Abubakar Hashim
General Abdulsalam Abubakar is 84 today. He was born on June 13, 1942, in Minna, now in Niger State, Nigeria.
After Sani Abacha died on June 8, 1998, just five days before his 56th birthday, Abdulsalam succeeded him as Nigeria’s next Head of State.
He ruled briefly, conducted an election, and handed over power to Olusegun Obasanjo in 1999.
How Abdulsalam Sustained Peace in West Africa
- After he handed over power to Obasanjo in 1999, Abdulsalam became a peace envoy. In Nigeria, his home country, he has assumed the role of Chairman of the Peace Council, which interfaces with presidential candidates before elections.
- In Sierra Leone, Liberia, The Gambia, Ivory Coast, Benin, and beyond, he has engaged in the peaceful settlement of political tensions before and after elections.
In Sierra Leone, he was instrumental in the peaceful handover of power to former President Ernest Bai Koroma by the late former President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah. Supporters of Kabbah’s vice president, the late Solomon Berewa, were visibly aggrieved, but Abdulsalam peacefully resolved what could have become an imminent catastrophe in Sierra Leone.
A similar situation occurred in 2023 when incumbent President Julius Maada Bio was declared the winner and secured a second term. The opposition APC cried foul. Abdulsalam, in collaboration with ECOWAS, helped sustain peace in the country.
In Liberia, before President Joseph Boakai was declared the winner of the October 2023 election, Abdulsalam reportedly spoke with George Weah by telephone and encouraged him to congratulate Boakai, despite opposition from members of his CDC party, who were deeply aggrieved by Boakai’s narrow victory margin of about 20,000 votes.
In other West African countries, the peace Abdulsalam has helped sustain is commendable.
At 84 today, he is respected and admired not only in his home country, Nigeria, but across West Africa for his role in sustaining democracy, peace, and stability, despite his military background.
Leave a Reply