Zeus: Mortal men have
been so disobedient.
Other gods: Lets unleash
Hades to them, he has been locked in chains since the war of the gods………
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On this day 17 October
1993 General Sani Abacha took the control of government in a palace coup putting
an end to Chief Ernest Shonekan led interim government that was meant to usher
Nigeria into a democratic regime after the unfortunate abortion of the June 12
1993 Presidential election that was widely acclaimed to be the freest and
fairest election in the history of Nigeria, where the people elected Alhaji
M.K.O Abiola. Which according to the ruling junta was marred by irregularities.
Abacha’s intrusion
into the political ring ended the Democratic process that took years to build,
his announcement that evening of 17 November barred all political parties,
governors, federal and state legislative
, local government chairmen from holding sway promising to return the country
to democracy in one-year after resolving the crisis that is threatening the
fabric of the Nigeria unity.
As the proverbial
saying goes “The sweet taste of palm wine made the house fly intoxicated that
it forgot to fly”. Like all dictators Abacha was not an exception he wanted to
stay in power for ever.
Those who knew Abacha
from his early days in the military academy would describe him as an un-intelligent
officer who keeps more to himself. Abacha as we know has been involved in all
successful coups in Nigeria, he played an active role in the counter coup of
July 1966 in Lagos- Abeokuta axis. Abacha was one the master minders in the
coup that truncated the civilian regime and brought General Buhari to power but
when they saw that Buhari was unbecoming he helped boot out Buhari to install
General Babaginda in whose government he was appointed the chief of defence
staff where he served for eight years. He helped foil the Major. Gideon Orkar
led coup of April 1990 making an announcement that the regime would be handing
over power to a civilian government in two years.
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On August 27 1993 when
General Babaginda stepped aside with other Generals in his government. Abacha
like the son of the Emperor Napoleon stayed put and waited for the right time
to strike like a cobra in the savannah.
When Abacha took over
power he passed a decree of his government being above the court and having the
right to detain without trial for as long as three months.
His government was so draconian that there was
political assassination in almost every part of the country people like Noble
laureate Wole Soyinka went on self-exile for the fear and threat of death on their
lives. It was in this regime that the renowned environmentalist and play right
writer was hanged for complicities in the murder of his king’s men and the
fight against oil giant Shell Petroleum over the environmental hazards and degradation
of the Ogoni land. Ken Sarowiwa will be remembered for his play “Bassey and
Company” that brought smiles to about 5 million Nigerians in the 80s.
Those who opposed him
were framed up for coups. Notable figures like Gen. Obasanjo and Gen. Yaradua
were sentenced death for their involvement in a Coup to unseat Abacha. But for
the intervention of the international community their sentence was reduced to
life imprisonment.
Abacha’s government
was unashamedly corrupt to the marrow. During his stay in power the United
States department for justice believed that General. Abacha looted an approximately
$2 billion dollars from the Nigeria treasury out of which an estimated $486
million dollars have so far been recovered from foreign accounts.
During his stay in
power the Nigeria nation experienced stability in the economy even with the
number of sanctions hanging on the neck of his administration. He created
additional six state increasing the number to thirty six (36).
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Nigerians woke up on
the 8 of June to hear that the head of state passed on in some mysterious circumstances.
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