Wushishi: Soldiering sans politics, By Wole Olaoye

He was warm, very warm. But lurking behind the affable exterior was a distancing mien which made you feel that this man, although desirous of sharing his experiences in a book, would rather not talk about himself.

We immediately came to the conclusion that this man was neither a military politician nor a political soldier. Our title for his book came spontaneously: “SoldieringPolitics”. He had, after all, settled into his post-retirement role as a corporate executive. At various times, he was Chairman of UAC of Nigeria; Chairman, UPDC ; a director of Stanbic IBTC Bank and MTS First Wireless; and a member of the board of Acorn Petroleum.

“I joined the army because of him”, said one of the juniors whose name I am not in a position to publish because the book itself did not make it to the bookstands. When we delivered a preliminary draft to the General, he said he would chew the cud of remembrance and revert to us to fill in any missing links.

One issue that kept recurring throughout the interviews with his colleagues was how he was betrayed by those he trusted in the run-up to the 1983 coup, which toppled the Shagari government and prematurely ended Wushishi’s tenure as Chief of Army Staff. But the visitors kept monitoring phone calls and pretending to be speaking with loyal commanders in various military formations. They did not leave their chief until the wee hours of the next morning, by which time the coup had become a fait accompli. As soon as the senior officers left, a group of junior officers stormed Wushishi’s residence to arrest the army chief and clamp him in detention.

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