NIA: Macabre dance of the vengeful brothers

By Usman Habu Biu …

The questions people have continued to ask back home in Biu is, what may have necessitated what was perceived as a betrayal of former Acting Director General of the National Intelligence Agency, NIA, Ambassador Muhammed Dauda by his very close allies of more than 50 years.

It was rather curious and intriguing to many people that the duo of Mustapha Shehu, a publisher and media consultant from Biu in Borno State and Mustapha Betara Aliyu, a retired Deputy Director of the NIA, also from Biu, could collude to fight their own brother, Ambassador Muhammed Dauda, also from Biu.

Those who know the three gentlemen are still piqued at what could have gone wrong to the hitherto cozy relationship between them. I know as a matter of fact that MB Aliyu, Muhammed Dauda and Mustapha Shehu were pals from the cradle, and are not only contemporaries but were always together when Muhammed Dauda was still the Acting Director General.

I understand that, while Mustapha Shehu was seeking to be engaged as a media consultant, M B Aliyu wanted his premature retirement from the NIA reviewed, so that he could enjoy the benefits of a director, having been retired as a Deputy Director, owing to his failure to pass promotion exams to the rank of a director three times in a row.

It is common knowledge in the service that MB Aliyu has petitioned virtually every National Security Adviser from the time of General Aliyu Gusau and has tried to convince every Director General since that time, including Muhammed Dauda, to have his matter reviewed. Perhaps he had hoped that, Dauda, being his own kinsman will do that for him, but the Acting DG declined, insisting it was a bad case.

I must confess that I have a fair knowledge of what may have transpired as both Mustpha Shehu and Mustapha Aliyu used to be my close allies too, until I found out that I was actually ridding on the back of two tigers. Dauda may have also come to the same realization, and refused to appoint MB Aliyu as his SA, contrary to the expectations of many of us who were regulars around him.

Dauda’s refusal to appoint MB Aliyu as an SA, coupled with the rapid progress Dauda made even as MB Aliyu’s junior: becoming a Director, an Ambassador and subsequently the Acting Dg of the NIA, at a time MB Aliyu could not transcend the position of a Deputy Director, are enough motives to make MB Aliyu plot to see Dauda’s back at the NIA.

On the other hand, his refusal to hire Mustapha Shehu as request to be his media strategist could have given Shehu enough reason to gang up against him with others, including MB Aliyu. But beyond the likely motives for the duo to move against Dauda, is the likely material benefits they were said to have derived from their deals with new NIA boss.

If the reports I received alleging that Shehu and Aliyu have accepted to manipulate information about Ambassador Dauda’s past which will tend to further portray Muhammed Dauda in bad light, is anything to go by, it will be safe to surmise that the duo have a longer agenda than meet the eyes.

Seemingly driven by envy and vendetta against Dauda, one cannot find any justification for the animousity against Dauda, given that he has not committed any offence, except for putting in his best and excelling. The actions of Mustapha Shehu and MB Aliyu which is common knowledge amongst our people are sad, repugnant and alien to our culture, background and religion in Biu.

I would have dismissed the assertion that Ambassador Dauda is also being fought by his own brothers as a mere hoax but for the confirmation from an insider in the NIA to the effect that our own brothers are at the center of a sinister campaign to further embattle Muhammed Dauda.

The two, I am made to understand are working in collaboration with an internal machinery set up by Dauda’s successor, to compel him to withdraw the suit in court challenging his purported dismissal: an issue that has become worrisome to the new NIA boss.

Dauda is also being faced with this new challenge from his own brothers, both of whom seem to have struck a deal with the new NIA helmsman, wherein Mustapha Shehu’s moribund news magazine will enjoy a lifeline, while Aliyu’s checkered career will be reviewed to give him a soft landing.

Suffice it to say that, the close affinity between Mustapha Shehu and MB Aliyu stems from their commonality of attitudes and characters. For Shehu, since his sojourn outside the shores of Nigeria for the Technical Aid Corp, which gave him the opportunity to also pursue other endeavors, he has technically kept all his friends, except M B Aliyu, at bay. In the same vein, MB Aliyu, since his career at the National Intelligence Agency, NIA became wobbly and eventually ended rather unceremoniously, has been leading a life of exclusivity, with friends and even relations. But there seems a good understanding between the two, the basis of which no one knows.

After carefully analyzing what could possibly be their common grouse against Muhammed Dauda, I had the strong feeling that Dauda’s sins may be his refusal to play the nepotism card by drawing Mustapha Shehu and MB Aliyu into the system. Additionally, they seem easy cannons in the hands of the cabal, which appears ready to pay anything in order to sweep the NIA issue under the carpet.

Now the difference seemed clear, as my friend who, few weeks ago, was
complaining about how to get fertilizer for his farm, has just embarked on a
globetrotting tour that will take him to four countries.I won’t mind such instant
high paying jobs ooh…

 

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