Agenda for Ibrahim Babangida
On Sunday, August 17, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (rtd), Nigeria’s fifth military head of state, will be 73 years old. He is now an ordinary citizen – well, almost. When I visited his hilltop mansion in Minna in March, there were just about half a dozen security personnel with an improvised checkpoint at the entrance. […]
On Sunday, August 17, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (rtd), Nigeria’s fifth military head of state, will be 73 years old. He is now an ordinary citizen – well, almost. When I visited his hilltop mansion in Minna in March, there were just about half a dozen security personnel with an improvised checkpoint at the entrance. Upon entry and on our way to the small reception room on the right, we passed a young royal, or so it seemed, in a well-made turban sweating profusely — because, unbelievably, and in a sign of the tawdry times — there was no air conditioning and the place was terribly hot. Not trusting his radiculopathetic legs, Babangida joined us with the aid of a walking stick.
In 2011, Babangida had spoken about some of his regrets in life for which Chief Olusegun Obasanjo ridiculed and called him a fool. Babangida must have felt a great deal of betrayal for him to have had such a hateful spat in public with President Olusegun Obasanjo. It was unlike him really, because Babangida had repeatedly said he wouldn’t join issues with his junior officers in the public; if he wouldn’t do it with them, why would he break the rule against his seniors? After that unfortunate spat with Obasanjo, my contempt for Babangida gave way to pity because I began to imagine the terrible moral burden weighing on his tired shoulders.
I suppose that Babangida’s far bigger regrettable action was his self-serving and crashed political transition programme. It is on record that he banned, unbanned and re-banned politicians. In the end, he decreed two political parties, the National Republican Convention (NRC, his favourite) and the Social Democratic Party (SDP); built offices for them; and populated them with politicians in what was dubbed a guided transition to civilian rule. It is not known at what point Babangida determined to dribble the entire country but much as he outwardly demonstrated commitment to relinquish power to civilians, deep inside one corner of his mind, he was bent on staying put. In the end, Babangida’s inability to hand over power to his friend and winner of the 1993 presidential election, Chief Moshood Abiola, increased the human and financial costs of his complex, mindless transition programme.
Since the demise of Maryam (may Allah bestow mercy on her soul), Babangida has rather been lonely. Reports say she was killed by cancer, which is why Babangida should pay more attention to his worldly life and begin to plot for a blissful hereafter. For Babangida, who made fabulous wealth out of his military career and being head of state (he isn’t a business man like his friend MKO Abiola, is he?), it is time to spend money wisely. I recommend that Babangida should join hands with Turai Yar’adua and Dr Olusegun Mimiko, the Ondo State governor, to establish a world class cancer diagnosis and treatment centre for the benefit of Nigerians, especially those not privileged to have plenty money to travel abroad for medical attention like his late wife.
Warren Buffet, Bill Gates, Ted Turner etc, who got their money the hard way, are sharing it with humanity. They have engaged in unprecedented humanitarian spending and philanthropy that will shame Nigerian money bags. Bill Gates has made several journeys to Africa and Nigeria in particular to launch a robust effort to eradicate polio among our children – and he is not a Nigerian; why, he is not even a black man! It is time for Babangida to spend his stupendous wealth in the way of our people. Turai Yar’adua is building a cancer centre on the Umaru Yar’adua Expressway, along the road to the airport, which has stalled owing to financial commitments not redeemed by donors. Now is the time for Babangida to step in not only with his generous smile but also hard cash to complete the facility and assist the country’s cancer victims. Babangida must be remembered for something!
Babangida should borrow a leaf from these great American super rich. He should lead the way for the eradication and rehabilitation of beggars all over northern Nigeria. He should set up a facility where beggars could settle down and be fully educated on the need to stop the habit and start being useful to themselves and the society. Babangida should complement President Jonathan’s effort by building schools for this class of Nigerians. Like the abolitionists of slave trade, he could declare that whichever beggar reaches Minna will be free from begging and will be adopted by him.
It is time for Babangida to give effect to the quotation at the top of this article. Many of these beggars are hungry, poor and hopeless; Babangida must lead the way in the eradication of begging in this part of the country. The culture of begging has given Muslims and Northern Nigeria such an ugly image and now is the time to eliminate it.