In an interview with Femi Akande, host of Television Continental’s “Politics on Sunday” talk show, Maryam, widow of former military Head of State, General Sani Abacha, enjoined “Nigerians to learn to respect and be good to their leaders… because they are not that bad.”
In what appeared to be a pained retort to Akande’s probing, but polite, questions, Maryam asked, “Who is the witness of the money that was (supposedly?) being stashed (by Abacha?). Did you see the signature, or evidence of any money stashed (by Gen Abacha?) abroad?” Well, Heads of State do not sign cheques.
She is probably unaware that, following a legal proceeding against one of her sons in 2017, Switzerland offered to return $320m to Nigeria, reportedly originally deposited in Luxembourg and traced to her husband.
Even before 2017, approximately $700m, described by the government of President Buhari as Abacha Loot, was returned to Nigeria by Switzerland. It would be surprising if Maryam were to deny knowledge of this heist that was widely reported in the media.
She, however, delivered a clever deflection that deftly avoided a response to Akande’s question about the “Abacha Loot” with the following subtle, but pointed, punchline, which is probably the purpose of the surprise interview.
Her words: “The money that my husband kept for Nigeria, in a few months, the money vanished. People are not talking about that. Why are you blaming somebody? We should stop telling lies and blaming people… People (presumably including Abacha) are not that bad.”
She gives the impression that Abacha acted in loco parentis, in the manner of Nigerian parents who collect money given by visitors to their children, to keep in a piggy bank that can be accessed by the parents.
The Yoruba understand the game played by cheats who ignore the knife and choose to share meat with their teeth. There is no doubt that a big chunk of the meat would have been swallowed, unseen by those cheated.
By querying, “Where would he (that is, Abacha) have stolen the money from?” Maryam gave the impression that Nigeria’s political leaders, military or civilian, are so naïve that they have no idea how to divert money from Nigeria’s exchequer to their private purses.
As if to corroborate the claim of Abacha’s innocence by Maryam Abacha, Abacha’s Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen Ishaya Bamaiyi, who acknowledged that he “may not know everything that Abacha was doing,” insists that “Abacha loot is not true”.
He alluded to the Leahy law, which was invoked by America to block Nigeria from buying ammunition to prosecute ECOMOG operations in West Africa, as the reason “it was agreed that some of this money should be taken out so that if we had to buy arms and ammo”.
Anyway, Maryam has raised an issue that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission should address by finding out, with a fine-tooth comb, how funds that became known as Abacha Loot found their way abroad.
Also, EFCC should further interrogate the Dasukigate scandal involving about $2bn extra-budgetary fund appropriated from the Abacha Loot to buy arms by the Goodluck Jonathan administration. This is because the matter has not been properly laid to rest.
At a stage, it began to look more like a vendetta against Col. Sambo Dasuki, the man who arrested Major Gen. Muhammadu Buhari in the 1985 military coup that made Gen. Ibrahim Babangida a military president, before being appointed national security adviser by former President Jonathan.
The EFCC can help the Abacha family stop Nigerians from further describing Abacha as “Our father who hath in heaven,” on account of the monies said to have been repatriated to Nigeria in his name. The family should not have to live with the shame if Abacha is not really a thief.
If Maryam is sure that Abacha was a saint, and indeed kept money for Nigeria, she should know enough to tell if it was kept in the vaults of the Central Bank of Nigeria, the statutory banker to the government, or in private banks.
If the money was kept overseas, it would be good to know if it was kept with the banks appointed by Nigeria for that purpose, or in some coded private bank accounts, as is being insinuated by those who are remitting the Abacha Loots to Nigeria.
Mrs Abacha, who is not known to have worked in any government or private establishment may need to explain her connection to, and the financing of, the two Maryam Abacha universities, in Kano, Nigeria, and Maradi, Niger Republic, the two cities linked by the railway line that former President Buhari borrowed money to construct.
She may not have anything to do with the universities. After all, Ibrahim Badamasi University is fully owned by Niger State Government, and former military President Babangida has no direct link to the university, apart from being a citizen of Niger State.
If she owns the universities, she may need to let Nigerians know how she acquired the funds used in establishing the universities. This is necessary because “Caesar’s wife must not only be above suspicion, she has to be seen to be above suspicion”.
And if she indeed did legitimate business to acquire the money, for which no one can begrudge her, it will be nice to know how much tax she paid to the former Federal Inland Revenue Service. That should help her convince Nigerians that her earnings are indeed legitimate.
When American authorities weren’t too sure of the source of the wealth of Chicago City Mafia boss, Al Capone, they checked out his tax remittances. Maybe the EFCC can help Maryam convince Nigerians that her wealth is earned.
And, just thinking out loud, one wonders if Mrs Abacha is aware of, and has any advice to offer, a certain First Lady who was said to have been caught with 38 suitcases of cash at the airport while attempting to flee Nigeria sometime in 1999.
If Maryam thought it was about time for her to find closure and restore the dignity of her husband, no one can blame her. But others think she could have left it all to history and let sleeping dogs lie, instead of waking them up. At this moment, Nigerians are not in the mood to entertain any attempt at the beautification or sainthood of Abacha.
When former President Buhari’s X handle claimed that $320m stolen from Nigeria was deftly “identified as illegally taken away from Nigeria under Abacha”, Ochereome Nnanna, Chairman of the Editorial Board of Vanguard Newspaper, countered that “Abacha is the only former ruler boldly ascribed, in official circles, to have ‘stolen’ or ‘looted’ public funds”.
After pointing out Nnanna’s rebut, President Buhari wisely retreated, kept his peace and made no further comments about Abacha or his supposed loot. Maryam should just understand that a whitewash of Abacha at this time just won’t wash.
But she could consider going to court to contest claims made by the government, even if former President Buhari, a beneficiary of and defender of the integrity of Abacha, understandably denies that the man, who once executed a coup against him, is not a thief.
Credit:Punch