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Nigeria's history books are
covered in a thick blanket of econo-political fog. It is
apparently hard to decipher whether or not the late maximum
dictator, General Sani Abacha, was a corrupt ruler or a
transparent leader. No thanks to the combined efforts of the
old Northern fogeys the indifferent looking Mohammed Buhari,
the Niger Prince, Abdulsalami Abubakar and the smiling
toothgapped Ibrahim Babangida who rose on June 8, 2008 to
celebrate the tenth anniversary of the death of Sani Abacha.
On that occasion, they unanimously poured posthumous
encomiums on the late military Head of state for his
unparalleled track records in the prudent management of the
nation's resources and for his indubitable and unprecedented
commitment to honesty and transparency. The retired Generals
even mentioned en passant that General Sani Abacha was
indeed a blessing to Nigeria and of course, one of the best
presidents Nigeria ever had.
Granted, though not conceding that Abacha was Nigeria's
ideal leader; suffice it to say that timeless fossils in our
real history books reveal that Abacha was really a good
synonym for perennial failure and crass corruption.
His brutish, nasty, short, self-damnable and perilous rule
was one of the worst in the nations annals. During his
unpopular reign, thermo-nuclear vibrations of devastating
poverty rocked the polity in gargantuan and laughable
proportion. Then, after his death, ground shaking and earth
quaking revelation of how zillions of Nigeria's oil money
were flagrantly stolen, siphoned and stashed in western
Banks, especially in Switzerland. Need I repeat that Sani
Abacha was a bloody killer and a very dishonest leader who
festered in our national life the little time he did
It is therefore preposterous for elder statesmen to
romanticize with such a “moronic” figure ten years after his
shameful exit in the hands of prostitutes. They ought not to
play the odious game that masks its perniciousness under the
declaration that Abacha was indeed a “Saint”.
Methinks, if Abacha were alive and if Nigeria were a polity
founded on the strict observance of the LAW persons like
General Sani Abacha who privatized the nation's treasury
should be basking, full time in jail. The Northern
ex-generals and other acolytes in the Abacha saint mish mast
should not be guile by the false perception that the way to
preserve and defend the northern political structure is to
re-write history and obfuscate falsehood. No! No person or
group of person can hoodwink Nigerians with the fib that
Abacha was a good leader.
It will be fool hardly if we waste our precious time and
energy in rationalizing the anathema that oozed out from a
faction of the retired military establishment, of which
Buhari, IBB and Abubakar are notorious and unflattering
specimens. Having failed Nigeria in their different tenures,
they have compounded that failure with gratuitous insult to
right thinking Nigerians.
Whether we like it or not, Abacha's name cannot be written
in Nigeria's history books as the man who fought fearlessly
to protect and preserve our treasury and our democratic
values (which never was). We therefore must not lent
ourselves to the forces who have by their conducts and
utterances sworn to frustrates the nation's flowering as a
polity, where history cannot stand for future generations.
However, it is not impertinent to say that Abacha was not
Nigeria's most corrupt leader. First, the sleazy deals of
past governments are yet to be fully investigated and
brought to public glare. For instance, Nigerians are yet to
hear from Obasanjo vis-à-vis the account of our oil money
these past years. But it is on record that he (Obasanjo)
used his pudgy fingers in the puerile acquisition of a
stupendous equity stake in Transcorps, a mega-corporation
that savoured the generosity of his administration. Obasanjo
equally displayed his depraved desire to subordinate a
nation of more than 140 million to his puny whims by
refusing to appoint a petroleum minister for eight years.
The decay in the oil sector cannot be divorced from the
national scandal in the oil industry during the Obasanjo's
epoch. It is to the credit of Obasanjo, his cohorts in the
NNPC and a few bourgeoisies that the nation's refineries
atrophied systematically, thereby stymieing the nation's
refining capacity and wholesale importation became
inevitable. And to show his wicked and despotic stance, he
raised the prices of petroleum products two days before
leaving office.
On the whole, when a sector like the oil sector was buried
in secrecy and corrosive uncertainty, then, questions should
be asked on behalf of taxpayers.
Between Abacha and Obasanjo was no better president and
history cannot be touched soiled, blemished, besmirched and
re-written MY LAST COUNSEL on Abacha and the litany of our
corrupt past comes inform of dreams God willing, they shall
be actualized.
I dream of a country where corruption ceases to be a
co-option. I dream of a country where corruption is not only
fought but beaten, defeated, lynched, maimed, killed,
massacred, buried, exhumed and burnt to ashes.
I dream of a Nigeria where the machinery of power ceases to
be manipulated to the tune of kleptomaniacs and saboteurs. A
country where the rogue elements behind the orgy of our
political cum economic prodigality are brought to book.
I dream of a nation whose President is not
remote-controlled. A country where the President does not
display hesitancy, where decisiveness is called for, or
paralysis where agility is required.
I dream of a country where ex-leaders and other statesmen
desist from using respectable forum for verbal masturbation
and other self-seeking and ethnic objectives.
Above all, I dream of a country, a Nigeria, a united nation
whose leader's mandate emanates from the unfettered will of
the people; a leader who would serve the public interest and
be comprehensively accountable to the citizenry.
But if none of my dreams comes to fruition, then your guess
is as good as mine cheers!  |
