Abubakar, Rice and Tea
By
It was the turn of circumstances last week to humour the still raging Abiola question by adding "Rice" to the existing puzzle of tea. Chief MKO Abiola, the custodian of the June 12 mandate, was said to have been served tea shortly before he died on July 7, 1998 while in the custody of General Abdulsalami Abubakar. For this reason, that tea has become a mystery.
But in his testimony before the Oputa panel last week, Major Aliu, the much-sought-after Chief Security Officer to General Abubakar, told us that it was
Ms. Susan Rice who served Chief Abiola the said tea shortly before he died. This has surely added another dimension to the burning question of whether the
politician actually died of natural or unnatural causes. Abiola was supposed to be having a dialogue with a high-powered team from America when he died.
No doubt, this disclosure by Aliu, viewed against the awareness that Thomas Pickering (also present that day) was (is still ?) a CIA spook, is bound to
strengthen the argument of a school of thought that the Americans perhaps knew more than what they told us about Abiola's death on July 7, 1998.
Curiously, the American government was the first to announce that Abiola died of natural cause.
Testimonies by Major Hamzat Al-Mustapha, CSO to late General Sani Abacha, and Brigadier-General Ibrahim Sabo at the Oputa panel had jointly alleged
Abubakar's complicity in Abiola's death just as he was also accused of sundry corrupt practices. Over the time, the former head of state has been invited
by the commission to come and defend himself. But, so far, the general has not appeared, preferring to speak through his lawyers.
Somehow, the general is relying on the logic of law for this. The daughter of the late politician, Miss Haftsat Abiola, has already instituted a suit
against Abubakar in United States over the death of her father, claiming $250 million damages. So, the general appears to think that since that suit is
still pending in U.S, whatever he says here might be used against him there.
I'm not a lawyer and will not pretend to a mastery of jurisprudence. But what I do know is that there is what is called the letter of law which is
different from the spirit of law. The former is for lawyers to argue in the court-room. The spirit holds outside. That spirit is supposed to be part of
what governs public perception. It regulates talks on the streets. After listening to Major Aliu that day at the Oputa Panel and noting closely how
Abubakar's lawyers have tried to reply all the other charges one after the other, I could not help this sinking feeling that the general is unwittingly
short-changing himself by still refusing to appear.
For instance, many are wont now to disbelieve Sabo on the allegation that the printing of new naira notes was contracted out by the Abubakar regime at a
rate that is highly inflated as it has been established that it was something handled by the Obasanjo regime. Consider the goodwill the man would have
earned himself were he physically present when that was being confirmed.
What people simply cannot understand is this air of superiority, of being special than even President Olusegun Obasanjo who has personally appeared before
the tribunal twice.
The door is still ajar to Abubakar to come back and reclaim his place in the hearts of those who saw a hero in him on May 29, 1999. Let him go to Oputa
and remove all the doubts.
November 2001