Abacha stopped pacing and looked hard at the man. "The father? No. I am the driver. And if I stop driving, the bus will crash."
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During these 100 days, Nigeria faced severe sanctions from the Commonwealth and the European Union. The United States and the UK were vocal in their disapproval of the "self-succession" plan, leading to a period of "diplomatic winter" for the country. June 8, 1998: The Sudden End last 100 days of abacha pdf 11
Diya’s alleged plan: use military police to seize Abuja, kill Abacha and his security chiefs, and install a new military council to accelerate transition. Whether genuine or staged (Abacha used coup accusations to eliminate rivals), the arrests sent shockwaves. Diya and his co-accused were tried secretly by a military tribunal. All were sentenced to death on April 28, 1998 — just 42 days before Abacha’s own death. Their sentences were never carried out because Abacha died first.
The final week of Abacha's life was a whirlwind of secret meetings. On June 7, 1998, Abacha received Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat at the Abuja airport, which would be his last public appearance. In the early hours of June 8, 1998, the military dictator died suddenly under mysterious circumstances. While the official medical report cited a sudden heart attack, widespread political rumors pointed to a coup by poisoning, famously involving a plate of imported apples. Deconstructing the Search: "PDF 11" Abacha stopped pacing and looked hard at the man
This article reconstructs that period using declassified U.S. State Department cables, Nigerian press reports (mainly The Guardian , Tell , and The News magazines), and posthumous accounts from Abacha’s associates and family members.
During these final 100 days, the regime created a deeply coercive political environment. Five state-sanctioned political parties were allowed to operate. In an unprecedented move mockingly labeled by politician Chief Bola Ige as the all five parties officially adopted Abacha as their sole consensus presidential candidate. I am the driver
Adding to the mystery, Abacha's body was flown to Kano and buried the same day according to Muslim rites, without an autopsy. This secrecy, combined with the fact that he was about to retire top military officers (including his successor, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar), has led to persistent theories of foul play.
His goal, as stated in the book’s introduction, is to focus on “issues rather than persons,” but he does not shy away from naming the key political actors who shaped the era. The author’s style is praised for its simplicity, freshness, and the way it combines the techniques of a diarist, reporter, and commentator to expose the “key fault lines in Nigerian politics”. The narrative is driven by his desire to dissect critical, recurring Nigerian issues: the nature of the Nigerian state, the failure of its political party system, the resilience of civil society in the face of tyranny, and the long-standing crisis of leadership.