SalisuOri:


Do you honestly believe the average nigerian struggling to eat everyday cares about June 12 and Dele Giwa accusations from 17 years ago which still havn't been proven!?. .

There is no statute of limitations on murder.  In any society.  In the history of the world.

Note: I am not accusing him or anyone of murder.  I don't know enough about the circumstances of Newswatch founder Dele Giwa's death to talk about that.  I am simply responding to the above sentence.

Why does this country like ’’ moon walk’’ leadership? If this so-called ibb is sensible enough, he should just play advisory role to those presently in authority on how best they can bring sanity to all their mess over the years.

Saying this generation cannot appreciate him for all he has done for the country, as he rightly said, I don’t even see it happening in any way because of the shame and pains he has caused this nation both home and abroad. U can wait for your next generation which u hope they will honour u for all your misdemeanour.

People should not always think that without them, Nigeria will not exist anymore.

If men where God, U can be the most riches but note that you are not the saviour that will take this country to the Promised Land.

SalisuOri:

These articles are not constructive debates or in any way indications of what the average nigerian in the street thinks. Do you honestly believe the average nigerian struggling to eat everyday cares about June 12 and Dele Giwa accusations from 17 years ago which still havn't been proven!?. They will vote for the guy who impacted their lives, and IBB completed projects all around Nigeria so his presence is still visible in every state. Your idea of people hating IBB is based on your own feelings and not the current political situation in Nigeria.

Guy, it is either you were born yesterday or you just chose to be a disguised advocate of the evil genius.

Well, maybe you are from the North where the only thing they protest or demonstrate is opoosing religious views and never bad governance or mis-rule!

The demonstrations in Ibadan and other parts of the South West shows that where people have their brains functioning properly, a creature like IBB should consider it a mirage to rule over them again. The enlightened people of the south have protested at various fora and will continue to do so to warn people like you who think IBB is all-in-all!

IBB is a myth that will soon be destroyed.

The Babangida years

By Tolu Ogunlesi
April 17, 2010 10:36PM

In his first New Year Days speech as military president, months after deposing the Buhari-Idiagbon government in a bloodless coup enthusiastically welcomed by Nigerians, Ibrahim Babangida declared: I wish to reaffirm that this administration does not intend to stay in power a day longer than is required to lay the necessary institutional framework to bring about a better and more stable Nigeria. Babangidas bonhomie (its trademark an endearing gap-toothed smile) - in stark contrast to the stern, unsmiling façade of Muhammadu Buhari, his predecessor - made it easy for him to be believed.
The distinction between the two regimes in fact ran much deeper than personality quirks. Babangida, in action, proved to be the complete antithesis of his predecessor. He threw open prison doors, setting free hundreds of 3rd republic politicians convicted and jailed by Buhari. He repealed the obnoxious Decree No. 4 of 1984 with which the Buhari regime had shackled the media. He promised to run an open administration that is responsive to the yearnings and aspirations of all the people - a departure from the high-handedness of the Buhari/Idiagbon era.
One of his first actions as military president was to allow Nigerians to decide, through public debates, whether to accept the $2.5 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan the Buhari government had been negotiating for.
After the terror of the Buhari years, Nigerians appeared to have found a statesman in military uniform.

Tough times that lasted

By 1985, Nigerias foreign debt had ballooned to $18 billion, up from $3.4 billion in 1980 (it would rise beyond $30 billion by the end of the 80s), and external reserves had dwindled to less than $2 billion. Oil prices had been in freefall for 3 years running, and in January 1986 they finally fell to less than $20 per barrel, a record low since the start of the decade.
To his credit Babangida made all the right noises about revamping the economy. In his Independence Day 1985 speech, barely two months old in office, he declared a state of economic emergency for the next 15 months. That speech went on to lay down a comprehensive plan for economic reconstruction.
This plan included a moratorium on new foreign debt, promotion of agriculture and industrial development, restriction of importation to essential commodities, financial sector reform and privatisation.

Populist leanings

IBB was a master of the populist move - ambitious government programs targeted at tackling poverty, and empowering rural dwellers. His government churned out program after program, in a bid to actualize his promises to run an inclusive, people-facing government. In 1986, Babangida launched the Mass Mobilization for Self Reliance, Social Justice, and Economic Recovery (MAMSER).
In 1987, the Directorate of Food and Rural Infrastructure (DFFRI) was launched to promote agriculture and transform Nigerias rural landscape by providing modern infrastructure. Other Babangida creations include the National Directorate of Employment (NDE), National Economic Reconstruction Fund (NERFUND), Peoples Bank of Nigeria (PBN), National Board for Community Banks (NBCB), Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), Nigeria Export-Import Bank (NEXIM), National Planning Commission (NPC), and the Urban Development Bank.
No other Nigerian government presided over such substantial expansion of government bureaucracy as the Babangida administration. In time, the fiscal prudence that Babangida espoused vanished: billions of naira were sunk into an endless transition programme, and in the early 90s, 12 billion dollars worth of windfall crude oil revenue (courtesy of the rise in the oil prices due to the Gulf War) could not be accounted for.
Mr. Babangida also came to perfect the art of dispensing patronage through political appointments (mostly targeted at leading members of the opposition) and a far-from-transparent allocation of lucrative oil blocks.

A man whose words mean nothing

Mr. Babangidas contradictions eventually overwhelmed his reputation so that when, in May 1993, the activist and lawyer Gani Fawehinmi described him as a man whose words mean nothing to him, evidence of this littered his eight years in power.
Only months after vowing to run a government by consultation with the people, Mr. Babangida in 1986 surreptitiously - and unilaterally - took Nigeria, an avowed secular state, into full membership of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC), a body which describes itself as the collective voice of the Muslim world.
Mr. Babangida lamented the large role played by the public sector in economic activity with hardly any concrete results to justify such a role.Ironically, over the course of the next five years, he would go ahead to supervise an unprecedented expansion of government. And despite his deference to the wish of Nigerians to reject the IMF loan, Mr. Babangida went ahead to implement some of the Funds most drastic requirements - a devaluation of the naira, and removal of subsidies, chief of which were the petroleum subsidies.
Mr. Babangida promised Nigerians that the belt-tightening was sorely needed: the painful injection that would usher in vibrant economic health; the mandatory dark lining before a cloud of prosperity. Those reforms, which he christened Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP), came into effect in 1986, with a far-from-pleasant impact on Nigerians. Purchasing powers dwindled, inflation rose, and the obliteration of the middle class began. In 1989, SAP riots rocked the country, as Nigerians had finally had enough of economic reforms which silver lining they waited in vain for.

Greatest failings

Mr. Babangidas greatest failings were however in two key areas: his human rights record, and his political transition programme. In December 1985, a group of soldiers, which included his close friend, Mamman Vatsa, were arrested on allegations of plotting to topple the 4-month old Babangida government. After Vatsa was convicted and sentenced to death, Mr. Babangida assured a delegation of distinguished writers (Wole Soyinka, Chinua Achebe and J.P. Clark), which had come pleading for mercy, that he was determined to do everything in my power to save (Vatsa).
Hours later, Vatsa and the other alleged plotters were executed.
As opposition to Mr. Babangidas rule grew, so did his intolerance for dissent, so that he routinely shut down or proscribed media houses; and harassed journalists, civil society and labour groups using the instruments of state (the State Security Service, Directorate of Military Intelligence and the Police).
In 1986, five students of the Ahmadu Bello University were murdered when mobile policemen invaded the campus to quell anti-IMF protests. He also promulgated a series of draconian decrees targeted at quelling all opposition, and on occasion did not hesitate to deport foreign critics (University lecturer Patrick Wilmot and journalist William Keeling).
In October 1986, frontline journalist Dele Giwa was murdered by a letter bomb in Lagos. Preliminary police investigations stated that senior officers of Mr. Babangidas intelligence services, who had hounded Giwa in his final days, had questions to answer regarding Giwas death. The mystery of the Giwa assassination remains unsolved till date.

An interminable journey

A maddeningly convoluted transition programme, whose terminal date soon became a mirage - first 1990, then 1992, and then 1993 - is one of the most significant things Babangida will be remembered for.
Early on in his administration, Mr. Babangida inaugurated a Political Bureau to kick off, as it were, the national debate on a viable future political ethos and structure for our dear country.
The political bureau was soon followed by a Constituent Assembly, which in 1989 fashioned a new constitution for the country.
Also, in 1989, he created, by presidential fiat, two political parties, the Social Democratic Party and the National Republican Convention. Then in 1991, he released a controversial list of prominent politicians whom he said were banned from participating in the transition programme.
In October 1992, he cancelled the results of the parties presidential primaries, causing new primaries to be held in March 1993. And then in June 1993 he annulled the results of the presidential elections, presumed to have been won by billionaire businessman MKO Abiola.

This was the final straw
.
By this time, Nigerians had finally had enough of his shenanigans, and violent protests forced him to step aside on August 27, 1993,My colleagues and I are determined to change the course of history, Mr. Babangida told Nigerians in his maiden speech as Head of State, on August 27, 1985.
By the time he reluctantly relinquished power exactly eight years later, he had achieved that goal, far more successfully than he, or anyone else, could ever have imagined.

Source: Next
====================

The Holy Book says "my people perish for lack of knowledge".
Will you allow 150m of us (Nigerians) perish or will you ALSO forward this article on the (mis) deeds of our self-proclaimed "evil genius" to all Nigerians that you know
Will you help confirm "maradona" IBB's claim (in Germany in the 90s during one of his radiculopathy treatment trips) that we, his fellow citizens are "docile" (MUGUs) by not sharing this mail
Find a way to get involved at all levels- local, state and federal- this election period for a better Nigeria!!!

Believe these and you'll believe anything. A criminal is always a criminal, IBB knows he can easily buy gullible Nigerians with his chronic lies. Sport on evil man.

I would have loved to comment but the post is rather unduly long. Could someone tell me in brief what it is all about. If i were to hazard a guess and its all about IBB's qualification, i daresay if he gets voted or rigged into power, i will denounce Nigeria as a nation. QED.

1025:

wether u are a victim or a patient of june 12, the only reason u have for making all these noises in nigeria today is because of obasanjo's foolishness.
if obasanjo and ribadu were fighting corruption as they claimed, will a devil in the name of ibb be free as to come to context elections in nigeria.
obasanjo's failures are the reasons for the freedom of ibb today.

Thank u very much, u exposed my insight about some certain things. I fink u are right

hardbody:

I would have loved to comment but the post is rather unduly long. Could someone tell me in brief what it is all about. If i were to hazard a guess and its all about IBB's qualification, i daresay if he gets voted or rigged into power, i will denounce Nigeria as a nation. QED.

You are very wrong! I would read the whole article if I were you, just for entertainment. It is about the comedic display of alarming id!ocy by an old man.
They say, a fool at 40 is a fool forever; but what can one say about a fool at 69?

I THINK IBB IS A BETTER PERSON THAT MANY OF US.ALTHOUGH I DONT WANT HIM AS PRESIDENT.LET US LEARN TO SEPERATE ISSUES FROM PERSONALITY.
THIS GUY IS ONE OF THE MOST INTELLIGENT NIGERIANS EVER, EVEN IF ALL HE IS SAYING IS A LIE, THE MAN ALMOST GOT ME CRYING, I RESPECT HIM A LOT I WILL LEAVE GOD TO JUDGE HIM.
I WISH HE COULD WRITE HE'S TRUE AUTOBIOGRAPHY.A LOT OF YOUNG PEOPLE WOULD LEARN FROM IT. DO YOU KNOW IBB WAS THE FIRST MILITARY HEAD OF STATE TO RIDE ON THE QUEENS CHARIOT.THERE MUST BE SOMETHING ABOUT THAT GUY,HE DEFINETY KNOWS THE HOW,
RESPECT IBB,

I THINK IBB IS A BETTER PERSON THAT MANY OF US.ALTHOUGH I DONT WANT HIM AS PRESIDENT.LET US LEARN TO SEPERATE ISSUES FROM PERSONALITY.
THIS GUY IS ONE OF THE MOST INTELLIGENT NIGERIANS EVER, EVEN IF ALL HE IS SAYING IS A LIE, THE MAN ALMOST GOT ME CRYING, I RESPECT HIM A LOT I WILL LEAVE GOD TO JUDGE HIM.
I WISH HE COULD WRITE HE'S TRUE AUTOBIOGRAPHY.A LOT OF YOUNG PEOPLE WOULD LEARN FROM IT. DO YOU KNOW IBB WAS THE FIRST MILITARY HEAD OF STATE TO RIDE ON THE QUEENS CHARIOT.THERE MUST BE SOMETHING ABOUT THAT GUY,HE  DEFINETY KNOWS THE HOW,
RESPECT IBB,

If I could read between his lips and the thing he is unconsciously telling us.
He wants to come back and steal billions because while he was there politicians only steal millions?
Question is what is the value of the naira then when you steal million and you steal billions now?
Is thieving not thieving anymore? or it now has grades?

Can someone pls summarize that interview, preferably in one or two sentences?

Why are we Nigerians so tribalistic? Hausa, Igbo, or yoruba it doesn't matter. As long as any one can make 9ja better. How much are this current politicians stealing? And what have they done for you and the country. No jobs for the youth.   That is the job of the government. Infrastructures are decaying, yet IBB stole billions of dollars (9ja people please move on). No good roads, water, electricity just to name a few and people are still complaining about IBB. What did OBJ do for 9ja in his 8 years and also what has GEJ done? We should stop been tribalistic. If an Hausa man has better qualification to rule 9ja we should vote for him regardless of where we come from. We are Nigerians. Same thing applies to Igbo or Yoruba. Vote for the best person that can improve you, your community, and your country. We should look to the future. What legacy are we leaving for our children and our children's children (grand children). A good man leaves an inheritance for his children's children. Proverb 13:22. What inheritance are we leaving for our children's children? The choices we make today determines our tomorrow.

The problem is IBB wasn't groomed to be a President. I think he was just a corruptible man with good intentions who has now learnt his lesson. Still won't vote for him though.
See It'll be hard for any president to act because the Nigerian govt is full of crooks.

Someone tell this ill-fool he'll lose & he shouldn't waste cash left from his loots!!!

wether u are a victim or a patient of june 12, the only reason u have for making all these noises in nigeria today is because of obasanjo's foolishness.
if obasanjo and ribadu were fighting corruption as they claimed, will a devil in the name of ibb be free as to come to context elections in nigeria.
obasanjo's failures are the reasons for the freedom of ibb today. Gbam! Na you be d real genius.

This is the most candid intervivew IBB has ever granted and it throws a lot of light onto his personality. He seemed ambivalent about doing good, keeping alive, and doing bad things. He appears to have some psychopathic traits with  little empathy for others, but that may be explained by his military background. As for him executing Vatsa I blame him not because [f Vatsa actually plotted against his childhood friend, IBB, then he deserves the punishment when the coup failed He knew the military law. I heard some rumors that Dele Giwa met his death because he tried to blackmail IBB with the true story of Gloria Okon, demanding juicy jobs, money and other goodies to keep it secret. If this were true he breached jounralist ethics and placd his life at risk with a military dictator. As for June 12, the true story can never be known but we know how nigerians are die hard to get their canndidate in power and IBB must have seen this as an oppotunity to continue to remain in power. He should have stood up for what is right but like I said he has a psychopathic nature and finds it hard to do the right thing; only self survival matters to him

As to whether he is the right ruler for nigeria. IT IS UP TO NIGERIANS TO DECIDE.

It is Shakespeare who said the evil that men do live after them but the good is often interred with their bones.

I'm still recollecting the way and manner in which OBJ fights his enemies like a wounded lion. So, what on earth could have made OBJ to spare IBB? Please help me with a reasonable answer.

People like IBB will continue to assault the nation's collective psyche, will continue to flaunt their worm-infested relevance over the populace because of the kind of environment we have created for ourselves in Nigeria. His coming out to contest at all, [for whatever reason] is enough despoil already, and now his recent indulgences, organised media interviews, which all amount to shoddy, convoluted and kindergatten attempt to rationalise his years of selfish indulgence foisted on the country with his cabal of heartless arsonists. Only fools can be fooled by his like.

All said and done, God is not sleeping, let him continue filling his cup of iniquity all over the place with his claims to innocence over events he should be remorseful for, there is always a day of reckoning for the unrepentant, there is always a Higher Power that hands out impartial judgements to those whose cups are filled!

Of all the crap he said, three things that made sense were: True federalism, looting (something he institutionalized) has gotten worse (Trillions of dollars) and the fact that that coup plotters violated the law and thus deserve to die, what about IBB?

okstol:

I'm still recollecting the way and manner in which OBJ fights his enemies like a wounded lion. So, what on earth could have made OBJ to spare IBB? Please help me with a reasonable answer.

IBB is a strategist. He had sponsored OBJ both financially and politically so that he protect him from being probed. He also uses threats of death from the league of generals if anyone tries to harm him by planning to probe him. It is like the rumor that goes around that American presidents are made to swear to protect state of israel at all costs.

I finally completed this the 2nd epistle of IBB to Nigerians. . .d man is just too unrepentant for my liking.

Question: IBB, did u steal while office?
IBB: As for stealing, a lot people stole and are still stealing mega money 17 yrs after i stepped aside.

Question: Did u kill Dele Giwa?
IBB: Dele was my very good friend, in fact, I will gladly embrace him in the next world.

What a man! Unfortunately, this interview did not include SAP, oil windfall and devaluation of d naira. Even if it did, d man wud have evaded them as well.

I.B.B The man who all the dead people love(abiola will hug him, mamman vasta is his bossom friend, Dimka na im pandi and as princess Diana butler has her letters, IBB has Dele Giwas' own) please do and join your friends.Lol this guy is going crazy,PAMF,

Mai Suya:

Can someone pls summarize that interview, preferably in one or two sentences?

Here it is:

I'm that single living slowpoke who contributed the most to the rot in your country. I'm coming back to ensure my rotten legacy continues because I'm certain you are too foolish to stop me. Laughter Laughter

the notable thing I grasped from that interview is the continous reference being made to IBB's gap tooth. ''The gap-toothed General'' crap here and there. Pls is that a criteria for a leader?? Let me know if I should dust my chisel,

This guy must think we are as silly as he is. Either that or he is ignorant of the fact that even for those who were young when he was rubbishing this country, the evils he did are very well documented and as they say, these evils will live after him for ever. The funny thing is that just like foolish people the world over, the man actually thinks he is fooling everyone while we are just watching him make a fool of himself. Rather than clearing his name, he goes about talking about what others did in the 17 years since he left government. The issue here is that he set the foundation and people that came after him built it up. The only opportunity we had to get it right was the June 12 which he annulled and is yet to tell us about. The i.d.i.o.t must think we are too silly to be told the reason for his annulling it or that he is more patriotic than we are that's why he can't come out and name names and tell us what happened. silly old man thinks he is wise by evading the questions, he must think he is talking to some silly almajiris. Tufiakwa. May Allah repay him with the same cup he used to mete out punishment on this country. BARAWO BANZA

IBB is a victim of his wasted opportunities, he has wasted his chance!!!!!!!!!

Classic case of the victimizer(IBB) and the victim(Nigerians).There comes a time when the victimizer's crimes are so bad he becomes a victim of his own actions.IBB has not seen anything yet.He is yet to feel the full weight of what he did to Nigerian's.Even if he wins by computer malfunction, the election will be annuled.And he must not complain

only a few smart people here see that IBB is very well placed to rule nigeria now, moreso than any other candidate.

When the chips are down, people will gravitate towards true leaders who have the charisma and intelligence to lead a whole nation. In 150 days GEJ has not shown the leadership skills that are needed in Nigeria. Infact, upon realizing his faults, he has become heavy-handed to try "assert" dominance which has backfired again because you can't fake strength at a Presidential level.

As with every candidate, they have their own staunch supporters and staunch haters. It's what politics is. But the undecided voting public are looking for a real leader now, and put any candidate side by side with IBB and they won't be able to compete. Also don't forget, as head of state you will always be unpopular amongst some of your countrymen, its part of the territory. But people just because they have personal grudges against IBB that the whole nation is thinking that way.

Very very interesting interview. I'm entirely indifferent to all the accusations levelled against him because I realize he is no worse than Obasanjo or any other head of state we've had; he is just unfortunate to have annulled the June 12 elections, and in all honesty that is the singular reason why his reputation remains in tatters,


From the point of view of a keen student of politics, strategy and power, this interview was quite revealing, enlightening and indeed entertaining. It again shows how wily and crafty the man IBB is. . .qualities that are not necessarily negative in the shadowy realm of power, politics, war and strategy for which some of us are ardent practitioners. It'll be quite interesting to read his memoirs someday and learn more about the hire-wire intrigues involved in the art of planning and executing coup plots . . .an art in which his skill and experience remain unsurpassed to this day.

I am not really interested in his presidential ambition, but this enigma of a man interests me immensely.

sometimes i wish i was never a nigerian.

but on second thought, and after reading shit like this, i begin to appreciate the experience of being a nigerian,

seeing the world form the two sides of the coin,

I.B.B
As for the interview, seems like the journalist has a low IQ or IBB is too intelligent.
In all, I feel the man was more intelligent than the average Nigerian in his time. Why?
The people were and still are just ranting and bashing the man that he is bad but, pointlessly while the man always composed himself and seemed ready to answer any queries perfectly!
Btw, the story of the three envelopes was an educative one and that seems enough to defend him.

Nigerians, heed to Babangida's advise;
seek solutions to problems and stop pointing fingers of blame to the past!

Really, ibb is seductive!