Hamza al-Mustapha and the Mysterious Deaths of Yaradua, Abacha & Abiola
Posted by Webogaon August 5, 2011
I had my suspicion right from the beginning regarding the deaths of the three biggest politicians in the Nigerian political landscape of the 1990s – Maj. General Shehu Yar’adua (rtd), General Sani Abacha and Chief Mashood Abiola. The ‘big three’ died mysteriously and suddenly within the spate of exactly seven months.It all started on December 8, 1997 when Shehu Musa Yar’adua died in prison where he was serving a life sentence for his involvement coup plot. The then government said that his death was natural while the opposition claimed that he was killed by the agents of the then President, General Sani Abacha. Shehu was the politician to beat in the country. He had the strongest political structure that cut across the country’s regional, ethnic and religious divides. Though I was not surprised of his involvement in a coup plot given his notoriety as a power schemer, however, I doubted the opposition’s claim that Abacha assassinated him. If Abacha had wanted to get rid of him, I thought, the President had enough alibi in Shehu’s conviction as a coup plotter. Two, Nigerians will attest that Abacha was not a coward by any measure. Three, the opposition to date has not presented any credible evidence to substantiate its claim other than speculation. Four, the person who was alleged to have administered him the lethal injection was never convicted even after the demise of his supposed sponsor. He is still a free person. Incredible. One.
NewsRescue- EXCLUSIVE: Yar’Adua Was Poisoned By Obasanjo’s Kitchen Staff — Professor Ukandi G. Damachi, USA Cables
Then exactly six months later, on June 8, 1998, the country was told that the night before, President Abacha has died of cardiac arrest which was caused by eating a poisoned apple served him by an Indian lady. Of course that was not a natural death. Mysteriously, the Indian lady was never arrested or convicted. Nothing about her was heard again. And surprisingly too, the death was never investigated by his successors. The body was rushed to his hometown of Kano and immediately burial without any autopsy conducted. His wife, Hajiya Maryam, was to later look at Jerry Useni in his face and tell him, “You killed my husband.” Two.
Then almost exactly a month later, on Tuesday, July 7, 1998, Chief Abiola, the widely acclaimed winner of the cancelled June 12, 1993 presidential election was announced dead. The cancellation of that election had for years generated heat in the polity. After declaring himself President, Abiola was imprisoned in 1994 by the President Abacha. He died just after being released from prison by the successor of Abacha, President Abdulsalami Abubakar. Before he could even return to his family, he was invited to the State House for a meeting with US delegation where he suddenly died after being served with a tea. That is all Nigerians knew. They cried foul. But the government, together with US officials, said it was a natural death caused by cardiac arrest, again. The family protested, demanded for an autopsy by overseas doctors to which the government yielded. But nothing came out of it. The family went silent on the matter. Surprising too was the sudden silence of protest voices from the champions of Abiola’s mandate, who had accused him of cowardice. Three.
Nigerians, gullible as ever, ascribed the serial deaths to God, whom they accuse of every death. However, I did not see the hands of God here, even then. Without the benefit of hindsight, anyone who reads the scenario would be compelled to arrive at the same conclusion. Those behind it were careful in concealing the truth from Nigerians by virtue of their high positions in the land. Until now, perhaps.
The bombshells dropped by Hamza al-Mustapha in a Lagos High Court in the past three days are likely to give the world a glimpse into the myth behind these deaths. He is one person whose footprints were not washed away by the waters of the conspiracy.
Al-Mustapha, as he is popularly known, was arguably the second most powerful person in the country during the period of Abacha presidency. His claim that he ‘helped’ Abdulsalami to become the President after Abacha’s death can hardly be disputed because he was in a position to do so, being in control of the security of the Presidency and given the fact that Abacha loyalists were heading major military command positions in the country. Naively, instead of staging a coup, he acceded to installing Abdulsalami and remained in the country.
Abiding by the tradition of power, few months later, President Abdulsalami arrested Al-Mustapha, who was later accused, among other things, of assassinating Kudirat Abiola, the wife of Chief Abiola, on 4 June 1996. Since 1998, Al-Mustapha has been in custody where, he believes, successive administrations have tried to keep him at bay by frustrating any progress in his trial. As it is turning out now, after thirteen years, he has decided to fight back using the arsenal of information he has as a former security chief.
Al-Mustapha has also told the court that large sum of money – $200m, 75 Sterling Pounds and N200m – was used to buy the silence political leaders of Chief Abiola’s from ethnic group – the Yoruba. The money was withdrawn on the directive of the President Abdulsalami from the Central Bank of Nigeria. Two days ago, he tendered to the court a document signed by Abdulsalami to support his claim. He also submitted a tape – to be played today in the court – showing the Yoruba leaders’ visit to the Presidency, into which, according to Al-Mustapha, they went looking angry but from which they came out smiling.
It is difficult to dispute Al-Mustapha on his claims. Using money to settle people is a common practice in managing security matters in Nigeria. An ambiguous vote called “security vote” exists in every government in the federation, whether local, state or federal. So Al-Mustapha is not at all sounding Greek to the ears of Nigerians. The truth-value of his statement is very high. It can be proved otherwise only if the money can be traced to the Liberian peace keeping mission it was officially meant for.
Opinion leaders from the Southwest have challenged Al-Mustapha to mention the names of the beneficiaries. We do not know how much is in the video right now. However, I do not expect to see the distribution of the monies there physically. Nigerians are discrete in deals like this. We await the speculations, denials and counter-denials that would follow.
It will also be difficult to deny the claim that his continuous incarceration is a instigated by fear. If he has such implicating evidences, his imprisonment is a natural, if not a merciful, consequence in the game of power. He is lucky to be alive, so far. Abidina Coumassie, the publisher that was to publish the evidence earlier was not that lucky. He was poisoned to death, according to Al-Mustapha. If there were any evidence to prove his guilt, as many commentators have argued, successive regimes would not have wasted time to convict him.
In any case, if the hand behind the scenes is obscure, the beneficiary of these assassinations is known – former President Olusegun Obasanjo. He would not have been president were any of the ‘big three’ living – Shehu Yar’adua, Abacha or Abiola. He was lucky that the mysterious hand that has worked throughout his life, saving him from death in different coups and shoving him into power, has remained until now. Let us have a look at the skill of this mysterious hand.
Obasanjo, then in his twenties, had just returned from a military training course in India. According to him, he was sharing bed with Nzeogwu when the latter plotted and executed the January 15, 1966 coup in which many prominent northern political leaders including Prime Minister Balewa, the Premiers of northern and southern regions – Ahmadu Bello and Samuel Akintola – were gruesomely murdered along with many northern military officers. Immediately after the coup, Obasanjo ran to Maiduguri, for safety, and hid in the house of Alhaji Maidaribe. He later claimed that he did not know anything about the coup.
Then in 1975 Obasanjo, along with General Murtala Mohammed, TY Danjuma and other officers toppled the Gowon regime. Obasanjo became the Deputy Head of State. However, only six month into the regime, Murtala, the Head of State, was assassinated in a coup attempt. Obasanjo, again, disappeared, this time briefly. After resurfacing, he ‘reluctantly’ accepted to become the Head of State. It is widely believed in Nigeria that the CIA had a hand in the assassination of General Murtala ( www.dawodu.com/cia1.html http://www.dawodu.com /cia1.html, www.naijapals.com/modules /naijapals/politics/the-cia- in-nigeria http://www.naijapals.com /modules/naijapals/politics /the-cia-in-nigeria, www.pointblanknews.com/authbi oofabiola.html http://www.pointblanknews.com /authbioofabiola.html). Allegations have also been made by a tabloid in the UK, according to an edition of Hassan Sani Kontagora’s Hotlline magazine over a decade ago, that Obasanjo had a hand in the assassination. (Unfortunately, I am not able to quickly lay my hands on the reference but I will give its citation on this blog as soon as I access it)
After handing over power to civilian president in 1978, Obasanjo retired from the military and enjoyed the position of an ‘elder statesman’. He was involved in many international initiatives on the African continent. One of them, according to www.nigeriatoday.com http://www.nigeriatoday.com, is “Founder and Chairman of Africa Leadership Forum and Chairman, Board of Directors, Africa Leadership Foundation, Inc, New York.” He held those positions until 1999 when he became President of Nigeria, covering the time when the deaths of the ‘big three’ took place between 1997 and 1998. I cannot substantiate the widely held belief that the CIA funds the foundation. However, a visit to the official site of the foundation – www.africaleadership.org/partne rship.html http://www.africaleadership.org /partnership.html – reveals that it is funded by UNDP, USAID, The World Bank, Rockefeller Foundation, The Mac Arthur Foundation, and 13 other strong international partners.
And in 1995, he was convicted by a military tribunal in the coup plot against the Abacha government, for which he was sentenced to life imprisonment until President Abdulsalami Abubakar freed him after Abacha’s death in 1997.
Immediately he was released, he was sold the idea of running for the Presidency. He showed some reluctance, if I will recall well, and pleaded for time to make consultations. Finally, after Abiola was done, he had no difficulty accepting the offer. <<Idiagbon was also poisoned to his death at a conference in 1999to pave the way for Obasanjo>>
He became the President in 1999. Nigerians will recall how every step was taken to ensure he became the President, including the prevention of anyone from the northern part of the country from contesting in all the three registered political parties. Thus, Abdulsalami administration nurtured his journey from prison to the Presidency. Always a lucky guy!
As President, Obasanjo ensured that Hamza Al-Mustapha remained in prison. Pleas made to his successor, Umaru Yar’adua, to release him were rejected, presumably either for what Al-Mustapha knows or because the late President was still nursing the belief that the Major, when he was the Chief of Staff to Abacha, had a hand in the death of his elder brother, Shehu Yar’adua.
To complete the work of that mysterious hand, President Yar’adua also died of cardiac arrest, opening the gate of opportunity for his successor, who was appointed to the Vice Presidency by Obasanjo, to become the President. It is clear this hand has been helping Obasanjo either through coups or cardiac arrests. Mhm. Na wa!
NewsRescue- Fresh Facts Support Yar’Adua Poisoning Story; Revealed Wife Turai Complained
I am not sure whether Al-Mustapha’s bombshell can conclusively demolish the mountain of obscurity regarding the role of prominent officials in the deaths of the ‘big three’ of Nigeria’s 1990s and the political imbroglio that characterized those seven months. However, one thing is certain: either he remains alive in prison or his revelations will instigate yet another ‘mysterious’ death which Nigerians will not find hard to fathom.
Criminals usually forget something behind that implicates them. Major Hamza Al-Mustapha may just be one such thing.
By Dr. Aliyu U. Tilde

source http://newsrescue.com/aliyu-tilde-mysterious-hand-helps-obasanjo-coups-cardiac-arrests/#axzz2lSKwMrPI

Do not forget the sudden death of Tunde Idiagbon , just after Obasanjo was rigged into power in 1999, and as Obasanjo was being urged by sections of the media to include him in his govt.

It is believed Idiagbon died immediately after returning from a meeting to discuss a role for him in Obasanjo's govt.

Al Mustapha has hand in Abacha's murder.

1. He had was in the position to allow Abacha's security to be breached by those who eventually poisoned him.

2. He assisted Abdulsalami Abubakar who proved to be an enemy of Abacha and who is very close to IBB to succeed Abacha.

AlMustapha is probably a CIA agent lik IBB and OBJ are.

Al mustapha mad a huge mistake here

Naively, instead of staging a coup, he acceded to installing Abdulsalami and remained in the country.

The betrayal continues even against their field Marshall

Al-Mustapha has also told the court that large sum of money – $200m, 75 Sterling Pounds and N200m – was used to buy the silence political leaders of Chief Abiola’s from ethnic group – the Yoruba. The money was withdrawn on the directive of the President Abdulsalami from the Central Bank of Nigeria. Two days ago, he tendered to the court a document signed by Abdulsalami to support his claim. He also submitted a tape – to be played today in the court – showing the Yoruba leaders’ visit to the Presidency, into which, according to Al-Mustapha, they went looking angry but from which they came out smiling

I think Al Mustapha should be very careful because if there is an iota of truth in his evidence, alot of forces will be against him, and i dont think he will be able to survive it. There are lots of seen and unseen hands that manipulate and direct the affairs of this country.

GenBuhari: Al Mustapha has hand in Abacha's murder.

1. He had was in the position to allow Abacha's security to be breached by those who eventually poisoned him.

2. He assisted Abdulsalami Abubakar who proved to be an enemy of Abacha and who is very close to IBB to succeed Abacha.

AlMustapha is probably a CIA agent lik IBB and OBJ are.

That Mysterious Hand is the CIA which acts as an enforcer of pro US economic policies in the third world - Obasanjo has been their agent since the 1970s and that is why he is still alive today, put it this way Obasanjo is to Nigeria what Mobutu Sese Seko was to Zaire - a puppet sell out who handed over the wealth of his country to European enslavers (the united states govt is run by the descendants of Europeans).

This is why he was rewarded with elder statesman status when he is an enemy of the Nigerian people. There is no atrocity that Obasanjo has not committed against the people of Nigeria but he remains powerful why? Because powerful forces are backing and protecting him, many Nigerians are too st.upid to understand what is really going on.

cap28: That Mysterious Hand is the CIA which acts as an enforcer of pro US economic policies in the third world - Obasanjo has been their agent since the 1970s and that is why he is still alive today, put it this way Obasanjo is to Nigeria what Mobutu Sese Seko was to Zaire - a puppet sell out who handed over the wealth of his country to European enslavers (the united states govt is run by the descendants of Europeans).

This is why he was rewarded with elder statesman status when he is an enemy of the Nigerian people. There is no atrocity that Obasanjo has not committed against the people of Nigeria but he remains powerful why? Because powerful forces are backing and protecting him, many Nigerians are too st.upid to understand what is really going on.

I see sense in what you said, Obj has mysteriously stayed longer than people expected, his death has been predicted multiple times, but somehow, he's managed to be at the right place at the right time.

The problem is, Nigeria as a country is become increasingly inconsequential to the US, which means sooner or later, OBJ will outlive his usefulness.

What then happens? If he knows too much, then he becomes expendable.

50calibre:


I see sense in what you said, Obj has mysteriously stayed longer than people expected, his death has been predicted multiple times, but somehow, he's managed to be at the right place at the right time.

The problem is, Nigeria as a country is become increasingly inconsequential to the US, which means sooner or later, OBJ will outlive his usefulness.

What then happens? If he knows too much, then he becomes expendable.

That's true, but I don't think the US has any plans of letting go of Nigeria any time soon.

The US recently set up a number of military bases (USAFRICOM) on the continent in order to "secure" various natural resources, i think thats a clear indication that the US intend to consolidate their grip on Africa and her resources.

Up Gunners!

All this Hollywood scripts are nothing but misinformation.
In any sane country,that al mustapha as well as the other idiots who have ruled the country would have been roasted by now.

Crap write-up by an equally sh1tty brain. Aliyu Tilde is known to write out of sentiment instead of informed research and opinon. Whatever inspiration that comes from the cheap grass he smokes, he pens down.

Dr Tilde's article actually draws heavily on information that is freely available elsewhere within the public domain. There is little in this highly plausible account that should confound anyone who has taken the time and effort to study developments across the Nigerian political landscape since the early '70s.

If in doubt, do a content analysis on Andrew Young's travels across Africa and see if you don't arrive at the same conclusion.

Look across to Rwanda, where America once conveniently turned a blind eye despite repeated warnings about imminent genocide, and see if you can explain the laissez faire attitude towards Kagame's current excesses. Remember, now, that these excesses are partly responsible for the loss of 6 million lives in neigbouring, resource-rich Congo over the past 15 years. Before moving on, research what you can find on "Andrew Young and Rwanda", and you would observe that what belies his humanitarian pursuits are well-founded, national and personal business interests.

Another member of the U.S.-Uganda Friendship council is the Honorable Andrew Young, former Mayor of Atlanta and U.S. Ambassador. Andrew Young and his firm Goodworks International have helped whitewash the image of the Rwanda government and its state apparatus of terror.Andrew Young, Quincy Jones and other wealthy Americans are building (have built) mansions on the shores of Rwanda’s Lake Mwazi in areas where peasants were driven off the land or killed by the Kagame terror machine before, during and after 1994. State terror and depopulation is ongoing along Lake Kivu and in the Volcanoes National Parks regions for methane and high-end tourism development.27 [2007] Darfurism, Uganda and the U.S. War in Africa - The Spectre of Continental Genocide by Keith Harmon Snow

The criminality of the Kagame regime is whitewashed by the massive public relations campaigns involving Kagame’s special advisor/sponsors: former Ambassador Andrew Young and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair. Young’s Goodworks International also backs the Museveni regime. Buffing the shiny image of the government of Congo’s President Joseph Kabila is Stevens and Schriefer Group the Washington D.C. PR-firm that twice helped get George W. Bush elected [http://www.ssg-dc.com/]. [2008 Dec] Merchants of Death: Exposing Corporate-financed Holocaust in Africa. White Collar War Crimes, Black African Fall Guys by Keith Harmon Snow

Source

Obasanjo is, of course, only one of several ex-generals with plausible ties to foreign security agencies.
What is more, to situate these assumed connections in a proper historical context, you would have to study the evolution of Liberia - a nation founded by US colonialism, with a capital named after James Monroe, its fifth president, and presided over by Americo-Liberians for more than 130 years.

General Obasanjo more than just a "friend" of the Americans

By Elizabeth Liagin
17 March 1999

Elizabeth Liagin is an independent journalist who has done extensive research into General Olusegan Obasanjo, who won the recent presidential election in Nigeria. She submitted the following commentary in response to the 5 March article "Nigerian election fraud leaves elite in control" by Chris Talbot

The 13 February 1976 assassination of Murtala Muhammad, which brought Olusegan Obasanjo to power the first time, was widely believed at the time to be the linked to the CIA. Perhaps the same might be said for the 27 February 1999 "coup" as well.
Obasanjo is more than just a "friend" of the Americans. He is an operative. And his involvement with America's foreign policy elite is a long, sometimes complicated, but delightfully interesting story.

There are several key persons and institutions that appear over and over in the Obasanjo files. One is Donald B. Easum, who was the United States Ambassador to Nigeria at the time of the 1976 assassination. Another is the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, where Henry Kissinger, who was Secretary of State at the time of the same assassination, serves as a "counsellor." Then we have Robert S. McNamara, a former World Bank president and the Secretary of Defense who carried much of the blame for the Vietnam War. More recently, McNamara embarked on an excursion to Haiti in the aftermath of the election that brought Jean Bertrand Aristide to office. Upon his return, McNamara pronounced Aristide "vehemently" anti-US, implying that the United States would be in for another round of whatever it was that Fidel Castro stirred up in people after his revolution more than two decades before. Within a year of McNamara's assessment, Aristide was ousted by thugs on the CIA's payroll.

Back to the seventies: At the time of the coup that installed Obasanjo, the US was still reeling from the OPEC oil embargo. That action would have been all the more devastating were it not for the fact that Nigeria, under Yakubu Gowon's leadership, had opted to breach the embargo and ship oil to the West. Because of the inflated price petroleum commanded at the time, Nigeria experienced unprecedented economic growth. When Murtala took over, the US immediately became concerned, not knowing if Nigeria could be relied upon as a supplier under a new regime. In an attempt to soften up the anti-Western ideology associated with Murtala, Secretary of State Kissinger proposed a state visit. Murtala told him to stay home--something interpreted in Washington as a "ten" on the scale by which political insults are ranked.

In the months after Murtala took over in July of 1975, cables between Washington and Lagos increased in number almost five-fold. That in itself is an indicator of heightened political interest that goes beyond the mere arrival of a new administration. Some of those cables have been released via the Freedom of Information Act, and although they may not be entirely conclusive, they certainly suggest a US role in the assassination that brought Obasanjo to power in 1976.

To avoid getting overly-complicated, there were two dominant themes conveyed in most of those formerly classified cables. One concerned oil and the extent to which the new Nigerian leadership would try to use oil "as an economic weapon" against the US, to quote the language used in several dispatches. The second concerned Nigeria's growing economic, political and military status within Africa.
The written communication between Lagos and Washington--much of which, I should add, is still classified--focused mainly on political intelligence, on the anti-Western opinions of various ministers and other leaders, on Nigeria's foreign policy (including its support for the then-banned African National Congress in Lusaka), and, of course, its support for any potential OPEC strike in the future. Also of concern to Washington power brokers was the fact that Nigeria continued to acquire weapons of increasing sophistication and could be expected to effectively enforce its national interests in any regional dispute.

Among the more interesting cables is one, written by Ambassador Easum just days before Murtala's murder, that suggested Nigeria's economy would have to be brought down ("degraded," in Clinton terminology) so that development expectations would compete with the growth of national power--the assumption being that the military expansion Washington so feared would falter.

2/

A related concern was the strength of Nigeria in terms of manpower. In August of 1975, as a matter of fact, the Congressional Research Service prepared a study called "Oil Fields as Military Targets." Its purpose was to serve as a background briefing to Congress in the event a second, "air-tight" oil embargo was launched and the president decided to seek legislative approval for a war over oil. One nation evaluated, and ultimately dismissed, as a possible subject of such an attack was Nigeria. There were definite advantages to attacking Nigeria, of course. Not the least of these were the fact that (a) the country's oil reserves were largely on land, making them less costly to operate (or reconstruct in the event of sabotage) in the wake of an invasion; (b) Nigeria offered a clear benefit in terms of transit because shipments would be relatively direct, not passing through strategic "hot spots" like Hormuz; (c) the populace would be relatively unsuspecting, giving the US military the advantage that comes with surprise (which rather contradicts the notion of Congressional debate); and (d) Nigeria would be among the countries least likely to provoke retaliation by the USSR, not to mention Soviet interceptions of communications, etc. But on the negative side, two important aspects of the would-be invasion stood out. One was the terrain--similar in many respects to that which had "frustrated" US troops in Vietnam over the previous decade. The second was the density of population in the eastern and delta regions in which the purported invasion would have had to take place. The ensuing struggle, one in which tens of thousands of angry Nigerians were potential combatants, would have drawn world attention to American imperialism, the report frankly concluded, making any attempt to colonize Nigeria's oilfields a distinct liability.

[b]There were other documents produced at around the same time to corroborate this intense interest in Nigeria, the country's population, and its oil wealth. The US Information Agency or USIA (which operates the Voice of America of other propaganda actions around the world) does yearly reports on the US interest in various countries. Theirs, too, cites the pervasive worries about Nigeria becoming the economic and demographic giant of Africa, capable of spreading an anti-American ideology all over the continent, and likewise stressing that agency goals should serve the larger objective of increasing US influence over Nigeria's politics and culture. Then there was the notorious NSSM 200 (National Security Study Memorandum 200), sometimes called the "Kissinger population paper," in which it was stressed that oil and mineral-rich Nigeria could easily cope with a far larger population and would gain sufficient status to compete with the US influence over Africa. The memorandum recommended that 13 of the largest developing countries, Nigeria included, be targeted with aggressive campaigns of fertility control in order to contain their rise to power.[/b]

[b]"Whatever may be done to guard against interruptions of supply," said the document, which was adopted as official policy "guidance" in the development assistance program in late 1975, "the US economy will require large and increasing amounts of minerals from abroad, especially from less developed countries. That fact gives the US enhanced interest in the political, economic, and social stability of the supplying countries. Wherever a lessening of population pressures through reduced birth rates can increase the prospects for such stability, population policy becomes relevant to resource supplies and to the economic interests of the United States."

The same study included detailed instructions on how US policymakers could use such "multinational" institutions as the World Bank and various UN agencies to pressure governments into adopting population-reduction policies, and even hinted that food and development aid might be made conditional on actual (measurable) reductions in national fertility rates.

The general tone of the dispatches sent between Lagos and Washington was clear. Washington wanted new leadership for Nigeria. And on 13 February 1976, the assassination that brought Obasanjo to power was carried out. Curiously, it was exactly five days later, on 18 February, that President Gerald Ford signed a long-awaited and much-publicized executive order barring the assassination of foreign heads of state by the CIA.[/b]

3/

In 1979, Obasanjo became the first Nigerian military leader to voluntarily turn over his office to an elected leader, Shehu Shagari. And what came next is important. Almost right away, Obasanjo turned up in New York, where he was appointed to the board of directors of the African American Institute. The African American Institute, then located directly across the street from the United Nations, had been set up in 1954 with money that came from the CIA. Its principal task was to increase US influence over the foreign and domestic policies of the emerging African states, at that time still under formal European control.

In the next few years, Obasanjo began turning up in all kinds of interesting places--giving a high-proflie lecture at Kissinger's Center for Strategic and International Studies (which also distributes literature written by Obasanjo), for one thing, and hosting a meeting on religion and politics at the government-controlled US Institute of Peace. During the mid- and late 1980s, things were especially fascinating. Obasanjo was still on the AAI board, as he has continued to be, even during his years in detention under Sani Abacha right up to the present day. In 1988, from his vantage point at AAI and CSIS, Obasanjo launched an endeavor of his own, the Africa Leadership Forum. Assisting him from the beginning, and prominently involved over the next several years, was the notorious ex-defense secretary, World Bank boss, and probable Haiti coup-instigator, Robert McNamara.

Obasanjo's forum fits every description of a classic "front group." Its financing comes from nebulous sources, its activities are conducted for the most part under pseudonyms. It created centers for the study of military and "security" issues; organized "leadership" conferences; underwrote reports on policy matters by "local" scholars; recommended legislation (not just in Nigeria but before the AAU, as well); financed an office for conflict monitoring; recruited journalists for propaganda campaigns; and sought out young academics for political training--most of these actions presented as the initiative of host country institutions that were, in reality, Obasanjo creations. In the 10 years between the founding of the forum and Obasanjo's decision to make a run for president, the forum also worked with the development agencies of various nations, the US Information Service, and other big league collaborators in the Western world.

According to forum literature, the source of the group's money is yet another institution, the Africa Leadership Foundation, which was founded in 1988 by Obasanjo simultaneously with the forum's creation. Indeed, the foundation exists for the express purpose of financing forum activities. Obasanjo's New York-based foundation is not listed in the phone book, but forum records list an address at a residential condominium on upscale Park Avenue, where foundation chief of operations and Obasanjo confident Hans d'Orville resides. D'Orville, a German national who speaks with a British accent, was asked about the origin of several million dollars which had suddenly surfaced in Nigeria right after Obasanjo declared his intent to compete for the presidency last year. He insisted he didn't know.

The year 1988 was also notable for the inauguration of a "population policy" in Nigeria, financed with more than $100 million from the US Agency for International Development and the World Bank, and officially approved by Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, Sani Abacha's predecessor and a personal friend of Obasanjo's. One of the key actors in that operation was the CIA-linked African American Institute in New York, on whose board Obasanjo sat.

The African American Institute was at the time headed by none other than Donald B. Easum, the former US Ambassador to Nigeria who suggested the subversion of Nigeria's booming economy and on whose watch the assassination of Murtala Muhammad took place.

4/

A 1988 contract between the Agency for International Development and AAI called for the latter to work to generate "a policy climate conducive to the successful execution of a national family planning effort [in Nigeria] and to strengthen federal, state, and local government capability in strategic planning in order to efficiently mobilise and execute an effective and self-sustaining national family planning programme." Babangida, ironically, is also rumored to have had a part in the 1976 coup that installed Obasanjo.

Two years after the national population policy was launched, Obasanjo was again called upon to assist in the promotion of the US agenda in Nigeria, this time acting under the auspices of his Africa Leadership Forum. The occasion was a June 1990 World Bank conference on population control in Lagos, organized, at least in part, by Obasanjo ally and advisor McNamara. At the close of the meeting, which was held secretively in a heavily-guarded Lagos compound, Obasanjo stepped forward to openly demand that the federal military government of Nigeria adopt a mandatory limit of three children per woman.

The money Obasanjo brought to his recent presidential campaign, which became the source of a major scandal in the Nigeria press, is just the proverbial tip of the iceberg. For years Obasanjo has associated with key actors in the hierarchy of global politics. In his work with the CIA-created African American Institute and the Africa Leadership Forum, he has overseen projects that could literally be used as textbook examples of Cold War era covert operations--"constituency-building" campaigns, intelligence gathering, the penetration of the news media, the recruitment of unsuspecting local collaborators, and the creation of a network of inter-linked groups and dummy corporations through which major operations can be orchestrated and financed. As brutal as was Obasanjo's first period in office, it is likely that Nigerians will experience even worse in the coming years.

Source

eGuerilla,

I am surprised at your write up.
For once you and i seem to agree.

Have you also reflected and changed your view about Abacha being a looter, since anybody that does a little research will realise that it is the same enemies of Nigeria namely Obasanjo, IBB etc that falsely blamed Abacha of looting after his death.

GenBuhari: eGuerilla,

I am surprised at your write up.
For once you and i seem to agree.

Have you also reflected and changed your view about Abacha being a looter, since anybody that does a little research will realise that it is the same enemies of Nigeria namely Obasanjo, IBB etc that falsely blamed Abacha of looting after his death.

My views on Abacha has not changed by one iota. You think you are addressing someone wet behind the ears here, huh?
Unlike you who is wedded to dogma and the cult of personality, I have absolutely no problem calling things as I see them.

^
On the contrary, I would argue that it is you that is not allowing dogma and the unfairly portrayed personality of Abacha to allow yourself to assess him objectively without prejudice.

I put it to you sir, that the only evidence (falsified) that Abacha looted were presented to us Nigerians by the same enemies of Nigeria mentioned on this thread i.e Obasanjo, IBB/Abdulsalami Abubakar (IBB's relation),with full support of Swiss authorities and World Bank (who's ruinous loans were rejected by Abacha).

Moderator pls take this to front page. Its very informative.