L-R: Abacha, Abiola and Abdusalami
The circumstances of MKO Abiola’s birth and death are shrouded in mystery. At birth, he was not given a name for his father was apprehensive that like the 22 babies he had before him, Moshood Olawale, as he was later named after he lived for 15 years, would soon die. The family of Abiola had suffered from the affliction of “Abiku.” Abiola’s tribesman, Wole Soyinka, captures the ‘Abiku’ motif in his evergreen poem, ‘Abiku’ through these lines: “In vain your bangles cast, Charmed circles at my feet, I am Abiku, calling for the first, And repeated time.” In Yoruba worldview, an ‘Abiku’ is a child that dies at infancy. Such a child is believed to go back to the land of the dead only to return again and again and again through repeated births, causing anguish to parents. A precocious child, MKO broke the Abiku jinx, and showed entrepreneurial talents when he started the business of selling firewood at the age of nine. He would wake up at dawn to go to the forest and gather firewood, which he would then cart back to town and sell before going to school, in order to support his old father and his siblings. He later founded a band at age fifteen when he would perform at various ceremonies in exchange for food. He eventually became famous enough to start demanding payment for his performances and used the money to support his family and his secondary education at the Baptist Boys High School, Abeokuta, where he excelled. He was the editor of the school magazine, The Trumpeter, and his kinsman, Olusegun Obasanjo, was deputy editor. Obasanjo later emerged military Head of State between 1976 and 1979. By a stroke of fate, he later emerged as civilian president between 1999 and 2003. It was ironic that Obasanjo who profited from Abiola’s political struggles, turned around to say that Abiola’s party, the Social Democratic Party, was not the messiah Nigeria needed — after he mounted the presidential saddle.
Abiola’s late wife, Simbiat, was said to oppose his further participation in politics after he was denied the presidential ticket of the National Party of Nigeria and told that the party’s ticket was not for sale. Abiola was a major financial backer of the party before he fallout with the party. When the 1993 presidential election beckoned, it was time for Abiola to reap the fruits of his immense philanthropy and kindness as Nigerians across religion and socio-ethnic settings voted massively for him.
According to online encyclopaedia, Wikipedia, MKO, as he was popularly referred to, started his professional life as bank clerk in 1956 with Barclays Bank Plc in Ibadan, South-West Nigeria. After two years he joined the Western Region Finance Corporation as an executive accounts officer before leaving for Glasgow, Scotland, to pursue his higher education. From Glasgow University he received a first class degree in accountancy. He also received a distinction from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland. On his return to Nigeria, he worked as a senior accountant at the University of Lagos Teaching Hospital, Idi-Araba, Lagos, then went on to Pfizer, before joining the ITT Corporation, where he later rose to the position of Vice President, Africa and Middle-East of the entire corporation, which was headquartered in the United States. As a result, Moshood Abiola spent a lot of his time and made most of his money in the United States, whilst retaining the post of chairman of the corporation’s Nigerian subsidiary. In addition to his duties throughout the Middle-East and Africa, Abiola invested heavily in Nigeria and West Africa. He set up Abiola Farms, Abiola Bookshops, Radio Communications Nigeria, Wonder Bakeries, Concord Press, Concord Airlines, Summit Oil International Ltd, Africa Ocean Lines, Habib Bank, Decca W.A. Ltd, and Abiola Babes Football Club. In addition to these, he also managed to perform his duties as Chairman of the G15 Business Council, President of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, Patron of the Kwame Nkrumah Foundation, Patron of the W Du Bois Foundation, trustee of the Martin Luther King Foundation and Director of the International Press Institute.
Abiola sprang to national and international prominence as a result of his philanthropic activities. The Congressional Black Caucus of the United States of America issued the following tribute to him, “Because of this man, there is both cause for hope and certainty that the agony and protests of those who suffer injustice shall give way to peace and human dignity. The children of the world shall know the great work of this extraordinary leader and his fervent mission to right wrong, to do justice, and to serve mankind. The enemies which imperil the future of generations to come: poverty, ignorance, disease, hunger and racism have each seen effects of the valiant work of Chief Abiola. Through him and others like him, never again will freedom rest in the domain of the few. We, the members of the Congressional Black Caucus salute him this day as a hero in the global pursuit to preserve the history and the legacy of the African diaspora.”
From 1972 until his death Moshood Abiola was conferred with 197 traditional titles by 68 different communities in Nigeria, in response to the fact that his financial assistance resulted in the construction of 63 secondary schools, 121 mosques and churches, 41 libraries, more than 36 hostels, 21 water projects in 24 states of Nigeria, and was grand patron to 149 associations in Nigeria. In this way Abiola reached out and won admiration across the multifarious ethnic and religious divides in Nigeria.
Owing to his philanthropy and ability to inspire hope, Abiola was made the Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland. It is the highest military chieftaincy title available among the Yoruba and has only been conferred by the tribe 14 times in its history. This in effect rendered Abiola the ceremonial warlord of his tribe. According to the folklore of the tribe as recounted by oral tradition, the Aare Ona Kakanfo is expected to die a warrior in the defence of his nation in order to prove himself in the eyes of both the divine and the mortal as having been worthy of his title.
Abiola’s running mate for the June 1993 election was Baba Gana Kingibe. He overwhelmingly defeated his rival, Bashir Tofa of the National Republican Convention. The election was declared Nigeria’s freest and fairest presidential election by national and international observers, with Abiola even winning in his northern opponent’s home state. Abiola won at the nation’s capital, Abuja, military polling stations, and over two-thirds of Nigerian states. The reason why the election was so historic was because men of northern descent had largely dominated Nigeria’s political landscape since independence. The fact that Abiola, a southern Muslim, was able to secure a national mandate freely and fairly remains unprecedented in Nigeria’s history.
However, the election was annulled by military dictator, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, an action that set the country on the brink of disintegration. Babangida, iu panic of the confusion his action caused, hurriedly stepped aside and installed Chief Ernest Shonekan as a Yoruba man Head of Interim National Government. Wild protests by a cross-section of Nigerians and international sanctions against the action left Nigeria’s image badly bruised. Another military dictator, Gen. Sani Abacha, seized power in the ensuing crises caused by the fascist action taken by Babangida. In 1994 Abiola declared himself the lawful President of Nigeria in the Epetedo area of Lagos Island. He had recently returned from a trip to win the support of the international community for his mandate. After declaring himself President he was declared wanted and was accused of treason and arrested on the orders of Abacha, who sent 200 police vehicles to bring him into custody. He was detained for four years, largely in solitary confinement with a Bible, Qur’an, and fourteen guards as companions. During that time, Pope John Paul II, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and human rights activists from all over the world lobbied the Nigerian government for his release. The sole condition attached to the release of Abiola was that he renounce his mandate, something that he refused to do, although the military government offered to compensate him and refund his extensive election expenses.
Abiola died under suspicious circumstances shortly after the death of Gen. Abacha. Indeed, Abiola died on the day that he was due to be released on July 7, 1998. The official autopsy stated that Abiola died of natural causes. Curiously, the final autopsy report, which was produced by a group of international coroners, has never been released officially. The then US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Susan Rice, and Ambassador Thomas Pickering led a delegation to visit Abiola on July 7 1998 – the day he was to be released. It was reported that Abiola suffered a fatal heart attack during the meeting within minutes of taking a cup of tea.
Abiola’s personal physician, Ore Falomo, said that although Abiola was under medical management for high blood pressure, the circumstances of his death, especially its coincidence with Gen. Abacha’s death a month earlier, raised enough suspicion to warrant further investigation into the possibility of poisoning. He said, “Why did that (heart attack) happen? How could that happen to somebody who just woke up, had not done anything and was not doing any exercise…. Could something have triggered the heart attack? The answer is yes. We also know that there are drugs that can affect the rhythm of the heart. Such drugs can disturb the rhythm of the heart to an extent that the heart can stop pumping blood. If you give it to anyone to drink in tablet or liquid form, it can make the heart to stop within minutes.”
A daughter of the late politician, Hafsat, on Monday, said: “My father was a symbol of hope not just for Nigerians but for Africa. Nigeria should continue to aspire for such selfless leaders and not the visionless type of leaders that have no plan for the people.”
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