Supporters of Abiola heard beforehand that the man would be killed. Why did they not act to avert the doom?
You can’t say that nothing was done; maybe it was done unsuccessfully. I think he was killed on July 8. A week before he was killed, Makin Soyinka and I were the last persons to leave Radio Kudirat Studio that day. All of a sudden, the fax machine came alive, with a message from an unknown person in Nigeria, stating that Abiola would be killed, that the killing of Abiola was to settle Abacha’s death or something like that. We were taken aback. Immediately, we recalled Radio Kudirat operatives, because they had closed for the day. We also called Makin’s father, Professor Wole Soyinka, who immediately called the then United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan. It was Annan who externalized it. May be the only lapse on our side was that Radio Kudirat did not start making a big noise out of it. What happened, I wouldn’t know; everybody was tired. May be we didn’t believe that it was a possibility. But, I do know that Prof. Soyinka made an issue of it. It was more of a big consternation when it eventually took place.
Aremo Olusegun Osoba said you didn’t capture his involvement very well and that he is not happy…
Prof. Akinyemi in the preface to one of my books said recorders of history only record what they have seen. So, I have recorded what I saw regarding all the people I mentioned in my book. If there is anybody who feels he is under-reported, he can do the reporting himself. But, the truth is that history will always be history; actual events will always be actual events, but interpretation may vary. What I try to do in my writings is to look at the facts. Most times, I just present the facts and let people draw their own interpretations. When you are compiling history, you are given the right to interpret.
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