Telephone call saves Rawlings

“Tell my brother that he should not come because I can’t guarantee his safety. Things are rough and I don’t think it will be safe him”.

This short crisp message came through a telephone call from Lagos on Tuesday September from the Spokesman of Ex-President Ibrahim Babaginda to former President J.J. Rawlings.

With that telephone call whole year’s plan to launch the IBB Foundation which was to have Ex-President Rawlings as a key-note Speaker was aborted. President Rawlings was going to be the main Speaker at the Launching of IBB Foundation on Saturday September 28th.

Rawlings was expected to leave Accra on Friday 27th September to honour the invitation. The call did not specify the type of danger Rawlings was in, but earlier on of Babaginda’s loyalist had been gunned down in Nigeria the same week General Robert Guei had been killed on fabricated charge of planning a coup to oust President Gbagbo.

When Rawlings was told on this telephone call he screamed “Damn it” I will go, being a soldier he had gambled with his life on so many occasions. He wasn’t going to be deterred by this latest threat to life. But his Special Assistant, Mr Victor Smith was this time around starry-eyed.

His mind raced through various pieces of information that had come to their notice pointing to the fact that Rawlings’ life was not going to be threatened only in Ghana but outside Ghana and prevailed on his Boss that if his host? Who was one time a President of Nigeria and having accesses to Security matters and has warned him it was not right that he should discount this alarm notice from Nigeria when he was going to be flown by a private jet and not a commercial flight.

He put two and two together and analysed that to forewarn is to for arm. There will be another change to honour Executive President Ibrahim Babaginda and not go and die a foolish death. He took the option.

“Tell my brother that he should not come because I can’t guarantee his safety. Things are rough and I don’t think it will be safe him”.

This short crisp message came through a telephone call from Lagos on Tuesday September from the Spokesman of Ex-President Ibrahim Babaginda to former President J.J. Rawlings.

With that telephone call whole year’s plan to launch the IBB Foundation which was to have Ex-President Rawlings as a key-note Speaker was aborted. President Rawlings was going to be the main Speaker at the Launching of IBB Foundation on Saturday September 28th.

Rawlings was expected to leave Accra on Friday 27th September to honour the invitation. The call did not specify the type of danger Rawlings was in, but earlier on of Babaginda’s loyalist had been gunned down in Nigeria the same week General Robert Guei had been killed on fabricated charge of planning a coup to oust President Gbagbo.

When Rawlings was told on this telephone call he screamed “Damn it” I will go, being a soldier he had gambled with his life on so many occasions. He wasn’t going to be deterred by this latest threat to life. But his Special Assistant, Mr Victor Smith was this time around starry-eyed.

His mind raced through various pieces of information that had come to their notice pointing to the fact that Rawlings’ life was not going to be threatened only in Ghana but outside Ghana and prevailed on his Boss that if his host? Who was one time a President of Nigeria and having accesses to Security matters and has warned him it was not right that he should discount this alarm notice from Nigeria when he was going to be flown by a private jet and not a commercial flight.

He put two and two together and analysed that to forewarn is to for arm. There will be another change to honour Executive President Ibrahim Babaginda and not go and die a foolish death. He took the option.