To commemorate the anniversary, his widow Maryam Abacha, in a televised interview fiercely defended his legacy and disputed claims that he looted Nigeria’s treasury. She argued that the funds pinned to his name him as stolen were actually saved for the country but mysteriously disappeared after his death...
Interviewer: many Nigerians remember your husband late general Sani Abacha in different ways, to you he was a loving husband, caring father. Recently a controversy was stirred by general Babangida in his latest autobiography where he blamed general Sani Abacha for annulling the June 12, 1993 presidential election without his approval. Do you think your husband is unfairly blamed? Like they say, dead men tell no tales; he is not here to defend all of these.
Maryam Abacha: I am not here to talk about Babangida or anybody, all I know is that, that annulment was not done by my husband and if it was him that means he was very powerful, even more powerful than the president and if the president is there and somebody else is calling the shots that means Abacha is the greatest.
Interviewer: Beyond claims made by Babangida in his autobiography, we have also seen several others. Sometimes when funds are repatriated from overseas, they all claim Abacha loot. From your own perspective do you really think that all these reparations of funds claims are accurate.
Maryam Abacha: And who is the witness of the money being stashed? Did you see the signature or evidence of the money stashed abroad? The money that my husband kept for Nigerians in a few months after he died, the monies vanished! People are not talking about that. Why are you blaming somebody, is that tribalism or religious problem. What is the problem with Nigerians? I pray for Nigerians, I pray for all of us, I pray that we should have goodness in our hearts. We should stop telling lies! And blaming people.
Why are we so bad towards each other? Because somebody is a northerner or southerner, Muslim or Christian. It is not fair. I think the press should try to educate the people, you are here to educate, inform and entertain the people. You are here to help the country not bastardize it. People are not that bad. 27 years ago, you are still talking about Abacha, Abacha must be very powerful, and must be very loved by all Nigerians. We thank God for that. They are still talking about him Alhamdulillah.
Interviewer: it was on record that the economy of Nigeria was also strong during the administration of general Sani Abacha. Increase in foreign reserve, external debts were reduced
Maryam Abacha: So, where did he steal the money from? Where would he have stolen the money from? If he kept the money.
Interviewer: that was what previous administrations told Nigerians that a lot of Nigeria’s money was taken out and kept overseas
Maryam Abacha: and because Nigerians are fools, they listen to everything. Babangida, Abiola, Abacha don't make Nigeria alone. Nobody is big enough for Nigeria, we are all important. For goodness sake all these wahala should stop.
Interviewer: looking at his achievements talk to us about his style of leadership
Maryam Abacha: you know all of them, you are the press
Interviewer: yes, we know all of them, but we are asking you because you were closer to him, to hear a different perspective. You talked about his associates painting him in a bad light to the press
Maryam Abacha: you have not talked about the area of security
Interviewer: we will get to that…. Alright let’s get to security. There is this popular quote credited to your husband. I don't know if that is true where they claim he said ‘if insurgency lasts more than 24 hours then the government or people in government are involved’. I don’t know if you have heard any of that.
Maryam Abacha: I heard it, but it is true nah. Must I know everything he did, I am not in the office, I am just a wife in the house. Was there any insurgency during his time? Even brought peace to Liberia, Angola. Nigeria was in peace now look at what we are in.
Interviewer: from your own perspective how will you say successive governments have failed in tackling insecurity
Maryam Abacha: I cannot say governments have failed. No government has failed. I am a soldier’s wife. I am very used to living with soldiers and I know how they use to do their profession and so on. There are other countries apart from Nigeria that have had insurgents and have tackled them. I don’t know what is the matter with Nigeria up till today that we still have insurgents. I don’t know how all these have stayed so long and they have not been tackled.
Interviewer: it was on record that the economy of Nigeria was also strong during the administration of general Sani Abacha. Increase in foreign reserve, external debts were reduced
Maryam Abacha: So, where did he steal the money from? Where would he have stolen the money from? If he kept the money.
Interviewer: that was what previous administrations told Nigerians that a lot of Nigeria’s money was taken out and kept overseas
Maryam Abacha: and because Nigerians are fools, they listen to everything. Babangida, Abiola, Abacha don't make Nigeria alone. Nobody is big enough for Nigeria, we are all important. For goodness sake all these wahala should stop.
Interviewer: looking at his achievements talk to us about his style of leadership
Maryam Abacha: you know all of them, you are the press
Interviewer: yes, we know all of them, but we are asking you because you were closer to him, to hear a different perspective. You talked about his associates painting him in a bad light to the press
Maryam Abacha: you have not talked about the area of security
Interviewer: we will get to that…. Alright let’s get to security. There is this popular quote credited to your husband. I don't know if that is true where they claim he said ‘if insurgency lasts more than 24 hours then the government or people in government are involved’. I don’t know if you have heard any of that.
Maryam Abacha: I heard it, but it is true nah. Must I know everything he did, I am not in the office, I am just a wife in the house. Was there any insurgency during his time? Even brought peace to Liberia, Angola. Nigeria was in peace now look at what we are in.
Interviewer: from your own perspective how will you say successive governments have failed in tackling insecurity
Maryam Abacha: I cannot say governments have failed. No government has failed. I am a soldier’s wife. I am very used to living with soldiers and I know how they use to do their profession and so on. There are other countries apart from Nigeria that have had insurgents and have tackled them. I don’t know what is the matter with Nigeria up till today that we still have insurgents. I don’t know how all these have stayed so long and they have not been tackled.
I believe in our military; I believe they can do better if they wish to and I pray that they do. If ECOMOG can go to other countries to bring peace why can't there be peace in our country?
Interview with TVC
Interview with TVC
I dont expect any Dictator wife to say anything different, particularly not in Nigeria where you can kpai someone or caught collecting dollars and nothing go happen. You remain in that highly placed position,. I would have read it if na Oyibo wife, she will lay it bare.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile This woman looked like this when I was young, she still looks the same when I don middleage. Like some people just has this old lookimg face or what? Not meant negatively o, you know how ppl say she looks younger for her age, thats what i meant o. She has this matured/old look from time
Mama was just sounding harsh in the interview.
ReplyDeleteShe is till pained at her husband 's death but forgot how many people her late husband kpaied
DeleteOpportunity to shed a different perspective to your cruel husbands persona, you go om defensive and say nothing. Just eat your billions quietly ma.
ReplyDeleteShe called Nigerians fools. I don't blame her.
ReplyDeleteShe and her children should have shared the same fate with the Romanovs at the hand of the Bolsheviks in 1918 but because she was spared she is mouthing rubbish.
She does know where a few bodies are buried however. At the end of her husband's reign, he left tens of billions of dollars in Nigeria's foreign currency reserves. That money disappeared overnight in the hands of the man who claims he gave Nigerians democracy. Obasanjo not wanting to start his rule by ruffling feathers, allowed it slide.
I don't think I need to be more specific who it is I'm talking about.
Story story, what will we the poor voiceless masses do??
ReplyDeleteLol... What an interview session. The interviewer became the interviewed.
ReplyDeleteFor us who weren't born during the reign of late Abacha, what was his crime that made the whole nation go agog with celebration at the news of his death?
Till date, I'm yet to get a solid explanation.
Who knows please?
Google is your friend, GenZ child. I hope you don't insult people here?
DeleteAnon 12:25, Abacha was evil. I get it that Nigerian rulers and politicians are all terrible but he was evil. He looted and killed people recklessly. There were western sanctions against Nigerians. Most people in the US and west relocated after 1999. It was difficult to get visas to the US under Abacha due to the sanctions.
DeleteHe looted so much he stashed over $5billion in Swiss banks alone. Don’t take my words, search the internet archives of reputable organizations.
“ "Out of a total of 5 billion USD allegedly transferred by Abacha ($3 billion-of which had been identified in May 2005), Obasanjo only managed to recover about $1.2 billion USD after 8 years in power (ThisDay, Lagos, 13 March 2005; Nigerian Compass, Lagos, 14 November 2012). Worse still, this amount came from the Abacha family alone because little effort was made to investigate others, including the dictator's aides".....
“ "By the time he left office in May 1999, Abdulsalam Abubakar retrieved $825 million from the Abacha family, while $1.3 billion USD had been frozen in Switzerland, Luxembourg and Liechtenstein (Daniel 2003: 102). The criminal origin of the assets was also confirmed: kickbacks paid by multinationals, especially oil companies; contracts for supplies or construction works awarded at inflated costs to firms linked to the dictator; and direct withdrawals from the CBN for purchases, jobs and services that were never performed (Ugolor 2002; World Bank
2007: 18). Abacha and members of his
"kitchen cabinet" stole at least 2 billion
USD from the CBN alone (Newsweek
International, 13 March 2000).”
“ "Switzerland was the principal recipient of funds stolen under the Abacha regime.
Between 2004 and 2005, a total of 750 million USD frozen in 42 accounts was successfully returned to Nigeria from Switzerland (Vanguard, Lagos, 17 March 2005; World Bank 2007:19).
Following the Abacha scandal, Switzerland came under significant diplomatic pressure from Nigeria both to freeze and repatriate stolen Nigerian assets and to reform its laws and banking practices to check the future flow of dirty money from Nigeria".
"Apart from adopting tougher laws, the Swiss also convicted one of Abacha's sons in 2009 for
"participation in a criminal organisation" and ordered him to forfeit 350 million
USD worth of assets, following his arrest and extradition by Germany (AllAfrica, 21 November 2009; see also BBC News, 20 September 2011). More recently, Swiss judicial authorities have not only upheld Mr Abba Abacha's conviction following his appeal, but have also begun additional proceedings against him in Geneva for allegedly sponsoring a criminal organization (Daniel and Ndujihe 2012)
He killed Ken Saro Wiwa and the Ogoni 9 activists among the many killings under him despite global pleas to spare their lives.
13.20, you that is older should have taken the time to explain to the "gen z" if truly you are a mature adult. That is how you gain respect.
DeleteThose praising Abacha should let the numbers, the $billions in Anon 16:34’s write-up sink in. Those amounts do not include what the family still has in their possession, only the ones in their dad’s name that was recovered. Nigerian youths ought to be very angry. Very angry enough to storm the local addresses of these folks and recover their possessions but they praise them online. I get that they appropriated the security forces of the whole country among themselves but don’t praise them, don’t let them feel accepted. When there is no consequence to bad deeds, it multiplies. Ostracize them. It’s the least you can do.
DeleteNote that if they seized $5bn, he, his wife, children, cousins, close friends, etc more than likely have more than $10bn. That is how it works as they use fronts and money launderers. Jeremiah Useni forfeited £2m pounds in a Caribbean bank when he forgot the password. That meant he had so much more. Patience Jonathan had $13m that was to be seized. She and Jonathan stole as deputy governors to Alamayesiegha who was convicted in the UK. Jane’s Ibori did jail term in the U.K., Dapo Abiodun was convicted of credit card fraud, etc. (“ Dapo Abiodun was arrested in 1986 in Miami, Florida for offenses related to credit card fraud, petty theft, and cheque forgery. He was allegedly using the alias "Shawn Michael Davids" at the time.)
Nigeria is a massive crime cartel and mafia operation engaged in a musical chair game of reckless looting by Nigerian rulers. Obj had his boys loot & launder $nils as Jimoh, Ote$, Uba, etc shared Nigeria Airways, NICON, diesel, oil concessions in the corrupt privatization jamboree under him. Tinubu and his boys looted & cornered Lagos. Even Obi showed up in pandora papers as having $mils in secretly moved money. It is an establishment that runs like a cult. May God help Nigeria.
Anons 16:34, and 18:27. Thank you so much for the enlightenment. I appreciate it.
DeleteWow!!! I'm totally shocked. The man did way too much!!!! Na wah!!!
My mouth was agape as I read through the exposee. Ha! Nigeria my country!!!
Thank you so much Anon17:06 also. Whomever dropped that comment doesn't know that respect is earned.
It is well. Beautiful woman!
ReplyDeleteMama was just venting her anger on the interviewer and Nigerians, sorry ma.
ReplyDeleteNigerians are fooled ke? No be your fault
ReplyDeleteAna kogheri. Life was so so hard during his regime. Abacha stove and the likes. I remember dancing for joy on the streets of Enugu as a kid when he died…
ReplyDeletePeople were dancing on the streets of Lagos when his death was announced. How evil can you be for Nigerians at the time (pre-SM) to be renouncing that the person died. It is very disconcerting that some are peddling whispers if Abacha somehow being a good president hated by the west. It shows how shallow minded the youths of Nigeria have become.
ReplyDeleteThe shallowness of Nigerian media and blogosphere is why some Tanzanian mainstream activists are pushing back against the whittling down of their media the Nigerian way. It creeps on the society and before you know it only sex and parties garner clicks as people escape the harsh realities of daily life. Politicians sponsor it, people inadvertently lap it up and society deteriorates. Abacha was a devil’s oldest son, Babangida was a serpent and cousin to satan and Obj, Jonathan, and Tinubu are his favorite cousins.
NOTHING IS AS IT SEEMS
ReplyDeleteHow do we know all that was said about Abacha was not media propaganda by the Western countries?
Who killed Abacha?
Who killed MKO Abiola?
Why was Nigeria's economy stable and foreign exchange rate remained the same during Abachs's reign?
Could the sanctions on the Abacha military government been because he refused to devalue the Naira and give the West free access to country's resources?
It's important to look at issues critically and not lap up whatever comes out of the mainstream media which could be heavily controlled by the West or the successive government.
Was Abacha the terror they made Nigerians believe he was? 🤔🤔🤔
Exchange rate is NOT the only index of measuring the performance of an economy. In actual fact the main reason it seems so important is that Nigeria is import dependence and not really making actual progress. The Feds often devalue the US dollar to tweak export and import and if you read financial global news you will hear them say Japan’s Yen is too strong or $ is too strong and their feds want it devalued.
ReplyDeleteOn Abacha, nobody told some of us. We lived through history. Abacha was a very bad ruler. He was evil.
The economy was NOT stable. We had sanctions, serious unemployment, hyperinflation and everything you have right now but with murders, assassinations etc. Armed robberies increased and life was brutish. To make it worse embassies were not issuing up to 50% of the visas you are receiving now do people were stuck. We could no even “Japa” as nobody wanted Nigerians. Let nobody be deceived by those rewriting Abacha’s history, or that of Nigeria. He was not a good ruler.
09:49 exchange rate will be used to measure the economic performance in Nigeria because the country does not export manufactured or finished goods. Therefore, Consumer Price Index will be measured negatively impacted in a country with high import dependency. THAT AGAIN was the reason for the low Visa issuance to Nigerians.
DeleteCompare the rate of crime and insecurity from Abacha 's regime military regime to the democratic government since 1999 to date, which is higher?
The West uses sanctions on nations that do not conform to their political agenda.
Sanctions were placed on Abacha government by the West because it was a military government and they were trying to force a return to democracy.
This is not to defend Abachs's regime but in the light of what a congressman accused USAID of on B.H, have you considered that those k*llings might have been master-minded by those who sought to discredit and unseat Abacha's military government.
There are things that go on in international politics that might not be open to the public or ordinary citizens of the country.
Anon 15:36 your first paragraph is contradictory. Did the economic performance improved before visa issuance improved as soon as Obj got in when by your own write-up the economic performance as measured by exchange rate got worse?
DeleteThat is because exchange rate is NOT the major performance index for determining economic growth. Never has been. Nigerians obsess about exchange rate because they import everything from toothpick to boxers to food to aircrafts to cars, including used clothes and cars. Nigeria makes nothing of significance from start to finish so every Nigerian knows the $:naira rate. Most Americans do not know the exchange rate of $: ANY currency. They don’t have to. They grow their food, make cars, build roads, etc. Only 40% of them even own a passport. That is partly why you think exchange rate is so important.
You mostly care about exchange rate as an American when you are going on vacation, usually at the airport when changing your money. Most don’t even bother changing money sometimes, Visa, Mastercard or Amex is accepted in most places and countries. The obsession with foreign currencies in Nigeria is because of the poor, corrupt leadership and ineffective monetary and fiscal policies that keep the economy import dependent and on its feet.
Anon 23:54 I is a great injustice to the late Ogoni 9, and all the people that died during Abacha’s reign of evil to insinuate that 150 million Nigerians did not or could not appraise Abacha regime. That the west told us he was bad or that our lived experience was somehow better. The continual devaluation of the Naira is because there is no leadership in Nigeria. It has ALWAYS gone down as everyone imports everything for daily life and tastes of every Nigerian keeps expanding for imports with no serious effort to back the naira up with domestic manufacture or infrastructures that can make it a service hub like India. Google naira rates for the past 40 years.
ReplyDeleteDoes it mean Shagari was better than Obj because naira rate was less under him? Less spoilt is still spoilt. Change rate is not the most telling economic parameter. America sometimes devalues the $ to achieve increased exports! Naira will probably be at 5000:1 in 5/ 10 years no offense. Insanity is when you do the same thing and expect a different outcome. Who is really manufacturing? The president imports his cars, shoes, clothes, glasses, and uses overseas hospitals. The German leader uses a German car. The Japanese use Japanese cars. American president’s beast is made in Detroit. This is not magic. Ours want foreign made things from Italian shoes to German cars to Chinese garri and Chinese Aso Oke and other textiles. The naira is as good as what you produce locally. You reap what you sow. Some of us are in our 50s, 60s and older. We lived through these regimes. We were not told about Abacha. We were there.
@10:05 What had Abacha or his military regime got to do with the Ogoni 9❓
DeleteFacts have emerged on the role their kinsman, Ken Saro-Wiwa played in the de*th of the Ogoni 9!
It has also been documented that Ken Saro-Wiwa paid for that dastardly act with his own life during Abachs's military regime.
Refer to my response to 09:49 on the impact of exchange rate on the Consumer Price Index and economy of a non-export dependent country.
I am not defending Abacha or his military regime but I believe the citizens have been fed some fallacies for years about Abacha.
I was very young then but I am an avid reader and a critical thinker.
The West is exploiting Africa through democracy and bilateral trade agreements. Something they do not try in UAE.
Anon 15:37 I am glad you admitted you were very young at the time though a critical thinker. I graduated at the top of my class in one of the oldest universities in Nigeria (so I’m also capable of critical thinking) and was already a mom and a manager with a multinational during Abacha days. I was not told about the events. I lived through it. Abacha was very evil.
ReplyDeleteYour submission on CPI and exchange rate is pedestrian. Read up on the economies of the US, Japan, and many western countries to remove your fixation on Nigeria about exchange rates without the other indices of economic development. Look at the points in my write-ups above as a guide. I have been in the US for going to 3 decades and I have never heard any American obsess about exchange rates even when the $ rises or falls relative to other western. Countries. It’s like a student missing all classes, homework, projects etc and banking on his score at the exam only. It doesn’t work that way.
The west did not tell us or change the narrative. If anything there has been NO Nigerian leader or any west African leader (after Nkrumah, Awo, etc) that can look the west in the face. None, including Abacha tried to do so. Like every one of them including Tinubu, he was a puppet but became so evil the neo colonialists had to disown him and put sanctions in place.
Abacha killed Ken Saro Wiwa and the Ogoni 9. Your write-up is scary in its blatant denial of facts. Please do some more reading. The notion that a leader saved $billions of his country’s money to “protect” it is laughable. What happened to building roads, bridges, good hospitals etc with the money?
“ Ken Saro-Wiwa was executed by the Nigerian military dictatorship led by General Sani Abacha in 1995. He was tried by a special military tribunal and convicted”.” military rule of General Sani Abacha in Nigeria (1993-1998), the regime was known for its human rights abuses and the suppression of dissent. This period saw a number of politically motivated killings and unsolved murders”
The list includes Late Kudi Abiola, chief mrs Tejuoso, Rear Admiral Elegbede, Baguda Kaltho (a journalist), etc.
I have read your comment and comparing mega economies such as America, Japan, etc. with Nigeria's economy.
ReplyDeleteSaying my point on exchange rate fluctuation and CPI is pedestrian without comparing other economic indices does not hold water.
Exchange rate fluctuation has a significant negative impact on Nigeria's economy which is heavily dependent on Crude Oil Export.
Inflation rate is trending upwards with the current devaluation of Naira.
For a non-manufacturing and mono-export product economy, exchange rate policy remains a valid economic factor with a combination of other factors.
Abacha was not a saint neither was Ken Saro-Wiwa. I will have read and will keep reading materials on Nigeria, her leaders, people and their journey. She is yet to arrive at her Uhuru.