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Ibrahim Babangida

 
Political Biography: Ibrahim Gbadamosi Babangida

(b. Minna, Nigeria, 17 Aug. 1941) Nigerian; President 1985 – 93 A professional soldier, Babangida received military training in India, Britain, and the USA. He played a major role in the internal politics of the army from the 1970s and, in 1984, was appointed Chief of Staff. In 1985 he led a counter-coup against the incumbent military government and became head of state and the first military figure in that role to adopt the title of President.

Initially he was regarded as a liberalizing force, releasing political prisoners and promising to return the country to democratic civilian rule by 1990. He delayed the transition process by several years and increasingly sought to control it by, for example, creating the two political parties which could participate in elections and designating the ideologies they had to espouse. Following the presidential election in July 1993, which was regarded as the most free and fair to have been seen in the country, he surprised most observers by abandoning the whole democratization process. He installed an interim government which was rapidly overthrown in a further coup led by Sanni Abacha.

Despite his early popularity, which earned him the nickname "Maradona", Babangida increasingly alienated large sections of the population, and his annulment of the 1993 election produced a dangerous political crisis in Nigeria.

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Black Biography: Ibrahim Babangida
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president; military leader

Personal Information

Born Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, August 17, 1941, in Minna, Niger State, Nigeria; son of Muhammadu (a Muslim teacher) and Aishatu Babangida; married Hajiya Maryam King; children: Muhammadu, Aminu (sons); Aishatu, Halimatu (daughters).
Education: Graduated from Nigerian Military Training College, 1963; attended Indian Military Academy, 1964, Royal Armoured Center, England, 1966-67, U.S. Army Armor School, 1972; Command and Staff College, 1977, and Nigerian Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies, 1979-80.

Career

Career military officer; president of Nigeria, 1985--. Served as commanding officer during Nigeria's civil war, 1968-70; taught at Nigerian Defense Academy, 1970-72; became lieutenant colonel, 1974; served as regimental commander of Nigerian Army, 1973-75, and as army's armored corps commander, 1975-81; took part in army-instigated coup d'etat that ousted General Yakubu Gowon from office and installed Shehu Shagari, 1975; aborted a coup attempt singlehandedly, 1976; became director of army staff duties and plans, 1981; promoted to major general, 1983, and engineered a coup that ousted Shagari and installed the government of Major General Mohammed Buhari; appointed as chief of army staff by Buhari, 1984; served on the Supreme Military Council, 1984-85; ousted Buhari in a bloodless coup, 1985; assumed presidency and made himself commander-in-chief of Nigeria's armed forces, August 27, 1985; instituted various political and economic reforms; drew up plan for nation's return to democratic rule; allowed two political parties to be established for national elections; declared himself minister of defense, 1990.

Life's Work

Nigerian president Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida has often been described as a "spirited" man of action. On August 27, 1985, Babangida, then an army major general, took action against the previous military regime's corruption and brutal political repression by seizing control of Nigeria in a bloodless coup d'etat which ousted Major General Mohammed Buhari from office. Babangida's was the fifth coup in Nigeria, which has largely been ruled by military regimes since it became independent from Great Britain in 1960.

Instead of placing someone else at Nigeria's helm as he had during past coups he was involved in, Babangida made himself president. He ruled the country with an iron fist, though he is generally perceived as being more benevolent than his predecessors. Babangida promised, as quoted in Time magazine in 1986, to conduct "an open administration that [was] responsive to the yearnings and aspirations of all the people." He also pledged to eliminate corruption, solve the country's serious economic problems, and hand over power to a democratically elected government by the end of 1992. By December of that year, however, it was announced that the transition to democracy had been postponed.

Babangida soon established a reputation as a clever politician. Early in his administration he made a startling move: he asked ordinary Nigerian citizens whether they thought their country should accept a multibillion dollar financial aid package from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to keep the economy afloat. When, as he expected, the Nigerian people nixed acceptance of the package because its stringent measures for reducing Nigeria's debt would raise prices and lower their standard of living, Babangida suspended talks with the IMF in the spirit of his people. Then he offered Nigerians his own economic recovery program--which included many of the tough measures proposed by the IMF--and convinced Nigerians to accept it.

In 1986 Babangida instituted what has come to be known as Nigeria's "Structural Adjustment Program" to foster self-reliant, long-term national economic growth. Its adjustments have included increasing farming production and government earnings; privatizing state-owned companies to lessen the financial burden on the government; reducing the country's foreign debt and its reliance on money earned from exporting oil; and devaluating Nigeria's currency to stimulate exports other than oil.

The recovery program demonstrated that Babangida's government tried harder to solve Nigeria's economic problems than all of the country's preceding governments combined. Though most individual Nigerians continued to experience financial hardship after Babangida took power, the nation as a whole made progress. Because of the program, Nigeria received loans from world banks and gained economic credibility among Westernized nations. On a personal level, Babangida earned the respect of many Nigerians for saving the nation from near economic collapse.

In preparation for the transition to democracy (which was originally scheduled for completion in 1992), Babangida created two official political parties. He also made provisions for the drafting of an American-style constitution and the taking of a census of the population for political representation. Nigeria hadn't had a population census since the early 1960s because the redistribution of power among the nation's 250 ethnic groups proved to be an explosive issue.

To his credit, Babangida managed to hold the loyalty of the Nigerian army after seizing power. In 1986 he told Time: "I do not think that the government is fragile. Most important of all is the backing the government enjoys from the people, and the loyalty of the preponderance of the military. I am not saying that there are not people who are disgruntled, but the loyalty of the armed forces is not in doubt."

That same year Babangida had thirteen officers executed for plotting his overthrow, and in 1990 he successfully foiled a coup attempt by an ethnically dissatisfied army major who declared that he had "excised" five Muslim states in the north from the rest of Nigeria, raising fears of a partitioned nation. Nevertheless, Babangida has received the support of other colleagues for his charisma, self-control, ambition, intelligence, and his ability to make concessions when necessary.

Babangida is thought to possess a more broad-minded and Westernized outlook than Nigeria's previous military leaders. He is an observant, moderate Muslim from the minority Nupe tribe, and his wife is a Roman Catholic of Ibo tribal descent. He was schooled at British and American military institutions. Unlike other Nigerian leaders, he has tried, though not always successfully, to distribute power in government more evenly among traditionally dominant Muslims and minority Christians who have been engaged in a long-term struggle to obtain it.

Babangida was born on August 17, 1941, in Minna, now the capital of Niger State, situated in the northern part of the country where the population is largely Muslim. His father, Muhammadu Babangida, a Muslim teacher, and his mother, Aishatu Babangida, were members of the Nupe tribe. Babangida grew up in the Nupe community and went to school near his home. In 1957 he began high school in the nearby city of Bida. While at school he reportedly met a persuasive army recruiting officer and decided to follow his advice and make the military his profession.

On graduating from high school in 1962, Babangida went straight into Nigeria's Military Training College. Then, after spending time at a military academy in India, the Nigerian army sent him to study in England at the Royal Armoured Center. Babangida served as a commanding officer during Nigeria's bloody civil war from 1968 to 1970--when the Christians in the South broke away from Nigeria and formed a separate nation called Biafra which later capitulated to federal troops. In a national speech he later called the conflict "the most painful national trauma ... whose emotional scars will continue to haunt us for years to come."

After the civil war Babangida concentrated on furthering his military career. By 1974, following studies at the Army Armor School in the United States, he had advanced through the ranks of the army to become lieutenant colonel. During the early seventies he became a company commander instructor at the Nigerian Defense Academy and by 1975 he was commanding Nigeria's armored corps. Babangida attended the Nigerian Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies from 1979 to 1980 and attained the rank of major general in 1983. His advances apparently grew out of his reputation for toughness while on duty and his popularity among senior and junior members of the military establishment. Junior officers reportedly liked both the interest he took in them and his willingness to make concessions when appropriate.

Babangida's career has been tied to Nigeria's political and social tensions and mismanaged economy, both of which have made the country a fertile place for coups. During the 1970s Nigeria's oil-dependent economy prospered from skyrocketing worldwide oil prices. But while the nation was earning revenues from exporting petroleum, unemployment was high and most Nigerians weren't getting a penny from the profits. Dissatisfaction grew, coupled with resentment of the military regime. In 1975 Babangida used the discontent to his advantage: he and other powerful army officers deposed General Yakubu Gowon, who had seized control of the government in the late 1960s. The coup was the first of three in which Babangida participated. Ironically, Babangida's expertise in handling coups came in handy a year later when, weaponless, he confronted a group of armed rebel soldiers in Nigeria's capital city and talked them into surrendering to loyalist armed forces.

Babangida was behind another coup three years after oil prices dropped during 1981 and 1982, sending the Nigerian economy into a deep recession. The debt-ridden government of Shehu Shagari was blamed by scores of unpaid and laid-off workers, and it was generally believed that Babangida engineered the coup that overthrew the administration on the eve of 1984. With other top brass he pledged to rescue the sinking economy and to rid the government of those responsible for its collapse. To the apparent surprise of his followers, however, he did not claim Nigeria's top post for himself; instead, he helped install a major general, Muhammadu Buhari, as the new head of state. Under Buhari, Babangida became the army's chief of staff and a leading figure in Nigeria's Supreme Military Council.

Unfortunately, Buhari's corrupt and repressive policies alienated most of Nigeria's people, particularly after the regime expelled hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants from neighboring states, imprisoned scores of Nigerian dissidents, censored the press, and strained relations between Nigeria and Britain.

Deeply dissatisfied with the state of affairs in Nigeria, Babangida and several backers deposed the inflexible leader in 1985, without a shot being fired. Later, after naming himself president, Babangida set about creating a more responsive and tolerant government than Buhari's had been: he revoked a law that censored information critical of government, reviewed the cases of jailed dissidents, had outspoken journalists released from prison, and pledged to reform the brutal secret police. At the same time he placed his own military and police officers in the army's ruling council. While his goal was openness, Babangida was all too aware of the pitfalls of staying in power in a country where popular leaders could be ousted virtually overnight.

In his first national speech Babangida proclaimed his "dedication to ensuring that [Nigeria] remains a united entity" and promised to end divisions between Nigeria's religions, tribes, and regions. On the one hand, Babangida attempted to allot government posts fairly during his administration. He claims to have made political assignments solely on the basis of merit. On the other hand, his 1990 decision to reorganize his cabinet left his administration in Muslim hands and resulted in the resignation of the Christian minister of defense. The incident provoked cries of religious discrimination in some Christian communities.

Nigeria watchers and critics have argued that the military general held too tight a grip on the country's political life and risked being overthrown. As 1992 drew to a close, it remained questionable whether Babangida would voluntarily relinquish power by the end of the year or be able to convince the military to become "subordinated to a constitutional authority." When Babangida lifted the ban on political activity and some thirteen grassroots parties sprang up, his military government refused to recognize them because he believed they were headed by politicians from the former regime. The government would only recognize the two parties Babangida created.

The Economist 's correspondent in Lagos pointed to the contradictions and impracticality of "imposing 'grassroots democracy' from above," especially through two parties whose platforms were "hard to tell apart" and had "neither ideology nor shared interests to define them." This policy, he suggested, left voters with little choice but to polarize around old tribal, religious, and regional issues which "threatened to revive" the country's internal divisions.

In the spring of 1992 Nigeria's religious and tribal tensions exploded again. Muslims fought Christians in the worst outbreak of riots in a decade; hundreds of people were killed or wounded. For a time it appeared as if the country was again heading for civil strife. Critics decried the government's refusal to deal with alienated or dissenting groups and charged it with violating human rights. The head of the pro-democracy movement was arrested for accusing Babangida and the military of fomenting the strife to forestall the transition to democracy. The Economist 's Nigerian correspondent also suggested that because Babangida's program for transition to democracy created more rather than less instability, the general might have to postpone civilian rule for three more years.

But Babangida forcibly restored order. "The present situation of urban and communal unrest provides the perfect rationale for the establishment of the national guard," the general told the New York Times in May of 1992. At the same time, he added that the military would defend "with the last drop of our blood" his plan to return Nigeria to civilian rule, although the transition to democracy was not accomplished that year. In this way Babangida came to personify the paradox that is Nigeria--a country continuously vacillating between military regimes and attempts at democracy. Babangida has yet to prove he really wants the constitutional democratic system he has promised to the Nigerian people.

Further Reading

Books

  • Babangida, Ibrahim, New Goals and a New Direction: Inaugural Speeches by President Babangida, Federal Ministry of Information, Domestic Publicity Division, 1985.
  • Graf, W. D., The Nigerian State: Political Economy, State, Class and Political System in the Post-Colonial Era, James Currey, 1988.
  • Jegede, Oluremi, compiler, Nigerian Legal Bibliography: A Classified List of Materials Related to Nigeria, Oceana, 1983.
  • Okadigbo, C., Power and Leadership in Nigeria, Fourth Dimension, 1988.
Periodicals
  • Current History, May 1989.
  • Economist, October 14, 1989; March 17, 1990; April 28, 1990; June 9, 1990.
  • Emerge, September 1992.
  • New York Times, August 11, 1988; May 23, 1992; May 26, 1992.
  • Time, September 9, 1985; February 17, 1986.

— Alison Carb Sussman

Wikipedia: Ibrahim Babangida
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Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida

In office
August 27, 1985 – August 27, 1993
Preceded by Muhammadu Buhari
Succeeded by Ernest Shonekan

Born August 17, 1941 (1941-08-17) (age 68)
Minna, Niger State, Nigeria
Nationality Nigerian
Political party none (military)
Religion Muslim

Nigerian Former Dictator Major General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (born August 17, 1941), popularly known as IBB, was the military ruler of Nigeria from his coup against Muhammadu Buhari in August 1985 until his departure from office in 1993 after his annulment of elections held that year.

Contents

Early years

Ibrahim Babangida hails from the Gwari ethnic group and was born in Minna, Niger State. Babangida studied at the India Military School in 1964, the Royal Armoured Centre from January 1966 until April 1966, at the Advanced Armoured Officers' course at Armored school from August 1972 to June 1973, at the Senior officers' course, Armed Forces Command and Staff College, Jaji from January 1977 until July 1977, and the Senior International Defence Management Course, Naval Post graduate school, U.S in 1980.

On September 6th,1969, he married Maryam, who later became first lady of Nigeria. They had four children: 2 boys, and two girls.[1]

Army career

He joined the Nigerian Army's officer corps on December 10, 1962, and served in an administrative capacity under the military government of Olusegun Obasanjo. He was heavily involved in the Nigerian coup of 1976, when he was to ‘liberate’ a radio station from one of the coup plotters, Col B.S. Dimka (a close friend of his), to prevent him making further announcements over the air waves. Although he did prevent further broadcasts, Col Dimka managed to escape.

Ranks held

Presidency

Coup

Babangida once again took up a political position under the administration of General Muhammadu Buhari, whose regime he overthrew on 27 August 1985 in a bloodless military coup that relied on mid-level officers that Babangida silently and strategically positioned over the years.[citation needed]

He came into power in a military coup promising to bring to an end the human rights abuses perpetuated by Buhari's government, and to hand over power to a civilian government by 1990.[citation needed].Eventually,he perpetuated one of the worst human right abuses and lots of unresolved political assassinations.

Economic policies

Babangida issued a referendum to garner support for austerity measures suggested by the IMF and the World Bank, and subsequently launched his "Structural Adjustment Program" (SAP) in 1986. The policies entailed under the SAP were the deregulation of the agricultural sector by abolishing marketing boards and the elimination of price controls, the privatisation of public enterprises, the devaluation of the Naira to aid the competitiveness of the export sector, and the relaxation of restraints on foreign investment put in place by the Gowon and Obasanjo governments during the 1970s.[citation needed]

Between 1986 and 1988, when these policies were executed as intended by the IMF, the Nigerian economy actually did grow as had been hoped, with the export sector performing especially well, but the falling real wages in the public sector and amongst the urban classes, along with a drastic reduction in expenditure on public services, set off waves of rioting and other manifestations of discontent that made sustained commitment to the SAP difficult to maintain.[citation needed]

Babangida subsequently returned to an inflationary economic policy and partially reversed the deregulatory initiatives he had set in motion during the heyday of the SAP following mounting pressure, and economic growth slowed correspondingly, as capital flight resumed apace under the influence of negative real interest rates.[citation needed]Babangida presided over one of the most corrupt government in Nigeria.

OIC membership

Babangida (unilaterally, without consultation with other bodies)upgraded Nigeria's role in the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC), from a mere observer status to full-fledged membership.After public outcry and denial by Babangida, the John Shagaya panel was instituted to determine Nigeria's status in the OIC, subsequently confirming membership and making a recommendation for withdrawal from the body.[citation needed]

1990 coup attempt

On April 22, 1990, Babangida's government was almost toppled by a coup attempt led by Major Gideon Orkar. Babangida was at the Dodan Barracks, the military headquarters and presidential residence, when they were attacked and occupied by the rebel troops, but managed to escape by a back route. During the brief interlude during which Orkar and his collaborators controlled radio transmitters in Lagos, they broadcast a vehement critique of Babangida's government, accusing it of widespread corruption and autocratic tendencies, and they also expelled the five northernmost and predominantly Hausa-Fulani Nigerian states from the union, accusing them of seeking to perpetuate their rule at the expense of the predominantly Christian peoples of Nigeria's middle-belt citing, in particular, the political neutralization of the Langtang Mafia.[2]

Botched transition to civilian rule

In 1989 Babangida legalized the formation of political parties, and after a census was carried out in November 1991, the National Electoral Commission (NEC) announced on January 24, 1992 that both legislative elections to a bicameral National Assembly and a presidential election would be held that year.

Babangida banned all political parties formed by individuals, people of the same mind and the same ideology. He formed two political parties by himself, namely the SDP (Social Democractic Party) and NRC (National Republican Convention) and urged all Nigerians to join either of the parties, which the Late Chief Ajibola Ige famously referred to as "two leper hands."

The legislative elections went ahead as planned, with the Social Democratic Party (SDP) winning majorities in both houses of the National Assembly, but on August 7, 1992, the NEC annulled the first round of presidential primaries, alleging widespread irregularities. January 4, 1993 saw the announcement by Babangida of a National Defense and Security Council, of which Babangida himself was to be President, while in April 1993 the SDP nominated Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola (MKO) as its presidential candidate, with the National Republican Convention (NRC) choosing Bashir Othma Tofa to run for the same position. On June 12, 1993, presidential elections were finally held, but the results were held back although it was announced in some states that Abiola had in fact won 19 of the 30 states, and therefore the presidency.[citation needed]

Rather than allow the announcement of the results to proceed, Babangida decided to annul the elections, without any justification Babangida then issued a decree banning the presidential candidates of both the NRC and the SDP from running in new presidential elections that he planned to have held. Widespread acts of civil disobedience began to occur, particularly in the Southwest region from which Abiola hailed, but these were soon quashed by the security forces and the army. On July 6, 1993, the NDSC issued an ultimatum to SDP and NRC to join an interim government or face yet another round of elections, and Babangida then announced that the interim government would be inaugurated on August 27, 1993. On August 26, amidst a new round of strikes and protests that had brought all economic activity in the country to a halt, Babangida declared that he was stepping aside from the presidency, and handing over the reins of government to Ernest Shonekan. Within 3 months of the handover, General Sani Abacha seized control of the government while Babangida was in the midst of a visit to Egypt.[citation needed]

Human rights abuses

The killing by a letter bomb of Dele Giwa, a magazine editor critical of Babangida's administration at his Lagos home in 1986, remains a controversial incident to this day. In 1999, President Olusegun Obasanjo established the Human Rights Violation Investigation Commission headed by Justice Chukwudifu Oputa to investigate human rights abuses during Nigeria's decades of military rule. However, Babangida repeatedly defied summons to appear before the panel to answer allegations of humans rights abuses and questioned both the legality of the commission and its power to summon him. His right not to testify was upheld in 2001 by Nigeria's court of appeal which ruled that the panel did not have the power to summon former rulers of the country.[3].

The Oputa Panel Report would conclude that "On General Ibrahim Babangida, we are of the view that there is evidence to suggest that he and the two security chiefs, Brigadier General Halilu Akilu and Col. A. K. Togun are accountable for the death of Dele Giwa by letter bomb. We recommend that this case be re-opened for further investigation in the public interest."[4]

2007 presidential aspirations

In an interview with the Financial Times on August 15, 2006, Babangida announced that he would run for president in Nigeria's 2007 national elections.[5][6] He said he was doing so "under the banner of the Nigerian people" and accused the country's political elite of fuelling Nigeria's current ethnic and religious violence.[7]

On the 8th of November, 2006, General Babangida picked a nomination form from the Peoples Democratic Party Headquarters in Abuja, Nigeria. This effectively put to rest any speculation about his ambitions to run for the Presidency. His form was personally issued to him by the PDP chairman, Ahmadu Ali. This action immediately drew extreme reactions of support or opposition from the generality of Nigerians. In early December, just before the PDP presidential primary, however, it was widely reported in Nigerian newspapers that IBB had withdrawn his candidacy to be the PDP's nominee to run for President. In a letter excerpted in the media, IBB is quoted as citing the "moral dilemma" of running against Umaru Yar'Adua, the younger brother of the late Shehu Yar'Adua (himself a former nominee to run for the Presidency during IBB's military dictatorship), as well as against General Aliyu Mohammed Gusau, given IBB's close relationship with the latter two. It is widely believed that his chances of winning were slim.[8][9]

See also

  • MAMSER
  • Nigerian Political Bureau of 1986

References

  1. ^ "Maryam Babangida". Pre-Adult Affairs Organisation. http://www.pre-adultaffairs.org/corexp/docs/gfpbios/babangida.htm. Retrieved 2009-11-22. 
  2. ^ Nowa Omoigui, MD. "The Orkar Coup of April 22, 1990". Segun Toyin Dawodu. http://www.dawodu.com/omoigui8.htm. Retrieved 2009-11-21. 
  3. ^ "Generals evade Nigeria rights panel". BBC News. 2001-11-01. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/1632714.stm. 
  4. ^ "Summary, Conclusions and Recommendations" (PDF). Human Rights Violations Investigation Commission (Nigeria). May 2002. http://www.dawodu.com/oputa1.pdf. 
  5. ^ Mahtani, Dino (2006-08-15). "Former military ruler of Nigeria seeks presidency". Financial Times. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/86219712-2caf-11db-9845-0000779e2340.html. 
  6. ^ Nigeria's 'evil genius' enters election race IOL
  7. ^ "Babangida to contest Nigeria poll". BBC News. 2006-08-15. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4797395.stm. 
  8. ^ "IBB: I Withdraw for Gusau, Yar`Adua" in This Day, 12 December 2006, p.1 (byline Kola Ologbondiyan, Sufuyan Ojeifo and Oke Epia)
  9. ^ and "Blow to Babangida's Nigeria bid", BBC news (11 December 2006).

External links

Preceded by
Muhammadu Buhari
President of the Armed Forces Ruling Council of Nigeria
August 27, 1985  – August 26, 1993
Succeeded by
Ernest Shonekan

 
 

 

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