Taoreed Lagbaja; why did he die? (Part 1).
By Bolaji O. Akinyemi
Development is contextual! I have never agreed to the generalisation of African underdevelopment by the West nor will I agree to screwing of narratives away from true causes of events to in order to promote Western sentiment against the sense we must borrow ourselves.
At an International Security Management Course, the consciousness of the impact of Western power information syndication on the African continent left me asking; why did General Lagbaja die. Let’s leave the details of the aforesaid Course till an auspicious opportunity beacons to do a documentary report on Lake Chad region; a basin of virtous prosperity encrusted with vicious poverty.
The social development structure of African society is top notch, but the trouble with Africa is the failure to understand that, “teni ni teni, ekisa ni ti atan”, meaning, yours is yours as garbage is the identity of the garbage dump.
Way before the Western powers put pencil on paper in Germany from November 1884 to demarcate African kingdoms and homeland territories into littoral states without regards for ancestral boundaries, tribes and tongues and other existing cultural bonds and hegemonies operated statecraft; intelligence study and identity management had been part of the African social evolution and cultural expression.
Tom, Dick and Harry, were a way of identity management in general expression of the English with a parallel of it in Yoruba as Lagbaja, Tamedu, Lakasegbe, Lamorin and Atilawi.
Of the Quintet, “Lagbaja”, was made popular by Bisade Ologunde of the Afro music genre; yet, his experimental results of separating his personae from stage performance adopted ‘Lagbaja’ as a brand. The success made of it is a case study in identity branding, marketing and management. Bisade Ologunde fused African masquerade brand into music as the reason he never walked the shadow of Fela Anikulapo Kuti; his costume, a complete covering like a masquerade, shields him from comparison with the pant wearing hero of the afrobeat music of Fela that predated the emergence of Lagbaja.
Bisade Ologunde is not the basis for this article, but, a presage of it in many ways;
‘Lagbaja’ was first a principle in African identity study and management before it became a name borne by families in the Yoruba ethnic territories of Nigeria; and, it eventually attained a reckoning stature cum popularity as a name with the appointment of General Taoreed Lagbaja as the Chief of Army Staff of the Nigerian army. General Lagbaja, now the most populous as a name and not a brand is from Ilobu in Irepodun Local Government Area of Osun State of Nigeria; the breaking of the sad news of his demise, ironically, amplified the mention and recitation of the name Lagbaja to the highest pitched decibel.
The strident request demanded by the people of Ilobu for use of African Science for a forensic post mortem to determine not the cause of death but the person behind the death is a proof they are not convinced by the government story.
Was Lagbaja killed? That is the unwritten question on the lips of many Nigerians. To refrain from answering this question is to drown whatever hope there is to be renewed in the ability of the defense and security architecture of Nigeria to secure citizens.
Curiously, at the venue of a Course on security management, the electronic gadgets of some participants were stolen; this singular act raises the puzzle about Lagbaja’s death, for which questions linger. Who then is safe in Nigeria?
The demise of General Lagbaja was first a rumour, which lingered for about 2 weeks, built around cancer as the causative ailment.The news had hardly settled when the video of General Lagbaja doing press up with troops went viral. The video for me was the public way of questioning the conspiracy of cancer surrounding the death of General Lagbaja.
The infiltration revelation of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan of his administration, provides a credible basis to the conspiracy theories about the death of his erstwhile NSA, General Tamedu,
Like Lagbaja, the conspiracy theory of the death of Lakasegbe and Tamedu remains unresolved till this moment; Lakasegbe, the Okun ethnic lady, is the first Nigerian female combat helicopter pilot in Nigeria.
Lagbaja was not just fit and ready for the task of the fight against insecurity in Nigeria; he was apt on the game without much noise but greater success. One of his ideas about how to end violent crimes by non-state actors aka insecurity was proposed at a security meeting briefing with topnotched helmsmen of the Nigerian state; General Lagbaja proposed the need to create a special force to tackle insecurity along with a social welfare revolution to disarm poverty as the recruiter of innocent youth into radical ideology.
Security briefings are not for public consumption but if the safety of the properties of Course participants at a security course became a question on the lips of fellow participants, then there is the need to be worried about the safety citizens.
The Government may not need to answer the question of what or who killed General Lagbaja, if it is prepared to leave the other question of; who will be the Lamorin and the Atilawi in this pick of conspiracy death on the prowl? How safe is anyone else, including the leaders and the led alike, as a public contention.
Dr. Bolaji O. Akinyemi is an Apostle and Nation Builder. He’s also President Voice of His Word Ministries and Convener Apostolic Round Table. BoT Chairman, Project Victory Call Initiative, AKA PVC Naija. He is a strategic Communicator and the C.E.O, Masterbuilder Communications.
Email:bolajiakinyemi66@gmail.com
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