Abacha: From odium to accolade!

It is, however, not easy to suppress reality for too long. A recent international event in London had positively resurrected Abacha’s memory. The 11th Gathering of Africa’s Best awards (GAB) afforded one of the recipients, a British politician, Mr Mackie Sheik, the opportunity to re-evaluate Abacha’s contributions to African stability and peace. According to Sheik, […]

It is, however, not easy to suppress reality for too long. A recent international event in London had positively resurrected Abacha’s memory. The 11th Gathering of Africa’s Best awards (GAB) afforded one of the recipients, a British politician, Mr Mackie Sheik, the opportunity to re-evaluate Abacha’s contributions to African stability and peace.

According to Sheik, “Abacha may be evil in Nigeria but in Sierra Leone, he is a hero, almost a saint …” The former Deputy Mayor of London noted that Abacha’s timely intervention had saved Sierra Leone from total disintegration after anarchists led by the late Fodeh Sankoh of the disbanded United Revolutionary Front attempted to destroy the country’s democratic progress. In fact, the rebels were chopping off the hands of innocent citizens to prevent them from voting and forced civilians to enlist into their criminal movement.

Until now, few public figures had the courage to openly appreciate Abacha’s positive legacies. The RUF rebels were a collection of drug addicts that were bent on destroying one of Africa’s oldest surviving democracies. Freedom of choice didn’t matter to them; instead, they believed in the barrel of the gun to bend Sierra Leoneans to their will. Instability produces contagious effects and Abacha had the sagacity to move into the country to save the poor country from disintegration and anarchy.

Although his critics at home pooh-poohed his dramatic intervention, the passage of time has justified the wisdom of Abacha’s military assistance to rescue Sierra Leone from instability. Sierra Leone was once regarded as one of Africa’s stable states, especially under the late Siaka Stevens. But nobody probably ever imagined that the country could find itself at the mercy of psychopathic rebels inspired by blind loyalty to a blood-thirty leader, the late Fodeh Sankoh, who became an obstacle to peace.

Blinkered by prejudice, Abacha’s critics were not ready to accept that even the so-called devil had his positive side. In neighbouring Liberia, for example, Abacha was able to restore the credibility of Nigeria’s intervention through the ECOWAS Peacekeeping Force, mainly made up of Nigerian contingent. Until Abacha’s intervention, Liberians largely believed that Nigeria was in their country to support the late Samuel Doe to hold onto power.  

However, when the Abacha administration took over, it quickly re-defined Nigeria’s objective in the then war-torn Liberia. His government maintained credible neutrality, which enabled all the warring factions to freely participate in the democratic process of producing their own government. A faction led by a former Liberian rebel honcho, Mr Charles Taylor (who later became a President and now a war crime suspect), was  targeting Nigerians for attacks because they believed we went into their country to help the late Master Sergeant Samuel Doe to remain in power at all cost.

In fact, three Nigerian journalists were killed by Taylor’s faction because of their hatred toward the former Babangida administration. However, Abacha’s policy of neutrality ultimately led to the emergence of democratic process in which Liberians chose their own president and other political leaders.

Therefore, Sierra Leone was not the only country where the late Abacha demonstrated genuine commitment to African stability and peace. He was also able to ginger Africans to assert their sovereignty in international affairs. He was the first African Head of State to break the 10-year air embargo imposed on Libya over the 1989 Lockerbie terrorist-related air disaster. Many African leaders privately believed the embargo was too harsh but were afraid to voice their protest until Abacha gave them the courage to do so.

Contrary to the suggestion of other critics, not all Nigerians believed Abacha was a devil at home. Eleven years after his death, his performance record in office has exceeded the expectations of even his worst enemies. Within five years, Abacha was able to contain inflation, stabilise the naira, control insecurity and improve the standard of infrastructure and other vital social services despite the fact that the foreign reserve level under his administration was about 10 billion dollars.

However, with 68 billion dollars in its coffers in addition to 18 billion dollars debt relief, the former Obasanjo administration which was the harshest critic of Abacha failed to deliver despite the enormous good luck and goodwill at its disposal. The former London Deputy Mayor, Mackie Sheik, is not alone in re-evaluating Abacha more objectively. With the worsening state of infrastructure under Obasanjo, rising unemployment, insecurity, poverty, hunger and disease, do Abacha’s detractors have any moral basis to demonise his memory or his record? Thank God that with the passage of time, more and more people are seeing his positive side, including foreign public figures. Abacha is not only Sierra Leonean’s hero, but also of millions of Nigerians who appreciate his remarkable performance record.

Maigana wrote from Gen. Hassan Katsina Road, Anguwar Rimi, Kaduna.