at a man who could not hurt a fly but who fought only with ideas and suasion. He grabbed the thing from him and said “I would personally hand you over to Abacha.”
The other tale was from Olubadan, Oba Rasheed Ladoja. He had an encounter with General Aliyu Gusau, who said he might have arrested him based on what he said during his exile in London. Oba Ladoja had had a conversation with Col Nyam (rtd) when the soldier broached the idea of invading Nigeria. But he said he was not a soldier. He should discuss it with General Akinrinade. Gusau knew of that episode and said Oba Ladoja could have been arrested for not reporting it. But how did the general know, he asked. “It was then I learned about the NIA, Nigerian Intelligence Agency.” The NADECO days were a terrible quicksand.
