Nigeria’s ex-ambassador to the United Nations, Matthew Mbu, has revealed that he knew about the plan by the late Head of State, General Sani Abacha to remove Nigeria’s Interim leader, Chief Ernest Shonekan, from office within three months. Mbu’s revelation is contained in his autobiography entitled “Dignity in Service” due for public presentation on Tuesday next week at the Yar’Adua International Conference Centre, Abuja.
The son of the late diplomat, Senator Matthew Mbu Jr., eulogised his father and said that he would be proud to have him again as a father if there was another opportunity because of his outstanding qualities that helped to build the Nigerian nation. “We are very proud of the legacies of our late father and, today, we are happy that he was more concerned with rendering national service above self service while alive, something that is fast declining in today’s Nigeria.
“Today’s politics is dominated by people who want to seek personal gains above national interest and that readily explains why the nation is not making the right progress despite many years of politics,” Senator Mbu Jr. lamented. In the book, the late diplomat, who was the foreign affairs minister in the government, said he had hint of the Abacha’s coup against Shonekan from the United Nations but did not specify who the actual person was.
The Boki-born politician and career public servant wrote, “Thereafter, they gave me hints that we would not last more than two to three months in office and that they were going to sack us. I had hints about the eventual takeover by General Abacha from the UN. “When I came back, I packed all my things as usual but I could neither get Shonekan to understand me, nor even his boss, IBB. I said, “Don’t make the mistake of handing over to Shonekan; if you do that, in three months Abacha will take over and Shonekan will be jettisoned from his seat.”
“Exactly three months later, it happened. IBB phoned me and said, “You said it!” and I replied, “What did I tell you?” There was an intimate relationship that existed between IBB and Abacha. IBB told me that Abacha had done him favours in the past. He had saved him from two coups. Probably that explains why they were so intimate because he was the only one who could come and interrupt him at anytime and stay with him for hours. “As the foreign affairs minister, I had a lot to do and I could not wait until when IBB was through with Abacha, other ministers could not do it but I could go there at anytime and I would always ask IBB, “What is it between you and this man, haven’t you done enough for him?” He would reply “He did so much for me.”
Source: Vanguard
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