Babangida

By Olu Fasan

GENERAL Ibrahim Babangida, Nigeria’s former military ruler, is a bundle of contradictions. Known as the evil genius, he did much good and much evil. Yet, in his recent interview with Arise TV ahead of his 80th birthday, Babangida said he had no regrets. He also spoke presumptuously about Nigeria’s unity. But as an architect of Nigeria’s current state, Babangida can’t rewrite history.

Take his deeds in power. Truth is, the verdict of history would be mixed, namely: he did good things, but his evil deeds cast dark shadows over his good. Let’s start with Babangida’s good deeds. First, the economy. General Babangida liberalised Nigeria’s economy. His regime was recognised worldwide for its pro-market measures.

Babangida told Arise TV: “I believe in free market economy”. He is right: Nigeria can’t succeed as a command-and-control economy. So, I applaud him for being a strong voice for economic liberalism in Nigeria. Furthermore, Babangida was a detribalised leader. Unlike President Buhari, who is only comfortable with his ethnic group and always puts their interests above those of other ethnic nationalities, Babangida was at home anywhere in Nigeria. He understood the dynamics and sensitivities of Nigerians and was overwhelmingly better than Buhari at managing Nigeria’s diversity.

Babangida told Arise TV that Nigeria’s next president should have the following qualities: “A person who travels in this country and has a friend virtually everywhere and who knows at least one person he can communicate with; a person who is very versed in the economy, and then a good politician who should be able to talk to Nigerians”.  Babangida demonstrated these qualities in power; Buhari utterly lacks them. President Buhari can’t communicate and engage with Nigerians; can’t forge relationships across the country; and can’t build a national consensus on any issue. He’s utterly aloof and removed from Nigerians.

By contrast, Babangida sweet-talked Nigerians. He engaged them on whether to take an IMF loan; he engaged them on a political transition programme to return Nigeria to civil rule. He made dialogue and consultation the governing principle of his regime.  But here’s the rub. Living up to his reputation as Maradona and Evil Genius, Babangida acted purely for self-interested reasons. At every turn, he deceived and manipulated Nigerians. He pulled wool over their eyes, conducted a presidential election and then arbitrarily annulled it.

Even today, Babangida glibly explains away his annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election, presumed won by MKO Abiola. “You want me to be honest with you?” Babangida told Ngozi Alaegbu, the Arise TV interviewer. “If it materialised (that is, if Abiola became president), there would have been a coup d’etat which would have been violent”!