The Nation Newspaper

Tag: IBB

  • PDP: Jonathan, IBB boys, Gusau, Sambo, governors battle to hijack party

    PDP: Jonathan, IBB boys, Gusau, Sambo, governors battle to hijack party

    Ex-President Goodluck Jonathan is rolling out his political armour against several Peoples Democratic Governors ( PDP ) in a fierce battle for the soul of the party at Saturday’s crucial national convention.

    Also scheming  for  control of the party’s machinery are ex-Vice President Namadi Sambo; ex-Vice President Atiku Abubakar (who is yet to officially join the party); ex-governors,  loyalists of ex-President Ibrahim Babangida led by a former National Security Adviser, Gen. Aliyu Gusau; ex-President of the Senate, Chief David Mark; Deputy President of the Senate, Chief Ike Ekweremadu; ex-Deputy President of the Senate, Sen. Ibrahim Mantu; members of the party’s Board of Trustees being coordinated by its chairman, Sen. Walid Jibrin, Sen. Ahmadu Ali and Prof. Jerry Gana, a former Minister of Information.

    Serving governors are being coordinated by Mr. Nyesom Wike (Rivers) and Ayo Fayose.

    Former governors of the party including Ibrahim Shema (Katsina), Rashidi Ladoja (Oyo), Gabriel Suswam (Benue), Ibrahim Idris and Idris Wada (both Kogi) are not left out.

    Investigation revealed that almost every godfather in PDP is backing one candidate or the other for election into the National Working Committee (NWC).

    The objective is to enable the godfathers have a say in the management of the party especially in the choice of the party’s presidential candidate for the 2019 election.

    It was gathered that the interest of the godfathers has complicated the intrigues surrounding the contest for party offices at the December 9 convention.

    Although some party leaders are pushing for merit, some other leaders believe that all the candidates have been tested in the past.

    The positions of  National Chairman, National Secretary, Deputy National Chairman (North); Deputy National Chairman (South) , the National Organizing Secretary and the National Publicity Secretary are attracting more interest from the godfathers.

    The top contenders for the national chairmanship are a former Acting National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus; a former Minister of Education, Prof. Tunde Adeniran; a former Deputy National Chairman, Chief Olabode George; a former Minister of Sports, Prof. Taoheed Adedoja; a former Governor of Ogun State, Otunba Gbenga Daniel; ex-Governor of Oyo State, Sen. Rashidi Ladoja; a media mogul, High Chief Raymond Dokpesi; and a former governorship candidate in Lagos State, Mr. Jimi Agbaje.

    A breakdown of the support base of the chairmanship aspirants is as follows:

    • Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu; Wike, Fayose, PDP governors, state PDP chairmen
    • Tunde Adeniran—-Jonathan, IBB Boys, Gusau, Gana, Ali, Mantu, BOT members
    • Otunba Gbenga Daniel—-Ex-governors, a splinter of IBB Boys,
    • Olabode George—-Some BOT members
    • Taoheed Adedoja—-BOT members, some Northern delegates
    • Jimi Agbaje—–South-West delegates, BOT members
    • Rashidi Ladoja—-Ex-governors but under pressure to accept concession of Deputy Chairman slot to his choice

    A top party source said: “The jostle for offices at the national convention is going to be a battle royale because the godfathers in the party and the governors want to slug it out to install their loyalists.

    “For ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, the convention will be a litmus test for his plans to be a father-figure for PDP. But if he fails, it might be another political setback for him after the loss at the poll in 2015.

    “Jonathan and others, especially loyalists of ex-President Ibrahim Babangida, are working hard for a national outlook for PDP but some of the governors think otherwise. They said they are already conducting some permutations.

    “Our greatest fear is that all these forces are trying to outsmart each other. If the party leaders can cage the governors and allow the delegates to have a final say, we will be opening a new chapter for PDP.”

    A member of Board of Trustees of PDP said: “we are all worried because if we do not get it right, we might as well say goodbye to our chances in 2019.

    “The party is on the edge again. We are however struggling to appeal to all groups to sheathe their swords and avoid implosion at the convention.”

    Responding to a question, the BOT source added: “All our leaders are conscious of the 2019 poll and they are struggling to be relevant. You cannot blame them because in politics, relevance matters.”

    A governor, who spoke with our correspondent last night, said: “I think the way out of any crisis at the convention is to allow for a free and fair contest. We need to live up to our appellation as a democratic party.

    “We are already working on a unity list because we do not want to play into the hands of the ruling party. Certainly, there will be more horse-trading in the days ahead but we will survive it.

    “We urge the judiciary not to entertain any frivolous application to stop the convention from holding.”

     

  • He was a pillar of unity, says IBB

    He was a pillar of unity, says IBB

    Ex-Military President General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (IBB) has condoled with the family of the late former Vice-President Dr. Alex Ekwueme.

    He described his death as a big loss to the country.

    Babangida said the death left a vacuum in the quest for a true national unity and peaceful co-existence.

    In a statement by his media office in Minna, he extolled the virtue of simplicity, which characterised the life of Dr. Ekwueme.

    Babangida mourned with the family, people of Anambra State, Southeast and other Nigerians.

    He said: “His simplicity is a rare virtue. He had intellectual depth and lived a life built on values and morality. We will miss him. Nigeria needs people like him.

    “I condole with the family of the late Dr. Ekwueme, the government and people of Anambra State and other Nigerians. I pray that God will give his family the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss.”

     

     

     

  • IBB plans scholarship to immortalize late wife, Maryam

    IBB plans scholarship to immortalize late wife, Maryam

    Former Nigerian Military President, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida (rtd.) has concluded plans to establish a scholarship programme at all levels of the Nigerian school system in memory of his late wife, Maryam Babangida.

    Babangida made the disclosure in his address at the Inaugural Annual Memorial Lecture in honour of the former first lady, who died from Ovarian cancer on December 27, 2009 in California, USA.

    Babangida, who was represented by Chief Emmanuel Eboh, poured encomiums on late Maryam, who he described as a faithful wife, role model and supportive partner dedicated to the emancipation of Nigerian women.

    He said that late Maryam worked with passion and commitment towards alleviating the poor living condition of Nigerian families, through her pet project, the ‘Better Life for Rural Women’, which she initiated to empower the women.

    According to him, the late Maryam made her mark in her lifetime and would ever be remembered as a good wife, sweet mother and role model by the Babangida family and the Nigerian women.

    “The late Maryam Babangida, whom we are honouring today is a great woman of value. She is a supportive wife, a caring mother and a role model who brought out the true colour of the Nigerian woman.

    “She is a woman of colours in every aspect of her life. It is in view of her contribution to the emancipation of the Nigerian woman, that as a family, we want this annual event to embody scholarship awards.

    “The scholarship award programme will be part of our contribution to the preservation of the memory of this great Nigerian woman. The scholarship will cut across all levels of the Nigerian school system,” Babangida said.

    Earlier, Chief Leo Okogwu, late Maryam’s elder brother and the convener of the inaugural Lecture, eulogized the late first lady for her efforts in advocacy for a better life for Nigerian families.

    He said the Better Life programme for rural women initiated by the late Maryam Babangida was an innovation that lifted the prestige of Nigerian women and also empowered them to live an improved life.

    Okogwu listed the likes of late Margaret Ekpo, and Mrs. Ransome Kuti, as some of the prominent women leaders and activists who did so much for the promotion of women empowerment in the Nigerian society.

    “The late Margaret Ekpo and Mrs. Ransome Kuti’s memories appear to have disappeared with ever-retreating horizon as they question the gratitude of Nigerians for the bravery of these departed golden women,” Okogwu noted.

    He, however, appealed to Nigerians not to allow the memory of late Maryam Babangida waste away, but rather continue to eulogise and appreciate the efforts and contributions of the late former first lady in nation building.

    In an address, the acting Governor of Delta, Mr Kingsley Otuaro described the late Maryam as a trail blazer, who despite the economic challenges, worked tirelessly to improve the lots of the Nigerian woman.

    The acting governor, who was represented by the State Commissioner for Information, Mr Patrick Ukah, said Delta was proud of the achievement of the late first lady for her initiative in giving rural women a better life.

    “The late Maryam Babangida, of whom we are all gathered here to honour, is a Delta woman of whom all of us are really proud of. She was a supportive wife and a role model to the Nigeria woman,” Otuaro said.

    In a lecture, the guest speaker, Dr Fati Ibrahim said the late Maryam Babangida was a resourceful woman, who supported her husband and brought great exposure to the women folks through her better life programme.

    “The Better Life Programme of late Maryam Babangida envisioned the emergence of a confident, well-informed, economically and socio-political empowered African Woman.

    “An African woman participating effectively and fully integrated into the process of national development and engaged in the promotion of family values,” she said.

    Ibrahim, a political activist and internationally acclaimed goodwill and fashion ambassador, explained that the better life initiative of the late former first lady was set up with the aim of improving the standard of living and the quality of life of the rural populace.

    According to her, the focus of the poverty alleviation programme is on rural women, with the aim of integrating them into national development by creating awareness in the general public to the plight of the ordinary women.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the theme of the inaugural lecture is, ‘The Nigeria Woman, Before, During and After the Better Life for Rural Women: A Salute to Maryam Babangida.’

    High points of the event include a cultural dance play by the Organisation for the Advancement of Anioma Culture (OFAAC) and a play let, presented by the Theatre Arts Department, State College of Education, Agbor.

  • IBB’s baleful legacies

    Babangida’s last week 75th birthday celebration was low- keyed. Apart from his immediate family members and Shiek Isah Fari, the Chief Imam of Minna, only a handful of people including Abubakar Sani Bello, the governor of Niger State and his executive council members plus General Abdulsalami Abubakar, former Head of State were in attendance. Conspicuously missing were the hordes of professional well-wishers

    This was the same Babangida who, at the height of his power, held more chieftaincy titles than any Nigerian leader living or dead. “He is Opu-Omatu; Alabo (chief warlord of Rivers; Oka Ome – a man of his words of Enugu; the Ukporo Uwana of Cross Rivers, the comforter” –  (Oluwajuyitan, Nigerian under the Generals, pp. 58-62).

    Back then, honours were endlessly bestowed and fellowship awards freely conferred by not only comedians, musician associations, and public relations practionners, universities were also chasing Babangida and his wife around with honorary degrees. The Nigerian Medical Association and the West African College of Physicians were not left out; they also donated their fellowships. To round up the festival of awards and fellowships, Nigerian Economic Society (NES), the most authoritative body of Nigerian scholars on Nigerian economy bequeathed its own fellowship awards claiming “Babangida has distinguished himself in the management of our economy”. It did not matter that it was coming shortly after Financial Times of London had  reported the mismanagement  of $5b Gulf oil windfall and  the IMF, the World Bank and the Paris Club had jointly described Babangida’s  generous donations to all types of courses, as ‘fiscal indiscipline and recklessness’.

    But I think for Babangida, the absence of professional well-wishers during his 75th birthday celebrations was a blessing in disguise. It was a somber period and a unique opportunity to reflect on the limit of power, the worth of opportunism and the cost of betrayal of a nation that has been forced to go through a purgatory of 30 years and with no light at the end of the tunnel.

    Driven by blind ambition and share opportunism, Babangida had exploited a military junta’s joint resolutions which had an historic opportunity to set Nigeria on the path of sustainable development.  The junta had rightly and roundly rejected IMF’s bitter liberalization pill and chose to look inwards through issuance of import license to ensure we eat what we produce or as Nehru once told his Indian compatriots, go naked until we can make our own dresses.

    Although President Buhari recently told us Babangida, Abacha and Gusau carried out a palace coup in order to avoid inquisition over corruption, Babangida back then insisted his own vision through Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) was the only way to take Nigeria out of economic quagmire that the nation was thrown into by Shagari and Akinloye’s NPN.

    Babangida, Olu Falae, Kalu Idika Kalu and their Aso Villa professors were sworn to “change the course of history by making all essential commodities available and preventing the squandering of our scarce foreign exchange on primary products that were once the mainstay of foreign exchange earnings for the country”. They avowed: “Nigeria will never again be regarded and treated as a bankrupt nation incapable of meetings its international obligations; to remove the agony of Nigerian industrialists through the elimination of import licensing and promotion of non-oil exports in order to increase our non-oil earnings”.  And finally, “to prevent those who would squander our investments from attaining power through nurturing of new breed leaders that will detest the culture of deceit, election  as well as culture of violence and fraud”.

    They all turned out to be false promises and a forlorn hope.  The first set of ‘new breed’ graduates from Babangida’s school of democracy viz Ikimi and Kingibe, took after Babangida by celebrating opportunism. The next set was worse. They became shameless members of Abacha’s “five fingers of a leprous hand”. The next set was a tragedy. They, in the name of privatization sold to themselves the nation’s investment of over $100b for a paltry $1.6b. Besides padding of budget and shortchanging the country through unimplemented constituency projects, they have also engaged in outright stealing through fuel subsidy, import duty waivers and rural electrification scams.

    Babangida equally failed woefully on other scores. By the time Buhari came in 2015, our country had become a dumping ground for all manners of fake and substandard products from other parts of the world. Industrialists Babangida promised to protect had moved out of the country. Buhari had to start rationing scarce foreign exchange to the few left behind. And of course, before 2015, elections, contrary to Babangida’s pledge, had become war or “a do or die’ affair as ex-President Obasanjo put it.

    Babangida who has betrayed a nation that gave him so much opportunities is today at 75 a witness to his own baleful legacies. Unfortunately, having missed it 30 years ago, the task of nation-building has become more arduous. First, Buhari who picked up from where he left 30 years earlier is buffeted by old age and ill-health. And as he recently confessed, he is handicapped by the slow democratic process which he refers to as ‘due process’.

    More tragically, the military rule or outright dictatorship the world was prepared to live with 30 years ago have become an aberration. Yet there is no nation in history that has ever broken the underdevelopment yoke through democratic process for the simple reason that democracy which is just a method for attaining power does not guarantee economic development or good governance. History has shown that nations that have overcome crisis of underdevelopment have always done so through the intervention of a military junta, the owner of society or through dictatorship with a vision.

    Chairman Mao of China that is today contesting the world leadership looked inwards to resolve China’s crisis of underdevelopment.  It is on record that he at a period locked up his country and declared state of emergency in the health sector. He went on to decree three years training period for medical doctors who were thereafter deployed as ‘bared-foot doctors’ to the rural areas. Today, with millions denied of access to medical care, the West that once criticized Chairman Mao are sending their experts to understudy the Chinese health policies.

    Similar purpose could have been achieved by Buhari’s unorthodox economic approach widely criticized by the West in 1984. We unfortunately missed it with Babangida’s option of going to loan Kalu Idika Kalu from the World Bank the same way Obasanjo and Jonathan  fetched Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala from World Bank whose agenda is to complicate our social problems  as part of strategy to solve their own social problems,

    Worse still, 1985 options are no more viable in 2017. The prospect of establishing new  industries in an age of globalization, the new god and cultural imperialism  have been foreclosed with cheaper manufactured goods or even farm products within reach in a matter of days through the internet.

    Our nightmare is likely going to be prolonged with the hijacking of the state and its resources by Babangida’s ‘new breed Abuja ruffians. But it is a victory for a nation betrayed that Babangida at 75 is alive along with Falae, Kalu Idika Kalu, his rain doctors, to take responsibility for the pains they inflicted on our nation with their fraudulent claim that there was no alternative to SAP despite the late Professor Aluko’s warning that there was alternative to even death which he said was life.

  • Oshiomhole disowns Aremu over IBB comment

    Oshiomhole disowns Aremu over IBB comment

    For merE do State Governor Adams Oshiomhole has distanced himself from a report credited to him calling on former military President Gen. Ibrahim Babangida to apologise to Nigerians for helping to bring the country to its present level.

    He was reported to have made the statement in Abuja at the 5th Triennial Delegate Conference of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PEGASSAN).

    He said he delegated Comrade Issa Aremu to represent him as the guest speaker at the occasion and told him his position on oil and gas without a prepared speech.

    The reaction of Oshiomhole was contained in a statement issued by his media aide, Mr. Victor Oshioke.

    In the statement, Oshiomhole noted that his respect for Gen. Babangida has not wavered.

    He said he was surprised that such a statement was wrongly credited to him.

    Oshiomhole stated that he was invited to speak on the theme: “Emerging trends in the oil and gas Industry and its impact on labour movement in Nigeria”.

    The statement reads: “In order to guide and properly articulate his position on the theme, Comrade Oshiomhole had a telephone conversation with Comrade Issa Aremu, where he gave the latter his perspectives on oil and gas.

    “He did explain to Comrade Issa Aremu that the oil and gas sector needs diversification and deregulation to make the right investment that will lead to additional job creation and employment for Nigerians.

    “Since it was essentially a union affair, discussions were to focus on how best to create an atmosphere that will stimulate further enterprise in the oil and gas sector in the overall interest of the Nigerian worker.

    “It is true that there was no prepared speech handed over to Comrade Issa Aremu but the conversation Oshiomhole had with him spelt out the scope of the issues to be discussed.

    “There was nowhere during the conversation that the name of former Military President General Ibrahim Babangida featured with respect to his comments on restructuring or otherwise.

    “We wish to state unequivocally that the view so expressed is entirely that of Comrade Issa Aremu and does not in any way represent the views of Comrade Adams Oshiomhole. When a speaker is representing another speaker in any public speaking engagement, the rules are very clear.

    “If the representing speaker wants to deviate from the mandate and brief given to him, he will clearly inform the audience without lumping his thoughts and views as though they represent those of the real speaker.

    “Comrade Adams Oshiomhole’s opinion of former Military President General Ibrahim Babangida was eloquently captured in a personally signed paid advertorial to mark IBB’s 75th birthday on the 17th August, 2016 in several newspapers.”

     

  • Call for restructuring: Afe Babalola gives IBB kudos

    Call for restructuring: Afe Babalola gives IBB kudos

    •Legal giant says ex-military leader deserves award

    If elder statesman Chief Afe Babalola (SAN) had his way, erstwhile military President Ibrahim Babangida will be honoured with the 2017 Nigeria Peace Award for joining the calls for restructuring. The legal icon and founder of Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD) believes the time to restructure the country is now. In this piece entitled: “IBB’s call for restructuring – he deserves 2017 Nigeria Peace Award”, the eminent lawyer recommends the immediate convocation of a Sovereign National Conference (SNC) to pave the way for a referendum for Nigeria to have a constitution that is truly the people’s.

    I join multitudes of friends and admirers of the former military president, Gen. Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (IBB) to congratulate him on the celebration of his 75th birthday on planet earth. More importantly, I congratulate him profoundly for joining the call by many compatriots for the restructuring of the country.

    IBB’s position reminds me of what Sophocles, a Greek philosopher, said in his book titled: The Theban Plays

    “Do not let your first thought be your only thought. To think that your will is the only way betrays a shallow mind and an empty heart. It is for this reason that the meadows which move to and fro on a flood river remain unbroken while those that flow against the flood are broken asunder”.

    I salute his courage and brilliance and his ability to position his mind having regard to the situation on ground.

    This is a lesson for Nigerians who remain still and unbending on the issue of restructuring of Nigeria. I challenge them to rise up and embrace what the great Greek philosopher had espoused as far back as 441 B.C.

    To say that the retired general is a different person to different people is like stating the obvious. However, what cannot be denied is that he is a courageous, fearless, highly cerebral elder statesman who could equally be controversial and often misunderstood.

    I congratulate him particularly for embracing restructuring of our dear country thereby joining the ever-growing band of those of us from the North, West and East who have been clamouring for restructuring as the panacea for the myriad of problems afflicting the country today.

    I have been an unrepentant advocate of the need to restructure Nigeria, so much so that I have been speaking, writing papers, delivering lectures across the country on the issue of restructuring since 2002 as the best way to achieve our aim and objectives of building a united and prosperous Nigeria.

     

    1960 Constitution

    Before 1960, our founding fathers met for almost 10 years in Lancaster House, London and took into consideration the fact that Nigeria is a country of nations with about 250 ethnic groups. In their wisdom, they made a constitution which allowed each component part to remain and practice its own culture and grow at its own pace under one umbrella of a united Nigeria and a befitting Federal Constitution.

     

    The military

    Unfortunately, that constitution was set aside by the military who thought they knew better than our forefathers. Again, the same military bequeathed to us the 1999 Constitution under which the centre had become so strong and the component parts so weak that there is virtually no meaningful development in almost all the states prior to the taking over by the military in 1966, our constitution allowed each component part to develop at its own rate. Consequently, there was healthy rivalry between the regions. The West was the most advanced and others followed and the country was developing at fast rate.

    Although, we may not necessarily go back to the regions of 1960, we can substitute for the regions, something similar to it. Certainly, we need to restructure the country. We urgently need a forum where our problems would be discussed and arrive at a suitable federal constitution for the country. In order to solve the problem of unemployment, falling standard in education, recession, crimes including armed robbery and kidnapping, the country needs to be restructured.

     

    Persuading others

    I want to specially commend IBB for his new position and frank talk about the need for restructuring the country. I urge him to go a step further and persuade those still on the fringe particularly some former military rulers to join those of us in the forefront of the campaign of restructuring of the country for a true federalism.

     

    Sovereign National Conference & referendum

    I strongly advise the government to convey a sovereign national conference, the outcome of which will be ratified by referendum which will give birth to the people’s constitution.

    For avoidance of doubt, the outcome of the referendum shall not be subject to the confirmation or approval of the National Assembly which as we all know will not take kindly to such recommendations such as legislators earning only sitting allowances.

  • IBB backs state police, more power for states

    IBB backs state police, more power for states

    Ex-military leader: secession, hate speeches bad for our country

    Former military president Gen. Ibrahim Babangida (retd.) yesterday joined the league of Nigerians calling for the restructuring of the polity to give states more power.

    Many groups, including governors elected on the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), have voted for the restructuring of the country—to douse the agitation for secession and for equity.

    Gen. Babangida was the Chief of Army Staff in the Muhammadu Buhari military government that toppled the civilian government of President Shehu Shagari on December 31, 1983.

    But 18 months after, on August 27, 1985, he led the palace coup that edged out Buhari and his Chief of Staff, Supreme Headquarters (second-in-command), the late Gen. Tunde Idiagbon. He ruled as Military President till August 27, 1993, when he was forced to “step aside”.

    He ran a political transition that ended with the election of the late Chief Moshood Abiola on June 12, 1993. Although adjudged widely as Nigeria’s freest and fairest ever, the election was inconclusive after results had been released in all the states. Babangida annulled the election.

    In a statement he personally signed yesterday, Gen. Babangida canvassed:

    • devolution of power to states;
    • adoption of state police;
    • doing away with federal roads;
    • rejection of secession and hate speeches; and
    • a caution for the media.

    He said the “drums of war are easy to beat, but their rhythms are difficult to dance”.

    He said there was nothing romantic about war because “war is bad, condemnable and must be avoided”.

    Babangida said the fact that Nigeria had not realised its potentials as a great nation was not enough reason for  it to want to demolish its foundation.

    But he said it was time to restructure the country, with devolution of more powers to states.

    He also said the nation was ripe for state police because policing has become sophisticated.

    Babangida, in a statement he personally signed, said the Civil War between 1967 and 1970 was preceded by similar hate speeches which the country had been witnessing in the past few weeks.

    He said he cried out because he is still nursing the pains of the injury he sustained during the Civil War.

    The former military leader urged the media to exercise caution in their reportage of volatile comments.

    He said: “Nigeria, my dear country, is not a stranger to crisis, nor is she immune to it. In a profound sense, she can be said to have been created out of crisis, a nation state that will continue to strive to subdue and transcend crises. In over a century of its formalised colonial architecture, Nigeria has grown and made remarkable progress in the midst of crises.

    “The most tragic and horrendous episode in Nigeria’s history has been the 30-month Civil War of July 1967 to January 1970, in which many of our compatriots lost their lives. Indeed, many others also suffered terrible injuries of human and material dimensions.

    “So, who really wants to go through the depth and dimensions of another Civil War in Nigeria again? Who does not know that that Civil War was preceded and started by intolerance and a series of hate pronouncements, hate speeches, hate conducts and actions that were inflicted upon one another by the citizens?

    “Today, with a deep sense of nostalgia, I still carry within my body the pains of injury from the Civil War: there is nothing romantic about war; in any form, war is bad, condemnable and must be avoided.

    “I need hardly say I am very worried by the current ongoing altercations and vituperations of hate across the country by individuals, well-known leaders, religious leaders, group of persons and organisations.

    “We need to remind ourselves that conflicts are not evidently the stuff of politics and governance, particularly so of democracy, hence we must apply caution in our utterances, body language and news reportage.

    “The management of conflicts is the acid test of maturity, of mutual livelihood and of democratic governance. We cannot and we must not allow the current hate atmosphere to continue to freely pollute our political landscape unchecked.

    “Personally, I reject the proceedings of hate and their dissemination and urge my fellow citizens to strongly condemn the scourge and orgy of the current crisis which, in my view, is an outcome of vengeful appetites within the multiple contexts of our democratic governance and the profound inequalities that have distorted our social relations.

    “Nonetheless, it is not the place of leaderships to fuel and hype conflicts nor should we allow losers and gainers of our governance regimes to make pronouncements and threats that exploit our ethnic, religious and geopolitical construct. Democracy, anywhere in the world, is a work in progress; and one that is subject to constant evolution and debate.”

    Babangida cautioned those calling for civil war to break Nigeria to desist from such a venture because the consequences of war were “tellingly unpalatable.”

    He said: “The drums of war are easy to beat, but their rhythms are difficult to dance. Starting wars or political upheavals comes with the slightest provocation, but ending them becomes inelastic, almost unending with painful footages of the wrecks of war. I have been involved and its ripples are tellingly unpalatable, with gory details of destruction and carnage.

    “I am a Nigerian, a citizen, patriot and concerned stakeholder. It is my strong belief that Nigeria can attain greater greatness if we all nurture our minds in the direction of building a nation, and accepting responsibility for its successes and failures.

    “We cannot deny or repudiate our progress at nation-building in spite of the limitations and challenges that we have continued to experience. As a people, we need a proper study and understanding of our history in order to correct the warped perceptions of our past so as to minimise the dangers of badly skewed stories of our democratic experience in governance; and to regenerate mutual confidence and uphold the tenets of living together as one country.

    “No one government or administration can provide all the answers to the myriad of problems and challenges confronting us as a country; no matter how determined, resolute, committed and motivated such a government is.

    “The citizens have their roles to play, and their obligations to fulfill in order to motivate government in achieving its stated goals and objectives. Governance is a function of the leadership and the followership. It is a two-way traffic that demands certain responsibilities from those involved.

    “Of late, Nigeria has become so sharply divided with emotions running high on the least provocations. Once tempers are that high, the fault-lines become easily visible and with the slightest prompting, the unexpected can happen.

    “But I want to believe that Nigerians are still their reasonable selves, highly endowed in various skills and intellectually empowered to compete anywhere in the global arena. As a Nigerian, I have had the rare privilege to benefit from robust relationships from different people across the socio-political divide; East, West, North and South.

    “I have also immensely interacted with persons from all the numerous tribes, cultures and ethnic configurations dotted across the entire gamut of Nigeria’s expansive lands. I have made friends, built alliances, nurtured relationships and sustained linkages amongst Nigerians of all shades and opinions.

    “In fairness, Nigerians are great people. In those hours, moments and duration of friendship and camaraderie, no one talks about origin, geopolitical zones or even states. The issue of religion does not dictate the flow of discourse. We deal with ourselves based on our character and content, and not the sentiments of what part of the country we hail from.

    “The inalienable fact that Nigerians can live in any part of the country to pursue their legitimate aspirations is a strong indication that we have accepted to invest in the Nigerian project, and are no longer driven by mutual suspicion but mutual respect.

    “That we have not fully realised our potentials as a great nation is not enough reason for us to want to demolish the foundation of our nationhood or rubbish the labours of our heroes past; both of which are borne out of our collective efforts to build a truly great nation, and great people.

    “If we have repeatedly done certain things and not getting the desired results, we need to change tactics and approach, and renew our commitment. It is our collective responsibilities to engender a reform that would be realistic and in sync with modern best practices.”

    In Babangida’s view, it is time to restructure Nigeria with devolution of more powers to states.

    He said restructuring would strengthen our structures to make the union more functional, based on our comparative advantages.

    He added: “For example, restructuring has become a national appeal, as we speak, whose time has come. I will strongly advocate for devolution of powers to the extent that more responsibilities be given to the states while the Federal Government is vested with the responsibility to oversee our foreign policy, defence, and economy.

    “Even the idea of having Federal roads in towns and cities has become outdated and urgently needs revisiting. That means we need to tinker with our constitution to accommodate new thoughts that will strengthen our nationality.

    “Restructuring and devolution of powers will certainly not provide all the answers to our developmental challenges; it will help to reposition our mindset as we generate new ideas and initiatives that would make our union worthwhile.

    “The talk to have the country restructured means that Nigerians are agreed on our unity in diversity; but that we should strengthen our structures to make the union more functional based on our comparative advantages.”

    To Babangida, Nigeria is ripe for state police – in line with global best practices.

    He said: “Added to this desire is the need to commence the process of having State Police across the states of the Federation. This idea was contained in my manifesto in 2010 when I attempted to contest the presidential elections.

    “The initial fears that state governors will misuse the officers and men of the state police have become increasingly eliminated with renewed vigour in citizens’ participation in, and confidence to interrogate power. We cannot be detained by those fears and allow civilisation to leave us behind.

    “We must as a people with one destiny and common agenda take decisions for the sake of posterity in our shared commitment to launch our country on the path of development and growth. Policing has become so sophisticated that we cannot continue to operate our old methods and expect different results.”

    He pleaded with the media to exercise caution and weigh security implications in their reportage.

    He said: “I also want to appeal to the Nigeria media to be more circumspect in their news reportage. They should always weigh the security implications of the contents of their news and the screaming headlines that stare us in the face every day, especially at this fragile period of our political emanations. The media play an important and remarkable role in shaping the flow of discourse.

    “Their level of influence is also not in doubt, but as the fourth estate of the realm, it has a greater responsibility to moderate public discourse in a manner that will cement inter- and intra-cultural relationships. If Nigeria works, it benefits all her citizens; if it fails, it hurts all her citizens too. The media should be patriotic in its present engagements to berth a new Nigeria of our dreams.”

    Babangida said Nigerians should remain united by seeing strength, determination, commitment and confidence in their diversities rather than adversities.

    He said: “On a final note, I really wish we see strength, determination, commitment and confidence in our diversities rather than adversities.

    “As a heterogeneous country with flourishing skills and numerous endowments, we should dictate the pace in Africa and lead by example of what is possible amongst a people that are focused and determined to pursue common national goal.

    “As a former Military President who had the rare privilege to travel around Africa to sustain the African cooperation through peace-keeping operations, I have come to the conclusion that nations are driven by a common ideal and not by the homogeneity of their race.

    “I saw Somalia, such a homogeneous conclave yet one of the most troubled countries in Africa today. I saw South Sudan, which broke away from the old Sudan, but peace and stability have eluded them. Rwanda genocidal experience is not romantic either.

    “But a President from the minority ethnic group has repositioned the country to assume its pride of place in the comity of nations. That a people share common identity, language, history, doctrine, culture, mores and values is not synonymous with development, growth, stability and peace.

    “When we went into peace-keeping operations in Sierra Leone, Somalia, Liberia and Congo, we had in mind to sustain oneness in Africa even though we are a continent of different countries all bearing different logos and identities. Our motivation was simply that we are Africans.

    “I am therefore appealing to the sensibilities of all of us, young and old, leaders and followers, groups and organisations, that in the interest of peace and stability of our country, we need to sheathe the sword. At 76, I have seen it all. I have seen war. I have fought war.

    “And I have survived war, even though I still suffer the pains and injuries of war, it is part of the selfless sacrifice to keep the union afloat. We must build a country that is forward looking for our children and future generations of Nigerians.

    “We cannot afford to toy with the destinies of the 170million Nigerians by the shape of our discourse and the content of our interaction.

    “We must carry out conscious attitudinal orientation that will change the mindset of our youths and the held beliefs of the elderly. We must explore the therapies of dialogue and constructive engagements in our desire to make life more meaningful for our people.

    “My friends cut across all regions, zones and states. I am proud to be a Nigerian because I see hope in the youthful population of Nigerians. I see remarkable skills and raw talents that can stimulate enterprise and innovations.

    “This is the end of the Holy Month of Ramadan, a month in which Muslim faithful have dedicated their lives to seek closeness to God, and forgiveness of their inequities. It is a month of penance; a month of prayer for physical, moral and spiritual rejuvenation, regeneration and rebirth. I urge my countrymen and women to use the occasion to look ahead with hope and renewed dedication to the service of our country.”

     

  • At the IBB wedding

    At the IBB wedding

    It was not the array of private jets that bothers me as much as the fact that they gathered for the gap-toothed one. The one who dissolved June 12, suspended civil liberties, hounded critics, scuttled the economy, invented the fleeing Andrews, exploded talents, obliterated the word corruption from official use, and boasted after all that he was the evil genius.

    When the political and business elite gathered to pay homage to him at the wedding of his child, was it an endorsement of those woes and that blighted a chapter of our past? I find it difficult to believe that. Some of the guests were also his victims. It has to be that he was forgiven. IBB must be the luckiest man to have committed that much atrocity and enjoyed forgiveness without asking for it.

    The question is, is he grateful or appreciative of this? Or is it a wasted act of grace?

    The weekend in Minna also reinforces what I have noticed about society weddings. The parents show off. In such weddings, it is about the parents. In poor weddings, it is about the couple.

  • IBB, what a drag!

    Trust pristine reggae, with its gripping pathos and deep philosophy.

    So remember Sonya Spence — she of the Jet Plane fame, legendary Jamaican and lusty love crooner of the 1970s?  Remember her love ditties, in one of which she sang: “It’s such a drag to be alone …”

    If you don’t remember Sonya, queen of love reggae, you sure must remember Jimmy Cliff, of the uncountable hits: House of Exile, Sitting in Limbo, The Harder They Fall, Many Rivers to Cross, I’m Born to Win, Struggling Man, etc.

    He too, in Many Rivers to Cross, sang: “It’s a drag to be on your own …”

    Hardball isn’t doing some foray into reggae music.  He is rather applying the concept of the “drag” into the odyssey of Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, Nigeria’s self-named first — and only —  military president.

    Because of the choices the General made in the past, he somewhat reminds Hardball of that Yoruba quip: tarry too long in the bush latrine, and all shades of grumpy flies are yours for company.

    Well, maybe those unfamiliar with Yoruba culture but intimate with William Shakespeare, would recognise that dire warning, put more starkly: the evil that men do live after them, but the good deeds are interred with their bones.

    Still, what if you live long enough to witness contemporary history pass its piecemeal judgment, as some co-players start pushing out their memoirs?  Then, yours could well be: the evil — and good — that men do, live right with them!

    That is IBB’s fate; and his heart could well leap into his mouth, each time another colleague comes out with his own version of IBB’s long, winding transition programme that ironically didn’t deliver life, for democracy (as promised); but blight, for IBB’s once-shining reputation.

    From what newspapers have reported so far, Gen. Ishaya Bamaiyi’s memoirs, Vindication of a General, is for IBB, another bad news. First Bamaiyi, himself among the terrible khaki boys that held Nigeria by the scruff, at the zenith of their power hubris, gave his former commander-in-chief’s wayward transition programme, a stiff but vicious jab: he charmed and deceived everyone (and maybe himself too).  But it was a costly sham.

    That notorious fact is hardly a secret.

    But even that sham led to the most gargantuan political swindle of all time, at least by Nigerian standard: the IBB annulment of the 12 June 1993 presidential election, which Basorun Moshood Abiola (God bless his cheated soul!) won, before IBB and his power gang started speaking in tongues!

    Though IBB back then somewhat cowed and coaxed a section of the media to refer to MKO as “presumed winner”, in yet another lexical swindle, Bamaiyi, in his new book, confirmed MKO won the election square; and IBB had absolutely no reason to cancel the results.

    So, why did he?  He suggested he had an unwritten pact with the late Sani Abacha, IBB’s Defence minister, who overthrew the pitiable Ernest Shonekan and his sorry Interim National Government (ING).

    So, to make way for the Khalifa, if the Bamaiyi supposition is true, IBB nearly set his own country on fire?  Stranger than fiction, but IBB only symbolised the terrible hubris of military rule.

    Tough luck for him, though: all the dire verdicts are coming out while he is still alive and very much around.  How sweet would it have been if the man, who once boasted of his absolute domination of his environment, had made far better choices?

    That should teach dire lessons to those prancing around the power chamber today, as if there would be no tomorrow.

    IBB — what a drag!

  • Ibb’s revelation

    Ibb’s revelation

    In a public lecture he delivered at the University of Lagos in the mid 1970s, the great Dr Nnamdi Azikwe had advocated some form of diarchy in the country making a case for what he called ‘democracy with military vigilance’. He was of the view that the military had come to stay on the country’s political terrain and the most realistic and pragmatic thing to do was to find ways of accommodating the institution in governance. Of course, the military still had a puritanical professional image at the time and was perceived even by many scholars  as a ‘modernizing’ influence in Africa. The massive corruption and inept governance that characterized the President Shehu Shagari administration in the second republic (1979-1983) reinforced the view that politics was inimical to rapid development and that some form of dictatorship could make for rapid socio-economic progress. This was why the General Muhammadu Buhari military regime was received with enthusiasm in 1983 and many Nigerians believed that the forced exit of the politicians was good riddance. However, the reputation of the military had become frayed with time when it became obvious that not only was the kleptocracy of its top brass worse than the civilians but the country witnessed retrogression rather than any meaningful development in virtually all spheres of life under the military.

    When it beat a humiliating retreat from the country’s politics and governance as an institution in 1999, however, the retired military elite had become an ‘emergent power factor’ in Nigeria to borrow from the title of Professor Bayo Adekanye’s, book which exhaustively discusses the transformation  of the retired military elite into an influential faction of the political class. Giving an insight into the economic basis of the political ascendancy of the retired military top brass in his inaugural lecture, ‘Military Occupation and Social Stratification’, delivered at the University of Ibadan in 1993, Professor Adekanye writes, “…the work is about the role of and influence of the top retired military officers in Nigerian society, where, it is found, increasingly large numbers have come to assume pivotal positions, particularly in government and politics, the public bureaucracy and parastatals, the worlds of trade and commerce, subsidiaries of multi-national corporations as well as in agriculture. Available to the top retired military are resources like wealth, their ex-military and ex-government connections, skill, prestige and experiences; and these they exploit as bases of new influence”. Nigeria”.

    In an uncharacteristically unambiguous and forthright revelation, former military President General Ibrahim Babangida told a delegation of the fractured Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who paid him a visit at his Minna hilltop residence recently what role the military played in the formation of the party. According to the fabled ‘Maradona’, “From the formation stage, I saw PDP as the (Irish Republican Army (IRA), the military wing of the PDP.  I thank God that we came up with the concept that PDP should rule for 60 years. When I say we I mean my boss, T.Y. Danjuma, Obasanjo, General Aliyu Mohammed Gusau and others. Continuing IBB told his guests, “PDP can rule for 60 years if they put their house in order. I am happy the house is being put in order. PDP is the only party that has been accepted from top –down. Its presence is being felt and will continue to be felt throughout the country. You need to work on getting up back again and find a solution to your problems”.

    IBB’s assertion on the possibility of PDP ruling for 60 years reveals that former Chairmen of the party who boasted that the PDP would be in power for six decades were not just being frivolous. It was actually a plan which the ‘military wing’ of the PDP wanted to actualize but for the triumph of the All Progressives Congress (APC) at the last general elections. The military mindset of prolonged civilian rule by one party is patently anti-democratic and does not take into account the will of the people. Even though he had been drafted and funded to run for the country’s presidency straight from prison in 1998, by the retreating military, Obasanjo obviously had his own plan of elongated personal rule as revealed by the infamous third term agenda, which he continues to deny most unconvincingly.

    It was indeed the Obasanjo administration’s  strong arm tactics in undertaking a hostile takeover of the PDP, imposing and instigating party leaders at will, disregarding internal party democracy and actively destabilizing opposition parties that laid the basis for the gradual ossification of the party’s organs and the insidious erosion of the party’s values that ultimately led to its electoral defeat at the centre and its near collapse today. At a point, the PDP was even bold enough to de-register all party members and asked those desiring to be members to register afresh. Of course, Dr Goodluck Jonathan simply continued with the personalization of the party rendering it no better than a spineless parastatal subsumed under the presidency.

    The military is a highly respected professional group and in many advanced democracies, it even gives those who have faithfully served patriotically their countries in the military occupation an advantage in politics. But the respect and prestige as well as the position of advantage occupied by many of Nigeria’s retired military elite in politics is a function of rampant corruption and unbridled wealth accumulation through the criminal privatization of state resources. The ongoing trial of top military officers by the Buhari administration for embezzling billions of naira meant for the procurement of military equipment as part of its anti-corruption war is evidence of how deeply this menace has eaten into the fabric of the military. This is why Buhari’s personal rectitude and ascetic discipline is all the more impressive given the critical positions he has occupied both within and outside the military.

    However, admiration for Buhari’s personal qualities should not be allowed to result in a ‘cult of personality’, within the APC with personal rule by the president and his kitchen cabinet substituting for party supremacy. That is what led as I said earlier to the decline and ultimate fall of the PDP. In many ways, the PDP reflected the centralized and hierarchal organizational structure of the military with the President at the head of the chain of command. The APC should strive to run a more decentralized system by devolving more powers and responsibilities to its regional and state organs. Again, it is only a strong party platform that can hold governments at all levels accountable to implementing its manifesto.

    Expressing his continued support for the two-party system, which his government foisted on the country with the two government –created parties, the National Republican Convention (NRC) and the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Babangida said “Gradually my earlier suggestion about the practice of a two-party system is coming to the fore in the country. In 1999, when I was advocating for a two party system, some of my colleagues had their doubts but I told them that it provides a choice which is the first essence of democracy”. There is no doubt that a party, which desires to win national elections such as the presidency must have broad based national support if it is too fulfill the constitutional stipulations for winning. However, that should not preclude those who desire to contest just regional, state or even local government elections from doing so on the platform of parties of their choice.

    Another take away from the PDP’s implosion that the APC will do well to learn from is to avoid the ultimately self-defeating objective of trying to contrive crises within opposition parties. The existence of a strong opposition party will at the end of the day be a blessing in disguise for the ruling party by keeping it on its toes.