Maryam Abacha, the wife of the late Nigeria’s military Head of State, late General Sani Abacha, has said that she is used to the negative things Nigerians say about her late husband who died on June 8, 1998.
The widow of the late military head os State said this in a recent interview with BBC Hausa to mark the 25th anniversary of the death of her husband General Sani Abacha.
The former first lady says she has never missed the Presidential Villa after moving out of there following her husband’s demise.
In her words
“I am used to all the negative things Nigerians have been saying about my husband, and that is a normal thing with politicians.
“We are human beings, people will always say different things. Good and bad. Look at what’s happening in Kano, and even at the national level. So people will always talk. But when we were ruling, nobody was saying anything. Nobody talked. So that’s governance. Every government comes with its own pecks.”she said
Speaking further, Mrs Abacha said
“I don’t miss anything about the Villa. Because, you know, as a wife of a military man, we had been in different places/houses.
My dad was a career civil servant. So even before marrying Abacha, I had been used to staying in different parts of Nigeria. So even while with Abacha, we were always relocating to different places. So for me being at the Villa was just part of my usual life experience. Of course there was the prestige that comes with being a wife of the head of state, but there were also challenges.
You know, despite that the military aren’t politicians in the real sense, being in the Villa was part of politics. So, there were challenges we faced, just like every other government. But actually, I’ve never missed the Villa.” she said
Relating what she will never forget in her life, the former first lady said the one incident she can never forget was the coup tha brought in General Muhammadu Buhari in 1983, she said she has never been scared in her life like that day because of the way the situation was and as a wife of a military man.
She further said as the wife of a uniform man you are always leaving in fear of the unknown on what is going to happen next but we can only pray and be positive.
She further urged the newly sworn in first lady and the wife of rhe vice president to always have the interest of the people at heart.