Comedian Ali Baba opens up on ‘near-death’ encounter with Sani Abacha

Nigerian comedian Ali Baba recently shared a unique experience involving former military leader Sani Abacha on the Leadership Podcast.

During the episode, Ali Baba recalled an event in Abuja where he was tasked with introducing the Akwa Ibom cultural group.

He highlighted the importance of the role, given the distinguished audience and the serious atmosphere under Abacha’s regime.

This moment was a significant part of Ali Baba’s early career, showcasing the pressures of performing under such high-stakes conditions. He said:

“The first close encounter I had with death was with Sani Abacha. When Abacha was president, Ernest Shonekan had been removed so I went to do an event in Abuja and it was time for the Akwa ibom cultural group to perform. At the time, Abacha was wearing one of those sunglasses that could be folded.“So then they started dancing I stopped them and faced Abacha, saying, ‘your excellency, sir, it’s almost 10; why are you wearing Dark shades? Don’t you want to see their performance? Remove this shade na.

“He then removed the glasses and was talking to someone and when he kept the glasses I told the troupe to continue. As soon as they started, I saw the DSS officers going backstage to wait for god knows who o.

“I went down the stage to where Abacha was and sat on the ground next to him. He made jokes of me and asked why I refused to go backstage and I said , ‘Don’t worry, sir, they can come and arrest me here.”