Ahmadu Ali says he was likened to
Adolph Hitler, late German dictator, during the enquiry into the students’
unrest of 1978.
Ali was the federal education
commissioner at the time.
Describing his account of events
in his book, ‘The many colours of a rainbow,’ Ali said he was made a scapegoat
of the military government’s plan to increase boarding and lodging fees across
Nigerian universities.
Ali said this was despite the
fact that he had no knowledge of the planned hike in fees. The former chairman
of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said he was not consulted when the plan
was initiated.
“A commission of enquiry into the
cause of the crisis under justice Mohammed was set up,” he wrote.
“It seemed everybody, including
the government wanted a scapegoat and Ahmadu Ali, the commissioner of education
was that convenient scapegoat.”
When he attended the hearing to
offer his testimony, one Ighodalo, Ali said, made the ‘Hitler’ remark.
He quoted him as saying: “Look at
him……like Hitler. Small people are very dangerous!”
Ali said he was cleared of any
wrongdoing by the commission, but came under the spotlight once again after he
issued a press statement condoling the student community over the loss of
lives, and announced the indefinite closure of University of Lagos (UNILAG),
University of Ibadan (UI) and Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria.
He said the students, the public,
and the press were unanimous in their condemnation of him, as he was accused of
“arrogance and lack of sympathy for students who had lost their lives in the
crisis”.
The new government policy
triggered violent protests across Nigerian universities, with lives lost and
properties destroyed.
STALLED CAREER AND EVENTUAL RETIREMENT
Ali eventually relinquished his
position and was posted to Kaduna as commanding officer and chief medical
consultant, a deployment he felt was a demotion.
He said many of his combatant
colleagues whom he was senior to had surpassed him and had become generals.
Ali wrote: “It had become rather
unwieldy to address them as sir, while historical and seniority reasons, they
were also addressing me as sir.”
He said despite the initial
opposition from the then head of state, Olusegun Obasanjo, to his request to
quit the army, he eventually got his wish in early 1979 and was honourably
retired.
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