Everybody except Ibrahim Babangida and his hangers-on knew that his foray into the 2011 presidential race was bound to come to grief.

In the history of Nigeria, few individuals are as
passionately loathed and distrusted as the toothy retired general. In fact few Nigerians would buy a used
car from the man who misruled Nigeria for eight years. Babangida in his prime
was bad news; so bad those in decent circles you might be told to rinse your
mouth with disinfectant for mentioning his name.

Now he wants to be our ‘Northern’ president – what a sorry climb-down
for a man who once derived his powers from the barrel of the federal gun!
Admittedly, it would have been odd if the zoning/consensus hoax orchestrated by Adamu Ciroma had not
featured a Babangida.

The contest was not about integrity; no one, not even Ciroma, ever said it was.
So he insulted the nation with a list of men with putrid baggage.