So, who killed Abacha and Abiola? By Ochereome Nnanna

So much is touted about the “inviolability” of the sovereignty of nations under the United Nations Charter. It simply means that a nation’s entitlement to full control of its territory and affairs cannot be forcefully intruded upon by external powers. In practice, however, the amount of power a state projects determines its ability to defend its sovereignty while forcing itself on the sovereignty of others in pursuit of its strategic interests.

Nigeria’s sovereignty is at its lowest level today. A superpower like the United States could determine who emerges as president, as in Olusegun Obasanjo (1999); and who leaves that seat, as in Goodluck Jonathan in 2015. The USA recently declared Nigeria a “country of particular concern” and lobbed a couple of Tomahawk missiles in a Sokoto terrorist camp.

It walked in with 200 of its soldiers on a military “partnership” it literally foisted on the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration. For that matter, a rash of ragtag jihadist terrorists, Boko Haram fighters, Fulani bandits and Fulani herdsmen (including foreign Fulani jihadist desperados) simply acquired illegal military-grade weapons and invaded our bushes to terrorise millions of indigenous Nigerians with a very tepid response by the Nigerian government. Yet, the same government and its mouthpieces keep mouthing off about Nigeria’s sovereignty!

Actually, many of our leaders are agents of foreign powers who sponsor them and stand ready to remove them. The answer to the question of “who killed Abacha and Abiola” says it all about the strength of Nigeria’s sovereignty. After General Ibrahim Babangida annulled the 12th June, 1993 presidential election, he vacated Aso Villa on 27th August 1993.

He constituted an Interim National Government (ING) and left his closest partner in military politics, General Sani Abacha, as the Secretary of Defence of the ING. Abacha, a ruthless dictator, spent only 97 days before he assumed power as Head of State. His fresh military rule lasted for another five years.

The June 12 movement, powered by the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), rejected the military government, insisting on the revalidation of Moshood Abiola’s mandate. After declaring himself president at Epetedo, Lagos Island, Abiola was whisked into detention from which he never came out alive. By June 1998, Abacha’s transition programme was coming to an end.