IBB: A realist at 73: Salute To The Military President

However, the political developments in Nigeria and the upheavals witnessed by Nigerian society in search of genuine political evolution cannot be complete without the mention of military men and, perhaps, women. The military also are part of the larger family of all ethnic nationality in a united Nigeria despite challenges of separatist in the early […]

However, the political developments in Nigeria and the upheavals witnessed by Nigerian society in search of genuine political evolution cannot be complete without the mention of military men and, perhaps, women. The military also are part of the larger family of all ethnic nationality in a united Nigeria despite challenges of separatist in the early journey to nationhood and the current security challenges by insurgents in the North-East.
Most military class that galvanized Nigeria from disintegrating drums of civil war are willing to dry clean their khaki and advance to the battlefield to defend the  territorial integrity of Nigeria.
One of those military men and women with this belief of keeping a united Nigeria, is the  only military President, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida that turns 73 year old today. Many will be wondering about the the nomenclature ‘Military President’ in the so-called military junta regime that took power by bullets and armoured car.
Gen. Babangida, at that time, noticed the clamour for democracy especially with the wind of change in many Francophone countries in the West African region to insert the name ‘Military President’ to democratized the military in politics  in Nigeria. Gen. Babangida, from my interactions with him, closely in the last 19 years through late Adamu Yusuf, is a REALIST and would easily embrace a school of thought of environmental determinism, that says: “ environment determines, where man lives…”. Indeed, the smiling  IBB AT 73 remains the only realist in Nigeria that is versatile in military professionalism, politics and political development, and social reorientation of Nigerian society. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
 By Zubair Abdurrauf Idris, an Abuja based Journalist.