Who Knows Tomorrow?

By Prince Tunde Aiyekooto

Look well at this picture again. It is not just three men walking. It is three destinies walking side by side, not knowing what tomorrow would do to each of them.

Verbatim Details Of The Image

In the foreground, on the left, walks General Sani Abacha in full military uniform.

He wears a dark green, short-sleeved military tunic, buttoned to the neck, with two breast pockets. On his left chest are rows of colourful service ribbons and a round medal. On his shoulders are epaulettes carrying stars and insignia of his rank as Head of State and Commander-in-Chief. On his collar are red tabs. His face is set, unsmiling, eyes narrowed, jaw firm. He walks with the heavy, confident stride of a man who has just taken power. He wears a black wristwatch on his left wrist and dark trousers.

In the foreground, on the right, walks Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola — MKO Abiola.

He wears a flowing, cream-white agbada, richly embroidered on the chest, over a matching buba and sokoto. On his head is his signature long white fila cap, the Yoruba cap he was famous for. His face is turned slightly away, thoughtful, almost weary, as if he is listening or weighing what is happening around him. He walks shoulder-to-shoulder with Abacha, not behind him, not ahead of him, as an equal.

And behind them, in the middle, is the man the question is asking about.

That man is Bola Ahmed Tinubu

He is partly obscured by Abacha and Abiola, but clearly visible between them. He wears a light beige / cream native dress, a long-sleeved buba, and a patterned Yoruba cap — a fila with red and brown embroidery. His face is young, clean-shaven, serious, eyes fixed forward. He is walking just a step behind the two leaders, watching, listening, following the conversation.

Behind Tinubu, at the far left edge of the frame, is a soldier in a green beret and military uniform, part of Abacha’s security detail. Behind him, further back, another man in a red cap is faintly visible.

The background is green trees and the white wall of a government building, in daylight, outdoors.

That is the verbatim picture:

Abacha in uniform on the left, Abiola in white agbada on the right, and Tinubu in beige native wear and patterned cap walking directly behind them, between them

So Many Stories In One Picture

This photo was taken in Abuja a few days after Abacha seized power in a palace coup in 1993. Abiola was the winner of the acclaimed June 12, 1993 presidential election.

At that moment:

• Abacha was the new strongman, at the height of his power. • Abiola was the elected president-elect, still believing a political settlement was possible. • Tinubu was then a Senator, a young politician from the pro-democracy camp, walking behind them, not yet a governor, not yet a national leader, not yet president.
  Who knows tomorrow indeed.

Within five years, Abacha would be dead in office in 1998. Abiola would die in detention in 1998, after being jailed for treason when he proclaimed himself president. The man behind them, the one most people would have overlooked in this photo, would go on to become Governor of Lagos State, national leader of his party, and eventually President of Nigeria.

The front two men did not live to see the future they were arguing about. The man at the back lived to inherit it.

Three men with different destines, really Aiyekooto Reporters says, nobody knows tomorrow.

Prince Tunde Aiyekooto @ Aiyekooto Reporters