The narrative peddled by Nigeria’s political elite today paints Moshood Kashimawo Olawale (MKO) Abiola as a saintly martyr of democracy and General Sani Abacha as a demonic dictator who crushed the nation’s dreams. This simplistic dichotomy, however, crumbles under scrutiny. Both men, far from being polar opposites, were birds of the same feather—products of Nigeria’s deeply flawed political system, entangled in corruption, opportunism, and military collusion. Their story, drawn from historical accounts in books like Nigeria’s Soldiers of Fortune by Max Siollun, Nigeria During the Abacha Years* edited by Kunle Amuwo, A Journey in Service by Ibrahim Babangida, and Witness to Justice by Matthew Hassan Kukah, reveals a complex web of ambition, betrayal, and moral compromise. This narrative dismantles the myth, exposing how Abiola and Abacha were shaped by and contributed to Nigeria’s cycle of greed and power struggles.
The Rise of Two Power Players
In the 1980s, Nigeria was a cauldron of military coups, oil wealth, and political intrigue. Abiola, a Yoruba businessman from Abeokuta, built a sprawling empire through telecommunications, publishing, and oil contracts. His wealth, as Siollun notes in *Nigeria’s Soldiers of Fortune*, was not entirely clean. Abiola’s company, International Telephone and Telegraph (ITT), secured lucrative government contracts under military regimes, allegedly through bribes and political connections. He cultivated friendships with military strongmen, including General Ibrahim Babangida and Sani Abacha, a Kanuri officer from Kano known for his ruthlessness. Abacha, a career soldier, played pivotal roles in coups, notably the 1983 ouster of Shehu Shagari and the 1985 toppling of Muhammadu Buhari, as detailed in Amuwo’s *Nigeria During the Abacha Years*. Abiola, per Siollun, reportedly supported these coups financially, seeing military allies as pathways to influence.
Their friendship was pragmatic. Abiola’s wealth and media outlets, like *Concord* newspapers, amplified military propaganda, while Abacha’s rising star in the army offered Abiola protection. Babangida’s memoir, *A Journey in Service*, describes their camaraderie, with Abiola dining with generals and Abacha viewing him as a reliable ally. Both men thrived in Nigeria’s corrupt ecosystem, where power was brokered through patronage. Abiola’s philanthropy—building mosques, schools, and doling out cash—masked his political maneuvering, while Abacha’s loyalty to Babangida cloaked his ambition. Neither was a saint; both were opportunists navigating a rotten system.
The June 12 Mirage
The 1993 presidential election, hailed as Nigeria’s freest, is central to Abiola’s sanctification. Running under the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Abiola campaigned as a pan-Nigerian unifier, leveraging his wealth to fund an extravagant campaign. Yet, as Siollun reveals, Abiola’s victory was not purely democratic. His campaign allegedly involved vote-buying and exploiting ethnic loyalties, particularly among Yorubas. Kukah’s *Witness to Justice* notes Abiola’s ties to the military elite gave him an edge, as many believed his presidency would preserve their interests. Abacha, then a key figure under Babangida’s regime, initially appeared neutral, even appointing Abiola’s allies to ministerial roles, as Amuwo documents.
The election’s annulment by Babangida, however, exposed the fault lines. Babangida claims in his memoir that Abacha and other hawks pressured him, fearing Abiola’s presidency would disrupt military dominance. Abiola, expecting his old friend Abacha to support his mandate, was blindsided when Abacha seized power in November 1993. Siollun describes Abiola’s naivety, noting he initially believed Abacha would install him as president. Instead, Abacha consolidated power, endorsing the annulment and sidelining Abiola’s allies. The myth of Abiola as a democratic hero ignores his complicity in the military system that betrayed him, while Abacha’s villainy stemmed from the same power-hungry instincts they both shared.
Birds of the Same Feather
Abiola and Abacha’s similarities are striking. Both exploited Nigeria’s corrupt structures for personal gain. Abiola’s wealth, per Siollun, partly came from questionable deals, like ITT’s monopolistic contracts, mirroring Abacha’s later looting of billions from Nigeria’s treasury, as Amuwo details. Both men courted military power: Abiola funded coups, while Abacha executed them. Their fallout was less about ideology—democracy versus dictatorship—and more about personal ambition. Abiola’s 1994 declaration as president, defying Abacha, was a bold but reckless move, rooted in the same hubris that drove Abacha to crush dissent. Kukah’s *Witness to Justice* frames both as products of a morally bankrupt system, with Abiola’s imprisonment and 1998 death under Abacha’s regime a tragic outcome of their shared game.
Abacha’s dictatorship was brutal—executions, disappearances, and the murder of Abiola’s wife, Kudirat, cemented his infamy. Yet Abiola was no innocent. His alliances with military regimes, including Abacha’s early rise, enabled the very system that devoured him. Babangida’s memoir suggests Abiola’s insistence on his mandate provoked Abacha’s hatred, but both men’s egos fueled the conflict. Siollun notes Abiola’s refusal to compromise, even when offered deals, mirrored Abacha’s intransigence in clinging to power. Their deaths—Abacha’s in 1998, Abiola’s weeks later under suspicious circumstances—closed a chapter of mutual destruction.
Debunking the Myth
Today’s narrative, pushed by politicians leveraging Abiola’s June 12 legacy, ignores these truths. Abiola’s posthumous honors, like the 2018 Grand Commander of the Federal Republic award, gloss over his role in Nigeria’s corrupt politics. Abacha, demonized for his tyranny, is rarely contextualized as a product of the same military culture Abiola supported. All four books—Siollun’s, Amuwo’s, Babangida’s, and Kukah’s—reveal neither man was a saint or demon, but rather flawed figures shaped by Nigeria’s systemic rot. Abiola’s wealth and Abacha’s power were two sides of the same coin, minted in a nation where principles bowed to ambition.
The sanctification of Abiola and demonization of Abacha serve political ends, obscuring the lesson: Nigeria’s struggles stem from a cycle of collusion between civilians and soldiers. Both men, once friends, became casualties of their own greed and the system they helped sustain. Their story is not a fable of good versus evil, but a cautionary tale of how power corrupts all who chase it.
A lesson to today's Abiolas and Abachas....
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Corridors of Power