₦airaland Forum

Former Nigerian military president, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (rtd), in an exclusive interview with Daily Trust, aired his views on so many burning national issues.

From Boko Haram insurgency to banditry, Amotekun and Shege Ka Fasa, IBB took us down memory lane to why he decided to step aside and how the late General Sani Abacha toppled the interim national government of Chief Ernest Shonekan among others. Below are eight things IBB, popularly referred to as the ‘Maradona’ in Nigeria’s political circle, said in the interview:

How to end Boko Haram

Nigerian security agencies need more intelligence for their operations, leadership and character to be able to check the current insurgency, IBB said. “I think we should concentrate more on intelligence information. For example, on Boko Haram, we need more intelligence about how they operate, their leadership, their characters, who teaches them, who trains them, and so on. “A lot of information needs to be gathered before you confront them. Don’t forget, they are not conventional army; they are just people, small in number when compared to the regular conventional army,” Babangida said.

Gowon motivated me, other northerners to join the military

He said: “If you remember, there was a drive to get a lot of us from the northern part of the country to join the military. The government then, led by Tafawa Balewa, carried out a deliberate campaign to entice us from secondary school to go to military training and subsequently, to military institutions to become military officers. So it was that drive. “General Yakubu Gowon came to our school as a captain then, and we got all inspired when he spoke to us on why we should join the army. In my class, about 15 of us got admitted into the military college in Kaduna. So, it was a drive that made us to join the military.”

‘I feel a sense of satisfaction’ reciting Quran

General IBB has the habit of reciting the Quran. When asked about this habit during the interview, he said: “Thank God the media doesn’t seem to know that. I think it is good. Don’t you think so? It is personal to me, so I feel a sense of satisfaction.”

Coping without a wife

The former military president has revealed that he enjoys the company of his children since the demise of his wife, Mrs. Maryam Babangida, on December 27, 2009. “I have very caring and understanding children; they try to fit in where their mother has left,” he said. When asked whether he was shopping for another wife as speculated in some media, IBB said: “That’s what the media wanted. A lot of people asked me and I said that’s what you (media) said. It is not necessarily what I said.”

Proudest moment

The former military president said his proudest moment in life was commanding the Nigerian Army. “That is one of the highpoints of my profession. Everyone of us wanted to be commanders. And I was able to achieve that before I became president. I think being the Chief of the Army Staff was my proudest moment, as well as what we did for the Army in terms of re-training, re-organising and making it a good fighting machine,” he said.

Why we introduced free market economy in Nigeria

General Babangida (rtd) also noted that he introduced Nigeria to a free market economy. “When we introduced a free market economy, a lot of people didn’t understand what we were trying to do, but now, people have accepted it as the best way for our economic development. The best way is the open market system, and this is what we are practising now. This we did in 1986 and now is 2020,” he pointed out.

Why military coup became the order of the day in Africa

IBB said military coup became the order of the day in most African countries, because there seemed to be a competition in various countries across the continent right from 1952 till the 90s.

“But unfortunately, in the process of building the country (Nigeria), there was military intervention and that brought about the emergence of military regimes. Don’t forget that it was happening in other parts of Africa when we had coup in 1966.

In 1952, there was a coup d’état in Egypt, and subsequently, there seemed to be a competition in various countries in Africa. If Ghana had a coup, maybe the next would be Nigeria, and vice versa. It spread to other countries in West Africa and elsewhere. So, military regimes in some of these countries became the order of the day,” he said.

Sambisa Forest and National Guards

“You (Nigerians) shut it down because by then, you feared that I was trying to introduce it to perpetuate myself in office. So the idea was killed. We were sensitive to the plight of Nigerians, but I think that fortunately, it is coming out as Amotekun, Shege Ka Fasa and others. “We thought about it and felt we should provide another very strong force, though not as strong as the army. If the police failed, then there would be a second force; if that force failed, then the army would get involved. We tried to isolate the army from involvement in internal operations. That was why we came up with the concept of National Guards.

“As usual, Nigerians said no, ‘this man wants to perpetuate himself in office, so he is going to have another force to stop him from being toppled, or something like that.’ I feel bad that it has been taken over, if there is anything like that; but I also feel vindicated. If the guards were there doing their training, it wouldn’t have been possible to take over the forest,” IBB said in the interview.

... Urges leaders to do more

The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III, yesterday urged Nigerian leaders to do more in order to take the country out of its present challenges, saying citizens of the country are going through difficult times. He spoke at the 45th anniversary of the Emir of Zazzau, Alhaji Shehu Idris, in Zaria, Kaduna State. He said: “We are here to pray for the emir for good end and reward from Allah for the leadership he provided not only for the Zazzau Emirate, but the entire country. We are therefore grateful to our clerics for reminding us of the divine instruction of turning back to Allah in any difficult situation. We take solace in these reminders. They are our source of relief.

“We are calling on our leaders to sympathise more with the masses. Everyone knows that we are in difficult times. There is nothing that is above Allah’s powers. Ours is to continue to pray and we are praying for our leaders. People of Zazzau, you should brace up and pray for the president, Kaduna State governor and other leaders at all levels. You shouldn’t leave us to our abilities and capacities, we need your prayers to succeed.” The sultan has been voicing out his concerns on the security situation and other challenges in the country.

On Thursday at the Northern Security Meeting in Kaduna, he blamed northern leaders for not doing enough to address the security challenges in the region, which brought about the formation of a security outfit code-named Shege-Ka-Fasa. He said the elders had not provided good leadership and that had brought about the formation of the security outfit, urging elders of the North to reach out to all and sundry in their attempt to find a solution to the various challenges in the region and the country. Similarly, on Friday, the Sultan in Jos, Plateau State, blamed Nigerian leaders, especially traditional and religious leaders, for their failure to lead “the citizens to the right path.”

He said at the Plateau State Forgiveness and Reconciliation Day held at Forgiveness Garden, that traditional and religious leaders had failed to preach peace and promote good societal values, noting that lack of forgiveness among Nigerians was also contributing to the predicaments of the country. At the 45th anniversary of the emir of Zazzau, Kaduna State governor, Nasir el-Rufa’i, said he was proud to be part of history, as he was a Form 4 secondary school student at Barewa College, Zaria when the emir was turbaned. He added: “I am happy to be part of history to celebrate this day. We pray for long life and good health for the emir.

We hope to be here again during the Golden Jubilee and beyond. We wish to thank the emir, on behalf of the state government, for the secret counseling and pieces of advice he has been offering to us whenever he sees us deviating. We also thank the clerics for their prayers.” On the issue of the Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital (ABUTH), Zaria, raised by the emir, the governor said he would organize a tour of the hospital to assess the problems and submit a report to the president, because of its importance not only to Kaduna State, but to the entire North.

El-Rufa’i said the Minister of Finance had been contacted on how to mobilize funds for the hospital’s repairs. He added: “I would like to assure residents of Zaria that the various projects we have executed so far are just the beginning. We will do more. We appreciate the emir for his peace efforts, we appreciate him for his prayers for us, we are appealing for more prayers and counseling.”

Barely six months to the governorship election in Edo state, the governing All Progressives Congress (APC), is still engulfed in crisis arising from the supremacy battle between the party’s national chairman, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole and Governor Godwin Obaseki. As the crisis continued unabated, the question on the lips of residents and members of the APC in the state is whether the feud between a political godfather and his godson will not affect the chances of the party in the the forthcoming governorship election.

The crisis has fractured the party into two groups with one group loyal to Oshiomhole and the other loyal to Obaseki. The crisis has led to suspension and counter suspension, with Oshiomole’s group suspending governor Obaseki, deputy governor, Philip Shaibu and the Secretary to the State Government, Osarodion Ogie, while the Obaseki’s camp also suspended Oshiomhole, Lawrence Okha and others.

The crisis took a new dimension recently when governor Obaseki threatened to deal with Oshiomole if he continues to undermine him and failed to desist from his alleged provocative activities in the state. Notwithstanding the threat, the faction of the APC loyal to Oshiomhole, continue to hold rallies in the state to welcome defectors.

As the crisis continues unabated, there was an alleged assassination attempt on a former Attorney General of the State and Commissioner for Justice, Henry Idiagbon; attack on Francis Inegbineke residence and destruction of property among others. Angered by the development, Obaseki has asked the Inspector General of Police, Muhammed Adamu and the Director-General, Department of State Services, Yusuf Bichi, to arrest Oshiomhole for disobeying police order which banned rallies and for allegedly inciting violence in the state. The deputy governor, Philip Shaibu while presenting a petition to the police, said, “We have officially come now to drop our petition with the IG to the effect that Oshiomhole is not above the law. He should be arrested for violating the state government’s order. “He was a governor before and he knows that nobody violated his orders as governor, because it is not about him; it is about the state.

When everybody disobeys laws, then the country becomes a Banana Republic,” Meanwhile, political pundits in the state are however divided on the issue, as some believe that with the way the crisis has polarised the party, it may have dire consequences on the ruling party’s outing during the election. But others believe that the opposition parties are not strong enough to defeat the ruling party, as the main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party has also hit been with crisis and mass defections in recent times. Ironically, members of the PDP, who should have seized the opportunity of the ruling party’s crisis, have been endorsing Governor Godwin Obaseki for a second term in office as well as leaving the party in their numbers to join the All Progressives Congress.

While the APC is fighting over who controls the party and as well as issue of the second term ticket of governor Obaseki, the PDP on the other hand is also hit with crisis of which Senatorial district will produce the party chairman and the governorship candidate. The Edo North senatorial district of the PDP is demanding in addition to the deputy governor slot, the state party Secretary, Board of Trustees member and a ministerial position. But, the Edo Central believes it is their turn to produce the governorship candidate as the district has neither produced a governor nor deputy since the return of democracy in 1999.

People of the district said they have resolved that they must produce the next governor of the state and will not accept any other position. Following the development, the state chairman of the party, Chief Dan Orbih had called on the National Chairman of the party, Uche Secondus, to intervene as members of the party according to him, were ruining the party’s chance of winning the governorship election.

“2020, represents our brightest chance of winning the state back. The party in government is engrossed in a fierce battle of supremacy between the governor, Godwin Obaseki and his national chairman, Adams Oshiomhole. There is a gale of suspension going on in their party,” “It is sad when we hear leaders, members of the Board of Trustees and even some governors giving “uncharitable endorsement” of the APC embattled Governor Godwin Obaseki. The most recent of this was Governor David Umahi’s open endorsement of Godwin Obaseki for re-election.

It is a morale-damper and it’s unacceptable. Speaking with Daily Trust on Saturday, one of the political pundits, Abraham Johnson, said from the look of things, the crisis may not affect the APC because the main opposition party was in crisis too. “This is best opportunity for the PDP to take over Edo state but they are also fighting like the APC. They are busy endorsing governor Obaseki, as if they are not going to produce a governorship candidate,” he said. He said at this moment, the PDP was no stronger in the state and could hardly make much impact in the election.

Acording to him, “the mass defection that hit the party recently is a sign that even with the crisis rocking the APC, they still have the strength to win the forthcoming governorship election,”. On his part, a political analyst who only gave his name as John is of the view that the feud may affect the chances of the APC. He said, “The way the crisis is going, APC may not have candidate for the election. Oshiomole’s group had suspend Governor Obaseki, deputy governor, Philip Shaibu and the Secretary to the State Government, Osarodion Ogie while Obaseki’s group also suspended Oshiomhole, Lawrence Okha among others,” “I foresee a repeat of Zamfara and River states where the court pronounced that the APC didn’t have candidate in the two states.

The way they are going, each group may conduct separate primary and once that happened, they may not get candidate for the election,” he said. According to him, “if the APC are not able to put their house in order, it is likely they may not get the governor and even if they succeed in the election, the governor would be decided by the Court,”. Also speaking, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, Henry Idiagbon, said he was optimistic that the crisis will not affect the chances of the party during governorship election.

“The crisis will not affect the party because, before the election, we would have resolved all the crisis in the party. Efforts are in top gear to resolve the crisis and we will resolve the problem before the election,” he said Idiagbon who was former Commissioner for Justice and Attorney General of the state under former governor Adams Oshiomole noted that there was no opposition in the state at the moment. “Opposition has been decapitated in Edo state; the exit of Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu and other key members from the main opposition PDP has rendered the oppositions incapacitated.

“The main opposition party in the state is like a snake that when the head is cut off, it will make some movements and it will be dead. So there is nothing to fear,” he said. Another political analyst in the state, Dada Ayokha, believes that the feud will have negative impact on the APC, adding that “No good thing comes out of any crisis”. “The crisis is the fallout of the primary for state Assembly election and if not well managed, it will definitely affect the chances of the party.

If you look at the last year’s general election in the country, some states that were engulfed in crisis lost to the opposition,” “Take Adamawa state for instance, despite having an incumbent governor, they lost to the PDP because of the internal crisis,” he said. He explained that the way the crisis was going, judiciary may be used to scuttle the APC in the middle of the election through restraining Court orders by the aspirants, adding that the scenario that played out in Rivers and Zamfara State would most like repeat in the case of Edo. He explained that as it is now, the PDP may benefit from the crisis if it is left unsettled before the election.

“The defection of some members of the PDP to the APC is not new because people always want to identify with the ruling party. “But, having too many defections may also be a problem for the APC; it also happened to the PDP in the past. The more they have more people, the more the problem because they may not be able to manage the crisis that may also emanate from it,” he said.

He explained that the strength of a party is determined when the election draws close, saying, there is possibility that the defectors may also return back to their previous party especially if their interest is not catered for in the new one. “For me, the APC and the PDP have equal chances of producing the governor during the election due to the feud between Oshiomhole and governor Obaseki. Don’t forget that APC members can work against the party, especially governorship aspirants,” he said.

Commentor:
Nothing wrong with it.

The electorate would decide.

The Senate on Wednesday rejected the nomination of Mr Nnamdi Anyaechie as member, National Assembly Service Commission. This followed the adoption of the report of Senate Committee on Establishment and Public Service laid at the plenary by its chairman, Senator Ibrahim Shekarau (APC, Kano Central). Shekarau told the lawmakers that the nominee did not show up for confirmation hearing. The upper legislative chamber however confirmed the nomination of Engr. Ahmed Kadi Amshi as Chairman of the commission and 11 others as members.

The approved members are: Babagana Module, Borno; Abubakar Tutare, Taraba; Hakeem Akamo, Lagos; Tunrayo Akintomide, Ondo; Atanomeyorwi Francis, Delta; Bassey Etuk, Akwa Ibom; Bailyaminu Yusuf Shinkafi, Zamfara; Sani Saidu Kazaure, Jigawa; Julius Ucha, Ebonyi; Auwalu Aliyu Ohindase, Kogi and Muazu Is’haq, Nasarawa.

Meanwhile, the Senate also confirmed the nomination of Prof Adeolu Akande as Chairman of Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and Mr. Uche Onwude as member. Senator Adeola Solomon (Lagos West) however said the former chairman of NCC, Olabiyi Durojaiye only served for three years instead of five and was not given the opportunity to resign.

He said the Durojaiye should be given the opportunity to resign for dignity’s sake. Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, said the Red Chamber sympathized with Mr Durojaiye as a former Senator but added that the prerogative of nominations rest with President Muhammadu Buhari. “This Senate will always try to ensure that there is adherence to due processes but I believe that this is a matter that can be best sorted out in the Presidency rather than in the Senate,” he said.