By Ayuba Ahmad
He was young, 44 years, when he stormed the centre stage of the nation’s political landscape as the 7th Nigerian Head of State. His was a bloodless but, a daring palace coup. He was dashing, dazzling and before his exit, a phenomenal personage.
Later to be the first Military President, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, came on the nation’s saddle of political leadership as the fifth military leader. Before him were, General Aguiyi Ironsi, January 1966 to July 1966; General Yakubu Gowon, 1966 to 1975; General Murtala Ramat Muhammed, July, 1975 to February, 1976; General Olusegun Obasanjo, 1976 to 1979 and, Major General Muhammad Buhari, December 1983 to August, 1985.
In all, in the line of the nation’s leaders, Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida has, for treasons positive or, negative, remained the most fabled and most talked about. For the twenty three odd years since his exit, his name, his person or, his plethora of political, his policy decisions and infrastructure landmarks, have been recurring decimals, refrains and reference points. Two decades after, no former, in fact, even sitting leader, is as much the subject of discourse, in street and enlightened circles. While some heap all the woes plaguing the country on the policies, actions or inactions of IBB, there are multitudes on the other hand, who defer to him as iconic, revere and idolize him. Such is the enigma.
IBB’s place in the annals of the nation is not only etched in his eventful eight years as President. It is rather, a lifelong story of patriotism or, voluntary and conscientious commitment in service to his fatherland. Or else, what would have propelled him to opt for the military, that profession that only men and women of valour and unalloyed love for country, choose to dedicate their lives? In the course of duty as a young officer, he went to battles in the epochal war to keep the nation united indivisible whole. He missed death by whiskers. Till date, as a lingering evidence however, he lives with a troubling bullet buried in his bone.
Beginning from the calamitous 15th January, 1966 coup, the military has a legacy of having ruled the country for a major part of her history since independence. He was, understandably, not part of that botched action. But, as he has variously admitted, he was actively involved in the three subsequent, successful and, phenomenal coup d’être: July, 1966, July 1975 and, that of August, 1985, which brought him to power. Thus, to the extent that military regimes are an indelible chapter in the nation’s history that cannot be wished away, to that extent is the place of Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida in our collective experience as a people.
For sure, IBB is today, the poster boy in national political discourse essentially because of his tenure as the nation’s leader. Volumes have been written as many more will be written on the IBB era. For space and purpose of this subject, let’s look at highlights of issues most prevalent on the IBB phenomenon.
Beginning with the radiant sunny side of the divide, a great number of citizens still cherish the unprecedented colour, glamour and grandeur that characterized his administration. In terms of textures of people in the cabinet for example, he brought into government, a galaxy of eggheads, specialists and professionals, unarguably, more than any other leader before and after him. Reference the likes of Professor Olukoye Ransome Kuti whose genius and single-minded dedication turned around healthcare delivery system still talked about till date.
Among other notable Nigerians that served in the IBB’s administration were also, cerebral and celebrated technocrats such as, Professor Tam David West, Professor Jubril Aminu and Dr. Rilwanu Lukman, whose cumulative efforts took the oil industry to glorious height. Chief Olu Falae, Alhaji Abubakar Alhaji, Olu Onagoruwa, Dr. Kalu Nduka Kalu and many more, were similarly on board what can be called IBB’s truly Pan Nigerian team at various points during his rule.
Even the most acerbic critics of IBB cannot but garland him for his footprints on the infrastructure landscape. These include the movement of the nation’s capital from Lagos to Abuja; the Lagos 3rd Mainland bridge, the Abuja-Kano Express highway and, the gigantic Kaduna National Eye Centre among a plethora of other enduring national monuments and edifices. That’s beside the many agencies and institutions he birthed and which are very much still surviving and relevant. IBB’s legacy institutions and agencies is a long, almost endless list that in sum include: The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, National Food Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, Federal Road Safety Corps, FRSC.
The Nigerian women folk will for a long time hence remember another gift or revelation of the IBB in the woman, late Hajiya Maryam Babangida, of blessed memory, his wife and First Lady. An elegant beautiful woman of grace endowed with a robust incisive intelligence and innovation, Maryam Babangida gave an unprecedented recognition and relevance to the meaning and relevance of a First Lady. Wives of the nation’s leaders that came after her have been following her footprints in terms of using their positions to impact on the lives of women, children and the less priviledged. Maryam’s BETTER LIFE for rural women was a landmark whose ripples have continued till date.
On the other hand, to his traducers, General Babangida is anything but a saint. They call him,”Maradona” denoting one that gets his goals by foul means. He is to them, an embodiment of evil that gave birth to every plague of the nation. While there is a national consensus that majority of the nation’s elite class is drenched in the cesspool of corruption, however, without any one ever bringing forth concrete evidence of proof, some people have somehow succeeded in putting on IBB the putative toga of, ” the grandfather of corruption”.
It is said for example, that he made away with the humongous sum of “12Billion Dollars GULF OIL WINDFALL”! In spite of sundry covert and overt investigations, officially and unofficially, till date, the story has remained at best, in the rumour mills, and at worst, an outlandish cock and bull tale conjured and intended to smear the character of somebody that must be smeared at all costs. Come to think if it, what was the totality of the revenue that accrued to the nation’s treasury within the duration of the Gulf war? Assuming that the country did earn a windfall of that magnitude, was it possible that the sum, as huge as 12Billion Dollars could have been hauled, in a jiffy, from the Treasury into an individual’s account?
The nation has since been regaled with tales of the, “ABACHA LOOT” and we have been seeing concrete evidence of that in the retrievals from bank accounts in different countries of the world. Just as, palatial properties, breathtaking bank accounts and exotic jewelries are being unearthed and proved as incontrovertible evidence of the Diezani Alison Madueke’s acts of sleaze and malfeasance while she sat atop the country’s oil industry. Even before it is investigated, not a few agree with President Muhammadu Buhari that, former President Olusegun Obasanjo may have to explain the where-about of 16 Billion Dollars supposedly expended on power. Because, in the words of Buhari: “Where is the power?” Therefore, until such palpable similar material or, circumstantial-proofs are advanced, the many fans of General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida will contend that the orchestrated, much bandied talk of his being “the grandfather of corruption” are a baseless, vicious, fantastic fairy tales told simply to give a dog a bad name in order to hang it.
Yes, no matter the love or adoration of him, it cannot be disputed that IBB has yet to rid himself of the albatross of a number of his political decisions and actions. He has repeatedly assured that he would come out in time, with his versions of the logic behind his long, winding political transition programme that finally ended in a contraption called, Interim National Government and invariably and sadly the nightmarish era of General Sani Abacha. Also, so far, not much convincing explanation has come from him on why the June 12 1993 presidential election had to be annulled. History and posterity demand of him, these and more.
Be that as it may, Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida cannot be denied the honour and glory of an outstanding leader who has left indelible footprints in the annals of Nigeria. For certain, his song will be sang by generations beyond our time. For a multitude of those of us his time, the occasion of his 78th birthday offers yet another opportunity to roll out the drums in felicitation and celebration of a phenomenal personage, President, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, GCFR. Sir, Your Excellency, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, wishing you many more happy returns.
Ayuba Ahmad
A Kaduna based Public Analyst
