by Demola Rewaju

The name ‘Sani Abacha’ and the word ‘honour’ (or the Americanised cousin ‘honor’) must never be used in the same sentence without a question mark somewhere in the sentential structure even if it means breaking all the rules of grammar. The man himself never understood what the word meant.

The big question of whether former military leader and dictator General Sani Abacha should have been on the list of awardees at last week’s centenary celebration is still raging. Nobel laureate Prof. Wole Soyinka chose to abstain from attendance because he felt a name like that of Abacha’s should have been expunged. While he is within his personal right to have done what he did (as we all are to the extent of personal choice and freedom), I think it was right from the most important point of the law for Abacha to be on that list. I also think many of us jump to hasty conclusions that befuddles one whenever I come across criticisms that lack any depth of political understanding, pragmatism and stark reality.

On the letter written by Abacha’s son Sadiq criticising Soyinka’s non-attendance and disparagement of his father, i think he started well but succumbed somewhere along the line to the temptation to go after Wole Soyinka’s person which is on this earth deified for many of us. He started by stating the very first law of thought in philosophy – The Law of Identity that states that what is, is, and simply cannot be. For example – 7 is an odd number and cannot be an even number. What is? Abacha was a former leader of Nigeria: simple. It was on this basis that he was listed among those to be honoured (question mark).

Hate it or love it: Abacha was once our head of states and if any list is compiled anywhere in the world of former leaders of Nigeria and his name does not appear, such a list is a belated attempt to deny history, obliterate and mutilate it or distort it.

That is not to say that Sani Abacha was loved by many across the country especially in the south – he was not and with good reason. Abacha presided over the worst reign of terror in this nation, many unresolved murders cases are still pending because of his atrocities which are well documented by history. Furthermore, if Babangida institutionalised corruption, Abacha made it a degree awarding institution. He is once said to have ordered the former CBN governor Paul Ogwuma to mint money for him. To say however that he should be expunged from a list of honours is an hopeless misunderstanding of the law and reminds me of Governor Kayode Fayemi’s attempt to say that Engr. Segun Oni was never governor of the state simply because the courts ruled that he was not elected. Such a spurious position leads to much confusion and an unbridgeable gap in history.

If I find out few years from now that my wife (Chubby Cheeks) is a witch (a suspicion I actually have) and I decide to divorce her after many kids, I cannot wish away our years together or say I was never married since the marriage was legal and consummated. This is the simple standpoint of logic and anyone with half a sense will see this but as always, many of us speak on matters we do not understand: Abacha was not honoured (necessary question mark) for corruption and all the ills of his regime but as a former leader of this country. I did say in this article that Fela should not have been on that list but he was honoured under the category of Internationally Acclaimed Artistes and was rightly qualified. The point I was making though was that…never mind, just click here and read it.

Hate or love it: Lord Lugard amalgamated Nigeria, Flora Shaw named the country for whatever purpose and that is simply another fact of history we cannot deny. Even if I can divorce my wife and deny my years with her and our children, can I deny the fact that my mother birthed me if I find out she’s a witch? No way…both ways i.e. I can never do and she can never be.

It was sheer genius for President Jonathan to put Chief MKO Abiola’s name on that list in category with other living and dead former presidents of Nigeria. Abiola was president-elect and indeed the people’s president but from the Law of Identity, we can by no means refer to him as a former president. I suggest the president should go further and grant him one of this nation’s highest honour – GCON or GCFR. If Aliko Dangote has GCON behind his name, Abiola is equally qualified.

Prof. Wole Soyinka was well within his right to refuse being honoured with Abacha (necessary question mark). I remember when as a students’ union leader the president’s ADC assaulted another union leader. We were to embark on a trip the following day and on sighting the said ADC, I blatantly refused to board the union bus in protest against his act of molestation. They pleaded with me for an hour or so and the ADC apologised severally before I joined them on the trip from Ado-Ekiti to Lagos. Refusing to do something out of freewill in protest of another event, no matter how unrelated, is a right guaranteed to all men.

By that strange guaranteed right, Sadiq Abacha was right to defend Sani Abacha’s right to be honoured (necessary question mark); the man was afterall his father and what is, simply is. He should however take a lesson in such business: never attack the other person’s honour in defence of your position. State your philosophical basis and justification, push your position further by highlighting your father’s achievements in office, admit he made mistakes but do not attack personalities except in politics.

What is, is.

The name ‘Sani Abacha’ and the word ‘honour’ (or the Americanised cousin ‘honor’) must never be used in the same sentence without a question mark somewhere in the sentential structure even if it means breaking all the rules of grammar. The man himself never understood what the word meant.

Have a beautiful weekend and you know I was joking about my wife’s possibly being a witch, abi?

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Demola Rewaju blogs at www.demolarewajudaily.com

 

Op-ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija.