General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida
So you want to be an ‘achiever’ in Nigerian journalism! It is simple. Pick your pen and be ready to pour venom on the personality of General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, IBB for short. Scribble, scribble … scribble … Attack him. Hit the midriff. Lampoon. Caricature. Parody. Use every bad language imaginable. Any spoofer on the gap-toothed man who ruled Nigeria for eight eventful years is guaranteed to win you a cozy place in the media’s hall of fame. Or almost.
At least, that seems to be the vogue in the last two and a half months since Abacha’s sudden death. The double-death of Abacha and Abiola, the duo whose struggle against each other affected Nigeria’s sad fate for four dark years, must have greatly contributed to the current unenviable image IBB finds himself grappling with. Prior to Abacha’s watershed June 8 demise, attention was scarcely focused on the Minna born general; he was mentioned once in a while as an addendum to the unceasing political crisis as commentators dwelt largely on Abacha and Abiola. With Abacha’s death, Babangida drew attention when he became prominent among mourners in the former ruler’s Kano home. Indeed, the press nicknamed him the ‘chief mouner’, the intention being to portray him as someone wailing unnecessarily louder than the bereaved.
Nonetheless, the press didn’t appear to have much to rely on to hang IBB. Not until his New York Times interview was published last month. In it, he was quoted expressing regret over his annulment of the 1993 presidential election which Abiola was bound to win. He admitted that the election was wrongly cancelled, while his son Mohammed revealed that the president had been pressurised by his fellow generals (such as Abacha, presumably) to thwart the election.
Babangida has tried during the celebration of President Mandela’s 80th birthday in Abuja to expatiate on his New York Times comments. Too late, as no one was interested. The papers in Lagos and Ibadan, certainly the most censorious and numerous in the country, had acquired the excuse they so much needed to nail him. Opinion writers and editorialists have since been castigating the former commander-in-chief, blaming him for almost all the woes the country ever got in its troubled life. IBB is advised to pocket his apology and (wrongly) accused of being responsible for Abiola’s death. Some say he must be arrested and tried for admitting guilt in the ‘crime’ of annulling the election. Yet others say he should be probed. At the start of the Abubakar regime, there was a purposive attempt to discredit the government through the spurious charge that General Abubakar, who the press suddenly recognised as another ‘IBB boy,’ would not be able to take decisions without first consulting his foxy town’s man. Some self-righteous do-gooders even obliged the head of state with the tasty advice that he should keep away from him.
It is just IBB’s bad luck that he is receiving these wallops. In reality, however, the soft-spoken former general is a sitting duck in a sectional campaign in which many commentators hope to reap great dividends. Babangida, being a Northerner that unwittingly thwarted the looming political fortunes of a clamorous section of the populace, fits the complex script of the massive campaign for power shift. Although IBB-bashing as a newfound career is not necessarily an antidote for June 12 — it would not bring back Abiola, for instance — it helps fill up the press columns, provide a fissure for energy release and, more importantly, keep politicians (in uniform or civvies) on their toes about the nation’s political future.
IBB has mentioned in his New York Times interview the amount of agony June 12 had brought on him. Even though he deserves pity for his pains, he shouldn’t shy away from taking responsibility for an ill-fated military operation he, as commander-in-chief, approved and helped execute. Besides, the present criticism of his person, which hasn’t become national anyway, doesn’t presuppose that he is finished. Out of power now, he has lost a great deal in many respects, but it would be foolhardy to assume that his following has entirely disappeared. IBB still retains a lot of goodwill and, with it, influence that is potentially benefitial to him. A society such as ours will always find a stool for its past leaders.
He should not therefore feel cowed by the current vituperation and expletives. His occasional comments on national issues, especially the role his government played in the uproar of the recent years, would always be received with fanfare. In other, more open societies, IBB would have written a book chronicling the whirlwind events of the 1990s Nigeria. Until he does that, Nigerians would continue to thirst for correct information even though some stories trickle down through other sources, such as the recent revelations made by Colonel Abubakar Dangiwa Umar. Occasional comments by IBB, such as the guarded snippets he let out on the BBC and the Deutschwelle, would only fuel further, unhelpful speculations.
In the meanwhile, part of the reasons for the pillory he is receiving is due to the unexpressed fear that he may go into politics. This fear is insinuated about in frenzied newspaper columns and magazine stories by people who think they have an axe to grind. It is suggested by the same people who find IBB an interesting creature such as when he recently described military rule as an anathema in today’s world. It is quickly identified in the response to the occasional advertorials by the mythical Millennium Collective, the shadowy group often linked to Babangida. Although he has dissociated himself from the group –and vice versa — sceptics have continued to identify him with it. A two-page colour advertorial wishing him a happy 57th birthday published in Thisday on Monday quite nearby came to admitting that the Millenium Collective is IBB’s political outfit. If I were really interested in knowing the truth about the Collective, I would contact Thisday publisher, Nduka Obaigbena.
Whatever the case, General Babangida has no real need of ruling Nigeria again. What he needs, perhaps, is the worldwide practice of playing politics in the background, such as supporting candidates for political office. However, the former strongman would do well to forget politics and, instead, spearhead a movement for cultural revolution and revitalisation. By concentrating on cultural and religious issues — building schools and mosques, supporting the arts such as book publishing, promoting scholarship such as sponsoring a professorial chair in something and being serious on his proposed private university, promoting peace efforts, and the like — IBB could rebuild his image, gain fulfilment and truly redeem humanity.
For his wit in dribbling the nation and winning its confidence, the press fondly nicknamed him ‘Maradona,’ after the Brazilian footballer. He jumped many hurdles. His next hurdle is to recoup that love. For now, the shark-infested water of politics isn’t good for his bath. It is common knowledge that God has given him the resources — and the wit — to make a new mark. And don’t forget: you can also get a kick out of doing good for humanity.
* Published in my column, Melting Pot, in the New Nigerian Weekly today
