Following his interrogation by the State Security Service (SSS) over an alleged connection to the October 1, 2010, bomb blast at the Eagle Square, Abuja, which claimed several lives, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Aleogho Raymond Dopkesi, has claimed that he was roped into the incident because of his work as the Director-General of the former military head of states, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, presidential campaign.
This is disclosed in a new biography titled, The Handkerchief, written by Okoh Aihe, Bayo Bodunrin, Christopher Ebuetse Ayo Ogundele and Johnson Onime.
The book which is due for release this week coincides with Dopkesi’s 70th birthday anniversary.
It states how security agents who swung into action immediately after the blast, within a few hours of the incident, invited the media magnate for questioning, pointing out that the interrogation it led to a rare unanimity of opinion among political actors that the action against him was politically motivated.
The book narrates: “The allegation against Dokpesi turned out to be such imaginary claim. It was purely a phantom war against the State which, if proved, attracts heavy sanction including hanging. But those who rallied round Dokpesi said he was never a man of violence.
“It was not long to establish that the allegation of unsettling peace against Dokpesi was not unconnected to his acceptance of the assignment to coordinate the campaigns of former Military President Ibrahim
“Babangida who threw his hat into the ring and was on the sweepstakes with President Jonathan for the sole Presidential ticket of the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP). Babangida later withdrew from the race.
“In the course of the scheming’s for the PDP ticket, many considered Dokpesi’s choice as a tricky decision, considering the bitter media war that had been waged over the zoning of the 2011 presidency.
“As it was, the North was convinced that it was its preserve to continue with the second term slot which late President Umaru Yar’Adua did not complete. President Jonathan and his supporters felt it was unheard of to ask an incumbent to vacate office on the excuse of the zoning formula of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
“For Dokpesi, public perception regarding his choice as campaign manager was highly suspicious, and they rightly considered it a delicate political venture given, noting that Dokpesi is from the South-South, the same zone as President Jonathan. Apart from that, Dokpesi was in the campaign’s forefront by the people of South-South to produce the President in the 2007 elections.
“As a frontline leader of the South-South Peoples Assembly (SSPA), public perception does not permit Dokpesi to quickly recant his South-South convictions less than four years and to join a team of IBB.
“They reasoned that the man was being primed for a spoiler’s role for the Jonathan ticket or that he was a recipient of some previous goodwill for which he must now payback. Or was IBB trying to take advantage of Dokpesi’s vast media network, to reach out to the people with fewer efforts?
“The debate over which geopolitical zone would produce the next president had left the terrains of civil discourse to threats and counter-threats. As at September 2010, Dokpesi cried out over threats by the Presidency to hound him and his business concerns.
“Dokpesi said he had written to ask President Jonathan to abandon his plan to contest the 2011 Presidency because of the zoning principle of their party, the PDP. That was his own position and would never fall shy of making it known.”
The book quotes Dopkesi as saying: “I proffered my advice and I decided to back out. I did nothing in secret, mine is an advice, it is up to Mr. President to accept and moved on with my own life.”
The biography blames the government for often misdirecting security agencies to rope perceived political foes into phantom plots to cower critics or perceived opponents.
It will be recalled that former President Goodluck Jonathan at that time blamed the Independence Day bomb blast Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND), some of whose members were later prosecuted and jailed over the incident.
In his foreword for the biography, former President Jonathan said he did not hesitate to write it.
He writes: “I am fascinated by the title of this book, The Handkerchief, for the obvious reason that I am also from a humble background where hope for tomorrow did not wear the clear colours of the rainbow.
“So, I know very well the functions of the handkerchief which for people like Raymond Aleogho Dopkesi’s mother, Aishetu, was not for prestige but of toil and sorrow, to wipe off the ever-present sweat, and sometimes, tears.”
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