Abacha: The gods must indeed be crazy!

By Kayode Oladeji
Sometime ago, while in Philadelphia, United States of America, precisely on Thursday, 17th May, 2007, I had gone to Barnes and Noble bookshop in the company of Bolaji Atanda, a friend, for a book on International Relations.
Along the line from afar off, I saw a book with Tyrants as title, which attracted my attention. On moving closer, I saw the title clearly, TYRANTS… HISTORY’S 100 MOST EVIL DESPOTS & DICTATORS By Nigel Cainthorine published in 2005.
Without giving it a second thought, I picked the book. I did so because I had thought that in addition to other known despots in the book, our own Sani Abacha, would lavishly occupy a page. Curiously and somehow disappointingly, he was not in the edition!
One of the lessons taught by the current corona virus pandemic ravaging the world which necessitated lockdown, here and there, is the vainglorious nature of life itself. Its futility is boldly written for everyone to see. Some have much money stored up in the vaults but which they cannot spend (nowhere to spend it). Aren’t the gods crazy? Yes, they must be.
Remember the film “The gods Must Be Crazy”? In 1980, it was a chart-buster acted by an un-informed villager from a Tsumkwa Region in Namibia by the name; Toma Nxau. The film, directed in Botswana by Jamie Uys, attracted global attention and was said to have raked in over $60m (sixty million dollars) .
Regrettably, Toma the main character that popularized the film, was allegedly paid just a paltry $300 (three hundred dollars) Mind you, it was not thousand but just three hundred dollars! Simply speaking, Toma was shafted. Even though he was given a pay rise when the second part of the film was shot, the man still died wretched at about 59 years of age in 2003.
In like manner, Africa has been most unfortunate, to have been having snitching compradors as leaders who find it more convenient to ferry our resources to foreign countries. They, in the process, leave the African continent and its people, who gave them platform, pauperised.
In 1993, Sani Abacha became our leader against our will. He was never elected: the dark-goggled army General forced his way to Aso Rock. Abacha was in power for almost five years. While his terror-stricken tenure lasted before death cheaply ousted and outed him on June 8, 1998, there were numerous killings and the nation’s resources were pilfered to the hilt.
Pundits believe that Abacha’s ascension to power, was the product of a well scripted agenda after Earnest Shonekan who was positioned via a contraption called Interim National Government, ING, was shoved aside cheaply for the never-smiling Abacha to take over.
The MKO Abiola-Must-Not-Get-There agenda, orchestrated by Ibrahim Babaginda, the Evil Genius, and his cohorts, saw Abacha who had long been addressed as “Khalifa” (Successor), taking over as originally planned.
22years after his death the “legs” of some of the “dead” which he (Abacha) buried in foreign lands during his five-year spell as our leader, have astoundingly continued to be exposed.
No half way to it, Abacha deserves a mention in Nigel Cawthorne’s Tyrants and other dark pages of history. Just within five years, the Kano-born army General was believed to have stolen and ferried out over $5 billion of our common patrimony. Only God knows how many billions of naira are buried and scattered around Nigeria.
Almost every year now, our nation gets alert from the money “saved” by Abacha (its father in heaven); our one and only spiritual ATM who rains dollars and pounds to us from time to time. Just last week, our dead and gone Abacha, graciously released to Nigerians, another batch of $311m which is equivalent of #118 billion.
Hardly had we stopped celebrating this generosity of our “hero” past, when the sound of another “alert” started humming/buzzing.
Specifically, on Wednesday, 6th May, 2020, the America Embassy in Nigeria, announced to a bewildered and beleaguered nation that it had discovered additional $319m (about #121 billion) of Abacha loot in UK and France.
Variously, Abacha has been described in different quarters as a “caring” ancestor who has been sending money ceaselessly to Nigerians since his demise.

With the unbelievable humongous amount of stolen money coming from one single soul even 22 years after his death, will this challenge President Muhammadu Buhari to put more vent to his anti corruption crusade?
Has Buhari looked in the direction of Abacha’s accomplices at least, records will show this. His children, families, friends and associates, may be sitting on many more billions that belong to all of us even, here, under our nose, as people would say!
I doubt if this government will lift its fingers in this direction. I have my fears, though.
This is strongly underscored by the repeated stout defense of Buhari that Abacha never stole; yet, his government has not refused to accept his loot.
During Abacha’s 10th remembrance, Buhari described the allegation of looting against him (Abacha) as “baseless”. Said he (Buhari) then, “Ten years after Abacha, these allegations remain unproven because of lack of facts”.
Compared to 2016 when he (Buhari) said, “Nigeria is awaiting receipts from Swiss Government of $320 million identified as illegally stolen from Nigeria under Abacha”.
Mark our President’s words, “…under Abacha”. He did not say it was Abacha that looted the money being released. Who then did? Maybe the government should look in the direction of Major Al Mustapha, Abacha’s Chief Security Officer (CSO), who equally insisted that his boss never stole, that some people might have deposited these monies in those accounts. This may be another lead to trace others involved in this hideous crime.
So much has happened on account of this Abacha loot. I remember our former Finance Minister, Mrs Kemi Adeosun embroiled in a face-off with the Attorney General of the Federation, Malami Abubakar over the propriety or otherwise, of paying consultancy fees to some people from the AGF’s end.
What have we done with billions repatriated in the past? What are we doing with the ones currently being sent to us? What shall we do with the ones being expected? Are these funds being re-stolen by ending up in the pockets of other “Abachas” that dot the landscape of government; thus becoming the proverbial case of ole gbe e; ole gba a, as Yorubas would say?
It is high time we did away with our laws that protect the rich and punish the poor. While those who filch are given long term imprisonment and punishment, the rich who steal millions/billions, bargain their ways out of gaol. A thief is a thief, agreed. However, the size of offense should be made to be commensurate with the size of the jail term.
For instance, in April 2013, one Kelvin Ighadalo, was sentenced to 45years imprisonment (though to run concurrently for 10years) for stealing N50,000 (fifty thousand naira) worth of Sony Ericsson phone of Mr. Rauf Aregbesola on the day he was inaugurated as governor in 2010.

There have been instances when petty thieves such as stealing pepper worth less than #200 (two hundred naira) being meted with severe punishment by our law Courts while the big-time thieves are seemingly left off the hook.
Most of such men and women are walking freely today and are enjoying their loot.
God save the Nigerian masses from the nation’s leaders and political elite!