By Abuchi Obiora
On August 17th 2025, a senior Nigerian citizen and former Head of State of Nigeria, General Ibrahim Babangida, who is also the man to whom credit is given having built most of the existing infrastructure that are spread across the country attained the special and landmark age of eighty four years.
Today, the Kaleidoscope Achieves joins millions of Nigerians and other people around the world to thank God for the life of a daring and courageous man whose legacies on infrastructural development of Nigeria will for a longtime challenge the incompetence and ineptitude of subsequent Nigerian leaders who have decided not only to sleep-walk in their jobs but also destroy the little that is left in Nigeria of inter-ethnic cohesion and the upholding of religious plurality as enunciated in the Constitution of the Federal Republic.
Having made these observations about our former head of state, it is important to learn something from the man’s life since at eighty four years of age, the man is obviously closer to where everybody is going to after their lives on earth than where he is coming from.
The retired general’s attainment of this landmark age on August 17th 2025 was preceded by certain events as may have been planned by his friends, family, benefactors and admirers, so, with pump and pageantry characteristics of the Nigerian political class, the military elites (retired and serving), the industry moguls, business men of good and bad means, their friends and accomplices in the ruination of the Nigerian economy, their colleagues in the banking sector and the civil service all of who walk akimbo the political, economic and financial scape of Nigeria with selfish, greedy, possessive oppressive, acquisitive, ruthless, audacious and impunity, a high profile launch of a book was done in Abuja on the 20th day of February, 2025.
The book that was launched which is titled “A Journey In Service” is the autobiography of Nigeria’s former military dictator, a very courageous bold, versatile and resilient man of great financial means of no visible productive source, though suspected to have been acquired during the period of the ruthless years of power-plays spanning several decades in Nigeria before he ended his career in public service after ‘stepping aside’ as a military President in the only diarchal arrangement that Nigeria has ever had.
IBB, as he is fondly called by people close to him (which acronym has been adopted by the Nigerian press to refer to the henchman of the Nigerian military dictatorship era) is the only man in the history of Nigeria to have tried out a diarchal governance system in the country before he was out-smarted by close friends and associates and tricked to ‘step aside’ by forces loyal to another Nigerian military dictator, General Sani Abacha, his friend and ally.
The launch of the autobiographical work of the retired General raised enough questions to supply the myriad of the long sought answers as to the reasons why Nigeria and Nigerians are presently impoverished. This much can be seen in the presence of who-is-who in the political history of Nigeria during the launch, those who planned that jamboree which was held in Abuja.
Without their knowledge and ironically too, the unadvertised but obvious aim of that jamboree was to mock Nigerians whose lives have never been the same since the henchman grabbed Nigeria, toyed with it and tossed it on to politicians who till date are still struggling without results, to fix the country already destroyed beyond their capacity to fix by one asphyxiating economic policy of the General called Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP).
The launch of the book “A Journey In Service” gave people like us, the “busy bodies” whose patriotic ideas and solemn voices are respectively known and heard but never respected another opportunity to say what is right or wrong in the administration of the country. In spite of the government’s nonchalant attitude to us, we must continue to say what is wrong in Nigeria and with Nigerians even if our leaders, I mean leaders who manage the affairs of the country on the political front from where results catch up and trickle down to the other layers of the society, do nothing about what we say.
Did I hear that a huge sum of money was realized during the launching of that book to erect a monument including a library that may be used as an avenue to further distort the history of Nigeria in the manner already set out by the congregators during the event?
It is unfortunate that the occasion of the launch of that book gave undue and undeserved accolade to a man whose tenor in office as the Head of State of Nigeria laid the foundation for the annihilation of the lives and fortunes of millions of Nigerians, I mean millions of Nigerians who have already died, are dying and will still die as a result of hunger/depravation, and disease like malaria, etc because they couldn’t and will not be able to take care of themselves as a result of the man’s SAP economic policy which positioned Nigeria on an unending journey to the abyss of economic woes.
It is surprising that many people out there were talking about infrastructural development engineered by the man and not the fact that many lives were lost in Nigeria at the time, is still being lost, and will continue to be lost for a long time to come as a result of the man’s SAP economic policy. This is an indictment on our collective value system wherefore we choose infrastructural developments above the lives of Nigerians.
For example, I flew many times on Air France Charles d’ Gaulle Airport in Paris from Enugu or Port Harcourt with return ticket at the rate of N548 and from the same originating points on Lufthansa German Airline and back to either of those originating points to Frankfort main in Germany with touchdowns in Brussels, Belgium and destinations at Kowloon, Hong Kong and Kai Tak Airport in Taiwan, all with N1,760, before the Naira was dangerously and consecutively devalued to impoverish most of us in Nigeria.
Was it a surprise that a huge sum of money (in excess of N17b) was realized during the launch of the General’s autobiography? I am definitely not surprised! All the donors during the launch represented a simple and exact rundown of who-is-who in the dubious asphyxiation of the Nigerian economy through the abuse of commodities import license, allocation of oil wells and the mopping up, through what I regard as fiduciary malpractices in the banking sector, of the indirect gains in foreign exchange from the implementation of the Structural Adjustments Programme. It is not surprising too that the beneficiaries of this largesse in the banking sector donated heavily to the general’s library funds.
The launch of that book, “A Journey In Service” signaled for people like us a moment of analyses of Nigeria’s turbulent and definitive years as well as a period of sober reflection for everyone in order to learn from our past mistakes and keep the records straight as well as strengthen out our national history.
Apart from the deliberate aim of the organizers of that jamboree in Abuja to distort history as it generally affects our combined destinies as Nigerians, that launch most probably for the General and the organizers of that jamboree was a time to congratulate themselves for the successes they made out of oppressing and suppressing the Nigerian masses, re-assess their relevance in the present scheme of things and plan how to take further advantage of the docility of Nigerians as they also renew their strategies for their political and economic conquest of Nigeria and Nigerians.
There is no doubt that IBB has been adjudged by people close to him (most of whom benefitted from his long control of power in Nigeria) as a statesman but the truth is that history is not written in the way they made us believe in that jamboree because history is the comparative understanding of events or chains of events over a long period of time as those events or chains of events are viewed and analyzed by different people from different time perspectives in an effort to determine and arrive at a popular conclusion by the verdict of the witnesses in the making of the events being recorded.
It is from this understanding, the true understanding of what history actually is, that I predict that IBB may not after all make the good book of Nigerian history as a statesman when it is finally written as those people who attended that jamboree in Abuja wanted us to believe.
By the way, it is a fallacy that dictators who made their way to power through the barrels of guns can be called ‘statesmen’. They are not. Who is a statesman?. The Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, Special Price Edition, defines the word ‘Statesman’ as “A person who plays an important part in the management of state affairs ESPECIALLY ONE WHO IS SKILLED AND EXPERIENCED, A WISE POLITICAL LEADER ETC.”(emphasis is mine!)
Anybody may find out for themselves the true meaning of the word ‘Statesman’ yet in sincerity, I am in no doubt that the effects of the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) on Nigeria and Nigerians plus the annulment of the June 12 election result won by Chief M. K. O. Abiola do not qualify the General as one who is “SKILLED AND EXPERIENCED, A WISE POLITICAL LEADER…”
After studying and analyzing the general’s weird political gamble which he dubbed ‘political engineering’, something he called “a little to the left and a little to the right”, (a strange and unknown political theory which summarily, by his order, produced two political parties without public consent or popular input, I found out that it was clear that the man was toying with Nigeria and the destinies of Nigerians. Offices were built across all the local government areas for the political parties (SDP, Social Democratic Party of Nigeria and NRC, National Republican Convention). The Generals lack of knowledge on political administration was shown in his lack of skill and experience to administer a country he took by force with the barrels of guns. My opinion on this at that time was published in the Reflection Column of The Guardian on Sunday with the title “Swan Song Of Unity”.
It is also from this true meaning of what history is that I derive the intellectual authority to look deeper into the fundamental flaws in the style of the General to reach the topmost height of his career. This style is also ironically exhibited by many Nigerians in their rise to positions of authority. I will prefer to call this style the ‘Babangida in all of us’.
Noam Chromsky says and I concur that “the role of intellectuals is to challenge authority, not to serve it” because while authority may be comfortable with the status quo, (which may not be the ideal situation that is the primary objective of every true intellectual to pursue and attain), intellectuals whose major jobs are to study, research and improve on the status quo and attain the ideal, perfect situation will be at great odds in accepting and serving the interests of a deficient established authority, nay status quo.
As already known by many people, General Ibrahim Babangida’s military career began in 1962 when he joined the Nigerian army and attended the Nigerian Military Training College in Kaduna. He was commissioned as Second Lieutenant in 1963, Lieutenant in 1966, Captain in 1968, Major in 1970 and Lieutenant Colonel in 1970.
Variously, he worked as the Commanding Officer 1st Reconnaissance Squadron (1964-1966), Commander, 44th Infantry Battalion and Instructor in the Nigerian Defence Academy after the Nigerian Civil War in which he played active roles in defence of the unity of Nigeria on the Federal Government side.
The General actively participated, or where he didn’t participate actively at least had prior knowledge of all the successful military coup d’états that ever happened in Nigeria. He quietly and meticulously worked his way through the ranks and eventually got very close to the ultimate political office in the land when he became the Chief of Army Staff in 1984 after he had actively participated in the 1983 coup by General Mohammadu Buhari, his colleague in coup plotting.
By the way, alongside the other young and ambitious northern Nigerian military officers most of whom are dead now because they participated in subsequent unsuccessful coups and succumbed to the military’s summary capital punishment of death for failed coup plotters, the General played a key, significant role in the coup that overthrew General Yakubu Gowon in 1975. As has been said here, he was also active in the bloodless coup in 1985 that led to the ouster of the man he had helped, General Buhari, to attain power, who trustingly, had made him the Chief of Army staff. Well, when friends and colleagues in the military plot coups against themselves and sometimes kill themselves, it is never seen and written as betrayals. I wonder why. But I think it is betrayal.
In any case, General Babangida justified the sacking of his associate and boss citing General Buhari’s failure to address the country’s economic problems. He promised to do better and rejuvenate the economy as he took up the leadership of the country as the Head of State and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces.
I might be wrong but I have quietly and most scrupulously taken a careful study of the career in the Nigerian Military of the General vis-à-vis what he eventually was able to do for the country as the Head of State and come to the conclusion that he was most probably not driven by patriotic, nationalistic and altruistic reasons but for reason to advance his career, and maybe the careers of his loyal friends in the military. This much was shown in his handling of the economy, the only reason he gave Nigerians for toppling the leadership of his associate, General Buhari.
With hindsight, it is very clear that young Nigerian military officers mostly those from the northern part of the country were experimenting with Nigeria, having their practical lessons of what they were taught in military schools about military coups with Nigeria as they enjoyed themselves living out their weird ambitions and driving the country on a roller-coaster suicide ride armed with their guns with impunity while Nigeria sunk deeper into the abyss of socio-political and economic underdevelopment.
In line with my analytical line of thought, let us learn something from the mistakes of the General which have impacted negatively on the country in spite of his numerous achievements in infrastructural development.
In order to do this, we will take a peep into the circumstances which are not expected to have been written in his autobiography (already programmed for public image cleansing of the man), that may have influenced his journey in service.
This becomes necessary because even from his book, it is recorded that the General participated in all the successful coups that were ever planned in Nigeria. So, one may ask, why did he participate in all the successful coups till he became the Head of State?. There can only be one answer to this question given that all the reasons he gave in his “Fellow Nigerians…” announcements that blasted the airwaves in between martial music (which was the usual trademark of the Nigerian ‘coupists’ of yester years) never held water because he never solved those problems just exactly in the manner the Late President Mohammadu Buhari who died in a London hospital in 2025 told Nigerians that he toppled the then existing government because hospitals in Nigeria had then become ‘mere consulting clinics’, yet, the man, Buhari chose to fly to London to take care of his health after failing to build equipped hospitals in a country he had the special privilege and opportunity to govern twice.
With due respect to these brilliant military officers (General Babangida inclusive) some of whom ended their careers as Head of State in Nigeria, I repeat that the major factor that drove them as they planned coups and counter coups was self and never patriotic, nationalist or altruistic reasons.
All of them, ambitious and desperate men gambled with their lives and built their careers using Nigeria as a hunting ground for their deadly games as they indulged themselves in unnecessary coups in the guise of saving Nigeria and Nigerians.
I can therefore argue and rightly too, that the young Babangida was equally driven by ambition to satisfy his desire to become a Head of State as he rose through different levels of power and not because he had anything to offer to Nigeria and Nigerians in terms of the knowledge to administer the economy. No wonder that after attaining the pinnacle of his ambition as a Head of State, he became a pawn in the chessboard of international politics wherefore by his approval, the economy of Nigeria was sacrificed on the altar of IMF structural adjustment loan, Paris Club of International Creditors, etc, in a manner John Perkins elaborately described in his book “Confessions Of An Economic Hitman”.
I can also say, and rightly too, that General Babangida, like most military dictators lacked the spirit of teamwork. As a matter of fact, dictators are not meant to teamwork. No wonder he ended the careers and lives of some of his fellow military officers including that of his childhood friend and Course Mate in the military school, General Maman Vatsa.
Ordinarily, nobody will care if anybody decides to launch a dozen books to tell the story of his life but one would care if anybody uses such an opportunity to distort national history as it affected and is still affecting all of us. The most annoying part of that jamboree in Abuja was that these men, both the topplers and the toppled in their selfish coups gathered in mockery of Nigerians as they popped champagne and donated billions of Naira for a library that most probably will be stocked with deceitful books that will further be used to disseminate distorted national history to suit their ill-motivated purposes.
As we get close to ending this discourse, let us learn something from the mistakes of the General so that we will individually be prepared to strengthen our country from its present position of weakness when given the opportunity to do so.
We have observed that military dictatorship do not encourage teamwork but rather adopt the winner-takes-it all attitude to political power-sharing. I find it uncomfortable to say that the present attitude of Nigerian politicians to political power-sharing in Nigeria was firmly instituted in the polity during the military dictatorships in Nigeria especially during the regime of General Babangida.
So the Babangida in all of us is that sometimes, we betray people who place their trust in us, using that betrayal to advance our careers. Not only do we betray them, we pull them down coveting their positions with the evil mindset of if it cannot be me, it cannot be anyone else.
Some people may wonder why the executive presidential governance system practiced in Nigeria today is quietly being devalued of its major populist, people-oriented characteristics, but not me. Presently Nigerians are not democratic having been influenced by the winner-takes-it-all attitude of the long military era in the country.
This is the unfortunate evil social legacy which the unfortunate era of General Babangida and his co-military adventurists bequeathed to Nigeria and Nigerians for which reason our democracy may not survive unless it is purged and cleansed of the rot from the root through what in history is always known to be social upheavals, something like a shock treatment to the collective national psyche to restore sanity and normalcy.
Paradoxically, conditions in Nigeria presently are far more debilitated than what they used to be when those young Nigerian military officers like General Babangida found their fingers in the triggers of their guns to seize power yet none of the new generation young military officers have found neither courage nor need to do the same now.
Some people may say that the reason for this seemingly good development is because the armed forces of the Federal Republic have evolved enough in civility not to think about staging a coup d’ etat but I think otherwise believing that the rot has just deepened, infecting the armed forces because circumstances and events going on underground between the politicians and serving military officers suggest that at long last, the politicians have discovered a bait to keep those people who are supposed to checkmate their errant activities, busy.
The suggestion points to the fact that the present generation of young military officers in the cadre that may stage coups may be too busy appropriating and misappropriating the billions of Naira earmarked annually in the national budget to fight terrorists, bandits and other forms of insurgency in Nigeria, to stage coups.
As if this arrangement was a secret ploy by Nigerian politicians to curtail the activities of the Nigerian military in checkmating their waywardness, even the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria does not have a provision inscribed in it which demands accountability for security and national defence expenditures.
It seems therefore that somehow, the corrupt Nigerian politicians have finally discovered a legalized way to tie the hands of military officers and in so doing checkmate the occurrence of coup d’états even if a coup was necessary as a corrective measure to cleanse the Augean Stable in Nigeria.
ABUCHI OBIORA
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