THE IBB ANTIDOTE

Akinseye Agunloko  

The phenomenon “Babaginda” is quietly unraveling before our eyes and hearts again attempting this time not a military coup but a coup for the minds and hearts of Nigeria. Babaginda and his spin masters have begun to “re-invent” the general and begun to dip their pens in ink to smolder history from the minds of Nigerians or re-write the Babaginda years illuminated under the light of the greatest of pretensions. One must marvel at the former dictator’s speech on his 65^th birthday and his charlatan philosophy and rational, Babanginda also seems unsure of which hide to show Nigerians as one minute the general is filled with bravado and then the next he recoils under the grass to seem harmless. He pontificates about no one having the authority to declare righteous or unrighteous a government and its era and in the same breath tacitly alludes to the present administration as “unrighteous”. He cries about the foolishness in re-opening “old forgotten” wounds but still revisits the issue to declare his “rightness” at killing Vasta. The general’s chameleonic soul and tactics continues to pervade all he does as only one prize matters – Aso Rock , and as the Nigerian society schooled in the ideology of Babangindism would testify the means to the end does not matter the end is all that matters. The chameleon would blend to get to the throne! 

The volatile Nigerian political scene continues to defy all forms of reason as one cannot adequately gauge what is within the realm of possibility and impossibility, in Nigerian politics it’s a fading line between the possible and the impossible. To have conceived in 1999 that IBB would be a factor in Nigerian politics would have been malodorous, even in 2003 such horizons were not envisaged, but now in 2006 it seems the greatest question on the political exam sheet is IBB. One is forced to ask what changed? What has assailed our collective mentality to entertain being ruled by the “evil genius” again? Can we attribute this new accommodation to our collective amnesia of our past or a reflection of our present frustrations with the present government and political class? Does the IBB question boil down to the double sword of ethnicity, to the North-South jostle for control of the center or are we actually facing the fact that truly the general only “stepped-aside” as the remote control of power still lays in his hands and those of his cronies? Were the years between the pliant Shonekan, the sadistic Abacha, the flustered Abubakar and the erratic Obasanjo mere interregnum before the return of the general again? The questions are certainly multifaceted and their answers are certain to be steeped in more complexity. 

The civil society in Nigeria had started to gear up to make sure the general does not return, the bravado pouring from them is quite traditional, but as sadly pointed out their “noise” does not translates to any political muscle. As vociferous as the civil society in Nigeria is, it certainly falls short at affecting policies and votes.  An entertained reason could be that civil society has not been able to transmute into a political vehicle of change in a democratic milieu as it still remains cast in its mould of opposition to despotic governments rather than affecting issues and policies in democratic times. As one cannot adequately take light the role and sacrifices of civil society in the march towards democracy, one must gravely acknowledge that civil societies alone would be inadequate to stop the general, the chameleon is more suited (albeit with endless resources) to this terrain than our noble brothers.  

What solution then lies in the horizon? When the president Obasanjo embarked on the “emperor’s naked dance” to a third term using every subterfuge reminiscent of the evil genius, many screamed and begged profusely that the president should come out and declare the mob insane. The president did not budge as he wanted an elongation, being deluded in the grandeur of his “messianic” calling and his right to be Nigeria’s only savior, the president rightly skimmed more ideas from the throes of endless sycophants we as a nation are afflicted with to achieve his aim. At that time the elongation seemed inevitable and the fading line between the impossible and possible began to show it tenuous nature once again, many regarded it a fait accompli and with the way the light-headed Mantu carried on it seemed a done deal. The president and his cast of sycophants were shocked to oblivion at the defeat of the so called “Mantu Constitution” in the senate; at that point a ray of light shone on the polity and the president humbly came off his high horse. Though he (President) seems to wave the harm of this episode on his reign in power, I predict with all certainty that Obasanjo’s achievements would always be weighed along with his attempt to perpetuate himself in power, like IBB, he shall attempt to re-write history.  

The defeat of Obasanjo’s third time, no matter who claims the prize is beyond such group(s) of persons. It has been one of the first cases since 1999 where the democratic spirit came to bear in Nigeria, where everyone who had a role played it out and for most cases lots of people were forced by fate to act the way they did. The major lesson from the third term defeat is that whenever issues are resolved democratically as it was in this case, the system is strengthened and people believe more in democracy and its spirit. If the charade had been aborted by Obasanjo coming out to say he did not want a third term the possibility of tenure elongation would still hang over the horizon for other successive leaders, it there was a “political compromise” the possibility of tenure elongation would still hang over us, but with a democratic finality as was in this case no future leader would ever attempt such folly. 

In conclusion, IBB should be allowed to contest the elections as this is an incontrovertible right of any Nigerian, he must be allowed to present his own side of his story as free speech is to democracy as air is to life. He must be allowed to spend from his eternal chest (acquired justly or unjustly) to contest and he must be accorded due respect as a former leader despite his tyrannical reign and its effect on our nation. It is our sacred duty to vote and ensure that the votes we cast are shrouded in integrity, it is our duty to ensure that money does not silence or rig any vote cast. It is our duty to find amongst ourselves men of integrity as veritable alternatives to the “IBBs” and his horde of syncophants and it is the duty of men of integrity to stand up and lay up all to challenge IBB. The IBB question portends for us one of the greatest questions in our political journey, one that can only be resolved by his defeat at the polls and not on the pages of newspapers. IBB’s defeat at the polls would represent our rejection of the “military hold” of which IBB embodies, it would be a hard blow to corruption of which he helped to engender and it would re-commit us to truth as he embodies (and I say this with all fairness) the “Nigerian lie”. IBB must contest and we MUST defeat him- this is the antidote!