[size=14pt]The Canonisation of Abacha[/size]
Yusuph Olaniyonu
13 June 2008

Lagos — On Monday, the newspapers had a major, yet curious, news story on their front pages. The story was from the tenth year remembrance prayer held for late General Sani Abacha, who was head of state between November 17, 1993 and June 8, 1998, a period one could rightly referred to as the "dark days of the Nigerian nation".

According to the story, two former heads-of-state, Generals Ibrahim Babangida and Muhammadu Buhari, who are Abacha's predecessors, in their speech at the remembrance prayers said Abacha never stole any money while in power.

[size=14pt]Nigeria Wants to Re-Write History[/size]
. . .
Recently, this tradition has been strengthened by the entry of three former dictators who ruled Nigeria from 1983 to 1999. General Mohammadu Buhari, General Ibrahim Babangida and General Abdusalami Abubakar, three of which came together after perhaps a reunion of three men united to inform Nigerians and not much less than the world that the late General Sani Abacha did not steal money from Nigeria. This event marked a clear turning point in the growth of interest in Nigeria's former leaders try to deceive or back of the hands of the immediate past history, because the country's president, Olusegun Obasanjo also made the recovery of these huge sums of money.

November 10, 1998, the government of General Abubakar Abdusalami announced to the world that his government had made a great recovery from general Sani Abacha, loot the coffers of the country, the government put at N64 billion. Nigerians greeted him and thought that money was sizably reflected in the economic development of the nation or socially used to develop the country through simple repairs or contructions roads, and perhaps the supply of hospital equipment in our hospital General, but neither was the case.

General Sani Abacha was there first, because there was Ibrahim Babangida before him as one of the first presidents of the military world, without seeing a Vice President and Gen Mohammadu Buhari was himself overthrown by Ibrahim Babangida Buhari believed that a stab in his way back back in 1985, Nigerians heard the announcement of the Abacha military leader of the just undid that the theft of his money in Nigeria through his personal friends Buhari, Babangida and Abdusalami. What a historic turning point in the life of our nation, Nigeria. Nigeria yet to complain because she knew that history was being done. Nigeria must mourn for now. Fernand Braudel wrote

wesley80:

Gen Buhari's big come out, How nice. Next in line G-B-A-W-E stay tuned.

¶2.  (C) According to a well-informed contact from Kano who cited Abacha's younger brother Kadiri as his source, the talks began soon after the Obasanjo Government assumed power, with once-and-present Attorney-General Godwin Kanu Agabi in the lead for the GON.  Representing the Abachas were Sokoto politician and former Presidential aspirant Umaru Shinkafi, Abacha-era Minister Muhammad Kaloma Ali and Nigeria's one-time UN PermRep, Yusuff Maitama Sule.  Source said the talks had stalled over the middlemen's demands for commissions and Mohammed Abacha's unwillingness to part with any money.  The source opined that some means clearly  had been found to compensate the middlemen; he understood the Abachas

(C) A second Kano-based source confirmed that the talks were near conclusion and cited Shinkafi, Kaloma Ali and one of Abacha's erstwhile political advisers, Sule Yahaya Hamma, as intermediaries.  Asked about Maitama Sule, source commented that Maitama's standard of living exceeded his means, so he was always nosing
around for money and might have insinuated himself into the process to that end.  This source said he understood the Abachas stood to retain about USD 500
million, and the middlemen would be "settled" for their efforts.  T[b]he USD 1.2 billion, source continued, consisted mostly of funds physically taken from the
Central Bank of Nigeria which Abacha had wanted dispersed abroad as a hedge against sanctions.  He had entrusted the money to his son's custody, but, after
Sani Abacha died, Mohammed Abacha reportedly claimed the GON had no proof the money had not been his father's lawful property and refused to part with any
of it.[/b]

GenBuhari:

Here is how I believe Obasanjo and IBB made it appear that Abacha had stolen money

A former military administrator of Lagos State, Mr Marwa tried to be the number one citizen of Nigeria in 2007, when he sought the presidential nomination of the ruling party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). But the attempt came to nought, partly due to his indictment for corruption by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Realising that his chances of being president in 2011 were slim, Mr Marwa decided to run instead for governor of his home state of Adamawa. However, the same EFCC report which was used to stifle his chances four years ago posed the same threat to his new ambition.

Mr Marwa was indicted by the EFCC for assisting Sani Abacha, Nigeria's former military dictator, to launder money and for benefitting from the illicit undertaking. The particular case involved the purchase, in 1996, of 1500 trucks from Tata Overseas sales and services, an Indian company, for $149 million and another set in 1997 for $29 million. While the first batch was for the Nigerian Army and the Police, the second was for the national electoral body. Mr Marwa, who was then defence advisor at the Nigerian permanent mission to the United Nations in New York, negotiated the deals. Both Mr Marwa and the late dictator, according to top EFCC officials, benefitted from the payment of $12 million dollars as kickbacks. The money was put in different accounts in foreign countries, including the Cayman Islands and Kenya. The matter was investigated not only by the EFCC, but also by US authorities, whose request led to the EFCC's investigations in the first place.

Beaf:

The real Buhari swears that Abacha never stole a dime, so there is little surprise that his NL shadow thinks the same.
Buhari only claims Abacha never stole in order to cover the part he played in disbursing filthy favours and helping wanton theft through his inglorious and wretchedly corrupt time as PTF capone. He is a very sly man.

I posted this elsewhere on NL:

Now that the subsidy matter is about to go into meltdown, the likes of Buhari are screaming, quaking in fear of getting exposed and making oblique noises. There is method to the madness.
Let them waste their time. Bushmeat go catch the hunter.

haka_nai:

@op
Guy, abeg wake up sharp sharp!!!!pinch yourself and count 1 to 10,the do it backward ( i will advice you get someone to make sure you do it right).Then come back and read everything you posted.
You mean his salary earned him all that property and stuff?? haba oga!! some how or some where it may have transpired via father,son,clique,cabal or wife etc. No be today naija start o!
Now i understand the op just want us to chat about something. good one atleast you succededin getting 2 pages.

GenBuhari:

haka_nai
Does the evidence I presented not lead to conclude that Obj and IBB were out to paint Abacha as a looter from the outset.

What is you view that about this so called Abacha associate Abubakar Bagudu , who turned out to be part of the PDP establishment that headed a company that won a $1bn government contract and later became PDP Senator for Kebbi State?

You have nothing to say about that?

DrummaBoy:

GenBuhari
Where do get the strenghth to swim against the tide. I envy you O. Whether Abacha stole or not really doesn't matter anymore now. The man is dead. The recovered loot were certainly looted by his successors; or has any one seen an account given anywhere?
You know Beafy boy, if you exert half of the strength you use to descredit Buhari to advice your Oga GEJ on good governance, Nigeria will far more developed by now.

Beaf: You will also notice that those who scream loudest against the removal of the subsidy are reps of those companies.

Does the average Nigerian who refuses to read know that during Abacha's regime, with Buhari at the head of the PTF racket; the refineries were deliberately run down and monies for their turn around maintenance routinely vanished into thin air? But wait for the cracker! At the time this lot were running down our local refineries, Abacha actually used FG funds to build a personal refinery in Sierra Leone, so he and his cronies could milk the nation dry as a fuel importers!
That refinery was acquired through the vehicles, Integrated Investment Trust Limited and Nasimatume Investments Limited jointly owned by Abacha and his National Security Adviser, Ismaila Gwarzo.

Needless to say, the Abacha refinery in Sierra Leone is now cobwebbed. Many of our ex-generals are in similar rackets, they destroy the refineries at home, while having shares or ownership of refineries abroad to milk the nation dry. Behind those names listed, is an ex-general or two.

GenBuhari:

@jay bee
Have you seen independently verifiable evidence of Abacha's wealth?

If you have that info. let us have it.

Do not forget that the only source of information of Abacha's wealth has come from dishonest Obj and IBB.

Abacha most likely overpaid himself and treated state resources as his personal property, as most absolute dictators do, but I am sure it was not excessive or to the detriment of the country as Obj has been trying to label him.

It was Obj and IBB who looted Nigeria to ruin