This question will keep lingering in the minds of numerous Nigerians as long as the man disdainfully referred to as the Maradona is still alive. Yes, the Maradona of yesteryears, the evil genius, Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida, who kept shifting the year he would hand over power to civilians while he resigned supreme as the military head of state between 1985 and 1993, when he was compelled to ‘step aside’ by those officers formally loyal to him.
Ostensibly, Babangida’s cup for evil doing was full as of the time he stepped aside, notable among his sins being turning Nigeria to a hard drugs destination, his tacit endorsement of advanced fee fraud popular today as 419 and Yahoo Yahoo, the alleged assassination of a bright and knowledgeable journalist, Dele Giwa, and most prominently, the annulment of the June 12, 1993 Presidential election. Late Moshood Abiola was widely believed to have won the election.
Even though his admirers are addicted to pouring accolades on him as an intelligent military officer of his days, Babangida’s sins against the Nigerian state are obviously numerous. For these, in sane societies, he would rot in jail, and wouldn’t have the courage to lift his face among citizens in a shameless manner as he did recently when he made a public show of his autobiography, “A Journey In Service”. But Nigeria, it is often said, remains an aberration where abnormalities are the order of the day.
Nigerians perceived that one of the major blunders in the now elite work of authorship is his blatant denial of the knowledge of the assassination of Giwa, a fiery journalist of his time.
At the Oputa Panel for human rights abuses during the Olusegun Obasanjo civilian administration, where Babangida would have been indicted for the death of Giwa, he had opted to shun the panel.
Today, Babangida is being hailed for coming out boldly to tell the Nigerian public how gullible we can be by painting a glorious picture of himself as a saint in the book, A Journey In Service.
Can the evil genius be bold enough to bear responsibility for the assassination of Giwa, just as he accepted to bear the responsibility of the annulment of the June 12 election, even though he shifted the blame to the late Sani Abacha who can no longer defend himself?
It is the Fulani religious leader, Usman Dan Fodio, who was quoted to have said, “Conscience is an open wound, only the truth can heal it”.
Besides, the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) a very gentle, simple, quiet and easy going Federal Government agency, has under its incumbent Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Dr. Pius Akutah, a politician, decided to shed its reputable image by plotting to take up the job of tracking Nigerian-bound cargoes and exports which is the statutory duty of the Nigeria Customs Service(NCS).
Akutah claimed to have seen a gold mine in the implementation of the International Cargo Tracking Note envisioning a revenue yield of over $500 million per year. But the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) is gleefully watching the Council trying to burn its fingers in what looks like a futile mission. However, notable experts have warned Akutah of dire consequences in meddling in the duties of sister government agency. Enjoy our package.
