In what could have been a historic transition from military to civilian rule in Nigeria, General Ibrahim  Babangida, who ruled the country for nearly a decade in the 1980s, organized the best-run presidential elections ever conducted in the nation’s history, only to prevent the 1994 scheduled installation of that election’s formally quantified winner, MKO Abiola, so as to impose General Sanni Abacha as the head of what turned out to be one of Nigeria’s most repressive, corrupt and sadistic military dictatorships.

The sheer volume of non-documented hard currency available on the stroke of a pen by heads of state, even in the tiniest of countries, is well beyond the comprehension of most mortals, and with Nigeria’s oil export earnings alone recorded at well over 3 million US dollars per day, it does not take an accountant to speculate at the source of the funding it took to build the stadium-sized castle into which General Babangida retired from “public service”, to relax in splendor amidst the marble floors and gold plate fixtures of his Arabian-themed sultan’s residence sprawled across a hilltop overlooking the dusty hamlet of Minna, in northern Nigeria.   

With vast global holdings in oil refineries, real estate, luxury hotel chains and banking, Retired General Babangida’s wealth undoubtedly exceeds the gross national product of several neighboring West African countries combined. For this primary reason, but also because Babangida happens to be one of the most charming, disarming, persuasive, urbane, humorous and eloquent political or military leaders Nigeria has ever seen, there is no doubt that The Evil Genius has always remained a king-maker who may now be king. 

Even as he generously bribed or silently killed opponents, looted national cash flow with reckless abandon, and presided over Nigeria’s crystallization into a bi-polar tinder-box state of extreme illegitimate wealth alongside abject poverty, every televised speech Babangida delivered was a polished masterwork of smooth oratory perfection, designed to alternately dazzle listeners with brilliance, or baffle them with bullchit, while leaving them feeling inexplicably reassured and hopeful for a better future despite all indications to the contrary.   

In summary, the self-styled Evil Genius of Minna Mountain, General Ibrahim Babangida, is Nigeria personified – amoral yet deeply religious, cunning, jocular, obscenely rich, deadly to his foes and singularly focused on getting richer faster.    All these qualities will ENSURE that Ibrahim Babangida is BOUND either to serve as Nigeria’s next civilian president with all powers vested therein, or to continue his silent and lucrative role as the man with the final say over who does get “elected” into power as Nigeria’s next head of state.  This you can take to the bank.