Being citizens of a football-loving country, there is a high probability that a lot of Nigerians have heard of the term “Mamba” only in connection with the Mozambican national football team, “The Mambas,” named after the black mamba, one of the world’s longest, fastest, and deadliest snakes that inhabits the wilds of sub-Saharan Africa. While The Mambas of Mozambique are not reputed for ruthless displays against their opponents on the field of play, the black mamba is a ferocious fearsome snake that strikes with lightning speed at the slightest provocation. Although not found in the wilds of Nigeria, where the less-dangerous green mamba specie predominates, the black mamba’s attributes of guile, aggression, and lethality find vivid expressions in the character of the country’s former military dictator, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (IBB), whose eight-year predatory rule ended in ignominious exit on August 26, 1993.
In the manner of the treacherous black mamba, General IBB’s military rule was characterized by venality and impunity, with both friends and foes tasting the bitterness of his authoritarian brew. While some victims, like Major General Mamman Vatsa, rued their fate till the bitter end, others such as Muhammadu Buhari survived to stage a come-back to the centre-stage of Nigeria’s political scene. A host of such survivors were among the top political figures that thronged his Minna – Niger State residence to pay homage to him on the occasion of his 80th birday anniversary on August 17, 2021. Throwing caution to the wind, they mouthed all sorts of congratulatory messages, ranging from the vexatious to the bizarre:
IBB is “a man of the people,” some chorused, while others trumpeted that he is “an icon and a role model worthy of emulation.” Many declared that he is “a great statesman and a quintessential leader,” and many more asserted that he is nothing but “a symbol of unity and a beacon of nationalism.” Some swore that he is “a true leader and elder statesman who has unified the nation,” and several agreed that he is “an embodiment of experience, wisdom and legendary leadership.” All concluded that “his impeccable records of service to God and country will continue to serve as a reference point for countless generations.”
These eulogies and approbations showered on the octogenarian former military dictator by the same Nigerians who witnessed his oppressive eight-year rule, speak volumes of the level of affliction that Nigerians have suffered in terms of Stockholm syndrome – a socio-psychological phenomenon involving a dependency relationship between a victim of oppression and the oppressor. Of course, Nigerians are well known for defending their oppressive leaders on grounds of ethno-religious sentiments. Similarly, the oppressive leaders have a knack for displaying benevolence towards the victims of their oppression, in what is termed Lima syndrome (the antithesis of Stockholm syndrome), wherein an oppressor displays uncharacteristic affection towards a victim of his oppression.
Beyond Stockholm and Lima syndromes, the Nigerian populace is also afflicted by acute amnesia. Otherwise, what else explains the hero-worshipping of the military dictator who brought their country to the brink of a violent crisis by his brazen annulment of a free and fair presidential election in 1993? Perhaps, with the passage of time (the healer of all wounds) everyone has decided to bury the hatchet. But, even at that, the superlative praises heaped on the wily ex-dictator were clearly beyond the pale, suggesting that Nigerians are a gullible lot that forgets so soon.
Born on August 17, 1941, IBB joined the Nigerian Army on December 10, 1962 upon completing his secondary school education. He was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant on September 26, 1963. A serial coup-plotter famed for his involvement in almost all coups that had occurred in the country, he commenced that life-journey by collaborating with other Northern Nigeria young military officers, led by Lt. Colonel Yakubu Gowon, to execute the July 29, 1966 counter-coup that occasioned the overthrow of General Aguiyi Ironsi’s regime. Ironsi had assumed power six months earlier following the failed coup of January 15, 1966 that was masterminded by junior officers of ethnic Igbo origins, led by Major Kaduna Nzeogwu. Both coups precipitated a chain of violent occurrences that culminated in the Nigerian Civil War of July 1967 – January 1970.
A Captain and a battalion commander during the civil war, IBB attained the rank of Colonel and the position of Commander of the Nigerian Army Armoured Corps by 1973. He participated actively in the coup plot that toppled General Yakubu Gowon’s regime on July 29, 1975, and was rewarded with an appointment into General Murtala Mohammed’s ruling Supreme Military Council. Drawing on his coup-plotting skills, he almost singlehandedly foiled the February 13, 1976 coup that saw the assassination of General Murtala Mohammed. He commanded the troops that stormed the radio station where the coup plotters led by Lt. Colonel Buka Suka Dimka were making live broadcasts.
IBB’s coup-plotting proclivities were again on display in the overthrow of elected President Shehu Shagari and installation of General Muhammadu Buhari as the new Head of State on December 31, 1983. The coup was reportedly financed by a wealthy businessman-associate of IBB, Moshood Abiola. As a reward, IBB was appointed the Chief of Army Staff and a member of Buhari’s ruling Supreme Military Council. From this vantage position, and with the financial backing of Abiola, he overthrew General Buhari on August 27, 1985 in a palace coup, and proceeded to assume the reins of power. Breaking with precedence, he adopted the title of “President” instead of “Head of State.”
In September 1985, a few weeks after seizing the reins of power, IBB launched a national debate on the issue of an International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan facility needed to address Nigeria’s lingering balance of payment problems. Feigning deference to the wish of the generality, he rejected the loan facility but proceeded to implement the IMF-mandated Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP). It was akin to obtaining the IMF facility through the back door. Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka, a close associate at the time, commented in his 2006 memoire, “You Must Set Forth At Dawn: “Babangida never seemed to mind being proved wrong; he carried out his own decisions anyway.”
Nicknamed “Maradona” (after the Argentine football superstar, Diego Maradona), for his ability to wriggle out of awkward situations through sheer subterfuge and strong arm tactics, IBB even went further to style himself “The Evil Genius.” Having initially courted the image of a benevolent dictator, he soon shed that garb as Nigerians began to see through his ruse, thus revealing his true character: a cunny and lethal dictator; a mamba of the blackest dye.
Across the globe, a military coup is considered a treasonable act, and depending on the justice-system of the particular country involved, it could attract capital punishment. Since a coup is only legalized by its success, failure is never an option. IBB had ingrained this knowledge much earlier in his military career. Hence, he was never found on the losing side in a related situation. But, on two different occasions in course of his dictatorship, a close friend and some young military officers would pay the ultimate price for failing to learn this critical lesson.
On December 17, 1985, IBB had more than a hundred military officers arrested for allegedly plotting to topple his four-month old regime. Amongst them was his childhood friend and close associate, Major General Mamman Vatsa, who was a member of the Armed Forces Ruling Council and the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. After a three-month trial, some were handed long jail terms and others retired or dismissed from military service. Vatsa and nine others were not so fortunate. On March 5, 1986, they were executed by firing squad. Their merciless execution was deemed a warning signal to the effect that the “master coup-plotter” would not entertain an iota of treachery from any friend or foe while in power.
About a year into his dictatorship, Dele Giwa, the Editor-in-Chief of the Newswatch magazine, was brutally slain by a parcel bomb on October 19, 1986. Although IBB’s complicity in the murder was never proven despite the valiant efforts of the irrepressible human rights lawyer, Gani Fawehimi, it was widely believed that the renowned journalist’s death was a calculated warning that he would brook no nonsense from anyone prying into his junta’s affairs. The murder served to alert opponents on the need to be extremely wary of him, for behind the façade of an infectious gap-toothed smile was a mercilessly ruthless character.
On April 22, 1990, a group of low-ranking officers led by Major Gideon Orka attempted overthrowing IBB’s junta in a bloody coup that saw the death of his aide-de-camp, Major U.K. Bello. In his characteristic ruthlessness, IBB had more than forty of the coup plotters executed by firing squad. The failed coup attempt subsequently jolted him into a hasty relocation of the seat of power from a congested Lagos city to the expansive new capital city of Abuja, in December 1991.
Unexpectedly, the Gulf War of January – February 1991 sent the price of crude oil soaring, and about 12 billion dollars was estimated to have accrued to Nigerian government coffers from excess sales revenue. Known as the Gulf War Oil Windfall, the funds were reportedly looted by IBB and his close associates. Like every other allegation of financial malfeasance in the country, it was not proven, although it has continued to dog every of IBB’s move ever since.
Amidst growing calls for a return to civilian rule, IBB embarked upon a long-drawn transition programme involving all sorts of socio-political engineering, even though his real intention was to perpetuate himself in power in the manner of Africa’s military tyrants, like Teodoro Mbasogo, who has just surpassed Muammar Gaddafi’s record of 42 years in power. Halfheartedly, he authorized the formation of political parties only to have them dissolved. He ended up decreeing the creation of two political parties: the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the National Republican Convention (NRC). When the much-postponed presidential election was finally held on June 12, 1993, he brazenly annulled the results that indicated an overwhelming victory for the SDP candidate, Moshood Abiola.
Even for the Nigerian populace notorious for its docility, the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election results was a step too far. As protests and riots paralyzed the country, IBB reluctantly “stepped aside” on August 26, 1993, ceding power to a hastily contrived Interim National Government (ING) headed by Ernest Shonekan. Doomed from the start, the ING was swept aside on November 17, 1993 by General Sanni Abacha, a tyrant in the mould of Uganda’s Idi Amin and Central Africa Republic’s Jean-Bedel Bokassa.
Some people, however, opine that IBB’s annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election results was a case of the chicken coming home to roost, for Moshood Abiola had all along been a collaborationist of Nigeria’s predatory military rulers. In Karl Maier’s 2000 book, “This House Has Fallen: Nigeria in Crisis,” IBB admitted to making substantial financial contributions to Abiola’s 1993 electioneering campaigns, even as he later turned around to annul his victory. There is no doubt that he who rides on the back of a tiger will, sooner than later, end up inside the tiger.
All in all, IBB’s eight-year reign of intrigue, impunity, and monumental corruption largely destroyed the moral fabric of the Nigerian society. Some people are of the view that the destruction will take a conservative estimate of half a century to repair. Many say it is irreparable.
- Dennis Onakinor is a public and international affairs analyst, who lives in Lagos.