SANI ABACHA, Nigeria’s Most Enigmatic Ruler part7 click here
An unnamed Western diplomat: Gen. Abacha ”isn’t worried by what the outside world thinks,” “He is a self-made man who believes that most African leaders — including {South African President Nelson} Mandela — have been corrupted by a desire to please the United States and the West. “He sees himself and {Libyan leader Moammar} Gadhafi as the only true African nationalists.
‘It is not true that he looted public treasury, I knew who Abacha was because I was close to him.’’ -IBB, former Nigerian military president.
“I believe he (Abacha) is now in the hottest part of hell.” -GANI FAWEHINMI, radical lawyer and human rights activist. On the 26th of August 1994, gunmen fired a Fawehinmi’s office, seriously wounding his night guard. A camera crew from CNN (the only foreign TV journalists who managed to sneak into the country) attempted to ask Fawehinmi and Air Commodore Dan Solomon about the attacks were deported from the country with the speed of light.
“You see, the issue of June 12 and Chief Gani and every other person needs to be put in perspective. Social forces must shape events and the only starting point would be that Chief Abiola won the election. I don’t think it’s in dispute. But we’ve come a long way from June 12, 1993. It is now four years and the fact is that June 12 is understood by many social forces in different contexts. The one issue that brought us together now is that whatever happens, General Abacha must quietly leave office next year.” -Olisa Agbakoba, lawyer, 1997.
‘‘…it was unfair to accuse Abacha and his family of looting public fund’’.-General Abdulsalami Abubakar, former head of state.
“I don’t think (Abacha) will want to, but if he likes, he can contest. There is nothing wrong. The constitution says every Nigerian has the right to contest elections. He is a Nigerian and it will not be new in Africa because there are examples in Africa.” -Justice Mohammed Bello, Chief Justice of the Federation
-Accusations of looting against Abacha are ’baseless.‘ -General Muhammadu Buhari, former head of state and head of Abacha’s Petroleum Trust Fund.
-”During (the Liberian) operation, his personal sensitivity to the plight of all individuals involved was exemplary of his concern for his own soldiers and sailors as well as those of his fellow Africans. The singularly distinctive accomplishments of Gen. Abacha reflect great credit upon himself, the U.S. government and the federal government of Nigeria.”
-GENERAL COLIN POWELL.
-You see, a lot of Nigerians did not really know Abacha. Let me tell you something, some people made sure that they captured him with what they told him. At a point, he would not venture to come to Lagos because of the fear that they would kill him. He was like a hostage to these people. The head of state should be the one graduating students of the War College, but for years, Abacha would not go because of the stories of death they told him. -Rear Admiral Jubril Ayinla, former Chief of Naval Staff and Abacha’s minister.
Q: Thirteen years after General Abacha, do you think the country has been fair to him?
All along, the government has not been fair to him. You see, Abacha was a cool-headed person. People think we never discussed at the council meeting. Abacha would allow everyone to say his mind even though he would seem to be asleep, but he listened to everybody. He allowed everybody to speak except you never wanted to talk. He was not the type that would say, “I know what you want to say, next person.” We know them and they are mister-know-all. Look at it, when we took over, everyone knew what the foreign reserve was. Abacha took it up to $9 billion. Abdulsalam took over and it was reduced to about two or three billion dollars. Abacha did not study Economics in any university, but he was an economist. Professor Sam Aluko can testify to that. People would say, “Open a window for these people to come in,” Abacha would say, “Which window? Go and open the door and let them come in.” During Abacha regime, the dollar was still between N74 and N80. Abacha was against allowing Western countries to give us loans and at the same time dictate the manner of how such loans were spent. Abacha never took a penny as loan and that was how the World Bank closed down its office in Nigeria and the West never liked it. To the West, he was teaching some African countries how to be tough. He was committed to Nigeria and some African countries saw in Nigeria a role model and the West never liked that. They respected Abacha and they never liked his policies because he was against their interest. The way Abacha handled the economy no African leader has done that. -Lt. General Jeremiah Timbut Useni, Abacha’s best friend.
General Sani Abacha with his best friend, Lt. General Jeremiah Timbut ‘Jerry Boy’ Useni.
”…if Abacha stands for election we hope he will stand as a civilian.” -Bill Clinton, US President.
I was very happy to have known Abacha. He was a truthful and straightforward person. If he did something, he would never deny it. He would not tell a lie. He had a list of friends. I was his number two Christian friend. We were not up to 12 on that list. To underscore how crude but genuine he was, he was taking money directly from the treasury to Aso Rock. He didn’t how to make money through contracts and things like that. And he kept the records.
-ORE FALOMO, MKO Abiola's personal physician, 2013.
-Abacha was also a very loyal soldier. He gave unflinching loyalty to his superiors and exacted nothing less than 100% from his juniors too. Even when he had all the opportunity to take power for himself, he stuck to loyalty and friendship, at least to IBB, and there was no time he was accused of plotting to overthrow IBB in his eight long years in power.
Abacha, Abdulsalami and Obasanjo. After Abacha’s death, Abdulsalami took over and handed over to Obasanjo in less than a year.
-DEATH
The steps that eventually led to Abacha’s death might never be fully and truly unravelled. In the absence of a lucid account of his sudden passing, there are various narrations, but with common denominations. Said to suffer from liver cirrhosis, Abacha succumbed to a heart attack on the 8th of July, 1998 and died in circumstances that were clearly controversial with different kinds of tales being spunned and vehement denials released. The Newswatch and DailyMailUK reported the maximum ruler died after a heart attack induced by an overdose of Viagra (sildenafil citrate) before an orgy. Viagra has actually killed over 5,600 men since it was launched in 1998, the same year General Abacha died. Viagra, is a drug used to treat erectile dysfunction and pulmonary arterial hypertension but it has numerous adverse effects, such as stroke, sudden hearing loss, severe drop in blood pressure (hypotension), ventricular arrhythmias and heart attacks (myocardial infarction).
Abacha’s death certificate.
Prayers being offered at the grave of Abacha during his 10th year remembrance.
Several people are not supposed to take the drug, especially those with kidney failure, recent stroke or hepatic (liver) disease as it was reported Abacha did. It is not supposed to be taken more than once a day between 30 mins and four hours before the show begins. What show? Ask Google. LOL! Abacha was said to have gone into convulsions while in the midst of two (some say six) imported Indian (others say Egyptian) prostitutes (some reports indicate they were actually trained undercover agents) flown in from Dubai, United Arab Emirates in one of the Nigerian presidential jets, the identity of whom has never been established giving credence to news of a well-orchestrated murder (but remember that Viagra itself is capable of triggering a heart attack, so the whole scenario is muddled up). Abacha is believed to have given up the ghost by 6.15 am, not long after he retired to bed at 4.30 am. One of the ladies came rushing out of the bedroom screaming. Several people including his widow, Maryam,“believes that her husband was killed by his best friends”. Considering the circumstances, that is not impossible.
Some, like the late Senator Uba Ahmed, Abacha’s former minister believed that his Viagra was spiked with poison. Maryam Abacha was said to have grabbed Useni after Abacha’s death accusing him of being complicit. She reportedly ordered the Police IG, Ibrahim Coomassie to effect his arrest, forgetting that whatever authority she had had died with the late Commander-in-Chief, her dear husband. Abacha was just 54. -Another report stated there were four ladies: two Nigerians and two Indians, all presumably prostitutes. According to Kehinde Olaosebikan, the Vanguard journalist who was the first to break the news of Abacha’s death, the two Indian girls were from Mumbai and were detained and not released until August 6, when a government investigation showed that ‘General Abacha did not die of poison.’
The names of the Indian girls, aged 17 and 19 could not be ascertained and they were released to the Indian High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr. Satinder Uppal. When Indian Express called Mr. Uppal, he flatly denied: `I have no information, no knowledge about the incident. I don’t know about any girls, I don’t even know if they were Indian.” Vanguard asserted that the girls were flown in on the 4th of June without proper travel documents and were received at the Presidential Wing of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, and from there to a five-star luxury hotel and kept in the Presidential Suite. Thereafter, they were taken to the Head of State’s Guest House, where the two Nigerian women were already waiting. The thing here is that the exact circumstances surrounding his death have never been investigated. So many unresolved murders and deaths in the Federal Republic of Nigeria. -Upon Abacha’s sudden and surprising death, countless Nigerians took to the streets and danced like they had just won the World Cup. I can remember my street was agog that day and the frenzy in the air was palpable. The irony of the matter was that outside the country, the loss of General Abacha was considered a huge tragedy.
African leaders flew to Nigeria to condole with the Nigerian government, citing Abacha’s efforts, especially in Sierra Leone and Liberia. Some of the first African leaders to visit the country to commiserate included: President Idris Deby Itno of Chad, President Yahya Jammeh of the Gambia, President Ibrahim Baré Maïnassara of Niger Republic and President Ange-Felix Patasse of the Central African Republic. The outpouring of grief by other African leaders was very noticeable, and more leaders were to pay condolence visits. Shortly after his passing, not less than seven African heads of state were in Abuja to express their grief. Many of them described him in glowing terms, he was described as a man who gave ‘his body and soul to his country’ and he was even regarded as ‘Africa’s most illustrious son‘.
-As at the time of his demise, Abacha’s death was the last thing people expected. The Sunday night before, Abacha was very healthy on the TV, the press had no news of his impending death and on the 8th of June when he died, activities were already lined up for him. He was supposed to open the Plenary Session in Abuja of a conference on the National Information Trust, organized by the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture and he was supposed to grace the OAU Summit later in the day at Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. But man proposes…. Here is a dramatic narration by veteran journalist Orji Ogbonnaya Orji on what happened at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa the day Abacha died. Orji worked as a journalist at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa for Radio Nigeria and later wrote an enchanting book on his experience, Inside Aso Rock. The author served as Radio Nigeria State House correspondent in Aso Rock from 1993-2000. During that period, five different Heads of State presided over Nigeria – three military, and two civilian. He accompanied the leaders to all major events within and outside Nigeria, and this book is his diary on people and events during that period. Enjoy the excerpts:
It was indeed a big tragedy for the members of former first family as they packed their belongings to join the convoy which took the corpse of the once powerful General home. I wept when I saw Madam, Mrs. Abacha being helped into the waiting car. She stared at Aso Rock in tears, a most difficult and tragic way to say good-bye. Tears rolled freely from all gathered as Madam was driven out of the Villa with her husband’s corpse in front of her in a moving ambulance. The ambulance is normally one of the last vehicles in the usually long Presidential convoy. But on June 8, 1998, the ambulance was in the front with General Abacha’s corpse. All other vehicles lined behind in a day-light reversal of history. The ambulance drove through the IBB bye-pass connecting the airport link road as the entourage made its way to Nnamdi Azikiwe airport.
I was surprised that there was instant jubilation by passersby. Taxi drivers lined up at major junctions shouting shame! shame!! as the convoy drove past. Men and women ran after the convoy in utter disbelief of the turn of events. Some other people formed queues in groups with green leaves in their hands singing solidarity songs in a loud tone that suggested liberation from bondage. It was a day in which my biro refused to write and the lines in my jotter went blank. The journalist in me was overtaken by emotions as most of us in the convoy found it difficult to speak to one another. We simply lacked the words or the topic for discussion as our minds went blank and our brains went asleep. On our arrival at the airport, the body of General Abacha, which was still wrapped in white cloth was carried into the hold of the presidential aircraft, zero-zero one.There was no particular arrangement on who should be in the aircraft, except that members of the first family and some PRC members were given priority. I however noticed that most PRC members at the airport were not even keen in accompanying the corpse of the late General to Kano. While the aircraft was being positioned, Madam and her children waited at the Presidential Lounge with a cluster of relatives and very few associates.
The usual crowd around the first family had begun to disappear. That day, it was as though the Abacha family was for the first time in many years on a lonely journey to an unknown destination, even though the aircraft was heading for Kano. It was incredible to imagine the Abachas without General Sani Abacha. As the saying goes, “when the big tree falls, all the birds will fly away”.The aircraft ready, Madam and her children left the lounge with the heavy burden of making their last flight on the presidential jet, with the corpse of the former Head of State on board. Mrs. Abacha climbed into the aircraft in tears with measured steps. Her children joined too, then some few friends and relations. Inside, the plane was taken over by grief, tears and open weeping.We had already boarded the aircraft and almost getting set to take-off when General Abubakar curiously asked, “where is the corpse?” He was told that it was kept in the hold. “No, no, no, bring it inside!” the General commanded. And it was brought in and kept few seats away from where I sat.
As the journey progressed, whenever there was turbulence, the body would shake, exposing the legs, which were partially covered. I sat in that aircraft speechless. My reflections were on life, death, power, influence and the vanity of human desires. Our flight to Kano was barely thirty minutes, but I felt it was more than two hours. The usual conversation and jokes in zero-zero one was overtaken by subdued silence, grief, pain and weeping. Everybody on board was on his own. I could imagine how other people’s mind worked at that sober period. But mine went into a comprehensive review of the Abacha era beginning from the night of November 16, 1993 when the General took over. Within my reflections, my mind was everywhere, the good, the bad, the very bad and the ugly. My mood was interrupted by a sudden announcement from the cockpit that we were few minutes away from Aminu Kano International Airport. The situation on our arrival at Aminu Kano International Airport was rather chaotic. There was no precise arrangement to receive the corpse on arrival.
Apparently, our arrival caught Kano and the people unaware. Apart from the first family, and few officials, everybody was expected to sort out his/her own transport arrangement out of the airport. Eventually I had to arrange for an airport taxi to convey me and two others to the private residence of the late Head of State. Unfortunately, there were few taxis at the airport. While this arrangement was on, the main convoy had left with the corpse. We therefore quickly hired a taxi at a high fare dictated by the driver, who was very rude and uncooperative. We were shocked that the driver showed little or no sympathy, but was rather quick to explain that he never benefited anything from the Abacha regime. In his view, his condition had even worsened. We discontinued the discussion as it was becoming volatile.
The Abacha family house on Gidado street, GRA, Kano is a modest twin duplex located in a rather small compound. By the time we arrived there, the place was already besieged by a large number of sympathizers struggling to gain entry. As there was no time to start identifying who was who, we were all being pushed by the security officials who had a very hectic time trying to contain the rapidly surging crowd. In the midst of the pushing. and kicking, I suddenly realised that the person who was being pushed against me was the highly respected Governor of Lagos State, Col. Buba Marwa. It therefore became clear to me that at that moment, everybody was regarded as equal, courtesy of the security at the gate. I was then encouraged to continue pushing, until I finally managed to squeeze myself inside the compound. Inside the compound, I observed scanty presence of newsmen, because security was deadly. I also discovered that the grave was still being prepared, an indication that no proper arrangement was made.
Earlier, the body of General Abacha was taken to Kano Central Mosque for prayers. From the Central Mosque, the body was laid on the floor of his private mosque just by the gate with two soldiers standing on guard. I peeped several times to assure myself that it was actually the former powerful Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces that was on the bare floor. One was expecting a more dignified presidential burial, with due respect to the modest way the Muslims conduct their burials. Even at a point, a soldier asked, “Why is there no burial party here?” I immediately wanted to know what burial party was all about. I was told that it was the usual twenty-one gun salute line-up of soldiers will give to a fallen officer as his last military respect. But before any of such arrangement could be made, the body of General Abacha had been lowered into the grave. There was certainly no fanfare in the burial, it was simple and brisk. In simple comparison, I had accompanied General Abacha himself to the burial of a top military officer and member of the Provisional Ruling Councils who had died sometime ago and was buried in Minna during his regime. I observed that all the procedures at that burial in all consideration was better managed, more respectful and dignified than that of the former Head of State, their difference in rank and position notwithstanding. There were quite a number of very important personalities who witnessed the burial. But I particularly took notice of former Military President, General Ibrahim Babangida and his wife Mariam, who were seen talking with Mrs. Abacha, probably trying to console her. There were also some Emirs and other top Northern leaders who were able to make the trip at such short notice.
At about 9.48 p.m. when Abacha’s grave was being covered with sand, a powerful businessman from one of the South Eastern States who was very prominent in Abacha’s campaign for self succession arrived and broke down weeping and wailing openly. Some faithful Muslims who dominated the burial reacted negatively to such an un-lslamic approach to the dead. They threatened to whisk the man out of the premises if he failed to comport himself. The businessman was among those who threatened to proceed on exile or commit suicide if General Abacha failed to become President.
As the burial ended at about 10.05p.m., we hurriedly left for Abuja. I expected that there could probably be some other ceremonies. But I was wrong as we left barely twenty minutes after the body had been interred. We arrived Abuja a few minutes to twelve midnight and drove straight to Aso Council Chambers in the Villa for the swearing-in of General Abdulsalami Abubakar as the new Head of State, Commander-in-Chief of the Nigeria Armed Forces.
The resting place of General Sani Abacha. CREDITS: DELE MOMODU.
-AFTERMATH AND LEGACIES:
-A lot has happened after Abacha’s unexpected demise. From endless probes to court cases with the Federal Government, Nigerian people have been treated to a lot of drama. While General Abdusalami had his own probe of Abacha’s government (of which he was also part of), Olusegun Obasanjo came with the Human Rights Violations Investigation Committee (HRVIC) better known as the Oputa Panel.
Out of a total of 10,000 petitions submitted to the Oputa Panel, a staggering 80% were connected to the Abacha junta. Well, under the Yar’adua Presidency things calmed down a bit and under Goodluck Jonathan, the heat on the Abacha family is not the same as it was under OBJ, except for an occasional shout that some of Abacha’s ‘trillions’ have been discovered. Whatever happens, we live in a nation without accountability. Quite a number of places and structures have been named after Abacha within and outside Nigeria: -Sani Abacha Stadium, Kano: A multipurpose 25,000-seater stadium which also serves as the base for Kano Pillars FC. It served as the venue of several international competitions including the 2000 African Cup of Nations and the FIFA Under-17 World Cup in 2009.
General Sani Abacha Stadium, Kano.
-Sani Abacha Barracks, Abuja: Named after him. In December 2010, an explosion ripped through the Mammy Market inside the barracks killing people who gathered there to celebrate the New Year. Air Marshal Oluseyi Petinrin blamed ‘devilish people’ for the attack. Formerly called Mogadishu Cantonment, Sani Abacha Barracks has been renamed and is now Mogadishu Barracks.
-Sani Abacha Way, Old Kiyawa Road, Dutse, Jigawa State.
-Sani Abacha Way, Gusau, Zamfara State.
-Sani Abacha Expressway, Yenagoa, Bayelsa State
Sani Abacha Expressway, Bayelsa State.
-Sani Abacha Youth Center, Kano State.
-Sani Abacha Way, Abuja, Federal Capital Territory (for lovers of Yahuza Suya Spot…lol!).
-Sani Abacha Way (formerly Kano Road), Kano State, Nigeria.
-Sani Abacha Road (formerly Lagos Road). -Sani Abacha Junction, Robinson Street, Enugu State.
-Sani Abacha Way, GRA (Government Residential Area) Phase 3, Port Harcourt, Rivers State. -Sani Abacha Way, Sokoto State.
-General Sani Abatcha Specialist Hospital, Damaturu, Yobe State
The General Sani Abatcha Specialist Hospital, Damaturu, Yobe State.
-Sani Abacha Roundabout, Abakaliki, Ebonyi State.
-Sani Abacha Mosque, Maiduguri, Borno State.
Sani Abacha Mosque, Borno State.
-In Freetown, Sierra Leone, there is the Sani Abacha Street also named after him. This road lies between Wilberforce Street and Fourah Bay Road. Sani Abacha Street is one of the most densely-populated areas of Freetown, and is a major business area. There, Abacha is a folk hero, and held in much reverence as people do in Kano where sugarcane sellers plaster their wheelbarrows with Abacha stickers. In Kano, you can still see the maishayis (tea sellers) talking about Abacha in the most glowing terms. Surely, he is very well-loved in Kano, even in death.
Sani Abacha Street in Freetown, Sierra Leone as at May, 2007.
-Sani Abacha Housing Estate, Bayelsa State: Governor Seriake Dickson has laid the foundation of the 150-duplex estate named in his honour. -Nollywood actors produced a movie titled Stubborn Grasshopper (my Dad, Babanijigi, bought the video cassette, we watched it like hell and I think we still have it…lol!) Sam Obeakheme was the one who played the role of Abacha with marker ink all over his face to serve as Abacha’s tribal marks…lol!
The Abacha family during a celebration.
-CORRUPTION:
It is widely believed that General Abacha is one of the most corrupt leaders not only in Nigeria but in the history of mankind and the first allegations against him had to do with skimming from Army contracts in the 1980s when he became GOC, and continued over time. The amount he was alleged to have stolen is on such a massive scale that no definitive figure has been given yet. Today you hear $1 billion has been recovered, and tomorrow the Swiss government is talking about one tranche of 700 million pounds sterling.
But according to many sources, Abacha spirited an estimated $3-$5 billion from the Nigerian treasury shooting him into the same league as Muhammad Suharto of Indonesia, Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire and Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines. Interestingly, there are those who vehemently deny that Abacha was corrupt, and these include his widow, Maryam, who stated that he was just saving the money for Nigeria in overseas accounts and during the 10th year remembrance prayers for the soul of Abacha, former military heads of state, Generals Ibrahim Babangida and Muhammadu Buhari wanted Nigerians to believe that Abacha was closer to sainthood than cardinals of the Catholic Church. But that is an extremely difficult thing to do, to convince the world that Abacha never took a dime will be much more difficult than advanced nuclear physics. Why?
-Just days before General Abdusalami left power, one of the last things that he did was to issue the Forfeiture of Assets, Etc (certain Persons) Decree No. 53 of 26 May, 1999 which provided legal backing for the illegally acquired cash, properties and other cash seized from the Abacha family. The same General Abdusalami Alhaji Abubakar on the 23rd of July 1998 set up the Special Investigation Panel (SIP) whose sole purpose was to probe corrupt deals in the Abacha government (although he was also part and parcel of the cabal).
The report of the SIP was damning and by the time it released its preliminary report in November 1998, the whole nation was shocked at the ‘systematic pillage of the Central Bank of Nigeria.’ It submitted that the usual mode of operation was for Abacha to direct his National Security Adviser, Ismaila Gwarzo to present phony requests for security operations or equipment, of which the power of authorization was with him. Then the CBN would be ordered to remit the millions or billions to Gwarzo either in cash or travellers cheques which were then taken to the dictator for further laundering abroad by his sons, Mohammed and Abba and his younger brother, Abdulkadir. Other associates fingered in the money laundering include Abubakar Bagudu and the Aare Musulumi of Yorubaland, Alhaji Arisekola Alao, whose son was recently embroiled in the fuel subsidy corruption saga.
-However, it must be stated that the investigations done by the SIP also accused Abacha of collecting up to $50,000 before approving any contract, and the evidence of corruption unearthed were linked to financial transactions in offshore banks, and not in Nigeria. On the 18th of September 2000 under the Obasanjo presidency, the Attorney-General of the Federation slammed a 115-count charge suit against receiving stolen property against Mohammed Abacha and Abubakar Bagudu. Mohammed Abacha has been freed and made an attempt to become the governor of Kano State.
Whatever the case with the corruption deals involving the Abacha family, the Federal Government of Nigeria itself has been less than honest in its way of handling the whole matter. For example, Mohammed Abacha was released after agreeing to a deal with the FGN for the Abacha family to keep $100 million (as what would be earnings from legitimate businesses and according to Obasanjo, this was one of the hardest decisions of his presidency) and release $1.2 billion only for him to come out and deny that he released any $1.2 billion frozen by authorities in Luxembourg, Liechtenstein and Switzerland. The former Speaker of the House of Representatives and OBJ’s archenemy, Alhaji Ghali Umar Na’abba was one of the most vocal advocates of Mohammed’s release. Exactly how much has been recovered and what has been done with the funds, no one can transparently account for, and that defeats the whole purpose of the recovery drive. Others who also called for his release included the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Dr. Ado Bayero and the governor of Kano State, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso.
-Meanwhile in May 2001, a Federal High Court in Abuja declared that Mohammed had no case to answer in the Kudirat Abiola charges and was roped in simply on circumstantial evidence. He was released and went to Kano where he was treated to a hero’s welcome by hordes of Abacha’s supporters. He would later refuse to sign the proposed settlement agreement with the FGN announced by the Swiss authorities in April 2001. At about the same time, he was paid a visit by General Muhammadu Buhari who announced he was going to run against Obasanjo come 2003. Assuming Buhari won, it is safe to assume that the Abacha family would have had a better deal but Buhari lost to Baba Iyabo. -Some have dismissed the Federal Government’s hounding of the Abacha family as a witch-hunting session. Former President Obasanjo was particularly accused of fabricating cases against the Abacha family so as to seek revenge for the shabby treatment he received at the hands of the goggled despot. Well, an interesting dimension to the case was that in August 2002, Obasanjo was on the verge of being impeached. Fifty eight (58) senators had already signed up to impeach him but in a very dramatic twist of events, they all backed out after the release of Mohammed Abacha from prison. Dearest Reader, honestly speaking, you will have to reach your own conclusion.
-According to the American writer, Jeffrey Robinson, in his bestseller, The Sink: Terror, Crime and Dirty Money in the Offshore World (2003), long before Abacha became the head of state, he was already stashing money abroad. When he was army chief in 1988, he sent two eldest sons, Ibrahim and Mohammed to International Personal Banking (IPB) CITIBANK in New York to open three coded accounts. According to the book too, IBB pilfered at least four times more than Abacha (of the $120 billion siphoned out of the Nigerian treasury into offshore accounts by dishonest politicians, $20 billion is allegedly traceable to IBB directly as president from 1985 to 1993). Here is an excerpt from the book:
It was business as usual for IPB when Nigeria’s General Abacha showed up with government funds in his pocket. A career soldier and civil servant all his life, in 1988 Abacha had dispatched his oldest sons, Ibrahim and Mohammed to begin a relationship with IPB New York. A shell was created, called Morgan Procurement, and three accounts were opened in code names. Among them were Gelsobella for the account in New York and Navarrio for the account in London. Oddly, the IPB “relationship manager” who handled the accounts later claimed that he didn’t have any idea that Ibrahim and Mohammed were related to General Abacha — a man recognized on the world stage for his audacious brutality — and wouldn’t become aware of that fact for nearly three years. It was only after the Abacha family relationship with IPB ended that documentation came to light suggesting that, at least, one IPB officer knew who his clients were. The bank’s paperwork read: “Father of Ibrahim and Mohammed, General Sani Abacha, is the current military ruler of Nigeria, where there is a lot of corruption.” Seizing power, Abacha dissolved all political parties in Nigeria, forbade demonstrations against the new regime, censored the media and locked up a people who opposed him. Instead of canceling the account then and there, IPB did business with the Abachas for 11 years and helped them move $110 million through accounts in New York, London and Jersey. It must be said that Citibank was not the Abachas only bank. Twenty different banks in Switzerland held more than 140 Abacha accounts. A substantial portion of the funds located there arrived after the 1998 Swiss money laundering codes were put into law. Those codes had been held up to the rest of the world by the Swiss themselves as proof positive that the bad old days of dirty money were over, that money stolen by dictators was no longer welcome in Switzerland.Sani Abacha died in June 1998, apparently of a heart attack. He was 54. A best-estimate has it that he stole $4.3 billion, some $2.3 billion of it directly from the national treasury. -The Sink: Terror, Crime and Dirty Money in the Offshore World (2003).
-As expected, the Abacha family has denied stealing a farthing from Nigeria and Mrs. Abacha stated emphatically that her husband was keeping the money in foreign accounts not for his own personal use but for the sake of Nigeria. -On 29th of May, 2003, the day Obasanjo was sworn in for his second term, Mohammed Abacha granted an interview to the Los Angeles Times in which he insisted that all the monies seized from the Abacha family were all proceeds from legitimate businesses. He was told to explain this but he said it would take him three days to do so. This is what Tim Daniel has to say on it: ‘Mohammed Abacha did have the equivalent of three full days to explain those legitimate business enterprises in the Ajaokuta proceedings. They could probably be summarized in three minutes. If there was a grain of truth in them, he would be in the Forbes 500 as one of the world’s most successful businessmen.’
-Interestingly, Professor Jerry Gana was the one briefing the nation as Obasanjo’s minister of information as to the amount of ‘recovery’ of the loot done so far. I find that quite interesting.
-There is also an interesting dimension to the whole saga when Wikileaks leaked documents revealing the following :“At a meeting with the US Ambassador Robin Sanders to discuss his removal from the EFCC, Ribadu told the US ambassador that Obasanjo was good at covering his tracks. He admitted that corruption was worse under Obasanjo. On former President Obasanjo, the Commissioner (Ribadu) said, he (Obasanjo) really knew how to play the game. “Although he created the EFCC and understood its importance for him with the international community, Ribadu explained, that by far and even more than the Abacha days where he (Abacha) was the sole thief, corruption under Obasanjo’s eight years was far worse, because everyone stole. “Oba was a political machine and knew how to play the game for the international community, cover his tracks and, for good or bad, and got it as regards to what the EFCC’s role was and should be.”
In 2009, Abacha, alongside Olusegun Obasanjo and Abdulsalami Abubakar were named as beneficiaries of bribes running into millions of dollars handed out by Halliburton in exchange for contracts to build Nigeria’s liquefied natural gas plant, with Abacha alone pocketing $40 million (former US Vice President and Halliburton chief Dick Cheney was also mentioned). Whatever the case, the fact is that Nigeria has not been blessed with blessed leaders, and that we are where are today is a reflection of their ‘leadership’.
-QUOTES:
-If an insurgency lasts for more than 24 hours, the government has a hand in it.
-This regime will be firm, humane, and decisive. We will not condone nor tolerate any act of indiscipline. Any attempt to test our will be decisively dealt with. For the International Community, we ask that you suspend judgment while we grapple with the onerous task of nation building, reconciliation and repairs. This government is a child of necessity with a strong determination to restore peace and stability to our country and on these foundations, enthrone a lasting and true democracy. Give us the chance to solve our problems in our own ways. -Maiden speech, November 17th, 1993.
‘The issue of peace in the West African subregion should supersede the economic interest of individual states as there cannot be economic progress without peace in the subregion.’ -While swearing in the new Nigerian Ambassador to Liberia, April 1995.
-Fellow Nigerians, sequel to the resignation of the former Head of the Interim National Government and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Chief Ernest Shonekan and my subsequent appointment as Head of State and Commander-in-Chief, I have had extensive consultations within the armed forces hierarchy and other well meaning Nigerians in a bid to find solutions to the various political, economic and social problems which have engulfed our beloved country, and which have made life most difficult to the ordinary citizen of this nation. -Maiden speech, November 17th, 1993.
A much younger Sani Abacha beaming with smiles.
The end of kirakita. Carrying Abacha’s corpse in preparation for his burial.
When Abacha died, the condolence register opened for him in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State was so torn and rubbished that the State Military Administrator, Lt. Col. Mohammed Bawa had to come on TV to threaten any one who desecrated the register. A soldier had to be stationed with the register. Such was the level of hatred for a man even in the state he created. Abacha was despised and is still despised by many.
A very loving father and romantic husband, he made many fatherless, motherless and widowed even many more. But again, he made many happy and fantastically wealthy, and these people will be eternally grateful to him. Today, there are those who fondly remember him, pray for his soul, who miss him and remember with tears and recount all the nice memories they had together. I guess that sums of the life of mortals that we all are. When we are gone, there will be those who will talk of us glowingly, and those who will rain curses on our graves or spit on our corpses if given the chance. Your task, my dear Reader, is for you to make sure the scale between these two groups of people is not balanced, but grossly tipping to one side. The side to choose? That I leave to you. Thank you very much for your time.
Juju
REFERENCES:
Abacha: The Myth, The Man by Uche Ezechukwu, Sputnik Media Consult Ltd., 1997,
Amnesty International Appeals: http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/AFR44/009/1995/es/041cf1f0-8697-4ce8-97a3-41279ddea029/afr440091995en.pdf, http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/AFR44/009/1995/es,
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TELL, 28th August, 1995, No 35.
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