Ibrahim Babangida Was About T
German-based Nigerian public intellectual Dr. Franklyne Ogbunwezeh has revealed how octogenarian former military dictator General Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida was to be fired from the army for allegations of drug peddling just before he led a coup to overthrow the then head of state, Muhammadu Buhari. The remarks came during an exclusive interview with Rudolf Okonkwo on 90MinutesAfrica on Sunday.
“Babangida was accused of being a drug dealer, and Buhari was about to fire him from the army before the coup happened,” the former director of genocide prevention at the Christian Solidarity International revealed.
Ogbunwezeh described the former military ruler as a “corrupter-in-chief” who not only compromised “anybody who is corruptible” but also ushered Nigeria into an era where the country “didn’t know what to do with itself.”
Commenting on the forthcoming autobiography of the retired General, Dr. Ogbunwezeh said he expected it to be an attempt by Babangida to “whitewash his role in Nigeria’s history.” He, nonetheless, hopes that the former dictator will use the opportunity to address some important questions about his time in power.
“I expect him to answer some questions in his book,” Ogbunwezeh said.
“Would he answer for who killed Dele Giwa? He should tell us what he knew about Dele Giwa’s death. For the first time in the history of Nigeria, a veritable citizen of our country was killed with a letter bomb. Only governments are capable of that.
“He should tell us what his intelligence agencies knew about Dele Giwa’s death and how it was connected to Gloria Okon. What killed Gloria Okon? The drug trafficker that was arrested in Mallam Aminu Kanu International Airport and fingered a lot of people in his government.
“We learnt that Dele Giwa was on top of that story. The Secret Service arrested and interrogated him. He was left to go and a few days later a parcel bomb was sent to his home and they killed him. So, IBB should tell Nigerians what happened. The buck stops at his table while he was president.”
Dr. Ogbunwezeh further said that IBB should explain what happened to the $12.4bn Gulf War oil windfall, his relationships with Mike Adenuga and Globacom, and the late Aliyu Dasuki who was alleged to have laundered billions of dollars for him and his cronies.
“He should tell us about June 12. Why he dribbled Nigerians and spent billions in moving ‘a little bit to the right, a little bit to the left’ and at the end of the day to cancel a free and fair election,” Ogbunwezeh said.
