IBRAHIM BABANGIDA

General 'Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida' (born August 17 1941), popularly known as 'IBB', was the military ruler of
Nigeria from August 1985 until his departure from office under heavy popular pressure in 1993, after his annulment of elections held that year which were widely held to have been the freest and fairest in Nigeria's post-independence history.

Contents

Early career and rise to power

Years of Promotion and Rank

Studies

Controversy: Babangida's economic policies

IBB as Dictator

The botched transition to civilian rule

Human Rights Abuses

Recent Developments

See also

References

External links

Early career and rise to power

Ibrahim Babangida hails from the Gwari ethnic group and was born in Minna in Niger State. He joined the Nigerian Army's officer corps on December 10 1962, and served in an administrative capacity under the military government of Olusegun Obasanjo. Was heavily involved in the Nigerian coup of 1976, when he was to ‘liberate’ a radio station from one of the coup plotters, Col B.S. Dimka (a close friend of his) as to prevent him making further announcements over the air waves. Although he did prevent further broadcasts, Col Dimka managed to escape. Babangida once again took up a political position under the administration of General Muhammadu Buhari, whose regime he overthrew on 27 August, 1985 in a bloodless military coup that relied on mid-level officers that Babangida silently and strategically positioned over the years.
He came to power promising to bring to an end the human rights abuses perpetuated by Buhari's government, and to hand over power to a civilian government by 1990.

Years of Promotion and Rank

★ Second Lieutenant : 1962

★ Lieutenant: 1966

★ Captain: 1968

★ Major: 1970

★ Lieutenant Colonel: 9 July 1970

★ Colonel: 1973

★ Member of the Supreme Military Council: Aug 1 1975- Oct 1979

★ Brigadier: 1979

★ Major General: 1983

Studies

★ Studied at the India Military School: 1964

★ Studied at the Royal Armoured Centre: (Jan 1966- April 1966)

★ Advanced Armoured Officers' course at Armored school: ( Aug 1972-June 1973)

★ Senior officers' course, Command and Staff College, Jaji: (Jan 1977-July 1977)

★ Policy and strategic studies course NIPS Kuru, and (Senior International Defence Management Course, Naval Post graduate school, U.S) : 1980

Controversy: Babangida's economic policies

Babangida issued a referendum to garner support for austerity measures suggested by the IMF and the World Bank, and subsequently launched his "Structural Adjustment Program" (SAP) in 1986. The policies entailed under the SAP were the deregulation of the agricultural sector by abolishing marketing boards and the elimination of price controls, the privatisation of public enterprises, the devaluation of the Naira to aid the competitiveness of the export sector, and the relaxation of restraints on foreign investment put in place by the Gowon and Obasanjo governments during the 1970s. Between 1986 and 1988, when these policies were executed as intended by the IMF, the Nigerian economy actually did grow as had been hoped, with the export sector performing especially well, but the falling real wages in the public sector and amongst the urban classes, along with a drastic reduction in expenditure on public services, set off waves of rioting and other manifestations of discontent that made sustained commitment to the SAP difficult to maintain. Babangida subsequently returned to an inflationary economic policy and partially reversed the deregulatory initiatives he had set in motion during the heyday of the SAP following mounting pressure, and economic growth slowed correspondingly, as capital flight resumed apace under the influence of negative real interest rates. IBB consequently eliminated the Nigerian Middle Class.Presumably because of the perception of his being instrumental in the nomination of ex president of Nigeria Olusegun Obasanjo. The present administration of Nigeria has been reluctant in pursuing him for his corrupt practices and oppressive government policies.

IBB as Dictator

On the political front, Babangida proved far more adept at accommodating and manipulating public opinion than Buhari or any other Nigerian military ruler before or since. Wherever possible, he preferred to buy off opposition, earning the nickname "Maradona" (from Diego Maradona, the legendary Argentine soccer star). Babangida only resorted to outright force on rare occasions when opposition could neither be bought off nor ignored, for example, the killing of the journalist, Dele Giwa , who was allegedly killed through a parcel bomb sent from the office of the Head of State of Nigeria. At the beginning of his rule, Babangida did try to live up to his self-bestowed mantle as a restorer of human rights, releasing many politicians detained under the Buhari regime, but this patina wore off as time went by. Despite his initial promises to do so, Babangida never did get around to abolishing the notorious 'State Security (Detention of Persons) Decree Number 2', which established the right of the government to detain for six months any individual deemed dangerous solely on his say-so, without any right to a trial or even habeas corpus. To the contrary, he made increasing use of the decree himself as time went by to muzzle trade unions, student groups, journalists and other individuals who proved irritating to his regime.
One step Babangida did take early in his rule that proved less deft than usual, and which still reverberates to this day, was his unilateral decision to upgrade Nigeria's role in the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), from a mere observer status to full-fledged membership, despite the fact that, at most, only half of Nigerians were adherents of Islam. After public outcry and denial by Babangida, the John Shagaya panel was instituted to determine Nigeria's status in the OIC subsequently confirming membership and making a recommendation for withdrawal from the body.
Babangida's policies, at least on paper, were coherrent and well thought out. He has assembled some of the brightest individuals from the military and civilian class who set the stage for privatization and deregulation. Noteworthy was the liberalization of the banking sector and the creation of the decree that set the basis for telecom liberalization during the Obasanjo administration. His leadership also saw Nigeria begin to regionally assert itself with foreign policy thrusts such as peace keeping in Sierra Leone. However, translation of the most necessary of Babangida's policies to reality was compromised by corruption and the limited leadership capacity of Babangida. His leadership has been repeatedly blamed for the full institutionalization of corruption in Nigeria. Babangida relied heavily on patronage to keep his government in power.
On April 22, 1990, Babangida's government was almost toppled by a coup attempt led by Major Gideon Orkar. During the brief interlude during which Orkar and his collaborators controlled radio transmitters in Lagos, they broadcasted a vehement critique of Babangida's government, accusing it of widespread corruption and autocratic tendencies, and they also threatened to expel the five northernmost and predominantly Hausa-Fulani Nigerian states from the union, accusing them of seeking to perpetuate their rule at the expense of the predominantly Christian peoples of Nigeria's middle-belt citing, in particular, the political neutralization of the Langtang Mafia.

The botched transition to civilian rule

In 1989, seemingly in keeping with his promise to hand over power to a civilian government by 1992, Babangida legalized the formation of political parties, and after a census was carried out in November 1991, the National Electoral Commission (NEC) announced on January 24, 1992 that both legislative elections to a bicameral National Assembly and a presidential election would be held that year. The legislative elections went ahead as planned, with the Social Democratic Party (SDP) winning majorities in both houses of the National Assembly, but on August 7, 1992, the NEC annulled the first round of presidential primaries, alleging widespread irregularities. January 4, 1993 saw the announcement by Babangida of a National Defense and Security Council, of which Babangida himself was to be President, while in April 1993 the SDP nominated Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola (MKO) as its presidential candidate, with the National Republican Convention (NRC) choosing Bashir Othma Tofa to run for the same position. On June 12, 1993, presidential elections were finally held, but the results were mysteriously held back, although it soon leaked that Abiola had in fact won 19 of the 30 states, and therefore the presidency.
Rather than allow the announcement of the results to proceed, the NDSC decided to annul the elections, and Babangida then issued a decree banning the presidential candidates of both the NRC and the SDP from running in new presidential elections that he planned to have held. Widespread acts of civil disobedience then began to occur, particularly in the Southwest region from which Abiola hailed, but these were soon quashed by the security forces and the army. On July 6, 1993, the NDSC issued an ultimatum to SDP and NRC to join an interim government or face yet another round of elections, and Babangida then announced that the interim government would be inaugurated on August 27, 1993. On August 26, amidst a new round of strikes and protests that had brought all economic activity in the country to a halt, Babangida declared that he was stepping down from the presidency, and handing over the reins of government to Ernest Shonekan. Ominously, General Sani Abacha was left behind to "watch over" Shonekan's interim government, and within 3 months of the handover Abacha seized control of the government, while Babangida himself was conveniently in the midst of a visit to Egypt.

Human Rights Abuses

The killing by a letter bomb of Dele Giwa, a magazine editor critical of Babangida's administration at his Lagos home in 1986 remains a controversial incident to this day. In 1999, President Olusegun Obasanjo established the Human Rights Violation Investigation Commission headed by Justice Chukwudifu Oputa to investigate human rights abuses during Nigeria's decades of military rule. However, Babangida repeatedly defied summons to appear before the panel to answer allegations of humans rights abuses and questioned both the legality of the commission and its power to summon him. His right not to testify was upheld in 2001 by Nigeria's court of appeal which ruled that the panel did not have the power to summon former rulers of the country.^[1].
The Oputa Panel Report would conclude that "''On General Ibrahim Babangida, we are of the view that there is evidence to suggest that he and the two security chiefs, Brigadier General Halilu Akilu and Col. A. K. Togun are accountable for the death of Dele Giwa by letter bomb. We recommend that this case be re-opened for further investigation in the public interest.''" ^[2]

Recent Developments

In an interview with the Financial Times on August 15, 2006, Babangida announced that he would run for president in Nigeria's 2007 national elections. ^{[3] [4]}citing that he was doing so "under the banner of the Nigerian people" and accused the country's political elite of fuelling Nigeria's current ethnic and religious violence.^[5] Despite being a member of the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP), the party has not yet publicly backed Babangida's bid since a senate rejection of the proposal to amend the 1999 Constitution as to allow a person to serve three mandates as a President. Obasanjo has always declared publicly and to the media that he will not run for a third mandate.
On the 8th of November, 2006, General Babangida picked a nomination form from the Peoples Democratic Party Headquarters in Abuja, Nigeria. This effectively put to rest any speculation about his ambitions to run for the Presidency. His form was personally issued to him by the PDP chairman - Dr Ahmadu Ali. This action immediately drew extreme reactions of support or opposition from the generality of Nigerians. In early December, just before the PDP presidential primary, however, it was widely reported in Nigerian newspapers that IBB had withdrawn his candidacy to be the PDP's nominee to run for President. In a letter excerpted in the media, IBB is quoted as citing the "moral dilemma" of running against Alhaji Umaru Yar'Adua, the younger brother of the late Shehu Yar'Adua (himself a former nominee to run for the Presidency during IBB's military dictatorship), as well as against General Aliyu Mohammed Gusau, given IBB's close relationship with the latter two. It is widely believed among the generality of Nigerians however, that IBB's withdrawal of his candidacy became inevitable because he realized that his chances of winning a presidential election in Nigeria were pretty slim.^[6]

See also

★ MAMSER

★ The Nigerian Political Bureau of 1986

References

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★ Nigeria: The palace coup of August 27, 1985

★ Nigeria political structure table, Country Report, Economist, January 29, 1990.

External links

★ US Library of Congress - Country Studies - The Babangida Government

★ Babangida on 2007 elections