The Nigerian President, Bola Tinubu is not in the mould of General Sani Abacha who is rated as West Africa’s most powerful head of state.
Abacha was a man of the moment and hero for the generation of West African leaders in the defence of democracy in West African countries particularly Sierra Leone.
Unlike Tinubu who fail to act at a time Sierra Leone and other countries need him, General Sani Abach makes ECOWAS a body to rely on for the restoration of democracy and good governance.
President Tinubu whose election victory is shrouded in controversy is under intense criticism for failing to take decisive military steps to restore democracy in Sierra Leone after the PAOPA regime allegedly seized power through an electoral coup.
The regime has been accused by local and international election observation mission of subverting the will of the people of Sierra Leone through daylight thievery of the June 24, 2023 election. The EU report specifically noted that the June 24, 2023 votes does not reflect the will of Sierra Leoneans since it is riddled with “mathematical inaccuracies” and “statistical inconsistencies.”
71% of credible result reconciliation forms presented before the Tripartite Committee show that the opposition leader, Samura Kamara got 57.15% of the votes while the incumbent, Julius Maada Bio secured a little over 37%.
The wide margin should have prompted ECOWAS under Tinubu to act fast as desired by the international community and the people of Sierra Leone but chose to pamper the PAOPA regime and pander to their desire by offering him the ECOWAS chairmanship, an opportunity for Bio to attend international conferences sometimes without invitation.
But, widely held views indicate that Tinubu himself is not a true winner of Nigeria’s February 25, 2023 election as the country’s constitution requires the winner of the election to secure at least 25% of the votes in the capital city, Abuja.
Reports show that Tinubu never met the constitutional requirements as he won only 19% of the votes in the capital city, a situation that led opposition candidates, Atiku Abu Bakarr and Peter Obi to file a joint petition at Nigeria’s Supreme Court challenging Tinubu’s election victory.
However, after days of hearings, the court ruled in Tinubu’s favour thus legalising and illegal president, implying that there is little or no wrong for Tinubu to attempt to legimise the PAOPA regime which is entangled into legitimacy crisis.
As the summit is set to be held in Lungi town, North of Sierra Leone, credible sources have intimated this press that President Bio’s term may be extended to another year so that he could continue to enjoy the largesse of international travels in the name of ECOWAS Chairman. Arguments also hold that a continuation of the ECOWAS chairmanship will help Maada Bio to the image of the PAOPA regime at international circles.
But, there are threats by other West African countries to pull out of ECOWAS if another year is endorsed for Bio.
By virtue of its population size, economy, military strength and contribution to peace and security, Nigeria is West Africa’s super power especially during the days of General Sani Abacha.
Although Abacha is no longer alive, he is still remembered as an historic and iconic president for single-handedly restoring democracy in Sierra Leone during the country’s darkest moment.
Sierra Leone, a country which was among first West African countries to enjoy democracy in the 1960s saw democratic backsliding through political revolutions by way of coups and counter-coups.
The 1992 coup staged by the NPRC (National Provisional Ruling Council) came and went away, and later a counter coup was staged in 1996. Besides, there are reports of attempted coups even after Sierra Leone was ushered into a democratic order.
But, the 1997 AFRC (Armed Forces Revolutionary Council) coup that was most bloody and fatal thus attracting international attention.
The coup came after a year following the election of President Ahmed Tejan Kabba, the first democratically elected in Sierra Leone’s multi-party politics.
Within a year of AFRC rule in alliance with the RUF (Revolutionary United Front), thousands of civilians were killed, maimed and wounded, causing untold suffering and hardship in the country.
General Abacha who was Chairman of ECOWAS at that time did not sit with folded arms but decided to act to halt Sierra Leone’s deepening political crisis.
In March, 1998 He single- handedly deployed ECOMOG (ECOWAS Monitoring Group) soldiers in Sierra Leone under the command of Brigadier-General, Maxwell Khobe to disarm the AFRC junta regime in Freetown and remove them from power. The Nigerian force was backed up by Guinean and other troops for the military home work in Sierra Leone.
Within weeks of military struggle, the AFRC/RUF regime was kicked out of power, with its leader, Johnny Paul Koroma’s whereabouts remaining unknown at the time of the invasion. To date, Koroma could not be located although an ICC (International Criminal Court) warrant of arrest remains in force for his arrest and trial.
President Kabba who was hiding in Guinea was restored to power, and there was no hiding place for the AFRC coupists who were executed by a firing squad after conviction by a military tribunal presided over by Colonel Tom Carew who later became Sierra Leone’s Army Chief.
Sierra Leone since that time has never seen another military coup except the November, 2023 coup which many people doubted.
Abacha’s military action in Sierra Leone gave him international fame and became the envy of the West particularly Britain, Sierra Leone’s long-term colonial master.
Although the British SAS (Special Air Service) wiped off army renegades (West Side Boys) at Okra Hills, Western Sierra Leone in a swift military combat code-named ‘Operation Barass,’ many accused the British of coming as late as 2000 when the war was almost over.
At the time of their coming, a permanent peace agreement has been signed between the RUF leader, Foday Saybana Sankoh and President Tejan Kabba in July, 1999, culminating into a ceasefire throughout the country.
The country was a bit peaceful and disarmament of combatants well underway with UN peacekeepers deployed all over the country to monitor the ceasefire and collect intelligence on hostile forces on the ground.
But, Abacha’s military intervention came at a time Sierra Leone was in flames and little wonder that Abacha Street in central Freetown and Maxwell Khobe Park in Bo city, Southern Sierra Leone were named after General Sani Abacha and Maxwell Khobe respectively in honour of their great military service to Sierra Leone.
Maxwell Khobe was the ECOMOG Task Force Commander charged with the responsibility of removing the junta regime and return Sierra Leone to peace and democracy.
It was a mission Khobe successfully accomplished under Abcaha’s watch but with a big cost as Khobe later lost his life owing to gunshot wounds.
Despite his military success story, General Sani Abacha got a tough feedback from local and international critics that he exported to Sierra Leone what Nigeria never had and imported what the country had.
At the time of the military intervention in Sierra Leone, Nigeria had no democracy as Abacha was a military ruler who came to power through a peaceful take over in August, 1993.
Abacha however was importing crude oil from Arab states when Nigeria had one of the largest oil reserves in the world.
But, General Abacha is better off as his names is still on the sands of time for defending democracy compared to a democratic President, Ahmed Tinubu who is accused destroying democratic order in Sierra Leone for selfish gains.
Allegations of connivance with the Bio/PAOPA regime and failure to act decisively make Tinubu a fiend and not a friend to the vast majority of Sierra Leoneans and the worst Nigerian President in history.
But, only time will tell as the aged Tinubu is reportedly set to join the delegation for the 69th ECOWAS session in Freetown, Sierra Leone.