“BUHARI JAILED ME UNJUSTLY, BUT I HAVE FORGIVEN HIM” – Col. Peter Obasa

For Col. Peter Obasa ( rtd) the man who gave the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) the military orientation that it has retained till date and championed the upgrading of the Nigerian Defence Academy into a degree awarding institution, his career in the Nigerian Military would appear to have been brewed from heaven, destined to race to a great and glorious finish. Trained in the best military institutions locally and abroad, Obasa left bold and sterling footprints everywhere he was posted. His colleagues regarded him as a model; his superiors considered him as a rising star, the man with the Midas touch. In his first three years as the Director of NYSC, Obasa was described as an ‘Angel’, a man of impeccable character. But in a sudden twist, the Kwara-born octogenarian witnessed a reversal of fortune that saw him cascading down from the pinnacle of comfort into a jail house where he spent seven years and 56 days before he was released by the administration of General Ibrahim Babangida. Obasa recently released a book titled: “House of Exile”, where he chronicles his ordeals and experience in prison. In this conversation with Ayo Arowolo, Obasa, now 80, shared vital lessons he learned from the valley. Plus much more. Enjoy the reading..

1 LESSON Reserve Absolute Trust In God

The first thing is that you should reserve absolute trust in God alone and in no one else, and you should stay close to Him. He is the author of the universe. He knows what happened yesterday, what is happening now and what will happen tomorrow. Nothing, absolutely nothing, is hidden from him. He has the story of the entire universe in his palm.

When I was arrested, they did not tell me I was under arrest. I was just invited by the Provost Marshal to come and explain a few things to him and after that, he told me to go with some people and those people came with me to the house. They said they had the search warrant to search my house and they conducted the search and took what they wanted to take away, and then, invited me to follow them. I had nothing than a French suit on me, nothing more than that. Then, I took a pocket New Testament Bible with me. I am a Christian, a Catholic.

I had the testament which I never opened. I had it in my breast pocket that was what I took away with me. From that time on, everything became mysterious. Without warning, I began a journey into what then looked like the land of the unknown. I got to where they clamped me in prison. At that point, I had to kneel down and ask my God what was actually happening. I had no clue any longer. What was meant to be just a mere invitation turned into something that would change the course of my life completely. I didn’t know what I had done; I didn’t know where it was leading to. I asked God a series of questions: I asked God to tell me what to expect. I told God that I am not a prophet; I am not anybody special; I am not like Moses that heard directly from him; that if he had anything to tell me he should go ahead and make it plain to me. He revealed his mind to me when I opened my Bible the following morning: You cannot believe what happened! When I opened my Bible after my early morning prayers, the page that popped was Hebrews 13 verses 5-6 and the conclusion there is that the Lord has promised that he will neither leave nor forsake me. That gave me peace and confidence, and I knew without any iota of doubt, that God would work out everything according to his will. I could confidently say the Lord is my helper. I would not be afraid of what man could do to me, in spite of the bewildering events that were unfolding before my very eyes. That was a striking message, and I have held to that message up to this moment and I am holding on to the message till I die the Lord is my helper.

I was in prison for seven years 56 days; I was released in August 1991. It was the Buhari administration that arrested me, but when Ibrahim Babangida came as the Military President, I wrote several petitions, and his administration authorised my release from prison, on the strength of my submissions.

The point I am making is that if you can trust God, even if you don’t understand what is happening, you would gain spiritual knowledge that is not possible in any other situation. I am bold to say that my period in prison was the most spiritual of my life. I learnt quite a lot about life in the prison that has kept me confident up till this moment. That was my experience. I learnt more truths about myself, about God and about others in the prison.

2 LESSON You Have To Forgive Those That Hurt You From Your Heart

I learnt this over a long period of reflections that when you forgive those who have offended you from your heart, you are actually doing yourself a lot of good. I would say I have maintained good health because I have learnt to let go. I am 84, and I drive myself; I do virtually everything by myself. I am healthy. I forgave the Tribunal the day the incident happened. For Buhari even though he jailed me unjustly, I have forgiven him. I actually had nothing against him as a person. Buhari was my superior colleague and I saw him as such. I know the kind of person he is: he is dogmatic, very rigid. If I still had something against him, I would have used my book against him because the book was written when he was contesting the Presidency in 2015. I would have worked for his opponent, but I did not do any of such. In fact, I voted for him and persuaded my son to do same. I forgave them from the very first day the incident happened. If you are Christian, you cannot but forgive whomsoever must have wronged you.

3 LESSON Trust Your Neighbour But Bear In Mind You Will Be Disappointed

I learnt this the hard way during my ordeal, and that was why I came up with that lesson. If you trust your neighbour you might be disappointed; and the reason I came up with that is that all my life I have always trusted people, and it has always ended up in bitter disappointment.

On the NYSC matter, I had nothing to do with the contracts not because I didn’t have the power to do so, but I just felt that my primary duty in the Corps was to change a new scheme, make it more effective and more relevant to the growth of Nigeria. I was not concerned about awarding contracts. My goal was to use the money provided to make sure that the Scheme met its objectives and the money voted for it was spent on what they were allocated for. I made sure all the allocations were spent on what they were meant for. They were not wasted. The money that was spent, the one they said I embezzled didn’t come from our (NYSC) allocations at all. It came from a different source, a source I didn’t even know existed then. There was a different financial window between the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the NYSC. We had a facility whereby departments could go outside their budgetary allocations to spend money. I was not aware of all these, yet I was punished for something I did not do.

So, that’s why I say trust your neighbour; but always know that you might be disappointed, so you don’t get angry when you are.

4 LESSON Delegate Authority But Don’t Abdicate

This should be written in gold by anyone who is holding a position of authority. While you should delegate authority, please ensure supervision and make sure final clearance always comes from you. I did a lot of delegation of authority in the Youth Corps (NYSC) because the system I met on the ground was working, and I had no cause to change it. I delegated a lot to the Head of Finance. He was doing well under previous Directors-General and I did some supervision. And for the first three years, the Tribunal said everything was fine, that I behaved like an angel but in the fourth year something went wrong mysteriously. That fourth year, I was getting ready to leave the Scheme. I relaxed my guard and that put me in trouble. It was in that period that the atrocities were committed. Could you believe some cheques were written in December but backdated to October 30? I am talking of cheques that ran into 200 million Naira. When you delegate, don’t abandon supervision. You never know what that can do for you.

5 LESSON Be Honest At All Times

When you are honest at times, your storyline will never change. You have to tell the truth no matter how bitter it is, even if it’s going to be inimical to your own defence. That was what saved me and got me out eventually because it was found out that I was consistent in all the statements I made even under circumstances I could have acted otherwise.