"Confession: I despised Gen Sani Abacha with the same intensity Obidients hate President Bola Tinubu. I thought I had overcome the ill-feeling after 28 years. Alas, I watched ‘MKO’ — the documentary on Bashorun Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola currently showing in film houses across Nigeria — and my emotions went haywire again. It brought back painful recollections of military rule and sickening memories of Abacha, the military head of state who chastised Nigeria with scorpions. Media repression and assassinations were the hallmarks of the Abacha regime. It was horror all over again. My emotions swung from nostalgia to despair, from anger to resentment. Three things hit me instantly from the documentary.
One, the incredible transformation of Abiola from an establishment person to, as it were, an activist for democracy — like a prince becoming a rebel.
Two, the key role Abacha played in the June 12 annulment crisis and how he became the ultimate beneficiary. Three, the place of America in the logjam and the unending suspicion that it played a role in sustaining the annulment and even in the death of Abiola. I went away with a few lessons, chief of which is that life is not black and white. Hardline positions might seem principled and desirable, but pragmatism as an option should always be on the table in playing national politics."
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