Nigerians protest attempts to rewrite the looting history of late General Sani Abacha, former head of state, by his associates
This year, unlike in the previous years, the 10th anniversary of the death of ex-military dictator, General Sani Abacha, former head of state, was consciously packaged to rewrite the history of his days in power.
The proponents of the new thinking did not restrict themselves to the anniversary celebration. They also gave interviews in the print and electronic media.
Mariam Abacha, widow of the general, kick-started the media parley. Expectedly, she dismissed charges of corruption against her husband, saying that, unlike in former President Olusegun Obasanjo's case, where ministers were called upon to clarify allegations of corruption, Abacha's ministers were not questioned. "You cannot just say that Madam did this and the children did that," she said, urging anybody who still wants to probe her husband to question "all the ministers, ranging from that of Petroleum to Finance." Taking his turn, Hameed Ibrahim, a retired colonel, said Abacha was an "honest" leader who meant well for the country. "We hear that Abacha stashed away so much money, but today we have come to realise that ex-President Obasanjo was using that as a ploy to do what he did. I think history will finally vindicate Abacha as we go along because, eight years of Obasanjo, nothing on ground to say this is what he (Obasanjo) did," he said.
This way, Ibrahim had set the tone for the grand finale which came up in the Gidado home of the Abachas in Kano, on June 8. In attendance were Mariam, Ibrahim, three former military heads of state - Abdulsalami Abubakar, Muhammadu Buhari, who was also the presidential candidate of the All Nigeria Peoples Party in the last election, and Ibrahim Babangida. Equally present at the 10th anniversary prayer session were Ahmed Sani, the emir of Gumel, Sayyadi Ringim, the emir of Ringim, Muhammadu Isa and Ahmad Daura. Although invitations were said to have been dispatched across the Niger, the grand finale of the anniversary turned out to be a strictly Northern affair. Most of the leading lights of the Islamic faith in other geo-political regions curiously stayed away from the memorial prayers. But that did not distract them from the set goal. Abubakar, Babangida and Buhari took turns to eulogise Abacha.
For once, the generals agreed to speak in order of military seniority. Buhari, who served in the Abacha government as head of the Petroleum (Special) Trust Fund, PTF, said the late general deserved to be praised for initiating developmental ideas that moved the country forward. He dismissed the documented looting spree of Abacha, saying they were unproven allegations. In Buhari's reckoning, since Abacha died 10 years ago, those allegations have paled into insignificance. He praised the deceased for establishing PTF, setting up tribunals to check unethical practices by banks and for incorporating state governors into the National Council of States.
Babangida was characteristically procedural in his praise chant. First, he praised the living before the dead. He praised Mariam as a courageous woman and commended her to all lily-livered women. He then moved on to dismiss the documented profligacy of Abacha. "It is not true that he looted public treasury, I knew who Abacha was because I was close to him," he said.
But, that should be expected. Abacha was Babangida's disingenuous creation. After criminally annulling the fair results of the June 12, 1993 presidential election that was a clear win for Moshood Abiola, a business mogul, in his eighth year of misrule, it was patently clear to Babangida that he had murdered sleep. Instantly, Nigerians rose against him. Abacha was his eventual prop for Ernest Shonekan, whom he made to succeed him under the illegal formation called the Interim National Government, ING. Soon after his exit, the prop became the main power-wielder. Shonekan was no match for Abacha, who was in command of the armed forces. Shonekan was forced to resign to pave the way for the most "senior" person in government. In no time, Abacha took on the media and the civil society.
And before his demise on June 8, 1998, the general was on the way to perpetuating himself in power. Members of the opposition group had to go into exile, while those who were left behind and a section of the critical media had to go underground. Some of them were not so lucky with their lives, relations and property. Alfred Rewane, financier of the National Democratic Coalition, NADECO, and Kudirat Abiola, wife of the politician, top the list of the assassinated. Others like Abraham Adesanya, then NADECO leader who died recently, and Alex Ibru, publisher of The Guardian newspaper, are among those who survived the guns of the Abacha junta's agents.
Perhaps, afraid of what would be the consequences of antagonising the junta, politicians in the five political parties sponsored by the late general's government endorsed him for the presidency, even before he could make public declaration for any of the parties. Thus there were fears expressed by the haunted opposition that Abacha was planning to perpetuate himself in office. But before that dream materialised, the general died in Aso Rock, the nation's seat of government.
If that was all he did, Nigerians still felt that his tenure was a horrible experience for the country. But they were even scandalised when the Obasanjo administration unearthed the looting spree of the late general. Some of the stolen money is still being repatriated by foreign governments. Besides that, the family had had to negotiate with government on terms that would at least leave them with something to support family members.
But at the 10th anniversary of Abacha's death, June 8, Abubakar, who succeeded him and returned the nation to civil rule in nine months, said it was unfair to accuse Abacha and his family of looting public funds. He, however, admitted that a lot of things had been done wrongly in the past. He wanted subsequent administrations to do things differently.
The story of Abacha's loot has remained a sickening continuum. Turn anywhere you may for facts, no part or portion is distinct or distinguishable from adjacent parts. In year 2000, investigators in Geneva, London, Lagos, New York and many other cities and financial centres traced the Abacha loot to more than 130 bank accounts, spread around the world. Favourite spots of the Abachas range from transit points in Lagos to traditional cash centres in London and Geneva and obscure islands in the Carribbean. George Zecchin, the investigating judge in Geneva, was amazed at the scale and scope of the Abacha loot, put at $4 billion, about N400 billion, when the exchange rate was N100 to one dollar in year 2000. As soon as the Abacha family knew their concealed loot had been unearthed by eagle-eyed investigators, Mariam, who is now calling for the probe of her husband's ministers, entered into months of brain-wracking negotiations for a soft-landing. In the end, she reportedly agreed to return only $300 million, about N30 billion, to government treasury. That was not acceptable to Obasanjo who insisted that they must give up everything.
Abacha's looting method is available only to the crafty. Most times, the routine was that Abacha, the giant spider at the centre of the web, would hold discussions with Ismaila Gwarzo, the national security adviser, NSA. Sequel to the discussion, Gwarzo, who once confessed to have acted as a 'post office' for looting, would follow up with a memo, requesting funding for alleged security operations in any part of the world, or for the purchase of sophisticated security equipment. The sum always ran into several millions. Abacha would approve and pass the paper to Anthony Ani, the tyrant's minister of finance, and Paul Ogwuma, then governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, for immediate attention (see box).
The method was unassailable, and, between November 1993, when he succeeded Shonekan, and June 8, 1998, when he died, $1.13 billion (N113 billion) and £413 million [N61.9 billion] were taken directly from the CBN in cash by Gwarzo. Also, $50.4 million [N5.04 billion] and £3.5 million [N525 million] were taken in bank cheques. The CBN was also authorised by Abacha to transfer directly the sum of $386.2 million [N38.62 billion] to companies and bank accounts abroad allegedly owned and operated by the deceased and his family. The direct looting of the CBN was extremely profitable for the Abachas. In April 1998 alone, this direct looting brought for Mohammed Abacha, son of the late general, the sum of $259 million [N25.9 billion]. In the same month, Mohammed made £180.9 million [N27.1 billion].
By the time his father died, Mohammed had more than half a billion dollars in cash.
Just last month, the Swiss government said it has returned to Nigeria all stolen monies kept in that country by Abacha. Giving a breakdown at a press conference in Abuja, Fabio Baiardi, the charge d'affaires of the Embassy of Switzerland, said that a first instalment of $290 million was transferred on September 1, 2005; a second instalment of $168 million on December 19, 2005 and $40 million was transferred at the end of January, 2006. Also, findings from a joint initiative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and the World Bank, Stolen Asset Recovery, STAR, indicate that $505.5 million have been recovered from the Swiss authorities as part of the Abacha loot.
Of course, the whole story of the Abacha loot, family and Gwarzo's confessions have been in the public domain for quite a while, and, unlike Buhari, Babangida and Abubakar who laboured to give him a clean bill, several other informed Nigerians chose, last week, to accord history deserved respect. Two leading opposition parties - the Action Congress, AC, and the Progressive Peoples Alliance, PPA - described the "emergency" revisionists as uncharitable to the course of human progress. They wondered why it took them all of 10 years to stand in defence of Abacha. In particular, Lai Mohammed, AC spokesman, said if the comments made by the trio were true, then Nigeria should return all the repatriated funds to the foreign countries where they were stashed and apologise to them as well as the Abacha family. Nawa Uninke, PPA publicity secretary, advised the generals to avoid throwing up disorder when it seemed the country is recovering from battered experiences of the military misrule. "Where were these military leaders when so much money was being recovered from several foreign accounts of Abacha?" Uninke rhetorically asked.
On his own part, Abubakar Umar, retired colonel and former military governor of Kaduna State, said what Buhari, Babangida and Abubakar have done amounted to giving tacit support to those who ruined the nation's economy through corrupt practices. He, therefore, described the generals as hypocrites who do not wish the nation any good. His words: "I understand the wisdom and benefits associated to prayers for the repose of a dead person's soul, which is acceptable in both Christianity and Islam, but I disagree with the exoneration of Abacha from looting the country's treasury… And if that is the case, there is no need to continue with the probe and trial of former President Obasanjo and his daughter, Senator Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello, respectively."
