Babangida and his fellow generals must repent for militarising Nigeria’s democracy
Easter is the season for repentance; the season for atonement of sins. It is the season when Christians world-wide celebrate the redemptive work of Jesus Christ. Atonement for sins is, indeed, central to the beliefs of each of the major religions. Every year, the Jewish people celebrate Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, during which they fast and seek forgiveness for their sins, in accordance with the Biblical injunction in Leviticus 23:26. Muslims all over the world fast during Ramadan to seek atonement for their sins. For Christians, though, the ultimate atonement, indeed remission, of sins, came with the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, and all that one has to do to receive forgiveness is to recognise that one is a sinner, and to confess and repent of one’s sins!
Over the past two years, I have used this period, Easter, to urge Nigerian leaders to repent and atone for their sins. For instance, last year, I wrote a column titled, “Nigeria’s leaders must atone for their economic sins”. This was because I believed, and still strongly do, that Nigeria’s leaders, at different levels and different times, have committed heinous economic crimes against this country, and that without repenting and atoning for their sins, they may continue to hold back Nigeria’s progress. The Bible says that “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people” (Proverbs 14:34).
And few sins can be greater than when leaders inflict economic cruelty on the people by impoverishing their lives through massive corruption and mismanagement of national resources, which is what Nigeria’s politicians have done for decades by enriching themselves, their families and friends with public money, while condemning ordinary Nigerians to extreme poverty and misery. The vice president, Yemi Osinbajo, once equated the level of corruption perpetrated by Nigeria’s leaders to a “crime against humanity”. He is right. How else can one describe the systematic and widespread looting of public fund by Nigeria’s leaders other than an attack against the people? What is supposed to be a democracy is, indeed, a kleptocracy in Nigeria, a government of corrupt leaders, who enrich themselves at the expense of the people! So, last year, I urged Nigerian leaders to atone for their economic sins.
But this year, my focus is different. My plea for repentance and atonement is to Nigeria’s retired army generals, who have corrupted and undermined Nigeria’s democracy by militarising it. Nigerians must, of course, be eternally grateful to the armed forces for their gallantry in fighting to keep this country together during the civil war, and in their continuing war against the Boko Haram insurgents. But, if truth be told, Nigeria’s military leaders have not always covered themselves in glory. In recent years alone, the iniquitous annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election – the freest in Nigeria’s history – by the Babangida regime and the dastardly and plundering regime of General Sani Abacha are some of the inglorious legacies of the Nigerian military. Yet, nothing is more disturbing than the sinister influence that the military has had and continues, seemingly, to have over the political and democratic developments of Nigeria. And the evidence is compelling.
In his book, titled, Vindication of a General Ishaya Bamaiyi, a former chief of army staff, said that the then military head of state, General Addulsalami Abubakar, had already committed himself to Generals Ibrahim Babangida, T Y Danjuma and Aliyu Gusau that he would hand over power to General Olusegun Obasanjo, a former military head of state. In other words, while the military were promising to return Nigeria to civilian rule, they were, in fact, plotting to return the country not to a democracy, but a militocracy, or a diarchy, a joint military-civilian government!
Spokesmen for Babangida and Obasanjo have accused Bamaiyi, a hated figure in the despotic regime of General Sani Abacha, of seeking relevance. But that’s an ad hominem argument, attacking the character of a person without disproving his claim. For instance, is it true, as Bamaiyi claimed, that General Abubakar had prepared a handover note, dated June 1998, to General Obasanjo, long before the presidential election and shortly after Abubakar himself took over as head of state?
And if you don’t believe Bamaiyi, then let’s hear Babangida, the former military dictator, himself. Recently, when a factional leader of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), the former governing party, visited him, Babangida shockingly declared: “From the foundation stage, I saw PDP as the IRA – the Irish Republican Army. We are the military wing of the PDP” adding that “When I say ‘we’, I mean my boss, T Y Danjuma, Obasanjo, General Aliyu Mohammed and others. I term us as IRA – the military wing of PDP”.
Clearly, once the military wing of the PDP had decided that one of them must be the next “civilian” president of Nigeria, and the then military head of state, General Abubakar, was in cahoots with them, the rest was just a formality. Today, Nigeria celebrates “Democracy Day” on 29 May every year, which was the day Nigeria supposedly returned to “civilian” rule in 1999. But, in truth, Nigeria did not have a democracy in 1999; it had a militocracy or a diarchy. The military was still ruling Nigeria by proxy!
It is interesting and instructive that Babangida compared himself and his fellow generals to the IRA. As many people know, the IRA was the military wing of Sinn Fain, the Northern Irish party fighting for the unification for Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic. For decades, the IRA was at the centre of what is known as the Troubles, which brought devastations to Northern Ireland and Britain for decades through campaigns of bombings. But it was not until Sinn Fain disbanded the IRA that it was allowed to participate in the democratic process of Northern Ireland. So, if Babangida regards himself and his fellow generals as the IRA of the PDP, well, the truth is that they are not only “troubling” Nigeria’s democracy by militarising it, they are also making the PDP a non-democratic party that doesn’t deserve to participate in a true democratic process.
Sadly, Nigeria has not experienced true democracy since 1999. General Obasanjo did not only go for a second term as president, contrary to an agreement he allegedly reached with his sponsors, he attempted an illegal third term. And when that failed, he handed over to Umaru Musa Yar’ Adua, the brother of his former chief of staff when he was military head of state, General Shehu Yar’ Adua. Surely, Goodluck Jonathan, who was made President Yar’ Adua’s deputy and later succeeded him when he died, was a beneficiary of the hegemonic military control of Nigeria’s politics.
And, of course, the current president, Mohammadu Buhari, is a retired general. When Buhari visited Babangida during the 2015 presidential election campaign, Babangida told him that retired army generals would back him. “All of us will support you”, he said, and commended the All Progressives Congress (APC), Buhari’s party, for “honouring the military by nominating Buhari”. Clearly, Babangida was delighted that another general would be in charge!
To be sure, Babangida has a strange idea of democracy. He seems to believe that democracy can only flourish when the military has background or even overt influence in the polity. But true democracy is when there is complete military subordination to civilian control, not when the military continues to exercise background influence. Until Nigeria has a president who is not elected because of his military background or at the behest of the military, we can’t say that we have a true democracy. But we must strive for pure democracy in Nigeria.
Meanwhile, Babangida and his fellow generals should follow Sinn Fain’s example and disband the IRA of the PDP, its military wing – and repent for militarising Nigeria’s democracy!
Happy Easter Monday, dear readers!
Olu Fasan