It is not known to
this column how close Brigadier Sani Abacha was to Major General Muhammadu
Buhari by December 1983. It was Abacha who announced at the end of a few
minutes of martial music on New Year ’s Eve that the government of President
Shehu Shagari had been thrown into the dust bin of history. Buhari became the
fulcrum of that history as Nigeria ’s
head of state. On August 27, 1985, there was another game, the Revolving Doors’
game. Buhari was out, thrown out, while Ibrahim Babangida, was in, thrown into
the pinnacle of political power in Nigeria .
Babangida clamped
Buhari into the dungeon for some months where he cooled his feet, while his
colleagues were bestriding the Nigerian political and military firmament like
they owned the world. Babangida left or was forced to leave the throne after
eight years of dangerous foot work. He called Chief Ernest Shonekan, a
successful private sector entrepreneur, to come and take the baton of
leadership.