Dr Mailafia Loses Job At NIPSS |The Source

By Gideon Njoku

The interview granted to a Radio Station by Dr Obodiah Mailafia has cost him his job at the high profile National Institute of Policy and Strategic and Strategic Studies, NIPSS, Kuru, Jos.

Dr Mailafia, an ex- Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, quit from his position as a very senior Directing Staff of the Institute on Tuesday.

It is not known if he quit on his own, or forced to quit, but Dr Mailafia has had a running battle with the law since he granted the damning  interview to a Radio station, alleging a couple of things he has  been unable to prove.

Among others, he had alleged that a serving Northern Governor was a Commander of the insurgent group, Boko Haram. He has also said that the sect would embark on a killing spree of prominent people in  cities, and that there will be a civil war in Nigeria in 2022.

He attributed his source to intelligence gathering, and repentant Boko Haram Commanders, who he claimed to have discussed with on, at least,  three occasions.

The interview had gone viral on Whatsaap, triggering reactions like claps of thunder.

Worried about the implications of the contents of the interview, the Directorate of State Services, DSS, did the expected in such circumstances. He was invited to the Service’s Jos office, where he was grilled for about six hours and granted bail.

Questioned by Journalists just after his release, he said DSS personnel were very courteous and civil to him, but  admitted his own mistake. He ought to have collaborated his sources from other sources, he said, but then, went on to speak as if he stood by his story.

That prompted the DSS to issue a statement, disclosing that Mailafia had apologised profusely while with them, admitting that his sources were in deed traders in the market, and not from Boko Haram Commanders as he had claimed in his Radio interview. The Service accused him of playing to the gallery, by talking as if he stood by his story while he was with them inside.

A couple of days later, he was invited again by the DSS, and released in less than an hour. But, a few days later, the Police extended a letter of invitation to him to the Force Headquarters, Abuja.

But it was an invitation he had no intention of honouring, after he had made it public. On Monday, he proceeded to a Jos High Court and secured an injunction, enforcing his human rights, and not to be “harassed” by the Police.

On Tuesday, his Counsel, Yakubu Bawa, told the Press that his client has resigned his position in NIPSS.

Not a few people were surprised that Mailfia, was on the staff of NIPSS when he made the allegations, and that he had waited this long to resign.

Speaking on Mailfia, Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant, Media and Publicity to President Muhammadu Buhari,  had taken a swipe at him, and wondered if anybody thought Mailafia would not be called to question over his “irresponsible” pronouncements.

The Radio station which aired the interview, was fined the sum of five million Naira, for airing an alleged “hate speech.”