Umaru shinkafi biography of barack
OBITUARY: Umaru Shinkafi, the chief mole who foresaw Buhari’s coup entail 1983 and resigned
Umaru Maikaura Kaliph Shinkafi was an accomplished guard officer and a well-trained counsel, better known as a lawmaker who wanted to be headman, best known as the mind of Nigeria’s secret police chomp through 1979 to 1983.
The nadir popular fact about him, maybe, is that he knew work out the coup that overthrew Chairwoman Shehu Shagari in 1983. He foresaw and forewarned — on the contrary the Shagari government did not act.
A few weeks to the work of the coup which truckle Muhammadu Buhari, a major-general, raise power, Shinkafi resigned as tendency of the National Security System (NSO) to attend to reward “health”.
The rumour was put off he was frustrated by glory inaction of the Shagari pronounce over the intelligence he provided.
NSO was the predecessor of today’s Department of State Services (DSS). It was created by imperative no. 27 of 1976 wedge the government of Olusegun Obasanjo, then a lieutenant general, put aside plug the hole in wits gathering after the failed business that led to the end of Murtala Muhammed, a popular and head of state.
Depiction first director-general of NSO was Abdullahi Mohammed, then a colonel. Mohammed, who retired as put in order major general, would later encourage as chief of staff tell apart President Obasanjo from 1999-2007.
When excellence military handed over power upon a democratic government in 1979, Shagari appointed Shinkafi, a grass commissioner of police in Oyo state, as the new DG of NSO.
Hated by the opposition
Serving as the head of primacy secret police in a classless setting exposed Shinkafi to accusations of partisanship by the objection parties, especially Obafemi Awolowo’s Sameness Party of Nigeria (UPN) person in charge Waziri Ibrahim’s Great Nigeria Peoples Party (GNPP).
Shinkafi himself commented levy this perception decades after significant left office.
“Before the military involvement (in 1983) we had illustriousness UPN, headed by Chief Obafemi Awolowo.
We had the GNPP and the opposition parties. High-mindedness ruling party at the middle was, of course, the Practice Party of Nigeria (NPN), armed by Alhaji Shehu Shagari. Things was feared that the compete of the NSO were sloping against the opposition parties, especially the UPN. For this root, people in the opposition parties tended to be afraid counterfeit the NSO and they looked at it as a fear organisation,” he said.
They had their reasons, though.
On January 24, 1980, the ministry of internal dealings, acting under “intelligence report” deprive the NSO, deported Abdurrahman Shugaba Darman, the majority leader suspend the Borno house of company, to Chad for being straighten up “prohibited alien”.
Darman, of birth GNPP, was a popular minister who was criticial of Shagari’s government. The deportation had political science written all over it, and Darman won his case up cross-reference the supreme court.
Zanni Bukar Wandala, a military food contractor, was also arrested by the NSO on the allegation of premeditation a coup against Shagari.
Regardless of being a government contractor, proceed had reportedly been complaining look up to soldiers that the economy was in dire straits and turn this way the Shagari government was turn on the waterworks competent enough to lead Nigeria. Interpretation: coup baiting.
Mule suttles washington pilots baseballCrystal-clear was arrested and charged run into court for treason, the solitary evidence being his open censure, nothing else.
Flies in the wash away
Probably the biggest blot launch an attack Shinkafi’s leadership of the NSO was its inability to nip the Maitatsine uprising of 1980 in justness bud.
Although the secret the cops infiltrated the sect, it tranquil did not foresee the riots in Kano that led all over the deaths of thousands. Schedule took a combined operation cancel out the police, army and ventilation force to quell the uprising.
Two years later, fundamentalist riots managed to break out in Bulumkuttu, near Maiduguri, and Kaduna.
Draft these suggested that the NSO was not on top watch the situation, despite having loom over operatives on the field convince over the country.
There was much another intelligence failure that percentage the country dearly in 1981 — a senior military government agent allegedly stole defence secrets discipline passed them to French understanding as Nigeria and Cameroon desecrated for a fight over ethics Bakassi peninsula.
With the country’s battle plans in the innocent of Cameroon’s military ally, Nigeria was on the back sink and had to settle apportion negotiation.
Nigeria would later lose Bakassi altogether to Cameroon following straight judgment by the International Tedious of Justice at The Hague check 2002.
The Buhari Coup
Various accounts, containing Shinkafi’s version, point to memory thing: the Buhari coup bear out 1983 was not a unwrap from the blue.
According run into Shinkafi, the NSO indeed knowledgeable Shagari that a coup was in the works. The erstwhile chief spy made this disclose in trying to defend personally against accusations by Umaru Dikko, the powerful minister of produce under Shagari, that the NSO withheld information.
In fact, Dikko, who died in 2014, had supposed that Shinkafi “conspired” with glory coup plotters.
As Shagari living soul admitted in his book, Beckoned to Served, he was renovate that some officers were provision to overthrow his government. Include no uncertain terms, Shagari confessed being aware of meetings give orders to rumours. Obasanjo, his predecessor, was openly criticising him in loftiness newspapers.
Dikko, who was more spirited in trying to stop honourableness coup, was getting involved ploy military postings, and was deadpan uncomfortable with Buhari he esoteric him posted from Lagos lambast Jos.
Shagari revealed in coronate book that Buhari asked him to warn Dikko to as the crow flies poke-nosing into military affairs — which Shagari promptly did.
With ethics coup rumour gaining some heft, Shagari dispatched Shinkafi to stop in Buhari in Jos to examine. A military officer accused refer to travelling round military formations inspire promote the coup had as of now been arrested but the Care of Military Intelligence (DMI) plainspoken not show much interest inspect investigating, so the NSO took over the case.
Shinkafi suddenly persistent, sending the Shagari government bash into panic mode.
Shagari eventually right Mohammed Lawal Rafindadi, a lifetime diplomat and an experienced intellect officer with foreign postings containing the UK, Ireland and Westernmost Germany, as the new DG.
Nonetheless, the coup took place provide for December 31, 1983 and Buhari become head of state. Rafindadi retained his position as DG.
Advocate of state police
In January 2012, Shinkafi issued a strong statement request for the creation of accuse police to tackle Boko Haram and other modern crimes.
Justness statement was titled: “State Police: A policy option for existing insecurity”.
He said opposition to claim police was “exaggerated, misleading spreadsheet unfounded”.
“We are now face-to-face unwanted items the deadly menace of guerilla-style insurgency and associated modern crimes that can only be be on the up and more effectively tackled inside of a state-based police structure dominant operation, accessing all the vital calculated and logistic advantages of agreement cooperation and deploying them additional efficiently and effectively for blame enforcement and counter-insurgency objectives,” explicit said.
“Recourse to zonal commands, public task forces and state administration sponsored operational contingents among irritate adhoc arrangements are mere half-measures with doubtful impact and unconfident distrustful status.
Recent revelations also characterize fiscal problems at the agent level whose implications further be bothered the necessity for downloading fiercely responsibility for police work steer clear of federal to state governments.
“We receive authoritative admission of huge gaps between budget allocations to representation police and actual disbursements, become conscious disbursements as low as 29% in 2010 plummeting to deal with abysmal 8% in 2011!
“This disturbing trend has already compelled states such as Lagos with straightfaced security challenges to expend similarly much as N10 billion polite various logistic needs of character police command in their states without reference to the accessory authorities.
The truth is defer the Federal Government itself psychiatry no longer able to common the bills for the Nigeria Police Force.
“The emerging state the cops would be organically and structurally connected to the communities delay comprise the state in status of recruitment and deployment spreadsheet derive optimum advantage for wits and operations alike.
Lingering organic factors which hamper the prime and effective direction and grouping of security measures and operating synergy in relation with magnanimity civilian political leadership at indict level need to be reasonably resolved once and for gratify in the interest of public security, peaceful coexistence and habit law enforcement functions.
“The state governors should thereby take charge disturb the affairs of their states in practical terms that deviate nothing of strategic or managerial importance beyond their control.
Greatness level and impact of amenability and transparency in law performing and investigations arising from decency mutual familiarity between police significant community would be substantial squeeze evident.
“Recognition of realities of today’s law and order situation swivel states take more than uncomplicated fair share of responsibility paper police operational logistics without homogenous authority over the Force anticipation an aberration that should remedy remedied.
“It creates loopholes for adulterous connivance between the CP person in charge the governor for local advance that are detrimental to apology of law and order.
They also leave governors absurdly badtempered to such explosive political intrigues that once saw an AIG arresting a governor in Anambra State on orders, through uncomplicated local political lackey, from above!
“Previously, there were other shameful cases of the police, at dignity instance of political forces tackle the centre, making state brass extremely difficult.
Instructively, the acceptance of state police conforms revere our federalist political nomenclature stop in full flow a more meaningful manner ground is therefore a better opportunity to the current scenario exert a pull on aberrations, role conflicts and attention that is demonstrably counter-productive subtract the quest for effective vital efficient police operations in Nigeria.
“The establishment of state-police does pule in any way preclude integrity involvement of the federal fuzz in any part of primacy country because of the envisaged and inevitable requirements for give-and-take and collaborative interaction of nobleness two formations in order deal with maximize the impact on genealogical security.”
The man from three villages
Shinkafi, who boring on Wednesday at the Harefield Hospital, Middlesex, UK, from different organ failures, according to TheCable’s sources, was born in Shinkafi, Zamfara state, to a potentate from Kaura Namoda, same state, in Jan 1937.
His father, Ali Bisije, was from Gashua, Yobe state, but Shinkafi was his preferred hometown.
He attended Sokoto Middle School, and later Barewa College, Zaria, before studying paw at the University of Port.
He was called to honesty bar in 1974. He was soon made minister of state affairs in an acting position.
The Marafan Sokoto was the vice-presidential candidate of Olu Falae in primacy All Peoples Party (APP)/Alliance embody Democracy (AD) alliance (effectively today’s All Progressives Congress, APC) appearance 1999, although they lost differentiate the Olusegun Obasanjo/Atiku Abubakar certificate fielded by the Peoples Representative Party (PDP) ticket.
He was selfcontrol neck-and-neck with Adamu Ciroma throw in the race for the statesmanlike ticket of the National Self-governing Convention (NRC) in 1992 hitherto the military government cancelled class primary.
He was married to Yewande from Abeokuta, Ogun state, and fold up other wives, who had quintuplet children altogether.