TheNewsGuru

Tag: Ibrahim Babangida

  • 2023: Implosion looms in PDP as northern elders dump Atiku for Saraki, Mohammed

    2023: Implosion looms in PDP as northern elders dump Atiku for Saraki, Mohammed

    The PDP Northern Elders after a closed-door meeting with General Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida on Friday evening in Minna adopted Dr Bukola Saraki and Bauchi State Governor Bala Mohammed as their consensus candidates.

    This is coming despite clarion calls by southern presidential aspirants insisting that the age long zoning arrangement in PDP, the oldest political party in Nigeria stands.

    With this development, former Vice President Atiku will face an uphill task keeping his presidential ambition alive through the PDP.

    Giving the recommendation of the Northern Elders at the Uphill Residence of Babangida in Minna, Professor Ango Abdullahi said that the two aspirants have been urged to work together to make allowance for further consultations to come up with one consensus candidate.

    According to him, for the purpose of this exercise, it is hereby resolved that Governor Bala Mohammed from the North East and former Senate President Bukola Saraki from the North Central be presented as the northern consensus candidates for the moment.

    “The successful aspirants are hereby urged to work together to make allowance for further consultations to foster understanding among themselves and the PDP community to ensure a rancour free primaries in which all eligible candidates would be free to exercise their right.”

    According to Ango, four aspirants from northern Nigeria presented themselves for the consensus including Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, Governor Bala Mohammed, Dr Bukola Saraki, and Mohammed Hayatu-Deen.

    He said that General Babangida opted for inclusion through wider consultation and assigned him to design a criteria and carry out the necessary consultations with elders and leaders across the three geopolitical zones in the north.

    Ango said that the process is conducted in three stages which include candidates assessment, zonal assessment and PDP previous experiences.

    “In the first phase, the opinions of six distinguished persons each from the three geopolitical zones were sought with regards to each of the four aspirants.

    “Each of the Zonal delegates was allocated two votes to choose the first and second choice making a total of 36 votes overall.

    The outcome of that consultation was as follows: 7 votes for Aminu Waziri, 10 votes for Bala Mohammed, 10 votes for Bukola Saraki and 5 votes for Mohammed Hayatu-deen.

    “One of the elders deferred his votes on grounds of continuing consultations with traditional rulers and other major stakeholders. Two members did not cast their second ballots bringing the total to 32 votes cast out of 36”, he said.

    He said it was then resolved that any leading aspirant from North Central and one from North East are to be presented as northern presidential candidates.

    “The two would in turn be required to make further concessions so that in the end one of them would be presented as the consensus candidate, out of the four that presented themselves from the north”.

  • Land of a Million Presidents – By Chidi Amuta

    Land of a Million Presidents – By Chidi Amuta

    By Chidi Amuta

    At the height of the hysteria about who would succeed the military administration of General Ibrahim Babangida, the elaborate but controlled transition programme encouraged members of the political elite to openly express their aspiration for the presidency. But the politicians were somewhat wary. After all, successive military administrations had promised and failed to hand over power to anyone but themselves. Moreover, this particular administration had decimated the political class through a deliberate series of bans and exclusions.

    You were either a new breed or old breed politician. You were either part of the problem or ready to queue up behind those who said they were solving the problem. Having survived a series of purges, bans, re-categorizations and white- washing, the politicians who survived Nigeria’s years of political long knives felt confident enough to step forward to desire the plum job. Trust Nigerian political animals, those eternal and incurable optimists. Each one of them felt it would be most expedient to be seen as an anointed choice of the military.

    Babangida, ever the friendly foe with a decorated sword, was the friend of nearly every political actor in the field. Each presidential aspirant felt a hidden obligation to bounce their ambition off the military president. Each felt that declaring their interest to the emperor was a prerequisite to their otherwise legitimate democratic right. So, they took turns to visit Aso Villa to whisper their intentions to the boss. In separate private audiences with the President, I suspect that each ambitious political aspirant received an assurance that he would be the chosen one. Before long, the entire political landscape was swarming with an assortment of self -confident presidential aspirants. Check out the long list of present day presidential aspirants trooping to Minna for ‘consultations’ and each emerging with words of encouragement!

    Each one of the IBB era politicians kept the source of their confidence to their chest. Thus, we had the likes of Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, Patrick Dele Cole, Babagana Kingibe, Tom Ikimi and Olu Falae stepping forward to declare presidential intentions. Some even mounted elaborate early campaigns. But only two of these – Babagana Kingibe and Tom Ikimi-were lucky to be rewarded with the chairmanship of the two government approved political parties. The rest is history.

    It is another presidential season in a different clime. A different set of politicians, mostly of the All Progressive Congress (APC) clan, are trooping to the Presidential Villa to seek the tacit endorsement of the incumbent on their presidential aspiration. Former Lagos Governor, Bola Tinubu led the pack. He was closely followed by Ebonyi Governor Dave Umahi. Former Abia State Governor, Orji Kalu who has not declared anything has also visited Buhari mostly for a timely photo opportunity. No one knows what the usually taciturn and quiescent Buhari told them.

    From every indication, we are right in the midst of an emerging national circus. As my friend Segun Adeniyi insightfully pointed out in his column in this newspaper earlier in the week, the national circus is gathering traction. The public is fast losing track of the number of those who have declared to be our president in 2023. The declarations are however merely the prep stage of the circus. We will soon enter the travelling stage which is the roadshow itself.

    My late grand father used to tell me that madness is not such a calamity for as long as one can cope with the malingering part of the ailment!

    On a more serious note, however, the recent spate of presidential declarations represent so many things that are good and bad with our polity. It is a good thing for so many citizens to aspire to lead the nation. A democracy should never set a limit to how many citizens aspire to lead or say so with neither fear nor reservations. Freedom is the first condition of democracy; citizens should be free to follow, free to want to lead and free to dissent when those who rule run counter to their best wishes and interests.

    The sheer number of those stepping forward to declare their presidential bids also indicates the magnitude of problems facing the country. There is a sense in which the mushrooming of presidential aspirants is also symptomatic of the variety of perspectives and solutions to the problems assailing the nation. It is only natural for a nation beset with such a cocktail of existential problems to excite such a barrage of alternative leadership options. On a normal day, Nigeria is a land of a million presidents, a laboratory of conflicting perspectives on leadership and solutions to national problems at any point in time.

    Above everything else, the spate of presidential aspirants is an open verdict from a long standing referendum on Mr. Buhari’s bumbling presidency. Over a year to his official exit, the public has since lowered the gavel on Buhari’s divisive and crassly incompetent presidency. Among political pundits, the jury is out as to the political gravity of a Buhari endorsement or lack of it. From the experience of the last seven years, even Mr. Buhari’s most ardent political disciples know that the only candidate Buhari supports to the hilt is Buhari himself. The only seat worth fighting for, defending and possibly dying for is the throne on which he sits in Aso Rock. It is indeed however a strange ‘Village Head’ democracy in which full fledged citizens and leading party members have to inform an incumbent president that they want to take over his job come the next election. What is wrong with following party procedures and guidelines to seek endorsement through the mechanism of internal democracy?

    Predictably, Buhari has been receiving in audience all the leading APC members with presidential intent who have been dropping by his office for photo opportunities to enhance their visibility. My former state governor and friend Orji Kalu has visited Buhari in the office in the wave of these PR stunts. It is indeed a strange variety of village head democracy in which legitimate aspirants to the presidency of the country feel that they have to obtain the televised permission of the incumbent president to vie for what is ordinarily their right as citizens.

    Yet we cannot discount the import of Mr. Buhari’s presence in creating the enabling environment for the full emergence of presidential ambitions and aspirations especially in his party. Specifically, Mr. Buhari still needs to unshackle those in his administration who have political ambition to resign and face their political programmes. In this regard, there are quite a number of consequential presidential material still quarantined in Buhari’s administration.

    Beyond the APC collection of aspirants, however, there are others in the other parties whose presidential ambitions have since become household words. They do not need the permission or seal of presidential approval to forge ahead with their campaigns. The likes of Atiku Abubakar and Kingsley Moghalu have been presidential aspirants and candidates for long enough. They hardly need any new formal declarations. We know them and where they stand on critical national issues. All they need is to secure the ticket of their respective parties and hit the road to market their agenda to Nigerians.

    Those familiar with Nigeria’s viral enterprise culture will have noticed the hand of our entrepreneurial spirit in an emerging presidential declaration industry. The other day, a good friend and former influential senator came visiting after a long spell. His phone kept ringing repeatedly until he courteously put it in silent mode. He told me the calls were mostly from groups from different parts of the country who were pressuring him to declare for president! Each group told him he was among the very best of candidates. To beat each other to the bargain, some of the pressure groups gave him an idea of how much it would cost to make his declaration the most impactful! Some of the support groups even had the costs of the trending declarations in case he wanted to place himself comfortably in the forefront. In the end, my guest gave me an elaborate lecture on the new industry of presidential declarations and the impending market prospects of presidential campaigns.

    The declarations and statements of intent that we have seen so far are instructive. They are indicative of various categories of aspirants and levels of seriousness. There are those who are tried and tested politicians, known state governors, federal appointees, legislative leaders and a few former corporate leaders.

    There are genuine regionally and geo politically representative candidates whose intent and aspiration is informed mostly by the “turn by turn” mentality of Nigerian political leadership: ‘it is the turn of my geo political zone and so why not me?’ These are typically the zoning champions like Ebonyi Governor Dave Umahi and, perhaps, Orji Kalu who has not quite directly declared an aspiration.

    There are also youthful idealists and utopian leadership theorists, barbing salon and beer parlor presidents. These are people who just want to break the national noise barrier by making enough noise to sprout from the anonymity of the Nigerian crowd. There are still others for whom the presidential aspiration is a further rung on the ladder of political leadership. These are people who have a track record of service and vast experience in the management of public expectations in relevant roles. These include the likes of Pius Anyim, Atiku Abubakar and Bola Tinubu for whom the presidential desk would be a natural political progression to something higher in the ladder of political ascent.

    There are other very outstanding aspirants like my friend Prof. Kingsley Moghalu in a class of genuine patriots and experienced technocrats. He is in the unique category of people who combine sound leadership ideas with relevant technocratic and practical experience and whose aspiration is fired by a genuine desire to make a difference in a nation that desperately needs to break the tradition of clueless leadership. Professor Moghalu has authored two full length books on his vision of a new Nigeria and how to deal with different national issues and problems. Such commitment and dedication is indeed rare in the history of Nigerian political leadership quests. An aspirant like this rises above visionary idealism and a narrow bookish conception of the work of president.

    There are also youthful idealists and leadership theorists. Most of these people have no experience in public or organized private affairs. Their entire vision and life experience is in their laptop. Just ask them and they snap open their power point presentations with graphs, holograms, prediction tables etc. Some of them have never even run a corner shop in all their life or opened a kiosk to sell peanuts. In other climes, these are people who should start their political careers from being community volunteers, vying for local government councillorship, state house of assembly seats, federal legislature or some other more modest tutelage pedestal.

    But the Nigerian in us will not buy such a gradualist progression approach in climbing up the political ladder. By our nature, every Nigerian who goes to a church wants to meet the Bishop or General Overseer on first visit. If he is rebuffed, he goes home, starts his own church and anoints himself pastor first and bishop shortly afterwards. When the Nigerian is accosted at a police checkpoint, he does not want to be interrogated by the sergeant or Inspector on duty. He asks menacingly and authoritatively: “who is the most senior officer here?”

    In the parade of presidential declarations and ambitions that have so far been on display, there are a few worrisome trends. In some of the prominent cases, people who the public only recognize as known miscreants and criminal suspects for public asset stealing are among the aspirants. There is of course the technical requirement that no man is a criminal before he is convicted of a crime by a competent court of law. But there is a misalignment between personal moral stature and the rigorous requirements of public morality. A patented criminal with copious court appearances and even outright convictions who either serves their term or manages to engineer an expensive legal reprieve can live freely in society with his family and friends. But for such a person to openly aspire to lead the nation in a credible political process would amount to insensitivity to the dictates of pubic morality. It is even a derogation and devaluation of the moral credential of the entire country. We become more of ‘’any how” and “anything goes” nation in the process. This is why our Senate has degenerated into an oligarchy of the tainted.

    On the contrary, Nigeria is a serious enterprise. Its leadership ought to be an even more demanding role and compelling test of competence and knowledge. Therefore, those who aspire to its presidency must be persons who by experience, stature and seriousness are ‘fit and proper persons’. It is of course the prerogative of the political parties as clearing houses for leadership selection to make determinations about the appropriateness of individual aspirants for elective public office. But the parties can spare the nation the comic burden of reducing the presidential race to a roving circus and parade of clowns. When unserious persons step forward to contest for our highest office, it says so much about our set of values. Political parties cannot be indifferent to the value question even if they choose to be indifferent to ideological commitment. But the parade of triviality in the ongoing presidential declarations indicates an underlying lack of respect for the nation and its highest office. The democratic right to freely aspire to the highest office in the land should not entitle political miscreants and upstarts to reduce the nation to a playground of the cavalier and the pedestrian.

    Despite the large turnout of aspirants that have so far declared their intentions to be our president, the field remains open for more serious aspirants. The Nigerian public is still expecting some of our most illustrious citizens especially those who have distinguished themselves in the service of the nation at home and abroad to step forward and signal their intention to rule us. The challenge of the moment for Nigeria is to use 2023 to come up with a leadership that befits our global estimation and the legitimate expectations of our proud people.

  • Babangida mourns former Minister, Chu Okongwu, says his death is a painful pang

    Babangida mourns former Minister, Chu Okongwu, says his death is a painful pang

    Former Military President, Ibrahim Babangida has expressed shock over the passage of his Minister Finance, Chu Okongwu a reknowned economist.

    The former Nigerian leader in a statement he personally signed on Wednesday said:

    “The nostalgic feelings invoke in us grief and some sort of emotional torture. Death, the ultimate end of man has its hurtful claws clutching at humanity, each time it strikes.

    “The death of Chu Okongwu, even at age 87, leaves me with a painful pang. Chu, was one Nigerian, who was devoted and committed to nation building, using his expertise and rich knowledge to create templates for national development. When our paths crossed, his intellect and humane disposition to discourse, swayed my attention.

    “He was incisive and analytical in his deliberations. He was profound in his elocution and didactic in his delivery.

    Read full statement below:

    PRESS STATEMENT.

    CHU OKONGWU: DEATH, BUT WHY?

    No matter how old, when dear ones depart from us, we feel a deep sense of loss and pain. The nostalgic feelings invoke in us grief and some sort of emotional torture. Death, the ultimate end of man has its hurtful claws clutching at humanity, each time it strikes. The death of Chu Okongwu, even at age 87, leaves me with a painful pang. Chu, was one Nigerian, who was devoted and committed to nation building, using his expertise and rich knowledge to create templates for national development. When our paths crossed, his intellect and humane disposition to discourse, swayed my attention. He was incisive and analytical in his deliberations. He was profound in his elocution and didactic in his delivery.

    Nigeria has lost another brilliant and intellectually fecund professional, with an amazing understanding of the world around us. A super economist, Harvard trained, and also a lecturer with a deep knowledge of economics, Chu Okongwu was an exceptional brain that helped to shape the direction of our government. As a Minister of National Planning, he helped to create policy implementation strategies that facilitated our achievements in government. He later became Minister of Finance for four years and was able to lead us on the path of financial discipline and accountability. Chu Okongwu was a very strict professional and public servant. He was meticulous, and had eyes for little details. He enjoyed intellectual engagement and had specific interest in interrogating figures. He was one of our reservoirs of knowledge on economic and financial issues.

    At 87, Chu, was still in his usual elements until the sad news of his death struck me early this morning. It is painful for me that death has snatched away one of the brightest economists we have in Nigeria. A very exposed leader of men, whose love for Nigeria knows no bounds, Chu will be sorely missed.

    May God in His infinite mercy grant him eternal rest. May He grant the family the grace and piety to bear this irreplaceable death. Chu was a great man, and he died like all great men do. Rest in peace, Sunday Chu Okongwu.

    Signed….
    GENERAL IBRAHIM. B. BABANGIDA, GCFR.
    FORMER MILITARY PRESIDENT,
    UPHILL,.MINNA
    NIGER STATE.

  • Just In: IBB’s Finance Minister, Chu Okongwu is dead

    Just In: IBB’s Finance Minister, Chu Okongwu is dead

    The Minister of Finance during Military President Ibrahim Banangida’s regime, in the 1980s through early 1990s, Chu Okongwu is dead.

    Okongwu was one of the Ministers that served all through the IBB days moving from one ministry to the other.

    He died on Wednesday morning, at the aged of 87.

    Okongwu was born on September 23, 1934, in Anambra state, Nigeria. He is the first of eight children.

    He attended St. Michael’s School, Aba between 1941 and 1946. From there he moved to Government College, Umuahia and was a student there from 1947 till 1951.

    He studied economic theory at Boston University and completed the degree in 1961. He also attended Harvard University from 1961 to 1965.

    He served for eight years under the administration of Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (IBB), former military head of state, firstly as the minister of finance from 1985 to 1986 and national planning from 1986 to 1990; and subsequently as the minister of cabinet affairs, and later, as the minister of petroleum.

    Speaking in an interview with Vanguard in 2013 at the age of 79, Okongwu described his health as being “as good as it can be at my age”.

    “I still manage to do three miles of walk every day; that is four days a week and, from head to toe, there are usual old age problems, but I think I am happy to be around. I have no plans of wasting my time on chonyi, chonyi, chonyi… every minute of my God’s given time on earth. I have been usefully engaged in something productive,” he said.

    He also said he was once a journalist and had served at Daily Times newspaper as a sub-editor.

    In October, Okongwu’s house was set ablaze by gunmen in the state.

  • What IBB, Obasanjo said about Shonekan

    What IBB, Obasanjo said about Shonekan

    Former Military President Ibrahim B. Babangida and Former President Olusegun Obasanjo have expressed sadness over the passing of Chief Ernest Shonekan.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports both Babangida and Obasanjo described Chief Shonekan as a great achiever in separate letters of condolence to the family of the deceased.

    Shonekan was the Head of the Interim National Government between August 26 and November 17, 1993.

    In his letter, Obasanjo described the late elder statesman as a role model who would be remembered as a man of sustained strong will to succeed.

    Obasanjo, in the condolence letter addressed to Mrs Margaret Shonekan, the deceased wife, a copy of which was made available to newsmen in Abeokuta, said he received the news with shock.

    Obasanjo in the letter, recalled how Shonekan in 1994, founded the Economic Summit Group, an advocacy group and think – tank for private sector-led development of the Nigerian economy.

    He noted that the body had continued to sustain the legacy of helping to support stakeholders in the execution of policies, programmes and strategies, in response to any emerging trends in national and global economies.

    The former president noted that at the hour of great achievement and undisguised success, Chief Shonekan did not lose the common touch and sense of service to family and his wider community.

    “On the political scene, Chief Shonekan, as the Head of the Interim National Government in Nigeria, in 1993, though short-lived for the period of three months, through the palace coup orchestrated by General Sani Abacha, rendered outstanding service to our country, and we will never forget that.

    “It is also worthy of note that as Special Envoy on the Implementation of the Abuja Agreement on Zimbabwe in 2001 and Chairman, Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) in 2008, he was forthright, dedicated and showed great patriotism in the discharge of his duties.

    “He was a unifying force for the nation and his contribution to the growth and development of democracy in Nigeria cannot be forgotten in a hurry.

    “In all situations, he lived nobly and he died in nobility. He was an achiever.

    “Indeed, Chief Shonekan died at a time the country is in dire need of his leadership, wealth of experience and wisdom to tackle the multifaceted challenges facing the nation.

    “While expressing, on behalf of my family and on my own behalf, our sympathies to you and the entire members of your family as well as to the government and the good people of Ogun State, it is our prayer that the Almighty God will grant him eternal rest and comfort all those he left behind.’” the letter read.

    Meanwhile, in his condolence letter made available to newsmen in Minna, Niger State, Babangida described Shonekan as a man, a leader and an uncommon patriot who had a presence of mind and whose understanding of Nigeria was profound and remarkable.

    Babangida’s statement reads: “The shocking news of the death of one of Nigeria’s finest brains and patriots came to me this morning with a helpless awe. I hadn’t the faintest idea that Chief Ernest Shonekan would depart this sinful world too soon, even at 85.

    “He was a man, a leader and an uncommon patriot who had a presence of mind and whose understanding of Nigeria was profound and remarkable. It is indeed a personal loss to me.

    “Chief Ernest Shonekan was one of our cerebral minds during our time in government. He was the architect of our principle of free market economy which helped to open up the system for a robust participation by the private sector. The liberalisation of the economy, the investment and boost in the agricultural sector and budget management approach were part of his brain child.

    “I recollect very vividly how he used to give us tutorials on budget, planning and management of national resources, each time he was invited to our session. At each budget year, Chief Shonekan would be invited to critique our budget proposals, and gave us further input to enrich the final budget. He was a man of ideas and ideals. He was prudent and preached so much about fiscal discipline.

    “It was therefore timely for us to appoint him as Head of the Interim Government to help stabilize the polity at a most trying period of our country’s political evolution. He was a calm personality whose managerial skills were foretold in the way and manner he managed a lot of blue chip companies.

    “As Head of the Interim Government, he was able to consult with a broad spectrum of the Nigerian populace in charting a roadmap out of the political impasse at that time. His brilliance and meticulous interrogation of situations helped in large measure to forge ahead during the period. I owe a personal gratitude to him throughout his sojourn on earth as we maintained very robust mutual relationship after his exit from the corridors of power.

    “Given the achievements we recorded during our time in government in the area of infrastructure, economy and social rebirth, I owe a word of gratitude to him for his experienced intervention in helping to dissect our policy frameworks each time we called upon him to do so.

    “He was an engaging personality whose sense of patriotism was total. He was friendly and sociable. He understood economy and made so many projections that helped us to bail the country out of economic conundrum. We benefited from his immense knowledge, experience and brilliance.

    “May the Almighty God console his family and other Nigerians who had a relationship with this gentle giant of quintessential orientation. May God grant his soul eternal rest. Nigeria has lost a patriot, an urbane and refined gentleman, a thoroughbred boardroom maestro and a cosmopolitan mind who was devoted to his country. Rest in peace Chief Ernest Shonekan. May God grant the family, associates and friends the fortitude to bear with this priceless loss”.

  • Police arrest Ibrahim Babangida, 3 other kidnappers in Yola

    Police arrest Ibrahim Babangida, 3 other kidnappers in Yola

    The Police in Adamawa have confirmed the arrest of four high-profiled kidnappers who were suspected to have abducted a nursing mother and her daughter, according to a statement by DSP Sulaiman Nguroje, on Thursday, in Yola.

    Nguroje, the command’s spokesperson, said that the notorious suspects were also behind the attack on Ngurore Police station.

    The News Agency of Nigeria ( NAN) recalled that on Sunday, Oct. 10, heavily armed suspected kidnappers attacked Ngurore Police station at about 2 am and also kidnapped the woman, Hauwa Umaru and her daughter.

    DSP Sulaiman said operatives of the Anti Kidnapping unit of the state command arrested the suspects on Thursday and recovered one AK-47 rifle with 16 rounds of live ammunitions.

    ” The breakthrough that led to the arrest of the suspects began with the arrest of one Buba Ibrahim a.k.a Babangida , 20, a native of Wuro Bilal village, Ngurore District ,Yola South LGA.

    ” Ibrahim Babangida is one of the principal suspects in the kidnap operation and the confession of the suspect revealed how they abducted Hauwa Umaru, her daughter and one

    Alhaji Bahago of Ibbare and also attacked the Ngurore police station.

    ” The police were assisted by some professional Hunters who apprehended the other three gang members”, Nguroje said.

    He identified the three arrested gang members as: Tumba Alhaji Dan Bappa, 25, a native of Ibbare district, Yola south LGA; Buba Alhaji Abdu, a resident of Ibbare, Ngurore

    District, and Abdullahi Lawal , a resident of Lau local government area in Taraba state.

    Nguroje also said that the suspected criminals were also part of a seven-man syndicate that were terrorising people of Adamawa and Taraba states.

    He said the suspects would be charged to court on completion of investigations.

  • 80 years of Ibrahim Babangida, and counting, By Ikeddy ISIGUZO

    80 years of Ibrahim Babangida, and counting, By Ikeddy ISIGUZO

    Nothing about General Ibrahim Babangida, Nigeria’s only military President, would be without its own controversy. Babangida is the centre of endless controversies, in and out of office. Where there are no controversies, he stirs some by plunging into an issue some would render only in whispers.

    His comments about his sight being on three prospects for the next President of Nigeria have been in the news since his Arise TV interview that pre-dated his 80th birth on 17 August. All manners of speculations have been on about who the three were. Media headlines came up with lists. The focus has been on the most prominent candidates who some think were the target of Babangida’s suggestion that Nigeria needed a younger person to be President. How can he answer the question in the way he did? Those who wanted a different answer are blaming him for holding an opinion.

    Babangida is known for assisting transitions. His democracy includes providing directions even if the people have to decide. The explanations for the annulment of the June 12 election were about intervening over anomalies in the polls.

    People had alluded to him clearing the way for his friend Alhaji Moshood Abiola when Babangida banned contestants older than 50 from running for President in 1993. What did they have to say when the annulled election affected Abiola directly? They had enough reasons to conclude that Babangida had no friends and attended mostly to his own interests.

    Saying, “I have started visualising a good Nigerian leader. A person who travels in this country and has friends virtually everywhere he travels. He knows at least one person that he can communicate with. A person who is very vast in economic development and a good politician who should be able to talk to Nigerians. I have seen one or two or three already in their 60s” is about the most contentious issue he raised in the television interview.

    Why is the age barrier generating so much interest when Babangida has no powers to stop anyone from running? Who does not know he is not exactly chummy with President Muhammadu Buhari?

    Over lunch with his guests on Wednesday, a day after the crowds that made their way to Minna for the 80th, Babangida was in great mood. He bantered, and countered suggestions that he already had anointed some for President. He retorted that he had not disqualified anyone. One of the guests muted the opportunity that was before those who were above the age mark Babangida drew – they could procure new ages through affidavits.

    He asked about Nigeria. He wanted to know about happenings in the different parts his guests issued from. It was doubtful if he did not know. Babangida was wont to compare notes to reach conclusions.

    Babangida is not aspiring for sainthood. His remark that the extent of corruption today makes saints of those in his administration rankled present-day saints. In the interview he said All Progressives Congress, APC, had not kept its promises on security, the economy, and anti-corruption.

    He has made more defences of his eight-year tenure than any other ruler of Nigeria. Could it be that he did so much in eight years that 28 years out of office people still blame him for most things wrong with Nigeria?

    The praises are lean when they come. What did Babangida do? What did Babangida not do in expanding the Nigerian economy, developing infrastructure, and creating the myriad of parastatals that have become self-serving fiefdom of a few? What about the local business people who his policies assisted?

    His looked great at 80. The legs are weak, as he had said years before they became more obvious. He was in high spirits and enjoyed the jokes that streamed from shenanigans of politicians, cascading to the personal involvements of his guests in Project Nigeria.

    The hours sped by. It was time to leave.

    The nays should be relieved that the 60s bar means Babangida also excluded himself from another tenure in managing Nigeria.

    Happy birthday Nigeria’s only different President.

    FINALLY…

    PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari is still making promises. He will not finish his tenure as a failure, he said. The confession is subject to many interpretations. The most trending is the admission that he has failed badly.

    FREEDOM should come soon for 21-year-old Gloria Okolie. The police detained her in Imo State and later moved her to Abuja on the allegation that she was a member of the Eastern Security Network. The police did not charge her to court or keep her in a proper detention facility. She was turned into a house help, washing and cooking for the men who held her. Her family was also reportedly extorted of N220, 000. Once she is released, we would thank the Almighty for His mercies while the offenders would continue in service, gaining promotions, and unleashing more cruelty on Nigerians.

    ARE cases like Gloria Okolie’s why government wants to shackle the social media? Without the social media, Okolie’s case would have taken almost forever to receive public attention. Why do we not use existing laws to deal with social media infractions instead of applying decapitation as cure for headache?

    MINISTER of Information & Culture Alhaji Lai Mohammed is incensed about the social media. “I can assure you that we will not rest until we regulate the social media, otherwise, nobody will survive it.’’ The social media reported Mohammed sneaked out of Nigeria to the USA. The Minister said he travelled formally on official duty.

    HOLY Spirit has instructed me not to go to court and I will not disobey the Holy Spirit and I’ll beg the public to please refrain from abusing the Angels that sent the money to those that were in need. – Apostle Suleiman Johnson, retorting to Israel Balogun’s lawyer who asked the preacher to head to court if he was offended by social media posts Balogun made. Balogun questioned Johnson’s claim that angels deposited money in people’s accounts. Days after the posts, police moved all the way from Abuja to arrest Balogun in Lagos. He has been freed on bail. Will angels be the Apostle’s witnesses if the case gets to court?

    .Isiguzo is a major commentator on minor issues

  • Buhari greets ex-President Ibrahim Babangida at 80

    Buhari greets ex-President Ibrahim Babangida at 80

    President Muhammadu Buhari has sent birthday greetings to former President Ibrahim Babangida, wishing him a “long and healthy life”, as he marks his 80th birthday.

    The president’s congratulatory message was issued by one of his spokesmen, Malam Garba Shehu, in Abuja on Monday.

    President Buhari noted that as former military commanders during the war, both retiring as Generals, they had mutual interests, great hopes and expectations in a strong and united Nigeria.

    He expressed hope that privileged Nigerians like Babangida and others like himself would recommit to ongoing efforts to help the nation to reach more glory, progress, and prosperity.

  • At 80, Some Babangida Moments – Chidi Amuta

    By Chidi Amuta(Excerpts from an Unfinished Memoir)

    Former military President Ibrahim Babangida turns 80 in a matter of days. That is a clear 28 years after he left office and returned to his Minna ancestral base. As he, his family and compatriots reflect on his trajectory through life so far and his service to Nigeria, Babangida is more likely to be engaged in reflections on his place in national history over and above the flourish of personal celebration.

    For the man who many Nigerians prefer to call IBB, today is not a destination but a milestone in a personal journey. That journey is a long trek of fortitude in the face of daunting travails. It is a pilgrimage powered by unusual personal strength and resilience in the face of trials that test the will of heroes. The Babangida story is an epic in providence and the courage of one visionary individual who stepped forward and dared to make his vision of Nigeria ours as well.

    Orphaned at 14 and raised in the benevolent surrogacy of a caring uncle, Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida grew up to make a career in a profession that embraces the certainty of death in the pursuit of the life of others. Soldiering is a profession where men and women are trained to race towards danger and death while others flee in the opposite direction.

    Babangida prevailed in his dangerous chosen career and rose to the pinnacle of his profession as a manager of violence. From the crucible of uncertain fate, Babangida also rose to assume national leadership in a moment of desperate need.

    With a calm resolve and stoic control forged in the furnace of war, the man came to bestride the Nigerian firmament for eight eventful years. His every step in power carried the imprint and surefootedness of a practiced player in the theatre of power. In the process of leading one of the world’s most engaging nations, Babangida faced up to the challenge of leadership with unusual courage, authentic creativity and admirable sagacity.

    For a man who has always insisted on the ultimate verdict of history, Babangida led Nigeria from the front, courageously embarking on some of the most difficult and controversial reform measures in our national history so far. It is fair to say that unlike most other military leaders in our history, Babangida came to power with a detailed roadmap and precise compass. His essential vision was that of a different, futuristic and modern Nigeria.

    He envisioned a free market economy, a stable liberal democratic polity and a fair society of free citizens in a republican state. Above all, he envisioned a diverse national community in which every citizen would be judged not by the language he spoke or the direction of his origin but by the content of their character and contribution to the commonwealth. It is a nation in which each citizen would have a fair shot at available opportunities for a better life.

    In Babangida’s Nigeria, the strength of our diversity was explored and strengthened. Believing that our nation building was interrupted by the first military coup in 1966, Babangida combined aspects of nation building with the task of day-to- day governance. In the process, he came close to putting into practice Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe’s concept of diarchy, a seamless combination of military rule and guided civilian democratic governance. Diarchy would transit into full democracy on the basis of a two party polity with clear options for democratic choice. This was the essence of the Babangida mission and its guiding vision.

    He brought to this ambitious multiple mandate a personal charisma and style that were unique. In Babangida, Nigeria experienced for the first time the leader as a brand. He reigned and ruled simultaneously. His personal magnetism and the lure of his personal aura and electricity endeared him to most of the populace.

    But the Nigerian public was not always unanimous in their embrace of him and his policies. In a sense, Babangida was the ultimate Machiavellian Prince, loved and hated in almost equal measure by those he came to rule. Power with charisma earned him committed devotees as well as powerful adversaries within the military and among the civilian political elite. Controversy and political crises were the fruits of the tension his mission and style generated.

    However, despite loud reservations about some of his policies and defining politics, his appeal and pull have endured even after almost three decades out of office. That appeal has mostly overwhelmed Babangida’s many human pitfalls and flaws as a historical personage. He has remained a mythic personage, a deity with countless devotees but without a shrine. He is an object of political and social pilgrimage for both politicians and ordinary Nigerians across creed, region, and generation.

    Whatever maybe the eventual verdict of history on the life and times of this man of many seasons, Babangida remains firm in his beliefs about Nigeria. For him, Nigerian is both an ideal and a lived reality. His belief in the unity and prospects of Nigeria remain unshaken. He wants it on record that when the nation called him to duty, he answered with the honest intent and firm resolve of a true patriot and nationalist.

    Nothing in his life experience or his term of service has shaken his belief in the unity of Nigeria and the manifest destiny of our nation. For him, Nigeria has no other choice than to be great among nations. Till this moment, Babangida insists that true leadership can delegate authority but must always bear ultimate responsibility for actions taken under the leader’s watch.

    But in the process of leading Nigeria through difficult times and treacherous choices, Babangida committed the errors to which his time and place in history entitled him. Because the differences he sought to make in our national progress were decisive in many positive ways, future generations of Nigerians are likely to look up from their history books to acknowledge one thing: IBB was here.

    The fair-minded are likely to acknowledge Babangida’s essential empathy and humanism. IBB felt our pain, shared our hopes, fired our aspirations and envisioned a better place where we could all be proud to call home. But he also caused us concern at trying moments while navigating us away from the edges of the precipices of national history. As he often said of the Great Zik, the central issue in Nigeria’s days of military rule would likely remain Babangida and his rule.

    It is in the nature of historic tragedy that Babangida stopped short of landing us safely at the promised political shore. Yet he took the economy to an irreversible market place, 30 years ahead of his time, Babangida took us into a two party polity that is now our reality. Admittedly, his contributions to our national journey come loaded with lessons and precedents from which our future can draw inspiration towards better outcomes. In Babangida therefore, history and tragedy meet and mix on the canvass of the Nigerian landscape.

    No leader can ask for a greater place in the hall of national memory…

    For over three decades, I have related with this great Nigerian and illustrious African statesman. Our paths crossed as friends with him in office, in power and back as an ordinary private citizen. I have seen him closely at work, in power, in crisis, at moments of difficult decisions and under the fire of intense public scrutiny and criticism.

    I recall here in excerpts from my forthcoming memoirs –A Life in Pieces- bits and pieces of some of my lived moments in close proximity with this unusual and remarkable soldier, humanist, leader and friend.

    I trekked nearly 1,000 kilometers to honour Babangida’s first summons. My journey to Dodan Barracks was a journey across frontiers of place, time and station. From my village beginnings in Umuguru to the epicenter of national power was indeed a long trek…

    The President’s ADC, a smart and polite young military officer, ushered me into a dimly lit reception room and nicely apologized: “Oga will see you shortly”. An earlier visitor, General Sani Abacha, soon emerged from his brief meeting with the President to reclaim his short service staff from the ADC who had nicely taken it from him as a security measure before he went upstairs to see the President!…

    While I was waiting anxiously to be ushered into his presence, my mind raced through my journey to this moment and place. The footpaths of Umuguru village nearly 1000 kilometers away… The flooded bush paths on my daily trek to the roofless village school…The cruel lashes of the arithmetic teacher’s cane for not memorizing the multiplication table and reciting same quickly enough on prompt… The endless wait at the roadside on empty stomach just to catch a glimpse of the fat new men of power rushing to replace the white men on the eve of independence… From the anonymity of my harsh beginnings to this moment of notice at the apex of power…Why?

    The only offence I had committed to earn a summons to Dodan Barracks was a series of newspaper articles. One titled “Thesis on Liberia”, suggested that Nigeria should project its power in West Africa to save Liberia from the destruction of a civil war…There had been an earlier one titled: ”Ibrahim Gorbachev” in which I had drawn a parallel between the visionary reforms of Babangida and the wide reforms sweeping the former Soviet Union under Mikhail Gorbachev… It turns out that the President had read both and wanted to meet me…Once upon a time in this place, Presidents used to read and understand newspaper articles!…

    It is 7am on a normal week day in Dodan Barracks. The fortress of power wakes up to its duality. This place is the source of political authority. It is also the command center of the nation’s military…It wears both caps with palpable unease….

    The president’s morning briefing meeting with his personal staff takes off with precise punctuality. Ahead of everyone else, the president is already seated at the head of the conference table.. All those whose roles govern his daily life are here: Chief of Protocol, Press Secretary, Principal Secretary, Chief Security Officer, Principal Staff Officer, Military Intelligence Officer etc. are here …. Routine matters of schedule are quickly dispensed with. Then a quick review of the press and media. It turns out that ahead of these early morning meetings, the president has read all major front page stories and influential columnists. He has also listened to the BBC, Voice of America and CNN. Reuters and AFP are on most screens in and around his residence and office….

    Someone draws his attention to a blistering article by General Obasanjo. Very critical of the government on the Structural Adjustment Programme and the need for government to don a more humane face. The anger around the table is palpable. Nail Obasanjo! Tame Obasanjo!! Contain this trouble maker!!! Babangida retains his calmness even in the wildest torment and torrent. People want him to assume a more hostile posture towards his critics, especially Obasanjo…

    He proceeds instead to lecture us. Obasanjo was not only a professional boss but something of a personal mentor to him… When others opposed his membership of the Supreme Military Council under Murtala Muhammed on grounds of his young age, it was Obasanjo who weighed in and insisted on him…When he was admitted to go to Staff College, there was about to be a moratorium on officers going to Staff College abroad. Again Obasanjo insisted that an exception be made for him since his admission predated the establishment of the Nigerian Command and Staff college. He recalled a few other personal good turns by Obasanjo and concluded that without Obasanjo, he would not reach the present heights. All dissent was silenced….

    At lunch in Abuja at the bungalow guest house provided by General Gado Nasko, then Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Babangida and I were joined only by his ADC, then Colonel Nuhu Bamali. Bamali opened an envelope with an urgent message for the president. He calmly relays the ‘instruction’ to the President.: “Sir, he wants you to personally ensure that his passport is still current and that his US visa is renewed immediately…” Babangida looks up, beams a smile and retorts,: “That is an order from my boss… You know, I have not stopped being his ADC!… Tell him to consider it done …” The order had come from Hassan Usman Katsina, former Military Governor of the old Northern Nigeria. Babangida was once his ADC…

    Today, we are working in Abuja…We came to Abuja on one of the President’s many working visits which of late always included a site visit to Aso Rock Villa, then under construction. He had directed that a new and more secure presidential villa be built in place of the State House as designed and located in the Abuja master plan. IBB thought differently. He was passionate about the new villa as a national monument…

    Today was one of those rare moments when he had lunch without a collection of friends and visitors. It is usually at such moments that IBB would cast his net for alternative viewpoints on a matter he is considering. He would casually throw a matter of policy at you if he thought you had any views that would help his decision making process.

    The creation of new states was then his current preoccupation. Delta State was uppermost in the likely category. But the matter of a possible capital for the proposed state remained contentious and unresolved. He asked for my thoughts. I was ill prepared for this moment but as an active journalist, I was equipped to hold a conversation on nearly every current issue of national concern…

    Warri and Sapele were in contention. The issue wasn’t just a simple choice of a new state capital. It was the reincarnation of the traditional rivalry between the Urhobos and the Itsekiris. And of course, he did not want to be on either side.

    There was a live agitation for an Anioma state coming from the Igbo wing of Delta. For me, Anioma state was more of an economic proposition. The Anioma people would fare better in Delta with capital in Asaba. There was a lot of strategic economic sense in a state capital in Asaba, across the River Niger bridge from the bustling commercial city of Onitsha. There were other locational advantages of proximity to Onitsha, Nnewi and Awka while Asaba would serve as a calming riverside resort from the rivalries among the delta groups…

    As a closing aside, I pointed out that he is the son- in- law of the Asaba people, the kinsfolk of his wife, Maryam. Since he would leave office one day, I reminded him that his in -laws would look at the state capital as a special gift!….

    He changed the topic from Delta to the clamour for more states in Igboland where the clamour was for an increase in the number of states beyond Imo and Anambra. I was reluctant to offer any specific suggestions as they would be predictable…

    But he dropped a hint which was almost an order. The agitations from the Igbo groups for more states was a bit tepid… The agitations needed weightier voices. He dropped a hint. Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe was billed to pay a courtesy call on him in the next couple of days on his way abroad for medical check up. A voice like Zik’s if added to the agitations would help… I had my marching order!

    Chief Duro Onabule facilitated a breakfast meeting with Zik. The Federal Government Guest House off Okotie Eboe street in Ikoyi. In the course of breakfast, I subtly suggested to Zik that the clamour for states needed his strong voice. He only smiled and said I was right…. The great Zik understood my mission. The following evening, the NTA prime time news carried the story of Zik’s courtesy call on IBB in Dodan Barracks. Zik saluted the president for giving consideration to the clamor for new states, adding that in the south east, new states would answer the long quest for justice after a tragic civil war…

    On the advise of my friend Onyema Ugochukwu, I tabled my errands before a small meeting with select Igbo opinion and political leaders in my Adeniyi Jones Avenue, Ikeja home. The message went across Igbo town unions across Nigeria. A few weeks later, the Armed forces Ruling Council decided on 11 new states including my own Abia. I wrote a hilarious celebratory piece in The Daily Times entitled: “My State is Bigger Than Yours”….

    The President was rounding off an official visit to Katsina state. Word came that the leader of a neighboring country to the north was visiting and would meet up with him in Katsina. It was IBB’s method to carry the Presidency actively to wherever he was. A Polish delegation once caught up with us on an official trip to Akwa Ibom State. They had to land a helicopter to meet IBB at our next local government headquarters stop. The protocol of state and routines of officialdom travelled with IBB wherever he went. He was always on duty….

    The Katsina meeting with the neighboring leader was to be rounded off with the usual joint press conference. IBB spoke in English. The visiting head of state spoke in French. But the bilateral meeting behind closed doors was conducted in Hausa as the language in the other country was predominantly Hausa. In reality, the neighbor was on a desperate mission to ask for help to pay accumulated salaries…

    Nonetheless, the press conference between both leaders, through bilingual interpreters, was predictable diplomatese: “…Both reaffirmed their commitment to African unity and world peace, renewed their commitment to the complete decolonization of Africa… Both leaders renewed their faith in the cooperation between both nations on matters of mutual interest like desert encroachment… etc.”

    The president sighted me seated among reporters. He quickly asked: “Chidi, on which side are you? You are either with us or with your people…”. I read to mean that he wanted me to change seats. I was part of his official entourage to Katsina and also his personal guest, not a journalist on this occasion!….

  • Why Nigeria is not progressing – IBB

    Why Nigeria is not progressing – IBB

    Former military Head of State, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (rtd), popularly known as IBB, has opened up on why Nigeria is not progressing.

    IBB said one of the reasons Nigeria is not progressing was because Nigerians no longer believed in the future of the country.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports Babangida made this known on Friday in a televised exclusive interview monitored by this medium.

    Speaking on the state of the nation, Babangida said the nation is endowed with both human and natural resources, but identified bad leadership as a major reason for the socio-economic challenges facing the country.

    The former leader accused the Nigerian people of creating and at the same time, destroying their own country.

    Babangida stated that Nigeria’s next president should be in his 60s and that the person should be able to talk to Nigerians and be verse in economics.

    “If you get a good leadership that links with the people and tries to talk with the people; not talking on top of the people, then we would be okay.

    “I have started visualising a good Nigerian leader. That is, a person who travels across the country and has a friend virtually everywhere he travels to, and he knows at least one person that he can communicate with.

    “That is a person, who is very versed in economics and is also a good politician, who should be able to talk to Nigerians and so on.

    “I have seen one, or two or three of such persons already in his sixties. I believe so if we can get him.

    “I do believe in the future of Nigeria, but Nigerians don’t believe in the future of their country. They created and they destroyed,” he said.

    Speaking on corruption in the interview with Arise TV, Babangida said: “We are saints compared to those in power now”.

    The military leader said while he moved against a former military governor who embezzled N313,000, he said those who stole billions are currently walking freely.

    Asked if he agrees with those who said his government was very corrupt, Babangida said, “But what’s happening now is worse than when we were in power… we are saints when compared with that”.

    TNG reports IBB served as Nigeria’s Head of State between 1985 and 1993. Born in Niger State, he received military training in Nigeria, India, Great Britain, and the United States.

    He rose through the ranks and was known for his courage, having also played a major role in suppressing an attempted coup in 1976, when he walked into a rebel-held radio station unarmed.

    After Murtala Mohammed became the military head of state in 1975, Babangida joined his Supreme Military Council, and as military president after taking over power on August 27, 1985, he introduced economic policies such as the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP), that altered the course of the nation and liberalise the economy.

    At 80 on the 17th, Babangida is one of the leaders like Muhammadu Buhari who have dominated Nigeria’s political space since 1966.