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Babangida worried... shocked! To name accomplices

November 23, 2006
Saharareporters, New York


Retired General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida displayed
bravado when he recently showed up at the secretariat
of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to pick up a
nomination form as a candidate in the party’s
presidential primaries. Escorted by a few figures from
his years as Nigeria’s military dictator as well as
new political associates, the self-acclaimed evil
genius swept into the PDP secretariat amid the din of
drums and praise-singers, a show calculated to
maximize press publicity and to intimidate his other
primary opponents.

But Saharareporters has been reliably informed
that, despite Babangida’s exhibition of supreme
confidence, the retired general is deeply jittery,
disturbed by what an inside source described as “the
unprecedented opposition” mobilizing against his
candidature from within and outside Nigeria.

The source, a close advisor to the former military
ruler who spoke to our reporter on condition of
anonymity, revealed that “IBB recently told us he
hadn't felt this much pressure since 1993” when he
annulled elections widely regarded as the freest and
fairest in Nigeria’s history. That annulment generated
stiff domestic opposition to Babangida’s reign and led
to international isolation of his regime. This gale of
opposition ultimately forced Babangida to, in his
words, “step aside.” As he retreated from the seat of
power, Babangida hurriedly handed over to a lackey,
Mr. Ernest Derin Shonekan, a docile former corporate
executive.

Another source described IBB's candidature as an
affront on the intelligence of Nigerians. “He should
know by now that he can't fetch clean water from a
well that he'd fouled,” said this source. He noted
that, not since the resounding defeat of President
Olusegun Obasanjo’s bid to elongate his presidency by
amending the constitution, has there been as much
public opprobrium against an individual who is seeking
public office.

But our source disclosed that IBB was far from willing
to give up anytime soon.  Last weekend, he met in
Minna with his close associates. Beyond lamenting the
growing opposition to his ambition, he gave them the
task of finding a way around his impediments.

One of the staunchest opposition figures is Hafsat
Abiola-Costello, a daughter of Moshood Kashimawo
Abiola, the winner of the 1993 presidential elections
that Babangida had annulled. Abiola, a
telecommunications mogul and former friend of
Babangida’s, later died in detention in suspicious
circumstances. Mrs. Abiola-Costello last week warned
Babangida to perish the thought of contesting for the
office of president in the upcoming 2007 elections.

Neither Babangida nor his aides took Hafsat Abiola’s
statement lightly. Apart from being Chief M.K.O
Abiola's daughter, she is also married to a top
European Union diplomat. IBB’s camp interpretes her
stiff criticism as a sizable obstacle against
Babangida's intention to reach out to the European
Union.

One measure of the desperation in Babangida’s camp is
their decision to reach out to Mr. Great Ogboru, a
maverick businessman with a hostile history towards
Babangida. In 1990, Babangida’s regime was rattled by
a bloody coup attempt led by a junior officer, Gideon
Orkar. Babangida narrowly escaped being killed in the
coup. The regime’s security investigation accused
Ogboru as the main financier of the ragtag group of
soldiers and civilians who executed the failed coup.
Sought by the regime to face trial, Ogboru fled into
exile.

It is reported that Babangida has now recruited Ogboru
to shore up his troubled presidential aspirations.
Several sources that were privy to the contacts
between the retired general and his erstwhile nemesis
disclosed that Ogboru had effectively acceded to IBB’s
overtures. Great Ogboru, a 2003 gubernatorial
candidate in Delta State on the platform of the
Alliance for Democracy, is reportedly “broke.”

IBB and his cronies have reportedly deployed huge
amount of money to counter the massive negative
publicity against his candidature. Even so, they are
worried that their candidate is hardly receiving a
reprieve from the bad publicity generated against him.
Our source said the camp was nervous because some of
the opposition figures arrayed against IBB are proving
hard to buy or to sway. As military head of state,
Babangida perfected a system for neutralizing
dissenting voices by offering financial inducements,
political appointments and, sometimes, deceptive
promises.

Babangida is reportedly troubled by the eclectic
nature of the opposition massed against him. Some core
Northern clerics view him with grave suspicion,
accusing him of “homosexuality and immorality” as well
as corruption and greed which they have repeatedly
preached against even to Babangida's face in Friday
prayers. Ordinary Muslim adherents in Minna, where he
lives, have made life hellish for Babangida. On
several occasions, his shoes have been stolen during
Friday prayers at mosques.

The Yoruba of the southwest and democracy activists
all over Nigeria detest IBB for annulling the June 12,
1993 elections won by M.K.O Abiola. Many in the
oil-rich Niger Delta hold him responsible for
presiding over the stealing of billions of dollars in
oil revenues. It is estimated that Babangida’s regime
frittered away billions of dollars on his cronies.
Widely regarded as epitomizing corruption, some
critics estimate that IBB embezzled as much as $12
billion to feed his insatiable appetite for wealth.
The depth of graft in his regime left the
oil-producing Niger Delta pauperized, creating the
perfect conditions for the area to be a hotbed of
separatist militancy. While the region stagnated,
abandoned to rot, IBB created an agency named OMPADEC
to take care of his cronies.

Another inveterate critic is Mrs. Vatsa, wife of
General Mamman Vatsa, IBB's former bosom friend, who
was executed on charges of plotting to depose
Babangida. The widow hails from Cross River State in
Nigeria’s south south, and her plight has engendered
antipathy towards Babangida. Many Northerners
sympathetic to Mamman Vatsa are sworn to torpedo IBB’s
presidential ship.

IBB’s strategists are warming up to make what they
claim would be startling revelations about the
annulment of the June 12 elections. A source at their
recent meeting revealed to Saharareporters that IBB
would name a few prominent Yoruba leaders as among
those who pressured his regime to annul the 1993
elections. In particular, the embattled retired
general is expected to accuse members of Chief Obafemi
Awolowo’s family, including his widow, Chief H.I.D
Awolowo, and son, Mr. Wole Awolowo, as among those who
lobbied against allowing Abiola to take office. IBB’s
camp is also likely to identify retired General Alani Akinrinade,

Bolaji Akinyemi (IBB's former external affairs minister), Mr. Segun Osoba (a
former journalist and former governor of Ogun State),
Mr. Olu Falae (a former top bureaucrat), Mr. Bola Ige
(a former governor of Oyo State who was slain in 2002)
as well as the Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunnade Sijuade, as
the cast of prominent Yorubas who stormed Aso Rock to
“prevail” on IBB to annul the elections.

Our source revealed that IBB’s objective was two-fold:
to absolve himself of blame for the controversial
annulment (or, at least, lessen his burden) and to
create further division in the southwest where he does
not expect to do well anyway.

Babangida is also said to be dusting up his well-worn
out tactic of reaching out to Nigerian intellectuals.
Our source said the ex-general recently recruited Debo
Kotun, a California-based radio talk show, to help
organize a think-tank of Nigerian intellectuals in the
U.S. Our source said IBB told Kotun that he was
reluctant to visit the past, but was determined—with
the help of Nigerian intellectuals—to “move the nation
forward,” a refrain he popularized during his
disastrous reign as military dictator. He reportedly
promised Kotun to offer great access to members of the
think-tank and to reward them amply for their work. It
is not known if the radio host is making much headway
in his assigned role.


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