UYO – A media aide to Senate President Godswill Akpabio, Mr. Anietie Okon has recounted his personal experience on June 8, 1998, the day former Head of State General Sani Abacha died, describing it as a moment when “a nation seemed to exhale after holding its breath for too long.”
In a reflective account on his Facebook handle, the aide, who was then Head of the Concord Press Bureau in Akwa Ibom State and working from the Government House Press Centre in Uyo as at 1998 said the news broke while journalists were monitoring CNN.
“On that day, Suddenly, the screen flashed BREAKING NEWS, followed by a startling headline: ‘Nigerian Presidential Lodge Surrounded by Military Trucks.’ Instantly, the room fell silent,” he recalled. “Another coup? Where was General Sani Abacha? Nobody seemed to know.”
With phones yielding only confusion and rumours, he returned home and switched his radio to BBC World Service. That was when the confirmation came: “General Sani Abacha is dead.”
The aide said he had worn a “protest beard” since Abacha took power in 1993 because he believed the regime “did not mean well for democracy in Nigeria.” Hearing the news, he said, he called for a razor blade and shaved it off “as my own quiet declaration that an era had ended.”
He described how the news sparked spontaneous celebrations. In Uyo, University of Uyo students poured onto the streets and danced to Ibom Plaza, with residents joining along the route. That evening, he and his friend Dr. Udeme Nana marked the occasion with fresh fish, Chamdor wine, and “toasted the future of Nigeria.”
The aide closed with a reflection on leadership and legacy, referencing Scripture’s verdict on King Jehoram: “He passed away, to no one’s regret.” He wrote: “Power can command obedience. It can inspire fear. It can silence opposition. But only character earns affection, and only service earns remembrance. When history finally closes its books on us, the question will not be how powerful we were, but how deeply we were missed.”
