May 3, 2010
The saying; “the devil you know is better than the angel you don’t know” is definitely not true when it comes to the self-styled evil genius. He is not a newbie in the corridor of power. In fact, he is a grizzled veteran of military politics and so, his atrocious political legacies are well known to all. IBB’s near-legendary popularity subsists in his faulty conception of power, which is at variance with Thomas Hobbes definition of power as a man's "present means, to obtain some future apparent good". It is difficult, perhaps impossible to show any common good that IBB secured for the indigent populace of Nigeria during his eight-year despotic rule.
It is against this backdrop that, the way he was avoided like a plague by populist democratic icons recently in Benin City, and his abysmal failure to speak after the avalanche of remarks discrediting his political pedigree and aspiration is not only a favourable development, but a telling presage of how his egoistic political adventure will end in ignominy. The prevailing climate of political opinion in Nigeria shows it is near-impossible for IBB to hold the fate of Nigerians in the hollow of his ill-starred hands a second time.
I wonder what is motivating IBB to nurse the thought of ruling this nation after his eight years of woeful misrule, which culminated in the annulment of June 12 presidential election, popularly adjudged the freest and fairest election ever conducted in our political history. Could it be some atavistic competitive drive to surpass the somewhat lacklustre political achievements of former president Obasanjo? (Curiously, he considers himself a credible evaluator of Obasanjo’s administration.) Could it be the groundswell show of sympathy over the death of his wife? If that is, his motivation is ill-advised. Age should have taught him that adversity unites adversaries, death nurses benevolence. Moreover, Nigerians like celebrating, to the point that we sometimes celebrate oddities. Perhaps, this partly accounts for why we are the happiest people on earth. In this nation, hungry people are not angry. They are happy, because they are alive. There is something mysterious that fans the embers of hope in this clime. We are always hopeful regardless of how bleak the horizon is. Perhaps, IBB is hopeful though deep within his heart, he is chronically aware of his austere political situation. Can his hopes translate to political miracles that will make him the bona-fide denizen of Aso Rock come May 29 2011? AS an optimist, I like to see the silver lining in dark clouds. This likeness is rooted in my belief that we live in a world of boundless possibilities. However, I consider his adventure into politics ignoble, void of transforming political sagacity; and a recipe for national chaos.
Many savvy political observers will agree that IBB’s audacity cannot give birth to success. His political aspiration is akin to trying to carve an image from a rotten wood. He has a chronic reputation crisis arising from his witless annulment of June 12. Also, his brazenly deviant body posture has further deepened this reputation crisis to the point that he is now avoided in civil gatherings like a leper. What happened in Benin City last week aptly shows that Nigerians are not suffering from collective amnesia of sorts. It shows that we are mindful of his evil legacies, and his proclivity to destabilise the body polity. It displays our awareness of the fact that the fox may grow grey, but never good. IBB definitely has advanced in years, but seemingly not in wisdom. Otherwise, he will not dare sail over the troubled political waters of Nigeria in an eggshell. When he was asked recently what he forgot in Aso Rock that he is going to take after seventeen years, the desirable answer would have been that he is going to exhume his self-dignity from the debris of failed policies, and political miscalculations, which led to the annulment of June 12. With such an answer, he may have aroused a certain modicum of sympathy from the generality of Nigerians. Thankfully, we know that no one can make a crab walk straight. IBB drove Nigeria to the edges of national disintegration. He ruined our finest opportunity to produce a well-liked public spirited leader. He jeopardised our golden opportunity to lay the foundation for a transparent electoral democracy that would have been the pride of the black race. So, we do not expect him to be an altruistic contributor to the emergence of a humane Nigeria.
Accountability is a vital ethical principle that fosters good governance. It is the keystone of egalitarian democratic societies, and the lifeblood of visionary and transformational leadership. Hence, most frontline global leaders are adept at account-giving behaviour. This is a missing phenomenon in IBB’s ethical profile. He is estranged to the principle and practice of accountability as evident in his wilful refusal to account for the $12.4 billion oil windfall Nigeria earned during the first Gulf War in 1991. For Nigeria to assume her prime place in the comity of nations, she cannot afford to have leaders who are ethically flawed. Leaders who have failed to entrench the ethos of integrity in the management of public affairs cannot oil the wheels of progress; rather they will cause us to regress to the atrocious notch of barbarian societies. It is evident that IBB will fail woefully when evaluated and criticized against the ethical apparatus of cultured political life. He has serially demonstrated that he is not responsible and answerable to the control of the citizenry. However, it is encouraging to know that a group of civil society organisations (CSOs) have called on the Attorney General (AGF) of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Bello Adoke, to prosecute him for alleged mismanagement of the oil windfall. I hope they make good their threat to go to court to compel Adoke to try Babangida.
There is wisdom in the saying, of a thorn spring not a fig. IBB is a known ruthless autocrat. He lacks the prerequisite democratic credentials and mettle for the provision of good governance. If elected as President, it is only logical to expect him to turn this nation to a mass graveyard. During his villainous eight years in office as a maximum ruler, he perpetuated some of the most heinous violation of human rights in the history of this nation. It is alleged that IBB’s regime is responsible for the gruesome assassination of Newswatch Editor-In-Chief, Dele Giwa, through a parcel bomb on 19 October, 1986. The Oputa Panel Report unequivocally supports this claim. It stated that "On General Ibrahim Babangida, we are of the view that there is evidence to suggest that he and the two security chiefs, Brigadier General Halilu Akilu and Col. A. K. Togun are accountable for the death of Dele Giwa by letter bomb. We recommend that this case be re-opened for further investigation in the public interest." IBB lacks the intellectual and moral virtue to tolerate dissenting voices. Hence, he entrenched draconian mechanisms to intimidate and curb the virility of the fourth estate of the realm. He arbitrary shut down numerous media houses, and extra-judiciary jailed journalists and civil rights activists who trenchantly criticised his anti-people and growth retarding policies.
In the name of justice, fairness, equity and peace, it is expedient to implore IBB to forthwith renege on his avowed political pursuit for presidential powers through the ballot. Failure to comply with this admonition will precipitate public animus and mass protest that will catalyse his political waterloo. A word is enough for the wise.
It is against this backdrop that, the way he was avoided like a plague by populist democratic icons recently in Benin City, and his abysmal failure to speak after the avalanche of remarks discrediting his political pedigree and aspiration is not only a favourable development, but a telling presage of how his egoistic political adventure will end in ignominy. The prevailing climate of political opinion in Nigeria shows it is near-impossible for IBB to hold the fate of Nigerians in the hollow of his ill-starred hands a second time.
I wonder what is motivating IBB to nurse the thought of ruling this nation after his eight years of woeful misrule, which culminated in the annulment of June 12 presidential election, popularly adjudged the freest and fairest election ever conducted in our political history. Could it be some atavistic competitive drive to surpass the somewhat lacklustre political achievements of former president Obasanjo? (Curiously, he considers himself a credible evaluator of Obasanjo’s administration.) Could it be the groundswell show of sympathy over the death of his wife? If that is, his motivation is ill-advised. Age should have taught him that adversity unites adversaries, death nurses benevolence. Moreover, Nigerians like celebrating, to the point that we sometimes celebrate oddities. Perhaps, this partly accounts for why we are the happiest people on earth. In this nation, hungry people are not angry. They are happy, because they are alive. There is something mysterious that fans the embers of hope in this clime. We are always hopeful regardless of how bleak the horizon is. Perhaps, IBB is hopeful though deep within his heart, he is chronically aware of his austere political situation. Can his hopes translate to political miracles that will make him the bona-fide denizen of Aso Rock come May 29 2011? AS an optimist, I like to see the silver lining in dark clouds. This likeness is rooted in my belief that we live in a world of boundless possibilities. However, I consider his adventure into politics ignoble, void of transforming political sagacity; and a recipe for national chaos.
Many savvy political observers will agree that IBB’s audacity cannot give birth to success. His political aspiration is akin to trying to carve an image from a rotten wood. He has a chronic reputation crisis arising from his witless annulment of June 12. Also, his brazenly deviant body posture has further deepened this reputation crisis to the point that he is now avoided in civil gatherings like a leper. What happened in Benin City last week aptly shows that Nigerians are not suffering from collective amnesia of sorts. It shows that we are mindful of his evil legacies, and his proclivity to destabilise the body polity. It displays our awareness of the fact that the fox may grow grey, but never good. IBB definitely has advanced in years, but seemingly not in wisdom. Otherwise, he will not dare sail over the troubled political waters of Nigeria in an eggshell. When he was asked recently what he forgot in Aso Rock that he is going to take after seventeen years, the desirable answer would have been that he is going to exhume his self-dignity from the debris of failed policies, and political miscalculations, which led to the annulment of June 12. With such an answer, he may have aroused a certain modicum of sympathy from the generality of Nigerians. Thankfully, we know that no one can make a crab walk straight. IBB drove Nigeria to the edges of national disintegration. He ruined our finest opportunity to produce a well-liked public spirited leader. He jeopardised our golden opportunity to lay the foundation for a transparent electoral democracy that would have been the pride of the black race. So, we do not expect him to be an altruistic contributor to the emergence of a humane Nigeria.
Accountability is a vital ethical principle that fosters good governance. It is the keystone of egalitarian democratic societies, and the lifeblood of visionary and transformational leadership. Hence, most frontline global leaders are adept at account-giving behaviour. This is a missing phenomenon in IBB’s ethical profile. He is estranged to the principle and practice of accountability as evident in his wilful refusal to account for the $12.4 billion oil windfall Nigeria earned during the first Gulf War in 1991. For Nigeria to assume her prime place in the comity of nations, she cannot afford to have leaders who are ethically flawed. Leaders who have failed to entrench the ethos of integrity in the management of public affairs cannot oil the wheels of progress; rather they will cause us to regress to the atrocious notch of barbarian societies. It is evident that IBB will fail woefully when evaluated and criticized against the ethical apparatus of cultured political life. He has serially demonstrated that he is not responsible and answerable to the control of the citizenry. However, it is encouraging to know that a group of civil society organisations (CSOs) have called on the Attorney General (AGF) of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Bello Adoke, to prosecute him for alleged mismanagement of the oil windfall. I hope they make good their threat to go to court to compel Adoke to try Babangida.
There is wisdom in the saying, of a thorn spring not a fig. IBB is a known ruthless autocrat. He lacks the prerequisite democratic credentials and mettle for the provision of good governance. If elected as President, it is only logical to expect him to turn this nation to a mass graveyard. During his villainous eight years in office as a maximum ruler, he perpetuated some of the most heinous violation of human rights in the history of this nation. It is alleged that IBB’s regime is responsible for the gruesome assassination of Newswatch Editor-In-Chief, Dele Giwa, through a parcel bomb on 19 October, 1986. The Oputa Panel Report unequivocally supports this claim. It stated that "On General Ibrahim Babangida, we are of the view that there is evidence to suggest that he and the two security chiefs, Brigadier General Halilu Akilu and Col. A. K. Togun are accountable for the death of Dele Giwa by letter bomb. We recommend that this case be re-opened for further investigation in the public interest." IBB lacks the intellectual and moral virtue to tolerate dissenting voices. Hence, he entrenched draconian mechanisms to intimidate and curb the virility of the fourth estate of the realm. He arbitrary shut down numerous media houses, and extra-judiciary jailed journalists and civil rights activists who trenchantly criticised his anti-people and growth retarding policies.
In the name of justice, fairness, equity and peace, it is expedient to implore IBB to forthwith renege on his avowed political pursuit for presidential powers through the ballot. Failure to comply with this admonition will precipitate public animus and mass protest that will catalyse his political waterloo. A word is enough for the wise.
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