Former military Head of State, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (rtd), popularly known as IBB, has opened up on why Nigeria is not progressing.
IBB said one of the reasons Nigeria is not progressing was because Nigerians no longer believed in the future of the country.
TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports Babangida made this known on Friday in a televised exclusive interview monitored by this medium.
Speaking on the state of the nation, Babangida said the nation is endowed with both human and natural resources, but identified bad leadership as a major reason for the socio-economic challenges facing the country.
The former leader accused the Nigerian people of creating and at the same time, destroying their own country.
Babangida stated that Nigeria’s next president should be in his 60s and that the person should be able to talk to Nigerians and be verse in economics.
“If you get a good leadership that links with the people and tries to talk with the people; not talking on top of the people, then we would be okay.
“I have started visualising a good Nigerian leader. That is, a person who travels across the country and has a friend virtually everywhere he travels to, and he knows at least one person that he can communicate with.
“That is a person, who is very versed in economics and is also a good politician, who should be able to talk to Nigerians and so on.
“I have seen one, or two or three of such persons already in his sixties. I believe so if we can get him.
“I do believe in the future of Nigeria, but Nigerians don’t believe in the future of their country. They created and they destroyed,” he said.
Speaking on corruption in the interview with Arise TV, Babangida said: “We are saints compared to those in power now”.
The military leader said while he moved against a former military governor who embezzled N313,000, he said those who stole billions are currently walking freely.
Asked if he agrees with those who said his government was very corrupt, Babangida said, “But what’s happening now is worse than when we were in power… we are saints when compared with that”.
TNG reports IBB served as Nigeria’s Head of State between 1985 and 1993. Born in Niger State, he received military training in Nigeria, India, Great Britain, and the United States.
He rose through the ranks and was known for his courage, having also played a major role in suppressing an attempted coup in 1976, when he walked into a rebel-held radio station unarmed.
After Murtala Mohammed became the military head of state in 1975, Babangida joined his Supreme Military Council, and as military president after taking over power on August 27, 1985, he introduced economic policies such as the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP), that altered the course of the nation and liberalise the economy.
At 80 on the 17th, Babangida is one of the leaders like Muhammadu Buhari who have dominated Nigeria’s political space since 1966.