Former Minister of Aviation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode has given reasons why former head of state, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, yielded to pressure from some military henchmen to annul the June 12, 1993 presidential election.
The former head of state launched his memoir last week, declaring that Bashorun M.K.O. Abiola won the election and taking responsibility for its annulment.
But the move did not sit well with many Nigerians who claimed that Babangida took too long to reveal the truth and exhibited cowardice in waiting for major actors in the crisis to die before releasing his book and blaming the annulment on them.…CONTINUE READING
In a piece he titled A Book that Stirred a Nation, however, Fani-Kayode noted that the decision to yield to the pressure for annulment of the election was the best IBB could have taken for the sake of national piece and safety of many Nigerians, including the winner of the election.
“Had it not been that IBB sheathed his sword, held his peace and conceded to the dark, sinister and evil forces that coordinated, orchestrated, initiated, effected and announced the annulment without his knowledge and behind his back, there would have been a very bloody military coup which would have in turn been violently resisted by the IBB faction and thereby result in a long and protracted civil war,” he said.
He added that if Babangida had resolved to resist the “dark forces” who wanted the election annulled, he had no doubt that Abiola, his wives, children, key supporters, many of the heroes who were later to become the leaders of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), IBB himself and his key loyalists would have been targeted for assassination.
“More likely than not few of the main players on both sides, including Abacha, Abiola and Babangida themselves, would have survived the conflagration and the country would have been at war with itself, brother killing brother, for an indefinite period,” he argued.
Yet how did we get there? What transpired? Who were the major actors and who actually annulled the June 12 election and took us down that hideous path?
This is the million dollar question and Babangida finally answered it in his book.
The truth is that had it not been that IBB sheathed his sword, held his peace and conceded to the dark, sinister and evil forces that coordinated, orchestrated, initiated, effected and announced the annulment without his knowledge and behind his back, there would have been a very bloody military coup which would have in turn been violently resisted by the IBB faction and thereby result in a long and protracted civil war.
Those that led these dark and evil pro-annulment forces were General Sani Abacha, Brigadier General David Mark, Lt. General Joshua Dogonyaro, Air Vice Marshal Nura Imam, Colonel Lawan Gwadabe, Major General Alwali Kazir, Lt. General Ishaya Bamaiyi, Major General Jeremiah Useni and many others
Had Babangida resolved to resist them, renounce the unauthorised announcement and de-annul the election (which he could easily have done) I have no doubt that Abiola, his wives, his children, his key supporters, many of those heroes that were to later become the leaders of NADECO, IBB himself and all his key loyalists including Major General Salihu Ibrahim (the Chief of Army Staff), Brigadier General Haliru Akilu, Major General Aliyu Gusau, Colonel Sambo Dasuki, Colonel Abubakar Umar, General Gado Nasko, Air Vice Marshall Hamza Abdullahi, Colonel Habibu Shuaibu, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, General Garba Duba, General Sani Bello, Colonel Nuhu Bamalli (as he then was), Major General Isola Williams, Admiral Augustus Aikhomu and many others would have been targeted for assassination and our country would have been plunged into a cataclysmic bloodbath given the fact that Babangida’s men would have struck back with equal ferocity and in equal measure
