The phenomenon of self-seeking morons angling for power for certain persons, ethnic groups or even regions is one scourge against, which Nigeria needs constant fumigation and the Nigerian people, repeated immunization. Nigeria neither needs nor deserves this tribe of opportunists, hence the IBB interview, and most notably his opposition to power rotation should be seen for what it truly is: a pitiful pattern of arrogance and impunity designed to sway public opinion and influence political direction. This perverted kind of politics should be discarded everywhere. In the South-east and South-south, South-west or North-east, North-west or North-central, this irresponsibility must stop. From former presidents like IBB, Nigeria demands a higher level of responsibility. The state of the nation requires that they bestow nobility on issues on their agenda and be seen to disdain the disgraceful attraction of gratifying themselves to the current flavor of power.
The nation is currently in the throes of every man-made disaster. Nigerians certainly have to worry about the behavior of people like IBB, who are expected to be wise and profound men, able to sift the fad from the enduring and able to offer views with such premium as would distinguish their voices from the rabble. His interpretation of national priorities exemplified by his pandering to base sentiments is, therefore, not complimentary to his status and level of access. This is a shame which was advertised in spectacular fashion when IBB tried to burnish his democratic credentials as an advocate for the rule of law. “Nobody should disobey lawful orders in a democracy,” IBB said without shame, given that the IBB junta showed scant regard for the rule of law and openly flaunted court orders. IBB is now a born-again democrat defending the rule of law, Habba!
But the most grotesque and insulting part of the interview was IBB’s tepid and belated excuse for the annulment of June 12. Hear him: “If it materialized, there would have been a coup d’état – which could have been violent. That’s all I can confirm. It didn’t happen thanks to the engineering and the Maradonic way we handled you guys in the society. But that could have given room for more instability in the country.” Just for the records, the June 12, 1993 presidential election adjudged the freest and fairest in the history of Nigeria, and which was annulled by IBB in a streak of authoritarian madness; the scars are still deep and healing is far from complete. A traumatized nation, poised then for a real taste of joy, still reels in the pain of a cruel and unnecessary abortion. It was probably the most wicked act perpetrated against this nation by IBB.
June 12, 1993 was a milestone in Nigeria’s quest for its true identity. It was the epoch in the struggle against military rule and the return of democracy. It was the manifestation of the hopes and aspirations of all Nigerians to be governed by leaders chosen on the basis of democratic principles. On that day, Nigerians said goodbye to ethnicity and primordial considerations that had governed the country. An all-Muslim ticket was not seen as an anomaly but simply as a Nigerian ticket. Nigerians voted for Abiola and Babagana Kingibe, despite their religious affiliation, in a classic statement of an end to the usual appeal to base instincts and signaling the dawn of a New Nigeria. Indeed, a new nation was being born in which there was one ethnic group: Nigeria and only one religion: Nigeria. But IBB annulled that great moment of history and pulled Nigeria into the abyss of despair in which it still gropes today.
When he overthrew Gen. Muhammadu Buhari in 1985, the standing view was that the power behind the throne had finally decided to occupy it. Therefore, for a man who had been involved in every coup since 1966; for IBB who was ruthless against coup plotters to the extent of killing one of his best friends, the soldier-poet, Gen. Mamman Vatsa to barefacedly lie to Nigerians that he annulled June 12 because he was afraid of a coup is simply beyond disbelief. The real coup was the one IBB staged against the Nigerian people. Authoritarianism returned to the polity with a vengeance when Nigerians vehemently sought the actualization of their will. A bestial culture of impunity again seized the foreground and in the process, a once united country was bifurcated along Muslim-Christian, North-South and East-West divides. General Sani Abacha, who seized power in the ensuing anomie, placed Nigerians under siege. The rights of the people were violated under the jackboot of military despotism; many Nigerians were jailed and others were extra-judicially executed.
A reign of terror was unleashed; Alfred Rewane, Kudirat Abiola, wife of MKO Abiola, among many others, were felled by assassins’ bullets. Numerous others bore the scars of attempted assassination by state agents. Newspapers were shut down and Nigeria became a pariah nation, under multilateral sanctions. The ills of military rule were met with a corresponding resistance from a heroic people who demanded that soldiers return to the barracks. IBB should be reminded in whatever language he understands that, by his singular disgraceful action of annulling the election, Nigeria snatched defeat from the jaws of victory and the nation’s manifest rendezvous with glory was halted by his mindless dictatorship. Twenty-eight years on, there is democracy, but true democrats are hard to come by. Elections have been held, but the will of the people has not had the kind of expression it had on June 12, 1993. Leaders have come, but none has come free of religion or ethnic baggage as was the case on June 12, 1993. The result has been a Nigeria still questioned by many Nigerians; a nation full of promise but still in doubt of itself.
And to think that the same IBB will now be prescribing the profile of the next Nigerian president is breathtakingly disingenuous devoid of any perfunctory exaggeration. Her him: “I have started visualizing a good Nigerian leader. He should be a person who travels this country and has friends in every state of the country; a person who is very vast in the economy, a person who is a good politician who is ready to talk to Nigerians. I have seen about three already. The person should be in his 60s and I believe if we get such a person, Nigeria will get it right.” Please, can someone remind IBB that Abiola is the only candidate who meets all his criteria for president? When he won the presidency in 1993, Abiola was a chartered accountant, philanthropist, entrepreneur with a global business empire. Abiola was a transcendental figure with friends across every nook and cranny of Nigeria and across the world. He was also a soccer aficionado having founded a team called Abiola Babes of Abeokuta. Above all, he was just 55 years old!
As IBB turns 80 and continues his Paul epiphany, it is just as well that his soul, if at all he has one, has held a conversation with his conscience to the extent that he can be inadvertently recommending the future president of Nigeria to be in MKO Abiola’s image. Former Nigerian rulers lend themselves to ridicule and compound the present miserable perception of their roles when they descend from their otherwise lofty stools as elder statesmen into the murky waters of partisan politics. People like IBB, if they desire respect, should steer clear of partisanship and play the correct role of elder statesmen and father of the nation. It is not in their interest to inflame the polity and bring themselves into odium by joining the peculiarly Nigerian dubious, even if lucrative, industry, being created around certain people’s political ambitions. IBB has proven unrepentant and incorrigible in his wrongdoing. Nigerians expect him to apologize for the crimes he committed against the Nigerian people. His petulance, loose tongue and foul temperament notwithstanding, IBB should understand that Nigerians have been mightily insulted by his statements; he respect his age and stop running his mouth.
