What we see around us today will make General Sanni Abacha cry in his grave. While all eyes are on what happened between November 1993 and June 1998, those who keep stealing Nigeria dry are enjoying their status, dehumanising citizens with stolen money.

Abacha Loot has become cover for crimes against the people. His death ushered in the Fourth Republic which has raised more looters than ever known in our History. Many of the billionaires of today were ordinary folks before May 29, 1999 and have fed fat on stories sorounding the general.

It is strange that everything wrong about June 12 is heaped on Abacha. What we have not told ourselves is the truth that when the elections held, he was neither the president nor Vice President. And when Abiola died in custody, Abacha was breathless in his Kano grave.

June 12 had bloody consequences. Many died, so much happened. It is difficult to forget Mrs Kudirat Abiola, Chiefs Alfred Rewane, Bisoye Tejuoso, Alhaja Suliat Adedeji, Dr. Omoshola, Chinedu Offoaro, Bagauda Kaltho and other unknown freedom fighters.

This truth about Abacha Loot will be unearthed someday. We have been told that by 2020, millions of dollars had been recovered. What is not clear is if those monies were lodged with his consent. The dead stay dumb, you know. The man is not around to defend all the allegations.

If we want to believe that Abacha had fronts who ferried our commonwealth overseas, why have these carriers not be arrested and dealt with? And the interrogators did not find it worrisome to believe the stories bandied about by the suspects.

I have a feeling that no matter what we all have against Abacha, the major source of the humiliation is the  West. Abacha stayed away from their diplomacy of deceit and neo colonialism. An independent minded African is always an enemy to be wasted or deposed.

The Nigerian economy was said to be stable in the Abacha years, with reduced external debts, more foreign exchange reserves as one dollar was the equivalent of 22 naira and remained constant for those  five years.

Abacha, a Muslim, was fair to Christians. His deputy, the Chief of General Staff, Oladipo Diya, was a Christian so were the Armed Forces Chiefs, from Chris Ali, Allison Madueke, Femi John Femi, in the beginning, to Ishaya Bamaiyi, Mike Akhigbe and Nsikak Eduok. Of the 30 state governors he appointed in November, 1993, nineteen were Christians. And the FCT minister, Jerry Useni was not a Muslim.

The Igbo had cause to believe that they were coming back fully into the federation. For the first time, since the end of the Civil War, there was an Igbo Service Chief in Allison Madueke, Chief of Naval Staff, whose Nigerian Defence Academy Regular Course One mate, Diya, was Chief of General Staff.

When Abacha created six new states in 1996, he distributed then evenly. The North had three, Gombe, Nasarawa, Zamfara. The South got three, Delta, Ebonyi and Ekiti. It was different from what Murtala Mohammed did in 1976 when he increased the number of states from 12 to 19. The North had an edge with 10 while the South was left with nine. Of the 19 governors, 12 were Muslims. And three of the Southern governors, Zamani Lekwot, Atom Kpera and David Jemibewon were Northerners.

All Military leaders before Abacha spilled blood. Gen. Yakubu Gowon witnessed the Biafran Genocide. Murtala was part of it. Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo signed the execution of coup plotters in 1976, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari wasted three young men in 1985. Gen. Ibrahim Babangida sanctioned the execution of plotters, twice, in 1986 and 1990, respectively.

Under Abacha, there were two plots, one in 1995 and another in 1997. Obasanjo did not spare Gen. Iliya Bisalla, Babangida did not save Gen. Mamman Vatsa. Luck smiled on Generals Obasanjo, Shehu Yar’adua, Diya, Tajudeen Olanrewaju and Abdulkarim Adisa, thanks to Abacha. They were never tied to the stakes.

Those who accuse Abacha of hanging Ken Saro – Wiwa, should be reminded that the Ogoni Four of Orage Brothers, Kobani and Badey were burnt to death. While the globe wanted to crucify Abacha for that, FIFA President Joao Havelange, read between the lines and was in Lagos to watch Nigeria beat Uzbekistan, on the same day in the Afro – Asian Cup final.

Nigeria did not win an Olympic gold medal until Atlanta 1996. The first gold came through Chioma Ajunwa. Another followed in 24 hours, thanks to the Dream Team. Those were African records. The Super Eagles took part in the World Cup for the first time. They also lifted the African Nations Cup, outside Nigeria, another first.

The Bandits, Killer Herdsmen and Boko Haram of today did not exist under Abacha. The polity was not bedevilled by insecurity, one could travel freely to any part of the country.

Abacha was a unifier, not a destroyer. The people who had problem with him were mainly  politicians who rode on Abiola’s detention to wax stronger. When his son Ibrahim died in a plane crash in 1996, the manifest was pan Nigerian. His friends, Julie – Anne Modupe Oshokukoya, Omieba Dan Princewill and Bello Dangote hailed from different parts of the divide.

What we call Abacha Loot is nothing compared to what we have seen in the last 26 years. Abacha’s house on Gidado Street, GRA Kano, a twin duplex, did not display grandeur. 

He was not always in the air looking for support from those use aid and medicare to impoverish us.

That brings me to his death. The West was so much in a hurry to see him out. The man died shortly after seeing Palestinian leader Yissar Arafat in Abuja. The news became that he was given apples by Asian girls. The burial lacked the usual respect accorded a leader.

Abacha received Pope John Paul II on March 2, 1998. The West could do nothing. Abacha was not dining with their leaders, the same people that accused Sadam Hussein of possessing nuclear power, the same gang that bedevilled Muammar Ghadafi.