The Return Of the Old Soldier
It is about 30 years since the military government of General Mohammadu Buhari was overthrown in a palace coup in Nigeria. The date was August 27, 1985.
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The architect of that coup was then Major-General Ibrahim Babangida, who was the Chief of Army Staff in the administration of General Buhari.
IBB, as Babangida was and is still called, was said to have relied on the middle level officers whom he had placed at strategic positions in order to stage what was regarded as a bloodless coup.
Many Nigerians were surprised at the sudden change of government since Buhari had embarked on a massive injection of discipline into the Nigerian polity which was welcomed by many who were yearning to see some order in Nigeria.
Bloodless coup
But IBB seized power in that bloodless coup, promising to bring to an end the human right abuses perpetrated by Buhari and to hand over power to a civilian government by 1990. Eventually Babangida committed more human right abuses ever seen in Nigeria and had to be forced to step aside in August 1993 amid strikes and protests that brought all economic activities in the country to a halt.
In many respects, the destinies of both Buhari and Babangida seemed to have been intertwined. Both were born a year of each other and they both joined the Nigeria Army a year of each other.
IBB was born August 17, 1941 while Buhari was born on December 17, 1942. Buhari, however, joined the Nigerian Army in 1961 while IBB was enlisted in the Nigerian Army Officers Corps on December 10, 1962.
Both generals were involved in all the military coups and served in various capacities in all the military administrations from 1966 to 1979. Ordinarily they can, therefore, be regarded as good friends who know each other well.
Ambition to come back
It is interesting to note that when both left office as heads of state, Buhari in August 1985 and IBB in August 1993, the two still nursed the ambition to stage a comeback one day as president through the democratic process. They both believed they had unfinished agenda since they were both pushed out of office by circumstances.
It is also worthy to note that the Nigerian military class is very much politically active. Having tasted life as political leaders, whether as presidents, governors or ministers during their military careers, they continued to dabble in politics after they had put down their military uniform.
This explains why the generals, after their retirement, still eye key political positions in Nigeria. For example the current president of the senate, David Mark, used to be a military governor of Benue State under IBB.
Situation in Ghana, Nigeria
The situation in Nigeria is quite different from Ghana, where probably because of the house-cleaning exercise of Jerry John Rawlings in the late ’70s that swept away the top brass of the military, most retired officers of the Ghana Armed forces do not show interest in vying for top political office, especially in the politics of the Fourth Republic.
Unfortunately for IBB, he so antagonised a large section of the Nigerian society that it would be difficult for any party to put him forward as their presidential candidate let alone win the presidency.
Nigerians can never forget the many political programmes he introduced during his presidency for which he always found reasons to abandon midstream. It was the way he dribbled Nigerian politicians, making them spend their money on a wild goose chase and thereby impoverishing them, that he was given the nickname Maradona.
The cruelest of his political antics was when he annulled the presidential elections of June 1993, which was widely believed to have been won by Alhaji MKO Abiola. It was in pursuit of the actualisation of the mandate given to him by the people, that the top businessman later lost his life.
There is also the unresolved matter of the death of Dele Giwa, the popular editor of Newswatch Magazine. Dele died through a letter bomb delivered to him at his Lagos home on October 19, 1996. Even though IBB was believed to be the brain behind it, various investigations have not been able to establish this since IBB has always refused to appear before any panel.
It is for these reasons that IBB may never receive the favour of Nigerians in the event of putting himself up for election as president.
Not so for Buhari. His fall as military head of State and rise to the presidency of Nigeria as a civilian president tells a lot about the calibre of the man. He never gave up after he was toppled by IBB in 1985 and he can be compared to the proverbial cat with nine lives. Buhari has always shown that he is a principled man and had the dogged determination that one day he would realise his political ambition to lead Nigeria again.
I was in Nigeria when Buhari and his colleagues toppled the NPN government of Shehu Shagari on December 31, 1983. I had timed my relocation to Nigeria till after the general elections and, therefore, moved to Nigeria early September 1983. I was therefore in Nigeria when Shagari was sworn in for his second term on October 2, 1983.
However, the general elections left in their wake so much violence and destruction, especially in south western Nigeria. In Ondo State, for instance, there was a running battle between the supporters of octogenarian Michael Ajasin of UPN and those of Akin Omoboriowo of NPN. Ondo state was in flames and homes of known supporters of both parties were burnt.
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It was the violence that followed the elections of 1983 that made Buhari and Co to step in.
Since Nigerians were not happy about the military intervention coming only after four years of the life of Second Republic, majority resigned their fate to another period of military rule.
To convince the populace they meant well and only wanted to clean the society of disorderly behaviour, Buhari and his number two man, Major General Tunde Idiagbon, launched the popular War Against Indiscipline. (WAI).
Tunde Idiagbon was a no-nonsense man and as the Chief of Staff, Supreme Headquarters, he was at the forefront of the campaign to eradicate corruption and disorderliness from Nigerian life.
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Unfortunately, Buhari and Idiagbon were not given enough time to translate their dreams into reality. After only 20 months in power, the Buhari government was overthrown by Ibrahim Babangida. Both Buhari and Idiagbon were detained for three years.
After his release from house arrest, Idiagbon returned to civilian life in his hometown of Ilorin where he died in 1999 under mysterious circumstances.
However, Buhari retuned to public life when he was made Chairman of the Petroleum Fund by General Sani Abacha. A 1998 report in New African praised the PTF under Buhari for transparency, calling it a rare ‘success story.’
It was this achievement that catapulted Buhari into limelight once again. He was seen as a potential president under the new democratic dispensation.
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Previous contests
He contested in three presidential elections in 2003, 2007, 2011, losing to candidates of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). First it was General Olusegun Obasanjo, then Umara Yar’Adua and then Goodluck Jonathan.
But the old soldier never gave up and believed that his chance would come one day.
And that chance came this year. This time he stood as a candidate of the All Progressives Congress, motley of opposition groups. His platform was built around his image as a staunch anti-corruption fighter and his incorruptible and honest reputation.
But he had a mountain to climb, fighting against the incumbency of President Jonathan. While the president had all the powers to turn things around, following what many described as his lacklustre performance and his inability to contain the Boko Haram insurgency, he also underestimated the support Buhari had garnered across the country.
However, the die seemed to have been cast when his godfather, Obasanjo, abandoned him in the run-up to the elections.
Certainly, it must go to the credit of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) which, against all odds, conducted a fair and credible election in which the best candidate won.