Where were you when you heard that General Abacha had died? Most Americans can recall to the last detail where they were, what they were doing, and how they heard about some notable events-the murder of Martin Luther King Jnr, the assassination of John F Kennedy, and the September 11, 2001 destruction of the World Trade Centre being some of the best illustrations. In Nigeria, I believe most people can recall with some specificity what the circumstances around them were when they heard about the death of General Sani Abacha.
I was in a presentation room that day, in the bank with which I then worked, leading a focus group discussion on scenarios for Nigeria from 1998 till 2003. I believe I have previously shared some of that experience on these pages. Any way the bank’s management had put me in charge of a scenario planning team, which was charged with coming up with scenarios that would provide the context for the bank’s strategic plan which was then been discussed. The exercise was a very enlightening experience as it entailed speaking with a cross section of leaders in academia, politics, media, religion, business, and even traditional institutions.
The remarkable thing however was that the exercise demonstrated very clearly how much of an obstacle to the country’s evolution and development Abacha had become. In trying to get my respondents to share their perceptions about the country’s future-political, economic, social, its place in the world etc, every response suddenly became conditional on Abacha’s actions-what will he do?; will he become a civilian leader?; will he hand over?; will he release MKO?; is he healthy?; will he live?; will he die?; ad infinitum! It suddenly struck me that the destiny of a whole nation had become entangled with the actions, moods, intentions and health of one man! And that man was not by any means your normal type of person! He was Abacha!
For those whose memory about those days match my own recollection (apparently some others have alternate recollections, which I suggest we ignore), because of Abacha, Nigeria was suffering under the weight of political and economic sanctions; the economy was grinding to a halt; many Nigerians had fled into exile in Europe, America and Canada to escape Abacha’s hit squad (which we now know was led by Sergeant Barnabas Jabila and under the command of Abacha’s Chief Security Officer and other officials of that regime); some persons including Kudirat Abiola and Chief Alfred Rewane had been killed by agents of the regime; Mr Alex Ibru and Chief Abraham Adesanya had barely escaped the regime’s hit squad by the skin of their teeth; the Ogoni activist, Ken Saro Wiwa had been hanged by the regime against international appeals that he be spared; and the current President’s own brother, General Shehu Musa Yar’adua had been killed while under detention by the regime.
We recall that Nigerians all over the country jubilated as the news of Abacha’s death spread across the country, and the international community breathed a sigh of relief that the dark goggled General whose thoughts and actions it appeared no one could rationalise had passed on. On that day, as I stood in front of the discussion group, we searched desperately for hope that the country would somehow find a way to progress in spite of the human roadblock that Abacha had now seemed to become, when my then CEO peeped into the room and uttered the frankly amazing words, “Opeyemi, what are you doing here? Abacha is dead!” I could never forget those words, which signalled a fresh dawn for this nation, and off course ended my focus group discussion, as everyone scattered to absorb the reality of the news. Even in death, people were afraid of Abacha! Of course, my scenario planning assignment became a piece of cake. The range of alternate possibilities became very clear, and we quickly brought the assignment to a close within weeks of Abacha’s death. I believe Nigeria by and large lived to the scenarios we came up with up till 2007, but the jury is still out on what way we will travel going forward.
Nigeria has come a long way since June 8, 1998. We have had three regimes-the short, transitional regime of General Abdulsalam Abubakar, which was notable for two things, one political, the other economic-the quick handover to his erstwhile Commander-in-Chief, General Olusegun Obasanjo as elected President, and the rapid depletion of the nation’s reserves! Obasanjo ruled for eight years with a credible performance in macroeconomic management, but made many mistakes in the political posture of the regime. In spite of Obasanjo’s faults however, Nigeria in 2007 bore no relationship with the country he took over in May 1999-Nigeria in 2007 was not just free of the over $30 billion foreign debt which Obasanjo inherited, but had accumulated about $40 billion of reserves. Economic reform had transformed several sectors-oil and gas, banking, telecommunications etc and foreign investment was flowing into the country again.
Obasanjo made mistakes with his personal style, the third term bid, the quality (actually lack of quality!) of elections which he conducted and the contradictory behaviour with regard to corruption and other matters, but in May 2007, he finally grudgingly exited the national stage handing over to President Yarádua. The Yar’adua Presidency will have its own time and opportunity to do that which was not done by the former regime, and to do more and faces clear challenges with the principal ones being electricity, infrastructure and the Niger-Delta. The Niger-Delta in particular represents perhaps the most significant threat to the country’s future, and if not urgently addressed may finally do that which even Abacha could not do!
On the tenth anniversary of Abacha’s death, some actually celebrated in religious places with thanksgiving services for the great deliverance which God performed concerning this nation on that day. Some others however emboldened by the passage of time and perhaps seeking merely to provoke their adversaries see things differently. If the western world whose banks actually confirmed the existence of huge deposits running into billions of dollars held by the late dictator hear that three former military rulers of Nigeria declared publicly that he never stole from the nation, they would be reminded that truly we are a peculiar people. How did the leaders of Afenifere who urged their Yoruba constituency to vote for General Buhari in 2007 feel when they read his celebration of Abacha?-Abacha who murdered and terrorised their leaders and led many of them into exile. How did President Yar’adua whose elder brother was killed by the regime feel?
4 comments:
Good to know thst yu are one of the few to publicly acknowledge the Obasanjo did well. In retrospect, when Obasanjo hnded over to Shagari in 1979, the country was flowing in milk and honey, however, a few months/years down the line, Nigeria became a shadow of herself after thorough looting, mismanagement and lack of focus. The same scenario is being played out again - Obasanjo handed over an economy that was beginning to pick up again and now everything seems to be going down the drain again.
my sentiments exactly!Even though it is now politically correct to bash OBJ, history will surely vindicate him.We have had 1 year of probe panels, buck-passing policy reversals and not much else.
The Man is always ill! He wakes up some mornings and as he's coming down the stairs, he finds himself in Weisbaden! i've been to Weisbaden! it's a fantastic place! The most avuncular place in Germany! Mr. Alhaji Mallam Yar'dua should resign! He's too slow and sick to be our President! We need mavericks! He isn't a Maverick! Obasanjo was!!
obasanjo did well in some areas, particularly economic management. Yarádua is doing only rule of law, and we can't yet say if he's doing it well.
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