IBRAHIM BABANGIDA AT 82: What would IBB have done? asks

Chidi Amuta

Today, former military president, General Ibrahim Babangida, turns 82. It has become my annual personal tradition to use the opportunity of his birthday each year to highlight the perennial relevance of the policies, ideas and practices that he emplaced over three decades ago to our present circumstances. Each time we are confronted with a major national challenge, the question that has come to my mind has always been: What would IBB have done?  I raise the same rhetorical question today in the light of the issues that confront our new administration.

The Niger Coup and ECOWAS:   Perhaps the most burning issue today is the coup in Niger Republic and the spotlight on Nigeria’s leadership responsibility as a force of stabilization in the West African sub region. As IBB observes his birthday today, it might be helpful for our younger generation and the political leadership of today to have an insight into how IBB used the projection of Nigeria’s power to stabilize war torn Liberia and later Sierra Leone.

Of course the circumstances were somewhat different. Nigeria was under military rule transiting to democracy. But our leadership place in West Africa and indeed the entire continent was not in question. The strength of our military was intact just as sour commitment to political stability and democratization were all values deserving external projection.

Babangida’s grand vision of Nigeria saw a bolder more assertive and even regionally powerful Nigeria. With Prof. Bolaji Akinyemi as Foreign Minister, Babangida pursued the kind of bold and activist foreign policy that only befits an ambitious regional power. He was not shy to project Nigeria’s power in the West African sub region hence his direct military intervention in the civil wars in both Liberia and Sierra Leone. He saw the civil wars in both countries as direct threats to the security of West Africa. His friend, Ghanaian head of state,  Jerry Rawlings, shared his commitment. They did not wait for endless summits or convoluted resolutions. They led the charge. Others followed. ECOMOG was born.

In August 1990, a contingent of the Nigerian military landed at the port of Monrovia to commence what became the ECOMOG operation. As the vessels approached Monrovia, the transmission station of “Radio Freedom” which was onboard came alive with messages of hope beamed to the Liberian people. The Nigerian force was supported by a small Ghanaian contingent, which was allowed to provide the founding force Commander of ECOMOG, General Arnold Quainoo.

ECOMOG succeeded in separating the warring factions. It later graduated into an ECOWAS wide intervention initiative which stabilized the situation in Liberia. In subsequent years, ECOMOG expanded into troubled Sierra Leone with the stationing of an air base with a squadron of Nigerian Alpha jets.  That neutralized the rebels in rural Sierra Leone. Through Nigeria’s leadership, ECOMOG became an African model in the use of national power to stabilize a region. The OAU and the UN later supported the initiative into a multilateral initiative.

Choosing a Cabinet:  As the nation awaits the swearing in of President Bola Tinubu’s cabinet, national discourse has concentrated on the quality of most of the nominees. In a nation that boasts of some of the most outstanding technocrats and intellectuals in diverse fields, the mediocrity of the Tinubu selection has embarrassed many. There may be no basis for measuring Tinubu’s choices against those of Babangida over 30 years ago.

Tinubu is a partisan politician. He has political debts to pay. He has to contend with a constitution that requires that each state be represented by one minister at least. He also has to rule over a nation that has literally been overrun by a degraded value system. On the contrary, IBB headed a military regime with no parliament to please. Meritocracy and the national interest were the abiding considerations. Political charlatanry was not in the picture. 

IBB was an enlightened and ideas-driven president. His constant companions were mostly from among the nation’s outstanding men and women of ideas. He constantly sought the diverse views and perspectives of intellectuals. He recruited them to work with him as ministers, advisers, heads of specialized agencies and friends. To date, the Babangida administration featured the largest collection of people of ideas in government. Just a sampling:

·       Prof. Olikoye Ransome Kuti- Health; Prof. Bolaji Akinyemi – External Affairs’; Prof. Babs Fafunwa – Education;

·       Prof. Jibril Aminu – Petroleum Resources/Education;

·       Prof. Tam David West – Petroleum Resource; Dr. Kalu Idika Kalu – Finance; Dr. Chu S. P Okongwu- National Planning/Finance; Prof. Gordian Ezekwe – Science and Technology; Prof. Emmanuel Emovon – Science and Technology; Prof. Sam Oyovbaire – Information;

·       Prof. Wole Soyinka – Federal Road Safety Corps;

·       Prof. Eme Awa/Prof. Humphrey Nwosu – National Electoral Commission; Prof. Ojetunji Aboyade- Economic Reform Adviser; Dr. Tunji Olagunju – Political Adviser; Prof. Ikenna Nzimiro- Adviser; Prof. Akin Mabogunje – Adviser;

·       Prof. Isawa Elaigwu – Adviser; Chief Michael Omolayole –Adviser.

Fighting Inequality: Another matter of present national interest is the viral spread of multi -dimensional poverty. Nigeria has in the last decade become the world’s poverty capital with an estimated population of 130 million poor people.

For Babangida, the main thrust of economic reform was the migration of Nigeria from a mixed economy to a free market format. He recognized that poverty and inequality would increase. His quest for a new social order involved a deliberate policy of poverty mitigation.

General Babangida believed that it was the responsibility of a compassionate government to give capitalism a human face by mitigating the alienating effects of market competition hence the efforts to ameliorate the harsh effects of the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP). The result was easily our most systematic and well thought out poverty alleviation programme to date containing:

·       The Directorate for Food, Roads and Rural Infrastructure (DFRRI), The Peoples Bank, Community Banks, National Directorate of Employment, The National Economic, Recovery Fund (NERFUND), and The Mass Transit Programme.

Institution Building: It has been said in recent times that a major part of Africa’s development has been the preponderance of strong man and a lack of strong institutions.  Central to Babangida’s grand vision and its enabling strategy was the creation of strong national institutions. In the domestic sphere, Babangida was obsessed with the establishment of a robust institutional framework for nation building. In the entire history of post -colonial Nigeria, the Babangida administration is on record for establishing the highest number of national institutions in major areas of national life. Most of these institutions have endured to the present including: Corporate Affairs Commission -CAC(1990), National Communications Commission-NCC(1992), National Deposit Insurance Corporation-NDIC(1988), National Broadcasting Commission-NBC(1992),National Electoral Commission, Technical Committee on Privatization and Commercialization(TCPC) which became the BPE-(1988);The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (1989),The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) –(1988), Technical Aid Corps (1987),National Agency For Food and Drug Administration NAFDAC (1993), andNational Women’s Commission (1992).

Accordingly, Babangida reorganized the Nigeria Police into the present zonal command structure. Similarly, the architecture of national intelligence and security was reorganized from the former monolithic National Security Organization (NSO) to the present three branch structure of: The State Security Service (SSS), now DSS, National Intelligence Agency (NIA) and

Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA).

Insecurity and the National Guard Idea: Our insecurity remains almost intractable. Up to the time he left office, Babangida was never in any doubt about the unsettled nature of inter-ethnic relations among Nigerian groups. It was his conviction that our federation was still unsettled, with many real and potential flash points. He believed that the present and future nature of our internal security challenges would overwhelm the police and distract the professional military.

Accordingly, he believed that the police are too mild and civil to contain armed insurgency while the military is too fierce to be pressed into combatting fellow Nigerians with its doctrine of terminal precision. The solution was to establish a mid- intensity intermediate force – the National Guard- based in the states and specially trained and indoctrinated to manage internal security with a mixture of resolute force and patriotic compassion. The National Guard was shot down by political hawks.

Today is a new day. IBB is 82. He left office over 30 years ago. As in previous years, it is my pleasure to join his other friends and family to celebrate a true friend and a truly outstanding nation builder and timeless patriot.

Dr. Amuta is a member of THISDAY Editorial Board