Anyanwu to Ohakim: You Must Publish My Letter of Apology to Abacha

Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja

Renowned journalist and ex-federal lawmaker, Senator Chris Anyanwu, yesterday challenged former Governor of Imo state, Ikedi Ohakim, to publish a letter of apology she (Anyanwu) purportedly wrote to former Nigerian dictator, Sani Abacha.

Ohakim had in an interview while reacting to allegations made against him by Anyanwu in her book, ‘Bold Leap’, accused her of being a benefactor of the military regime and failing to mention in the book that she apologised to the late maximum ruler for the lies against him.

“Madam Anyanwu is one of those Nigerians who could not have gone anywhere without the patronage of the military. Madam Anyanwu, in her book, failed to mention that she wrote a lengthy letter of apology to Gen. Sani Abacha and the federal government and owned up that she told lies in order to sell her magazine. I challenge her to deny that, and I will publish a copy of that apology for Nigerians to see the type of person she really is,” Ohakim claimed.

But in a statement personally signed by the publisher, she stated that although she has a great deal of respect for the office the governor once occupied, an ‘Excellency’ who departs from the standard expected of the office to engage in street brawls and beer parlor talk invites insults.

“And finally, that bizarre story about a letter to Abacha, (may his soul rest in peace). How does a man of Governor Ikedi’s age and standing in society sit down and conjure up an asinine, egregious lie about someone writing apology to Abacha and the federal government.

“Is it intelligent to tell tales that are so hair-brained they can make a dog laugh? No one could write Abacha or his government and it became Nigeria’s greatest secret. How did it happen that a document that could have provided the propaganda hungry administration its greatest campaign weapon globally got locked up and no one else mentioned it, wrote about it in the numerous books written on that era in these 30 years? Except Ohakim!

“Where was this letter written; when was it written, by whom and to whom was it given? And how did it happen that it was only lkedi Ohakim that had access to it? And by the way, where was lkedi Ohakim 30 years ago, in the ‘days of terror’ when people were fighting, dying, escaping and suffering for Democracy? Was he helping the oppressors?
“There had to have been a relationship with the administration for them to have handed him this ‘dud’. Ohakim must explain this; explain what he did for a living at the time and what qualified him to keep Abacha’s secrets.

“When we get a glimpse into his opaque professional past, then we will appreciate why it is not beyond the realms of possibility for him to weave and fabricate this great lie,” Anyanwu wrote.
According to Anyanwu, who was herself imprisoned by the Abacha regime, that kind of ‘heinous idea’ could not be contemplated, uttered, let alone written by her, even under the gun under that government.
“I dare Governor Ikedi Ohakim to produce the letter in his possession in court before forensic experts before the eyes of the world. He should remember it was a global story not just local and there were some who knew better.

“Coming out and telling this joke will make him an international clown. But Let him produce the letter he got from Gen. Abacha and the government. Federal Government is a continuum. It should verify the letter in Ohakim’s hand, explain how it manifested and who produced it.

“Now, the letter writer will be tested for forgery. Let us understand that the games people played in their childhood may not carry them through old age. This time, His Excellency will not go on unchallenged.
“He has claimed to have a letter. He has threatened to publish it. I dare him to bring that letter physically (not publish). Bring it to be tested for forgery. Governor Ohakim has the right to reply to any publication about him but he must know that he is to do so within the ambit of the law,” the former federal lawmaker added.