dman4mdmoon:
"Major Al-Mustapha took some strategic decisions that were of national significance. One of such decisions was the immediate evacuation of the condemned coup plotters in Jos Prison to a more secured place. The measure was probably to pre-empt any intention to summarily execute the plotters by possible overzealous forces". So OBJ could have been summarily executed if not for Al-Mustapha because he was imprisoned in Jos prison then? He owes Al-Mustapha for this.

Nope. I think he was in Yola prisons then. He got released from there.

Wow! The writer Mr Orji sure knows his onion. The transition was on point, the delivery perfect. The read was delicious.

He evoked emotions so vivid and raw that I had to momentarily check if a worm-hole had not teleported us back to that red morning of 1998.

For me, Abacha was no worse than most of us alive are. I can categorically, append 10.good things Abacha commissioned and pioneered that most of us are enjoying today without recourse to questioning their source. Looting and corruption has been on in the Civilian and Military era long before the days of the premier leaders and Yakubu Gowon.

If Abacha truly looted, believe me, those acclaimed recovered loots would never have seen the light of day to recovery. let me state it clear enough to sink into the ignorant masses head, "Abacha never looted Nigerian treasury but only starched d money away in safe hands from unsuspecting old and new thieves. I implore you tired egg heads to go and re educate yourself and go and check your dictionary for the true meaning of loots.

Apart from the lynching of Abacha nobility, how much have been recovered from all the corrupt old and new politicians in the history of Nigerians so far despite all the chorus and noise of everybody fighting corruption by day and feasting and taking selfie with corruption by night? where is the justice?

That Abacha truly looted Nigeria, I oladipupo Kelvin chose to disagree with a controversial remark and I seize to think like the rest of the millions zombie Nigerians. No break No jar, No sense!

GenBuhari:
The media were saying that Abacha's family were going to court to defend the loot, but I have done extensive research and have not seen any evidence they looted let alone go to court to defend looted money. The only reason any Abacha's family member may go to court would be to clear their name of malicious and unjust allegations of looting.

You need to read more. Apart from the loot, life was hellish (at least in the south) during that era.

This was funny
At about 9.48 p.m. when Abacha's grave was being covered with sand, a powerful businessman from one of the South Eastern States who was very prominent in Abacha's campaign for self succession arrived and broke down weeping and wailing openly. Some faithful Muslims who dominated the burial reacted negatively to such an un-lslamic approach to the dead. They threatened to whisk the man out of the premises if he failed to comport himself. The businessman was among those who threatened to proceed on exile or commit suicide if General Abacha failed to become President.

DonPiiko:
I was excited because everyone was celebrating, a few months later I was really sad an life took a drastic turn for my family. I was in Primary 4

Heya, I hope it's all past now.

GenBuhari:
[size=18pt]"The Abacha family house on Gidado street, GRA, Kano is a modest twin duplex located in a rather small compound. "[/size]

We can see if his main family house was modest, Obasanjo and the his cronies were deceiving us about Abacha looting.


I maintain he never looted, Buhari also said the same.

Believe me, your children will place a curse on your head if they ever read this comment.

Yeah we are better, we picked up recently, it's all good now and the future is bright

pocohantas:


Heya, I hope it's all past now.

GenBuhari:
I have a very strong suspicion that Al Mustapha had a hand in Abacha's killing. It seems he betrayed Abacha and handed power to IBB. The man deserves to be in prison for being such a fool and allowing himself to be double-crossed.

What is your opinion?

I only need to read this comment to know that you need emergency mental evaluation

ypzilanti:
For a journalist, the author is a really boring writer. Check out the articles in the Economist and forbes...even the back page of Thisday newspaper. Commercial writing is a craft and a talent. Journalists need to be paid more in Nigeria to attract the best hands.

Sir,the man was just writing in simple narrative style events that he witnessed first hand.

I personally don't think there is need for so many -isms and superfluous terms.


"Orji Ogbonnaya Orji,NTA News"(pikins no go know this one)

This is a detailed inscription on the day Abacha died.
I really enjoyed the very long epilogue.
The truth still remain that we are yet to have it good in our today Democratic setting.
Dictatorship paid us better then and to me still prefaired to what we have now.
Abacha really moved our money almost all over the world.
Till today, we still repatriate funds from foreign countries.
He is still paying our bills even from the grave.

.

This panic measure was as a result of the usual trauma which Radio Nigeria Management Staff often pass through each time there was a military coup d'‚tat in Nigeria. The first target usually is the FRCN Broadcasting House. The management and staff on duty usually pass through hell in the hands of the military boys in their desperate effort to gain entrance into the studios at record time for the usual "Fellow Nigerians" broadcast.

That 419 statement that Abokies have used to deceive us all

pocohantas:
Nice read.
I was in Primary school when my mum rushed back home with the news of his death. Everyone was so excited, I was wondering why death will sweet them like that.

Then my mum capped the celebration by buying us Goldspot.

It took me few years to understand all the happiness

Lol I remember the day he died vividly, all these big, tall adults jubilating around a clueless me

gulfer:
^^^^ Picked this up, who was that man

most probably that grade A sycophant and national co-ordinator of the group tagged Y E A A (Youths Earnestly Asked Abacha ) , KANU , can't recall the first name now . Men , those were the days , talk of real MVPs among truly infamous bastards in the corridors of powerrs . Names like kanu , arisekola , alakija (yeah , that one ) , A . Nzeribe to name a few are some of the greed driven demons that will throw their own family members to a burning furnance at the request of Abacha or I .B .B . Time will come when a book will be published to name and shame majority of them that are the enemy of the masses and it will be a bestseller .spit on them !

The size of his house.... The writer used d word modest...its open to interpretation on what modest means....as for whether its a proof of not looting.. He never knew he would die...remember he was positioning himself to be d civilian president and that required lots of money....if he didn't loot, who then did??

very interesting story... is it a film

Well my personal recount of how i learned of Abacha's death.
I was in living in Lagos then and a neighbor to a friend whose uncle has been living in Britain since late 70s. The uncle called his brother (my friend's Dad) who happened to be a very senior police officer in Nigeria, informing him that news going round in the UK is that our head of state's corpse was flown in briefly for an autopsy and that's how they (in the UK and beyond) knew of such to the utter surprise of my friend's dad. So i personally heard it even before an official announcement, but found it hard to believe.

How could someone living far away in the UK call to inform his brother in Nigeria that his head of state was late? But it's true afterall!!

Okoroawusa:

Sir,the man was just writing in simple narrative style events that he witnessed first hand.

I personally don't think there is need for so many -isms and superfluous terms.


"Orji Ogbonnaya Orji,NTA News"(pikins no go know this one)

Bro, you just quoted a comment from six years back o.. Biko no vex

But let me state that the guy criticizing the writeup is confused. If you are not interested in the message, why don't you take a hike. Another one was comparing NYtimes, very unnecessary way of thinking.

Leave them make dem yarn.

Good read for me

Sage7:

Bro, you just quoted a comment from six years back o.. Biko no vex

But let me state that the guy criticizing the writeup is confused. If you are not interested in the message, why don't you take a hike. Another one was comparing NYtimes, very unnecessary way of thinking.

Leave them make dem yarn.

Good read for me

oh! really?

I didn't look at the date


yeah, a good read for me too

ibkayee:

Lol I remember the day he died vividly, all these big, tall adults jubilating around a clueless me

Small girl.

It might interest you to know that this same Abubakar Bagudu who returned $750million under Abdusalam without any criminal prosecution was also arrested in 2003 in the U.S and locked up for 6 months, he returned $300million in 2003 under Obasanjo and was released.

The same guy is the incumbent executive governor of Kebbi. Naija which way?? Even before then, he occupied senatorial seats around 2008.

Naija is being used. It is sad!

Very soon this guy would declare presidential aspirations.

Interesting read. I can't believe it's been 20 years.
Add the kind of freedom we have now to what we had then, trust me, you'll never pray for this so called democracy.
We had the chance to establish an egalitarian and prosperous society...a chance to continue from where we stopped in 1966 before that infamous coup that derailed our true federal status, but what do we have? A 1999 constitution- the mother of 21st century corruption.
We were too in a hurry to return to civil rule and forgot to retrace our steps and not to build on existing platform.
Though I was still in early teenage then, I wasn't too young to know that Nigerians had a better life then, far ahead of what's obtained now.
Corruption as we have it now, started taking a more dangerous turn around 2002.
We thought democracy would be a government of the people, by the people and for the people, but it turns out that our own brand of democracy is a government of those in government, by those in government and for those in government.

ypzilanti:
For a journalist, the author is a really boring writer. Check out the articles in the Economist and forbes...even the back page of Thisday newspaper. Commercial writing is a craft and a talent. Journalists need to be paid more in Nigeria to attract the best hands.

Just your opinion. Unlike you, I found the report very interesting. Not boring at all.

Ade3000yrs:
let me state it clear enough to sink into the ignorant masses head, "Abacha never looted Nigerian treasury but only STARCHED d money away in safe hands

Just so we are clear , i believe the correct word to replace the one in capital letters which is a key word from your summation above is STASHED , as the point of argument from your discourse afterall is about Abacha's MONEY LAUNDRY and not GARMENTS LAUNDRY of his many Babarigas . That said . . . . . .

idupaul:
Arafat in to deliver the killer payload that killed the General .. But Arafat also got killed after a similar visit where he was poisoned with radioactive matter..

Sha that House on Gidado road small sha ...

Crooked wealthy Nigerians usually maintain a low profile in order to deceive people. Abacha and his children looted Nigeria dry.

thoth:

we should allow for disabilities and impairments on behalf of our citizens, considering the importance of educating nigerians i can see reasons with his later decisions though i doubt its efficiency.

I made enquiries and i found out that the Abacha truly owns a modest house, i am still waiting for replies for people who are closer to the son. This is the most startling information i have had on this man.
What is most confusing is how people still choose to accept and believe those allegations heaped on Abacha considering the amount of visual facts on the ground.

That he owned a modest house does not absolve him of allegations of embezzling billions of public funds. After his death, I watched a program on tv where the US Senate were drilling some Citibank executives who opened and operated Private Banking account for two of Abacha's sons. $650 million was lodged in that account by Abacha and his two sons. It was a secret account. I think those executives lost their jobs. I don't recollect if they were prosecuted. The accounts were closed and I believe the US government stopped US banks from operating such secret accounts.

You know, I've always wanted to know why people thought Abacha was a bad person. I was still pretty young at the time of his death and I remember walking home from school when the news broke in my area that he was dead. I do sometimes ask - why did the public think he was a bad person? Did he institute anti-people policies? Did he engage in some sort of genocide or encourage xenophobia? Did he leave the country worse than he met it? The questions are endless because I remember slot people said Abacha was a bad man but never said what their reason was for calling him that. Also, I have heard that Abacha was a bad man a lot....but rarely heard that he was a bad leader.

I would really like to read more detailed accounts of what he was as a person and what his administration was like

poseidon12:


Crooked wealthy Nigerians usually maintain a low profile in order to deceive people. Abacha and his children looted Nigeria dry.

Are you sure? Because the crooked, wealthy Nigerians of today are living large...

BENEAMATA:
most probably that grade A sycophant and national co-ordinator of the group tagged Y E A A (Youths Earnestly Asked Abacha ) , KANU , can't recall the first name now . Men , those were the days , talk of real MVPs among truly infamous bastards in the corridors of powerrs . Names like kanu , arisekola , alakija (yeah , that one ) , A . Nzeribe to name a few are some of the greed driven demons that will throw their own family members to a burning furnance at the request of Abacha or I .B .B . Time will come when a book will be published to name and shame majority of them that are the enemy of the masses and it will be a bestseller .spit on them !

Or probably the mogul Arthur Eze. Just guessing.

DonMekino:
The size of his house.... The writer used d word modest...its open to interpretation on what modest means....as for whether its a proof of not looting.. He never knew he would die...remember he was positioning himself to be d civilian president and that required lots of money....if he didn't loot, who then did??

Abacha and his sons looted big time.

henrybangs44:
very interesting story... is it a film

Excerpts from the book by the journalist.

ABACHA DID NOT LOOT THE COUNTRY ? ? From info within nigeria ; (A) Mrs Abacha leaving the country for her fatherland with numerous bags in hard currency (B ) Detained Mo' Abacha defiantly declaring that their family can never be as poor as , wait for it , DANGOTE ! (C) countless billionaires who acquired their money by been close to the former head of state ( Kanu , Arisekola , Alakija e.t.c ) and it's get better . . . . .