“No doubt, the book, A Journey In Service, is an extensive work spanning almost the entire lifetime of IBB, giving much detail about his military career, his politics and his family life.”
So much have been said, written and analysed, but virtually everything heading in the same direction that were it possible to reverse the tide of time, probably this project would not have come to pass but alas, Nigeria’s former military president, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (IBB), after three decades and two years, bowed to his inner pressure and came out with his memoir, titled A Journey In Service.
Just like what IBB himself said about the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo as the issue in Nigerian politics, he, Babangida and his A Journey In Service have taken over the country’s political landscape since that Thursday when his memoir was launched in Abuja and it may remain so for a long time to come. And this is coming 32 years after he vacated office as military president.
A Journey In Service, a book long in coming
To have waited that long before writing the book or putting it in the public domain demonstrates one important point: the time space is wide enough to remove any emotional attachment or unnecessary sensation in the presentation of facts as we see in the book.
Leaving office as president in such a volatile manner and the upheaval that followed his exit, certainly nothing can be done in the immediate post-exit from power that would not have been tainted with colourations.
But be that as it may, if he had planned to write the book, A Journey In Service, IBB should have started storing his materials shortly after leaving office because it was clearly evident in his own admission of account that he would have forgotten some vital information and sequence of events that spanned almost two decades of his involvement in the political administration of the country.
Still, as in his public life, Babangida has again defied the age-long axiom that time heals all wounds. The wounds created some 32 year ago or thereabouts, in this instance have refused to heal and rather, it’s becoming more freshly as new day begins.
Babangida’s early life
The early life of IBB was typical of how many in his generation started life before providence thrust them into leadership positions. Born in the then rural town of Minna, Niger State, spending his childhood years between Islamic school and western education classes put him in a vantage position for the challenges ahead of him in his military career.
Losing his father at age 14 and having to live with a foster family until he came of age was really challenging for him, but as former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon, noted in the foreword to A Journey In Service, these early life challenges formed part of what prepared IBB adequately for leadership duties that lied ahead of his path in life.
Insights into key national issues
A Journey In Service, which offers insights into key moments in the country’s history, also addresses other national controversies, including the 1976 coup attempt that led to the assassination of then Head of State, General Murtala Mohammed, and the 1986 letter bomb that killed investigative journalist Dele Giwa. Reflecting on his decision to annul the June 12, 1993 election, retired General Babangida admitted that, if given another chance, he would have handled the situation quite differently.
Certainly, IBB would have wished to rewind time and undo what he did or do what he failed to do then, but he kept us guessing on what he would do differently.
IBB, June 12 and Abacha
In A Journey In Service, IBB devoted a large number of pages to his relationship with the late General Sani Abacha who he claimed plotted to violently overthrow his administration as well as his opposition to the outcome of June 12 election and return to civil rule. But he left Abacha in the military when he “stepped aside” on August 27, 1993, an action many people felt was either taken out of cowardice or a deliberate plan for Abacha to succeed him, and thus elongate military rule.
Speaking on handling Abacha and the fallout of June 12 election, IBB, on pages 282 and 293 of A Journey In Service, wrote: “Other fundamental questions have arisen in my handling of General Abacha and the June 12 election. If, as I said earlier, Abacha was a clog in the wheel of the transition to civil rule process and had plotted to remove me as president violently, why didn’t we retire him to forestall the problems that later emerged?
“Was there a pact between Abacha and me that he would succeed me? Was I afraid of him, fearful for my life? Why didn’t we ‘neutralise’ the other known opposition forces to the transition process?
“Why didn’t we take prompt action against the ABN for interfering with the transition process, in violation of Decree 19, which made it a criminal offence to hinder the transition?
“The answers to some of these questions are implicit in earlier sections of this chapter.
“No, there was no pact between Abacha and me.
“Yes, there were moments when my safety and the safety of all those dear to me were of concern. But the situation was so unstable that any wrong move on my part could have resulted in bloodletting.
“As I stated above, the military was so factionalised that any move against General Abacha at that time would have, to put it mildly, been problematic. So, I kept hoping (again, naively, it seems now, in retrospect) that Abacha would fall in line and back the transition process.
“As humans, we have instincts. But we also have the innate ability to override them. In my judgement of Abacha, I allowed my instincts, and painfully so, to take a backseat.”
Early days in retirement
Recalling his early days in retirement, IBB said the Abacha ascendancy understandably imposed its censorship and limitations on his retirement freedoms.
According to him: “It was a precarious time for me, but my faith in our country’s future and our people’s resilience helped me cope with the stress of the period. I took solace in what I knew about both Nigeria and General Abacha.
“I was unsure whether Abacha had the political and general wisdom to navigate Nigeria’s treacherous landscape. I was also not sure that Nigerians could stomach Abacha’s shortcomings. It was best to wait and see while keeping my peace. The rest is now history.”
The book and old age factor
Obviously, old age with its attendant problems of brain fatigue and dementia probably played a significant role in putting together materials for this book, especially in the area of his last few months in power. IBB, in his sharp and brilliant mind, was not expected to leave out certain materials that were germane to how he handled the affairs of the country at that critical time, 1992-1993 in his ever changing transition programme, in this book.
Though, he was not expected to go all out with military force during his crises ending as military president in 1993 when he was confronted with the Abacha’s plot to unseat him, one wonders what made it difficult for him to handle Abacha the way he handled his childhood friend, Mamman Vatsa who was executed along others for plotting a coup.
Babangida could have furnished his readers with more information regarding the behind-the-scene events that arm-twisted him to scuttle the democratic process which had taken him more than five years to put in place and, perhaps, explained to Nigerians what informed a letter written to him by the late MKO, titled LET’S BE FRIENDS AGAIN, after they had both played into Abacha’s hands. The letter was already in the public domain as it was published by The Tempo magazine in those days. The events that culminated into Abiola writing the letter was very critical to his handling of the situation thereafter.
Death of Dele Giwa, another sore point in IBB’s career
Another volute issue treated extensively in the book is the killing of Dele Giwa, the Editor-in-Chief of the Newswatch magazine. Coming just in the early years of the new military regime, Babangida saw it as a double blow to him, being a friend to the journalist and a subtle way to get at his administration and begin to put it in bad light before the citizens and the global public. He said he wanted to get to the root of the crime but…
“The legal drama and political grandstanding combined to muddle the work of the police and intelligence investigators towards getting a factual report on this cruel and criminal act. What the campaigners failed to realise was that, even under a military regime, crimes will be committed by persons and agencies that may not be directly related to either the military establishment or the…
“The best way to cover up for heinous crimes would be to craft them in a manner that includes the government among the suspects so that what should ordinarily be a criminal investigation is drowned by political actions and populist sentiments.
“Despite this initial unfortunate distraction, I chose to keep an open mind and encourage the police and other investigative agencies to do their best to unravel the murder, given the enormity of the public interest in the matter.
“…The hysteria of the media did not help the investigation of the Giwa murder. As is typical of the Nigerian media, the direction was marked by an adversarial attitude towards government, which has remained the hallmark of the Nigerian media from its colonial heydays. It was an attitude of ‘we versus the government’ that has remained today. It is a situation in which the government is adjudged guilty, even before the evidence in a case is adduced.”
Unfortunately, that murder remains unraveled till date, about 39 years after.
IBB, the lover boy
IBB can be said to be one of the few lucky people who did not learn their lesson in the hard way when it comes to family settings. Though, admitting to being a Tomboy like any other young man with power, cash and necessary contacts, he placed having a stable family on the front burner and promptly settled down with the love of his life.
He said: “My relationship with Maryam – born Maria in Asaba in modern-day Delta State on November 1, 1948 – preceded the Nigerian Civil War and, like much else in my life’s journey, was connected to relationships nurtured from my youth in Bida.
“As I said earlier, Garba Duba came from Kontagora and had been at secondary school with me in Bida, and we had become terrific friends there… I was close to Duba and first met Maria while we were both still at the Provincial Secondary School in Bida. Duba’s aunt, his father’s sister, Asabe, was Maryam’s mother, and it was in Garba’s house that I first met Maria Okogwu (as she then was).
As young officers, we shared digs in the unmarried officer’s quarters by Kanta Road in Kaduna…Her ebony beauty set off enchanting eyes, and her dazzling smile showed off a lovely set of teeth; when she smiled – and she often smiled – her face lit up, and her eyes danced.“ That is IBB describing his wife and which confirms he knew from the moment he set his eyes on her that he has met the woman with whom he would share his life journey.
No doubt, the book, A Journey In Service, is an extensive work spanning almost the entire lifetime of IBB, giving much detail about his military career, his politics and his family life.
•Adele, a former Deputy Editor with the Nigerian Tribune, is based in Minnesota, Mn, USA.
