₦airaland Forum

Buhari Finally Opens Up: I Knew Babangida Was Planning To Overthrow Me

Buhari became head of state on December 31,
1983 after the military overthrew the government
of Shehu Shagari. But on August 27, 1985, Buhari
himself was overthrown by Babangida, his chief of
army staff and key actor in the 1983 coup.

Buhari, a retired major general and presidential
aspirant on the platform of All Progressives
Congress (APC), told TheCable: "It is true that I
learnt he was planning a coup against me. And I
sat and discussed it with him in my office.

"He brought the news that he went to Kano and
people complained that I pulled a pistol during a
council meeting. I said Ibro ─ I called him Ibro
because I was just senior to him by a few months
─ I said whoever wants to sit on this chair let him
come and sit here. And he decided to do it."
Reminded that the punishment for coup making
was death and he could have put Babangida on
trial, Buhari replied: "Yes. Remember how many
people he killed subsequently for trying to
overthrow him? But when I came in, there was no
bloodshed. I think a couple of policemen were
killed and [Brigadier Ibrahim] Bako also died in an
ambush.

"But deliberately, nobody was killed. I was in the
front, the real front in the Nigerian civil war. I had
seen enough of death and I know what God means
by human life. Any human being, God values their
life. And anybody who hopes to meet God, he
should be careful about killing...

"When there is law and due process of law took
place, the question is clear. Like the cocaine
convicts that were executed, the decision was
taken in supreme military council."


Below is the concluding part of the interview:

TheCable: People say that you were not really
involved in the coup that overthrew Shehu Shagari
but you only happened to have been made head
of state. But we also heard that Alhaji Umaru
Dikko, then minister of transport, felt you were a
threat and asked that you be watched. How true
are these reports?

Buhari: General David Jemibewon is still alive. He
was the adjutant-general of the army at that time.
When I came back from the War College in the
United States, I was posted to Ikeja and I was
made the GOC of the fourth division. I think I
lasted for about four to six months there because
some people in Shagari’s government said I was
too dangerous to be kept around. So I was sent to
Ibadan to command second division. I lasted about
six months there. Again, I was posted to Jos to
command the third armoured division. Then
Jemibewon said to me, Buhari, the way they are
moving you, your next posting will be to Daura
(Buhari's home town in Katsina state). I had a
good laugh. I will never forget. It was during the
chief of army staff conference.

TheCable: How much did you know about the 1983
coup?

Buhari: I am working on my memoirs... (But) I
have something to say now about the way we treat
our military officers who really served this country.
Along the line we have gone through so much,
those of us in my generation. We served under
people like Generals Shuwa, Adekunle, Murtala,
Danjuma. I think these people have sacrificed so
much. I think Nigeria should really honour them.
When I went to greet the family of (Benjamin)
Adekunle after his death, and I saw that he was
living in a glorified boys quarters, I was very sorry
for this country. I felt sorry for this country. What
type of people are we? For him to finish up like
that, I was very sorry for this country. Unless
people believe in God, I think they will forsake this
country.

TheCable: Alhaji Umaru Dikko is dead now. There
was an attempt to smuggle him into the country
from the UK to Nigeria. Your government was
suspected as the brain behind it but you denied it
then. Can the information be declassified now?

Buhari: No. (General laughter). I'm surprised that
I am making you laugh. It is classified and it
remains so.

TheCable: Were you really aware that Babangida
was planning a coup against you in 1985?

Buhari: Yes, it is true that I learnt he was planning
a coup against me. And I sat and discussed it with
him in my office. He was the chief of army staff
and I was the head of state. He brought the news
that he went to Kano and people complained that
I pulled a pistol during a council meeting. I had
never heard that before, except a newspaper
cartoon I saw many, many years ago about
Mengistu Haile Mariam (former Ethiopian head of
state). They were just making up stories. I said
Ibro ─ I called him Ibro because I was just senior
to him by a few months ─ I said whoever wants to
sit on this chair let him come and sit here. And he
decided to do it.

TheCable: But the punishment for coup making is
death...

Buhari: Yes. Remember how many people he killed
subsequently for trying to overthrow him? But
when I came in, there was no bloodshed. I think a
couple of policemen were killed and (Brigadier
Ibrahim) Bako also died. That was when they went
to pick Shagari from somewhere, I think in Abuja.
But deliberately, nobody as killed. I was in the
front, the real front in the Nigerian civil war. I
have seen enough of death and I know what God
means by human life. Any human person, God
values their life. And anybody who hopes to meet
God, he should be careful about killing. When
there is law and due process of law took place, the
question is clear. Like the cocaine convicts that
were executed (in 1984), the decision was taken by
the supreme military council (SMC).

TheCable: But when he eventually overthrew you,
didn’t you regret that you should have taken
action when you heard that he was planning
against you?

Buhari: Taking action pre-empting and jailing or
killing people does not solve the problem. But let
people honestly ask now, as you said, those who
are bothered about Nigeria, let them ask now:
what did I attempt to do for the time Babangida
and his group allowed me to stay and what did
they do in his eight years in office? I told you
about the naira and the dollar, and the IMF
programme. What did they do? They wanted to
impress the world? The naira was devalued by
about 122 percent. We have never recovered. Go
and ask any economist. When you devalue a
currency, it can never recover. Some of the
politicians that were jailed for corruption, they
were released and their loot was returned to them
by Babangida. So it’s a big joke. That means I was
there then before my time.

TheCable: Having been a military ruler who
overthrew a democratic government, how did you
now come around to subscribe to democracy?

Buhari: At the risk of sounding like a broken
gramophone record, I will tell the story again. After
I came out of detention and went home in
December 1988... then in 1989, 1990, 1991, the
Soviet Union collapsed and that had a terrific
impact on me. People were coming to me for
advice. Thank God, they did not come to me to ask
for money because they knew I had no money. I
declared my assets as many times as I occupied
political office because that was the law. And when
I left I declared my assets. All those of us, our
generation, from Obasanjo downward, if the
country is serious about questioning them on how
they acquired what have, it is easy because by law
you have to declare your assets before office and
after you leave office. But because it is so
convenient to ignore the and accumulate wealth,
that is what the big men and big women are doing.

Now, when the Soviet Union collapsed I realised
that there was something right about multi-party
democracy. I believe it was superior. But then how
can we get it done in Nigeria? That was what
eventually took me to partisan politics. And why
did I leave the ANPP and form CPC? Why was I
active in the merging of the opposition to become
APC? It is all about strengthening our democracy
and stabilising the system. I don’t like any person
to see me as an impulsive person. I deliberately
take decisions for my actions. That it is why when
ANPP gave me the presidential ticket in 2003 and
2007, I went into the field, did my best but
unfortunately we didn’t achieve success. But then
while we were in court the party’s leadership took
two marginal ministerial positions in the
government of the late Umaru Yar'Adua. The party
chairman said his son was taking up an
appointment as special adviser while we were still
in court.

Since 2005, we discovered that none of the
opposition parties could face the PDP. The PDP
has become so amorphous and it didn’t care about
the opposition. If you see what happened to our
members during elections... the killings, the
burning. We realised we had to come together to
face the PDP. This is the best way I think we can
stabilise the system. When we stabilise the system
impunity will not be acceptable. That is why we
formed the APC. We need multi-party democracy
to stabilise the system.

TheCable: What does a typical day in your life look
like these days?

Buhari: Firstly, as you know, normally the
practising Muslims have to wake up about five in
the morning and pray. And I am an avid listener of
the Voice of America and the BBC, Hausa service.
This is because over the years I have discovered
that they have been very, very helpful in educating
the mostly illiterate Hausa-speaking populace.
From Agadez or even from Tripoli down almost to
South Africa, and from Senegal to Central Africa
Republic, there is large body of Hausa-speaking
communities, not necessarily Nigerian or Hausa,
but those who speak the language because of
trading over the centuries.

I found out VOA and BBC commentaries on politics
and economics very good. They help to educate
people. And they allow people to discuss, express
different opinions and they interpret it, and I find
that very helpful. And it is very current for
Nigerian politics for that audience. I listen to that,
and then I try to rest again. And then by 10am I
have my breakfast, and go to the office or stay in
the house if I choose to work without any
interference. Otherwise, I go to the office and try
to attend to official duties if I have appointments.
About 4pm and 5pm I come back home, and
mostly up to 10 in the night I will be with people
discussing things.

These days, it is very difficult. This time scheduling
is too tight. Sometimes I wish I had more than 24
hours to keep up with the demands of meeting
people. Again, Nigerian politics, especially this time
around, is the main issue. It is keeping me
extremely busy. I go to bed nothing earlier than
half past 11pm. I wish I could observe siestas.
Sometimes I do. If I can escape from the office by 3:30 pm.

goodluck till 2019

ireneony:
goodluck till 2019

2019 is not far from now