On November 17, 1993, Nigeria entered another whirlwind of apprehension and fear spawned by General Sanni Abacha’s takeover of power from Chief Ernest Shonekan, the interim head of state.
Abacha’s dictatorial and dangerous period in the anal of Nigerian history marked the lowest of the low in the country’s struggle for the restoration of Democracy, in general, and the annulment of the June 12 Presidential election won by Chief M.K.O Abiola in particular.
But before the darkness that hovered around General Sanni Abacha’s era, Nigeria had contended with a flurry of military dictators starting from the January 15, 1966 coup that toppled the first republic till 1979, when the nation experimented with civilian rule.
Dark era
By 1985, another military had usurped the country’s democratic government, citing widespread corruption and incompetence as reasons for the takeover.
For Abacha, the reclusive figure went on to break all known records of human rights abuse, corruption, state-sponsored assassinations, cronyism, favouritism, prebendalism, etc, set by his predecessors both in ‘Agbada’ and in ‘Khaki’ with gusto and in grand style.
Nigerians had yearned for a return to democratic governance. The 1993 election, lauded for its credibility and transparency, offered a glimmer of hope.
However, the annulment plunged the country into turmoil. General Ibrahim Babangida, the military ruler who orchestrated the cancellation, stepped down under mounting pressure.
A brief interim government followed, but General Abacha ultimately seized power in a ruthless power grab.
Unfortunately, his propensity for raw power and desperation to consolidate his base gave the country away to dogs. Worse still, his regime dented the country’s global image and reputation. He was the leader Nigeria shouldn’t have had.
As a country on the tenterhooks of unrest, Nigeria erupted into an atmosphere of chaos as Abacha clamped down on pro-democracy campaigners, activists, journalists, and dissents – similar to what Macky Sall, former President of Senegal, did to his people.
In the process, Chief M.K.O Abiola, the winner of the June 12 poll, was arrested and detained. And one of his wives, Kudirat Abiola, a courageous woman, was killed in the struggle.
Retun to democarcy
By 1999, when the country returned to democracy, one of Abacha’s prisoners and former military head of state, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, emerged as the civilian President. Obasanjo’s prison to palace marked a historic milestone for a country on the brink of collapse.
Basirou Faye, the 44-year-old 5th President of Senegal, was sworn into power on 1st April 2024.
Arrested, detained and jailed for 11 months by the government of Macky Sall, the rise of the former tax collector to the peak of the country’s political power marked a dramatic turnaround for a man of modest means.
It’s important to note that Obasanjo wasn’t the only Nigerian leader who fought against Abacha and later led the country.
The current president, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, was another active figure in the struggle. Tinubu, though not imprisoned, faced the destruction of his properties for his opposition to Abacha.
Like President Tinubu, Basirou Faye and his mentor, Ousamane Sonko, stood their ground and fought anti-democratic forces to a standstill.
The heroic examples in Nigeria and Senegal’s political terrains, especially in the struggle against dictators, reinforced Wole Soyinka’s timeless ” the man dies in who keeps silent in the face of tyranny”.
