June 8: Remembering Abacha

By Mohammed Nura Saleh

June 8, 2014 marked the 16th anniversary of the death of former military ruler, General SaniAbacha, on June 8, 1998. Abacha represents different things to different people. To his political enemies, especially former members of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), he was the “worst disaster” to befall Nigeria.
But to objective Nigerians like me, Abacha was one of the most unfairly reviled and misunderstood Nigerian leaders. The verdict of history may always be distorted or mutilated if it is written by one’s enemies. Therefore, my duty as an objective observer of political events in Nigeria is to set the record straight.

What I have always noticed is that, whenever the June 12 anniversary is being celebrated, Abacha’s enemies hijack the event to pour unprintable insults on his memory and deliberately playing down his positive contributions to Nigeria within the brief period he was destined to rule the country. It would amount to gross injustice to assess Abacha out of proportion, remembering only his shortcomings and ignoring his achievements.
Despite all the imaginable evils attributed to Abacha, his implementation of development projects was more credible than his political enemies would honestly admit. When General Abacha took over on November17, 1993, Nigeria’s foreign reserve was around $4 billion. However, thanks to the prudence of his administration, the foreign reserve rose to $10 billion. And this was achieved, despite the fact that his political enemies branded him a disaster.

Abacha‘s management of the proceeds of petroleum subsidy withdrawal was more credible and result-oriented than other subsidy withdrawals policies we had in the country. Although Abacha increased fuel price to 20 per litre, he produced more results than other governments that came before him or after him. For example, the former Obasanjo administration increased fuel price to 75 per litre but it    didn’t make the remarkable positive impact made by PTF under Abacha.
The Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF) established by Abacha was such a big success that it became a reference point, setting a standard yet to be beaten as far as the implementation of subsidy withdrawal policies is concerned. With only N60 billion allocations throughout its period of operation, the PTF had achieved great results that disarmed Abacha’s political enemies. Thanks to PTF intervention, the conditions of public hospitals roads, schools, water supply and other areas of social services had improved remarkably. Our public hospitals were once described as consulting clinics. However, with the establishment of PTF to manage the proceedings of subsidy withdrawal, dilapidated public schools, hospitals, road and water supply system were rehabilitated and restored to functional status. Before PTF, public roads were death traps, hospitals were in shambles, school operated without roofs and desks or stationery
Transparency was largely the only secret behind the success story of the PTF. Contractors must demonstrate evidence of technical expertise and financial capacity to undertake the construction of public projects. In fact, the management of PTF was so strict that no contractor would simple walk in, collect mobilization fees and disappear into the thin air. At PTF, the standard was so tough that only honest and competent contractors were allowed to handle public projects.
Corruption, greed and lack of transparency in the civil service had contributed to the poor execution of public projects. The  PTF faced opposition from government ministries and departments because they perceived it as a threat to the private advantages they were getting by  conniving with contractors to cheat the people of Nigeria in the execution of projects. Headed by the General MuhammaduBuhari, the PTF didn’t allow the typical corruption that pervades the civil service to undermine the execution of public projects.
Many Nigerians found it incredible that the PTF could have achieved such impressive results with only N60 billion allocation throughout the duration of its brief operation. Huge expenditure of money alone is not enough without honesty on the part of those entrusted with public funds to execute projects. In 2001, former President OlusegunObasanjo publicly admitted that he was ashamed of the conditions of the federal roads. This was at a time the Federal Ministry of Works was allocated N350 billion by the National Assembly.
The PTF was allocated only N60 billion throughout its entire existence and N60 billion is a drop in the ocean compared with N350 billion .Yet, despite these differences, the PTF had  achieved more results with less allocation. The transformation achieved by PTF within a brief period was unprecedented. Government ministries launched sustained propaganda against the PTF because the civil servants saw it as a threat to their corrupt advantages.
With the hostility of civil servants against it, and with Obasanjo opposed to anything initiated by Abacha, the PTF was ultimately scrapped when Obasanjo was elected President in 1999. .As a result of that shortsighted decision to scrap PTF, Nigeria found itself back to the same corruption that had underlined the successful execution of public projects. In retrospect, with the collapse of public infrastructure and poor social services that came after Abacha, Nigerians  found themselves coming to terms with  the fact that the man’s achievement are by far greater than his perceived shortcomings.

Saleh wrote from No 9, Isa Kaita Road, Kaduna. Email: mohammednurasaleh@gmailcom