When prejudice is deep-seated, objectivity takes a flight. Worse still, when the verdict of history is written by your enemies, fairness evaporates into the thin air. The only weapon against those who distort history and record is the truth. And as Mohammed Gandhi, the famous Indian philosopher said, “Truth does not require majority to be valid; it is self-sustained.” The late General Sani Abacha was unarguably a controversial military ruler, but be that as it may, no honest analyst will fault the centenary award given to him by the Jonathan administration. Abacha’s implacable enemies were unhappy with the award, but their anger cannot obliterate his positive and remarkable record in office in just five years.
In fact, no sincere Nigerian can dispute the reasons given the federal government for considering the late General Abacha worthy of the centenary award among other eminent former public office holders. According to the federal government, the Abacha administration had increased Nigeria’s foreign reserves from 494 million dollars in 1993 to 9.6 billion dollars by the middle of 1997. The Jonathan administration also gave Abacha credit for reducing Nigeria’s external debt from 36 billion dollars in 1993 to 27 billion dollars in 1997. In addition, Abacha was recognized by the Jonathan administration for reducing an inflation rate of 54 percent which he inherited to 8.5 between 1993 and 1998 while Nigeria’s major revenue earner, oil, was at an average of nine dollars per barrel.
Would any sincere Nigerian dispute these facts, which are on record? Despite all the evils attributed to Abacha by his implacable enemies, nobody can change or distort a man’s record when there are fair-minded Nigerians who are ready to set the record straight. Not even a mountain of prejudice can change a verifiable and indestructible record. Objective Nigerians may always be ready to think outside the box of the hate-laden image painted of General Abacha by those who would rather pretend to be blind to Abacha’s positive sides than humbly admitting his merits.
Before Abacha, Nigerians were always skeptical about the transparency in the management of subsidy withdrawal proceeds. With the establishment of the Petroleum Special Trust Fund (PTF), General Abacha had for the first time changed the attitude of Nigerians towards the policy of petroleum subsidy withdrawal. The PTF was launched in July 1995 and, with just N60 billion allocation to it, the agency achieved remarkable results beyond the expectations of the most stubborn skeptics.
No sincere Nigerian can deny the fact that the PTF had brought remarkable improvements to our hospitals, schools, water supply systems, roads and other essential areas of social services. For the first time, Nigerians had access to safer and affordable drugs in public hospitals. In addition, the PTF had introduced tough standards in the award and execution of government contracts.
Unlike the previous years, the PTF had ended the era of contractors taking government money or mobilization fees and disappear.
Love him or loath him, you cannot deny the fact that Abacha had brought greater transparency in the management of the proceeds of petroleum subsidy withdrawal.
Public roads were once death-traps but the PTF intervention had transformed our roads remarkably. Greedy civil servants opposed the creation of the PTF because they were benefiting from the massive corruption that attended the award of government contracts. Dishonest contractors who used to run away with mobilization fees found PTF standards too tough for crooks to be in business. And they turned to critics.
The present railway rehabilitation policy was started by the Abacha administration in recognition of the fact that it is one of the cheapest modes of transportation for the ordinary Nigerians. Abacha’s policy formulation was always focused on the welfare of the ordinary man. Enemies of PTF succeeded in scrapping the agency in 1999 with the advent of democracy, but the country only succeeded in bringing back the corruption, greed, disregard for due process and impunity that characterized the award of government contracts. More and more billions were budgeted for roads, but the results were dismal. At one point, former President Obasanjo publicly said he was ashamed of the conditions of federal roads.
Even if our memories are short, we cannot at least forget too soon that the Gwarimpa Housing Estate, the largest in Sub-Sahara Africa, was built by the General Abacha administration. The National Hospital is another standing legacy of the Abacha administration. One can go on and on to list Abacha’s achievements. Again, one can say without any fear of contradictions that Abacha richly deserved the centenary award. Despite his shortcomings, which are human, Abacha’s achievements by far overshadow his perceived weaknesses. His record will always speak for him because his achievements were so outstanding to be obliterated by even the most hardened skeptic.
Dabai wrote from No. 55, Koforidua Street, Zone II, Wuse
Abuja. E-mail: [email protected]
