BABANGIDA'S JUNE 12TH MEA CULPA?

Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida aka IBB, in a recent interview, tried to rationalize his annulment of the freest election ever held in Nigeria - June 12th, 1993!

According to IBB's voodoo-logic, the election was annuled in order to save the impending democracy?

IBB's tragic reasoning is that the military would have staged a coup against the new administration, had he allowed it to come into being; hence his decision to pre-emptively annul the election? What a very "wise and foresighted man indeed, IBB then, was? By a generic generalisation therefore, it is safe to allegorize that IBB aborted a pregnancy simply because the child might be killed later in life? It is IBB's peculiar brand of logic-from-Hades, that the nine month old fetus was aborted in order to spare her the tragedy of possibly being killed as a human-being, later in life? Made sense? Only in the warped mind of the evil-genius and in a place like Nigeria, the land of every possibilities!

The Nigerian-Maradona is once again trying to do what he does best - dribble Nigerians through another jigsaw-jungle of his fuzzy-mathematical nonsense? IBB is introspectively rigmaroling through a maze of his confused regrets of a missed opportunity with history! Icheoku says, were his reasoning the case, why did he not retire all those rabble-rousers in the miltary who would have truncated the democractic presidency of (pictured left) the late Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola? Icheoku says, if what IBB is saying today is the real truth behind the June 12th annulment, why did he not retire his then defence minister Sani Abacha who he left behind for the sole purpose of bringing about the eventual outcome of being so left behind? Why was this particular "democracy-truncator" left untouched from the massive retirements which heralded IBB's infamous stepping-aside?

IBB said he was "afraid" that democracy may be brought to an abrupt end but he was brave enough to execute his close-friend Mamman Vasta for a phantom coup, but yet left Sani Abacha behind? IBB retired Joshua Dongonyaro for no apparent reason, yet he was afraid for democracy but yet could not remove the single most anti-democracy symbol in the military, Sani Abacha? IBB was so "afraid" yet he retired his one time chief of army staff unceremoniously and through an NTA announcement, while the General was on a short weekend-visit to his country-home in Jos, but Abacha was untouchable? And we are talking about the taciturn Domkat Bali! That a host of young and upcoming army officers were wasted in a staged plane-crash at Ejigbo near Lagos in 1985 was also a pointer to IBB's "cowardice" or lack thereof? Yet he was "afraid" for democracy but could not retire Sani Abacha from office? If IBB is speaking the truth that he was really and truely afraid of the military rat-packs and yet failed or refused to do something about it; what explanation is he now fashioning out to throw at Nigerians as the reason why he killed Dele Giwa with a parcel bomb?

IBB please spare Nigeria further headaches with this your explanation as it is yet to recover from your infamous hostage-taking of her government; when you so corrupted the system that it is still quaking today from the shock you injected into it. As now the 18th richest man in Africa - a continent of over 700million people, when will you account for your stewardship and the over $1.8billion dollars fortune you amassed while in office?

Icheoku says, this latest attempt by IBB to try to wriggle out and explain away an improbability, is yet another one of his public-relations' effort at positioning himself for 2011! But a big surprise surely awaits IBB, - there will be a formidable resistance against his candidacy by the Nigerian people. Those Nigerians whose relatives fell victim to the June 12th generated crisis which almost denegenerated into a shooting civil-war in Nigeria; the Abiola family and friends whose partiach was robbed of the highest office in the land which he truely and convincingly won and was later killed in his belated attempt at reclaiming the mandate; and the Nigerian people who were stripped naked of their votes cannot live to see the ghost of IBB back at Aso Rock, talkless of another term of office? Whatever it shall take, IBB must be stopped, as his remergence will only act to glorify evil! What does this toothy-son of Minna think Nigerians are? - The gullible and foolish retards who he can ride, through blatant lies, back into power? If IBB thinks so or is being delusional about his electoral-chances in a democratic Nigeria, then he has another thing coming!

According to IBB, he was compelled to nullify the election because of security threats to the enthronement of a democratic government at that time? What a balooney! Icheoku says, this is as laughable as it is very provocative and Babangida could have done better for himself by simply shutting-up! IBB said he and the Armed Forces Ruling Council knew that the new democratic government to be installed would sooner than later be toppled through another military coup deta’t, which he said his government wanted to avoid? Icheoku says, a credible and honorable person in a position of authority would have been more proactive in dealing with the situation, by putting out measures to checkmate such expected happen-stance of a coup. Why did IBB not retire those known hot-heads would-be coupists, whom he left behind in the military; afterall they are all very well known to him, being a coup-plotter in chief himself? Where did the acronym IBB-BOYS come from if not a glorified subterfuge for all the coupists in the Nigerian Armed Forces who were slavishly loyal to their master strategist in chief, IBB? If according to IBB, his regime had decided that it would be the last that would ever come to power in Nigeria through the banditry of a military coup, what steps did his regime take to coral the renegade-coupists successfully back to the baracks and/or retire them if they cannot be retrained professionally? Why did IBB not retire the likes of Sani Abacha, Jeremiah Useni, Oladipo Diya, Buba Marwa, and the sundry of them who are known as crazed-out military-adventurers from service if he was serious about cementing democracy in Nigeria? IBB also admitted that the June 12 presidential election was free and fair and was the best election ever conducted in Nigeria! Icheoku retorts, if IBB knew all these facts to be true and correct, why then did he not respect the wish of the Nigerian people or was he such a jerk that he would thwart what over sixty million Nigerians agreed on - that MKO Abiola should be their president?

Continuing IBB said the situation was not ripe to hand over to a duly elected civilian government then? Icheoku asks, why conduct an election when you knew from the onset that you were not sincere about handing-over? Why lead millions of Nigerians into a wild-goose chase of an exercise in futility just for your selfish, devilish, grotesque, ego-mania; just to gloat later about how you knew before the first whistle sounded, that there will be no conclusive election? This admission alone is enough to put this guy away for good, were Nigeria a descent society where actions have consequences! If IBB knew then as he now claims, that there would be a coup immediately after the hand-over, Icheoku asks, what steps did he take to prevent or avert it? Afterall as a master-coupist himself, IBB knows what it takes to plan, execute and foil a coup? This IBB's singular admission of his failure to safeguard the June 12th mandate and thereby secure MKO Abiola's prospective presidency, makes him guilty by omission to act.

Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida admitted that he had plans to conduct fresh election within six months thereafter in November 1993? Icheoku implores IBB to please further explain to Nigerians what difference his six months interval, would have made to alleviate his coup phobia? What was IBB planning to do differently on or before the November 1993 date, just 6 months after the June 12th successful election was annuled by his depravity? Or was he trying to, within that window of six months, retire all his "boys" from the armed forces? - a feat which he couldn't get himself to accomplish throughout his nine years in office, when duty initially called for such a sweeping retirements?

Icheoku totally aligns with Madam Teju Abiola's position on the subject that "IBB came up with the lamest reason for the annulment! According to this lady, IBB should rather be asking for forgiveness of sin from the Nigerian people! IBB is also not believeable and cannot be trusted with his assertion that he has no plans whatsoever to run for the office of the Nigerian president in 2011! Such grandstanding "assurance" by IBB should simply be taken with a grain of salt; afterall he is a very conceited man who embarked on an election knowing fully well that he had no plans or intention to conclude it? IBB said he annuled the free and fair election in order to prevent a prospective, futuristic, imaginary, could-be coup d'etat from taking place? Icheoku says, what an argument in buffonery and a logic on its head? If anyone seriously needs a psychiatric evaluation, IBB is that person for ever conjuring such idiotic dumbness?

The same IBB who was so afraid of a possible coup d`etat against a democratically elected civilian government went ahead and handed over to a civilian head of an Interim National Government? Is there any irony here or am I loosing it? And IBB did this in a way which directly solicited coup d`etat by appointing the civilian as merely head of government but not also the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces? What a juxtaposition? And this is the same man who is now trying to weasle through the debacle of June 12th, with his lacklustre explanation? Who in Nigeria is buying this imbecility - a stupendous and sanctimonious rancour of a demented general who annuled the freest and fairest election ever held in Nigeria? How soon after the IBB contrapted ING, did Sani Abacha drive Ernest Shonekan out of Aso-Rock; and you now understand who is pooling a wool over the eyes of Nigerians with his morbid explanation of June 12th?

The answer to this mind-boggling June 12th annulment and the gobbledegook of an explanation or attempted explanation thereto, should be left for students of history to worry about later! It was the same evil-genius IBB who left Sani Abacha in office, whilst retiring other top military brass from service? Icheoku says, the proper question for IBB to answer is, why did he not retire Sani Abacha from office? The answer to this question will override the need for all these feeble attempt at mea culpa and then and only then will Nigeria start to heal ernestly; and as expected, with a deserving and humble apology from Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida for his sins of June 12th, 1993. Until then IBB can stuff his explanation up to his you know where - HIS FAT MINNA - A R S E !