By Charles Okoh
For about two weeks, the nation has witnessed the activities around
the 80th birthday of former military president, Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida. For
some, especially those who have had direct dealings with him, it has been a
flurry of praises for the man whom many have come to know as the Maradona and
affectionately referred to also as IBB or the evil genius.
Babangida has the unenviable record of aborting what everybody has come to accept as the best thing to happen to our electoral evolution as a nation. He scuttled the June 12, 1993, presidential election which he midwifed and for which he received accolades for organizing the best election ever held in the country.
First, it was Babangida in an interview with Arise TV, where he clearly spoke like the intelligent man that he is. He also showed that apart from the troublesome leg which has practically left him immobile, he did not disappoint with his intelligent responses to questions put before him. His ability to vividly recall all events around his life as a soldier and a military president even at age 80 stands him out as a brilliant officer. He clearly stands out among his peers and his understanding of issues within and outside the country you can hardly find that with many of our leaders today.
He also used the opportunity of the interview to attempt to
rewrite history and project himself as a man of impeccable character. He told
his listeners the stories around his private life and his marriage to his
delectable late wife, Mrs. Maryam Babangida.
Truly, of all those who have ruled as military heads of state,
it is difficult to identify anyone who comes near Babangida in terms of
intelligence and his ability to assemble some of the best brains in the land
irrespective of their religious or ethnic background. He made friends across
ethnic or religious divides. He is a true pan-Nigerian leader who also took his
only wife from the South and remained faithful to her, even in death Babangida
still recalls their union with so much nostalgia.
Babangida enjoyed tremendous goodwill as head of state having
seized power from the draconian leadership of General Muhammadu Buhari, whose
ironfisted regime performed so woefully that there were jubilations on the
streets heralding the coming of Babangida in August 1985.
However, he faced the same economic problems that Buhari had struggled
with and the same domestic dissatisfaction. He came to an agreement with the
International Monetary Fund and received new loans from the World Bank, but the
resultant devaluation of the naira, the local currency, led to social unrest,
which he addressed by dissolving part of the Nigeria Labour Congress and
temporarily closing the universities.
Babangida announced early in 1986 that a civilian government
would be formed by 1990 but later extended the date by two years to allow more
time for preparation. He decreed that no politicians from the civilian regimes
or office-holding military officials could stand as candidates. He allowed no
political parties during the transition period and approved only two political
parties when campaigning eventually began. Expressing dissatisfaction with the
process of fielding new political parties, the Babangida government created its
own parties, the National Republican Convention (NRC) and the Social Democratic
Party (SDP). As a further move to show that he was firmly in control, Babangida
dissolved the Armed Forces Ruling Council in favour of smaller bodies and
dismissed many of his closest military colleagues.
The fulfilment of Babangida’s pledge of a return to a civilian
government seemed imminent when a presidential election was finally held in
1993. Initial results indicated that businessman, Moshood Abiola, the SDP
candidate, was the apparent winner but before the official results were
announced, Babangida annulled the elections—a decision which proved to be
controversial and unpopular. In the wake of the civil unrest that ensued, he
handed control of the country over to an interim civilian panel headed by
businessman, Ernest Shonekan and “stepped aside” from the government.
Babangida had the golden opportunity of bequeathing us a
democracy for which posterity would have ever remained kind to him but he
missed it and will forever be haunted by that singular wrong judgment he made.
His explanation during the interview that the annulment of the elections was in
the interest of the nation does not hold water. After all, the same coup which
he feared still happened to the Interim government of Shonekan which he
hurriedly assembled as he left the stage when Gen Sani Abacha staged a palace
coup.
Babangida owes the nation unreserved apology. Only then can he
begin to have the peace of mind which he so much needs at this stage of his
sojourn on earth.
Given our current experiences as a nation, it will be much
easier to forgive Babangida because as he also pointed out during the
interview, if his government is compared to the one of today, then IBB is a
saint.
The spirit of June 12 has since departed us. June 12 election
would have served as a catalyst for redefining our electoral process, because
it was a process devoid of all the inanities that define our politics
today.
Today, our empty political office holders have continued to
drive a wedge against the unity of the country, regaling us with the rhetorics
that separate, rather than unites us. They have concentrated more on our fault
lines and played up these sentiments because they obviously have nothing to
offer. No critical analysis has been done to see why June 12, 1993 was symbolic
and why we must build on it to launch us into the league of sane nations.
The everyday-man on the street is the least concerned about
where the president is from or what religion he professes.
In 1993, the Social Democratic Party (SDP) candidates of Chief
MKO Abiola and Alhaji Babagana Kingibe won that election across the nation flooring
even Alhaji Bashir Tofa in his Kano State base. They were both Muslims and
their faith was not hidden from the public, yet they got the votes of the
Christian south and Muslim North.
The moral lesson from this for all leaders is that they must do
what is right at all times because posterity is an unforgiving judge. So,
whatever they do today will turn around to haunt them tomorrow.
*Okoh is a commentator on public issues (charlesokoh126@yahoo.com)
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