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THE SHADOW OF DEMOCRACY HAUNTS GENERAL IBRAHIM BADAMOSI BABANGIDA (IBB).
By Louis Brown Ogbeifun | June 9, 2010
Democracy allows people to think and behave in a particular manner based on the respect for the will of the majority while also allowing the minority to have their say unmolested. Several times, Nigeria tried to adapt to the tenets of this maxim but the military came calling at intervals from 1966 -1999. One man who would have been the greatest Nigerian in Uniform had the opportunity to put things in proper democratic perspective but the inherent selfish nature of man destroyed the good works he would have left for prosperity.
That man is General Babangida. General Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida (IBB) GCFR He was born on August 17, 1941 in Minna in Niger State. He was the President of Nigeria from August 1985 until he stepped aside in 1993. He had the singular opportunity and honour of making Nigeria a stable democracy but he fluffed it. Though he started the transition, he willfully refused to complete it.
After several years, that singular misjudgment has resulted in the shadow of democracy chasing him where ever he goes. The perception of Nigerians is that the 1993 elections in Nigeria remains the fairest election so far in our electoral history. It was an election that the President elect, Bashorun M. K. O. Abiola and his Vice, Ambassador Babagana Kingibe were Muslims. Yet Nigerians never bothered. It was after that election that Nigerians were awakened to the north-south and Christian/Muslim divide like never before. IBB himself recently alluded to the fact that he organized the best and most credible election in Nigeria. This is double-speak and an afterthought. I am not convinced he meant it because he hinged the reasons for the annulment of the 1993 presidential elections on corrupt practices. Having done this great damage to the psyche of Nigeria and Nigerians, Babangida is clamoring to come back as the next civilian President of Nigeria come 2011. The questions on the lips of all of us are:
- How can somebody that did not believe in democracy while in the military now aspire to head democratic institutions?.
- Can somebody give what he/she does not have?
The angst in us is that if the 1993 election had been allowed to stay, Nigeria’s democratic experiment would have matured and Nigeria should been moving towards advanced democracies. The stakes are high but the odds are undoubtedly many against the gap toothed General. A summary of his score card will reveal:
ECONOMY
- All the structures put in place by IBB to actualize the dreams of the Structural Adjustment Programmes were used as the drain pipes for siphoning money into foreign accounts by the ruling class.
- More than 4,000 per cent increase in tuition fees in tertiary institutions.
- Increased corruption. The very structures meant to restructure and breath life back to the economy became the noose that snuffed life out of the economy.
- Naira that was at par with the dollar when Babangida took over suffered more than 500% devaluation. It was the beginning of the death of the Naira.
- Militarization of civil appointments. This led to unfettered corruption in all the social institutions in Nigeria.
- In bid to privatize most government enterprises, capacity utilization was at a 30% all time low when he left the Government House.
- Incessant protests against the SAP policy and the cumulative infrastructural decay
- Negative and harsh SAP impacts on the civil populace without any corresponding positive adjustment in their conditions of living
HUMAN CAPACITY UTILIZATION
There was erosion and total collapse of the middle class. No thanks to our academia that were used in the formulation of the policies that wiped out the middle class. There is no economy that is known to have grown without a very strong and vibrant middle class. Babangidanomics led to massive” brain and capital flight” from the country. This was the beginning of emigration in droves of all facets of the professional groups from the country to the rest of the world. This was worsened by. On top of this, there was massive retrenchment of workers that heightened the country’s unemployment situation.
POLITICS and anti-democratic actions of IBB
- Spent over 40billion naira on a transition programme that ended in catastrophe.
- Banned and unbanned several politicians from contesting elections. The National Electoral commission under Babangida annulled the first round of presidential primaries on August 7, 1992.
- Annulment of the June 12, 1993 general elections.
- Refusal to hand over to the winner of June 12 elections led to several untoward reactions including the death of Chief M.K.O. Abiola who died during his incarceration.
- The arrest, detention and eventual death of Shehu Musa Yar’Adua.
- Self-succession agenda after eight years in office.
HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSE
- Bombing and killing of Dele Giwa. Major Debo Bashorun (rtd) on the death of Dele Giwa who is against Babangida coming back to rule Nigeria said”………I am one of those who know that he is connected to the death of Dele Giwa. That is why they have been trying to kill me”.
2. Repression of all opposing voices. He closed down several media houses including Concord, Punch, Guardian and Sketch newspapers; Newswatch, News magazines and radio stations
3. The questionable killing of Mamman Vasta, his childhood friend. Ordinarily, we all know that the sentence for coup plotting is death. But when General Domkat Bali, a member of his ruling junta and indeed the Chief of Defence Staff of the ruling Council at that time said later in an interview published in the Newswatch in 2006 “My regret is that up till now, I am not sure whether Vatsa ought to have been killed because whatever evidence they amassed against him was weak” it becomes a matter of moral burden on Babangida to counter Domkat Bali’s assertion. IBB owes the country an explanation on what truly transpired in a very remorseful way. Life is sacred and should not be snuffed out of anyone with a drunken bravado of rulers.
4. Killing of the students that took part in the anti-SAP strikes from 1986 to 1989
CORRUPTION
There are four serious allegations that General Babangida cannot wish away with the snap of the finger. They are:
- $6 billion purported to have been missing from the national treasury during Babangida’s reign.
- The $120 billion said to have been siphoned out of the Nigerian treasury into offshore accounts by dishonest politicians, $20 billion is allegedly traceable to IBB directly as president from 1985 to 1993. - Jeffrey Robinson.
- The $12.4 billion Gulf war oil windfall during his regime, which remains unaccounted for uptill this moment. The Okigbo report on this has not seen the light of day since it was set up in 1994.
- His era entrenched corruption in every facet of our national life.
Judiciary
The Judiciary was so polarized to the extent that the judiciary played the ignoble role of giving teeth to the annulment of June 12. It is on record that more than any other regime; Babangida’s regime used the courts to subvert and killed democracy. This was evident by the proxy use of Nzeribe’s ABN, (an unknown body to the laws of Nigeria) to annul 1993 elections. That judgement was given in the night by late Justice Ikpeme. The irony of it all is that even while out of the military, he still used the court to protect himself from appearing before the Oputa led Human Rights Violation Investigation Commission (HRVIC).
Religion
Babangida unilaterally, upgraded Nigeria’s status from an observer to full-fledged member of the Organization of the Islamic Conference. There was huge resentment by Nigerians over this unilateralism. Though he denied it, but subsequent investigations affirmed the full-fledged membership status.
What people say about IBB
Professor Akin Oyebode:”…….. He has dirty rotten underwear that he wants to clean so that people will give him a new improved IBB. IBB is a bad statement to the whole world that at the end of the day we again brought Babangida to the scene. I don’t want my children to live under Babangida. I won’t live under Babangida.”
Mr. Femi Falana: “I am not quite sure that Nigerians can stop him from exposing himself to ridicule. He has been lucky that he is not in jail now. His coming out to contest will provide an opportunity for Nigerians to deal with him squarely and confront him with the annulment of June 12 election, the murder of Dele Giwa, the Ejigbo tragic plane crash, the destruction of our values as a people, corruption, and massive violation of human rights.”
M. D. Yusufu in Karl Maiers, “Babangida went all out to corrupt society. Abacha was intimidating people with fear. With him gone, now you can recover. But this corruption remains and it is very corrosive to society.” As a former top cop, he knows the meaning, colour and the effects of corruption on people.
Reacting to a question by Niyi Odebode, on what he thinks of Babangida’s presidential ambition, Major Debo Bashorun (rtd) said “That is a disaster waiting to happen. People that have criticized him will be in trouble. What did he leave that he is coming to take? I know him very well. I was close to him. I was involved in his life. I was involved in his wife’s personal life. If he comes back, the country will be sold”.
Bishop David Oyedepo: “the ghost of the annulled June 12, 1993, presidential election will continue to haunt Ibrahim Babangida for life” Nothing can be truer than this. The major opposition he is facing in his ambition to rule Nigeria is the annulment of June 1993 presidential election.
Oputa Panel: “on General Ibrahim Babangida, we are of the view that there is evidence to suggest that he and the two security chiefs, Brigadier Halilu Akilu and Colonel. A. k. Togun are accountable for the death of Dele Giwa by letter Bomb. We recommend that this case be re-opened for further investigation in the public interest.
On IBB’s call to immortalize Abiola, Festus keyamo said ”Nigerians at this point should demand for the trial of IBB because what he is saying now is a confessional statement. He is saying that Abiola won the election and that he annulled it, which is a criminal offence”.
It is not a sin to aspire to becoming the executive president of this country, but Nigerians have to be sure that anybody occupying that number one seat should be somebody that can be trusted. It should be somebody that will not use the same instruments meant for the protection of their lives and properties against them. It should be somebody that does not believe in amassing wealth for only himself/herself and immediate family alone. It should be a God fearing human being that has sanctity for human life. It should not be somebody that has a tenure and wants to change our constitution to elongate his/her tenure. It should be somebody that truly believes in democracy and ready to die for it. It should be somebody that believes in the rule of law and not someone who will allow the court to be delivering unwholesome judgements in the middle of the night at his/her beck and call.
If Babangida truly believes and can thump his chest that he meets these requirements, let him commence his campaign. But before then, he must in conjuction with the political class swear that they will allow the will and the votes of the people to count failure which the people should react to reclaim the stolen mandate by massive civil disobedience.
To Babangida, he needs no advice from anybody to know that he should just stay in his 50 bedrooms’ mansion instead of seeking to come back to the few rooms in Aso Rock. Aso Rock is now to small for him considering the massive wealth at his disposal. If he had attended the Oputa Panel, taken sole responsibility for the annulment of June 1993 election, apologized to Nigerians and vowed never to slide back to those anti democratic morass; perhaps he would have been better positioned to actualize his dream come 2011. As long as he believes in the military bravado that civilians do not matter and that he has so much to bribe and muscle his way back to political stardom, the seat reserved for those who respect democracy will continue to elude him. Let him not make it a do-or-die affair because it will not pay off. If he forces his way to Aso Rock through election rigging, he will face civil unrest on daily basis. That may force him to step aside the second time to come back no more. Let him not cause Nigerians sleepless nights because when the heat is on, he will either abdicate the throne or throw Nigeria into a huge political crises. He should save himself anymore embarrassment. Let him not push his luck too far because he can for now at least quietly enjoy his wealth since successive administrations said they have no evidence of corruption against him.
To President Jonathan, the only thing he can do to write his name in gold for posterity is to organize free and fair elections in Nigeria come 2011. With free and fair elections, Nigerians can determine who rules over them. When elected leaders know that they are voted into offices by Nigerians, they will surely govern to please and deliver dividends of democracy to the people. If the peoples’ votes count, there are no doubts in my mind that antagonists and murderers of democracy will never prevail against the will of the people.
To fellow Nigerians, we all should blame ourselves for the corrupt political space we find ourselves. The irony of our national life is that those who connived or whose parents connived with Babangida to annul June 12 1993 elections are occupying positions of authourity everywhere in the country. Yet, we pretend as if that is right. For instance, Senator David Mark, an influential member of that Babangida Junta, one of the G-34 that signed away June 12 mandate in the name of peace pact and a man who was widely quoted as saying that telephone was not meant for the poor is the President of the Nigerian Senate and the 3rd in command in the hierarchy of our leadership strata.
The leaders of SDP and NRC that were the two leading parties at that time who betrayed Nigerians on June 12 mandate are decision makers in major political parties in Nigeria at the moment. Some of the Obas and Emirs that perpetrated and supported IBB are even more influential today than then in the determination of our political future. They dictate who become what and who in this country. We see them, eulogize them, wine and dine with them only to turnaround and reject one out of the many. This should not be so. They all betrayed us and must all be made to face the music.
Babangida was not alone on this annulment saga and should not be the only issue because Nigerians have the capacity to refuse him any more space in the Presidential palace at Aso Rock if we have the free hands to choose our leaders. Let us tell all those connected actively or remotely with that annulment to leave us alone. Let us chase them out of whatever positions they are illicitly occupying. In labour parlance, injury to one is injury to all. They injured our brothers and sisters in the struggle. They stabbed and crippled democracy. So, they should not have any hiding place. We should not allow them further harvests from the toils of the activists who were incarcerated, humiliated, suffered and died for the restoration of democracy. If not, whether Babangida is the president or not, he will continue to reap from our commonwealth because his boys and apologists are in high places.
What is happening to IBB should be a hard lesson for those who have the opportunity to discharge some duties on behalf of a people but instead decide to abandon the same people for a pot of pottage.
Notes:
http://naiwuosahon.webs.com/apps/blog/show/1757097-general-ibrahim-badamosi-babangida
May, 2002: Human Rights Violation Investigation Commission (HRVIC) Reports, Nigeria
www.newswatchngr.com
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