Fisayo Soyombo: Dear President Tinubu
By: Deji Yesufu
My name is Deji Yesufu. I am a Christian missionary and a die-hard lover of Nigeria. Besides who I am and what I do, I have had opportunities to leave this country. For the first time after evading many temptations from many quarters, I am considering leaving Nigeria. What has occasioned this thought is what happened to Fisayo Soyombo a few days ago. This is what has also led me to write this open letter to you with the hope that it will get to your table eventually. Just in case you didn’t hear what befell Soyombo, I will use the next few paragraphs to describe it.
Fisayo Soyombo is a household name in Nigeria. He is an investigative journalist – who has carried out tens of ground-breaking investigations, revealing the rot in many of our public institutions, and calling on government to reform them. In his latest investigation, whose report is yet to be unveiled, Soyombo gets involved in oil bunkering to find out who and who makes this illegal business possible in Nigeria. What is clearly in the public domain, following his three-day detention by the men of the 6-Division of the Nigerian army, is that many highly placed men in the military are involved in this business. Soyombo has put his life on the line so that this country can stop the bleeding of her commonwealth; so that resources can be available to develop infrastructures in the country; so that this country can become productive and then give strength to her naira; and so that a gleam of hope can arise in the minds and hearts of Nigerians who are committed to the good of the country.
The military is an institution that is extremely dear to my heart. I pray for the Nigerian military every day. It is a career choice I might even consider for my now eleven-year-old son because his late maternal grandfather, Prof. B. E. Olufemi (former Dean of Students at the University of Ibadan), used to call him “General”. I fell in love with the military after I did research on it to write my first book “VICTOR BANJO” and saw how much these men do to keep us alive in this country. No other institution in this nation has her men and women protecting us with their very lifeblood. No one has the right to spoil the good name and achievement of a nation’s military. But there have been strong allegations linking the military to the continuation of the violence of Boko Haram – people alleging that as long as that crisis continues, resources would be made available to buy weapons and people at the highest echelon of the army would make money out of it. Now if we assume these allegations are false, how do we reconcile it with what has just happened to Soyombo?
Fisayo Soyombo, as he is apt to do, went undercover and linked up with oil bunkerers in Portharcout. He says that he paid a lofty sum of twenty-three million naira to get crude oil transported from Portharcout to Enugu. While he could easily have cosied up in his home in Lagos, and allow the smugglers to do the job he had paid them to do, Soyombo puts his life at risk and joins the team to transport the crude. It should also be understood that a lion’s share of the money paid would be used to “settle” security officials whose job it is not to allow for bunkering to take place. Now, while they were transporting the goods, someone who was not settled – someone high up in the army, sent his men to burst the deal. Soyombo is discovered and arrested. In the process of interrogating him, Soyombo reveals details of the bunkering process to the army. But in a twist of events, the army published a statement linking Soyombo to oil bunkering; they also revealed the details they had to the bunkerers – intending obviously to tarnish his image in the public and to endanger his life. This is the reason why, sir, you must use your good office to investigate the people who are behind this in the army and have the guilty ones punished.
A few months ago, I discovered all the written works of Obafemi Awolowo, and I have been consuming the man’s philosophy. I now understand why true federalism is at the root of the numerous states we have in Nigeria and why it is the best way to develop the country. I see the “Awoism” worldview and one can say that you are the fulfilment of that goal that our fathers sought both for the south-west Nigeria and for the country at large. Awo did not become president but he left a legacy we are proud of. You are president today and you have the opportunity to leave a legacy for the unborn Nigerian child. The raging corruption in many Nigerian public institutions will not let this happen. The EFCC and the ICPC have all the resources to investigate corruption in the Nigerian army. They only need a nod from you and that legacy of a New Nigeria will be a reality.
You can make this happen, Mr. President. You can write your name in gold in the history of this country and encourage a myriad of committed Nigerians to remain within the country and help build it up. One such person is Fisayo Soyombo – this country cannot afford to allow anything to happen to him, and we must do everything to fix the troubles with our public institutions. Thank you for reading.
Deji Yesufu is the Pastor of Providence Reformed Baptist Church Ibadan. He is the author of HUMANITY.
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