Dr. Oluranti Afowowe has shared a story about how Major General Oladipo Diya was punished for speaking honestly after the failed Orkar Coup of 1990. He said at the time, Diya was a senior military officer and a member of the Armed Forces Ruling Council under General Ibrahim Babangida.
In an interview with Edmund Obilo from 9:41, Afowowe said that during the first Armed Forces Supreme Council Meeting after the coup attempt, Diya suggested that the military should not just celebrate defeating the rebels. He said they should also look into the serious complaints raised by the coup plotters to prevent future uprisings. He said that bold statement cost Diya his position immediately.
Afowowe said Diya was removed from his post as General Officer Commanding (GOC) in Enugu and was given a new position as Director of Research and Development in Lagos, which did not actually exist.
Afowowe said Diya, who was used to having proper offices with personal toilets since his early years as a commander, was given a small room beside a public toilet in Lagos to humiliate him. He said Diya had no staff or proper working setup and he was deeply shocked by the humiliation
In Dr Afowowe’s words: “It was an office meant to humiliate him. Because since he was a captain in the army during the civil war and later became a major he had always had offices that have private toilet. This time around when he was a major general, a former GOC redeployed to Lagos from Enugu, when he asked for his office they now showed him an office next to toilet. A room next to toilet, no staff, no military staff or administrative staff. That was why he was shocked that how could this happen to him”
