In Reminiscence Of The IBB Years As Nigeria Military President -By Gozie Irogboli

The level of insecurity in Nigeria of today is unbearably terrifying. Nigeria is rated as one the most unsafe places to live in the world of today. The country is now like a nation under siege being one of most terrorized entity in the world at present. Most countries are warning their nationals to be wary of visiting or doing business in Nigeria. Reports of massacre of unarmed citizens have become commonplace. IDP and refugee camps are springing up in every nook and cranny of the country. What began in the North-East as insurgency by the Bokoharam sect has suppurated and metastasized to every part of the country. ISWAP and ISIS are said to have teamed up with Bokoharam to unleash mayhem in the country.

Fulani Herdsmen are terrorizing our rural communities and armed bandits have made our highways death-traps. Sadly, the Nigerian Army rather than frontally battle the ragtag army of the rebels appeared helpless and hopeless but revel in harassing hapless citizens through ill-conceived recce operations in our streets.
So many unsavory things are happening in rapid succession that keeps one wondering if the nation would ever survive the deluge of problems confronting it. In particular, Nigeria’s current deplorable situation makes many take a retrospective peep into the past. And when one considers the present security situation and the apparent helplessness of the Nigerian armed forces to contain it, one will wonder if it is the same Nigerian Army famed for its exploits in international peace keeping operation in the past that has been overwhelmed by ragtag army of insurgents.

Specifically, the ugly events in the nation Nigeria today make me remember with nostalgia the regime of Gen. Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida (IBB). It was during the IBB years that Nigeria troops under the ECOMOG mission restored peace to the then war-torn countries of Liberia and Sierra Leone almost singlehanded. Nigeria troops distinguished themselves in peace-keeping operation in the then Yugoslavia and some other trouble spots in the world then. But now the reverse is the case. Our territorial integrity as a nation is threatened as terrorists have free rein and unrestricted access into the country. It is the Chadian troops that fight for us now. Terrorists and bandits are having field day while our security authorities grovel at their feet negotiating for the released of abducted citizens. This is the level our security system has degenerated to.

Today, the nation Nigeria is on the precipice; everybody is crying. The minorities are crying uncontrollably what with the winner-takes-all mentality of the current regime. The authorities of the current regime seem to personalize government business. It is their erroneous believe that the resources of the state are the property of the man at the helm of affairs and his supporters or those that voted for him only. In contrast, IBB during his time saw the whole country as his constituency; his programs and projects were designed for the benefits of all. Under IBB, the ethnic minorities, including women and the vulnerable felt the impact of governance. For instance, before IBB came to power, the previous regimes marginalized the oil communities. After the Civil War, Gen. Yakubu Gowon promulgated decree 13 of 1970 and placed the control of the oil revenue in Federal Government’s hand and altered the sharing formula for oil revenue.

Murtala Mohammed altered it further in favor of the Federal Government. When Olusegun Obasanjo came in 1978, he established the Aboyade Commission and appropriated all oil revenue into federal government hand, denying the oil communities any direct allocation from it. It was when IBB came that he conceded 3% that was later increased to 13% in the 1999 constitution, and created Oil Mineral Producing Area Development Commission (OMPADEC) now rechristened Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) to help the development of the oil producing communities whose environment is ravaged by oil exploitation activities.

Again, when in his inaugural speech in 2015, PMB has declared that when Bokoharam is defeated, he would set up a panel of enquiry to investigate the sociological reason for the emergence of extremists group like that, many thought a solution to the religious-cum-political unrest in the North would soon come. And when he announced the defeat of Bokoharam in December, 2015 many also had expected him to do what he had promised in his inaugural speech but alas, he never did.

But we know that Bokoharam and similar splinter group of renegades is the result of adverse socio-cultural system prevalent in Northern Nigeria that seems to trivialize and criminalize the quest for Western education. Ignorance and the absence of family values promote the obnoxious alimajiri system that has created an army of disoriented and disillusioned youths that are angry with the society. Undoubtedly, it is only education that can eradicate it. IBB knew this and that was why in his regime he introduced the Nomadic Education program but it was sabotaged by those who felt no need to empower the North intellectually; those whose sinister purpose is served by the alimajiri brigade. If the IBB’s Nomadic Education program was sustained, it would have been a different thing today, the level of backwardness and violence in the North would have been reduced to the barest minimum. This shows that IBB was not only proactive he was futuristic in his thinking. Most of the agencies and institutions he established are the main structures through which governance is facilitated to the people today. However, this piece will not have space to accommodate the listing of the institutions that he established during his regime.

Another thing that brings IBB years to reminiscence was his Presidential Speeches. In those days we look forward to the Presidential address to the nation—in festal periods, national days and special occasions. Usually, it came clearly and proactively. It is usually a moment to learn something; an occasion to introduce a new policy—an indication of a government that is sensitive and responsible.

IBB speeches are compelling and persuasive. Even when you disagree with his propositions somehow you are compelled by the force of his logic to listen. IBB speeches were usually long but a delight to whoever that is listening and you won’t stop listening until you hear: “long live Federal Republic of Nigeria”. In contrast, our presidential speeches of today are mechanical, uncouth and uninspiring. There is no creativity. What we hear as presidential speeches now are like draconian orders made in the war front. Sometimes, they are packaged as an address to conquered citizens with veiled threats and presumptions. Back then, the relevant information disseminating agencies like the Mass Mobilization for Self Reliance Social Justice and Economic Recovery (MAMSER) now National Orientation Agency (NOA) did a good job of public enlightenment. But, today, the Ministry of Information is only interested in muffling free speech while the NOA has become an appendage to the government propaganda outfit.

IBB did a lot in many spheres of national life. Sadly, Nigeria is country where heroes are vilified and ethnic jingoists and anarchists are glorified. His sin was not that he did not perform well but for his concern for everybody and not just the people that see the country as their private estate, the “status quoists” who are afraid of change; who are afraid of losing their strangle hold on the country. To these people, IBB’s landmark achievements are meaningless so long as he did not pander to their primordial interest.

Nevertheless, IBB is still loved by objective and informed minds. His traducers are the hear-say analysts who have no opinion of their own but depend on godfathers, ethnic jingoists and drones that remotely control the political levers; those that deliberately keep their people blind and pauperized, those that control the alimajiri and the area-boys’ brigade.
I really cannot stop admiring the qualities of IBB, his leadership skills and style despite the Mephistophelean efforts of some individuals to malign and disparage him. Obviously, his contribution to the nation cannot be diminished by inane propaganda. We have come to realize that truth is only truth in Nigeria when it emanates from some quarters and no government has done well except it does the bidding of a particular section of the country and that the appraisal of the government is not gauged on its performance but on satisfying sectional interest, and that a government that attempts to be fair to some people has failed already no matter its policies programs and accomplishments.

By Gozie Irogboli
An economist and public policy analyst
(goziei@yahoo.com)