Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida @74

Department of Mass Communication, Bayero University, Kano Last Monday, precisely August 17, 2015, one of Nigeria’s illustrious sons and Military leaders, General Ibrahim Babangida marked his 74th birthday quietly amidst prayers and wishes of goodwill from family members, relatives, friends and well-wishers. I am one of such well-wishers who will continue to wish him and all living Nigerian leaders increased good health and continuous Allah’s protection. As we have read and saw on the media, General Babangida used the occasion of the birthday to reassure Nigerians and its current leadership of his repeated desire to see the country remain peaceful, united and on the path of development. In fact, a careful monitoring of his utterances in the media since stepping aside in 1997 would reveal that Babangida has been consistent in his carriage of an elder statesman whose ambition is for Nigeria to remain peaceful and progressive.
Today, Nigeria is one country that God has blessed to have a long list of surviving former leaders who are still relevant in the affairs of the nation, irrespective of what some of us may say. It is also an indication of the extent of relative peace that had characterized change of leaderships, especially during the days of Military Rule in the country when coup d’états were often bloody in many African countries.
At 74, General Babangida has every reason to be totally thankful to the Almighty that granted him long life and exceptional opportunities that included surviving a gunshot wound that left a bullet permanently lodged in his chest during the Nigerian civil war. From that incident, he was lucky to rise from the Hospital bed to have a family and grow professionally to become one of Nigeria’s leaders that affected the structure and history of the nation in all ramifications. The orphan who rose from obscurity in Minna to the zenith of his career as the Chief of Army Staff and later the Military President of the most populous African nation at the age of 44 has an assured space in the annals of Nigerian History. Incidentally, Babangida is a fellow who is conscious of the judgement of history in his life. I can remember vividly, though can’t quote correctly, one of his popular sayings when he was the President on the fact that history can forgive an individual for taking a wrong decision; but history won’t forgive one for not taking a decision at all, especially at a critical moment of painful but necessary decision making. And definitely, either for good or otherwise, Babangida as Nigeria’s leader from 1985-1993 was not found wanting in taking decisions that were controversial to many, painful to some and at huge personal cost to him. His reign witnessed the taking of some of the toughest decisions in the history of the nation as well as in his his life as an individual and a leader. Today and for many years to come, Nigerians have stayed with the benefits, pains and consequences of many of such decisions. And that could, perhaps explain why the General has been correctly or incorrectly described as “the most controversial political figure in the country today”.  But controversial or not, Babangida has affected the growth and development of the nation’s economy, politics, and social circumstances. His regime tried to revitalize the economy and give the nation a new political direction and renewed international visibility. In the process, the regime experienced various unrests and upheavals caused mainly by the consequences of the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP), invisible hands of the opposition and in many cases, the policies or behaviours of key members of the regime. Undoubtedly, Babangida as President had survived some tense moments of turbulence that violently shook him to the bones. Few of such were the Orkar coup attempt, labour strikes, students’ unrests, religious conflicts, plane crashes, unseen pressure of politicians, etc.
Apart from the impact of his regime on the nation, Babangida has also personally influenced the lives of countless of his fellow citizens in very silent but profound ways. I think I have heard, read and related at close points, even if minimally, with the General to be able to have some ideas on his personal touch in relating with people. Could that have any linkage with his background as an orphan and expansive heart of accommodating everybody without minding whether one is “a little to the right or a little to the left”? Reading Dan Agbese’s book on the gentleman would reveal the details to anyone who is interested in understanding the complexities of the Babangida personality.
Without doubt, one can say that the fellow was born with the art of prospecting, promoting and protecting valuable friends, in addition to being endowed with a high sense of charm and generosity, traits that have significantly influenced and affected his relationships and directions in life. He was a very popular boy in the primary as well as the secondary school where he was also appointed the Head boy in the final year. And as one can see, the man has still remained a Head boy of some sort. For instance, it would not have been accidental that all the leading Presidential candidates in the last and previous national elections visited him in Minna.  Surely, their visits must have been informed by the relevance of the man, his connections and command of loyalties in different constituencies across the nation and, of course, friendly and diplomatic disposition characterized by strong sense of wishing Nigeria well.
However, imprints of the Babangida’s regime in the history of the country would forever be remembered in the negative especially for the majority of the citizens by what Dan Agbese described as “crises of power” and the June 12 Presidential election and its annulment. Evidently, his regime had confronted numerous battles from different constituencies especially in its last three years in office. But it also evolved multiple strategies to save its breadth and prolong its life when it was obvious that it was losing its popularity and pressure on it to leave was enormous. The prolonged and what some saw as a deliberately complicated and expensive transition programme eventually ended in the June 12 Presidential Election that the Babangida regime opted to annul throwing the nation in grief. In the words of Agbese, “June 12 came to grief. The annulment shocked the country and the world. A poisonous combination of military intrigues and high wire politics brought the programme to its knees… Still June 12 also drew the line on the sand of Nigerian politics. It generated a heady current that forced concessions and compromises and in the end achieved what Abiola intended to achieve, even though others not he, benefitted from it-power shift.”
Today, even though most of the details on the issues, events and circumstances surrounding the June 12 debacle are publicly known, however, the fundamental question of who forced it remains with Babangida. All the time, the man simply insists that it was a ‘collective’ decision, though always accepting full responsibility because he was the leader. Agbese, in his authoritative book concludes that “Babangida made some fundamental mistakes of the head and heart… Babangida’s most fundamental political mistake was, of course, June 12… The ship of his greatness floundered on the rock of June 12. June 12 sabotaged him and erected a permanent wall between him and greatness… June 12 was a spectacular culmination of Babangida’s own incredible capacity for self-sabotage… “ I agree with Agbese; the June 12 Presidential election annulment has undermined Babangida’s place in history and dwarfed his fundamental and positive contributions in restructuring and developing the country. Like it or not, Babangida has his plusses that cannot be written off in the history of the nation. And they are many. However, fate had decreed that he would live the rest of his life with the burden of June 12 in his chest like the bullet that was shot into him during the civil war. But then who knows, perhaps, the General may spring some historical surprises on his 75th Birthday. Happy Birthday, General.