Many Nigerian’s today are more like mere people moving like shadows, but his Excellency Abacha was a compass to shadows that even ghost were scared of, First of all the name Abacha is not on my device dictionary but I added it just because I can’t keep writing his name been marked by red. Sanni Abacha an influential figure in the history of Nigeria, maybe not to you but to me definitely and to Nigeria generally, And before I proceed anywhere here I will stop to pray in his name may God almighty bestow his mercy and make paradise his eternal abode, death is phenomenal stop thinking Abacha is dead we will all die too, and again by God mercy Abacha soul rests calm, just in some seconds you will start quoting me attacking some quoted bias quotes’ who are quoted always quoting in nasty un-welcome write ups, am now falling in defense of Abacha, just after the centenary some certain noise occurred which brother Gimba Kakanda in defense of Abacha replied prof Wole Soyinka in honor of Sadiq Abacha as a backup article in reply to Prof Wole Soyinka. Let Soyinka know what he knows not and making him understand why criticism is just an art of a jobless figure, I respect prof Wole Soyinka a lot but I don’t consider him as prolific writer because I had grown up reading his every once in a while write up and which among many are individual criticism, government condemnation, self-popularity, egotistic name recognitions. Based on what i had purely observed.
I am nobody but a learner and I am not ashamed of that because even he prof wasn’t born learned, been a noble laureate doesn’t commend one to judge human behaviors, actions, or deeds generally. But prof with all due respect had gone beyond boundaries condemning Abacha and the family of Abacha generally (kindly respect your freedom).
Now let talks on who is this Sanni Abacha which many Nigerians had been blinded that he is a looter ,a stealer, a corrupt leader, first If the US says he is such and such, we Nigerians I mean typical Nigerians should meditate on how related is Abacha and the US and how good has the US been more than Abacha and in how many way after the death of Abacha had the US been known generally partaken in several covert operations, and if US ranked Abacha on any magazine I guess an educated Nigerian should at always consider it as nothing but fibs, USA is facing corruption problems in it even as at now, in Abacha time Nigeria not ranked in the corrupt countries index, then how is it possible to believe Abacha is a corrupt president after leaving his country not ranked in corrupt world countries index in his time, the fact that Abacha is economical enhanced is of no doubt that Abacha was alleged to have renamed the federation account to his profile, this was never fraud , the bank ,Abacha and Nigeria know but no reasons was known for why he acted this way, but suggest ably its more assumed that he lacked trust with the outside world and he needed safety for his country funds, Abacha few later serving was killed and which we learn by the latest revelation of his death according to the Major Hamza Al Mustapha which he said it happened on Sunday, 7th June, 1998 right from the Abuja International Airport immediately after one of the white security operatives or personnel who accompanied President Yasser Arafat of Palestine shook hands with him (General Abacha) who is the white personnel? The CIA?
It is a cold world Abacha fought so many hot wars , against injustice, Indiscipline, he fought biased ideologies and brought unity in Cultural diversity, of no doubt his era was a tough one , but it is as tough as a smooth progressive one, he is credited with restoring Nigeria’s standing as an African power when he twice ordered the Nigerian military to intervene and restore the civilian and democratic governments of sierra Leone and Liberia after a series of military coups in both countries which according to Oliver Okpala during the Abacha regime, many political parties and associations flourished without let or hindrance. Like-minded politicians held meetings freely and formed a plethora of associations and after the Constituent assembly Abacha’ s government democratized the local government by conducting peaceful and credible elections of councilors and chairmen, Abacha’ s government also conducted House of Assembly and National Assembly elections in the country, I feel happy hearing the news that Abacha was among the centenary award In February 2014 during Nigeria’s centenary celebration, the Nigerian government honored Abacha for his immense contribution to the nation’s development, this are raw fact and again remember I am in defense of Abacha.
I am not through yet in 2004 Abacha was listed as the fourth most corrupt leader in history Interestingly during a service marking the 10th year anniversary of the death of Abacha several former Nigerian heads of state that attended, including Gen Muhammdu Buhari (rtd) refuted claims that Abacha looted the country, claiming such accusations are “baseless” may God judge everyone that judged Abacha illegally and may his gentle soul rest in perfect peace, I am not stopping anytime soon ,it is your choice to read further, and again it still about Abacha’ s legacies, back years they were talks that Abdulsallam Abubakar was been reported to have said in November 1998 that Abacha in his government to have told Ismaila Gwarzo to provide fake funding requests, which Abacha approved and that the funds were usually sent in cash or travellers’ cheques by the Central Bank of Nigeria to Gwarzo, who took them to Abacha’ s house, Mohammed Abacha then arranged to launder the money to offshore accounts. Well basically this are all fibs because Nigerian’s won’t believe such remarks by people like Abdusallam, thou I never liked him even for once ever since I had spent time watching the court saga of him and major Hamza Almustapha.
Election situations as at of then before Abacha was a head of state occurred while the victors in the elections were turned into losers in broad daylight. Verdict ’83 became magic ’83. Hell was let loose. There was arson, murder, looting, rampage and brigandage, especially in the Western part of the country. The country was literally at the edge of the precipice. Then the military struck. Abacha was the harbinger of this news. The politicians were all sent packing. The military, with Buhari and Idiagbon as the helmsmen, held sway. When Buhari and Idiagbon derailed from the charted course, it was again General Abacha who announced their removal and the constitution of the Armed Force Ruling Council with General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, IBB, as the military president.
General Abacha played a key role in saving Nigeria from ruin. He came to the rescue of Nigerians together with other military officers to truncate the prevailing political, economic and social rot and decay on the side of the people and to halt the descent of the Buhari – Idiagbon regime to autarchy, Whilst the Babangida government mooted the idea of return to civilian rule, General Abacha stood by that resolve and respected the wishes of generality of Nigerians for a quick return to democratic republicanism. General Abacha played a key role as the Chief of Army Staff and later Chairman Joint Chief of Staff. He helped immensely to stabilize the Babangida’s administration, especially at its inception.
As chief of army staff General Abacha introduced a lot of reform in the army and the military were carried along in the government. During his tenure as Chief of Army Staff and later as Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff a lot of reforms were introduced in the military as an institution. Many barracks office blocks and senior staff quarters were established across the military formations in the country, and again the welfare of the military men and their families were enhanced.
The military began to have a sense of belonging and well-being. General Abacha contributed greatly to the restoration of the lost glory of the military in Nigeria even when the Babangida regime was being roundly castigated; General Abacha kept faith with the government and the Nigerian people. After the June 12 debacle and its attendant hullaballoo and political log jam, General Abacha did not lose faith in the Nigerian people.
It was due mainly to General Abacha sagacity, acumen and professionalism that Nigeria was able to weather the storm of the June 12 political commotion. Abacha acted as a mediator between the civilian populace and the political class on the one hand and the military on the other hand perhaps, at no better time than when the storm of the cancellation of the 1993 presidential election was raging did General Abacha show the great stuff he was made of and his statesman-like leadership and dexterity. In a sense, Nigeria remained an indestructible, corporate entity after June 12, thanks to General Abacha’ s mature leadership, great skills and prodigious sense of judgment.
As a head of state General Abacha assembled a wonderful cabinet of experienced men and women from the political class, he also enlisted the services of technocrat, his government reached out to all shades of opinion in the country in order to move the country forward.
General Abacha believed so much in deliberation and discussion with the political class on the way forward for the country. He set up a Constitution Review Committee. He also constituted the Constituent Assembly. This Assembly attracted a wide array of both old-breed and new-breed politicians cabinet was a rich blend of the old and young, the politician and the statesmen, the captains of industry and the bureaucrats. General Abacha tried to assuage the feeling of the political class and the section of the country who felt short-changed by the annulment of the June 12, 1993 election.
His government reached out to all shades of opinion in the country in order to move the country forward, General Abacha believed so much in deliberation and discussion with the political class on the way forward for the country and under him Nigeria economic ratio was well balanced in accord like you all know under Abacha administration it was ranked as first to record unprecedented economic achievements, he oversaw an increase in the country’s foreign exchange reserves from $494 million in 1993 to $9.6 billion by the middle of 1997, reduced the external debt of Nigeria from $36 billion in 1993 to $27 billion by 1997, brought all the controversial privatization programs of the Babangida administration to halt, reduced an inflation rate of 54% inherited from Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida to 8.5% between 1993 and 1998, all while the nation’s primary commodity, oil was at an average of $15 per barrel, his administration is also credited with creating the most comprehensive and realistic blueprint for Nigeria’s development through the Vision 2010 committee chaired by his predecessor Ernest Shonekan, and remember Abacha is the first Nigerian soldier to attain the rank of a full General without skipping a single rank.
I will start concluding by saying it took me 168hours which is 7days because you know there will never be more than 7 in a week to compile this for in case you have hard opinions about me. I believe some might be naturally harsh and some mild.
While I was completing this article upon emailing it to the big brother Japhet Omojuwa for publishing and also emailed it to brother Ramadan Mohammed in Dubai as well; I happen to be in a bus from Mile 2 area of Lagos and enroute to Agege where I reside. A journey which takes approximately 30-40 mins max (without traffic).
Lastly this article is dedicated to no other person but to Late General Sanni Abacha. May his soul rest in peace, Ameen.
Thanks for reading.
Grema Sulaiman Al Arabi
