As president, OBJ rewarded IBB with a seat in the
Supreme Military Council. Buhari, Danjuma and Abacha were not far
behind. As Chief of Army Staff, IBB was a notch higher than the rest
of them. And he took advantage of that strategic post to position
himself for the ultimate price.
In the process of playing ayo, serious
issues are often times discussed light-heartedly. And it will be
unthinkable to suggest that issues of Nigeria’s leadership are not
casually mentioned in their banters in a forum like this and as we now
know, in the mess with bowls of steaming pepper-soup and cold
gulder beer.
Then Abacha took over from IBB and violated the
code by doing the unthinkable. He roped in OBJ in a phantom coup and
jailed him! This is never done in any close-knit cult nurtured for
many years by men of this stature. Rumors had it that IBB was next in
Abacha’s plan of total control of the polity. And since this was not
part of the script, he was made to pay dearly for this.
Abacha and all former Heads of State of northern
extraction except perhaps Murtala (and this is questionable because he
did not stay long enough to mess things up like the others) brought
the nation from the highest of mountains in 1960 to the deepest of the
abyss by 1998. And it did not take a brain surgeon to know that
Nigeria was not ready for a president from among their ranks in 1998.
The hatchet job of finding a malleable southerner fell on IBB who, for
the second time, was largely instrumental in persuading
OBJ to take up the baton from Abdusalami Abubakar.
It is even rumored that IBB bank-rolled OBJ’s campaign for the
presidency in 1998.
In my previous article on this topic, I had
amplified the rumor that there was indeed a deal between OBJ and IBB
which was to have IBB replace OBJ after OBJ’s first term in office.
Events have since proved this wrong. Not because there was no such
deal, but because OBJ refused to honor the deal and of course, IBB’s
readiness and acceptability to take up the mantle in 2003 was still
questionable. Put in another way: IBB was still not ready for the post
in 2003 and, come to think of it, the nation was still not ready for a
president from among the ranks of the northerners.
IBB does not take kindly to anyone who does not
honor deals made with him. Abiola paid dearly for claiming his mandate
against the back-drop of a deal made with him and Tofa not to claim
victory should either of them win. But OBJ has become a hard nut to
crack even for the likes of IBB. It is not for nothing that OBJ is
president and has all Nigeria‘s power of coercion at his beck and
call. IBB must defer to him if he is to be president in 2007. And OBJ
is preparing the ground for such eventuality.
For the third time, IBB was instrumental in the
success of OBJ against Buhari in the last elections. Who does not know
that there is no love-lost between IBB and Buhari? General Buhari does
not forgive. He takes all infractions against him or his government
personally. He slaps your face and dares you to cry. But IBB slaps
your face, begs you, slaps it again and graciously offers you a
shoulder to cry on. IBB would not allow Buhari to be president. Over
his dead body. No. Over his live body! The fear of Buhari is the
beginning of wisdom. And that is why support for OBJ at the last
election was crucial for IBB’s self interest. If you had his
antecedents, you would be fearful of the likes of Buhari.
But, those antecedents, loathsome as they are to
Buhari and the rest of us, are the reasons OBJ admires IBB. Put in
another way: Buhari hates IBB for the same reason that OBJ respects or
in my opinion, fears him. And that is why he rewarded him with the
nation’s highest honor- the GCFR. In fact, even if IBB is arrested
raping a five year-old girl, OBJ will be too fearful to have him
prosecuted. He is IBB’s prisoner.
Grand Commander of the Federal Republic (GCFR).
Unless OBJ is trying to bring down all recipients of this honor, IBB,
in my opinion, does not deserve the honor. It is a slap on our faces.
It is an object of ridicule in international circles. It is a disgrace
to Nigeria and Nigerians, dead or alive.
By awarding IBB this honor, OBJ has said, without
equivocation, that he is proud of all IBB’s activities from birth to
date. He is proud that IBB helped to crown him president in 1976, 1999
and 2003. He is proud that IBB annulled Abiola’s election which made
it impossible for any northerner to run for president in 1998 thus
crowning him again and again and again. He is proud that IBB destroyed
education, health and even the army through which he rose to be
president. He is proud that IBB spent the Gulf Oil windfall
recklessly. He is proud that under his watch, Dele Giwa was murdered
in a gruesome manner.
It is incumbent on people of goodwill to stand up
to say No to these people. IBB must not become Nigeria’s president
again. Never. We have all seen, for 8 years, what he is capable of
doing. Put it in another way: we have seen what he is not capable of
doing. He cannot lead us right.
