The alleged conspirators behind the failed plot to overthrow President Bola Tinubu’s government last year pictured themselves in power before their conspiracy was busted.
Preparatory to their takeover, they cobbled together a three-point agenda meant for implementation, most likely on day one of their dream regime in power.
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The proposed agenda, which appeared to be at development stage, included a review of the removal of fuel subsidies by President Tinubu.
Mr Tinubu announced an end to fuel subsidy payments as he took the reins of power at his inauguration in May 2023, immediately plunging millions of Nigerians into a stinging cost of living crisis that continues to define his administration..
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The alleged conspirators, many of whom are now facing trial at both military and civil courts, seemed to see in the negative fallout of the policy an opportunity to grasp at legitimacy. The agenda likely rested on the notion that a reversal of the fuel subsidy removal might stir accolades from Nigerians grappling with the high cost of petrol.
PREMIUM TIMES has obtained a secret note kept by the alleged coup leader, Mohammed Ma’aji, a Nigerian Army colonel, offering a rare glimpse into the agenda the alleged conspirators set for their anticipated regime, and the bigger picture of the motivation driving the plot.
The note sketches Mr Ma’aji’s state of mind that framed the coup as an altruistic endeavour to champion the cause of a better welfare, recognition and conditions of service of members of the Nigerian Armed Forces.
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The note is part of tons of confidential documents assembled by investigators and which PREMIUM TIMES exclusively obtained and reviewed to gain rare insights into the failed coup that upset the Nigerian government just before the turn of the last quarter of last year.
Military investigators said the secret note was recovered from Mr Ma’aji’s residence and subjected to forensic examination by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The forensic report, dated 26 January, was subsequently submitted to the Defence Headquarters.
In his handwritten extrajudicial statement penned during interrogations, Mr Ma’aji admitted ownership of the note and told investigators that he personally wrote the “action plans,” motivational quotations and other writings preparatory to taking over government.
The agenda of a regime that never be
The note, kept in a booklet shared as a souvenir at a social event, looks too casual to be taken seriously.
But in it lay the scrawling mirroring the mindset of a man alleged to be at the centre of a plot to remove Nigeria’s democratically elected government of President Tinubu last year.
The note runs into pages, including one titled, “Immediate Actions.”
Under it, three points flowed and covered a whole page, with fuel subsidy topping the list.
“Immediate Actions,” begins the writing on the page, which also touches on salaries and wages of members of the Armed Forces and national awards for fallen heroes.
“Set up a committee to review fuel subsidy removal.
“Set up a committee to review salaries and wages of all members of the Armed Forces & all security agencies.
“Set up a committee to recommend all fallen Heroes for national award,” the page read.
The motivational quotes driving the alleged plot
Apart from the three-point agenda, the note contains up to 20 “motivational quotes” that investigators believed reflected Mr Ma’aji’s mindset.
Investigators also believed that Mr Ma’aji drew on the quotes, including thought-provoking wordings credited to scientist Albert Einstein, and foreign authors and motivational speakers, in pursuing the alleged coup plot.
Some of the most striking quotes included, “Money is the great way to lubricate the wheels of a coup d’état.”
He also wrote, “All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them.”
The collection also included a quote he attributed to Albert Einstein, “Try not to become a man of success but a man of value.”
Two other quotes from the note read, “The spirit of getting ahead is getting started,” and “Everything you can imagine is real.”
Others are:
- If you believe it will work out, you will get opportunities. If you don’t believe, it will see obstacles – Wayne Dyer
- Don’t be push (sic) around by the fears in your mind, be led by the dreams in your heart – Roy T. Bennett
- One with courage makes a majority – Andrew
- Playing global politics with a super power is a bit like sleeping with a Gorilla, potentially exciting but inevitably dangerous.
- Never give up on a dream because of the time it will take to accomplish it. The time will pass, anyway – Earl Nightingale
- When one door of happiness closes , another one opens, but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which is opened for us. – Helen Keller.
- Unsuccessful people write their decisions based on their current situations. Successful people make their decisions based on where they want to be – Benjamin Hardy.
Ma’aji’s declared motivations
For years, the welfare and remuneration of Nigerian military personnel have remained a subject of public debate, with serving and retired personnel repeatedly raising concerns over poor salaries, allowances and living conditions.
PREMIUM TIMES’ review of documents assembled during investigations into the failed anti-democratic plot shows Mr Ma’aji citing the deplorable conditions of soldiers and officers as a major motivation for the coup plot.
In his extra-judicial statement, Mr Ma’aji claimed that widespread frustration existed within the armed forces and argued that 80 per cent of officers and soldiers are already disgruntled with the way the government is treating their welfare.
“If you interact with officers and soldiers, 80 per cent are disgruntled already. And it was a voluntary thing. Nobody was coerced. In this recent effort, I had given up the motive, but some officers kept texting and calling for my intervention.
“There were none who, after I spoke to them, drew back after sharing the plan with them. The desire for change is genuine, and that has been what has kept the plan alive for a long time,” he wrote.
Serving personnel have long argued that their salaries do not adequately reflect the risks associated with military service. Families of soldiers killed in action have also repeatedly demanded better welfare and support.
Although the federal government has approved periodic increases in allowances and other welfare measures, many serving and retired personnel maintain that the interventions have not kept pace with the rising cost of living or the demands placed on military personnel.
The figuring of a national award for military personnel who die in active service in the alleged coup agenda is in step with Mr Ma’aji’s casting of the coup as an endeavour to champion a better reward and remuneration for military service.
The plan to review the removal of fuel subsidy by the Tinubu administration could also be the alleged conspirators’ offer to other Nigerians.
The alleged coup planning
Confidential documents reviewed by PREMIUM TIMES have provided fuller details about the planning of the alleged failed coup.
Our exclusive reporting showed how the alleged conspirators developed agricultural lexicons they used during secret conversations about the alleged coup.
They referred to themselves as farmers and codenamed the entire movement as farming.
Other agricultural-related words were used: Fertilisers as logistics, harvest as the execution day, digital farming as the operation and technical partners as clerics approached for prayers.
No specific date had been fixed for the coup before the conspirators were arrested.
PREMIUM TIMES reported in an earlier part of this exclusive coup series that one of the suspects, Ilyasu Jamilu, a major, told investigators that while 27 September, 1 October and 4 October were discussed, the conspirators had yet to settle on a final date because preparations had not been completed.
Another suspect, Abdulkarim Ibrahim, a major, told investigators that they proposed launching the operation between 1 a.m. and 2 a.m., describing the timing as consistent with previous military takeovers.
Mr Ma’aji and many other suspects involved in the alleged coup planning were arrested between September and October last year.
More than 40 suspects including senior military officers, police personnel and civilians linked to the coup have been arrested in connection with the alleged plot.
Thirty-six serving military officers are currently facing a General Court Martial in Abuja, while six other alleged conspirators are standing trial before Justice Joyce Abdulmalik of the Federal High Court in Abuja on 13 criminal charges.
The defendants facing charges at the Federal High Court in Abuja have objected to the admissibility of their extra-judicial statements and video exhibits detailing their direct or indirect encounter with Mr Ma’aji and their knowledge of the alleged coup. They alleged that the means of collection of the statements and the video exhibits were against the safeguard measures provided for in the Administration of Criminal Justice Act. The prosecution, in response, urged the court to dismiss their objection and admit the exhibits as evidence.
READ earlier parts of PREMIUM TIMES coup reporting series here, and here.
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