In an interview I had with him in 1991 when he was Military Governor of Katsina State, then Colonel John Yahaya Madaki told me a story, that for many years as a young officer he was the ADC to Major General Iliya Bisalla, who became General Murtala Mohammed’s Defence Minister in 1975. Madaki said he accompanied Bisalla to Kano early in 1976 and after three days, he managed to reach his wife in Lagos on the phone. She told him that she was very sick and bleeding. He asked her if she went to the hospital and she said there was no vehicle to take her. Alarmed, he said, “Did you ask Oga’s wife to give you a vehicle?” Madaki’s wife said she asked Mrs. Bisalla who retorted, “Am I your MTO?”
Madaki then went to the Defence Minister and said, “Oga, my wife is bleeding and there is no car to take her to the hospital. She asked your wife for a car and Madam said she is not her MTO.” To Madaki’s great shock because he said he was like a son to the Defence Minister, Bisalla said, “Madam is right. Is she her MTO?” Madaki said he was so angry that he walked out on Bisalla and the next day, he went to Kano airport, flew to Lagos and took care of his wife. After that he went to the Military Secretary and asked for redeployment but the man said, “You are the Defence Minister’s ADC. There is no way you can be reassigned without his permission.”
Madaki said in order to resist many army officers’ efforts to reconcile him with Bisalla, he left Lagos for Kaduna. With no work to do, he said he spent his time at the Nigeria Defence Academy’s [NDA] Officers’ Mess. Later that month, Bisalla was in Kaduna and a reception was organised for him at the officers’ mess. Other officers persuaded Madaki to attend the reception. He said sixty officers lined up to greet the Defence Minister who was shaking hands one by one but when he saw Madaki in the reception line, he ignored him and went straight to the next person. Everyone saw the snub, which turned out to be lifesaving.
In early February 1976, Lt Colonel Bukar Suka Dimka arrived in Kaduna, lodged at the NDA officers’ mess and told Madaki to meet him there at 7am the next day. Madaki said he guessed that Dimka, who was close to Bisalla, would try to persuade him to return to his boss so he tried to avoid Dimka. An international military golf championship was about to take place in Kaduna so Madaki went to the golf course to help with preparations. Around 1pm however he went to see Dimka. He said as he arrived, Dimka and several army officers emerged from the NDA officers’ mess where they apparently had a meeting. All of them faced the firing squad not long afterwards.
When he saw Madaki, Dimka angrily scolded him for coming late. He was about to enter a car that would take him to Kaduna airport so he told Madaki to enter the car so they would discuss on the way. As it happened, a civilian kinsman of Dimka suddenly emerged and he told him to also enter the car so they will discuss on the way to the airport. It was the civilian’s presence that prevented Dimka from discussing the upcoming coup with Madaki. When they reached the airport, he told Madaki that he wanted to discuss something important with him but it must now wait for another time.
Not long afterwards Dimka launched the February 13, 1976 abortive coup which resulted in the death of General Murtala and Colonel Ibrahim Taiwo, among others. A few days after the coup was put down, military police officers arrived in Kaduna and arrested everyone that Dimka met with during his visit. Madaki was arrested and thrown into detention for three months. Two things saved him. Dozens of officers testified that Bisalla publicly snubbed him during the NDA reception, and Dimka also corroborated his story during interrogation that they never discussed the coup because Madaki arrived too late for the briefing. That was how Colonel John Yahaya Madaki narrowly avoided the fate of 38 army officers and one civilian who were publicly executed at the Bar Beach in Lagos in March 1976 for their role in the abortive coup.
Excerpts from a tribute I wrote in January 2018 when Madaki passed away.
