The man in this picture was Gen Sani Abacha’s Aide-de-Camp
His name is Major-General Abdulmalik Jibrin rtd
He was the last man that saw Abacha alive
He was the Aide-de-Camp (ADC) to late military head of state General Sani Abacha was retired Major-General Abdulmalik Jibrin, though Major Hamza Al-Mustapha is also frequently associated with Abacha's inner circle as his Chief Security Officer (CSO).
Key Figures and Roles
Major-General Abdul-Malik Jibrin (Rtd): Served directly as the official Aide-de-Camp (ADC) to General Sani Abacha during his regime
He later described Abacha in some interviews as a well-meaning and misunderstood leader.
Major Hamza Al-Mustapha:
Frequently confused or conflated with the ADC role, but actually served as the powerful Chief Security Officer (CSO) to Abacha from 1993 to 1998
The closet person to any military or Security Senior Officer is the ADC not the CSO
He is the only person that follows him everywhere even to the toilet
He sits in the car with him and remains the first and last person he sees every day
You cannot get to the him without his knowledge and express permission
He is his most trusted staff, which is why they can take bullets for their principal
In some circumstances, they even taste his food before he eats
It is therefore absurd how Major Al Mustapha arrogates to himself as the master know it all when it comes to everything about Abacha
In as much as I know how powerful Mustapha was during the dark wearing sunshade man was in his days , he cannot by any chance disclaim every narrative against Abacha
In an interview granted Daily Trust on Saturday 2nd September 2017..Gen Jubril said this
"DT: At a time you were the aide de camp (ADC) to the late General Sani Abacha. What is the most striking life lessons you learnt in that capacity?
Major-General Jibrin: As ADC, I was coordinating the activities of the Commander-in-Chief (C-in-C) as everybody that wanted to see him must pass through me.
The opportunity exposed me a lot, especially under the person of the standing of General Sani Abacha. He was a gentleman who was mostly misunderstood, he was not somebody who actually tied himself to a particular schedule and you could have problem of coordinating or predicting him in terms of his daily activities.
When there was a visitor, you had to listen to him/her and articulate if he/she had an important information because if you dismiss him/her and it turns out that he/she had important information, it was bad for you.
Therefore, that made me to develop additional sense of patience to listen and sieve out what was okay and put it down in writing and see the C-in-C and tell him who wanted to see him and left him to decide. That office exposed me a lot to meet people within and outside the country and it has also taught me to develop interpersonal relationship on how to interact with people.
DT: Being the ADC to the late head of state must have been full of pressure. How did you handle it?
Major-General Jibrin: You are absolutely correct as the work was pressing and everybody and correspondences boiled down to my table. You cannot underestimate the enormous pressure and stress. If you look at my pictures then, you would see that I was winking my eyes every second trying to stay awake.
My day started by 5am after morning prayers and ended the following day between 2 and 3am. I went to my office by 7am. With the chief of protocol we usually went and waited for the C-in-C to come out and escorted him to the office.
Some people preferred to see him in the house in the night after office hours. So after office hours, I would go to my family by 8pm and come back to the villa to facilitate those who were given appointment to see the C-in-C. When he came out, usually around 12am, I must be there and go in to tell him the people that wanted to see him. I would not close until those who came to see him were finished. I would then go back to my family in the morning.
I had my own visitors waiting too. In short I had just between two and two and a half hours sleep every day, that was the routine. I am privileged to have had the opportunity to work as ADC to General Sani Abacha."
While I am not in a position to know whether what the Ex Director of DSS Amachree wrote about Abacha’s death ( in his current book ) is true or not , the last person that saw Abacha take his last breathe was his ADC not CSO
He was the one that called to inform Mustapha of his death
If there was any arrangements for Abacha to eat the " forbidden fruits " , they must pass through Gen Jubrin ( he may even be the supplier 😆)
I'll wait to hear his own version of the story ( if he will ever do ) rather than listen to an Al Mustapha who has mastered the act of propaganda even as a politician .
Chris Kehinde Nwandu is the Publisher of CKN News