By Abdul Oroh
At the height of his absolute power, General Ibrahim Babangida made it known both in words and deeds that he was a man who craved a space in the history of Nigeria as a soldier- statesman; the creator of a new socio-economic and political order, albeit, unmerited, except in infamy. When Babangida ousted Major General Muhammadu Buhari in a palace coup in 1985, he sold a dummy to the Nigerian people that he was a reformer who came to salvage Nigeria from the catastrophe and political debacle of the past.
Nigerians saw a gap-toothed smiling face, solemn in a manner of speaking, purportedly popular in the barracks amongst the junior officers and sincere in his promises, which on the surface, were attractive. But after eight years of bloodletting and chaos, he ended like his contemporaries in Africa: Idi Amin of Uganda, Emperor Jean – Bedel Bokassa of Central African Republic, Mobutu Sese- Seko of Zaire (Democratic Republic of Congo) and many other African tyrants who ended their reign in ignominy.
When Babangida, who was then and now more known as IBB, was asked in one of his numerous interviews who were his heroes as he celebrated his cravings as Prince of the Niger, a hollow conferment by his corrupted hagiographers, he compared himself with Hannibal, the Carthaginian general and statesman, and King Shaka of the Zulus. He gushed out immodestly: We are not just in government, we are in power’’. In another infamous statement he warned that nobody should take the human rights policy of his government as a sign of ‘’weakness’’. He might have added that he would be in power for ever and would be as powerful as he wants to be.
After all, did he not proclaim himself President when he ousted the Buhari draconian regime when he was not an elected president? A break from previous military rulers? Was that not a conscious decision with a whiff of totalitarian aspiration?
Like every other step he took in his eight- year plutocracy, Babangida left every one guessing about his objective or ultimate goal. He fooled Nigerians many times over but as we say in Nigeria, many days are for the thief, but one day for the owner of the property.
As his paid hagiographers who he had plucked from a crippled academia celebrated his cunning, manipulative and crooked dispositions with glee, he waxed stronger by conjuring like a magician, every scheme of deception, justifying every cunny moves, every predatory raid on the Central Bank; every plundering of natural resources like oil wells, national parastatals or construction contracts scams; every massacre of students ; every execution of friends and foes alike; every shift in the political terrain, even if they were patently against the will and interest of the Nigerian people. These were all recorded in his favour while he wallowed in glory.
When General Babangida unfolded the transition program in 1985, he promised that he would hand over in 1992 but made it clear that the military will control and supervise it. The Nigerian people were generally optimistic that their democratic aspirations had not been completely crushed by the military elite that had placed itself above the people. The Buhari regime had not given such hope.
Babangida had taken some corrective measures which gave the impression that he was not only aware of the need to turn over governance to a democratically elected government, he had also taken steps to address the perpetual problem of failure to conduct generally acceptable elections in the country. His Economic agenda prescribed by the World Bank and IMF – the Structural Agenda Programme was not to be challenged or criticized. It had no alternative, Nigerians were told.
In 1985, Babangida gave the impression that he would correct the failings of the civilian administration. Many Nigerians thought it was the right step to take after the ouster of the autocratic regime of General Buhari which had no agenda to transfer power to the civilians. Except for the War Against Indiscipline WAI that he fought for the 18 months the regime lasted.
However, the transition had been shifted several times, and almost eight years down the road, Nigerians were still hopeful that military would soon see the need to respect the people and their democratic aspirations assuaged. As Babangida continued to shift the transition dates and juggled the teleguided program on the ground that they were looking for new breed politicians to replace the junta, it became clearer that the military junta had long-term plans to stay in power.
The creation of new states, the frequent dissolution of state organs, and the reshuffling of his cabinet and state governments were all part of the elaborate scheme to buy time and prolong the transition agenda. In what was clearly a glimpse into his political direction, he said in one of his speeches, while quoting paraphrasing Franz Fanon that, it was the lot of his generation to discover the mission of National rebirth and not to betray it, but like a Freudian slip, he revealed that the military will be the ‘’fountain head’’ of the new order.
In other words, a culture of militarism was his ultimate goal. ‘’ ’’This administration’’ he said with the finality of the Almighty, ‘’intends to supervise political succession as the batons of power passes from one person to the other’’. The civilian political elite too desperate to replace the military took no notice of the implication of the statement neither did they have the nerve to challenge the junta’s deception. They played along, hoping that some day the table would turn.
Babangida had hired and ‘settled’ some of Nigeria’s foremost right-wing intellectuals to embrace his sordid plan and they spared no cost or cared about their esteemed intellectual prowess, and personal integrity as they tried to rebrand and venerate the tyrant as a benevolent dictator, a reformist, the ‘prince of the Niger” who was determined to transform ‘the giant of Africa’ to an el-dorado.
The junta’s socio-economic programs were coloured in absolute terms as the only way, the only path, without alternatives. Any attempt to propose alternatives was repressed as alternative opinions were seen as sabotage. A decree was established to create a military Tribunal to try saboteurs, while the press faced summary punishment as newspaper houses were routinely closed and journalists detained.
Between May 23-31 1989, anti-SAP riots broke out. Protests against the structural Adjustment programs (SAP) swept across tertiary institution all over the country with over 100 students killed by security forces, comprising of police and soldiers. The junta had tasted the fury of Nigerian youths; it became clear that the junta would be challenged by force if it continued to manipulate the transition program amid harsh economic conditions which were dictated by the International Monetary Fund IMF.
The credibility of the junta had been tested and Nigerians began to mobilize and declared an end to military rule as it was not an antidote to bad governance, indiscipline, and corruption which were the justification for ousting the civilian administration in 1983.
On March 5th, 1986, barely a year of his assumption of office, Babangida ordered the execution of Major General Mamman Vatsa, his childhood friend, and Minister of Federal Capital Territory Abuja, and nine officers from the Army, Navy and the Air force in an alleged coup which many Nigerians, doubted and which no real proof has ever been produced.
Vatsa and the officers had been executed when Major General Domkat Bali, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff told a bewildered nation they were shot ‘‘about an hour ago”. General Bali, after his retirement, later granted an interview where he confessed that there was no strong evidence of a coup but Babangida wanted to eliminate Vatsa who he saw as his rival since their childhood days in high school. To give vent to this rather belated confession by General Bali, the usual period of confirmation of judgment of military tribunals by the Armed Forces Ruling Council, AFRC, one of the rituals associated with coups in Nigeria was not even observed. Appeals for clemency by Nigeria’s foremost writers- Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka, and John Pepper-Clarke were pointedly ignored even when the foxy tyrant had promised to convey their appeals to the confirming authority.
With these executions, it was clear that the benevolent dictator created by his hagiographers had become a bloody tyrant. As if the regime was lusting for blood, 48 soldiers who were tried for participating in the Major Gideon Orka Coup of April 22nd 1990 had been executed on July 27th 1990. Another batch of 27 soldiers who were earlier acquitted by the Military Tribunal headed by Major General Ike Nwachukwu, were retried by another tribunal and convicted were executed.
These waves of executions and the parcel bomb assassination of Dele Giwa Editor-in-Chief of Newswatch magazine on October 19, 1986 which his secret services purportedly carried out, to cover up drug trafficking by wives of senior military officers and the annulment of the June 12thn 1993 Presidential election won by M.K.O Abiola, completed a journey of criminality, disservice, an assault on the military creed of honour, chilvary and loyalty to the constitution and the nation.
At the winter of his life Babangida has not let go. The recent publication of his autobiography, A Journey in Service, as to be expected, has aroused public angst, and controversy. Not expectedly, he failed to reconcile with history, still dreaming of redemption without penitence, without embracing the truth, without confronting his demons that controlled him and are still controlling him, to plead to be freed of his vices, repentance from his crimes and atonement for his blood lust.
Babangida did not realize early enough that his time was up and that Nigerians would challenge his authoritarian drift. He believed every Nigerian has a price and with adequate settlement, he could bribe his way through every road blocks or checking points. The easier path, as Ike Okonta once said, was to ‘’democratize corruption’’. The more difficult path was like a thief which he was, literarily, to escape into a life of affluence, bequeathing a horrid legacy of a ‘’corrupted democracy’’ and the culture of impunity, predation and militarism.
He has lived a long life, the old age he denied many of his peers- friends and foes alike. May God forgive him.
Oroh is an Activist, Lawyer, accomplished Journalist
