IBB: A Journey in Service Or Sabotage?

By Erasmus Ikhide

Three days ago Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida (IBB) was a pathetic sight to behold at the spectacle of his book launch titled: “A Journey In Service”.

Five major already known puzzles were validated in the book namely; the killing of Dele Giwa, the annulment of the June 12 presidential election, the execution of General Mamman Vatsa his best friend, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) membership, and the Gideon Orkar coup d’état.

The Evil Genius, as IBB is fondly called by his admirers and traducers alike, has yet to heal himself from the adroit, treacherous maneuvering of not only twisting the facts from their foundation but also standing the truth brazenly on its head. The deceitful title of the book, “A Journey In Service,” tells it all.

As we all know, a journey in service implies a path of selflessness, compassion, and contribution to the greater good. It’s a journey where one’s actions, decisions, and intentions are guided by a desire to make a positive impact, uplift others, and leave the world a better place.

On the other hand, a journey in sabotage suggests a path of harm, chaos, anomie and devastation. It’s a journey where one’s actions, decisions, and intentions are guided by a desire for power, control, or personal gain, without regard for the well-being of others or the world at large.

The choice between these two journeys is a fundamental one, and it’s a choice that IBB wrongly made some three-decades plus ago that resulted in reprehensible mayhem: wanton destruction, irreversible human tragedy, and evil proclivity that resonates with his name, “Evil Genius.” Instead of choosing to serve, to uplift, and to make a positive difference in Nigeria and on the global democratic space — which he now regrets — he chose to deaden his soul for ephemerality, vanity, manipulation, fraud, unremitting bloodletting and destruction on a large scale.

IBB’s tragic reign of horror, which lasted from 1985 to 1993, was indeed marked by several controversial and tragic events that had far-reaching consequences for Nigeria. Human rights abuses is one of it.

There were widespread reports of human rights violations, including detention without trial, torture, and extrajudicial killings. Ditto the cancellation of the June 12 presidential election won by Moshood Abiola that sparked widespread protests and unrest, leading to uncountable deaths and destruction across the country.

Added to that was his economic sabotage. The implementation of the Structural Adjustment Program (SAP) led to increased poverty, unemployment, and economic hardship for many Nigerians. Coupled with that is the suppression of opposition and vocal voices, including the detention and harassment of politicians, activists, and journalists.

Choosing to sabotage the democratic process he initiated by himself with a hidden motive to harm and kill civilians, silence and kill dissenting voices, and prioritize his own personal interests and his ethnic northern conclave — above all else — in IBB’s reckoning is “A Journey In Service” is truly revolting.

In the book, he described the assassination of renowned journalist Dele Giwa as “wicked and cruel.”. Giwa was killed by a parcel bomb at his Lagos residence on October 19, 1986.

Concealing further, Babangida questioned the investigation’s findings, wondering why a government-planned crime would seemingly point directly at the suspect.

It is common knowledge that the investigation into Giwa’s death was indeed marred by politics and interferences from high places, according to retired police chief Chris Omeben, who led the investigation.

Omeben described the case as the most frustrating of his career, with the interference hindering the ability to bring the perpetrators to justice.

Giwa’s death shook Nigeria, and the case remains a significant unsolved mystery in the country’s history to date.

For IBB, silencing a gadfly journalist known for his fearless reporting and criticism of his corrupt and inhuman government, led to his assassination, in the reckoning of the global community.

It was even more traumatizing on the occasion of the book launch in Abuja where the oppressors gathered, showing off obscene wealth in misanthropic grandeur.

IBB who has escaped karma — evil done to man by man, in the words of the iconic Dele Giwa — was seen carried away, once again, by the scent of lucre, the languor of luxury, the seduction of power and the Mephistophelean opportunism of the upper class, while the nation perish.

It is truly repulsive seeing that the demon of our history, the precursor of human slaughtering for self-preservation in power, a devil incarnate, and an embodiment of evil, sited pretty, harvesting billions of naira from his co-travellers for insulting the memory of those he killed during his reign of terror without any sincere expression of remorse or any plan to make atonement or penance for his sins against God and man.

Ultimately, IBB’s dangerous, draconian and dehumanizing political ‘journey in sabotage’ he choose for his precarious self — the northern oligarchs and the vanquished nation has badly shapened not only the Nigerian political space and its docile citizens — it has become a reference point of truncated aspirations and aborted chances.

Ikhide contributed this piece via:[email protected]

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