REWRITING ABACHA'S HISTORY

My husband has repeatedly accused me of rewriting history. After many years of marriage and hearing this accusation, I have learned to arm myself with the perfect response - evidence. That is why when his daughter used the toilet tissue paper to decorate the bathroom, I collected photographic evidence and recorded the act using a camcorder. Since that day, my husband has restrained himself from accusing me of rewriting history. I, in turn, have learned the incredible value of unquestionable evidence.


I couldn't help but think about all this when I read recent reports by various Nigerian newspapers about comments made by certain Nigerians at the recent 10th anniversary celebration of Sani Abacha's death. Sani Abacha is considered one of Nigeria's most notorious dictators. That being said, recent comments about Abacha's legacy forced me to chuckle and shake my head in amazement at the extent that some people will go to in trying to rewrite Nigerian history. This, despite the fact that we live in a technologically sophisticated world where everything said or done by any leader is recorded for all time and sometimes easily accessible on Youtube or the many other internet outlets that allow for the easy sharing of digital information.

BUHARI & IBB ON ABACHA'S LOOTING HISTORY

So, as I read statements from former dictators General Buhari and Ibrahim Babangida, I realized that I would have to spend some time pulling up some facts that would contradict their statements. Particularly, their comments regarding Abacha and stolen Nigerian funds. Now, Babangida is quoted as saying,

"...it is not true that he looted public treasury. I knew who Abacha was because I was close to him."

Although I never knew Abacha personally and obviously Babangida did, I will beg to differ with the man known for deft political moves that he was lovingly nicknamed 'Maradona' by the Nigerian public. Less than 1 week before Babangida (AKA IBB) made this statement, the government of Switzerland announced that it "returned all monies stolen by former Head of State, late General Sani Abacha, to Nigeria without any conditions as to how the monies should be spent." A member of the Swiss diplomatic corp assigned to Abuja gave a specific breakdown of looted monies that were returned. The money was returned in installments and looks as follows -

1. $290 million was transferred on September 1, 2005,
   
2. $168 million was transferred on December 19, 2005,
3. $40 million transferred at the end of January 2006.
4. $7 million was transferred into a 'blocked account' in Nigeria, as the Swiss government could not identify its origin, this money remains in the blocked account.

I have to say that in this instance, I have to lend more credence to the Swiss authorities than Nigeria's Maradona. My lack of confidence in Babangida and Buhari's comments on Abacha's history of looting Nigeria's coffers is further bolstered by the fact that the U.N.'s Office on Drugs and Crime, and the World Bank, under a new initiative called the Stolen Asset Recovery (STAR) reported that a total of $505.5 million in stolen funds has been recovered by the Nigerian government from the Swiss authorities. This money, was stolen and stashed by the late Abacha and his family members.

HAS ABUBAKAR FORGOTTEN HIS OWN LEGACY?
Okay, I understand, Abacha might not have been as bad as other dictators like Indonesia's Mohamed Suharto, who between 1967 and 1998 stole approximately $15-35 billion. Abacha is reported to have only taken $2-5 billion from Nigeria's Central Bank. As a percentage of nominal GDP, Abacha took between 1.5%-3.7% of annual GDP. Maybe that is why Buhari and Babangida see things so differently.

But, the same excuse cannot be made for Abdulsalami Abubakar. After all, Abubakar led an interim military government that ruled Nigeria right after Abacha's death. Specifically, Abubakar, created Decree No. 53 in 1999 which led to a criminal investigation and the recovery of stolen monies and assets from Abacha's family members and associates. In fact, the United Nations credits Abubakar's Decree No. 53 with the recovery of $800 million in looted funds. Being that Abubakar was an integral part of that process, I find it shocking that he would discourage the National Assembly from looking into the failures of previous administrations by stating that politicians should "concentrate {on} making their contributions to our national development, instead of wasting time and public funds in investing past administrations."

WHAT IS ABUNDANTLY CLEAR
Abacha might have been a notorious dictator, but one thing is certain, his creation of a Petroleum Development Trust Fund has been lauded by some as an important tool for Nigerian development. As, I am not familiar with the 'positive results' of this program, I will reserve any comment and try to learn more about it instead. Nevertheless, I can honestly say that in light of the recent Brutish Airways incident, I quite admire Abacha's 14 month ban preventing British Airways from flying in Nigerian airspace.

However, these two examples do not overcome the reality of Abacha's legacy - that he looted the national coffers, was the head of state when Ogoni activist Ken Saro-Wiwa and 8 others were murdered by the federal government, that Abacha's regime is tied to numerous human rights infractions and much more. For Buhari, Babangida, Abdulsalami Abubakar and others to state anything other than this truth is akin to sticking one's head in the sand. This attempt to re-write history can only be challenged with concrete evidence, not argument or sentiment. In this day and age, with the preponderance of incredible technology and the fact that history is created every second and minute, rewriting Abacha's history will be incredibly hard and quite frankly, impossible.


Further reading:
- On...the fable of the gap toothed snake, the benevolent boar and the troglodyte (a very creative take on the historical ties between Babangida, Abacha and Abiola)