Femi Fani-Kayode
Thirty-two years after leaving power, President Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (IBB) has assumed full responsibility for what happened on June 12, 1993—the annulment of Chief MKO Abiola’s presidential election and its attendant consequences.
Babangida has explained the circumstances under which it happened and has not only acknowledged that Abiola actually won the election but that he was also unfairly robbed of his mandate when he and his military regime annulled it.
What he didn’t say was that if he had not annulled the election, those who wanted it aborted would have killed him, key members of his government, MKO Abiola, Abiola’s family, and everyone else who opposed them. His government would have been toppled in a very violent and bloody coup, which would have definitely led to a long, brutal, and protracted civil war.
Babangida has told his side of the story and explained to us what actually transpired. He refused to remain silent, did not shy away from speaking the truth, did not refuse to accept responsibility, and did not pass the buck.
Instead, he came clean, displayed immense courage, and did the right and proper thing. That is what leaders are meant to do, and he did it without fear or favour, regardless of whose ox was gored. Kudos to him.
We need to appreciate this gesture, eschew all bitterness, let go of all our pent-up anger, forgive him for what many perceive to be his sins, and move on.
Equally, we need to accord him his rightful place in history as one of the greats despite his fallibility. He is, after all, a mere man—albeit a great one—and not God.
Only God is free of fault and is infallible, and there is not one man who has ever lived, led, or ruled that is infallible.
All those insulting and abusing him today for putting the facts and his experiences on record in his book are malevolent, bitter, twisted souls—unenlightened, ignorant cowards who have no appreciation of history or of what this man actually achieved in his eight years in office or the events that led up to June 12.
They only see things in part and are allowing their emotions, rather than their heads, to rule them.
I was in the NADECO trenches during that difficult time and, like many others, paid my dues too, but I can say that outside of the June 12 matter, IBB did more for Nigeria than virtually any other President or Head of State.
Babangida left power 32 years ago, yet every single living former Nigerian President and Head of State—bar President Muhammadu Buhari, whom he had removed from power in a coup in 1985—attended his book launch in person. Despite all, Buhari actually sent a representative.
It was an extraordinary event, and I witnessed it with my own eyes because I had the privilege of being invited.
If the number of leaders that attended—which included President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, former Head of State General Yakubu Gowon, former Head of State General Abdulsalami Abubakar, former President and former Head of State Olusegun Obasanjo, former President Goodluck Jonathan, former President of Ghana Nana Akufo-Addo, former President of Sierra Leone Ernest Koroma, former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, former Vice President Namadi Sambo, and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar—did not tell Nigerians the high esteem in which the ruling elite hold him, then nothing will.
May God continue to be with this great and inspiring man who has displayed immense discipline, resilience, dignity, self-respect, courage, and humility throughout his distinguished life.
I pray he continues to share his vast reserves of knowledge and wisdom and to make his contributions to national development for many years to come.
Whether his numerous detractors like it or not, IBB remains an enigma, an institution, and the most consequential Head of State and President in our history.
No one can take that from him, and we are very proud of him.
I wish both him and his family well.
