TheNewsGuru

Tag: Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida

  • IBB’s health: No cause for alarm – Aide

    IBB’s health: No cause for alarm – Aide

    Former military President, retired Gen. Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (IBB) has travelled to Germany for medical check-up.

    Alhaji Mahmud Abdullahi, media aide and close family confidant disclosed this in Minna.

    According to Abdullahi, he said; “I did not discuss with Oga before he left Nigeria and where he had travelled to and why.
    “I know he is due for a medical check-up because recently he has not gone for it.

    “Therefore I believe he travelled to Germany on Saturday for the medical check-up.”

    He said that he cannot give more details about the trip since he did not discuss it with his boss before he travelled out of the country.

    The media aide assured the public that there was no cause for alarm as the former leader had only travelled for a routine medical check-up.

  • Ex-spokesman to IBB, Duro Onabule is dead

    Ex-spokesman to IBB, Duro Onabule is dead

    Ex-military president, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (IBB)’s erstwhile Chief Press Secretary, Duro Onabule, has reportedly died on Tuesday at age 83.

    At the time of this report, the cause of his death was yet to be ascertained.

    Newsmen reports that a close family source confirmed the death, as the source disclosed that he was hale and hearty some days back.

    He was Popularly called  Double Chief, by friends and associates because of his position in the Babangida administration and possession of a chieftaincy title in his community, Onabule was the National Editor of National Concord from 1984 to 1985 before becoming Chief Press Secretary to Babangida.

    He was a presidential spokesman for most of the Babangida administration when the government punished newspaper and magazine publishers with temporary prescriptions to make them conform to the code of conduct set up by the administration.

    His scant profile on the web indicated that Onabule was born on September 27, 1939 in Ijebu-Ode, Ogun state.

    He graduated from CMS Grammar School and School of Journalism, London. His first media work was as a Reporter for the Daily Express in 1961.  Three years later, he joined the staff of Daily Sketch. He spent some time with Daily Sketch before going back to his previous employer, Daily Express. In 1969, he served as the London correspondent of the Express. In the mid-1970s, he worked for the Daily Times, rising to become a deputy editor of Headlines magazine. When the late MKO Abiola started Concord Press, Onabule was appointed features editor. In 1984, he became the editor of Concord newspaper.

    Till he died, he remained active in writing and making profound comments on national issues. He was a columnist in The Sun Newspapers.

  • IBB speaks on annulment of June 12 election, ‘Evil genius’, ‘Maradona’ nicknames

    IBB speaks on annulment of June 12 election, ‘Evil genius’, ‘Maradona’ nicknames

    Former Military President Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (IBB) has explained why his junta annulled the June 12, 1993 presidential election.

    TheNewsGuru.com, TNG reports that the election was adjuged by most Nigerians as the freest and fairest in the nation’s democratic experience.

    It was contested between Chief Moshood Abiola of the defunct Social Democratic Party (SDP) and Bashir Tofa of the defunct National Republican Convention (NRC).

    Babangida, while speaking on a monitored Arise TV interview on Friday explained if he had not annulled the election, a violent coup d’etat would have happened.

    He said: “If it materialised, there would’ve been a coup d’etat — which could have been violent. That’s all I can confirm.

    “It didn’t happen thanks to the engineering and the ‘maradonic’ way we handled you guys in the society. But that could’ve given room for more instability in the country.”

    Babangida said there was pressure on his junta within and outside the military to nullify the election for that reason.

    “Both. The military can do it because they have the weapons to do it, and others (civil society groups) can use agitation,” he added.

    Meanwhile, the former Military President Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (IBB) also explained how he was nicknamed “evil genius” and “Maradona”.

    He explained the nicknames were manufactured by the media because of his “deft political moves”.

    Babaginda said: “That’s the very good thing about the Nigerian media and Nigerian people, you have to anticipate them.

    “If you anticipate them then you live well with them. They call me ‘evil genius’, I marvel at that. The contradiction — you can’t be evil and then a genius”

    “The definition of Maradona I got from the media is because of deft political moves. That’s the way the media described it.”