Rejoinder

Rejoinder: Open Letter to General Ibrahim Babangida

Abubakar Adamu Jimeta

Dear ASAPH ZADOK:

I read with both interest and curiosity your above titled open letter to General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, GCFR. However, before commenting on some of the issues you raised, I would like to say greetings to you and to Governor Boni Haruna, for his pusillanimous interview on the same newspaper a week earlier and for appointing you as the “mouthpiece” of Adamawa State , and to Adamawa State Ministry of information for your choice of news tabloid, The Sun.

I would not have replied to your intellectual but inane letter had you not attempted to insinuate that the Hon. Justice Kashim-led election tribunal’s attempt to remediate the blatant election robbery of the good people of Adamawa State ’s right of choice in the (s)election of 2003 is being instigated by the amicable General Ibrahim Babangida.

Before examining some of the issues raised by you, it is imperative to acknowledge that whereas I find your style of writing to be intellectually sound, the issues raised are not only infantile in nature, but equally inane and bereft of facts.

YOU WROTE: “a despondency predicated on dashed hopes on the prospects of your emergence in 2003. Having been part of that history, I can say with no fear of contradiction, that a liberal overdose of goodwill was squandered, not to mention the millions of cash contributed by youths who hardly even knew when you were in power. This was continued through constant and incontrovertible assurances from your closest pals that those efforts were not exercises in futility. We therefore pursued that ‘self–imposed-burden’ with the unthinking zeal of maitatsine fanatics. Some sold their properties, some borrowed from their banks, others just frittered away their capitals in the hope of a rewarding recompense”.

MY RESPONSE is that it appears to me that you and your backers attempted to overthrow a duly elected President of Nigeria but felt that the only credible Candidate capable of defeating the incumbent was the retired General. You went about convincing the youths with lies to part with their money to enable you make the most noise hoping that at the end of the day if the retired General came out to contest in 2003, and eventually win, you will of course reap from your investment. Let us even assume that you did collect money from the youths, my question is did the amicable General authorize you to do so, and if yes, do you have the total figures collected and the list of donors? The Public is interested in knowing, especially now that the General has challenged any one anywhere in Nigeria and the world who has any records of any embezzlement of funds by him to come forward. Failure to show proof means that you actually used the General’s name illegally to collect funds from the youths. I would also like to see evidence or proof from those who took bank loans or sold their properties, so that we can equally ask them to tell Nigerians who authorized such moves. But what I find very astonishing and quite contradictory on your part and character is what you wrote in your next paragraph:

YOU WROTE: “Your constant pronouncements that you would not run against Obasanjo, not withstanding, we were reassured by your history, character, military and strategic disposition, that you were indeed planning to deploy the element of surprise at the most opportuned time.”

MY RESPONSE is that this is a clear indication that you and your friends embarked on an action of self-aggrandizement by hoodwinking the youths into investing in your campaign of futility, despite the fact that General Babangida himself told those who told you that he would not run against Obasanjo. This reminds me of the Abacha era; he never pronounced his intentions to transmute himself, even till death, but the likes of you and obnoxious commercial self-seeking champions were clamouring for him to do so. In the end, he did not, and those who took loans from their Banks had themselves to blame. In the case of the youths whose money you squandered, I only pray and hope that some of them have recovered their money from you, especially now that you can afford it as a commissioner ‘mouth piece’ of information in Adamawa State, a position you were given because of the way you supposedly mobilized the youths. The incumbent Governor and his master hope to use you again to accomplish their objectives and, no doubt you’re already doing fine.

YOU WROTE: “There were those who firmly believed, that for you to have called on the Vice-President to run against his boss, you have genuinely abandoned any presidential project …………. It will be very uncharitable, therefore, to suggest that you contrived these presidential agenda since I know too well that it was not your idea.”

MY RESPONSE is that your repeated contradictions are putting your academic and intellectual claims to question. How could you posit an issue to your readers based on hearsay, that General Babangida, in an attempt to elevate his electable status asked Vice President Atiku to run against his boss Obasanjo in 2003 and, in another breath without equivocation you aver that you know too well that General Babangida had no Presidential agenda. HABA, which is which? Even as prejudiced as you are, you must know that what you are saying is neither sound in logic nor in common sense.

The Nigerian media reported that the same Vice President allegedly engineered and endangered his relationship with Obasanjo, when he covertly influenced the impeachment proceedings of Ghali Na’Abba era, and the subsequent prodding by the 17 Governors of PDP asking him to dump his boss. How then do you come to the conclusion that the same General who has repeatedly stated his full support for President Obasanjo and even recently in interviews to the media told the world his reasons for throwing his support, may have orchestrated these subterranean moves by the Vice President? As a matter of record, the Nigerian media already told us that the frosty relationship between Atiku and Obasanjo is wholesomely the fault of Atiku and what they called his alleged greedy and not too clean antecedents.

YOU WROTE: “This has even become more instructive with the evidence of the meeting in your house and Governor Boni Haruna’s angry reaction to it. I am personally pained, because I am caught in the vortex of a battle I did not sound the gongs. I also remember vividly that it was your advice that I should not accept any offer of appointment from the Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, but that if Governor Boni Haruna invites me, I should accept because he is HARMLESS.”

MY RESPONSE is just to imagine how childish you are. Do you actually expect us to believe that General Ibrahim Babangida has now become your contemporary to the level of discussing your career path with you? Assuming he advised you to take up a position from Boni Haruna, what options did you have from the Vice-President? Please it is imperative that you correct this erroneous impression of being very close to General Babangida. We know you well and the stuff you are made of. You are very conniving, calculative, mischief-making and dishonest in your presentation of issues. You made mention of a meeting held at General Babangida’s house where the fate of Governor Boni Haruna was decided? Are you suggesting that you and Boni Haruna and your supporters have spies or even planted eavesdropping devices at the General’s house to enable you know what was discussed, or did your commercial Pastors tell you what transpired at the meeting? HABA WHY DO YOU FABRICATE LIES?

CONCLUSION:

My dear ‘mouthpiece’ Zadok, were you not on the ground in Adamawa State on 4-19-2003 , a date that the Almighty Allah will never delete in our history. Well, I was there and I witnessed the seriousness with which the Governor and his supporters in collusion with the Police, and other security agencies and political thugs raped our democratic rights by denying us our right to choose a credible candidate of our choice. On that sad day, PDP out rigged rigging itself, and our people have never seen anything like that in our history and will never recover. You, as his campaign kingpin and Boni Haruna who have proven that he’s very incompetent and inadequate as a Governor, are not being very sincere when you both stated that the fall out from the meeting held at General Babangida’s house influenced the Justice Kashim led election tribunal to call for new elections in 14 of the local government areas of Adamawa. This statement by you and the Governor is very illogical and tantamounts to hypocrisy of the highest order. When the rulings favour you [PDP], it is hailed as brilliant but when it is against you [PDP], it is condemnable. Justice Kashim in my view did a fantastic job based on evidence presented to the tribunal and not out of sentiments or external influence.

As an indigene of Adamawa State , I voted for the same incompetent Governor Boni Haruna and all the PDP Candidates in my constituency due to party loyalty. But my brother Zadok, are you not being very unfair to us if you believe in your heart that Governor Boni Haruna and his supporters did not waste government funds to get our votes in their attempt to influence all of us into voting for them (PDP) against ANPP and others. Can you seriously swear as a Christian that Boni Haruna won Adamawa State for President Obasanjo? I was also at the election tribunal seating and observed the careful and diligent presentation of evidence by ANPP scribes to buttress their claims against PDP. Believe me, the evidence was very overwhelming against the Governor and his party [PDP].

What is very saddening to me is the simple fact that, had the Governor, his Commissioners and party leaders performed and allowed us citizens of Adamawa to enjoy the dividends of democracy, they would not have a need to rig the election in order to be reelected. We would not have needed them to bribe us to get our votes. In reading Boni Haruna’s interview, I was terribly shocked to read his attack on General Babangida, instead of telling the world of his achievements in office and how he has truly lifted our state for the better. Let Governor Boni Haruna tell the world that as a Christian that he has truly united the Christians and Muslims in Adamawa, let him tell the world how many kilometers of roads he has built, how many water projects he has commissioned, his impact in education, health, and simple basic infrastructures. If he had done these things, he would not need to appeal the decision of the tribunal or use money to influence our votes. He would have been returned unopposed.

Boni Haruna once boasted that even if the electoral Commissioner is from ANPP, he would still win the election. My question to both of you then is, if that were to be the case why appeal the judgment? Why not allow his popularity to be tested by allowing the elections to be held as directed by the election tribunal. It is also imperative for you to understand that if General Ibrahim Babangida agrees to contest the election in 2007, that he Babangida will beat any candidate even the ones from Adamawa State . And this feat will be made possible by us the youths of Adamawa. The same youths you told lies to in 2003 and used to be so noticed by Governor Boni Haruna who eventually elevated you to the post that you currently hold.

In my view, and I don’t claim to know General Babangida or any of his close associates that you claim to know. However, General Babangida and the likes of Boni Haruna and yourself are not on the same level, will never be on the same level and will never be colleagues or contemporaries. If indeed you are as close to General Babangida as you would wish us to believe, your letter to him would have been delivered in private and not through a tabloid newspaper like The Sun.

General Babangida as a human being may have his faults, but my dear Asaph Zadok, that he probably advised you to accept a position does not make him a villain. You needed to make a living and raise your family, so that, like many others, you people would probably stop pestering him always for welfare. And, don’t be fooled into thinking that the names you mentioned as General Babangida’s friends have deserted him. It will make an interesting read and probably make a fool of your assertions if any of these people you mentioned are ever interviewed on their opinion of your statements. Possibly, they indeed need him more than he probably needs them. They need him to come back to office so that they may reclaim their lost glories. They are the ones that are in the forefront constantly praying to convince the man to return back to office even if he doesn’t want to.

Your actions can only be compared to that of a prostitute, of which the New Webster encyclopedic dictionary of English language described as “to offer freely to a lewd use, or to indiscriminate lewdness for hire … The act of practice of yielding the body to indiscriminate intercourse with men for hire; the act of offering to an infamous employment.” My brother herein lies your character. You are not loyal, for LOYALTY is hundred percent and nothing less.

Finally, I wish above all things that you enjoy good health and learn to be truthful and faithful in a manner that does not tarnish or diminish the position of other commissioners of information stature. Sincerity is a virtue.

Wassalam

Yola, June 18, 2004