The Secret Life of M.K.O Abiola No One Told You About
T.Oluwafemi
June 12, 1993, is a day that will never be forgotten in the history of Nigeria. On this day in history Nigerians went out in their numbers, to exercise their constitutional right. They went to vote the man of their choice. It is said that about fifteen to twenty million people went to the polls to cast their votes on this day. The Babangida led military regime, annulled the election that will go down as the fairest election in the history of the nation (by international standard) The people’s choice, Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola did not make it to the most coveted seat in the nation.
The circumstance surrounding the annulment of the June 12, presidential election still remains unknown till date. 5 years after the annulment, M.K.O Abiola died. This is the part of history that is known to almost everyone. I dug into history and did some findings, what I found may come across as shocking to you. Stay with me.
Chief M.K.O Abiola is loved by Nigerians, even in death, the mere mention of his name changes the atmosphere in the room, but is Abiola worthy of this love? Is he really a saint, as most Nigerians will like to think? Does he deserve to sit at the table of the likes of Kwame Nkrumah, Martin Luther King and Gandi in the book of history? Kashimawo was a very rich business mogul during his life. He was one of the wealthiest, if not the wealthiest in Western Nigeria, but all of his wealth were stolen from the coffers of this nation.
He was a master mind, and he was very smart in his dealings. Abiola was a very intelligent man (I must give that to him), he had mastered the art of turning people against each other.
Abiola participated in several dubious and shady business during his life, one of which include the International Telephone and Tele-communications (ITT) fund. When Abiola served under this body, as the vice-chairman for Africa and Middle-east, he circumvented the money that was meant for building telecommunication gridlock (which was supposed to be beneficial to the people), for personal use.
He provided little or no telephone services for the people of the nation. He wasn’t alone on the particular maneuver, he had the support of the likes of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and also the then military leader General Babaginda, they all had a mutual relationship in the sharing of the “national cake”. I also found out, that when he became the chairman of this body, there was an incidence where he upped a 75 million naira contract to a 750 million naira contract. He shared the money he got from this particular escapade with his regular cohort. There was also the incidence of him syphoning a large proportion of the money that was meant for constructing Ajaokuta steel mill.
The biggest fraud associated with the late business mogul, is the 5 billion dollars Samuel Doe fund. Samuel Kanyon Doe was a Liberian military leader, who staged a violent military coup d’etat, when things started going south for him in his country (the opposition wanted his head), he was said to have reached out to Babangida to come to his rescue, Babaginda had promised to send ECOMOG, to restore order in his nation.
Doe had laundered five billion dollars from Liberian treasury, now that the money was at stake, he contacted Babangida to help him launder the money into Nigeria, but the military leader refused, stating that his position will not allow him to do so. After much plead from Doe, Babangida directed his wife, Miriam Babangida to help with the laundry process. Miriam then contacted a close ally, Simbiat Abiola (Abiola’s wife), to keep the money as hers, pending the time Miriam was ready to claim it. After a while Simbiat lost her life to death, and the money was willed to Kolawole Abiola.
During this time, elections were already around the corner, Babangida contacted his ally (Abiola), about the five billion dollars, but he wasn’t forth coming. Abiola was playing the greed card, he wanted to be president and he also wanted to keep the money. This money that didn’t belong to neither Babangida nor Abiola is said to be the cause of the June 12, annulment.
The money caused a feud between this two friends who had syphoned Nigeria’s wealth into their personal bank account for several years.
Abiola is believed to be traitor by some quarters. A man who could go to any length to see that he achieves whatever he wants. He didn’t mind who he had to trample on, to get to the top of the ladder. There was almost no one, Abiola couldn’t betray for his own personal gain. He made an attempt at backstabbing Akinloye, to become the next chairman of National Party of Nigeria (NPN). They already knew of Abiola’s antics, so it was rather easy for Akinloye to win the chairmanship position.
Exactly 25 years after Moshood Kashimawo Olawale, Abiola died, he was awarded a posthumous title of GCFR, by President Muhammed Buhari. Which means, President Buhari declared him the winner of the June 12, elections. There were so many reviews when this decision was made, as some people felt it was the right thing to do, because he actually won the election. But some other people felt, it wasn’t legally right for the president to declare him president after so many years. Democracy day was also moved from 29th of May, to June 12. Moving democracy day to the new date was a thoughtful move, because 12th of June marks the day Nigerians, went out in mass, to vote a man they felt was fit for the job.
They had gone to exercise their legal right, they went to ensure their freedom from the military hold. M.K.O is not any different from our modern day Politicians, who keep stealing from us, while painting themselves to be good people. The June 12 annulment, was a clear case of evil begets evil. The opportunistic man eventually met his waterloo.
What is your view about M.K.O Abiola?
