IBB and his legacy

BY OMATSOLA ABATI

I remember the June 12 period in Nigeria as a precocious young lad just getting into the university. This was in the early nineties, a period when you spend an average of six years – or more – for a four-year course in any public university in Nigeria (not sure if there was any serious functional private university then) because the almighty, theoretical, powerful but altruistic ASUU must embark on yearly strike actions for a minimum of five or six months of the academic calendar. It was a period when the decay in public universities began to take a new turn under the military government of Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida.

IBB was nicknamed ‘the evil genius’ by one of the popular and respected news magazines of that era, Newswatch/Tell/TheNews, who did a cover story on his destruction of almost every facet of Nigeria’s sub-sectors and sociocultural values. It was during IBB’s administration that corruption and hubris surged to the fore of our national life. Corruption, looting, sleaze and hubris, as we know them, used to be done in the dark, with some level of fear and shame.

Who will forget the experiences of the bonfires along major expressways and city centres and bus stops across the country, the shut down of the country by the then credible and respected labour leaders like the late Frank Kokori of NUPENG fame and Adams Oshiomhole; when independent-minded, patriotic and tireless human rights activists — such as the late Gani Fawehinmi, Chuma Ubani, Beko Ransome Kuti, Bagauda Kaltho, Bala Usman, Escor Toyo, Alao Aka-Basorun, Baba Omojola, Arthur Nwankwo, Kanmi Ishola – Oshobu, Fela, etc and then the brilliant Olisa Agbakoba, Clement Nwankwo, Shehu Sani, Joe Okei, Olatunji Dare, etc — and numerous public intellectuals, writers, and academics from Lagos-UI-OAU-Unilorin-Zaria-Benin axis stood up to be counted for country and posterity.

Yes, this was the season when you also had young lads who were genuine firebrand student union leaders across the country (not the mercenary old men and grandfathers who call themselves student union/youth leaders these days).

The likes of the dreadlock-wearing Segun Maiyegun, Omoyele Sowore (both from Unilag) and the others at Ife, Ibadan, Ilorin, Benin, Nsukka, Jos and Zaria, who held the campus and government authorities by the jugular, in sensible, just and tactical battles for the common good.

In the corporate and business world, you had the respected pressure group, Concerned Professionals (CP), led by the likes of Prof. Pat Utomi and Atedo Peterside with several other conscious-minded emerging business executives, professionals and business owners, across all sectors. One of their outstanding messages was their resonating creative car sticker: NEVER AGAIN. The campaign by CP was quite effective in driving home the message against the military and the June 12 conundrum.

It was a period of so much uncertainty and pain in Nigeria as a result of IBBs ill-advised IMF-induced SAP and socioeconomic distortions. The massive checking out (then known as ‘Andrew’, but later described as the ‘Japa’ syndrome) led to the massive emigration of Nigerians, with most of the bright and radical university lecturers, professionals and graduate students with exposure and leverage relocating mostly to the US or UK.

This was when Naija lost her innocence. Our “anyhowness” officially began under IBB’s watch as the military head of state and when he transformed to be called president and C-in-C of the armed forces, all within the nine long years that he ruled. This was when Nigerians generally became less shameful and more brazen. The naira started to tank. Salaries became unrealistic due to loss of value. The take-home salaries for average salary earners just couldn’t take them home.

Being normal and doing things the right way became an abnormality in most government offices, some private sector places and even in many more Nigerians’ everyday lives. This was also when most Nigerians began to live 2-3 different lives that they depict to different people, according to the setting, situation or circle of persons they are with, before the advent of the mostly alternate reality of social media as we see today. This period saw the rise of the new wave American version of Pentecostalism, which preaches mostly about prosperity or ‘how to blow’, as they say in this digital age.

Nigerians just looked for any straw to grab and pull themselves above the water. The government started to fail the people big time in its social contract. This was one of the major drivers of the smart and visionary churchpreneurs and prophets who began to gain huge followerships and faithful, as the hardship from IBB’s policies drove people to their limit.

The real essence of religion, such as the Godhead, the supreme being, spirituality, righteousness, and our relationship with our fellow human beings, which should guide the affairs of humanity, were thrown to the back burner. Rather, the new wave of pastors and prophets preached more about breaking away from so-called curses, poverty, bad ancestors, and paying money to the church instead of paying taxes to the government. So as the socioeconomic circumstances became dire, the majority of the people became entrapped and sucked into the new wave Pentecostal preachers who rapidly established their footprints across all the nooks and crannies of the country.

The signals from the government leaders were mostly not encouraging, hence many civil servants and government officials did anything to get key roles and close to the cookie jar, loot their share of the commonwealth and move on. All the optics and symbolism did not add up from the long period of leadership under the ‘evil genius’ called IBB. Though he had some good sides and brought a few innovations to governance, however, they are not comparable to the damage he did to Nigeria, the truncation of our democracy and decimation of our values as a people. IBB and his fellow travellers and leaders in the military and later the politicians, civil servants and the rent seekers in the Fourth Republic, across board and all strata, took it to some greater heights!