How Abacha’s regime ended my farming career -Obasanjo

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has disclosed how his decision to retire from the Nigerian Army and pursue farming eventually ended with his arrest and imprisonment under the late military Head of State, General Sani Abacha.

Obasanjo said his farming business was doing well before the political developments under Abacha’s administration disrupted his activities, eventually leading to his arrest in 1995.

The former president made the revelation while recounting his experience under the military regime in an interview published by BBC News Pidgin on Tuesday.

Obasanjo explained that he ventured into agriculture after leaving office as Nigeria’s military Head of State in 1979, having attained the rank of a four-star general at the age of 42.

He said he considered his military career complete after rising to the highest rank and occupying the country’s highest political office at the time.

According to him, farming provided an alternative after his retirement from public service, and the business initially progressed successfully.

“When I was leaving government as military Head of State, I was leaving too early. I didn’t join the army to retire at the age of 42.

“At the age of 42, I had become a four-star general. There’s nothing else I can do in the army. I’ve become the military Head of State. That’s the highest political office I could rise.

“So what can I do? I decided I would go into farming. It really was going well, and it went well until I was arrested,” he said.

However, his account of the period took a different turn when he recalled rejecting an offer of political asylum from the United States despite warnings that he faced arrest if he returned to Nigeria.

Obasanjo said the American ambassador contacted him while he was travelling and informed him that the US government was prepared to offer him asylum because of concerns about his safety.

He said he rejected the offer because he believed he had committed no offence that warranted him seeking refuge outside Nigeria.

The former president alleged that Abacha had decided he must be eliminated to prevent him from standing in the way of the military ruler’s plans.

“I haven’t done anything. What do they want to arrest me for? I don’t want political asylum,” he recalled telling himself.

Obasanjo said his passport was seized when he returned to Nigeria, after which he headed to his farm.

He recounted that his security personnel informed him that government security operatives had surrounded the property.

A police officer dressed in mufti subsequently approached him, saying an Assistant Inspector-General of Police (AIG) wanted him to report to the police station.

Obasanjo said he challenged the officer, arguing that if the AIG wanted to see him, he should personally come to the farm rather than send someone to invite him.

He eventually drove himself to the police station, where the AIG informed him that he had been instructed to arrest him.

The former president also recalled how former United States President Jimmy Carter intervened by appealing to Abacha on his behalf.

According to him, the intervention initially resulted in his placement under house arrest after he had been confined at an undisclosed location.

However, he said security operatives later arrived at about 1am while he was playing squash and took him away to prison.

Obasanjo was arrested in 1995 over allegations of involvement in a coup plot against Abacha’s government. He was subsequently tried by a military tribunal and sentenced to life imprisonment, although the sentence was later reduced to 15 years.

He regained his freedom in June 1998 following Abacha’s death.

Obasanjo, who became military Head of State in February 1976 following the assassination of General Murtala Muhammed, governed until October 1979, when he handed power to the civilian administration of Shehu Shagari.

He later returned to the presidency after winning the 1999 general election and was inaugurated as Nigeria’s civilian president on May 29, 1999.

He served two terms before handing over to Umaru Musa Yar’Adua in May 2007.