Susan Rice was up until recently the
United States Ambassador to the United Nations. Her long-standing
aspiration of becoming the US Secretary of State was dashed when the
Republicans in the Senate started sharpening their knives in
anticipation of her formal nomination for that position by President
Barak Obama.
Sensing that her nomination would not
scale through the Senate and that she would not be confirmed as
Secretary of State due to the role she played in the cover-up of the
Benghazi shooting in which the US envoy to Libya, Christopher Stevens,
and three other American citizens were murdered by a group of Islamist
terrorists, her nomination was withdrawn.
Instead of Secretary of State, Obama has
now nominated her for the position of the National Security Advisor
which is a job that does not require Senate approval or confirmation. I
wish Rice well in her new assignment but I am constrained to ask the
following questions: What did she put in the tea that she served to
Chief M.K.O. Abiola on July 8, 1998 just before he died? She was one of
the last people who saw Abiola alive. She was said to have served him
some tea, after which he reportedly coughed violently and one hour
later, dropped dead. What was in the tea? Was it Abuja ”green tea”,
Darjeeling, Earl Grey, Lipton or some other more exotic brand?
Can someone please ask Rice what her
role was in the death of Abiola? Who sent her to do the job and who was
she working for? As of that time, she was Assistant Secretary of State
for America in President Bill Clinton’s government. Was she acting on
his direct instructions or simply on the instructions of her boss and
controller in Langley?
Abiola was the winner of Nigeria’s
freest and fairest election. That election took place on June 12, 1993.
The election was annulled by Gen. Ibrahim Babangida. Shortly after that,
as a consequence of the sheer outrage that was generated by the
annulment, Babangida was compelled to ”step aside” and hand over power
to Chief Ernest Shonekan. In what was clearly a strategic maneuver, he
left Gen. Sani Abacha (his own Chief of Army Staff) behind to be the
Minister of Defence for the incoming administration.
A few months later Abacha toppled the
Interim National Government of Chief Ernest Shonekan which he had served
and seized power for himself. Abiola was arrested and detained. He was
never granted his freedom again. Four years later Abacha himself was
murdered by forces that are yet to be identified and General Abdulsalami
Abubakar took power. Exactly 30 days after Abacha was killed, those
same forces that killed him murdered Abiola as well in an attempt to
”balance the equation”.
These are the facts and sequence of
events. One thing is self-evident and cannot be denied no matter which
side of the divide one may have been on in the June 12 saga — certain
questions must be answered. And some of those questions are as follows:
Who killed Abiola? Who killed Sani Abacha? What role, if any, did
officials of the Abubakar administration play in the murder of both men?
What role did the CIA play and exactly what transpired in the room when
Rice, Ambassador Thomas Pickering and two other faceless and nameless
officials from the American Embassy met with Abiola on the very day that
he was meant to have been “released”. Sadly, instead of being released
on that day, he dropped dead in what can only be described as mysterious
and questionable circumstances.
This is all the more so because Abiola’s
security officer and the man that was charged with looking after him
and protecting him throughout the time that he was incarcerated (ASP
Zadok) told the Oputa panel in 2002 that Abiola was ”hale and hearty”
and in ”very high spirits” just before going into the meeting with the
Americans. He went further by telling the panel that as he was about to
enter Aguda House (the premises where the meeting was scheduled to be
held) with Abiola he was asked to leave his principal, to step out of
the premises and to go and pick up another car from somewhere else by
one of General Abdulsalami’s security officers. He promptly obeyed the
order but half an hour later when he came back he found Abiola in a
terrible condition, coughing violently, writhing all over the floor in
pain and breathing his last breath. Thirty minutes later he gave up the
ghost.
Another question that needs to be
answered is the one that the veteran journalist and respected columnist,
Mr. Gbolabo Ogunsanwo, has dubbed as ”the question of the missing one
hour”. Permit me to explain. According to the testimony that was given
to the Oputa Panel by Major Hamza Al Mustapha, who was Abacha’s Chief
Security Officer, from the first day that Abiola was arrested right up
until the day that he was murdered, he (Al Mustapha) was in charge of
his (Abiola’s) security. Each time Abiola was moved from one safe house
to another, he had to sign for it. Each time Abiola ate his food or
drank anything, his men tasted and drank it before-hand. He went as far
as to say that each time Abiola went to the toilet he was made aware of
it and that nothing happened around Abiola or to him without his direct
permission and the involvement of his most loyal men. After Abacha was
murdered and Abdulsalami Abubakar became Head of State, Al Mustapha was
still in charge of Abiola’s security and he still maintained direct
responsibility for his life, his well-being and his welfare right up
until the minute that he was murdered.
When Mustapha appeared before the Oputa
Panel, he exposed the fact that in the entire period of four years that
he and his team watched over Abiola, it was only in the one hour that he
was killed that they had no knowledge or control of what was happening
to or around him. According to him, Abiola was removed from the guest
house that he had been staying without his (Al Mustapha’s) signature or
knowledge and without anyone seeking his permission. Simply put, he was
kept in the dark about the whole thing. Secret orders were given to keep
him out of the loop, to take Abiola to a destination which he knew
nothing about and to ensure that none of the usual trusted food tasters
and minders was with him. The only person that accompanied Abiola from
the old guard of those that had watched over him for the previous four
years was Zadok and when they arrived at Aguda House (the venue of the
meeting), he was reportedly conveniently sent on a meaningless errand by
Abubakar’s Chief Security Officer and told to leave. Hence, for the
first time in four years, Abiola was left completely on his own and he
was surrounded by a coterie of strange faces who had no genuine
affection or empathy for him. He was with them for one hour and during
that period, not one of those that had watched over him, that had
secured his safety and that he had grown familiar with him over the
entire four-year period of his incarceration, was with him. It was
during that ”missing hour”, when he was all alone and very vulnerable,
that he was poisoned.
Given these circumstances I have no
doubt that this was a case of premeditated murder but the question is
whose call was it and why did it have to happen? What was the motive?
Was it done just to ”balance the equation” as some said at the time or
was it done in an attempt to pave the way for an Obasanjo Presidency one
year later? Could Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo have been released from jail
and elected President if Abiola had lived and if he had insisted on
claiming his mandate? The Nigerian people have a right to know the truth
and it is high time that those that have wielded power in this country
for the last few decades told them. The powers that be must appreciate
the fact that they cannot sweep things under the carpet forever and that
one day, no matter how long it takes, they will be held accountable by
God and the Nigerian people for the morbid, secret and oftentimes
homicidal choices and decisions that they made.
•Fani-Kayode is a former Minister of Aviation
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Definitely, this i̶̲̥̅̊s power play. â„“̊ pity MKO bt he i̶̲̥̅̊s just a sacrificial lamb. But one thingis sure, no sinner ll go unpunished. May his soul continue to rest in peace Ąπϑ â„“̊ really hope he makes heaven. That ll ß̲Ñ”̲ his gain.
ReplyDeleteHmmn...secret murders..will it ever end in nigeria?
ReplyDeleteThose who stoped his mandate from becoming president should tell us what kill him.... Knowing that the death of Abacha might bring him to power and he may come after them for his suffering and for the death of his wife they decided to silent him forever.
ReplyDeleteAsk those people who are enemies of Nigeria who stopped him from becoming president at first.
What a sad history.... But I wonder what Fani-Kayode (former Minister of Aviation) was doing dinning with powers that be and forgot to ask these questions when he had the opportunity. Does serving in the government meant selling your conscience??? I need some answers.
ReplyDeleteIt is time these wicked cows be lined up and be treated as J.J did with them in Ghana.If not we will continue in the same circle WHO KiLled Bola Ige.It can only happen in Nigeria.
ReplyDeleteThat is the reason why Abdulsalami Abubakar shouldn't be considered as an hero, but a corporate murderer.
ReplyDelete