As Nigeria celebrates it’s 25th anniversary of uninterrupted democracy, we backtrack to 2019 when Susan Rice, former UN Ambassador and National Security Adviser to President Barack Obama, gave a detailed account of the
last moments of the presumed winner of the June 12 presidential election, late MKO Abiola, in her book, “Tough Love: My Story of the Things Worth Fighting For”. The annulled June 12, 1993 Presidential Election remains one of the darkest moments of Nigeria’s democratic journey.

The country has, in honour of Abiola and the unfortunate events of that day, moved it’s annual Democracy Day celebration from May 29 to June 12. Rice in her book, dispels the conspiracy theory that alleged she gave Abiola the tea laced with arsenic that killed him, saying: “About five minutes into the conversation, Abiola started to cough, at first mildly and intermittently, and then rackingly with consistency. He said he was hot, so I asked his dutiful minder, ‘Please turn up the air-conditioning.’ Noticing a tea service on the table between us, I offered Abiola, ‘Would you like some tea to help calm your cough?’ ‘Yes,’ he said, with appreciation, and I poured him a cup.

“Rice continued: “He sipped it, but continued coughing. Increasingly uncomfortable, Abiola removed his outer layer, leaving one layer on top. I shot Pickering a worried glance.” She described how Abiola’s condition rapidly deteriorated, saying: “The coughing became dramatic. I told the assembled men, ‘I think we better call for a doctor.’ No one argued. The minder immediately placed the call. Abiola asked to be excused and went into the bathroom of our meeting room. When he emerged, he was bare-chested and sweating profusely, barely able to talk. He lay down on the couch writhing and then rolled facedown onto the floor. “Rice recalled the urgency of the situation, saying: “The doctor arrived promptly, took a quick look at him, and declared that Abiola was having a heart attack and must be transported to the hospital immediately. The men labored to lift the heavy Abiola into a small car, and we rushed to the nearby, rudimentary presidential hospital.” She described the emotional moment when she had to break the news to Abiola’s wives and daughters, saying: “I proceeded to explain that their husband/father was dead. He had died of an apparent heart attack that began in our meeting. The doctors did all they could to save him but could not. The ladies’ wailing was so intense; it haunts me to this day.

“Rice also expressed frustration with Reverend Jesse Jackson, who implied that Abiola died under suspicious circumstances in a meeting with US officials, fueling conspiracy theories. She said: “I could not believe my ears – our own guy implying we were killers! Immediately, I placed a call to his longtime aide Yuri and asked them to shut the Reverend down. ‘Please, just get him off the set.'” Rice reflected on the unique hazards she faced as a woman policymaker, noting that she was the one who took the public fall for a crime nobody committed. She said: “From that experience, I found that being a woman policymaker comes with unique hazards. The men would not have offered, much less thought, to pour the tea. They may have swiftly called for a doctor. They may not have been able
to break the bad news to the wives. Not for the first time, it was I, not they, who took the public fall for a crime nobody committed.