Former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, has recalled the calm and discipline General Abdulsalami Abubakar (Rtd.) showed both in the confused hours after General Sani Abacha’s death and in the year that followed as Military Head of State. In a documentary interview to mark Abubakar’s 84th birthday, Obasanjo spoke of his own release from prison within hours of the handover, the quiet efforts made to secure MKO Abiola’s freedom, and the working relationship the two men kept up throughout Obasanjo’s own presidency.
How would you describe the political atmosphere in Nigeria when General Abdulsalami Abubakar (Rtd.) took office in 1998?
I did not know him well beforehand the way I knew some of his other colleagues whose paths had crossed with mine. He was a senior officer by the time I was imprisoned by the then Head of State and Commander-in-Chief, Gen. Sani Abacha. What struck me first about him was how he handled Abacha’s sudden death. There was a cloud of confusion for 24 to 48 hours when nobody quite knew who the new Head of State was or would be, and I believe he managed that period very well. In a situation of such confusion and uncertainty, he did not rush out. He kept his cool and brought the situation under control until he was formally announced and presented as the new Head of State.
What happened when news of your release from prison broke?
That was the more personal part. Within hours of becoming Head of State, he issued the instruction for me to be released, and it was announced on radio and television. I did not hear it, but the warders who came on duty told me the radio and television had already announced it. I expected the prison superintendent to say something, but for the whole of that day, he gave me no information. Then, around 8 pm that day, he came to check on me (something he had never done before at that hour). Having heard from the warders what had been announced, I found the boldness to tell him that I had been released and that he was still keeping me in prison, and that once I got out I would sue him for unlawful detention. He was a decent man about it. He said I knew as well as he did that, whatever radio or television might report, he still had to receive his own instruction from headquarters. The following morning, that instruction came through, and I was released. A presidential jet was waiting for me at the airport in Yola to take me to Lagos, and from there, a police escort took me to my farm. I have never forgotten that Abdulsalami did that.
What role did General Abdulsalami play in the effort to secure MKO Abiola’s release?
From the moment I came out, he kept in close touch with me on how to get Abiola released. He told me that, as far as he was concerned, it had to be resolved collectively with the military as a whole, and it was during that process that Abiola died. I know how painful that was for him.
He initially planned to hand over within six months, yet the transition took almost a year. What accounted for that?
He never wanted to stay beyond six months. He was a soldier first, and he saw himself as that rather than a statesman. He wanted to put right the mess that Abacha had left the country in and then leave. But the process of parties forming and organising themselves was what stretched his time in office to almost a year. Even that was handled smoothly. It was a smooth transition from military rule to an elected civilian government, and I was one of its direct beneficiaries. Had he stood in my way, it might not have been possible, and I remain grateful for that.
How would you describe your working relationship with him once you became president?
Whatever issue he had, he would write it down. He would seek my attention, call on me, and go through his points one by one while I sat with him, listened, and responded. Where I could not answer on the spot, I told him I needed to find out more, and within 24 hours, I would come back to him with the information. That was how we worked. I found him to be an officer and a gentleman, a patriotic Nigerian, and a man after my own heart.
