Why
Babangida Craves to Rule Nigeria Again
By
Abdul
A.D. Sadiq
Saturday, May29, 2004
antifalse_adal@yahoo.com
This
needs no introduction or preamble. The only reason why Babangida craves
irresistibly to rule Nigeria again is because his hands is so steeped in
blood and his pockets full of stolen booty that he is eternally afraid,
that all his past gory misdeeds will find him out and be exposed, so
that he goes to a lifetime of prison, which his crimes against Nigerians
and against humanity deserves. He is afraid that a man of conscience may
rise at the helm of affairs in Nigeria tomorrow and demands an account
from all the thieves who have ever ruled Nigeria and their
collaborators. That is why he cannot sleep in peace, despite the seeming
security that his ill-gotten booty seems to provide. The eternal
punishment of a wicked man is that he can never smell peace. A wicked
thief is the bridegroom of perpetual insomnia. Fear is his bedmate, as
his eyes can never close in sleep nor his conscience rest. The wicked
thief while he held sway in the courts of power sent grief to many a
man. He is forever afraid that those upon whom he inflicted untold harm,
will turn full circle and give him a rejoinder of his wickedness. That
is why IBB must forever be in the vanguard to be in power or buy those
in power as to continue to postpone his exposure and the account which
he must necessarily render to Nigeria and Nigerians. Dele Giwa one of
the victims of IBB’s high handed Machiavellic somersaults, had it that
the evil done to man by man can never go unpunished. If not now, it will
be later, If not by man, certainly by God. I urge IBB to keep on
postponing a day of reckoning that must come. He should know that all
Nigerians are not corruptible and all of us are not immoral. Neither do
all of us have very short memory span. We may be cowards but we are not
stupid.
Ibrahim Babangida bears in his person all those crooked attributes of a
terrible leader. In an ambient where honour, justice, truth, ethics and
all that is good, true and beautiful reigns, this man will forever be
buried in shame and irrelevance due to his avid propensity to steal and
strip his country naked of all her resources. If IBB is not a common
thief, he should rise up in the courts of public opinion and tell the
world the source of his stupendous loot, with which he is ready to buy
up the ethically compromised individuals that are presently drumming up
a wooden apology of a campaign to re-hoist him on the hapless Nigerians.
IBB was a terrible liar. And liars have never made good leaders. In
civilized societies liars are mourned with derision. Richard Nixon went
down in history as the first American President to resign because he
wanted to gain an undue advantage over his opponents, and he lied in the
process. Today, the name Nixon in American politics or social life reeks
with maladrous stench of doublespeak. Though he mustered enough honour
to resign the office, which his crookedness dishonoured. In Spain in
2004, the electorate threw out the government of Aznar because he lied
to them in relation to the terrorist attacks that ripped that country
asunder on March 11th 2004. But IBB lied to Nigerians from the first day
he shot his way to power until the day he was forced out of it. He lied
to Nigerians about the $12.4 billion Dollars 1st Gulf war oil windfall,
which he stole. He lied to Nigerians about an unending transition which
gulped over 40 Billion naira, and which he so carefully orchestrated to
hand over power to the butcher that was his hatchet man; namely Abacha.
He lied to Nigerians about the IMF loan, which after organizing a
charade of a debate, he went on to please his IMF masters and took the
loan which Nigerians never wanted and which I am positive ended up in
his numbered account somewhere in one of these tax havens in Europe or
the Carribean. He lied to Nigerians about the Peoples Bank, which was a
bait to bridle Tai Solarin; one of his harshest critic. He co-opted his
wife in this stealing spree. He never accounted to anyone the source of
funding of Better Life for Rural Women, championed by his wife, which
was another front for the frittering away and stealing of our resources
while hapless old women from the villages were rented to sing the
praises of stealing family concern headed by IBB.
Babangida’s achievement while in power is a litany of negatives. Under
his watch, corruption was liberalized in government. Lies was elevated
to the fine art of statecraft. Butchering of opposition which he
commenced was perfected by his most trusted lieutant Abacha. Under him,
Nigerian economy was a haemorrhaging patient, which was bled dry by IBB
and his cronies. Nigerians suffered unprecedented hardship while he
created a lot of directorates to settle his otherwise, would be opposers.
His became a government of settlement, where under shady names, national
and public utilities and concerns were auctioned off to his empire under
the ruse that was privatization. IBB bought supporters to his rape of
Nigeria with fat paychecks. Under him Defense and Police budgets enjoyed
precedence over education, health care and Agriculture, as to intimidate
his opponents or those who may consider mounting an opposition to his
abuse of Nigeria.
Today there are so many that are sweeping round, begging the erstwhile
thief to stage a comeback. Among these wandering minstrels are some of
the very psychophants that begged Abacha to translate himself to a life
President, simply because a mismanaged Nigeria conduces to their plunder
of the spoils that fall out the dictators table. I am yet to see a
gentleman without blemish who has ruled Nigeria in recent times.
Obasanjo is no less a thief than IBB. The source of the wealth with
which he established Ota Farms are as unknown. He could not have earned
that kind of money in a life time of service in the armed forces on his
legitimate salary. He has not told Nigerians where this money came from.
It is equally most disheartening that none of the Presidential aspirants
in the last election made honesty a part of their credentials save
Ekwueme and Ojukwu. Ojukwu stated that he never stole public money while
in office, rather he used his inheritance in service to his people under
the most difficult circumstances. This was an inheritance that was
potent enough to secure him a lifetime of unparalleled pleasure and
convenience in any country of the world. But he loved his people to the
extent that he laid down his inheritance for their wellbeing.
But IBB before he stepped aside commissioned a biography of himself
written by one of the millions of psychophants milling around him in Aso
Rock. That book most unfortunately was titled For Their Tomorrow, we
gave our today—The irony of this book tells it all. IBB stole the
tomorrow of Nigerians yet unborn. I am yet to see what IBB sacrificed
for the wellfare of future generations of Nigerians.
Today, many Nigerians are refugees leading lives of comfortable slavery
in Europe, America and all over the world, simply because men like IBB
and Abacha ruled Nigeria. I challenge all the inglorious idiots
campaigning for this desecrated piece of humanity, to state one credible
institution that IBB established which still functions and was not
tainted by corruption under him. Under IBB education became bastardized
as students learnt to spent one month in school and nine months on
strike. Agriculture despite DFRRI was just a lip service paid to
embezzlement. The Air Commodores that manned that ministry were equally
parts of the basket case that was the IBB government. What was IBB’s
achievement while at the helm of affairs in Nigeria? Nothing positive.
Infact, the single most destructive experience that Nigeria of the 20th
century had was to have been ruled by IBB and Abacha. Yet some mentally
challenged folks are clamouring for his comeback. What was his level of
education to warrant him to rule Nigeria? IBB was nothing but an Agbero
from the barracks, who only knew how to plot coups, betray friends and
deal decisively with opposition. His allergic to intellectuals and their
contributions was the only thing that culminated in the murder of
General Maman Vatsa; the Soldier poet and one of the most beautiful
minds to don the uniform of the Nigerian Army Officers corp. His
revulsion for opposition or criticism saw Dele Giwa parcel bombed out of
existence. This is the kind of Dracula and monster that people want to
rule Nigeria. I bet my life on the fact, that if a free and fair
election takes place in Nigeria, that IBB will never smell the corridors
of power. I am still bowled over by what he thinks he can achieve if
given the power. He could not achieve all those while he was a sole
administrator of Nigeria for as long as he wanted. What then would he
achieve within a constitutional time frame, against the backdrops of the
checks and balances of the other arms of government.
IBB confessed with his mouth, while he was the head of State that the
Nigerian economy has defied all known solutions, while touting himself
as the evil genius. A short comment will be apposite here. Why
wouldn’t the Nigerian economy defy All known economic solutions, when
the man that is supposed to cure it of the cancer besetting it was busy
administering the poisons of embezzlement on her weak frame. While
Nigerians were been asked by this inglorious dictator to tightened their
belts and embrace SAP, this guy was busy sending the Gulf War Oil
windfall into his numbered accounts in Switzerland. While he rapaciously
plundered the Nigerian ivory tower denying the education sector of the
requisite funds, and transforming our educational products into
certifiable functional illiterates, his children were busy soaking the
best of Western education outside Nigeria, with the Nigerian tax payers
money. While our hospitals degenerated into not only mere consulting
clinics during his tenure, but a place where people go to die, this man
took a celebrated trip to France for an orthopaedic surgery to a leg
that was there before he became president. This is the man who has no
feelings for the pain of Nigerians, and who insulted us by taking us for
a ride for over 7years, and ended it with criminally annuling the will
and mandate of the Nigerian people expressed through the ballot box on
the 12th of June, 1993. The souls of those who died in that IBB
orchestrated debacle will never allow this man to rest in peace.
Against the backdrop of all these, all those clamouring for IBB to
comeback are simply certifiable thieves, who want a re-introduction of
darkness into Nigeria so that their evils may go on undetected.
Now my introduction comes as the epilogue. Judas the son of Simon
Iscariot one day saw a woman washing the Master’s feet with some
expensive perfumed ointment. This guy immediately berated the woman and
the Master, reminding He who knew poverty from birth, that that should
be sold and given to the poor. I wonder what other poor man is greater
than the King, who though in the form of God, did not count equality
with God a thing to be grasped, emptying himself, taking the form of a
slave, and being born in the likeness of men (Phil. 2:6-11) John the
evangelist made a short remark there. He said that Judas did not say
this because he liked the poor but because he was a THIEF; who while in
charge of the Apostolic funds, used to help himself to it. For Judas
replace IBB. He feel that he needs power to help the poor. He
contributed in sending so many Nigerian families to the garbage heap for
their daily bread. He contributed in securing the uneviable title of the
most corrupt nation on earth for Nigeria. 419 spread like bush fire in
the harmattan, due to the conducive environment nurtured by his
government.
For those who want IBB to rule again, they should go and sell off their
children into slavery and go hang themselves because they are eternal
affronts to civility; to honour; to integrity. Infact, posterity will
always remember them as sub human parasites who sold of their honour for
sordid money and mortgaged the future of their children simply to
satiated the goddess of their avarice.
Anybody who wants IBB to come back, should know that a nation ruled by a
thief would be peopled by bandits. Nigerians should rise up and say no
to this imposition of thieves upon us. We have had enough. If 2007 is
rigged in favour of any thief, as OBJ did in 2003 amidst the opposition
of the European Union observers, Nigerians must surely rise like the
ancient Romans did against Brutus and his co-conspirators. We would rise
like the Romanians rose against Ceucescu, and we must rise like the
Georgians did against Shevadnezer. We have had enough of this pieces of
human excrement that call themselves our rules.
We are simply watching out. We will resist, We will reject and we will
fight against election fraud. If this degenerates to a civil war,
Nigeria will not survive it. Those who will remain will then decided
whether evil has been redefined as good as to warrant a thief to dare
our patience.
IBB would think that he is popular. Well, a wide gulf of difference
exists between fame and notoriety. He is a notorious man. Great men are
those who like August Ceasar, saw their countries as cities of bricks
and left them cities of marble. IBB saw Nigeria a city of bricks and
levelled her to the ground, abandoning the citizens to the
socio-economic and political elements. A great man is the Martin Luther
King Jr., who fought to empower his people. He is a Mahatma Ghandi that
taught by exmple. He is the Nelson Mandela, who the whole world reveres
today. He is Julius Nyerere who his people fondly call „Nwalimu“-the
teacher. He is Mustafa Kemal Atarturk who built up a modern Turkey for
his people. These are the all time greats. What is IBB’s height when
compared to these men. He could not approximate the vision of Mandela
who led his people to independence from racial segregation, but
willfully gave up the trappings of power and office after just one term
in office. He could not approximate the vision and incorruptibility of
Julius Nyerere, who left office willfully and was so poor as to have as
his only asset, a two storied building that he had before he went into
office. Nyerere can proudly ask his people: Who among you can convict me
of corruption? Let IBB ask Nigerians that question and see if stones
will not rain down from the skies to erase his lying tongue and teeth.
Who can convict IBB of corruption? Well, the Okigbo panel set up by
Abacha indicted IBB over the theft of the 12.4Billion Dollar Gulf Oil
windfall. Gani Fawehimi established a prima facie case against IBB in
the brutal murder of Dele Giwa. IBB went to court to derail the Oputa
panel and prevent his been summoned to tell Nigerians his role in abuse
of the human rights of Nigerians. If he had no skeleton to hide, why
attempt to frustrate a fact finding panel? IBB and his cronies have not
told Nigerians why Maman Vatsa was killed by him. Treason? Against whom?
IBB was a part of the treasonable felons that took power off the
civilians on the 31st of December 1983. That was not enough, he
masterminded another treason against Buhari/Idiagbon accusing them of
directionlessness. History has now told us who was directionless between
the former and himself. Why Vatsa had to die was because, IBB was afraid
that he would perish by sword by which he had lived.
We are waiting for 2007. We know that the thieves are honing their
knives to razor sharpness, but suprise awaits all of them. I hope that
their Weird Sisters have warned them, just like they did Macbeth. But I
can see that vaulting ambition is on seating driving their senseless
passion and will to power, to its necessary end, which is destruction.
Contact
me on:
antifalse_adal@yahoo.com
Zaria,Kaduna
State,Nigeria.
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