Adeola Aderounmu.  

The extent that these betrayals have ruined Nigeria is difficult to fathom. This is because of the complications that the boys from the North brought into the matter. To the boys from the North, power is theirs and this cannot be compromised. They have undersigned this pact with the blood of their patriarchs and the colonialists. They will go to the ends of the world to retain this power. They will achieve it subtly or by force. The wolves and doves among them cannot be seen as birds of the same feather but they execute the same agenda.

Femi had a clear goal of what he wanted in life. He had never hidden his intentions and his abilities as a leader are not in doubts. He is versed in books and practical knowledge. It was not a surprise that he lent his voice to the independence of Nigeria. He was very distinguished as a regional leader. He was convinced that he could lead the country if given the chance. He never got the chance.

One of the main reasons that Femi never got the chance was because of two boys who had graduated from the Baptist High School. These boys are Moshoodi and Aremu. Aremu was a year or two ahead of Moshoodi in the school those days in the 1930s.

By a stroke of fate in 1978, Aremu was leading the country but he was not a wanted fellow. He was an army officer, barely learned. His education is not a barrier anyway as the system has highly tolerated illiterates around the realms of power. This once prosperous Nation has recently nosedived economically and it was heading for the abyss.  There are many reasons for this and interestingly the people are looking for a messiah.

I was too young to know what has transpired between Aremu, Moshoodi and Femi as they were growing up. The 3 of them incidentally are from Ogun state in Western Nigeria. How hard can it be for people who speak the same language to understand one another?

Moshood and Aremu worked against Femi and ensured that the boys from the North cheated in the 1979 elections. The boys from the North came back to power: something they have always cherished as their birthrights. The Eastern boys are not close. Their own palaver is a different story entirely especially after they fought a war to leave Nigeria. There is an unwritten pact that they will never get the chance to lead Nigeria. This has worked so far, at least since the 1970s.

Femi was bitter but he went on with his life. His involvement in Politics was a huge blessing to the people from the West. I am sure I went to elementary school and secondary school almost free because of his policies regarding education. One of my friends told me that Femi’s family gets 1 kobo for every bottle of coca cola that is sold in Nigeria. How do people come about this kind of story? Riliwan told me many things that inspired him into Politics but he has not been successful. If he goes about with this kind of stories, he may need another profession soon.

Femi died an honourable man several years later. It doesn’t matter the shortcomings that he had. His name is forever written in Gold. He was betrayed by the Baptist Boys. After his death, a University was named after him. One of his daughters became an ambassador and the other children didn’t achieve much in Politics.

Moshoodi and Aremu carried on with their lives. Moshoodi benefitted a lot from the fraudulent government and he was very sure that the boys from the north would break their codes for him: they will let him be president too. This expectation never came to past and Moshoodi was bitter: he must have had the same feelings Femi felt 4 years earlier. For the first time in his life, Moshoodi realized that there are certain things money cannot buy. One of them is happiness and another is satisfaction.

Aremu tendered his chickens and pigs in a farm. He showed a little response to Politics. No one knows if this farm was built originally for him or for Nigeria. OFN can mean many things to many people. Nigerians never knew how Operations Feed the Nation disappeared into thin air. He tried hard to be a statesman, yet this was something that came to Femi naturally. Femi didn’t have to try.

By 1993, it had been some years since Femi died. Moshoodi was still successful with business (anyhow that came) and his participation in Politics is now fully fledged. Unfortunately, he still had to contend with the boys from the North if he must become a president. These boys have now changed uniform; they are now back to the days of barracks ruling. They must keep this birthright at all cost.  

Moshoodi won the hearts of Nigerians and won a landslide victory at the presidential polls. But he NEVER became the president. He died in jail while his mandate stared at him in the face. As a matter of basic principles of life, this was injustice of the highest order. Many things however plagued his longings for his mandate. One was the repercussion of working against Femi about 15 years earlier. Another important thing that stood in the way of his mandate was the clear betrayal of another Baptist boy.

Aremu declared to the world that Moshoodi was not the messiah that Nigeria longed for. With that, Moshoodi’s coffin was nailed forever. He died in jail under questionable circumstances. Some people believe that Moshoodi was killed by the Americans. A cup of tea was the undoing of this great millionaire, a Baptist boy.

Since the death of this Baptist boy, aided by the betrayal of a fellow Baptist boy, Nigeria stood at a crossroad, making no real progress. Interestingly, Aremu is still alive. He could have died in jail too when Sani (another boy from the North or outside Nigeria) put him in jail.  Nigerians raised their voices to the whole world and to the high Heavens. The hand of fate rescued Aremu.

Another superficial hand of fate ensured that Aremu ruled Nigeria for the second time after returning as a convict. The final betrayal of this Baptist boy came when he pushed more than 70% of Nigerians below the poverty line while pursuing economic reforms that were basically abstract to the lame man. Aremu fought corruption with his lips while one of his boys from the East regularly uses the presidential jet to fly women and dollars out of the country. One of the boys from the North predicted that Nigerians will eat from the dustbin. In a few years, millions of Nigerians cannot even eat from the dustbin, there is nothing to scrap.

Today, a boy from the North enjoys the outcome of the ULTIMATE betrayal in the history of mankind. Aremu, singlehandedly worked against 150 million Nigerians and used a boy from the East to install a boy from the North. It is not clear when the boys from the East will wake up to see the how they are used and dumped.  

The betrayals of the Baptist boys cannot be easily understood. It is more complex than a labyrinth. The Historians in Nigeria have their hands full. Posterity awaits their contributions.

  May the glory of Nigeria come, soon!