The teacher banged his fist against the desk, his jaw ticking as he pointed at her. “Take it off now,” he growled. Liquid fear bubbled in her stomach as reality dawned on her—the teacher was serious. She didn’t know what he’d do to her if she didn’t comply. But the teacher should have known who her dad was before deciding to single her out like this. He stalked closer, his burning gaze focused on her.
“Maddie, I said take the hat off!”
But she stammered, ready to plead her case. She couldn’t do what the teacher was asking, not today of all days. She was still reeling from the medicine pumping through her body, from the pain that had now become a part of her young life. She had barely made it to school today and didn’t have the energy to take on such a confrontation head-on. Couldn’t the teacher at least hear her case out…Click Here To Continue Reading>> …Click Here To Continue Reading>>
“Maddie Dunham!” The teacher took a deep breath as he walked to her. Her lips quivered where she sat, her fingers twisting together with them. Pain and fear had melded into one within her, rendering her frozen. The teacher reached her vicinity, anger painted all over him.
“I won’t repeat myself!” he roared. With one swift move, he reached for her cap, yanking it off her head. Gasps filled the atmosphere as the truth was finally revealed. The only thing Maddie could wish for now was for the end to be swift and painless.
But for Maddie, this semester was supposed to be different. The last two years had been agonizing for her, and she’d wished, with everything that she was, that things would improve. For the first time in a long time, she felt like her wish was finally being answered. The pain she’d been suffering through had subsided, and Maddie could finally go back to school. She had no idea what awaited her there, but for her, wearing that hat wasn’t a choice she relished. She’d hoped for something different, something that wouldn’t expose her and her deepest insecurities like this.
Sitting in that chair, she watched as the entire class stared at her—some of them giggling while others were awash with pity. She was finding out how unfair the world was. And to think, it all started with a birthday party.
Maddie’s issue started on her best friend’s birthday two years prior. Everything was going great until a sharp pain struck her chest. Only 11 years old, she didn’t know what was happening. She looked around, wide-eyed, thinking one of her friends had accidentally jammed a knife through her, but everyone was busy with the festivities, unaware of what she was going through. But it would only get worse from there. The second jolt of pain came, this one worse than the first. Maddie yelped, her hands jumping to her chest where the pain originated. The third hit her—a wave of agony that swept from her feet up to her shoulders. She spiraled onto the floor as the pain settled in her brain. She couldn’t explain what was going on, but she knew her life would never be the same.
Maddie woke up to find bright white lights above her. She was lying on bright blue sheets, dressed in a similarly colored gown. Her mom was seated beside her, tears covering her eyes, as a strange man dressed in a white coat spoke to her. They all kept quiet when they realized Maddie was awake. Although Maddie was only 11 years old, she understood the gravity of the situation. She knew her mom to be among the strongest people in the world. Seeing her shed tears like this could only mean something terrible had occurred.
“You’ll be fine,” she insisted midway through her explanation. “You and I will beat this thing, okay?”
What Maddie had suffered from was an overwhelming spike of pain caused by a disorder known as chronic recurrent multifocal osteomyelitis, a disease associated with children. It results in the inflammation of the patient’s bones and is usually accompanied by chronic pain. Hearing her mom explain everything tore Maddie apart because in the woman’s voice, she could hear one thing—failure. Her mother looked at her like she’d already lost her. How bad was this disease? Couldn’t Maddie beat it? She remembered the pain and how bad it was. It had caused her body to shut down, seemingly from shock. Would this be her life now?
She should have known that things would only get worse from here.
The doctor enrolled Maddie in a program to help stabilize her condition. This saw a complete shift in the 11-year-old’s lifestyle. First, she visited the hospital twice weekly, getting shots meant to keep the chronic pain at bay while also mending her bones. Second, the doctor advised her mom to limit her time outside, insisting that Maddie needed her rest. Third, Maddie saw less of her mom since the hospital bills were outstanding, and she needed to take on more shifts at her nursing job to sustain them.
But this was only the beginning.
Maddie had never really been close to her dad. He’d separated from her mom when she was still a baby and would only see her on special days, like her birthday. But now that she was sick, the man dropped by whenever he felt like it. He’d bring her gifts and tell her stories from around the world, seemingly wanting to bond with her. Would Maddie ever forgive him for leaving?
Although Maddie’s dad was trying his best to be in her life, the girl hated that her condition was the only reason he acted this way. Where was he when things were good? Why hadn’t he ever shown the same level of concern? She didn’t even know what he did for a living. Although Maddie didn’t outright tell him to leave, she always spaced out whenever he walked through the front door, wanting to see her. She had no idea that he’d be the one to save her down the road.
Most patients with Maddie’s disorder are usually incurable, but for others, treatment is possible. Often, treatment lasts months or years. Half of the children battling it respond well to non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, which help them regain full health. The doctors put Maddie on the needed medication, hoping her body would respond positively. But although this was great news, it came with a terrible side effect that would leave Maddie’s life in shambles…
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.
