USA Africa Dialogue Series - Nigeria: Funny Theories About Al-Mustapha’s Freedom

By: ABUBAKAR SA'AD BAKORI
Nigerians have a propensity for attributing motives to every action and it is not, therefore, surprising why some people are linking the freedom of Major Hamza Al-Mustapha to the 2015 ambition of President Goodluck Jonathan.

These theories are rather too far- fetched considering the fact that, despite repeated past appeals for state pardon, neither the Federal Government nor the Lagos State Government had responded to those appeals for clemency. In fa ct, there is no way the Lagos State Government would have accepted any political deal to release Major Al-Mustapha. The South-west is a hostile political environment to General Abacha's former Chief Security Officer. And the Federal Government alone could not have granted amnesty to Al-Mustapha without the involvement of the Lagos State Government.

The involvement of some northern leaders in frustrating Mustapha's freedom in the past also discredits the theory that his release is political. The deposed Emir of Gwandu, Alhaji Mustapha Haruna Jokolo, had once told the Hausa Service of the Voice of America (VOA) that some powerful northern leaders were opposed to Al-Mustapha's freedom. According to him, former President Obasanjo was amenable to the idea of seeking the cooperation of Lagos State to grant him amnesty, but the effort was frustrated by these northern leaders. Read More

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the "USA-Africa Dialogue Series" moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin.
For current archives, visit http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
For previous archives, visit http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue-
unsubscribe@googlegroups.com
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "USA Africa Dialogue Series" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to usaafricadialogue+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.