I know you won’t come back, but I still believe that somehow you’ll find me. I can’t bare to think where you are. You could be with your friends warm and safe or you could be somewhere cold and wet. How could you expect me to tell you?
We gave you a lift in our small black BMW and dropped you off around the corner- you didn’t want people to see you being dropped off by mummy and daddy. We were going to pick you up at 11:30pm too; you begged to stay out later. I wanted you to be home by 10, but your dad persuaded me to let you out a bit longer.
You were 15 years old but still, in my eyes you were my baby, my little girl in her room playing with her dolls.
I remember when you were 12 and you came running into the kitchen, your face beamed full of happiness and joy; you squealed “I have a boyfriend!” Yes, it was your first boyfriend and you were so happy, then when it ended you were devastated. I tried my hardest to be there for you, really I did, but you were just so upset you didn’t listen to a word I said. I knew you would have lost more boyfriends and endured break-ups, but you were only little, you didn’t know what was going to happen to you as you grew up.
Then you found new friends and you didn’t care much for boys. You would go out for sleep-overs and trips to the shops and fun-fairs. Your life has been a good one, and now I feel like I should have taken you out places more often. You have always wanted me to take you to see your favourite band-Blink182, yes I remember the name! I remember when you were 9 years old and I was going to a concert to see Sting-you begged me to take you with me and so I did, and at first you hated it because we were sitting right at the back. When we went to the front you were dancing and singing even though you didn’t know the words. I do wish I had taken you to see Blink182 sooner. I was going to take you and three friends for your birthday. You can still go; I’ll be beside you if you need me.
When you started secondary school you were overwhelmed with joy. You met new friends and you were loving it. Then you got into the wrong crowd. You would make fun of people, and started to smoke and I regularly had to drag you from gutters, drunk, and your father and I did everything we could to stop you but you didn’t listen you didn’t want to. You had to find out for yourself. When that Annie came around and took your necklace you new you had to make new friends. Then you met Jennifer, such a nice girl she is, and I am so glad that you two are still best friends. When you came home and said Jack had invited everyone to his house party I wasn’t sure about you going, but I know you can look after yourself.
You spent ages getting ready on Saturday; you were so annoyed that you had nothing to wear, so when your father came home with a beautiful purple dress you were so happy.
I remember the first time you got a dress, it was a red one, and you loved it so much you wanted to wear it everywhere you went. I still have that dress at home.
As we were driving down the road to Jack’s house my stomach was turning all over. I knew I had to let you go , you’re not my little angel anymore – you’re older and more mature, I knew you could look after yourself but it’s a mother’s place to worry about her child. When the car stopped I could see you were nervous but dying to go. “We’ll be back here at 11:30” I said, probably more that once. As the car door shut o watched you walk towards his house.
Your father and I went back home and what felt like hours and hours where only minutes. I decided to do something to take my mind of things. When my phone rang and I saw it was you I started to panic, it was only nine- you had only been at the party for just over an hour. You begged me and your father to pick you up now. I could hear you trembling and crying. I got your father and we raced down the roads to Jack’s house. All I heard next were the screams and bright lights.
I opened my eyes. In a hospital. How could I tell you your father and I were in an accident and didn’t have much time left? Your father died straight away, he didn’t feel a thing, and I want you to know my darling that he loved you so very much. I don’t have much time my angel. I want you to know I love you with all my heart, and look after yourself. Don’t worry about us; we will see you again in another life time. Someday. I love you my darling, I have to go now. Good-bye my sweet, and never be afraid, I am here with you always.
Gen. Diya was crossed examined at the Human Rights Violation Commission (HRVIC) on the coup plan 1997 to overthrow Gen. Sanni Abacha, He bluntly denied the fact that he was part of the plan but he admitted he knew about the plan. He further explained that he was afraid of being killed by the Coup Master Planner if he revealed the plan.
Gen. Diya Oladipo then was appointed as Chief of Defense Staff. He was appointed Chief of General Staff in 1993 and Vice Chairman of the Provisional Ruling Council in 1994. In 1997 Diya and dissident soldiers in the military allegedly planned to overthrow the regime of Sani Abacha. The alleged coup was uncovered by forces loyal to Abacha, and Diya and his cohorts were jailed. Diya was tried in a military tribunal, and was given the death penalty. READ FULL STORY HERE>>>CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING>>>
Nigeria has seen the rise and fall of many military regimes since she became a sovereign state in 1960 and this, at every turn, has altered the direction of the country.
A second coup since independence which happened on July 29, 1966, would see to the brutal death of Nigeria’s Supreme Commander, General J.T.C Aguiyi-Ironsi (the nation’s 1st military head of state) and his friend, Lieutenant Colonel Francis Adekunle Fajuyi, who was the sitting and 1st Military Governor of the Western Region…Click Here To Continue Reading>> …Click Here To Continue Reading>>
Aguiyi-Ironsi was a guest at the Government House, Ibadan, as he came to hold a meeting with traditional rulers in the Western region. Ironsi arrived Ibadan the previous day and unknowingly, he met his death during the counter-coup which is generally believed to be a retaliation to the January 15th 1966 coup in which prominent Northerners in power were killed.
The Northerners were believed to hold a grudge since the first coup as they lost leaders including Alhaji Abubakar Tafawa Balewa (Nigerian Prime Minister) and Sir Ahmadu Bello (Sardauna of Sokoto and Premier of the Northern Region). They tagged it an ‘Igbo Coup’ as no Eastern casualty was recorded in both the military and public service as even the West lost Chief Samuel Ladoke Akintola in the coup. READ FULL STORY HERE>>>CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING>>>
This counter-coup of July 29, 1966, led by General Theophilus Yakubu Danjuma was tagged the bloodiest coup by many in the history of Nigeria. Ironsi and Fajuyi’s death which still remains a controversial debate among historians because how they were killed isn’t clear but both bodies were found in a bush in outskirts of Ibadan. Read a comprehensive account of how Aguiyi-Ironsi was killed here.
Aside from the Head of State and Western Military governor, many other casualties were recorded in the army and most killed or maimed were Easterners, particularly Igbos. This will be one of the many reasons the country would go into a civil war the following year as the Eastern region tried seceding.
54 years after, we remember this gruesome act done in the Brown Roof City and how much has happened or changed since then.
General Sani Abacha is perhaps Nigeria’s most enigmatic head of state. He reigned from 1993 until his death in 1998. General Abacha was born in Kano state, northern Nigeria on September 20, 1943. He hails from Kanuri in Borno state.
He passed out of the Nigerian Military Training Centre in Kaduna where he proceeded to Mons Officer Cadet School in Aldershot, England before being commissioned as a 2nd lieutenant in 1963.
He is held by some as Nigeria’s most successful coup plotter. When he was still a Second Lieutenant with the 3rd Battalion in Kaduna, he took part in the July 1966 Nigerian counter-coup from the conceptual stage. He could well have been a participant in the Lagos or Abeokuta phases of the coup the previous January as well…Click Here To Continue Reading>> …Click Here To Continue Reading>>
Abacha fought for Nigeria in the country’s civil war against Biafran secessionists continuing to rise through the army ranks.
He was instrumental in the 1983 Nigerian coup d’état which brought General Muhammadu Buhari to power as well as the August 1985 coup which removed him from power. He announced the coup which removed the government of Shehu Shagari.
When General Ibrahim Babangida was named President of Nigeria in 1985, Abacha was named Chief of Army Staff. He was appointed Minister of Defence in 1990. With Babangida’s resignation, an interim government headed by civilian President, Ernest Shonekan was formed.
Sani Abacha became the first Nigerian soldier to attain the rank of a full General without skipping a single rank in 1993. In the same year, he moved for the ultimate.
Shonekan resigned and transferred power to Sani Abacha in a move widely believed to be another bloodless coup. In September 1994, he issued a decree that placed his government above the jurisdiction of the courts, effectively giving him absolute power. Another decree gave him the right to detain anyone for up to three months without trial.
Abacha is noted for helping restore peace and democracy to Sierra Leone and Liberia after the civil wars.
On his administration of the Nigerian state proper, he established The Petroleum Trust Fund aimed to address major economic issues facing the country at the time. Between 25-100km of urban road in major cities such as Kano, Gusau, Benin, Funtua, Zaria, Enugu, Kaduna, Aba, Lagos, Lokoja, and Port Harcourt was planned to be constructed each. A N27.3bn contract was awarded for road rehabilitation in the first quarter of 1996.
There was a restructuring of major insurance companies that supported SMEs across the entire country.
Abacha mandated the PTF to publicise its accounts as it was the second-largest public corporation at the time. In 1997, the account of PTF showed that it disbursed N24.3bn on roads, N21.2bn on security, N7.8bn on health, and N3bn on other projects. Other disbursements include N2.2bn on water supply, N936m on food supply and N476m on education. It realized a total of N1.049bn from various investment activities.
It’s curious the sums which emerged after his death that he stashed in overseas accounts 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. READ FULL STORY HERE>>>CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING>>>
He also reduced the external debt of Nigeria from $36 billion in 1993 to $27 billion by 1997. His Petroleum (Special) Trust Fund is also hailed for infrastructural projects and interventionist programmes in education, water and health.
His wife is credited with setting up the National Hospital in Abuja viewed as Nigeria’s foremost national hospital, which was initially set up as a hospital for women and children before its upgrade.
Nonetheless, Abacha was ruthless with groups he considered hostile to his administration between 1993 and 1998. There was a crackdown on the civil rights groups, media and pro-democracy groups.
It was also under him that Nigeria became a perpetual importer of petroleum products as the refineries packed up. The emergence of the ‘foul fuel’ which damaged car engines and released a repugnant smell was in his time.
General Sani Abacha earned the title ‘Thug of the Year’ from Time magazine in 1995 after the execution of Ken Saro-Wiwa. Abacha developed the habit of working only at night. Availing himself to be seen publicly rarely while being averse to granting interviews.
The events of his death on June 8, 1998, at the presidential villa in Abuja are murky and while the official account is that he suffered a heart attack, other accounts say he was in the company of two Indian sex workers flown in from Dubai when he died. He was buried on the same day, according to Muslim tradition, without an autopsy. This fueled speculation that he may have been murdered by political rivals via poison.
Foreign diplomats, including United States Intelligence analysts, believed that his drink or fruit (apple) was laced with a poisonous substance while in the company of prostitutes.
Abacha was married to Maryam Abacha with whom he had had seven sons and three daughters.
In March 2014, the United States Department of Justice revealed that it had frozen more than $458 million believed to have been illegally obtained by Abacha and other corrupt officials.
On 7 August 2014, the United States Department of Justice announced the largest forfeiture in its history: the return of $480 million to the Nigerian government.
Stashed sums in other accounts have been discovered with the Nigerian government working to have the funds returned.
