…Recalls the role late President Buhari played in his re-election as deputy Commonwealth Secretary General
Chief Emeka Anyaoku
Former Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, on Friday night recounted how he had to resort to subtle blackmail before he could be allowed by the late former Head of State, General Sani Abacha, to see Chief Moshood Abiola, winner of the annulled June 12, 1993, presidential election in detention.
The seasoned diplomat also recalled the role late President Muhammadu Buhari played in his emergence as the Commonwealth Deputy Secretary General, how he was the only minister in the toppled Shehu Shagari’s administration allowed to travel out following his exoneration from corruption by the new regime, and his failed attempts to prevent Ken Saro-Wiwa and other eight Ogoni activists from being killed, as well as his intervention in the detention of former head of state, Olusegun Obasanjo.
Chief Anyaoku, the third Secretary General of the Commonwealth, who was guest on ARISE News Prime Time programme, shared his thoughts on the attempt by the Patriots to give Nigeria “a truly Federal Constitution”, emphasising that contributing to achieving this would be his last wish.
Speaking on his role in terms of promoting democracy in the Commonwealth, especially in countries like South Africa, Malawi, Seychelles, and Kenya, Anyaoku regretted that he was not able to achieve the same in Nigeria under Abacha, though he tried.
Narrating his encounter with Abacha over the Abiola saga, Chief Anyaoku recalled that “In 1994, three weeks after M.K.O Abiola was detained, and in my meeting with General Abacha, I said I wanted to see Abiola in detention, and his first reaction was ‘no, no, no. He has been charged with treason against this country’.
“And I said to him, Your Excellency, you must be aware that the media have been reporting that Abiola is being tortured and he’s not well. And when I leave you, the media is bound to ask me about Abiola, and I will feel obliged to tell them that I asked you to let me see Abiola and you refused, and that will confirm this.
“He paused for a while and said, well, you’ll see him. So, I did see Abiola in prison, in detention. I was the only person who saw him in detention, and I had a long conversation with him. At that time, I had a proposal for resolving the crisis in Nigeria. I got him to agree to my proposal. Then I went to Abacha, but Abacha didn’t agree to the proposal, so that didn’t fly”.
Anyaoku also recalled a similar encounter with Abacha over the arrest and detention of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo.
According to him, “And of course, my last conversation with Abacha was the day he detained General Obasanjo. I called him and said that was very unwise, and that it wouldn’t serve our country’s image. That Obasanjo was well respected internationally, as a democrat, the first military ruler who handed over government to civilians voluntarily. And General Abacha said to me, well, Excellency, you know I love our country, to die for it. And I said to him, well, Your Excellency, I’m older than you. I have loved the country longer than you have.
“He said, well, if I can’t convince you, there’s no point in continuing this conversation because I had said to him that if the evidence against Obasanjo was that strong, he should put him under house detention, surround his house with security people, rather than take him to prison”.
Acknowledging Buhari’s role in his re-election as deputy secretary general of the Commonwealth after his three months stint as foreign affairs minister under Shagari, Chief Anyaoku said, “The notice calling for nominations was to end on February 16, 1984, and the coup – we were displaced literally first of January.
“It was midnight of the eve of the new year. And I must say that I was the first Minister allowed by the government of Buhari and Idiagbon to leave the country because General Buhari and Idiagbon said to me, Anyaoku, we know you have nothing to do with corruption, and therefore you’re free to travel. They said we cannot have you as a foreign minister, and I said to them, well, thank you very much for recognising that I had nothing to do with corruption and I would of course advise you, even if you were so minded not to have me as foreign minister, because as your foreign minister, I would need to go and spend a lot of time explaining how I came from serving a civilian government to a military government.
“The process for electing a deputy Commonwealth Secretary General involved the head of state of your country nominating you for the position. And General Buhari and Idiagbon, when I told them that was the process, that since they said I had nothing to do with corruption, that my new head of state would need to write a letter to the Commonwealth Secretary General nominating me for re-election to the job and Buhari said to me, yes, we will do so. I will do so.
“And he not only wrote the letter, but he sent the secretary to the government, Liman Ciroma, to carry the letter to London. This was how I returned to the Commonwealth because by then, three other Commonwealth governments had nominated candidates. But when my name appeared, they withdrew, and I was unanimously re-elected”.
Also going down memory lane how Nigeria was suspended from the Commonwealth over the killing of Ken Saro-Wiwa and other eight Ogoni activists, Chief Anyaoku explained that “when reports got to me that Ken Saro-Wiwa and his nine colleagues had been sentenced to death, I personally called General Abacha and appealed to him not to execute them, and I got Nelson Mandela to also call him and appeal to him.
“But on the eve of our meeting – Commonwealth heads of government meeting in New Zealand in Auckland – Ken Saro-Wiwa and his colleagues were executed, and the Commonwealth heads of government, pressed by Nelson Mandela, had no option but to suspend Nigeria”.
Expressing his desire for the emergence of a truly federal constitution in his lifetime which had engaged the attention of the Patriots, Chief Anyaoku said “I am concerned that Nigeria is a pluralistic country. As a country, the component parts of which belong to different cultural, religious groups, and the experience the world over of pluralistic countries, those that have survived as individual political entities are those that have truly Federal Constitutions. But those that did not have fully federal constitutions ended up disintegrating, like Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia and Sudan, and so on.
“And so, I’m very concerned and anxious that Nigeria, a pluralistic country should have a truly Federal Constitution.
“The Constitution we have now is not a truly Federal Constitution. We began independence with truly Federal Constitution, and that was why Nigeria made greater progress in the early years of Independence. So, the Patriots are committed to Nigeria’s unity and Nigeria’s governance structure being truly Federal. That’s why we organised the summit meeting that attracted representatives from all over the country.
“And before the summit meeting, we had zonal consultations at which views were expressed, and all the views we gathered are in support of a new constitution around the country. That’s what I’m very, very keen on”.
Asked what was left for him to do that he had not done at 92 years, Chief Anyaoku posited, “I would wish for my country to have a constitution that enables it to develop in peace, that enables it to tackle the current serious challenges of insecurity, massive poverty and dwindling sense of national unity. I believe that a constitution that enables it to reverse the trends that exist currently, that’s my wish. And if I can contribute to achieving that, that will be my last contribution to my country”.