By Babatunde Ajose
Ordinarily, I would have ignored this falsehood and junk-up write because it is not in my character to respond to blackmailers and I don't associate my personality with argument against such baseless claims but there has been several questions and inquiries from family and friends who knew my involvement in this aborted FRAUD called investment.
It is the truth that a group called Motherland LLC from the United States of America showed interest and as a matter of fact visited Nigeria several times in respect of a proposed investment worth US$2.5Billion. They were introduced to the Lagos State Government by a Tourism and Hospitality mogul who is now operating a facility along Lekki-Epe Expressway and everything looked very promising when they arrived. The Lagos State Government quickly constituted a team to make their proposal an hitct-free one. All the concerned Ministries and Agencies were given a matching order by the then Governor Fashola to make sure everything is done seamlessly. I was made a part of the team as the State Tourists Guide because I am from Badagry with a lot of experience in the Badagry Slave Route and robust family historical background and involvement in the Transatlantic Slave Trade to be with them all through their stay; Mr Disu the present Head of Nigerian Police IRT Team was the head of the Security Team that led the convoy of SUVs provided Lagos State Government to take them round.
We toured Badagry Slave Route and visited Oba Akran of Badagry to seek his blessings for the project. News filtered into the media that the Jackson Family were in town and my phone number became an essential information; hundreds of journalists including the foreign journalists from BBC, CNN, VOA etc were calling my phone because I was the only one allow around them as their guide anywhere they go; what still baffles me till date is they were all able to get my number within 72hrs. Our first visit to the Point of No Return in Gberefu Peninsula, Badagry was very remarkable, they couldn't control their emotions as I shared the Badagry experience of the Slave Trade with them and the purpose of the ancient Attenuation Well along the Slave Route.
Everyday we were visiting different parts of Badagry and in the evening we would return to the Executive Governor's Three(3) Bedroom Suite (Exclusively reserved for the Executive Governor of Lagos State ONLY) within the Lagos State VIP Chalets. They were so impressed and they were even joking that they've never seen such a lavishly furnished bedroom before. The three(3) of them were Marlon Jackson (Michael Jackson Brother), Garry Lobster (Retired Commissioner of Police) and Alfred Dickson ( an Ex- City Mayor).
Every evening we would seat together after dinner and review our day and at times the four(4) of us would be in the Master Bedroom where we all slept on same bed on two(2) occasions. The only people that were allowed around them were Peter Mesewaku my immediate Boss then, Emmanuel Hunkanlin (Ijinla) and my Older Cousin Prince Yomi Ajose who happened to be an Old friend of Gemane and Tito Jackson way back during his days in the US and we were all shocked how Marlon screamed his name the day he first came to see us. I remember one evening, we discussed the idea of giving them especially the Jackson Family Badagry names and they really loved it; several names were suggested for the Jacksons until Prince Yomi Ajose suggested AJANESON, he said the name sounds like Jackson and Marlon said he loved the name.
One evening, Oprah was briefed about their experience and Michael Jackson was called they told him about the name and he laughed so hard. The following day, we visited the Suntan Beach in the afternoon and Marlon told some people that came to greet us that his new name was AJANESON. They requested for group photographs which he obliged and we returned to the chalet only for Mr Disu(The Head of the Security Team) to come to my room the following morning around 8am that some men were around claiming they are Michael Jackson Family members. I couldn't believe my ears as I rushed out of the bed to meet them outside; after listening to them, I explained to them that the AJANESON story was just a joke and my Cousin Prince Yomi Ajose just came up with it without any link to their family, I also promised that I will include a visit to their family Compound in our itinerary if they insist on meeting them and not that morning but they didn't believe me and I left them with an instruction to the security men that they shouldn't allow them in.
That evening, Mr Fadipe the then Director of Tourism (Later Permanent Secretary) Ministry of Tourism came to have a meeting with them and he warned me to be careful about the AJANESON story because there had been series of calls that we denied them access to their lost but found relations. He also told me that he wasn't happy with what the trio were saying because that wasn't what they told the Governor before he bought the idea and I should pay more attention to their activities.
From that moment, I became very attentive and observant to every details about them, here are some of the facts I discovered :
(a) The trio were only in Lagos to shop for opportunities and go back to the US to look for investors.
(b) There was no US$2.5Billion anywhere as they have told the Governor, though they were reporting their activities to people who were showing interest. I can confirm that of Oprah and Michael Jackson whom they put on speaker and they asked me to say "Hello" on behalf of Badagry.
(c) They didn't have any clear Agenda or projects in mind, the idea of Jackson Family Memorabilia Project was an offshoot of the conversation with Michael the day they called him and there wasn't any concrete plan or steps taken on it before Michael the initiator of the idea who promised to visit Badagry died just two months before his visit.
(d) While they were in Lagos and Badagry and enjoying the luxury of the Lagos State hospitality, they were talking to Officials of Delta State Government and Cross Rivers State Government about the same Projects and they were promising exactly what they were promising us in Lagos State. They even muted the idea of me taken them to the two States and I bluntly turned them down that what they are requesting for wasn't part of the instructions given to me by the government.
(e) I also discovered that the man that introduced them to the Lagos State Government has been dumped the moment they gained access to the Government and the whole ideas of what they actually wanted to do in Badagry came from the man.
We reported back to Governor Fashola through the Ministry but he seems not to be convinced about our findings; he wanted investment and was ready to do anything legally to get it. The trio later met the Governor and they requested for 2000 Hecters of Land, they wanted C of O for 2000Hecters which they will take back to the US to convince potential investors that they've already secure a land for the Motherland Africa Project; the Governor said no problem he will grant them on one condition: They should given him Proof of Funds and he will issue C of O for 10 Hecters and the day they start any development work on that 10Hecters he will grant them the remaining 1990 Hecters.
That was the the sledge hammer that broke the lies, the land speculations that would have befell my Badagry like what used to happen in the past, Government will be deceived and Hecters of people's land will be acquired for some few individuals which will be sold later. Two weeks after they told us that they were going to the USA to get proof of funds to access Governor Fashola's offer, I saw them on Television addressing the Delta State Governor and giving the same narrative they presented in Lagos. A journalist friend who felt that I wasn't providing enough information about their mission in Nigeria even at the time that it wasn't clear to me too and was on their trail later told me that he went with them to Calabar and they presented the same demand to the Government there; they wanted thousands of Hecters of Land.
I was very shocked and embarrassed when I started reading a lot of stories and different versions like this one with the link above and also the link below:
I am not one of the several Tinubu "Spin Doctors" as someone might want to suggest but I feel stories that I played key roles in should not be used as blackmail materials. I am very sure other people that were involved in the whole events will definitely condemn this falsehood that the Jackson Family left because of Tinubu's greed. Such thing NEVER happened and I don't know why somebody will go this far just because a man is contesting an election. May God continue to protect and bless our country. Attached herewith is my Photograph with Marlon Jackson and other key actors during the Motherland Project Proposal.
Babatunde Ajose DCOB is a Sustainable Development Strategist from Badagry, a former staff of Nigeria Embassy, London and Consultant on Foreign Direct Investment.
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