Professor Sadiq Suleiman Wali was General Sani Abacha’s personal doctor. Professor Wali spoke to the press, revealing the details of Abacha’s sudden death seventeen years after his mysterious demise.
An event in 1998 has changed the Nigerian history. By June 1998 Sani
Abacha had ruled Nigeria for almost five years. Isolated by the West,
Abacha had promised democratic election and a transition to the civilian
rule by October 1998, but with just months to go the country’s five
licensed political parties all nominated general Abacha as their
candidate for president, his rule looked set to continue.Professor Sadiq
Suleiman Wali was General Sani Abacha’s personal doctor. Professor Wali
describes Abacha as “
a quiet person, calm person. He could be really firm on some issues, but normally he didn’t talk much.”
Professor Wali has served as physician to the three previous Nigerian
heads of state after being reluctantly recruited to that role in the
early 1980-s. He considered himself politically neutral and lived
outside the sprawling heavily guarded presidential complex known as Aso
Rock in the capital Abuja. But he was a fixture in the presidential
entourage. Professor Wali says Abacha’s health was OK just before his
death. “
Abacha was generally healthy though he had some health
issues, he was treated, he’s responded [to that treatment] very well. He
didn’t have any heart-related diseases at that time.” On the 7 of
June, 1998 Wali’d been with Abacha, as he hosted the Palestinian leader
Yasser Arafat and all seemed well. The next morning General Sani Abacha
was due to fly to the OAU summit being held in Burkina-Faso and
professor Wali was due to go with him. Professor Wali recounts that “
around
6 am I had a phone call from his security officers, and they said,
“please come, come to the villa, come urgently!” Before I even could
get ready, they came and picked me. I had no idea what it all was about.”
The car carrying the doctor sped towards the presidential villa through
a special entrance – a shortcut which only the president was allowed to
use.The doctor realised something was seriously wrong.
“
I arrived
then I saw chief security there and he said “doctor come in, please,
come in!” We all rushed and I just saw the president. There was another
doctor who came earlier, resuscitating him. Abacha was in the sitting
room. He was on the couch. He was in his normal work clothes. I didn’t
panic. I’ve seen a lot of serious problems before in my practice, but to
affect him was very tough, definitely. I joined and we did as much as
we could to resuscitate him. But I realised that he was dead because he
was firming. We just continued resuscitation and even injected some
things, but it didn’t work.”
0 comments: