How a dangerous joke on Abacha nearly landed me in DSS custody — Ali Baba

Veteran comedian Ali Baba has shared a hilarious yet tense moment from his career, recounting how a joke about late General Sani Abacha’s sunglasses at a cultural event in Abuja nearly landed him in hot water.

Speaking on Leadership podcast with Stephen Akintayo, Ali Baba, one of Nigeria’s most beloved comedians, detailed an encounter that could have easily gone wrong.

He said he was hosting an event where the Akwa Ibom cultural troupe was set to perform before Abacha, who was then the Head of State. “The first close encounter I had with death was with Abacha when he was president. I was at an event in Abuja, and it was time for the Akwa Ibom cultural group to perform. Abacha was wearing those iconic foldable sunshades,” Ali Baba recalled with a chuckle.

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He described how he introduced the troupe, hyping their performance, which was intended to celebrate their state’s creation. “I said, ‘All the way from the Niger Delta is the Akwa Ibom cultural troupe. They are thrilled that their state was created, and this colourful and cultural performance is in honour of His Excellency.’”

However, in a light-hearted twist, Ali Baba turned to Abacha and quipped, “Sir, are you wearing dark shades? You don’t want to see this performance? They’re going to shake and wriggle their waists, sir. Remove the shades nau.” Abacha took off his sunglasses, setting them aside as the performance resumed.

Ali Baba said he noticed security personnel, specifically DSS officers, positioning themselves backstage. “He was talking to someone, and I was laughing. Then he removed his glasses, folded them neatly, and set them aside. I told the group to restart their performance, but as soon as I said that, I saw DSS boys going backstage like they were waiting for their father,” Ali Baba said, recounting the tense moment.

The comedian said he quickly climbed off the stage and made his way to Abacha, sitting on the ground near him. “Abacha looked at me and said, ‘Ubanka, you are afraid, ko? After you’ve joked, you don’t want to go back?’” Ali Baba admitted that he held onto those sunglasses for years, seeing them as a treasured memento of his brush with the late military ruler. “I took the glasses and wore them. He said, ‘You can’t wear them now; the show is on.’ I told him the show was for him.”

He added that the moment took a heartfelt turn when Abacha later delivered a speech, mentioning that it was the first time he had laughed so much and delivered a speech without his glasses. “So, when he finished his speech, he asked someone to bring his purse. The man who brought it said, ‘You are lucky fa; your family would not have seen you again,’” Ali Baba recalled, revealing that the man was Hamza Al-Mustapha, Abacha’s Chief Security Officer. “Since that day, we became friends,” Ali Baba added.

Hamza Al-Mustapha, a retired Nigerian Army major and intelligence officer, served as Chief Security Officer to Abacha from 1993 until the general’s death in 1998. Following Abacha’s sudden demise on 8 June 1998, Al-Mustapha played a role in managing the immediate transition of power, which saw General Abdulsalami Abubakar emerge as the new Head of State the next day.