As children in those days in Nigeria, we knew masquerades were people who flew on wings or came out of the ground. No one ever knew the man behind the mask, and no one bothered to explain to us that the masquerade could be disrobed until 1993.
As children in those days in Nigeria, we knew masquerades were people who flew on wings or came out of the ground. No one ever knew the man behind the mask, and no one bothered to explain to us that the masquerade could be disrobed until 1993.
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It was in that year we disrobed the masquerade masquerading as president in Nigeria. That was the year that the man behind the mask danced naked in public. That was the year the military was demystified in Nigeria and Babangida, the self styled evil despot was chased out of power like a common criminal that he is.
Now, the masquerade wants to return to his familiar hunting ground, Nigeria. He wants to once again despoil Nigeria. He wants to be president of Nigeria. Like a goat, he has forgotten the trauma he subjected us to in his eight years of misrule and large-scale theft of our natural resources. What I find troubling is that the man still does not see anything wrong in the way he despoiled Nigeria. The locust does not understand why we should be wary of him. He does not understand why we should reject him.
The useless people who went to eat and drink free food in Minna during the burial of his equally thieving wife confused him. This was a woman who turned herself into a demigod in Nigeria. She was the defacto president of Nigeria for eight years. Years during which millions of dollars disappeared into private pockets. In spite of her equally miserable program of better life for Miriam and Miriam, she did not deem it fit to build just one good hospital in Nigeria. All she could build in spite of all that was stolen was a bakery and a private school. That how far her illiterate mind could take both of them. Anyway, they hid the remaining money in Swiss accounts. Life was ok that way. And so when death came calling, she fled here and there. From India, to Saudi Arabia, to Egypt and finally to America, where medical staff who were not better than Nigerians poked and shoved her until she died. Anyway, I digress. No one gave our medical staff; no one gave Nigerians the opportunity for further education. So, no one could arrest her medical emergency when it was still in the incubating stage. So, Babangida is suddenly mistaking his expansive compound for Nigeria. He fails to appreciate that his fellow thieving accomplices in Minna and other useless people like him were there to represent themselves and not Nigerians. So, he stepped out to be in the midst of decent people. He stepped out to claim the highest position in the land. That he will never, ever get no matter what his marabous, pastors and political leeches might have told him.
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As far as the majority of Nigerians are concerned, his ambitions, reckless and irresponsible died on arrival; meanwhile, he has become the alawada of Nigeria. He is trying to reinvent himself. Were he to be a Christian, we would have safely assumed he found Jesus. We would attribute his recent mea culpa to a Damascus experience. Indeed, it is not even certain this man will have the grace of having a Damascus experience.
Let us see how this reinventing experience is going. He wants Abiola immortalized. really? This man cannot be real. His mealy mouthed acknowledgement of June 12, 1993 as the watershed in the political experience of Nigeria is not new to us. We all knew that all along. Question is why did he want to benefit from something he annulled, and why did he wait for all these years before he acknowledged that June 12 was an opportunity aborted along with the future of Nigeria. It reflects this man as an evil puppet master with personality conflicts. His recklessness and steroid infused talk about democracy is just hogwash. The guy is a fool who does not know when to stop. A fool who thinks Nigerians will fall for his con once again. A fool whose incestuous acknowledgement of democracy and June 12 is an affront to all that is decent and noble about the rest of us.
He claimed his government was one of the best Nigeria ever had. Once again, really? Now what is this man smoking? Whatever it is, it is not good for him at all. It makes him loopy and he yaps all sorts of nonsense about his dictatorship. I wonder if the useless program, SAP means anything to him. How about his ruthlessness towards the academia, his disdain for our public education, unknown and unsolved murders? Babangida is an evil idiot who combines ruthlessness with incompetence.
Just when we thought this evil man will talk, exhaust himself and go home to enjoy his loot, he threw another bombshell. He wants to award the Igbos, the presidency. However, that will be after he has taken his own turn. I did not know whether to laugh or cry in sympathy for this man when I read his offer to the Igbo nation. Now, let us look at it this way. Does he think the Igbos are second-class citizens in Nigeria? Why not ask the Igbo man/woman to take a shot at the presidency before him. What is this stupidity about manifest destiny where the Northerner must always be in front?
May be Babangida had been in deep slumber like Rip van Winlke while the rest of the world transited into the 21st century. Of course, we all know the story of Rip. He slept for seven years and the world did not wait for him. Babangida is the Rip van Winkle of our time. . He has been sleeping and so we pity him. I will risk telling him on behalf of all of us from across the East and South South that that offer does not even dignify a response. How does one begin to answer a mad man who does not know his way home? Lest we be regarded as flaky like him, we will not respond to his irritation. However, I will just simply add that that his attempt to revise the civil war is preposterous and offending. His attempt to woo the Igbos now is mercenary. He does not care about the them. He is disdainful of them even while he was married to Miriam who was half Hausa any way on account of her mother's nationality. Mama Asabe was Miriam’s mom and she was from the North.
Frankly, I do not know why rogue journalists in Nigeria continue to give this man air time. His pre arranged 419 inter face with them is what it is. Fraud per excellence. Babangida has nothing to offer Nigeria. He only got into power by the barrel of the gun and so he needs to just go away to enjoy his ill-gotten wealth. His interviews further exposed him as a man who is vastly deluded at best or one sticking to the political strategy of people who do not value the truth. Indeed, truth is alien to the DNA of this man, a man who is dangerously out of touch with reality.
On a last note, the PDP or what ever they are called need to stop equating that rogue party with the rest of Nigeria. It is sad that in the 21st century, Nigeria is still bogged down with sharing offices by zones and not by merit. Any ways, no matter what the clowns in PDP may think, the party is not synonymous with Nigeria in spite of their delusion of ruling forever. I wonder who woke up from the effects of a dangerous hallucinogen to describe the PDP as the biggest party in Africa. The only thing about the PDP is that it is a disorganized party lacking in clear ideas and bereft of decent leaders.
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