Perhaps the most enigmatic head of state in Nigeria is General Sani Abacha. From 1993 until his death in 1998, he ruled. On September 20, 1943, General Abacha was born in Kano state, northern Nigeria. He is from Borno State’s Kanuri.
After graduating from the Nigerian Military Training Center in Kaduna, he attended Mons Officer Cadet School in Aldershot, England, where he eventually received his commission as a 2nd lieutenant in 1963.
Some consider him to have planned the most successful coup in Nigeria. He was a Second Lieutenant in the 3rd Battalion in Kaduna when he participated in the Nigerian counter-coup in July 1966 from the beginning. He could have been involved in either the Lagos or Abeokuta phases of the January coup as well.
General Sani Abacha fought for Nigeria in the country’s civil war against Biafran secessionists who were still rising through the ranks of the army. Abacha was a rising general.
He was instrumental in the 1983 Nigerian overthrow which carried General Muhammadu Buhari to drive as well as the August 1985 upset which eliminated him from power. He announced the coup that toppled Shehu Shagari’s government.
Abacha was made Chief of Army Staff when General Ibrahim Babangida became President of Nigeria in 1985. He was delegated Pastor of Guard in 1990. An interim government led by civilian President Ernest Shonekan was established after Babangida resigned.
In 1993, Sani Abacha became the first soldier from Nigeria to reach the rank of full general without sacrificing any ranks. He moved for the ultimate in the same year.
In what was widely considered to be yet another peaceful coup, Shonekan resigned and handed power over to Sani Abacha. He issued a decree in September 1994 that effectively granted him absolute power by elevating his government above the courts. He was granted the authority to detain anyone for up to three months without a trial by another decree.
After the civil wars in Sierra Leone and Liberia, Abacha is known for his role in bringing democracy and peace to those countries.
He established The Petroleum Trust Fund as part of his administration of the Nigerian state itself with the intention of addressing major economic issues the country was facing at the time. It was planned to construct between 25 and 100 kilometers of urban road in major cities like Kano, Gusau, Benin, Funtua, Zaria, Enugu, Kaduna, Aba, Lagos, Lokoja, and Port Harcourt. In the first quarter of 1996, a contract for road rehabilitation valued at N27.3 billion was awarded.
Major insurance companies that supported small and medium-sized businesses across the nation underwent restructuring.
As the second-largest publicly traded corporation at the time, Abacha ordered the PTF to release its financial statements. According to PTF’s 1997 financial statements, it spent N24.3 billion on roads, N21.2 billion on security, N7.8 billion on health, and N3 billion on other projects. N2.2 billion was spent on water supply, N936 million on food supply, and N476 million on education. It made N1.049 billion from various investment activities all together.
As the Abacha administration became the first to record unprecedented economic achievements, overseeing an increase in the country’s foreign exchange reserves from $494 million in 1993 to $9.6 billion by the middle of 1997, the sums that he stashed away in overseas accounts after his death are curious.
In addition, by 1997, he had reduced Nigeria’s external debt from $36 billion in 1993 to $27 billion. In addition, the Petroleum (Special) Trust Fund of his is lauded for its infrastructure projects and interventionist health, education, and water programs.
His wife is credited with founding Nigeria’s most prestigious national hospital, the National Hospital in Abuja. Prior to its expansion, it served as a hospital for women and children.
But between 1993 and 1998, Abacha was brutal with groups he thought were against his administration. Pro-democracy, civil rights, and media organizations were targeted.
As the refineries closed, he also saw Nigeria become a constant importer of petroleum products. His time saw the emergence of “foul fuel,” which caused engine damage and produced an unpleasant smell.
In 1995, following the execution of Ken Saro-Wiwa, Time magazine awarded General Sani Abacha the title of “Thug of the Year.” Abacha became accustomed to working only at night. appointing himself to be rarely seen in public and refusing to give interviews.
He died on June 8, 1998, at the presidential villa in Abuja. The official story says he had a heart attack, but other stories say he was with two Indian sex workers who had flown in from Dubai when he died. According to Muslim custom, he was buried on the same day without an autopsy. This made people think that political rivals might have poisoned him to death.
While he was with prostitutes, foreign diplomats, including analysts from the United States Intelligence, believed that his drink or fruit (apple) contained a poison.
Maryam Abacha, with whom he had seven sons and three daughters, was Abacha’s wife.
The United States Department of Justice announced in March 2014 that it had frozen more than $458 million that it believed Abacha and other corrupt officials had obtained illegally.
The largest forfeiture ever made by the United States Department of Justice was made public on August 7, 2014: the payment of $480 million back to the government of Nigeria.
The Nigerian government is working to get the money that was stolen from other accounts back.
