After the dust of Dimka's attempted coup, coupled with the murder of General Muritala Mohammed, had settled, Olusegun Obasanjo re-surfaced from his hiding. The Hausa/Fulani and Middle Belt commissioned officers that really commanded the gun carrying non-commissioned officers of the Nigerian Army could not agree among themselves from which of the two sides a new Military Head of State should be picked to replace Muritala Mohammed. They finally opted for Olusegun Obasanjo as a compromise to become Military Head of State in place of the murdered General Muhammed to whom he was Second in Command. One of the early actions of Obasanjo's leadership was to instruct his Minister of foreign affairs, Major-General Joseph Garba to summon a meeting of Western Diplomats in Nigeria and to inform them that his government had no interest in pursuing socialist or communist goal. That made Obasanjo and some of his fellow military juntas appear as if they believed, as broadcasted in the radio by Colonel Dimka, that General Mohammed was introducing communism into Nigeria. Therefore Obasanjo's government went prostrating before the Western world Diplomats in Lagos, to disassociate self from socialism/communism. The meeting with the Western Ambassadors in Nigeria was held in May 1976, at the Institute of International Affairs, Victoria Island, Lagos. The fire of revolution lit in Nigeria by General Murtala Muhammed was quenched by his successor but his promise to return Nigeria to civil regime in 1979 was followed. Before General Olusegun Obasanjo handed over power to the elected President Shehu Shagari in May 1979, he promulgated Decree nr. 32 of 1979 which contained the following: (1) Every former Head of State in Nigeria will be provided with a building (by the government) with at least eight bedrooms in a location of his choice. (2) Every former Head of State must be given N350, 000 a month. Noteworthy, is that a naira then exchanged at one dollar and forty-nine cents. (3)The former Head of State is entitled to free medical service for himself and his family in or out of Nigeria at government expenses. (4) The former Head of State and member of his family can go on holiday to any part of the globe one month in a year at the expense of the state. (5) The former Head of State is entitled to three brand new cars every four years and three drivers of his choice from the State. (6) The former Head of State is entitled to free post, and telephone internally and externally. Bringing now to the fore facts that Obasanjo was 42 years old when he handed over to a democratically elected government in 1979 and by then he had served in the Army for 21 years, Olusegun Obasanjo was not qualified for retirement since the age of pension in Nigeria is either when one has attained the age of sixty in service or has served for thirty years. However, at 42 years of age, Obasanjo retired not only to enjoy privileges he had decreed to himself before leaving office, but also arrogated to himself the role of nation's father.
Four years after Obasanjo had stage-managed a hand over to civilian regime, the military seized power again in Nigeria towards the end of 1983. In June 1993, General Ibrahim Babangida conducted elections under the pretence of wanting to handover to civilians. He ended up annulling the election and following loud protests by Nigerians, Babangida stepped aside and imposed Ernest Sonekan, an unelected civilian, as interim Administrator of Nigeria, instead of the elected President, M. K. O. Abiola. Intervening in the political debates following the annulment of the presidential election, Olusegun Obasanjo said that Abiola was not the Messiah Nigerians were waiting for and his stollen election victory did not worth fighting for. Six months later, General Sani Abacha toppled the Interim Government of Ernest Sonekan and assumed power. M.K.O. Abiola was detained without trial by General Sani Abacha. In March 1995, General Olusegun Obasanjo, his Second in Command when he was Military Head of State, General Shehu Musa Yar'Adua, Colonel Lawan Gwadabe, Abacha's Aide-de-Camp and others were arrested for allegedly plotting to overthrow Abacha's military regime. While Obasanjo was sentenced to 25 years in prison, Yar'Adua and fourteen others were sentenced to death by a military tribunal but the death sentences were commuted to life imprisonment. Shehu Musa Yar'Adua died in Abakaliki prison on December 8, 1997 but six months later, June 8, 1998, General Sani Abacha who had planned to convert himself into a civilian President of Nigeria died. General Abdulsalami Abubakar took over as Nigeria's Military Head of State and promised to return the country to civilian rule within a year. On 16 June 1998, General Abdulsalami did not only release Olusegun Obasanjo from Abacha's gulag but also sent an Aircraft to convey him from Yola prison to his residence. That happened a week after Abacha's death and Abubakar had succeeded him.
If Obasanjo was sentenced to imprisonment under questionable trial, M.K.O. Abiola was only detained and never tried by any court. Therefore, Abiola's release from illegal detention in prison should have preceded that of Obasanjo who was actually tried and jailed. For reasons best known to General Abdulsalami Abubakar, he kept Abiola in illegal detention and only arranged a meeting between Abiola and a delegation of the United States led by Ambassador Thomas Pickering on July 7, 1998. At the meeting, Abiola was said to have been served with a cup of tea which he drank, only to collapse and die immediately. Abiola was a wounded lion in captivity and very dangerous to be released alive. However, a military constitution was imposed on the country and elections were scheduled to take place early in 1999. Three political parties, PDP, AD, and APP, participated in the Presidential, National Assembly, Gubernatorial, and State Assemblies elections of 1999. Since the late Abiola who was adjudged to have won the annulled June 12, 1993 presidential election was from the Southwest, it was decided that the Presidential candidates be zoned to the Southwest. AD with the strong roots in the Southwest went into coalition with APP to produce a joint Presidential candidate in the person of Olu Falae. The PDP picked Olusegun Obasanjo as its Presidential candidate and Obasanjo accepted as if he believed that he was the Messiah Nigerians were waiting for. Once again Obasanjo were to reap the fruit of democratic labour which another person had worked and died for. (To be continued)
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