He was the only soldier from Nigeria who earned the full rank of General without skipping a rank.
1963 Second Lieutenant
1966 Lieutenant
1967 Captain
1969 Major
1972 Lieutenant Colonel
1975 Colonel
1980 Brigadier General
1983 Major General
1987 Lieutenant General
1993 General.
He was also Chief of Army Staff between 1985 to 1990; Chief of Defence Staff between 1990 to 1993; and Minister of Defence, In 1993, Abacha became the first Nigerian soldier to attain the rank of a full military general without skipping a single rank.
He was commissioned in 1963 after he had attended the Mons Officer Cadet School in Aldershot, England. Before then, he had attended the Nigerian Military Training College in Kaduna.
In 1969, he fought during the Nigerian Civil War as a platoon and battalion commander. And later became, commander of the 2nd Infantry Division in 1975.
In 1983, Abacha was general officer commanding of the 2nd Mechanised Division, and was appointed a member of the Supreme Military Council.
His administration oversaw an increase in the country’s foreign exchange reserves from $494 million in 1993 to $9.6 billion by the middle of 1997, and reduced the external debt of Nigeria from $36 billion in 1993 to $27 billion by 1997.
Abacha also constructed between 25–100 km of urban road in major cities such as Kano, Gusau, Benin ,
Funtua , Zaria , Enugu, Kaduna , Aba , Lagos , Lokoja and Port Harcourt.
Abacha brought the privatisation programs of the Ibrahim Babangida administration to a halt, reduced an inflation rate of 54% inherited from Ernest Shonekan to 8.5% between 1993 and 1998, all while the nation’s primary commodity, oil was at an average of $15 per barrel.
GDP growth, despite being estimated to be higher than the 2.2% growth in 1995, was largely limited to the petroleum sector.
Projects he executed within 4 years and 7 months his administration lasted without taking any loan.
1, National Assembly Complex.
2, Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG)
3, Federal Medical Centers (FMC) in all the State Capitals.
4, Built the National Hospital Abuja.
5, Women and Children hospital, Sokoto
6, Aminu Kano Hospital, Kano
7, Gwarinpa Housing Estate (thd BIGGEST housing estate in Africa)
8, Apo legislative quarters
9, Aluminum Smelting Company, Akwa Ibom
10, PTF drugs and beds in all the federal government hospitals.
11, PTF roads and water projects across Nigeria.
12, Lecture halls, campus buses and hostels in all Federal universities.
13, Establishment and funding of the National Health Insurance Scheme.
14, Federal Mass Assisted Bus Service.
15, Revival of the Nigerian Ports Authority
16, Revival of Nigerian Railways.
17, Export Processing Zones
18, Groundwork for mobile telecommunications in Nigeria.
19, Groundwork for Nigeria’s nuclear electricity with Uranium.
20, Payment of all the debts of federal contractors.
His popular quote
“Africa is not just a place, it’s indeed a feeling. Africa is the heart of the world, and there are only few of us who have been touched by her. Africa defines our souls and people can feel it, people just know”. Late Gen. Sani Abacha.