Former Nigerian First Lady, Mrs Maryam Abacha, has dismissed suggestions that her late husband and ex-Head of State, Gen. Sani Abacha, annulled the June 12 election, generally believed to be the freest and fairest polls in Nigeria’s history.
Speaking on Television Continental (TVC), in a rare public appearance since her husband’s demise in 1998, the wife of the former Nigerian leader mockingly inferred that Abacha must have been very powerful to have taken overriding decisions when there was a de facto leader in the person of Gen. Ibrahim Babangida (rtd).
Mrs Abacha was responding to a question by his interviewer on the allegation by Babangida, in his recent book, “A Journey in Service”, released to the public in February this year, that Abacha was largely responsible for the cancellation of the election.
Abacha’s wife also disputed the much talked about “Abacha Loot”, angrily describing Nigerians who believe such stories by her husband’s successors as “fools”.
She stated, “I’m not here to talk about Babangida or anybody. I don’t want to talk about anything or anybody. All I know is that that annulment was not done by my husband, and then if it was him, then that means he was very powerful.
“He was even more powerful than the president, and if the president is there and somebody else is calling the shots, then that means Abacha was the greatest.”
Defending her husband on the allegation that he stashed away Nigeria’s money before his sudden death, Mrs Abacha argued that the late head of state actually saved money for Nigeria, which she said was stolen within months.
She said, “Who is the witness of the monies that were being stashed? Did you see the signature or the evidence of any monies stashed abroad? And the monies that my husband kept for Nigeria, in a few months the monies vanished. People are not talking about that. Why are you blaming somebody? Is that tribalism or a religious problem, or what is the problem with Nigerians?
“So where would he have stolen the money from? Where would he have stolen the money from? Because Nigerians are fools, they listen to everything. Babangida doesn’t (sic) make Nigeria alone. Abacha does (sic) not make Nigeria alone. Abiola and everybody, nobody is big enough for Nigeria.
“We are all very important. Even the single man on the street is very important. We are all human beings, for goodness sake. All this wahala (trouble) should stop. Babangidacannot make things or unmake things. You know all that. You are the press. You know what Abacha did. You know what everybody did, the rights and the wrongs and everything.”
She highlighted the level of elevated security that Nigeria experienced during Abacha’s time, asking rhetorically if there was insurgency during her husband’s time.
According to Mrs. Abacha, “The successes, the goodness, you all know them. You are not even talking about the security of the country. I’m (sic) just a wife in the house. Yes, I’m (sic) close to him as his wife. But was there any insurgency during his time? No, there was none. He was able to tackle… Liberia, he went there and corrected things and Nigeria was at peace.
“Now look at what we are in. I cannot say governments have failed. They have not really failed. No government can fail. I’m a soldier’s wife. I’m very used to living with soldiers and I know how they deal with their profession and so on.
“There are other countries, apart from Nigeria, that have insurgents and they have tackled them. And I don’t know what is the matter with Nigeria until now, that we still have insurgents. We still have a military, the Army, Navy, Air Force, and other police and other paratroopers.
“And we have the government. We have the government from the top to the states, to the local governments and so on. So I don’t know how come these things have stayed so long and they have not been really tackled.
“We have neighbours that have really tackled it. And they are smaller countries. And we are bigger. We are richer. We are more experienced.
“I believe in our military. I believe in our army. I believe in the armed forces and I think they can do better if they wish to do so. And I pray that they do.”
She admitted that the military governments had uncurbed powers and had the will to tackle the issues, as opposed to the civilians she said “are not that strong.”
According to her, Nigeria has enough resources to tackle its security and economic challenges. She urged the government to re-prioritise specific areas of intervention in the country’s annual budgets.
Stressing that if she was supported, she might be able to revamp some of her humanitarian assistance projects for the poor, Mrs. Abacha urged Nigerians to pray for their country and “learn to respect their leaders”.
She stated, “(Let them) learn to say good things and pray for their country and have good memory, and then leave all those rubbish around, because people are not that bad. And then the press also should try to be as nice as possible, to be as truthful as possible.”
Emmanuel Addeh
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