WHEN accusations are made against the dead, they cannot defend themselves, as they are no longer present to respond or refute the allegations. This is precisely the case with the recent accusations made by former President Ibrahim Babangida against the late General Sani Abacha.
Retired General Ibrahim Babangida is not the only one in history who smartly passed buck to the dead, knowing full well that the dead may not be able to defend themselves.
Babangida’s accusations against Abacha are significant as they introduced a new angle to an already twisted story. The story is getting darker and darker and the noose that it has created is becoming seemingly inextricable. Every right has a responsibility. In fact, it is our responsibilities that guarantee our rights and I expect a General to know that. The right you have to foist yourself on us by force using weapons bought with tax payers’ money, also imposes on you the right to put your life on the line to ensure that the right thing is done. Thomas Sankara did it. If, for anything, the revelations have shown that the general is someone who lacks courage.
Nikita Khrushchev did the same against Josef Stalin at the twentieth congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in the Great Hall of the Kremlin on February 14th, 1956. It was the first since the death of Josef Stalin in 1953.
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Khrushchev accused dead Stalin of many crimes he had perpetrated, including the execution, torture and imprisonment of loyal party members on false charges. He blamed Stalin for foreign policy errors, for the failings of Soviet agriculture, for ordering mass terror and for mistakes that had led to appalling loss of life in the Second World War and the German occupation of huge areas of Soviet Republic. The over 1,500 delegates and many invited visitors listened to an amazing speech by Nikita Khrushchev.
There were those who believed Khrushchev and there were those who never believed him. But while he was talking, an eerie silence enveloped the hall. One of those who heard the speech was the young Alexander Yakovlev, later a leading architect of Perestroika. Till date, Josef Stalin has not risen to refute the allegations.
After the death of Ta Mok, also known as Nguon Kang, Pol Pot, the leader of the Khmer Rouge, accused him of being responsible for many of the regime’s atrocities. If Pol Pot had confessed the role he played in the whole saga, it will not have restored the lives of over a million Cambodians that died, but it would have helped to assuage the pains of survivors.
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More than a million Cambodians died of disease, starvation, hard labour or were executed as enemies of the Maoist-style Khmer Rouge revolution from 1975-1979 before Pol Pot and his henchmen were routed by an invading Vietnamese army.
Ta Mok has not risen to tell his own version of the story.
It’s astonishing how we celebrate our leaders, who seem to compete with the likes of Hitler in causing harm. If only Hitler had been Nigerian, he’d have had the luxury of publishing his memoirs, spinning his horrific deeds into heroic acts.
Henry VIII primarily blamed Thomas Cromwell for the failure of his marriage to Anne of Cleves, believing that Cromwell had pushed the union too strongly for political reasons despite Anne’s unappealing appearance, which ultimately led to Cromwell’s downfall and execution. When the living raises grave allegations against the dead, only eternity will answer and how many of us will be privileged to be around?
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In his autobiography, A Journey in Service, Babangida revealed that Abacha, who was his Chief of Army Staff and later Minister of Defence, was instrumental in the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election. Babangida claimed that Abacha, along with other powerful figures within his administration, opposed the transition to civil rule and worked to undermine the election results.
Babangida’s accusations against Abacha are significant as they introduced a new angle to an already twisted story. The story is getting darker and darker and the noose that it has created is becoming seemingly inextricable. Every right has a responsibility. In fact, it is our responsibilities that guarantee our rights and I expect a General to know that. The right you have to foist yourself on us by force using weapons bought with tax payers’ money, also imposes on you the right to put your life on the line to ensure that the right thing is done. Thomas Sankara did it. If, for anything, the revelations have shown that the general is someone who lacks courage.
We are happy the Yorubas have been compensated with 2023 concocted victory of Ahmed Bola Tinubu. There is no difference between what happened in 1993 and what happened in 2023. Annulment of election results and its subversion are the same. Whether it is done through military fiat or judicial calisthenics. The outcome is always the same.
The story has been cooked and forced to taste nice by heavy seasoning.
It’s astonishing how we celebrate our leaders, who seem to compete with the likes of Hitler in causing harm. If only Hitler had been Nigerian, he’d have had the luxury of publishing his memoirs, spinning his horrific deeds into heroic acts.
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Those who made churlish and snag remarks when Humphrey Nwosu published his book few years ago, were full of smiles and had nothing to say against Babangida’s highly seasoned story. Even the pseudo superman of NADECO was smiling from ear to ear.
We are happy the Yorubas have been compensated with 2023 concocted victory of Ahmed Bola Tinubu. There is no difference between what happened in 1993 and what happened in 2023. Annulment of election results and its subversion are the same. Whether it is done through military fiat or judicial calisthenics. The outcome is always the same.
