http://saharareporters.com/report/ibb-never-again-campaign-call-prosecute-and-ban-general-ibrahim-badamosi-babangida-holding-pu

Arisenigeria Officials Presenting Petition To The Deputy Ambassador In London

Introduction: Arisenigeria organisation is a representation of progressive thinking and the hope for the masses in Nigeria. It was setup to mobilise the Nigerian people to take ownership of Nigeria’s political machinery.

Again, Nigerians are faced with the prospect that GENERAL IBRAHIM BADAMOSI BABANGIDA, the former Nigerian dictator (August 27 1985 - 27 August 1993), who is an aspiring presidential candidate in the 2011 presidential elections, instead of answering questions on the record of his previous eight ( years misrule of Nigeria, could become the next President of Nigeria.

Whilst it is the right of any normal Nigerian to aspire to lead our dear country, General Ibrahim Babangida cannot be considered as a normal Nigerian in the type of new Nigeria, which we stand for; for the reasons of his antecedents. There is a saying in Nigeria that while the name of a king who reigns when the town is peaceful will be remembered, the name of a king who reigns when the town is not peaceful will equally be remembered; but for different reasons. Babangida in his untidy and hurried exit from the Nigerian Presidency left behind a largely negative legacy, which almost every Nigerian can remember with trepidation. He left Nigeria in disarray and turmoil; deliberately programming the country to self destruct as a result of the political impasse he created. The very fact that he wants to return to the seat of power as President 16 years after his first sojourn there still leaves us with a resentful taste in our mouths. It is said that once bitten twice shy; this is a tragedy, which we are ready to avoid at all cost and we seek the supports of every well meaning Nigerian, friends of Nigeria and the international community to help us fulfil this.

WHY NIGERIANS ABHOR GENERAL IBRAHIM BABANGIDA

The tragedy that is Babangida first befell Nigeria and Nigerians when he came to power through a coup d’états on August 27 1985. He imposed himself on us till 27 August 1993 during, which time he terrorised Nigerians physically and psychologically:

    * Babangida did not preside over Nigeria in the interest of Nigerians. Instead, he freely looted its treasury and supported her foreign detractors to do likewise.

    * Babangida devalued the naira and accepted all the conditionalities of the IMF and World Bank. He implemented the neoconservative Structural Adjustment Economic policy, which drastically increased the number of Nigerians that lived below the poverty line. The scheme single-handedly wiped out the Nigerian middle class, and left behind a mass of poverty and a docile well beaten society.

    * Babangida allowed the explosion of drug trafficking activities in Nigeria, such that Nigeria became a major drug transit and money laundering route.

    * Babangida rusticated the intelligentsia who are mainly found in the universities and other tertiary institutions, forcing them out of their jobs for daring to lead the resistance to his control. The vast majority of them have since left the country for good heading for greener pastures in the Western world causing in the process a “brain haemorrhage” from, which Nigeria may never recover. He also purged the ministries of their best brains.

    * Babangida ensured that the entire system was corrupted under his regime and there was no accountability. He also increased State organised crimes and extra judicial murders – planes programmed to crash killed over 256 military officers of Southern extraction in Jaji and another at Ejigbo as well as many other unexplained and mysterious killings took place during his era, in fact, killing became societal ethics and norm.

    * Babangida made Nigeria to join and formalized her membership of Organization of Islamic Countries OIC, without permission from the Supreme Military Council, the highest ruling body during military regimes and against the interest of the Nigerian people even though he was well aware that Nigeria is a secular State.

    * Babangida is the antidemocratic man who criminally annulled the result of the June 12, 1993 presidential election - judged to be the freest and fairest ever held in the country's history.  Nigerians went through a devastating economic, social and political turmoil because of the cancellation of the results of the June 12 Presidential election.

    * The overwhelming majority of Nigerians still believe that it was Babangida who was solely responsible for the letter bomb that killed Dele Giwa, a prominent Nigeria journalist, on October 19, 1986.

    * Babangida destroyed the Nigerian education system in, which in 2010, 98 per cent of those who sat for their ordinary level National Examination Council (NECO) examinations failed, just about 4,000 out of 234,682 candidates could get the minimum requirement of credit in five subjects, including English language and mathematics.

THE TRUTH ABOUT BABANGIDA

Babangida is the most hated figure in Nigeria today. For the living, the only way IBB can get into the presidential villa again would be through a rigged election. That would still not be the will of Nigerians. Of course, he can use our stolen money to corrupt much of the deprived electorates.

A quick survey of comments from Nigerians and the international community supports our claim and this is attached here as appendix.

Arisenigeria as a Nigerian citizen led organisation is calling on President Jonathan, the Attorney General of the federal Republic of Nigeria, the EFCC and the INEC to implement the following wishes of all Nigerians:

    * That Babangida should be disqualified as a candidate for the year 2011 elections

    * That Babangida is a hated figure, who should be prosecuted for treasonable acts against Nigeria, Nigerians and humanity.

    * That Babangida remains untouchable and so rich that no progressive force can successfully compete against him. The Oputa Panel Report (A panel established by ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo) would conclude that “On General Ibrahim Babangida, we are of the view that there is evidence to suggest that he and the two security chiefs, Brigadier General Halilu Akilu and Col. A. K. Togun are accountable for the death of Dele Giwa by letter bomb”. We recommend that this case be re-opened for further investigation in the public interest.

    * That Babangida be prosecuted over the US$12.4 billion Oil Windfall, which Nigeria made during the first Gulf War. The Okigbo Report clearly indicted Babangida. It stated in part, "there were many large projects of doubtful viability and many more of clearly misplaced priority. In addition to these, the Dedication and Special Accounts had become a parallel budget for the Presidency. The decision as to what expenditure items to be financed out of these dedicated accounts was made by the President alone. For example, the accounts had been utilised to defray some assortment of expenses that could not in any way be described as priority such as: $2.92 million to make Documentary Film on Nigeria; $18.30 million to purchase TV/Video for the Presidency; $23.98 million for Staff Welfare in the Presidency; $99 million for travels of the First Lady abroad; and $59.72 million for security."

We are by this letter praying you to use your good offices to ensure that General Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida is made to account for his crimes against Nigerians rather than given free rein to again pollute our National political space.

Nigeria shall rise again and the collective dreams and aspirations of Nigerians shall again be able to thrive!

God bless you and God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Yours sincerely

Signed:

Dr Philip Idaewor                                                                 Mr Charles Eze

Chairman                                                                              Chief Operating Officer

Arisenigeria                                                                          Arisenigeria

Appendix:

A quick survey among Nigerians and international community supports our claim:

The TIME Magazine

When he came to power through a coup d’états in 1985, The TIME Magazine wrote a piece titled - Nigeria: Triumph of the Troublemaker (Sep. 09, 1985). When he was eventually kicked out of office, the same TIME reported that "the colonialists did not do as much damage to the Nigerian psyche as Babangida did." (Sep. 06, 1993)

They should be protesting against OBJ, not IBB.
OBJ is far worse than IBB.

In fact any where IBB's name features in this article, OBJ's name should be substituted.
At least IBb did not shine his daughters'/daughters-in-law'c congos.
Crimes against God Himself.
Twa!

Please, speak for yourselves alone as "Nigerians".
I detest OBJ far more than I could ever dream of detesting IBB.


www.nairaland.com/attachments/361222_nigerians_protest_ibb_jpg9392705a83ffb764a02ab65f73135b89

Group of senile old men who should be repatrated from the UK to Nigeria to face IBB himself.
Cowards. Why stand on foreign soil to diss IBB?
Do they not know the roads to Minna?

Noise-makers.

jobless nigerians. as if what they do here in the uk matters in nigeria. this is jonathan at work deploying people in the uk to slate babangida. nigerians abhor babangida? what a farce. how a group of no-mark twits can speak for 120 million nigerians baffles me. i am nigerian and i don't abhor ibb. if anyone should be locked up, then it should be obj - the only african tyrant that slept with his daughter-in-law.

Gbam
Gbam
Gbamology!

OBJ. . .the Mugabe of Nigeria.

paid labourers.
if that is not what they are, they shld know that nigeria is suffering from obasanjo and not IBB.
that idiot asking for dele giwa shld be wise enough to know that there is also bola ige.
at the moment, nigerians are asking for missing ddc machines and not ibb.
arisenigeria is out of fashion and are living in the past.
london is yoruba extension and as such we know what these imbeciles stand for.
where were these idiots when obasanjo and ribadu refused to probe ibb?
holy noise makers.