Major Hamza Al-Mustapha, Abacha’s former Chief Security Officer, isn’t a convict, at least in the court of law, or do I say, at the appeal court. The feeling is, however, different, in the court of public opinion. I don’t think he should be treated like a convict just released from Kirikiri. Yet, that doesn’t justify this orchestrated offensive launched at our sensibilities by a cross-section of the North whose view of life and living only circles around region and ethnicity. It is really a shame that we are being forced to re-write history, or even erase it completely just because we see ourselves in a contest for regional supremacy or ethnic rivalry of a sort.
What do we call that hero’s welcome given to Mustapha in Kano the moment he was released? In almost deifying Al-Mustapha, did the people involved even remember that a woman, someone’s mother, a life, was the bone of contention?
I understand the excitement in Mustapha’s immediate family. Irrespective of the offence their father and breadwinner was accused of committing, his family still owe him love. Even if it was proven that he was guilty, his family would understandably plead for mercy and seek him to remain alive and around. But in such situations, the excitement that comes with the release of a guilty loved one comes hushed and nuanced, not loud, daring and mocking. And that is even for the immediate families of the accused. When an entire region goes thunderous in celebrating a man accused of gruesomely taking the life of another person, then it becomes necessary to question what is important to us.
Let me repeat: I haven’t said Al-Mustapha killed Kudirat Abiola. But we must ask a question that the Major’s worshippers have refused to ask themselves. Are we proud of the regime that Sani Abacha ran in Nigeria? For the records, it must be said here and now, that Sani Abacha’s five-year reign represented a period of unprecedented brutal and dictatorial rule in Nigeria, characterized by numerous cases of assassinations and incarcerations. And Al-Mustapha was a principal player in that regime. He was, as many argue, the closest aide to the dreaded dictator, furnishing him with strategies on how to silence voices of dissention.
Recall that Sani Abacha it was who hanged Ken Saro-Wiwa against the plea of the whole world. What happened to Shehu Yar’Adua, a man who, by far, was better – in every sense of the word – than Abacha and Al-Mustapha? Yar’Adua was incarcerated on trump up charge of coup plotting, and he died in prison. How about the attempt at the lives of citizens by Abacha’s killer team? The wonder is that we’ve all forgotten so soon.
Those who celebrate Al-Mustapha, and by extension Abacha, are quick to compare the economy of Nigeria now with what it used to be under Abacha. And their conclusion has always been: it was much better. Well, this is not true.
The rot we see today is a reflection of the mess Babangida and his Abacha threw Nigeria into. A kobo stolen under Abacha – and there were trillions of kobos stolen under him – is worth more than a naira today. I have tried to explain this in previous essays. It is called the time value of money. Because money has the capacity to grow, time increases the value of money. Therefore, a billion dollar stolen under Abacha is much more than a billion dollar today. This is why it is erroneous to try to praise Abacha today because during his reign, the naira was stronger against the dollar than it is today.
Back to Al-Mustapha; why I thought to comment on this – in spite of the meanings some sections of the country will read to it – was the latest news in the Al-Mustapha drama. Leaders in Bayelsa paid him a visit to seek his support. It came across as a foolish move because Al-Mustapha shouldn’t have what it takes to sway the Northern votes in favour of anybody. Actually, he doesn’t. Who is he anyway? Isn’t it just funny that the so called elders consider Al-Mustapha more of a political asset than the real heroes from the North: Buhari, Ribadu, El-Rufai, Col. Umar?
And then he goes on rambling, believing the image his worshippers have created of him, forgetting his true self: the Major behind Nigeria’s deadliest ruler. My candid advice: Al-Mustapha and those who deify him should spare us this absurdity. Nigeria is trying so hard to move on from the era of gruesome killings which their reign reminds every one of us.
Chinedu is on twitter as @Nedunaija
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