#OnThisDay 1998, a group of Nigerian politicians dared the Nigerian maximum ruler, Gen. Sanni Abacha.

The Group of 18 which metamorphosed into The Group of 34 or simply G-34, aka The Institute of Civil Society is on my mind today.

The Abacha junta has no doubt been the most ruthless, most ferocious dictatorship in the history of Nigeria.

He’d programmed himself to transform into a civilian President-for-life, at the end of a wonky transition program, following Babangida’s never ending aborted transition.

Many National Democratic Coalition NADECO members had fled into exile by a conscious decision of the coalition, to be able to continue the opposition abroad even if everyone remaining was killed.

Those who opted to stay, knew they were sheep, literally waiting for the slaughter.

As Abacha’s sinister transition progressed with increasing violence, so did the determination of a few to push back against the whole country being taken into internal slavery, grow stronger.

In all the gloom, they seemed to be saying history will remember brave men lived here!

Cheif Alfred Rewane, Alhaja Kudirat Abiola had been assassinated. Senator Abraham Adesanya Leader of Afenifere & Chief Alex Ibru had survived assassination attempts on the highways in broad daylight.

Gen. Obasanjo & Gen. Shehu Yar’Adua had been jailed for life. Shehu died there.

Chiefs Tony Enahoro, Olu Falae, Prof. Wole Soyinka & Gen.Alani Akinrinade had been charged with treason.

Gen. Diya was in detention awaiting a date for his execution. A little earlier there had been an attempt to eliminate him in a botched bombing of his plane at Abuja airport.

There was palpable fear in the land. People deserted the streets as night fell, for fear of what could happen under the cover of darkness, given the terror being unleashed in the daytime.

Abacha seemed to have gone for broke & anybody who stood in his way had to be crushed.

Yet on this May 7, in 1998, a group of eminent, courageous Nigerians known as The Group of 18, G—18 for short, later enlarged to G-34, stood up.

They literally drew a line in the sand for the supreme head of the Armed Forces Ruling Council & maximum dictator Gen. Sanni Abacha.

They came from different political leanings; a diverse multi-ethnic coalition of eminent Nigerians, dared the supreme honcho, by sending him a jointly signed open letter under the lead signature of the late Dr. Alex Ekwueme, former Vice President of Nigeria.

They basically looked Abacha eyeball to eyeball and told him point blank that ‘his time was up’.

They demanded that he decline his purported nomination by the 5 pro government political parties, as their sole presidential candidate in his planned elections.

Even among them, there must’ve been apprehension that this could bring things to a head as Abacha had shown himself capable of the worst, but they went ahead nonetheless.

Bola Ige had earlier described the parties as “the 5 fingers of the same leprous hand,” in his Sunday op-Ed.

For people like him, it was double jeopardy.

He was picked up the night before the letter was published, on account of the May Day protests that shook Ibadan to its foundation and led to the shooting death of scores of people.

He ended up detained in Markurdi Prison.

Being in Abacha’s net at such a time he & other G-34 had freshly poked their collective fingers in Abacha’s eyes was a major source of concern to those close to him.

It seemed a perfect opportunity to put away a trenchant critic for a long time or eliminate him once and for all.

But barely a month after, on June 8, Abacha himself suddenly expired.

Apparently, he had been secretly ill and was being pumped with steroids to make him look healthy at his increasingly rare outings. Hence his puffy looks followed by his ghostly appearance.

Had he not died suddenly on that morning of June 8, that letter would have certainly meant life was going to get more difficult for its authors.

Many would certainly have been incarcerated and judging by earlier assassinations, many would surely have been killed.

Spare a thought today for those courageous men who put their lives on the line for democracy.

Pray for the sweet repose of those of them who have since gone to rest.

*Anyone with an authoritative list of the G-34? Kindly share. I remember a few but don’t want to be guessing.

The last chapter of this online book; NIGERIA DURING THE ABACHA YEARS (1993-1998), has an excellent chronology of events of those frightfully terrible years. https://books.openedition.org/ifra/623